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.
