Newspaper Page Text
WMm
Barnesyille^Ga. 30204
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December 27,2022
HERE???S THE
Hope Tree toy
collection a
huge success
SEE PAGE 5A
Roberts signs
with Huntingdon
College
SEE PAGE 3A
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Goodbye 2022; Hello 2023!
As with most years, 2022 was a mixed bag of
good news, bad news, heartwarming stories and
those that broke hearts.
It was a big year for local sports teams. The
Gordon club football team won a national title. The
Lamar County Trojans won their first region foot
ball title since 2016 and only the sixth in school
history. Coach Travis Ellington???s squad went 10-2
and advanced to the Sweet 16 round of the state
playoffs.
Both the Trojans and Lady Trojans won region
soccer titles, the girls basketball teams at both the
middle and high schools and the middle school
softball team also won titles. The 12U baseball all
stars made the Dixie Youth World Series, becom
ing the first local team to do so.
The community shook off the last vestiges of
the COV1D-19 pandemic. Violent crime seemed to
escalate with several drive-by shootings and one
murder case in Barnesville.
As usual, the community lost its share of be
loved citizens. One such death was that of Jean-
Marc Vallee who died last January of an apparent
heart attack at age 58. Vallee, an acclaimed film
maker, brought HBO???s ???Sharp Objects??? production
to Barnesville in 2017.
A full review of the past year begins on page IB.
THE HERALD GAZETTE/WALTER GEIGER
LC star now a Dawg
Trojan star CJ Allen (3) breaks loose on a long run in the regular season finale at Heard County in which LC claimed
its first region title since 2016.
Allen has signed with the Georgia Bulldogs (inset) and is in Athens taking part in practices as Georgia prepares
to take on Ohio State in the College Football Playoff Dec. 31. Allen, one of the top inside linebacker prospects in the
country, is the first Trojan football player to ever sign with the Dawgs.
State supreme
court upholds
conviction in local
murder case
WALTER GEIGER
news@barnesville.com
The Georgia Supreme
Court has upheld the mur
der convic
tions and a
life in prison
sentence for
Ronald Eu
gene Smith.
The court
convened
last week.
Smith was
convicted here in 2010 on
charges of felony murder,
malice murder, possession
of a firearm during the
commission of a crime and
tampering with evidence.
The charges stemmed
from the shooting death
of Charles Graves Adams.
Smith lay in wait for Adams
and shot him in the face
with a high-powered rifle
on Jan. 30, 2009, prosecu
tors said. Adams died on
the front porch of his Grove
Street duplex and was bur
ied in a pauper???s grave.
Smith is incarcerated
at Wheeler Correctional
Facility. He admitted under
oath that he killed Adams
after a night of using meth
and watching porn with his
wife.
Local man gets
life for killing
ex-girlfriend
A 22-year-old Barnesville
man was sentenced to life
in prison plus five years
last week for shooting his
ex-girlfriend to death in
front of her family at a bar
becue in 2021.
Raphael Kelley, who at
one point lived at Fuller???s
Trailer Park here, pleaded
guilty to malice murder
and possession of a firearm
during the commission of
a felony Dec. 19 in Henry
County superior court.
Kelley shot his girlfriend,
Laci Moss, to death in
front of her mother and
other family members at
a holiday gathering. Moss,
21, was shot multiple times.
Officers at the scene de
scribed the shooting scene
as ???brutal???.
The killing happened
July 4 at Skyland Mobile
Home Park in Locust Grove.
Sentencing was handled
by Judge Pandora Palmer.
SMITH
Gordon State College gives out 249 degrees during fall commencement
KAROLINA PHILM0N
GSC Marketing Manager
On Friday, Dec. 16,
Gordon State College
held its fall commence
ment in-person at the
Student Activity and
Recreation Center
(SARC) on the Barnes
ville campus.
The day consisted of
two commencement cer
emonies split between
three schools with a to
tal of 236 graduates and
249 total degrees recog
nized for their baccalau
reate and associate. The
School of Business, Lib
eral Arts, and Social Sci
ences (BLASS) began at
9 a.m. while The School
of Nursing, Health, and
Natural Sciences (NHNS)
along with The School of
Education, Mathematics,
and Applied Sciences
(EMAS) took place at 1
p.m.
???We celebrate our
Highlanders today on an
impeccable milestone.
These women and men
of Highlander Nation
can apply the knowledge
they have gained at Gor
don State College with
a positive and profound
impact on the commu
nity,??? said GSC President
Dr. Kirk A. Nooks. ???The
time and work these
graduates have endured
here has prepared them
to do things they never
thought possible. Fall
graduates of 2022, you
represent inspiring evi
dence of the wisdom you
achieved, and the full
meaning of Highlanders,
SEE GSC GRADUATION 5A
??2022 THE HERALD GAZETTE, BARNESVILLE, LAMAR COUNTY, GA 30204, 770.358.NEWS
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