Newspaper Page Text
Vol. 130, No. 24 - Waynesboro, Ga. 30830
Established in 1882
Wednesday, September 22, 2010 - $1.00
Here come the
tractors!
If it was “country,” it was there. Farm Fest 2010
boasted its biggest turnout ever as residents
poured into Waynesboro Saturday to pay homage
to local farmers and peruse the livestock and an
tique tractor displays. Grilling teams competed for
the best ribs in Burke County, and children took
turns at pedal tractor races and pie eating contests.
Above, youngsters react as the parade of tractors
makes its way through downtown Waynesboro. The
local festival is sponsored by the Waynesboro
Shrine Club, and proceeds support the Shriner’s
Hospital which treats crippled and burned children
at no charge to the families. See page 3 for more
photos from the event.
Proposed Judicial Center
Commissioners address location
By Roy Chalker
rchalker@bellsouth.net
Burke County Commission
ers have agreed to study the pos
sibility of locating the proposed
new judicial center in or near
the downtown Waynesboro
business district. Representa
tives of the Downtown Organi
zation of Retailers and the
Downtown Development Au
thority met with the commis
sion last Tuesday to voice their
concern about the possibility of
the courts being moved out of
downtown. They were backed
by a standing room-only crowd.
First National Bank president
Jesse C. Palmer III told the
group that Waynesboro was for
tunate to have a thriving and
vibrant downtown, but that it
didn’t happen without hard
work. He emphasized the im
pact that court activity has on
local restaurants and other busi
nesses.
Palmer acknowledged that the
price for downtown property
would be higher, but said the
initial cost would be offset by
the long tern benefits to local
business. He presented the com
missioners with a package of
proposed sites within the area
the group thought would be suit
able for the new facility, along
with a petition signed by sev
eral hundred residents support
ing the downtown location.
Mayor George DeLoach re
minded the commission that the
city had been designated as a
Main Street community in 2009
and urged the commission to
find a downtown location for
the center.
Former Mayor Jesse Stone
addressed the issue "from a
lawyer’s point of view” and
pointed out the fact that Bulloch
County had solved a similar
problem by building a smaller
than planned facility diagonally
across from the existing court
house.
Commission Chairman
Wayne Crockett asked Jesse
Palmer to serve on a steering
committee to plan the facility
and its location. He assured the
group that "nobody on this com
mission is anti-downtown
Waynesboro,” but the cost of
the land and availability of park
ing are issues that must be ad
dressed.
Crockett also suggested the
possibility of relocating other
county offices and leaving the
existing building to be used ex
clusively for court related ac
tivities. He squashed the rumor
that judges had ordered the
county to build a new judicial
center to hold court.
Pecan Grove
N eighborhood
plagued by
rampant crime
By Elizabeth Billips
lizbillips@yahoo.com
Gate it, light it up and evict the troublemakers.
That’s what will happen if the owners of the crime-
ridden Pecan Grove subdivision follow the recommenda
tions of their newly hired security firm.
But some residents are calling “foul” and pleading with
city council to put the brakes on the construction of
Hammond Development’s second housing project in
Waynesboro.
In less than a week, city council convened three times
with police department heads and private security em
ployees. The meetings were fueled in part by police re
ports of possible gang fights over the past weekend. While
those fights never materialized, Robert Prichard of
Hediger Enterprises spent the weekend at the complex
and proposed an aggressive plan to weed out bad tenants
and keep out roaming teens from nearby housing projects.
“If we don’t close off the way they’re getting in, we’re
never going to get them off the property,” Prichard said,
recommending the entire complex be gated and the
Lover’s Lane entrance be closed.
Prichard said he spent much of his time talking to resi
dents and found that most were afraid to leave their homes
after dark. He believes much of the fear is connected to
ongoing conflicts between juveniles who are rumored to
be connected to two rival gangs.
At a public safety meeting Sept. 14, Major Mary
Bennett said recent problems at Pecan Grove accounted
for around 55 percent of her agency’s caseload. “We were
there all weekend, all day yesterday, all day today,” she
said, detailing a large fight in which two armed teens
were arrested. “We are talking about children with guns.”
At another meeting last Thursday, officer Gabriel
Mendez detailed some of the ongoing issues.
“The problem is the environment ... no lighting, no
street signs and a layout that allows (the offenders) to see
officers coming,” he said, noting that 10-15 empty drug
baggies can be found at the subdivision’s pavilion nearly
every morning. “Sometimes we’re called there four or
five times in one hour, and we’ve arrested more drug
dealers there than anywhere in the city. It looks good in
there with all those nice houses, but it is so infested with
thugs.”
Prichard would soon have his own firsthand accounts.
Just as Thursday night’s meeting ended, he followed
Waynesboro firefighters to the complex where they ex
tinguished a dumpster set on fire by juveniles. The next
morning a house was burglarized, and then a car was bro
ken into.
By Tuesday night, a draft of his 11-page security plan
was ready for council’s review. If all works as he hopes,
residents who live in the 104 houses at Pecan Grove will
see immediate change. “We know there’s a problem and
we’re ready to move forward,” Prichard said, noting that
onsite management employees will have to meet the mark.
“The (plan) is only as good as us stepping up to the plate
and making it happen.”
- See Pecan Grove, page 9
Burke County High School
Discipline referrals cut in half so far this year
By Anne Marie Kyzer
annemariek@thetmecitizen.com
In the first 22 days of school,
the number of students sent to
the office has been cut in half
at Burke County High School.
So far, administrators have
seen 471 discipline referrals,
down from 855 at the same time
last year.
Though Principal Sam
Adkins said a number of vari
ables could be at play, he
mostly credits the drastic de
cline to a new proactive system
of approaching discipline.
7 *16122 *04 420 7
The program, called Positive
Behavioral Interventions and
Supports, makes expectations
clear to students and equips
teachers so they can more ef
fectively manage their class
rooms and cut down on distur
bances. It also allows adminis
trators to track discipline issues
and use the data to pinpoint
when, where and in what situ
ations discipline issues tend to
spike. That data helps them ef
fectively target problem areas.
Adkins piloted the program
for the school system at SGA
Elementary when he was prin
cipal there, and it is now used
in all of the schools. This marks
the first year it has been imple
mented at the high school,
which he said is more challeng
ing but can be done.
Mimi Gudenrath of the
Georgia Department of Educa
tion visited the school Tuesday
and heard a report of their
progress.
“It’s very impressive data,”
she said, adding that the school
is on the right track.
Gray Kicklighter, who leads
the implementation of the pro
gram for the school system,
said the goal is to create an im
proved climate for learning.
“It just builds for a much bet
ter place to be,” she said.
“You’re increasing the positive
interactions with students and
decreasing negative interac
tions.”
Adkins said that feeds into
his philosophy of building bet
ter relationship with students.
“I firmly believe that you
can’t educate a child until you
build a relationship with them,”
Adkins said, noting that this
approach also keeps them from
missing class time for trips to
the office. “One of the main
reasons we decided to imple
ment PBIS was to increase in
structional time so students can
make the gains they need to
make.”
- See Discpline, page 9
Adkins, Gudenrath and Kicklighter walk through
Burke County High School during a class change.
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