Newspaper Page Text
THIS WEEK’S INSIDE DEALS: News America, CVS, Lowe’s, Sears, Ingles, Badcock
fflEFWS™
VUGHFM-LS
cuaooE*
bolihgbrWE
Call (478) 960-2259 to advertise your business
in our upcoming Who’s Who Edition, deadline
5 p.m. Thursday, July 21. Our popular
Welcome Home magazine deadline is
extended until noon this Friday, July 22.
the Monroe County
www.mymcr.net • VOL. 45 NO. 28 • USPS 997-840
4 sections, 24 pages • Wednesday, July 20, 2016 • $1
Inside
MP season
football
tickets on
sale July 25
See Page 1B
Rock
Springs
clinic gets
$28,000
See Page 5C
Deaths
Roy Brown Allen Jr.
See Page 6A
St. James holds forum on police violence
BY RICHARD DUMAS
forsyth@mymcr. net
Local law enforcement
leaders and St. James
Baptist Church held a com
munity forum Thursday
to discuss race and law
enforcement in the wake of
a string of recent national
police shootings.
One week after a gun
man killed five Dallas,
Texas law enforcement
officers and less than two
weeks after several high-
profile killings by police in
Minnesota and Louisiana,
about 60 Forsyth citizens
met at Alderman Hall to
discuss how to keep such
tragic situations away
from Monroe County.
The event, which lasted
two hours, was entitled:
‘Monroe County Standing
Together: One Faith, One
Community.”
Rev. Antonio Proctor of
St. James Baptist served
as the forum’s moderator
while a panel of local lead
ers answered questions
from both Proctor and
members of the crowd. The
panel included: Monroe
County sheriff John Cary
Bittick, Federal Bureau
of Investigations (FBI)
agent Andy Smith, interim
Forsyth police chief Eddie
Harris, St. James Baptist
youth minister Chelsea
Ogletree, Forsyth city
councilmen Dexter King
and Julius Stroud III, Rev.
Jamaar Pye of Kynette
United Methodist Church
and Forsyth mayor Eric
Wilson.
In his opening remarks,
Proctor said the meeting
was to ensure that Forsyth
citizens stand peacefully
and united together in the
wake of national unrest.
Proctor said, ‘Tt could
have been our community
plagued by these drastic
happenings.”
Proctor asked two major
questions of the panel
before ceding the floor to
the public. Proctor’s ques
tions were simple but dif
ficult to ascertain effective
answers. His first question
was: “What exactly is the
problem?” His second ques
tion was in effect: What is
the solution?
Smith, who was seated
closest to Proctor’s podium,
was first to respond to the
pastor’s question concern
ing the problem. Smith
said a major issue is that,
two groups of people,
black Americans and law
enforcement officers, are
both feeling they’re the
victims. Smith cited nation
wide statistics from 2003-
09, which indicate that. out.
of 98 million arrests, just.
4,900 persons died while
in police custody and only
2,931 were shot, or killed
by police officers. Of those,
see FORUM page 5A
‘The British are coming’
Soccer (or futbol) took over the Monroe County Recreation Department last week as Chal
lenger Sports’ British Soccer Camp visited Forsyth for the third time. Instructors Josh Lip
scomb, of Wales, and Alva Clancy, of Ireland, stayed with Central Georgia Technical College
adult educator director Lisa Lee for the week. It was Lipscomb’s second time in the U.S. and
Clancy’s first. (Photo/Richard Dumas)
Bibb Mill water
project delayed
BY DIANE GLIDEWELL
news@mymcr. net
Residents in the Bibb Mill Village
neighborhood just, northeast, of Forsyth
will have to wait, a little longer to use
their new water lines. Forsyth city
manager Janice Hall said the contrac
tor, Griffin Utility Construction, LLC
abandoned the project, after laying the
lines.
Although the company, which is
owned by Tripp Griffin and based at. 59
Chriswood Drive in Forsyth, completed
most, of the work, it. failed to set. meters
and connect, the lines to about. 80 hous
es. The completion date for the project,
was June 6, and Hall said that since
that, date the city has been following
the proper legal steps to get. the project,
completed.
On July 18 council voted to follow
city engineer Carl Hofst.adt.er’s recom
mendation to declare Griffin Utility in
default, and move forward with putting
the project, into the hands of the bond
ing company, Granite RE, Inc.
“I have been through this five or six
times in my 30 years [as an engineer],”
said Hofstadter.
He said that. Granite RE will prob
ably decide to take over the project, and
send it. to three or four contractors for
bids to finish the work. He said that, if
costs are higher than what, the city had
agreed to pay Griffin Utility, the bond
ing company will make up the differ
ence, including engineering fees.
“That’s the reason for surety bonds,”
said Hall.
Hofstadter said Griffin Utility had
failed to pay the company that, supplied
the pipe for the project.. The pipe sup
plier made a claim with the bonding
company, which in turn notified Hall to
stop paying Griffin Utility. He said she
see WATER page 7A
Ofi
605
341b
8 *0 4 8 7 9 16264
3
Pippin, Cone do battle in BOE run-off
BY RICHARD DUMAS
forsyth@mymcr. net
District. 6 Monroe County
Board of Education voters
will return to the polls on
Tuesday, July 26 to vote
in the only local run-off
election.
School board candidates
Stuart. Pippin and Wes
Cone will square off for a
second time after neither
candidate received a major
ity of the votes in a three-person
non-partisan primary election on
May 24.
In all,
1,010 votes
were cast,
in the
initial pri
mary elec
tion. Pippin
received
the most
votes with
471 for
46.9 percent of the total vote, Cone
finished in second place with 376
votes for 37.2 percent, of the total
vote while third-place candidate
Virginia Wilcox received 163 votes
for 16.1 percent of the total vote.
The winner of the run-off will
replace incumbent Tammy
Fletcher, who did not. seek re-elec
tion. Fletcher has endorsed Cone
to be her successor.
As of midday Tuesday, 140
voters had made their choice by
voting early in person and 51 had
mailed in absentee ballots, out of
72 mail-in ballots that have been
requested. Early voting ends at.
4:30 p.m. on Friday. Polls will be
open from 7 a.m-7 p.m. on Tuesday
for voters in the BOE 6th district
to vote at Brantleys, Burgays, Cox,
Kelseys, Russellville and Forsyth.
Check your address on the Georgia
Secretary of State website if unsure
of which poll is yours. Voters must,
have registered by April 26 to be
eligible to vote in the runoff but do
not need to have voted in May.
PIPPIN