Newspaper Page Text
Vol. 132, No. 32-Waynesboro, Ga. 30830
Established in 1882
Wednesday, October 10,2012 - $1.0C
Haley Long, 12, and Ally Gresham, 13, center, share a laugh on the swings Tuesday evening at the fair.
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Midway opens at Exchange Club Fair
Juvenile judge
calls for change
By Anne Marie Kyzer
Annemariek@thetruecitizen.com
Burke County’s youngest offenders are getting a wake-up
call.
Juvenile Court Judge Doug
loud and clear.
Juvenile Judge Doug
Flanagan says the judges’
new fulltime status will allow
more focus on the court’s ef
fectiveness.
Flanagan wants them to hear it
“This is not a game that you
committed a felony.” Judge
Flanagan told four teens, ages
13-16, in court last week before
setting their bond for burglary
charges. “If you commit a
crime, you will be punished. If
you get out, tell your friends.”
It’s a word of warning he
wants children to take seriously
as well as their parents, who can
be required to pay restitution
and damages caused by crimes
such as burglary.
It’s also a message to residents
and business owners who may
have been hesitant to report
crimes committed by juveniles
in the past, thinking the cases
would never be resolved.
“We are open for business,”
Judge Flanagan said. "I encour-
- See Judge, page 9
By Anne Marie Kyzer
annemariek@thetruecitizen.com
The midway came alive for
opening night at the county fair
Tuesday.
The Waynesboro Exchange
Club, celebrating its 65 th anniver
sary this year, is once again of
fering rides, games, and enter
tainment as part of its largest an
nual fundraiser. The fair runs
through Saturday night, with the
gates opening at 5:45 p.m. each
weekday and at 3 p.m. on Satur
day.
Exchange Club president Kristi
Griffin said there will be a new
addition this year in the way of
nightly cornhole tournaments
Tuesday-Friday.
The tournaments will be held
nightly and are open to the first
10 two-person teams that sign up
each night, according to board
member Mickey Stewart, who is
overseeing the tournaments.
“This is just a fun tournament
to introduce the game of
cornhole,” he said, adding that
it’s become popular in surround
ing towns like Swainsboro.
The cornhole, also known as
bean toss, tournaments will be
gin at 8 p.m., and the first team
to reach 21 points will win. Prize
money will be awarded to the
first, second and third place
teams.
One-of-a-kind boards were
built and painted for the tourna
ment and sponsored by local mer
chants, including the Corner
Store, Burke Pawn and Fire
arms, Mizell Ford, First National
Bank and Wisteria Hall. A Bird
Dog Capital of the World board
is also in the mix and will be do
nated to the Center for New Be
ginnings.
On Friday and Saturday
nights, the Levi Walker Band will
also perform live.
Once again, the fair commit
tee welcomed back Family At
tractions Amusement Co. to pro
vide the midway, which is packed
with games, funhouses and rides.
Among them are two new attrac
tions, the Spin Out, a wild one-
minute ride for those with strong
stomachs, and a zip line.
Admission to the fair is $3 and
armbands for unlimited rides are
available for $15. A new policy
this year will allow children un
der 32 inches tall to be admitted
free.
Carson Hernandez, 3, and his dad Nathan try their luck with a fishing game.
Subway hold-up
Police search for
robber with a cold
By Elizabeth Billips
lizbillips@yahoo.com
Police don’t know who robbed Subway, but they know he
was sick.
That could be the biggest clue in solving the weekend hold
up at the South Liberty Street restaurant.
The unidentified robber walked to the counter at Subway
around 5 p.m. Saturday, according to officers who are review
ing security footage of the entire hold-up.
After getting the employee’s attention, he held up his hand,
which was wrapped in a peach colored rag, and told her “Give
me the money ... I have a gun.”
“He sounded so sick, the employee didn’t think he was seri
ous at first,” said Waynesboro Police investigator Sgt. Charles
Prescott. “Witnesses said he was sneezing and wheezing and
coughing into a rag that he had over his face ... he was so weak,
he was leaning over a table."
According to the police report, another employee slipped out
of the store and called 911 while the robber was still inside, but
within seconds the gunman made off with around $200 and ran
towards Bi-Lo. Officers believe he cut through the woods and
came out along East Sixth Street.
A Richmond County K-9 team tracked him to that area, but
lost his scent near Mundy Gin.
He is described as a dark complexioned black male, approxi
mately 6-feet to 6’3, 20-30 years old, and was wearing a black
stocking cap, long sleeved white T-shirt, jeans and white tennis
shoes.
This was the second hold-up at Subway since late June when
a gunman robbed a manager who was walking to his car with a
bank deposit bag. Investigators do not believe the robberies
are connected.
KNOW SOMETHING?
Call 706-554-8029 with any information about the robbery or suspect.
Unions to hold local meeting on training opportunities
By Anne Marie Kyzer
annemariek@thetrueciitzen.com
More than a dozen unions will
be represented at an outreach event
in Waynesboro next week, where
local residents can learn more
about training opportunities and
possible employment through
Plant Vogtle’s expansion.
The event will be held 4-8 p.m„
Thursday, Oct. 18 at the
Waynesboro Ice Plant on Barron
Street and is being planned by the
Augusta Building and Construc
tion Trades Council and the Burke
County Development Authority.
The two groups have been col
laborating for about six months in
hopes of reaching out to Burke
County residents about the appli
cation process and possible em
ployment.
“The Development Authority is
doing everything it can to get
people in Burke County em
ployed," authority chairman W.H.
"Dub” Harper Jr. said.
Representatives from the unions
will be on-hand to explain the fit
ness for duty requirements as well
as the qualification process for
union journeymen and the appli
cation process for training.
Among the unions expected are
the Insulators, Boilermakers,
Bricklayers, Carpenters, Cement
Masons, Electrical Workers,
Structural Ironworkers, Reinforc
ing Iron Workers, Laborers, Mill
wrights, Operating Engineers,
Painters, Plumbers and Pipefitters,
Sheet Metal Workers, Sprinkler
Fitters and Teamsters.
In addition to next Thursday’s
outreach event, a representative of
The Shaw Group, the general con
tractor for Plant Vogtle’s Units 3
and 4, will be available the first
Wednesday of each month to of
fer information on non-craft, or
professional, employment. They
will be at the Burke County De
velopment Authority’s office on
East Sixth Street from 1-5 p.m.
Development Authority Execu
tive Director Jerry Long said
nearly 20 people stopped in last
Wednesday, the first week the ses
sions were held.
“They are trying to see if they
can get more and more people
from Burke County involved,”
Long said, promoting both the
weekly sessions and the union
event. “We hope people will come
out and at least see what it’s all
about.”
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‘Come Back to Keysville’
festival slated for Saturday
It’s time to Come Back to Keysville.
This Saturday, a number of state and local officials will join
Burke County residents in the annual Keysville celebration.
The event will kick off at 10:45 a.m. with a parade down
Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, by the water tower.
Burke County Sheriff Greg Coursey will be this year’s grand
marshal.
After the parade, a program will be held at the pavilion on
Perkins Mill Road. Former Georgia Labor Commissioner
Michael Thurmond will be the keynote speaker, and attorney
Bettieanne Hart, a former Superior Court judge and state leg
islator, will be master of the ceremony.
“We are very excited," Mayor Maggie Cartwright said, not
ing there will food and fun for all ages, including infatables
for the kids, arts and crafts, and a car show.
To sign up for the parade or a vendor booth, call 706-547-
3007. ^
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