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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). Subscribe. Your name goes on the label in this box 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