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About Walker County messenger. (LaFayette, Ga.) 187?-current | View Entire Issue (May 13, 2015)
4 Wednesday, May 13,2015 ONLINE: catwalkchatt.com EMAIL: walkercountymessenger@walkermessenger.com allun* (Cmrnty m mm LaFayette, Ga. Vol. 126, No. 19 Founded in 1877 — Walker County’s oldest continuous business Three sections, 26 pages ■ 75 cents To report news or for home delivery, call 638-1859 GL slides into Class 2A Elite Eight with sweep in Savannah. Sports/B1 CATOOSA WALKER NEWS Check out Catoo- saWalkerNews’ Face- book page. Its a great place for you to post items of interest (such as upcoming events), discus- what’s happening in our community and in the news, or just send us a message. And dont forget to "Like" us! Time for Down Home Days in Chickamauga this weekend. News/A6-7 Haley Blevins, Hayley Jones join Lady Bobcats for next season. Sports/B1 A special section recognizing high school grads is included in next week's edition May 20, 2015 WaUm* (Hmuitti Ufoa&pmipr Above: Erlanger hospital's Life Force helicopter landed at Stone Creek El ementary School on Wednesday, May 6, as a part of a regional Strike Out Stroke program Below: From left, Erlanger stroke program coordinators Jil- lian McKenzie and Candace Mahoney stand behind Glinda Anderson, 11, and Colleen Thomas, 10, shown holding their winning stroke awareness posters. (Messenger photos/Josh O’Bryant) Air ambulance visits Stone Creek School to promote Stroke Awareness Month By Josh O’Bryant jobryant@npco.com Stone Creek Elementary students on Wednesday, May 6, were treated to visit from a Life Force helicopter as part of American Stroke Aware ness Month. As a part of the Strike Out Stroke program, in which fifth-graders cre ate posters to bring awareness to the causes leading to strokes, Erlanger Medical Center’s helicopter touched down at 11 a.m. near the school’s playground in Rossville. Assistant principal Amy Ashley said the grant-funded program is offered to several schools in north Georgia and Chattanooga, and teaches students the causes and signs of stroke-related emergencies. For creating the best Strike Out Stroke posters, Glinda Anderson, 11, and Colleen Thomas, 10, had a pizza lunch with the Life Force emergen cy responders. A gateway, free movies and computer upgrades are coming to Chickamauga By Mike O’Neal moneal@npco.com Chickamauga will soon add signage, offer free movies and modernize its computer network. A new sign and landscaping, will be installed near the Food Lion on U.S. Highway 27 to augment the rustic wooden sign that for years has served as a welcoming gateway to the city. The city council during its May 4 meeting unanimously budgeted $50,000 for landscaping around this new portal, and is spending about half that amount to repair a truck used by the electric department. Manager Micheal Haney informed the council that a four- wheel-drive truck equipped with a lift bucket needs extensive repairs or outright replacement, as it must pass annual inspections to be deemed safe for use near electric transmission lines. Architectural blueprint for andscaping that will accompany a new Chickamauga sign that will be installed on the U.S. Highway 27 right-of-way at Food Lion. From the top are westbound lanes, median, eastbound lanes slightly to the west of the shopping center's entrance. (Messenger photo/Mike O’Neal) Though $22,000 is a large sum to spend on maintenance, it is far less than the $150,000 needed to purchase a similarly outfitted new vehicle, Haney said. The manager also presented a request to replace the city’s computer system server hardware and software. Haney said the current server, custom-built in 2010, is showing its age and will soon be incapable of running the latest version of Microsoft Windows server software. The council agreed that it is critical for the city to have a viable computer system and supported councilman Shannon Whitfield’s request that redundant backup of data is provided when the next equipment is installed. Upgrades are estimated at about $6,000, Haney said. The mayor and council noted the city’s support of the 43rd annual Down Home Days that will be staged by the Lions Club on May 16 and of the triathlon whose competitors will pass through Chickamauga on Sunday, May 17. Also noted during the council meeting was the city’s sponsorship of free “under the stars” movies. Chickamauga is partnering with LaFayette to split the cost of renting films, projectors and screens with Chickamauga’s screenings set for the third Friday and LaFayette’s the third Saturday of each month. The first of these family-friendly films, Disney’s “Planes: Fire & Rescue,” will be shown at Holland- Watson Veterans Memorial Park — commonly referred to as the helicopter park — after sunset on Friday, May 15. Today in history Today (Wednesday, May 13) is the 133rd day of 2015 and the 55th day of spring. TODAY’S HISTORY: In 1940, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill gave his “blood, toil, tears and sweat” speech to the British House of Commons as Germany’s con quest of France began. In 1943, the German Afrika Korps surrendered to Allied forces in North Africa. In 1981, Pope John Paul II was shot by would-be assassin Mehmet Ali Agca in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican. In 1985, two blocks of Philadelphia were destroyed by fire after police dropped an incendiary device on the headquarters of MOVE, a black liberation group. TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS: Pope Pius IX (1792-1878); Joe Louis (1914-1981), boxer; Bea Arthur (1922-2009), actress; Harvey Keitel (1939-), actor; Ritchie Valens (1941-1959), singer-songwriter; Stevie Wonder (1950-), singer-song writer/pianist; Stephen Col bert (1964-), TV personality; Darius Rucker (1966-), singer- songwriter; Barry Zito (1978-), baseball player; Lena Dun ham (1986-), actress; Robert Pattinson (1986-), actor. TODAY’S FACT: Mehmet Ali Agca returned to the Vatican on Dec. 27, 2014, to lay flowers at the tomb of Pope John Paul II, the man he had attempted to assassinate 33 years earlier. His request to meet Pope Francis was denied. TODAY’S SPORTS: In 1995, Alison Hargreaves of Great Britain became the first woman to scale Mount Everest without supplemental oxygen or the help of Sherpas.