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Meet MA’s
new football
coach
SEE PAGE 1B
Snorts
Former MP
Bulldog
drafted by
Cincinnati
Reds
SEE PAGE 1B
TEENS LEFT home alone are more vulnerable to temptation. Monroe County eighth graders recently completed a “Choosing
the Best Life” course aimed at helping them make good decisions even when no one is watching. (Photo/Gina Herring)
Summer can be trouble
for teens left home alone
BY GINA HERRING
For Carol Walters of
High Falls, the last day of
school is a dreaded time of
year. For the next 10
weeks her 13 and 15-year
old children will be home
alone for up to 10 hours a
day.... “doing God knows
what.”
“I really hate to leave
them,” said Carol. “But, I
have to work. They’re too
old for a babysitter. I just
try to remind them to look
out for each other. I call all
day to check on them.
They’re really good kids,
but I’m not stupid. I know
it’s a risk, leaving them.”
Carol is no different
than hundreds of Monroe
County mothers who feel
like they have no other
choice than to leave their
children home alone while
they work.
See TEENS page 7A
BOYS GIRLS
76%
BOYS GIRLS
84%
Hubbard 8th Graders
■ Said they’ll wait until Said they’ll wait until they’re 18, engaged to be Said they’ll
married to have sex married or in a committed relationship to have sex | have sex ASAP
Deaths
Sara Cheatham Bittick
SEE OBITUARY
PAGE 2A
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wins six
awards
State-wide honors
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SIX PACK: Edi
tor Will Davis,
left, and re
porter Gina Her
ring, right, pick
up six awards in
Panama City.
With them is
Judy Fleming,
president of the
GPA.
(Photo/Robert
Williams)
The Monroe County Reporter
picked up six awards over the
weekend in the Georgia Press
Association’s
2008 Better
Newspaper
Contest.
The
awards were
presented at
the GPA’s
annual con
vention in
Panama
City, Fla. on
Friday
night.
The
Reporter’s
editorial
page won
second place
in its catego
ry, and the
paper took
third place
in the editorial writing category.
In individual awards, reporter
Gina Herring and editor Will
Davis teamed up to win second
place in the investigative report
ing category. The pair won with
three investigative pieces, one
probing missing water from
Monroe
County’s
water
system,
another
reporting
on the
federal
railroad
retire
ment
board’s
investi
gation
into
county
commis
sioner
Larry
Evans’
disabili
ty pay
and
unpaid county salary, and another
into travel expenses at the
Monroe County Sheriff’s Office.
Herring also took second place
in the news photograph category
for her picture of Dennis Hogges
and his daughter Jamesa Hogges
when she was named Mary
Persons homecoming queen (at
left).
Davis also won third place in
the serious column category, the
Otis A. Brumby Trophy. Graphics
designer Carole Dixon won third
place in newspaper illustration
for her montage that accompa
nied the story about travel
expenses at the sheriff’s depart
ment.
The Reporter competes with
weekly papers with circulations
between 3,001-4,999. A total of 68
weekly papers entered the con
test, which was judged by journal
ists from the Kansas Press
Association.
Editor Will Davis said it’s an
honor to be recognized by their
newspaper peers, but said even
more important is the support
that Monroe County readers and
advertisers give the paper. That,
said Davis, is what allows the
paper to produce a professional
product that he hopes makes
Monroe Countians proud.
This photo of Dennis Hogges, left, and band mem
bers, behind, celebrating when Hogges’ daughter,
Jamesa Hogges, was announced as the 2007 Mary
Persons homecoming queen won second place in
the state. (File photo/Gina Herring)
Monroe
test
scores
down
Results from the Criterion-
Referenced Competency Tests
(CRCT) taken by Monroe
County students in April aren’t
looking so good. Overall, scores
are down from last year, says
Dr. Maggie Bowden, assistant
superintendent for curriculum.
However, the final scores are
still being calculated and
Bowden says the school system
remains “cautiously optimistic”
that it will achieve AYP, or ade
quate yearly progress. AYP sta
tus is expected to be
announced some time before
the end of the month.
“Are we thrilled with the
scores? No,” said Bowden. “But
we are still pleased with the
efforts of our teachers and our
students.”
Bowden said Monroe County
sixth and seventh graders per
formed poorly on the social
studies portion of the test. The
test was deemed flawed after
an overwhelming number of
students failed across the
state. State superintendent
Kathy Cox threw out scores
last month.
See SCORES page 6A
$2.3 million
Wal-Mart
pays $2.3
million
for land
Wal-Mart paid $2.3 million
last week for Indian Springs
Drive property for its new
Supercenter.
That according to property
transfers filed in the Monroe
County Clerk of Superior
Court’s office on Wednesday,
June 4.
Two years in the making, the
deal was finalized last week
when Wal-Mart wired the
money to eight owners of prop
erty between Indian Springs
Drive and Hwy. 42. The proper
ty totals 28 acres.
The transaction was delayed
for two years after residents on
the other side of Indian
Springs Drive filed lawsuits to
stop the deal, claiming the
Supercenter would destroy
their historic neighborhood and
that the city didn’t follow pro
cedures.
Attempts to reach Wal-Mart
for a timetable of their con
struction plans were unsuccess
ful. Here are the sellers and
the price Wal-Mart paid them.
When cobbled together, the
transactions give Wal-Mart its
28 acres:
W. Philip Rhodes, 10.03 acres,
$501,500;
James E. Pace, 2.97 acres,
$462,000;
Plantation Investors, 7.55
acres, $377,500;
Ronald M. Shipman, 3.48
acres, $370,000;
Walter Kyte, 1.2 acres,
$300,000;
Thomas Steinkamp, .6 acres,
$145,700;
Genevieve Miller, 1.39 acres,
$110,000;
Joal Shipman, .49 acres,
$40,000.
