Newspaper Page Text
Page 4B
iReporter
June 13, 2018
Two inmates charged after jail fight
By Richard Dumas
forsyth@mymcr.net
Two Monroe County jail
inmates were each charged
with disorderly conduct on
May 25 after they allegedly
fought in the jail dorm two
days earlier.
Jaquavious High, 23,
of Forsyth, and Michael
Boswell, 27, of Newnan,
each face disorderly con
duct charges while a third
inmate, Phillip Miley, 45, of
Jackson, was also charged
with obstruction for his role
in the fight.
According to the inci
dent report, on May 23,
two Monroe County Jail
inmates, identified as High
and Boswell, got into a
fight on D-Block. Monroe
County Jail Officer Ramsey
responded to the fight, but
by the time he arrived the
fight had ended. Boswell
received medical treatment
on site and was placed in
lockdown while High was
taken to Monroe County
Hospital for treatment.
Monroe County Sgt.
Daniel Ruiz met with
Boswell, who said he didn’t
know what had happened.
Boswell earlier told Monroe
County Sgt. Gwen Mad
dox that he fell out of bed.
When Ruiz asked Boswell
again on May 25 about the
incident, Boswell started
laughing and said he didn’t
want to get anyone in
trouble.
Ruiz then met with High
who said Boswell was try
ing to strong arm him and
pick a fight. High said he
kept telling Boswell to chill
out, but Boswell eventu
ally hit him, instigating the
fight. High said Boswell put
him in some kind of hold
and then bit his finger. High
said he then struck Boswell
in the head while trying
to get him to let go of his
finger.
Ruiz then viewed the jail
surveillance video and saw
a third inmate, identified
as Miley, hang up a blanket
to obstruct the view of the
camera so the fight could
occur. Ruiz then saw Miley
speaking with Boswell, who
was in the corner of the bed
area. The video showed Bo
swell hit High several times,
causing him nearly to fall to
the ground. The video then
showed High lunge forward
as the fight continued be
hind the blanket. The fight
then stopped when Ramsey
entered the area.
Hospital to continue using Georgia Heart for donations
By Richard Dumas
forsyth@mymcr.net
The Hospital Authority
of Monroe County unani
mously approved on May
22 to extend its existing re
lationship with the Georgia
Heart Hospital Program.
Georgia Heart will
continue leading Monroe
County Hospital’s (MCH)
recruiting efforts to find
persons willing to donate
their state taxes as a means
of helping MCH. Hospital
Authority chairman Todd
Tolbert proposed earlier
this year terminating its
contract with Georgia
Heart in favor of allowing
Monroe County commis
sion chairman Greg Tapley
to head up the donation
process. Instead, Tolbert
said on May 22 that Tapley
has been too busy to lead
the donation recruitment
and suggested that MCH
continue using Georgia
Heart in 2018.
MCH chief financial of
ficer Judy Ware noted that
the recently-passed Geor
gia House Bill 769 will now
allow donors to receive a
100 percent tax credit for
state tax donations to rural
hospitals instead of just 90
percent as allowed in 2017.
Ware said MCH has thus
far received $837,000 in
donation commitments for
2018 and said with the pre
vious $10,000 cap removed,
one individual taxpayer has
already allocated $90,000
for MCH in 2018. Ware
added that these state tax
donations can also be
deducted on federal tax
returns as charitable dona
tions.
“You make money on this
process,” Ware said.
In other Hospital Author
ity news:
• The Hospital Authority
of Monroe County unani
mously approved on May
22 to hire Macon-based
Nottingham, Brook & Pen
nington (NBP) Engineers
Inc. to provide engineering
for the upcoming renova
tions to Monroe County
Hospital (MCH).
Tim Slocum, Navicent
Health Vice President of
System Support Services,
said engineering is ex
pected to take six weeks to
complete.
• Monroe County
Hospital (MCH) leaders
announced on May 22 that
the facility’s gross revenue
is up 15 percent through
the first seven months of
the 2018 fiscal year, which
began on Oct. 1,2017,
compared with 2017. MCH
assistant chief financial
officer Todd Cox said this
includes a 17.3 percent rise
in operating revenue in
2018.
So far in 2018, Cox
reported a $193,000 operat
ing loss, compared to an
operating loss of $637,000
at the same time last year.
Cox said with non-oper
ating revenues, including
the county’s contribution,
and Georgia Heart collec
tions factored in, MCH has
achieved a positive operat
ing margin of $919,000
through April.
• The Hospital Authority
of Monroe County unani
mously approved on May
22 to buy a new walk-in
freezer for the Monroe
County Hospital kitchen.
MCH CEO Lorraine
Smith said the freezer
will cost just over $30,000
to buy with the funds to
pay for it coming out of
SPLOST. Smith said the
hospital’s current walk-in
freezer is a 1976 version
and has been leaking onto
the floor.
In addition, Smith said
MCH intends to order a
new panic button system
for hospital security as part
of an updated Emergency
Management Plan.
INCIDENTS
Continued from 3B
Passenger charged
with giving false
name, date-of-
birth in 1-75 S. stop
A 38-year-old white
Rockmart man was arrested
and charged with failure
to maintain lane after a
traffic stop on 1-75 South
on June 1. At about 10 a.m„
Cpl. John Thompson saw a
silver 1998 Honda Accord
failing to maintain its lane
on 1-75 South near mile
marker 187. Dispatchers
notified Thompson the car’s
tag came back to a blue
Acura with no valid insur
ance and cancelled registra
tion. The male driver, who
said he didn’t have a license,
said the car belonged to his
male passenger. Dispatch
ers determined the driver’s
license was suspended and
he had a parole warrant for
robbery. Dep. Miller then
asked the passenger for
his ID, but the passenger
said he didn’t have one.
The passenger instead gave
Miller a fake name and
date of birth that did not
come back on file. He then
gave Miller a social security
number, which turned up
a man with a suspended
license. Dispatchers sent
Miller a photo of the man,
but the photo did not look
like the passenger. Thomp
son noticed the passenger
did not have several tattoos
that the man in the photo
possessed. When Thomp
son asked the passenger
about the photo, he replied,
“It’s me. I’ve been work
ing in the sun.” Thompson
then took the driver to the
Monroe County Jail while
Dep. Nicholas Ortiz took
the passenger to the jail. Sgt.
Gwen Maddox then finger
printed the passenger and
determined his real identity
and that he had a parole
violation of robbery and a
failure to appear warrant
for possession of metham-
phetamine. The passenger,
a 46-year-old white Aragon
man, was then charged
with giving false statements
in a government matter.
Meanwhile, the driver was
also charged with affixing a
license plate in an attempt
to conceal identity, having
no insurance and driving
while license suspended.
Driver charged
with DUI after
hitting guardrail
on 1-75 North
A 72-year-old white
Macon man was arrested
and charged with DUI after
a traffic stop on 1-75 North
on June 1. At about 5:15
a.m„ Dep. Perry Fitzgerald
was notified by dispatch
ers of a blue 1995 Cadillac
Deville without a taillight
traveling recklessly on 1-75
North. A 9-1-1 caller said
the car had hit a guardrail
and continued northbound
while failing to maintain
lane. Fitzgerald stopped the
car near mile marker 183,
and the male driver, whose
speech was slurred, said he
didn’t realize he had been
weaving. Fitzgerald saw
fresh damage on the car
consistent with having hit
a guardrail, but the driver
denied hitting anything.
The driver, who was having
a hard time balancing, then
got out of his car to inspect
the damage at which point
the car, which was not in
park, began to roll forward.
Fitzgerald then got into the
driver’s seat and put the car
in park before it rolled out
into traffic. The driver told
Fitzgerald he takes Hy-
drocodone pills for nerve
pain and pulled four white
tablets from his pocket. The
driver said he last took the
pills before he went to bed
at about 6 p.m. the previ
ous day. The driver then
failed several field sobriety
tests, including lifting his
leg up and down repeat
edly during the one-leg
stand test. Fitzgerald then
took the driver to Monroe
County Hospital, where he
gave a blood sample, before
taking him to the Monroe
County Jail, where he was
also charged with failure to
maintain lane and striking
a fixed object.
Monroe County Jr. Dairy
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By Caitlin Bennett
Jackson,
Monroe County Extension
Coordinator
On June 1 Monroe
County 4-H’ers traveled to
Athens to compete at the
State 4-H Dairy Quiz Bowl
Contest. Dairy Quiz Bowl
is a challenging double
elimination contest that
tests youth’s knowledge in
all aspects of dairy produc
tion. Questions asked dur
ing the contest ranged from
cow health, dairy econom
ics, milking practices, for
age and feed, calf manage
ment and many more.
Monroe County 4-H
Junior Team placed second
overall in the State 4-H
Dairy Quiz Bowl Contest.
Team members were:
Team Captain Marlee
Coffman, Megan McLeod,
Emma McLeod and Aaron
Wiggins. Austin Wiggins
served as a teen leader
and assisted the team in
preparing for the contest.
The team was coached by
County Agent Caitlin Ben
nett Jackson.
In preparation for the
Dairy Quiz Bowl contest
Monroe County 4-Hers
visited WDairy in Madison
County where they toured
the farm with owner/op
erator Carol Williams and
Pictured left is the Monroe County 4-H Junior Team at the
State Dairy Quiz Bowl Contest. The team includes Captain
Marlee Coffman, Megan McLeod, Emma McLeod and
Aaron Wiggins. Austin Wiggins, second from right, assisted
the team as a teen leader.
were treated to a special
inside look at their carousel
milk parlor. 4-Hers also
toured the UGA Dairy in
Athens where they learned
about calf management
and were able to handle
calves.
Sinor speaks to Mans
Forsyth-Monroe County Rot.arians heard about the
ins and outs of the film industry from their very own
Paul Sinor. Sinor, a retired Lieutenant Colonel, has
authored eight produced screenplays, five published
novels and one book on screen writing. This year his
novel “Dancing In The Dark” is a finalist for Georgia
Author of the year. Find all of Sinor’s work on his
website www.paulsinorbooks.com.
Paul Sinor, author/Rotarian, left, with Rotary president
Barbara Dean.