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Followed By Brutal Stabbing Os City Councilman
Deputy’s Murder Was Top News Story
The murder of a
Houston County deputy,
the cutting and stabbing
of a city councilman
working at a convenience
store, missing funds from
the Department of
Family and Children
Services, six armed
robberies in six weeks
and curbside garbage
service - these were
among the top news
stories in Perry in 1979.
Melvin Lemley, 24, was
convicted in superior
court here on March 30 of
murdering Sheriff’s
Deputy Jesse Tanner, 20
after Tanner had at
tempted to serve a
warrant on Lemley in
Clinchfield Sept. 1, 1978,
for smuggling marijuana
into the county jail.
Lemley was sentenced
to life imprisonment by
Judge Willis B. Hunt Jr.
The Houston Home Journal
Serving Hie People In Georgia's Heartland Since 1870
OUR noth YEAR VOLUME NO. 1 PHONE 987-1823
Walker To Work
On Local Issues
In commenting on the
new session of the
Georgia General
Assembly - which con
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v I K Si
State Rep. Larry Walker
venes Jan. 14 -- State Rep.
Larry Walker said he will
work on two issues of
local interest.
He said the first issue
will be to increase the
homestead exemption for
elderly persons over 65,
and the second issue will
be to consider the
possibility of building a
new vocational wing at
Perry High School.
Concerning the in
crease in homestead
exemptions for persons
over 65, Walker said the
current rule is to allow a
$4,000 homestead
exemption for persons
with incomes of less than
$6,000.
He said an amendment
will be offered -- to be
voted on in a referendum
during the general
election in November -- to
after the jury failed to
reach a unanimous
verdict on the death
penalty.
“We do not feel that
justice was served,”
Cullen Talton said. Talton
made the statement April
3 after reflecting on the
outcome of the trial for
three days.
Muffled emotions that
ranged from pleas of
mercy to thoughts of
vengeance were housed
in the light green walls of
the courtroom throughout
the duration of the three
day trial.
Lawmen from seven
surrounding counties
were present in the
courtroom when
Assistant District At
torney Miriam Wansley
bore down on Lemley
during cross
examination.
increase the homestead
exemption to SB,OOO for
persons over 65 with
incomes of less than
SIO,OOO.
Walker said the
amendment will permit
persons over 65 to go to
city hall and claim the
exemption only one time
unless their income
status changes.
“The way things are
now, persons over 65 have
to go to city hall every
year and claim the
exemption,” Walker said.
Under the new amend
ment, they will claim the
exemption one time, and
the exemption will
remain in effect unless
and until their income
exceeds SIO,OOO. In other
words, they won’t have to
go back to city hall every
year and claim the
homestead exemption as
long as their income is
less than $10,000.”
Walker said he is op-
“Everytime you shot
him he screamed,” Mrs.
Wansley shouted. “You
shot him and he
screamed again. You
shot him until he stopped
screaming, didn’t you?”
Although Lemley had
maintained he had shot
Deputy Tanner in self
defense during a gun
battle at his house, Mrs.
Wansley told the jury in
her closing statement,
“Deputy Tanner was shot
in the back of the head.
How can that be self
defense?”
A crime wave involving
six armed robberies in
six weeks began on Sept.
20 when a bandit took an
undetermined amount of
cash from the Holiday
Food Store on Mar
shallville Highway after
cutting and stabbing
Councilman Gene Smith
PERRY, HOUSTON COUNTY, GA., 31069 THURSDAY, JANUARY 3, 1980
timistic about obtaining
funds for the vocational
wing at Perry High
School. He said the ob
jective will be to get
money in the budget for a
study to see if the wing
can be built with a federal
grant.
He said it is difficult for
persons living in the
Perry area to drive to the
vocational school in
Warner Robins, and that
it will become even more
difficult as the price of
gas keeps going up.
Rep. Walker urged
persons living in his
district to watch the
proceedings of the
Georgia General
Assembly on educational
television every night,
and to let him know what
they think about the
legislation being debated.
“It will be a difficult
session this year because
the state, just like many
individuals, is caught
between the pincers of
recession and inflation.”
Thus did Rep. Larry
Walker describe the
forthcoming session of
the Georgia General
Assembly, which con
venes on Jan. 14. Con
cerning the state’s fiscal
year 1981 budget, which
begins July 1, 1980, and
ends June 30, 1981,
Walker said there are
more demands for money
that the legislators can
possibly fill.
Walker, who enters his
7th year representing
Georgia District 115, said
the first order of business
for legislators will be
formulating the state’s $3
billion budget, the largest
in history.
“This means the state
is now spending $8 million
a day,” Walker said.
“That means Georgia is
spending S6OO a day for
every man, woman and
child in the state, based
on a current population of
five million persons.”
Byway of comparison,
Walker said the $3 billion
annual state budget is the
same amount of money
Chrysler is borrowing
from the federal
government to stay in
business.
Rep. Walker said the
General Assembly must
about 1:15 a.m. Smith
was working at the store
when the crime was
committed.
Smith subsequently
underwent extensive
surgery, was released
from the hospital, and
has apparently recovered
from the injuries.
On Sept. 23, two men
robbed the Interstate
Station on Sam Nunn
Blvd. near 1-75 about 9:40
p.m. and kidnapped
attendant Freddie Seago
at gunpoint. Two suspects
were later arrested, and
Seago said the men held a
pistol on him from the
time he was kidnapped at
the service station until
he was released near the
Briggs and Stratton plant
on Valley Drive.
On Oct. 2, an armed
robber held up the M&W
Bottle Shop at 719
decide in 40 days how to
budget funds for the new
fiscal year. He said the
vast portion of the budget
such as salaries has
already been determined.
“But new programs
and new demands will
have to be decided,”
Walker said. “I think
we’ll do it, but I don’t
know whether it will be to
everybody’s satisfac
tion.”
Walker said tax issues
will focus on the local
option one percent sales
tax as opposed to a
statewide one percent
sales tax. He said there is
a possibility the local
option sales tax might be
declared u n -
constitutional, and that
the statewide sales
tax might have been
preferable to the local
option tax.
“I think there will be a
movement for a
statewide one percent
sales tax, but unless it
provides relief for ad
valorem taxpayers, I will
not support it,” Walker
declared. “The ad
valorem taxpayers are
paying an unfair share
of taxes now. They need
relief, and I will not
support the statewide
sales tax increase unless
advalorem taxpayers are
provided with some kind
of relief.”
Walker said if all the
additional revenue
derived from a statewide
one percent increase in
sales taxes went to local
schools, it would wipe out
all school taxes in
Houston County (based
on average daily at
tendance) and have
excess funds left over for
enhancement programs.
He said the cost to
administer the statewide
sales tax increase would
amount to only one-half of
one percent of the
revenue collected. He
said the increase would
be small because the
state revenue depart
ment is already staffed
and organized to handle
the increase.
Walker predicted that
there will be an effort to
exempt prescription
drugs and groceries from
Continued Page 2-A
Commercial St. about 10
p.m. and took about SSOO
after pointing a gun at
J.W.West, a co-owner of
the store, and demanding
money.
On Oct. 9, a lone black
bandit hopped up on the
counter at the K-Mart
Plaza branch of the Bank
of Perry about 4:45 p.m.,
pointed a gun at the
teller, demanded money
and got away with an
undetermined amount of
cash.
On Oct. 26, a bandit
described by PoliceE
Chief B.E. Dennard as a
black man in his early
20s, took a small amount
of cash from the Zippy
Mart Convenience Store
on Main St. after pointing
a .22 caliber pistol at the
store operator.
The sixth armed
robbery happened on Oct.
Westfield Schools was recently chosen to
receive the Clean Campus Award for December
by the Perry Clean Community Commission.
Pictured above from left, Dan Daniels, student
council president for the elementary school,
New Construction Costs Are Down Perry
Perry Building In
spector Lanny Coffman
reports a slight decrease
in total construction cost
for the first 11 months of
1979, when compared to
the same period last
year.
In a report to Mayor
James McKinley and
members of city council,
Coffman said total
building cost for the first
Chief Says
Fire Safety
Has Paid Off
Perry Fire Chief Sirah
Lawhorn expressed his
appreciation to area
citizens Wednesday for
their outstanding fire
prevention efforts during
the Christmas and New
Year holidays.
“We only had four
small fires from
December 19 until Jan. 2,
and I attribute that to the
fire prevention efforts of
our citizens,” Lawhorn
said.
The fire chief said his
department responded to
two fires caused by wood
31 about 10:45 p.m. when
a black male entered Mr.
B’s Food Mart on Sam
Nunn Blvd. and took
about S2OO from the cash
register, according to
Perry Det. Giles Webb.
Webb said the robber was
armed with a small
caliber pistol, and was
wearing a ski mask to
conceal his face.
On Nov. 1, Mayor
James McKinley sent
letters to Sheriff Talton
and Sgt. John Wright of
the local Georgia State
Patrol. The mayor’s
letter requested two
deputies from the sheriff
and one state trooper
from Sgt. Wright to assist
local police in patrolling
the city from 10 p.m. to 6
a.m.
Talton and Wright
agreed to comply with the
mayor’s request, and the
Westfield Wins Clean Campus Award
11 months of 1979
amounted to $3,075,079, as
compared to $3,406,043
for the first 11 months of
1978.
Coffman reported that
he issued eight building
permits last month, as
compared to 13 issued in
October. Os the eight
permits issued last
month, the building in
spector stated that three
permits were for single
burning stoves, one car
fire and one truck fire
during the holiday
season. He said all of
these fires were quickly
extinguished.
“1 want to caution
folks about stoves that
burn wood,” Lawhorn
said. “These stoves will
start fires if they are
installed too close to the
walls of your house. This
situation is especially
dangerous if a wood
burning stove is installed
in a frame house with
wood panel walls.”
additional lawmen are
now on duty during the
periods requested. Ad
dition of the two deputies
and the state trooper,
plus other undisclosed
measures initiated by
Chief Dennard, has ap
parently put an end to the
series of armed rob
beries. At any rate, no
new armed robberies
have been reported since
the mayor and police
chief resolved to crack
down on the problem on
Nov. 1.
On Dec. 11, Kathryn
Harris, former director
of the Houston County
Department of Family
and Children Services,
was found guilty of four
counts of theft by con
version by a Superior
Court jury in Perry.
The welfare agency’s
former bookkeeper, Mrs.
Matt Jerles, student council president for the
high school, Donna Tabor, presenting the award
on behalf of the Clean Community Commission,
and teachers Ruth Cross and Charlotte
Washington. (Photo by Terry Wood.)
family dwellings, two for
alterations and additions
to dwellings, two for
alterations and additions
Gray Now Associate
Os Perry Law Firm
Mike Gray of Perry has
joined Perry and Warner
Robins law firm of
Walker, Clarke, Mc-
Connell, Richardson and
Hulbert. He was prac
ticing law in Fort Valley
before joining the local
firm.
Gray is a graduate of
Perry High School. He
graduated Magna Cum
Laude from the
University of Georgia in
1975 with an A.B. Degree.
He received his law
degree from the Walter
F. George School of Law
at Mercer University in
1978. He was a Cum
Laude graduate from
Mercer.
While at Mercer, he
served three years as a
member of the Mercer
Law Review and in 1978
as a staff member on the
Law Review editorial
board. He was also the
recipient of the American
Jurisprudence Awards
for contracts, Con
stitutional law, cor
porations and domestic
relations. He is a member
Faye Carter, is expected
to plead guilty to three
counts of theft by con
version, at an early date,
according to District
Attorney Stephen Pace
Jr. Miss Harris testified
on Dec. 10 that she had
intended to repay the
$5,220 in salary over
payments whenever the
audit that detected the
missing funds was
complete.
Miss Harris and Mrs.
Carter were dismissed
from the welfare agency
on July 8, after a state
audit of 19/8 financial
transactions uncovered
the missing money.
State auditor Alan
Davis testified on Dec. 10
that during the fiscal
years of 1976-79 the audit
disclosed that Miss
Continued Page 2-A
to commercial buildings,
and one permit was for
alterations and additions
to a sign.
the younger lawyers
section of the State Bar of
Georgia.
Gray is the son of Mr.
and Mrs. William G.
Gray Jr. of Perry. He is
married to the former
Melinda Poole and they
are both members of the
Perry United Methodist
Church.
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Mike Gray