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BICENTENNIDL
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4 Sections, 24 Pages • Wednesday • September 15,2021
INSIDE
Bulldogs
preparing
for Peach
showdown
PAGE 1C
Next week:
Historic
Bicentennial
Book inside
WELCOME
TO THE FAMILY
Ryan Wilson
Dan & Kathy Owens
Stuart Hammock
Kimble & Deann Oliver
Gina Utley
NEW SUBSCRIBERS
OF THE WEEK
DEATHS m6A
Osie Tribble, Jr
Martha Dodd
Perry Haralson
Mary Latham
Jimmie Chambliss
Leila Bass
Karnishovas Trice
Jimmy Hancock
Ray Davis
Thomas Allen
OfiflOS
Stroud cleared of ethics complaint
By Diane Glidewell
news@mymcr.net
Forsyth city attorney
Bobby Melton announced
at a Sept. 7 council meet
ing that he was clearing
councilman Julius Stroud
of an anonymous ethics
complaint filed against
Stroud for his Facebook
post claiming protestors
against a mask mandate in
Monroe County schools
would have been treated
differently if they were
black.
Melton said it is his
job to evaluate ethic
complaints against city
officials.
“There is no ethics viola
tion in my opinion,” said
Melton.
The complainant, who
said they were remaining
anonymous because of
fear of retaliation, wrote
that Stroud had posted
that if the people protest
ing the school systems
mask mandate in August
had been predomi
nantly black instead of
white, there would have
been shots fired and ar
rests. The complainant
said the comments were
absurd and incited a racial
divide that has no place in
the community.
It said there were mul
tiple ethnicities present at
See ETHICS Page 7A
Dog, family OK after house fire
Monroe County fire trainee Thomas
Shephard carries the family dog to
safety after a Hwy. 41 family lost
its home to fire on Monday. Forsyth
and Monroe County firefighters
were dispatched to the blaze
at 2612 Old Atlanta Highway,
or Hwy. 41 toward Barnesville,
around 3 p.m. Members of the
Guined family including two small
children and the family dog were
able to escape. Red Cross has
been contacted to help the family.
The rental home was owned by Ed
die Buice and was a total loss.
Couples cited after spat in front of Grits
By Steve Reece
stevereece@gmail.com
Two couples were cited for disorderly
conduct for fighting on the Square in
front of the Grits Cafe on Sept. 3.
Forsyth police Cpl. Anais Benjamin
had to separate the couples when he
arrived. Here’s what happened accord
ing to his report: Benjamin spoke first
with Michael Parks, 50, who said he
was traveling east on West Johnston
Street in front of Grits Cafe when he
saw a man and woman walking across
the street but not in the cross walk. He
said that as he got closer to the couple,
the man started to yell at him so he
stopped his vehicle in the middle of the
road and rolled down his window so
he could hear what he was saying. He
said the man, identified as Matthew
Jones, 47, then reached inside his ve
hicle and struck him in the face. Parks
added that when he tried to get out,
Jones pushed the door closed on him.
Parks said he and his wife, Morganne
E. Parks, 32, then both got out to
protect their children and when he was
face-to-face with Jones, Jones pushed
him. He then punched Jones in the
neck and ended the altercation.
Benjamin then asked Jones his ver
sion of the incident and Jones stated
that he and his wife, Elizabeth Harri
son, were crossing the street in front of
Grits Cafe when Parks sped up coming
towards them. Jones said he held up
his hands and Parks stopped and rolled
his window down. He admitted that he
closed the door on Parks when he tried
to get out of the vehicle. He said when
he closed the door, Parks’ wife got out
of the car and pulled a gun on him and
Elizabeth and when he turned his at
tention to the gun, Michael struck him
in the back of the head.
Benjamin reviewed footage of the in
cident taken with Parks’ camera show
ing Jones reaching inside the vehicle
to strike Parks. Some diners at Grits
who saw the ruckus said Jones struck
Parks who then struck Jones back, but
no gun was drawn. Other customers
reported that Morganne pulled a gun
but pointed it at the ground. All par
ties involved were cited for disorderly
conduct and a report was made.
Subscribe, renew NOW to save money
Readers of the Monroe County Reporter can save money
by renewing or subscribing by Oct. 1, before new pricing
takes effect. Unfortunately, due to a staggering 140-percent
increase in the price of newsprint in the past few months,
the Reporter is facing steep hikes in its printing bill. With
inflation hitting newspapers like so many other industries,
the Reporter has announced that it will have to raise its
in-county subscriptions rate to $50 as of Oct. 1. Single cop
ies will be $2. It’s the first increase in 9 years. The Reporter
thanks its loyal readers and advertisers who ensure this
remains the Best Little Paper in Geogria.
Secular
groups
demand
B0E stop
praying
Head: 1 will not vote to
hinder any God given right
or personal liberty no matter
how small or great it is.’
By Diane Glidewell
news@mymcnnet
An anti-religious group
has demanded the Monroe
County Board of Education
stop opening meetings with
prayer.
For many years board
members have rotated the
responsibility of the prayer,
most often including in
each prayer a request for
wisdom to make the best
decisions to benefit the stu
dents of Monroe County.
School board members
received a letter dated Sept.
1 from “Americans United
for Separation of Church
and State” in Washing
ton, D.C. stating “We
have received a complaint
regarding the practice of
the Monroe County Board
of Education of opening its
meetings with prayer,” and
ending the paragraph with
“Please stop this practice.”
Monroe County school
board members who
responded did not seem
deterred.
“Saying a prayer in gov
ernmental settings is not
establishing a religion; it is
not a required participat
ing event for anyone,” said
Monroe County school
board member Greg Head.
“As long as I am in an
elected position, I will not
vote to hinder any God
given right or personal
liberty no matter how small
or great it is.”
Head noted that the
groups sending the let
ters argue against prayer
at meetings based on case
law and that there is case
law supporting either side,
bringing it down to judges
making decisions.
“If Congress and the
Georgia legislature can do
it we can do it,” said school
board member Eva Bilder-
back. “Somebody is just
looking for something.”
The letter cites multiple
court cases as precedent
to prohibit prayer at BOE
meetings legally, but it gives
no clue as to who made
the complaint, when it was
made or why. It makes a
See PRAYER Page 7A