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WAYNESBORO, GEORGIA
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Vol. 142, No. 19 - Waynesboro, Ga. 30830 Established in 1882 Wednesday, June 29, 2022 - $1.00
Abortion controversy hits home
SHELLIE SMITLEY
thetuecitizen.shelliel@gmail.com
District Attorney Jared T. Williams
says he refuses to prosecute those
who seek, assist with or provide
abortions.
Williams issued a press release
after the Supreme Court overturned
the Roe v. Wade 1973 ruling June
24, allowing many states to restrict
or make abortion illegal. Last week’s
ruling is one of the few times the
Supreme Court invalidated an earlier
decision that declared a constitu
tional right. As the decision sparked
protests around the country, Wil
liams joined 83 elected prosecutors
from around the nation, who say they
refuse to prosecute those participat
ing in abortion. Williams added his
signature to a joint statement that
claims that using limited crimi
nal justice resources to prosecute
personal healthcare decisions runs
counter to their obligation to pursue
justice and promote public safety.
“Our legislatures may decide to
criminalize personal healthcare
decisions, but we remain obligated
to prosecute only those cases that
serve the interests of justice and the
people,” the press release states.
Williams said the joint statement
emphasizes how abortion bans
disproportionately harm victims of
sexual abuse, rape, incest, human
trafficking and domestic violence
and that many anti-abortion laws
either do not provide exceptions
for victims of sexual violence or
force survivors to choose between
reporting their assault or carrying a
nonconsensual pregnancy to term.
“I fight violent gangs who kill
children in the street,” Williams said
in the press release. “I fight abusive
parents who put their kids in the
hospital. I fight child molesters who
prey on our children. Until our com
munity is rid of violent crime and
sexual predators, I will not expend
our limited resources to prosecute
women and their doctors for personal
healthcare decisions.”
In a June 24 Facebook post,
Augusta radio personality Austin
Rhodes criticized Williams for
pledging to not uphold the law as his
oath requires.
“I appreciate the Augusta DA
stating for the record
& SEE
that he is planning and
conspiring to break the ABORTION,
law and his oath of of- 3
First liquor store opens here
After years of being dry,
Waynesboro citizens voted in
November 2021 to approve the
sale of distilled spirits inside the
city limits.
After getting the city council’s
approval in May, the first pack
age store, Bird Dog Beverages,
opened its doors to the public
on Friday, June 24th. The store
is run by Jennifer Harper and
located at 627 Shadrack Street,
previously known as the Mundy
Shuman Building.
“Even with competition, our
goal is to have the best prices
and best selection in town. Our
store is clean and neat and our
staff goal is to make every cus
tomer welcome and happy that
they supported a local business”
Harper commented. “We took an
old building, fixed it up, put over
$700,000 in inventory, and have
worked very hard to make it into
a store that the city of Waynes
boro is proud of!“
Harper added that after getting
their first delivery truck on Mon
day, June 13th, every employee
and distributor were all hands
on deck to make sure everything
was perfect. “We worked 13
hour days, printed over 1000
price tags, priced over 500 dif
ferent types of wine & checked
in over 7000 cases of liquor.”
she said. Along with herself, she
expects to keep 8-10 employees
that will help the business run
smoothly 7 days a week.
Harper commented that the
only roadblock they’ve run into
during the process is that their
beer cooler has not come in yet.
“I hope people will bear with
us while we are still anxiously
awaiting the arrival of our beer
cave and 9 door cooler.”
“We are happy that we could
improve an abandoned building.
We think that our location has a
good traffic rate but also a good
amount of side street parking.”
Harper stated when asked about
their location.
“Every item sold in the store
carries a tax that goes directly
to the City of Waynesboro,” she
added.
Vidette seeks to
find new leadership
SHELLIE SMITLEY
thetruecitizen.shellie@gmail.com
The Vidette City Council struggled
to choose an alternate councilmem-
ber June 22 as they head toward
deciding their next mayor.
“This is unusual,” City Attorney
Chris Dube said of the situation. “It’s
like a puzzle.”
Four people stepped up to fill one
vacant and one potentially vacant
council seat. The panel was tasked
last week with agreeing on a can
didate, who after being sworn in
next month, will vote, along with
the other three members, on who to
appoint as mayor.
If Mayor pro tern Michael Pollex
is appointed, then his council seat
will also need to be filled. Therefore,
the council had to agree on an alter
nate council member. However, the
mayor’s office is up for grabs, and
can be filled by anyone voted on by
a majority of the panel members.
Councilwoman Samantha Williams
has publicly voiced her opposition
to Pollex. However, Pollex, as part
of the sitting council, can cast a vote
for himself.
Council candidate J. R. Alley said,
“There seems to be a lot of confusion
in the town,” he said. “A lot of old
folks worried about the town going
back to the county. What I would
like to see is some good, competent
people come together with some
good ideas.”
Brian Segrest appealed to the panel
next. “I would love to see some in
ternet,” he said.
Candidate Helen Walden did not
appear in person but provided the
council with a letter of interest in
stead. The last candidate was Josh
Williams, husband of Councilwoman
Samantha Williams.
The decision to appoint Alley to
the first seat went smoothly with Mi
chael, Monalisa Pollex and Saman
tha Williams voting unanimously.
However, the panel went round and
round voting on the rest of the can
didates. After going through each of
the candidates, the panel broke out
into an emotional discussion.
“My recommendation is that we
have to figure this out,” Dube said.
“We have these people coming for
ward wanting to serve, somebody
has to make a compromise here.”
Samantha Williams began by
questioning Walden’s motive for
applying.
“I don’t have anything against
her,” she said. “But we need some
one who not going to throw her
hands up like we had before. I don’t
want to get into that again, I want to
move forward.”
Williams suggested the council
would be better suited with a male
councilmember who understands
mechanical issues. She accused the
Pollex couple of not voting for Josh
Williams because he is her husband
and would join her in opposition to
Michael Pollex as mayor. She then
voiced her concern about the Pollex
couple both filling seats in the city’s
government.
Councilwoman Monalisa Pollex
and Councilwoman Samantha Wil
liams got into a discussion about
how they felt about each other’s hus
bands, which evolved into their feel
ings about former mayor Rosemary
Baughman. Samantha Williams went
on to express concern about the
Pollex couple’s abil- g^
ity to handle the city’s
finances, claiming she VIDETTE,
represented others in 12
SERVANT LEADERSHIP AT ITS BEST
Burke County Health Foundation to benefit those most in need
What makes us great as humans is
our humanity, and there is just some
thing special about the humanity in
Burke County. Kindness is conta
gious and shapes our community in
a positive way that gives hope.
Gina Richardson, County Nurse
Manager of B. Lamar Murray Public
Health Center, was not surprised
when “a group of selfless individu
als simply recognized a need and
wanted to be part of promoting posi
tive change in health outcomes. Such
servant leadership is done not for
gain ... but honestly ‘just because.’”
The Burke County Health Foun
dation (BCHF) was established be
cause interested community leaders
acknowledged the clinic’s struggle in
locating appropriate patient referrals
for Burke’s underserved populations.
Jan Blackburn, chair of the BCHF
board, states, “When you approach
community leaders to volunteer for a
cause - most of the time you expect
pushback - not once have we been
faced with someone who did not
want to serve. Our board is made up
of a group of working professionals
who immediately saw the vision of
BCHF, and I have found that it was
not hard for those to jump on board.”
The efforts of the board of direc
tors have already begun to take
shape - the foundation established
a certificate of incorporation with
the secretary of state in early April
of this year. In addition, a 501(c)3
application was submitted to the IRS.
Through the offices of Rep. Rick
Allen, Sen. Jon Ossoff and Sen.
Raphael Warnock, the foundation
was able to obtain approval as a
non-profit in record time. Normally,
this takes months to a year or longer
to secure.
Richardson refers to the founda
tion as “a visionary approach to
advocacy healthcare to those most
in need; it really is all about kind
ness and genuine concern for one’s
neighbor.” She further states that the
Burke County Health Foundation has
been a conjoined effort and a real
labor of love. “There have been so
many affirmations since those early
discussions that I
am confident we are
on the right path to FOUNDATION,
achieving our mis- 13