Newspaper Page Text
Baby’s first Christmas
s this your baby’s
first Christmas?
If so, be sure
your precious one
is included in the
Reporter’s full-color
Christmas tree in our
Dec. 17 issue featuring
local babies celebrat
ing their first
Christmas.
Babies will be pic-
pictures due Thursday
tured inside orna
ments on the tree with
their name, birthday
and parents’ names.
The cost is just $15.
Deadline is 5 p.m. on
Thursday, Dec. 11.
Email your photos to
business@mymcr.net
or bring them by the
Reporter at 50 N.
Jackson Street.
Inside
Is there
enough for
kids to do
in Forsyth?
See Page 12A
Sports
Evans Gym
officially
dedicated
See Page 1B
Deaths
Sandra Jean Anthony
Jimmy F. Floyd
SEE PAGE 6A
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Falcons to honor Pitts on Sat.
Former Mary Persons football
coach Dan Pitts on
Saturday will receive the
Atlanta Falcons' first-
ever Lifetime
Achievement Award for
his impact on high school
football in Georgia.
Pitts and his family are
scheduled to be at the
World Congress Center
in Atlanta on Saturday,
Dec. 13 for the first
annual "Salute to High
School Football Luncheon"
for GHSA-affiliated head football
coaches.
The luncheon, held in
the Thomas Murphy
Ballroom of the Georgia
World Congress Center,
will feature opening
remarks from Falcons’
owner and CEO Arthur
M. Blank as well as the
keynote address from
Falcons head coach Mike
Smith.
PITTS The Falcons created the
Lifetime Achievement
Award to recognize a retired
coach who has significantly
impacted high school football in
the state of Georgia. The Falcons
will also give Coach of the Year
awards to the top high school
football coaches for 2008 in each
of GHSA’s five classifications.
Pitts retired in 1998 after 39
years as a coach and teacher at
Mary Persons. During his tenure,
the UGA graduate amassed a
record of 346-109-4, making him
the second winningest high school
football coach in Georgia history.
He led the Bulldogs to five unde
feated seasons, 16 region titles
and a state championship in
1980. Pitts has also been inducted
into the Georgia Sports Hall of
Fame and the National High
School Sports Hall of Fame. The
MP stadium is also named for
him.
Along with the Falcons, other
hosts and sponsors of the lunch
eon include the Georgia World
Congress Center Authority, Levy
Restaurants, Russell and AirTran
Airways.
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Ho, ho, ho-me for the holidays
A cold afternoon rain moved
out of town on Thursday just
in time for the big Hometown
Holidays Christmas parade in
downtown Forsyth. Above, the
Banks Stephens Middle
School float included teacher
Christie Johnston and stu
dents Hannah Jones and Han
nah Johnston. Then on Satur
day, Bolingbroke kicked off
the Christmas season with its
“Santa Claus is coming to a
Small Town” parade. Santa
swept into town aboard a
boat, of all things, complete
with Mrs. Claus and helpers
Haley Prim and Julia Nelson.
See two full pages of color
parade photos on pages 2-3B.
(Photos/Will Davis)
Circle K robber gets 18 years
BY WILL DAVIS
A life of robbery has
n't worked out too well
for a 41-year-old
Forsyth man, who
began an 18-year
prison sentence last
week for his most
recent theft.
Ricky Watts, 41, for
merly of 258 James
Street, Forsyth, pled
guilty to robbery by WATTS
intimidation on Tuesday,
Dec. 2, taking his third robbery
conviction in the past 12 years.
Monroe County Superior Court
Judge William Fears
sentenced him to 20
years in prison, with 18
to serve behind bars.
The sentence was for
Watts' robbery of the
Circle K store on the
Harold G. Clarke
Parkway the morning of
Saturday, Jan. 19.
That's when Watts put
the clerk of the Circle K
in a choke hold, pointed his
finger in his pocket to make the
clerk think he had a gun and
then ran out with $219 cash,
according to district attorney
Richard Milam. Authorities
arrived on the scene and found
Watts' Dodge Durango about a
mile away on Thornton Road.
There he was caught by sheriffs
deputy Charles Miller and the
money was reclaimed.
Clerks at the Circle K, located
across the street from Shoney’s,
had told police that Watts
entered the store around 8 a.m.
wearing a black jacket and black
See CIRCLE K page 7A
Jim Ham
nabs deer
poachers
BY GINA HERRING
Bolingbroke resident Henry
Davis says he is now a fan of
District 2 commissioner Jim Ham.
“I haven’t always agreed with him,
but he has earned my vote from
now on,” said Davis.
That’s because Ham helped the
Department of Natural Resources
catch three night-time poachers
near Davis’ property.
“It has become a big problem
down here,” said Davis. “The game
warden has been
staking out the
See
POACHERS
page 6A
SLEUTH HAM? Commissioner Jim Ham
helped nab three teenage poachers near
Smarr late last month. (File photo)
Man gets
10 years
for March
outburst
BY WILL DAVIS
Accused of spitting in a deputy's
face, kicking out a patrol car win
dow and fleeing arrest, a Rocky
Creek Road man demanded a trial
by jury last week.
He got it.
And when it
was over, he
also got a 10-
year prison
sentence.
A Monroe
County jury
found Hal
Rickey
Andrews
guilty of
felony obstruc- ANDREWS
tion of an officer
and interference with government
property last week. Superior
Court Judge William Fears gave
See PRISON page 7A
