Newspaper Page Text
the Monroe County
www.mymcr.net • VOL. 38 NO. 41 • USPS 997-840 Forsyth, Ga. 31029 • Wednesday, October 8, 2008 • 2 Sections, 28 Pages • 75$
Inside
Meet MA’s
new queen
See page 1B
Sports
Lady Dogs
push ahead
See Page 1B
October surprise?
Protests after county begins
work on animal shelter at
the recreation department
BY WILL DAVIS
A group of
county resi
dents is mobi
lizing to stop
imminent
county plans
to build a new
animal shel
ter at the
recreation
department.
Jimmy
Jones, a rec
department
parent and coach, is organ
izing opposition to the plan
after learning about it last
week. Jones, co-owner of a
communica
tions company,
said most
everyone he
talks to is
against the
shelter being
built at that
location.
"The most
common thing
I hear is 'what
the he- were
they think
ing?'," said Jones.
Jones was expected to
See SHELTER page 5A
LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION: County commissioner Jim Ham (green shirt, pointing) shows
opponents where the county plans to put the new animal shelter at the recreation department.
HOW DECISION WAS MADE: A TIMELINE
2002 Save-A-Pet persuades county com
missioners to include $145,000 in a pro
posed one-cent sales tax plan for an animal
shelter.
Aug. 20, 2002 Monroe County voters ap
prove the one-cent sales tax.
/m* June 5, 2007 Commissioners begin to dis-
cuss where to put the shelter. Commission
er Jim Peters suggests a 2.3-acre tract the
county owns along Hwy. 41 near the industrial
park. Commissioner Jim Ham suggests they go
into closed session to discuss land acquisition. Af
ter finishing the closed meeting, commission
chairman Harold Carlisle says they'll look at put
ting the shelter on county property.
Sept. 4, 2007 After a two-hour meeting,
commissioner Jim Ham again suggests
commissioners go into closed session to
discuss land acquisition. They re-open the meet
ing 35 minutes later. It is announced to a mostly
empty room that commissioners have reached a
"consensus" to direct transportation director Sid
Banks to begin preparing land in the rec depart
ment for an animal shelter.
Dec. 17, 2007 The board of the Monroe
County Recreation Department writes com
missioners saying they oppose putting the
shelter at the rec department, and ask for a meet
ing to discuss the issue. Board members, who are
appointed by the commissioners, say they doubt
they'll get a response. They don't.
Dec. 31,2007 The one-cent sales tax ends
with the county having collected about
$127,000 for an animal shelter.
September 2008 County workers begin
clearing and grading an area 100 feet from
softball field No. 4 for an animal shelter.
Sept. 30, 2008 Recreation department sup
porters, alerted by the clearing of land, mo
bilize to oppose plans to put the shelter at
the rec department.
Monarchs
fly south
See Terry Johnson
Page 2B
Deaths
Helena Elizabeth
Graves Abare
Dr. I. W. Bowen, III
Lareeta Cater Davis
Obituaries Page 6A
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Kayla Edge is MP’s Queen
Kayla Edge, escorted by her proud uncle Michael Anthony Craig, was crowned the Mary Persons homecoming
queen during the football game Friday night. Kayla is a member of varsity cheerleading squad, Give 5, and the
Fellowship of Christian Athletes. She is the daughter of Michael Edge and Deborah Edge. (Photo/Gina Herring)
Cobb turns
self in for
hit and run
A Forsyth mother of five has been charged
with homicide by vehicle
for the hit and run colli
sion that killed 35-year-
old Tonya Teresa
Chapman on an 1-75
entrance ramp Sunday,
Sept. 28.
Amy Lynn Cobb, 32,
turned herself into the
sheriffs office on
Thursday, Oct. 2. Sheriffs
department spokesman
Allison Selman-Willis said
Cobb struck Chapman near the base of the
southbound entrance ramp of 1-75 at
Johntonville Road around 1 a.m. on Sunday,
Sept. 28. Cobb left the scene to return to her
nearby home on High Road. On her way to
her residence the Caravan, which sustained
damage from striking Chapman, broke down
and Cobb abandoned the vehicle on Mays
Road. The investigation revealed that Cobb
reported the vehicle stolen or possibly repos
sessed to the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office
around 1:30 a.m. The vehicle was recovered
later that morning on Mays Road yielding
Cobb as a possible suspect.
Family members say Cobb thought she hit
See COBB page 7A
MORGAN FORD is closing
Morgan Ford closing
After two years in business,
Morgan Ford in Forsyth is shut
ting its doors.
General manager Dale Yandell
confirmed the news on Monday.
The Forsyth dealership, located
at the intersection of 1-75 and
the Harold C. Clarke Parkway,
has had several different owners
over the years.
The current one, Keith Morgan
of Jesup, re-opened the dealer
ship on May 22, 2006. Attempts
to reach Morgan for comment
were unsuccessful.
Yandell said he doesn't know
when they will close. The dealer
ship has 12 employees.
In past years the dealership
has been Interstate Ford, Eddie
Wiggins Ford and Tim Redding
Ford.
Ford dealerships have been
struggling nationwide as sales
are down 20-30 percent from one
year ago.