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Our First Responders
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Vol. 142, No. 15 - Waynesboro, Ga. 30830
Established in 1882
Wednesday, June 1,2022 - $1.00
falls to the curbside
Trash
SHELLIE SMITLEY
thetruecitizen.shellie@gmail.com
Curbside trash pickup appears to
be a dead issue for the foreseeable
future after a special-called meeting
May 25 failed to result in a solu
tion to managing the county’s solid
pickup
waste.
The Board of Commissioners
could not agree on an approach they
wanted to use. Instead, they asked
staff members to supply them with
figures on constructing and operating
10-15 manned convenience centers
across the county and report their
findings during another meeting in
June.
Additionally, the BOC discussed
a proposed SPLOST V project list.
Discussions centered on how much
funding to use for broadband and
recreation. The topic was tabled,
pending further discussion during the
June 15 Finance Committee meeting.
The panel has publicly committed $4
million from American Rescue Plan
Act funds. The financial commit
ment from the Board of Education
remains unclear.
“We intend to apply for broadband
grant funds from the state later this
summer,” said County Manger Merv
Waldrop. “Staff has asked for $20
million of the SPLOST V funds to go
toward broadband in Burke County.
We expect it will take over $40 mil
lion to reach the entire county.”
Local
WOMAN
GETS
HEART
TRANSPLANT
SHELLIE SMITLEY
thetruecitizen.shellie@gmail.com
A May 29 Facebook post by Sonja Fitzgerald
reads, Y’all, tell me God ain’t real! Renee Rowell
got an unexpected call to get to Vanderbilt in Nash
ville to get her new heart! Praise the Lord! She has
to be there in 4 hours. Please pray that the pilot will
have no trouble getting them there on time. Martie
Dixon, is driving to Atlanta to meet the pilot to get
them! Pray for safe driving! They are doing surgery
on Renee tonight!”
Renee made the list for a much-needed heart
transplant after physicians diagnosed her with con
gestive heart failure in 2016. Her ejection fraction,
a measurement used to calculate the percentage of
blood that leaves the heart every time it contracts,
went down to 10, she said. Normal ejection frac
tions typically range from 60-70 in healthy adults.
Renee began cardiac rehab and wore a defibrilla
tor and took medicine and raised her ejection rate
back to 55.
“They said I was almost back to normal,” she said.
Then in 2019, at the age of 68, her heart took a
turn for the worse. Her ejection fraction rate bel
lowed down to five for no apparent reason. While
she was hospitalized she was given two choices,
wear a Left Ventricular Assist Device (L/VAD)
or die. Doctors implanted the pump, designed for
patients who have reached end-stage heart failure.
The battery-operated device assisted the left side
of Renee’s heart by pumping blood to the rest of
her body.
“All the wires are in my stomach and it came out
of my side,” Renee said. “I was hooked to 10 lbs.
of batteries that I carried around.”
At night Renee plugged herself into an outlet.
“I am the bionic woman,” she said jokingly. “I
just didn’t want to have an L/VAD for the rest of
my life.”
For three years, Renee fought to be added to
an organ donor list. Due to her age, she was told
numerous times, she was too old to receive a heart.
“I’m 71, so I thought there was no hope,” Renee
Renee Rowell received a heart transplant May 30.
claimed. But, every transplant center has its own
criteria, and things changed after a doctor sug
gested she call Vanderbilt University Hospital in
Tennessee. After numerous trips and evaluations,
the hospital told her she was eligible for a transplant.
“They told me I didn’t look my age and my body
was in good shape,” Renee said and added that for
the next 30 days, she was considered to be a number
three priority on the waiting list. If a match didn’t
materialize in the next month, she would have re
mained on the list but moved down one level to the
L/VAD category four on the priority list.
Renee said she faced criticism about wanting a
heart transplant at her age.
“I am just deserving as anyone else,” she said. “I
have a lot of life to live. I have 12 grandchildren and
four great-grandchildren that need their grandma. I
don’t want anyone to pass away for me to live, but I
do feel like I am as deserving of a heart as anybody.”
Renee said she looks forward to being able to
manage daily tasks without toting a 10-lb battery
pack around. She often finds herself exhausted and
out of breath.
“I would love to work, I have done hair in Burke
County for 50 years,” Renee said laughing. “I’m
used to working in a beauty shop and running my
mouth all of the time.”
Doctors don’t know why Renee’s heart failed.
However, she fought and beat breast cancer after
28 rounds of radiation in 2011. She also had lymph
nodes removed after a battle with
melanoma.
SEE
Renee credits local friends and
family members for support-
R0WELL,
Driver leads deputy
on high-speed chase
SHELLIE SMITLEY
thetruecitizen.shellie@gmail.com
Deputy Austin Plueger of the
Burke County Sheriff’s Office at
tempted to pull over a Nissan truck
on tag and seatbelt violations Thurs
day, May 25, but instead, ended up
in a high- speed chase.
Jonathon Dossey of Hephzibah,
turned right off of Old Waynesboro
Road onto Gresham Road, failing
to stop as he headed toward Hwy 25
N. According to the official incident
report, Dossey’s vehicle speed was
in excess of 85 mph. As Plueger
pursued Dossey’s vehicle at speeds
of up to 95 mph, Dossey crossed the
center median near North Lake Drive
into oncoming traffic.
He continued on Hwy 25 N in the
southbound lanes heading towards
Winter Road, striking multiple con
struction barrels along the way and
barely missing oncoming traffic.
Dossey’s vehicle then crossed
the center median just before Allen
Road, causing the bed of his truck
to fall completely off. Still, Dossey
continued on Hwy 25 N, crossing
into Richmond County at high speed.
Slamming on his brakes, Dossey
attempted to make an abrupt right
turn onto Collins Road. Instead,
he lost control of his vehicle and
crashed into a ditch. Dossey exited
his vehicle and attempted to outrun
Plueger and Deputy Forrest Gould.
Jonathon Dossey
Finally, Dossey surrendered to the
officers.
A child’s backpack sitting on the
driver’s seat of Dossey’s truck con
tained a Smith and Wesson .38 cali
ber revolver, a cartridge and spent
cartridge casing, Plueger wrote. The
BCSO charged Dossey with pos
session of a firearm by a convicted
felon, fleeing and attempting to
elude, obstruction of a law enforce
ment officer, failure to stop at a stop
sign, window tint violation, driving
on the wrong side of the road, tag and
registration violations, no insurance,
reckless driving, acquiring a license
plate for the purpose of concealing
and no seatbelt.
Dossey was previously convicted
in Burke County Superior Court on
possession of Methamphetamine
and possession of marijuana with
the intent to sell. He was sentenced
to five years of probation.
Honoring Veterans
American Legion Post 120 of Waynesboro hosted a Memorial Day Service
on Monday May 30 at the American Legion Building. Post Honor Guard
and Post Chaplain Bill Tinley presented the Memorial Address.
The quest to bring Boggs Academy back to life
SHELLIE SMITLEY
thetruecitizen.shellie@gmail.com
The Boggs World Life Center Inc.
Board is taking a hard look at what
it will take for a total renovation of
the Boggs Academy property.
Historically, Boggs Academy
was a Presbyterian school founded
in 1906. Functioning as a college-
preparatory academy for African
Americans, the institution was ac
credited by the Southern Association
of colleges and Secondary Schools
in 1943. The last class graduated in
1984 and the school closed officially
in 1986.
Since then, the property has fallen
into disrepair. However, recently
appointed board members are moti
vated to bring the academy back to
life, with a 5-year vision of restoring
the campus as a vital community
resource. The property was gifted
to the Presbyterian church; however,
a covenant leaves the Boggs World
Life Center board in charge of its
taxes and upkeep.
There has been some expressed
interest from medical schools inquir
ing about using the academy as a hub
or satellite location. However, the
buildings are not in a condition to
house them. During the pandemic,
the board worked with the Burke
County Public School
system to install satel
lite internet service on
the campus so that rural
SEE
BOGGS,
12
Like this building, many of the structures at Boggs Academy require
major renovations.