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Vol. 139, No. 45 - Waynesboro, Ga. 30830 Established in 1882 Wednesday, December 25, 2019 - $1.00
County holds groundbreaking for animal shelter
DIANA ROYAL
jdianaroyal@gmail.com
After a decades-long battle to get
it here, Burke County has broken
ground on its first ever animal
shelter.
The groundbreaking ceremony was
held Wednesday afternoon, as all five
county commissioners, along with
animal services director Chaddrick
Parrish and county manager Merv
Waldrop picked up shovels to turn
the dirt at the site, located just
beyond the Burke County EMA
headquarters on Highway 24 South.
The building, designed by Carter
Watkins Associates Architects
Inc., will be constructed by
MMI Construction of Uvalda for
$790,000 and is expected to house
approximately 60 animals at a time,
nearly double the size of the facility’s
initial design.
Parrish, who stepped into the
director’s roll in September of 2018,
has been busy preparing — finalizing
the county’s animal control ordinance
and getting deputized in the process
while answering hundreds of animal-
related calls.
“Merry Christmas to the animals
and citizens of Burke County,” he
said. “This has been something
needed for a long time, and we are
continuing to make great strides to
get the project up and going. I am
very excited to get the shelter up and
running so that we can provide better
service to the animals and citizens of
the county.”
While many in the community join
in his excitement to see the project
come to fruition, others have taken
to social media to voice concerns
that the facility is not a no-kill
shelter. Parrish assures
SEE
that euthanasia is a last
resort. ANIMAL
The county’s animal SHELTER,
control ordinance states 3
Commissioners, along with animal services director Chaddrick Parrish
and county manager Merv Waldrop, break ground on the county’s first
animal shelter Wednesday afternoon.
Kandace Dewberry, pictured with her granddaughter,
Sarah, is celebrating the first Christmas of her great-
granddaughter, also Kandace, thanks to a kidney
transplant earlier this year.
Debbie Salter and her children, Sarah-Ann and Thomas Kelly, in recovery after Debbie
gifted her kidney to Thomas for Christmas
DIANA ROYAL
jdianaroyal@gmail.com
T his Christmas, “home”
has taken on a whole
new meaning for a local
family.
While most spend the morning
unwrapping gifts around a twinkling
tree, sharing laughs and cups of
coffee, Thomas Kelly is nearly 300
miles away, transitioning from the
hospital to his new home away from
home. But he’s all smiles, throwing
double thumbs up in the air or a pair
of rock hands as his sister, Sarah-
Ann Kelly, posts updates on social
media. Thomas got quite a unique
gift for Christmas — his mama gave
him a kidney.
From the Mayo Clinic in
Jacksonville, Fla., Sarah-Ann’s
biggest announcement to family and
friends came in the late afternoon on
Dec. 20: The kidney is in!
It’s a far cry from where Thomas
was back in March when what he
thought was an annoying sinus
infection turned to renal failure in
just a matter of days. A rare disease
left him in need of a kidney, and
when doors seemed to close around
the family in their quest to find him
a donor, the Mayo Clinic called with
the news they’d prayed for: Thomas’
mother, Debbie Salter, passed the
clinic’s criteria and was a match for
her son; she’d be giving him the gift
of life for a second time.
On the morning of the transplant,
Debbie prayed over her family,
excited the day had finally arrived.
Her anesthesiologist said he’d never
seen anyone that calm prior to
surgery.
Despite a late, scary night, in
anticipation of chest scan results and
worried the surgery might be stalled,
plus very little sleep, the family
waited their turn patiently. “They
were behind a few hours because of
three other transplants,” Sarah-Ann
says. “Four people got kidneys that
day, and I am so thankful for that.
After watching Thomas wait and
feel awful with deteriorating health,
our family can truly celebrate for any
patients who get their gift.”
Just before Thomas himself headed
to the operating room, he says his
thoughts were with
his mother. “I just
wanted her to be muinhy,
okay." ’ When he laid 3
Armed
robbery
investigation
ROY F. CHALKER JR.
rchalker@bellsouth.net
The Burke County Sheriff’s Office
is investigating a December 15th
incident in which a woman says
she beaten, kidnapped and had her
car stolen.
At about 9 p.m. on Dec. 15, depu
ties responded to a reported armed
robbery on Highway 23 near Saxon
Rd.
The officers met with David Mi
chael Kokochak of Tampa, Florida,
who said he had been flagged down
by a woman “acting hysterical” on
the side of the road.
Forty-eight year old Tina Miller
of Highway 56 North told the depu
ties someone had stolen her 2016
Fincoln. She also said she had been
beaten and dumped where the pass
erby found her.
Miller was transported to Doctors
Hospital for treatment. The incident
was turned over to the Criminal In
vestigation Division.
Eater that night the BCSO was
contacted by the Richmond County
Sheriff’s Office about a vehicle that
was set on fire on Highway 88 just
inside the Richmond County Fine.
Officers were able to determine that
the burned vehicle belonged to the
victim.
Chief Deputy Fewis Blanchard
said this week that there was a delay
in reporting the incident “because
several leads and interviews needed
to be conducted before the incident
report was able to be released so as
to not jeopardize the case or those
leads.”
Man gets three years prison for vehicular homicide
DIANA ROYAL
jdianaroyal @ gmail .com
A former Vogtle employee was
sentenced to three years in prison
after his involvement in a fiery crash
last year that left another man dead.
Michael Eugene Hayes, 24,
pleaded guilty to homicide by
vehicle in the first degree before
Superior Court Judge Sheryl B. Jolly
on Thursday, for the March 5, 2018
death of Franz Schultz, 48, who
was also an employee at the nuclear
plant’s construction site during the
time of the crash. Schultz was headed
to work as Hayes was leaving the
facility. According to reports, he
was weaving in and out of traffic at
high rates of speed and hit Schultz
head-on after attempting to pass a
UPS truck.
During his sentencing, Hayes’
attorney spoke on his behalf, citing
an abusive upbringing that led the
man to a troubled early adulthood
and eventual homelessness. “He
just started putting his life together
when this happened,” his attorney
said, asking for the judge’s mercy.
He spent three weeks in the hospital
himself, underwent four surgeries
and suffers short-term memory
loss. “He thinks about the victim
every day and is afraid he will never
experience the type of forgiveness
that he needs.”
Hayes claims he had worked a 3
p.m. to 3 a.m. shift the night before
the incident and that he’d been called
back to work just three hours later at
6 a.m. At 3 p.m., he was sent home
to get his badge, and the accident
happened four minutes later.
Assistant District Attorney Rex
Myers reminded the court that this
was just one of many homicides
by vehicle in that area and that the
sheriff’s official has been working
with Plant Vogtle and Georgia Power
leaders to try to get a grip on the
problem.
“Hayes was one-hundred percent
at fault,” Myers said, adding that
there were no other contributing
factors to the crash. Both men had
clean toxicology reports.
Hayes, whose brother and former
foreman were in court supporting
him, said he was in a hurry because
he wanted to set an example at work
and show that he could be on time.
“This is the worst case scenario,”
Judge Jolly said, adding that these
cases are always
difficult because SEE
there is a loss of VEHICULAR
life. “The action is HOMICIDE,
not as simple as it
being foggy or the