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www.MyMCR.net • Vol. 50 • No. 4 4 Sections, 32 Pages • Wednesday • January 27,2021
INSIDE m
On the Porch 4A
On the Outside Looking In 5A
On the Porch 4A
On the Outside Looking In 5A
All school
Honor Rolls
SEE PAGE B6-8
Final week
to vote for
the Best of
Monroe Co.
SEE PAGE A8
Plan your
21 nuptials
with our
Bridal Guide
SEE PAGE Cl-4
WELCOME
TO THE FAMILY
Kathleen Mixon
Jessica Evans
Thomas Mitchell
NEW SUBSCRIBERS
OF THE WEEK
DEATHS t»7A
Mary Zellner
Mary Gaines
6 OfifiOS “1341b
6
'0 4879 16264
3
Will city ax Forsythia?
By Diane Glidewell
news@mymcr.net
Forsyths city council is
slated to meet at 10 a.m.
on Wednesday when it
may reverse itself and bar
the 2021 Forsythia Festival
from taking place down
town.
It would be a sudden
reversal as council had ap
proved closing city streets
for the festival Jan. 4,
giving a nod to the event,
which is sponsored by the
Forsyth-Monroe County
Chamber of Commerce.
But at its annual planning
retreat on
Sunday, Jan.
24 council
revisited
that deci
sion saying
that cases of
coronavirus
are continuing to increase
in the area.
A motion to reverse
course and deny street
closures for the Forsythia
Festival got
more approval
than opposition
but fell short of
passing. Council
members John
Howard, Julius
Stroud and Greg
Goolsby voted
in favor of the
denial, council
members Mike
Dodd and Chris
Hewett abstained
from the vote
and council
member Melvin
Lawrence had left the
meeting to attend church
before the vote. Under
Roberts Rules of Order
Mayor Eric Wilson could
have cast a deciding vote
to deny the street closures
but did not, saying he
wants to bring the Cham
ber to council to present
its case for having the
Festival.
As councils three-plus-
hour Zoom meet
ing neared completion,
city manager Janice Hall
reported on Forsyth Main
Street’s plans for
events in 2021.
She commented
that the Forsythia
Festival planned
for March 13 and
14 might be a
good benchmark
in whether the city should
go ahead with planning
events for the year.
See FORSYTHIA . Page 6A
1 don’t know what we were thinking
[when we approved the Forsythia Festival].’
- Councilman John Howard
Tell council
your thoughts..
Eric S. Wilson
Mayor 478-461 -0889
ewilson@’cityofforsyth.com
John Howard
Post 1 478-832-7305
jhoward@cityofforsyth.com
Chris Hewett
Post 2 478-957-4678
chewett@dtyofforsyth.com
Melvin Lawrence
Post 3 478-993-7841
mlawrence@cityofforsyth.com
Greg Goolsby
Post 4 404-402-1134
g g oo I sby @c i ty of fo rsyth.com
Julius Stroud, III
Post 5 478-796-5524
j st ro u d @c i ty of f o rsy t h. c o m
Michael Dodd
Post 6 478-972-7009
mdodd@cityofforsyth.com
Va. fugitive turns
Forsyth upside down
By Will Davis
publisher@mymcr.net
The Virginia fugitive
who turned Forsyth upside
down and put schools on
lockdown for four hours
last Wednesday morning
had recently been released
from his second stint
in prison for attempted
wounding and breaking
and entering, after a prior
prison term for attempted
murder.
“He ought to be in
prison,” said sheriff Brad
Freeman. “It’s crazy’
Thankfully, after a
fruitless 4-hour search,
authorities learned that
Gregory Jones, 38, had
left Forsyth in a stolen
car long ago and he
was finally captured in
South Carolina later in
the day.
“There’s no doubt
he drove right by
us,” sighed Monroe
County sheriff Brad
Freeman. “But we were
looking for a guy on foot.”
Many parents were pan
icked
on Wednesday morning dents at T G Scott
when scores of law enforce- Elementary and Monroe
County
Middle
School.
Both
schools
were put
on lockdown
and extra deputies
were dispatched for
security.
The uproar started when
Monroe County 911
received a call around 7:30
a.m. that Jones, who was
wanted in Virginia on flee
ing and weapons charges,
was staying at the Red Roof
Inn in Forsyth. Authorities
suspect the caller was Jones’
companion because she
knew so much about him.
She told the dispatcher he
had been on “America’s
Most Wanted,” but that TV
show has been off the air
since 2013.
Authorities went to the
Red Roof Inn to arrest
Jones. Here’s what hap
pened next, according to
sheriff Freeman: When
they got there, he was in
the parking lot walking
See FUGITIVE . Page 7A
vehicles went speed
ing toward Dayspring Pres
byterian Church, right
across the street
from more
than
00
stu-
Scattered, smothered and DUI?
By Steve Reece
stevereece@gmail.com
A Forsyth man was charged
with DUI after he staggered
into Waffle House around
3:45 a.m. on Jan. 22, picked
up his order, assured five
deputies seated inside that he
wasn’t driving and then drove
off, according to a sheriff’s
report.
The report said Kendric
Watts, 27, of 144 College Street,
Forsyth was highly intoxicated when
he entered the Waffle House on Tiff
College Drive. Deputy John Cochran
asked him if he was driving and he
answered, “No.”
Watts was unsteady on his feet and
his speech was slow and slurred as he
paid the cashier for his food,
said the report. Deputies
Cpl. Nicholas Ortiz, deputy
Peyton Henderson, deputy
Corbin Becelia and Sgt.
Willie Barkley and Cochran
watched him swaying as he
walked out the door and got
in his 1998 Honda Civic and
drove off.
Cochran followed him out and
activated his emergency lights to
stop him but Watts pulled out of the
parking lot, turned left onto Juliette
Road and continued east for around
a quarter of a mile before pulling into
a parking space at 737 Juliette Road,
Village Oaks Apartments.
Cochran told Watts to stay inside
the vehicle, but he crawled over the
center console and exited the pas
senger side of the vehicle. Cochran
could smell alcohol on him and asked
him if he would consent to a sobriety
test. Watts stated, “No! I ain’t done
anything.” Cochran then told Watts
that he was going to be arrested.
Watts became physically combative
with deputies they tried to put him in
handcuffs and secure him into Bece-
lia’s patrol car. He was cited for DUI,
obstruction and failure to yield to an
authorized emergency vehicle.
WATTS
Forsyth
mourns
Marcy
Sanders
Monroe County is
mourning the loss of
long-time former Mary
Persons teacher Marcy
Sanders, who died in an
auto accident on Bow
man Road in Macon on
Monday night.
Sanders, 53, had ap
parently just left work
at Ambitions Health
Club, formerly Kinetix,
located at 5430 Bow
man Road, when the
wreck happened around
9 p.m„ Macon-Bibb
coroner Leon Jones told
the Reporter. Sanders
was heading south on
Bowman Road toward
Wesleyan Drive when
she crossed the center-
line and left the road.
Her Nissan overturned
in the woods and she
was pronounced dead
of blunt force trauma
injuries.
The mother of three
grown daughters, Sand
ers was in charge of
vocational education at
Mary Persons for many
years. She had also
coached the MP volley
ball team for many years
and helped coach the
MP softball team too.
Sanders’ last mes
sage on her Facebook
page came on Saturday
when she posted: “Stop
hiding your scars and
your wounds. They’re
your trophies that you
went through that and
still survived”, a quote
credited to pastor T.D.
Jakes. Funeral arrange
ments were not known
at press time.