Newspaper Page Text
FALL SPORT
Tuesday, August 31,2021
barnesville.com
Barnesville, Ga.
HERE’S THE
SCOOP
Charley Brown
dead at age 86
Charley Brown, who
served as head football
coach at Lamar County
from 1982-
86 died
Aug. 25.
He was
86. Brown
went 30-24
over five
seasons
here. His best team, the
1984 Trojans, went 10-2
and were eliminated in
the second round of the
playoffs by Mary Per
sons. Visitation and a ser
vice were held Aug. 28 at
Conner-Westbury Funeral
Home in Griffin.
Early
deadlines
Due to the Labor
Day holiday on Mon
day, September 6, The
Herald
Gazette will go to
press early. Please sub
mit news and adver
tising before noon on
Thursday, September
2, to be included in the
September 7th edition.
Last week’s
COVID-19 toll:
135 new cases,
three deaths
Lamar County con
tinues to be a COVID-19
hotspot as the Delta
variant pushes a surge of
new cases and deaths.
During the seven day
period from Aug. 20-27,
DPH reported 135 new
cases here along with
three deaths. Lamar also
went from 141 reported
hospitalizations to 145.
On a positive note, the
full vaccination rate
here crept up from 28%
to 29%. Some 34% of
the population here has
had at least the the first
dose.
The virus has forced a
reevaluation of whether
or not the Buggy Days
festival will be staged.
The virus shut down the
community’s signature
event last year. (See
story, page 2A).
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Man jailed after shooting three females
WALTER GEIGER
news@barnesville.com
A 40-year-old Barnesville
man is in the Lamar County jail
after wounding three females,
including a nine-year-old, in a
shooting incident on Washing
ton Street Aug. 27. Investiga
tors say Travis Lael Mercer of
225 Washington St., fired on the
three with a shotgun from his
vehicle at about 6:30 p.m. He
was arrested after a traffic stop
shortly thereafter.
In addition to the
juvenile, those hit were
Vicky Jackson and India
Jackson. All three were
taken to a Macon trauma
center but have since
been released. A lifeflight
chopper was summoned
for one victim but air opera
tions were suspended due to
storms in the area at the time.
Mercer, who had been caus
ing problems all day Friday,
including a dustup at
CVS, is charged with
three counts aggravated
assault, four counts reck
less conduct, two counts
first degree cruelty to
children and possession
of a firearm during the
commission of a felony.
Mercer is being held on
a $50,000 bond. Additional
charges are pending.
MERCER
THE HERALD GAZETTE/WALTER GEIGER
Sack time
Trojan defenders Ray Talmadge (54) and Da’Mien Settles (53) take down Crawford County quarterback Judd
Puckett in Friday night’s 49-7 win. Lamar (2-0) faces the Jackson Red Devils (1 -1) in their home opener this week.
Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. Friday at Trojan Field.
Public
hearings on
rock quarry
scheduled
Three public hearings are
scheduled on a proposed rock
quarry on 331.24 acres off Hwy.
41 South at its intersection
with Crawford Rd. An appli
cation for a quarry has been
made by 1D1 Land Holdings.
The planning commission
will hold a hearing Sept. 16 at 9
a.m. The board of appeals will
hold its hearing on the matter
Sept. 16 at 6 p.m. The county
commission will conduct a
hearing on Sept. 21 at 6 p.m.
with a vote possible at the
regular meeting to follow at 7
p.m.
Legal notice on the matter is
published on page 2A.
Millage rate
set, tax
bills being
prepared
The Lamar County com
mission gave final approval to
its millage rate
and that of the
school board at
a called meeting
Aug. 27. The total
rate for property
owners is 30.065
mills. Tax as
sessor Jeannie
Haddock and her
staff will meet
with state officials to get final
approval this week.
Tax bills should go out in
mid September and property
taxes will be due Nov. 15.
The county adopted a
rollback rate of 12.434 mills.
Haddock noted more revalua
tions will be needed next year,
increasing the digest. “Property
values are still going up. It
hasn’t slowed down at all. You
will see another huge inflation
growth in the digest next year
so you will have another roll
back rate then,” Haddock said.
HADDOCK
Law enforcement officers
take issue with book
issued to first graders;
school system apologizes
WALTER GEIGER
news@barnesville.com
PHOTO: VVE MORRELL
Inca dove has birdwatchers
flocking to Redbone
Several law enforcement
officers contacted The Herald
Gazette after learning of a
book that was sent home with
first graders in the Lamar
County system that contains
questionable im
ages that denigrate
law enforcement.
The book is entitled
‘The Patchwork
Bike’. It was written
by Maxine Beneba
Clarke and illustrat
ed by Van Thanh
Rudd.
One photo in
the book depicts
the lead character
giving a thumbs up while her
brothers stomp on a police
patrol car. “And we wonder
why kids have no respect for
police officers,” noted one
officer who asked to remain
anonymous.
In a letter sent home to
parents after the books were
distributed, school super
intendent Dr. Jute Wilson
assured the system does not
take positions on political,
social or controversial issues.
The book was among many
purchased with federal grant
money and among thousands
it has distributed to promote
literacy. In the future, books
will be screened more thor
oughly.
“We use several websites
to check reviews and screen
for inappropriate content.
An internet search portrays
this to be a highly rated and
recommended book for young
children. While the content
of the book does not
contain anything
controversial, we did
not properly screen
the illustrations in
the book. None of
the websites indi
cated any mention
of these depictions
which is concerning.
We have since added
measures to ensure
reading materials are
thoroughly screened,” Wilson
added.
A concerned parent
brought the book to the at
tention of administrators and
it was immediately pulled.
Approximately half of the sys
tem’s first graders received it.
“We literally access tens of
thousands of books annually
in our system. We encour
age parents and citizens to
contact us with any and all
concerns. We work to be
transparent while providing
a quality education which
serves all children and fami
lies,” Wilson concluded.
Inca doves are very rarely
spotted in Georgia but one
turned up in Redbone earlier
this month and birders have
turned out in flocks to observe
and photograph it.
“Inca dove is very rare in
Georgia with only a handful of
sightings recorded. This is the
first one outside the southwest
ern corner of the state. It is
hanging out in an area that has
a healthy population of com
mon ground doves,” noted local
birder Charlie Muise who is also
a firefighter/EMT.
The photograph of the dove
(above) was taken by noted
birder Yve Morrell of Glynn
County. ”Yve was returning from
a trip to Arizona but her plane
was diverted due to weather
so she stopped off here. At
least 25 people from around
the state have come to see this
bird, Probably more than that,”
Muise continued.
Dove season opens Saturday
at daybreak and the hope is the
Inca dove will avoid a load of
birdshot.
“The Inca dove is just a little
bigger than a sparrow so even
a casual hunter should be able
to easily discern this tiny dove
from a mourning or collared
dove,” Muise concluded.
WILSON
©2021 THE HERALD GAZETTE, BARNESVILLE, LAMAR COUNTY, GA 30204, 770.358.NEWS