Newspaper Page Text
Page 4D
March 8, 2023
iReporfcer
Two deputies in separate roadside scuffles
By Steve Reece
steve.reece@gmail.com
Monroe County deputies
got into two separate roadside
scuffles with suspects in the
same week according to sheriff’s
reports.
The first
occurred
on Feb. 15
when dep
uty Thomas
Morgan
saw a black
2015 Toy
ota Camry BOISTON
driving
slowly with
its hazards on on 1-75 north.
When the car passed, the driver,
Armani Rashad Bolston, 28, of
Union City, looked at Morgans
patrol car and accelerated to
normal speeds.
Here’s what happened next
according to the report: Morgan
followed him for around a mile
while Bolston failed to maintain
his lane and followed other cars
too closely. The deputy stopped
him near Rumble Road using his
RA. system to get the driver to
pull over.
When asked for his license,
Bolston said that he had them but
just stared at the deputy. When
Morgan asked for his license
again, Bolston repeatedly began
to yell, “You got me!” Morgan
ordered
him out of
the car.
As he was
getting out,
Bolston
shoved the
car door
WILLIAMS °P en 311(1
stepped
out clutching
something in his jacket pocket.
Morgan grabbed his arm to cuff
him, but Bolston swung at him,
and they both fell into the traffic
lane. Morgan then radioed for
help.
The deputy was able to drag
Bolston back to the shoulder
where the struggle continued.
Bolston tried to kick Morgan
and snatch away from him and
Morgan used pepper spray on
him which proved to be effec
tive. Bolston was then shoved
against the guardrail where he
was searched. A TV remote
control was found in his jacket
pocket.
When Morgan tried to put
Bolston in the rear of his patrol
unit, he kicked the side of the
vehicle and tried to lunge at
Morgan, who took him back to
the ground where he stayed until
backup arrived.
Bolstons mother, who was a
passenger, told deputies her son
suffered from severe mental
issues including violent spurts of
anger.
Bolston was taken to the Mon
roe County Jail where he was
treated for the pepper spray by
Monroe County EMS. Bolston
was charged with following too
closely, failure to maintain lane,
and felony obstruction.
Four days later, on Sunday, Feb.
19, Sgt. Thomas Haskins came
across an unconscious man lying
on the side of Sanders Road
near Hwy. 41. Haskins found the
man, 34-year-old Jarrod Douglas
Williams of Forsyth, breathing
but unresponsive. When Haskins
tried to wake him, he would only
roll over.
Williams was identified by his
Department of Correction ID
card found in his wallet. Dispatch
informed Haskins that Williams
had two warrants out for his ar
rest, one for parole violation and
one for drug possession.
When EMS arrived and tried to
evaluate Williams, he jumped up
and began yelling that he “didn’t
want any help!” and started
walking away. Haskins told him
several times to stop, however, he
continued walking away. Haskins
then grabbed him, and when
he pulled away, took him to the
ground.
Once on the ground, Williams
grabbed Haskins and struck him
in the face several times. Haskins
struck Williams back in the face
with a closed fist and was able to
get on top of him and hold him
down. EMS personnel Cole Don
aldson, Robert Bennett, Jeffrey
Williams, and Gregory Stephens
rushed to help the sergeant get
Williams in cuffs.
Inside Williams’ pockets were
two large bags of suspected meth.
There was also a meth pipe in his
pocket. Inside a bookbag that was
found near where Williams had
been lying were several marijuana
grinders, a marijuana smoking
device, two digital scales, and
several loose plastic bags.
While in the back of Haskins’
patrol car, Williams began kick
ing the back window. Haskins
told him that he was going to
be additionally charged if he
damaged the window. He was
then taken to the Monroe County
Jail. The suspected meth weighed
around 18 grams.
Williams was charged with
obstruction of law enforcement,
possession of methamphetamine
with intent to distribute, and pos
session of drug-related objects.
Williams was previously
charged and convicted in Monroe
County in 2018 for an obstruc
tion charge involving a machete.
The parole warrant stems from
violating his parole from this
previous charge.
A massive grading project continues at Monroe County s Hwy. 1 8 Industrial Park as workers prepare for the new driver s
license office. The Monroe County Development Authority is using the opportunity to add a road and grade not just for the
license office but surronding lots as well to make them attractive to new businesses. (Drone photo/Will Davis)
County urges
residents to get
address signs
District 3 Commissioner John
Ambrose said on Tuesday, Feb.
21 that Monroe County citizens
in need of a legible address
sign can purchase them for $20
apiece at the Monroe County
Emergency Services (MCES)
headquarters station at 693
Juliette Road. Commissioner
Ambrose said for an additional
$5 charge, an MCES firefight
er will install the sign at your
home. Commissioner Ambrose
noted that having a visible
address sign is critical for MCES
and Monroe County Sheriff’s
Office personnel to be able to
locate residents’ homes swiftly in
case of an emergency.
New law to make Google, Facebook play fairly
By Rep. Ken Buck
The first brilliant idea Goo
gle founders Sergey Brin and
Larry Page had was to “crawl”
— and trawl — the World Wide
Web. Using spiders,
it would copy what
it found, create vast
databases of web
content, and then
“index” that content,
evaluating it for rele
vancy against search
queries. The logic
rules driving those
relevance evaluations
are known as the
Google algorithm.
That algorithm is
used to return search results.
Google then launched its busi
ness using other sites’ content.
And one of the primary reliable
content creators is newspapers.
In 2018, Google earned an
estimated $4.7 billion by includ
ing links to newspaper articles
in its search results, according
to a study by the News/Media
Alliance. Google doesn’t produce
any original news content; earn
ings are primarily generated by
selling targeted ads tied
to its search results. This
means the content of
news articles — search
able words and images
— is directly connected
to driving ad sales.
According to the study,
news articles represented
40 percent of the links
on search results. Despite
that, Google did not pay
a single cent to newspaper
publishers for displaying
their content and providing links
to their stories. In the last decade,
Google profits have skyrocketed.
Alphabet, the company that now
owns Google, reported revenues
of $75 billion in Q4 of2021, of
which $62 billion was generated
by Google advertising.
By optimizing and selling its
ad vision, Google and its Big
Tech brothers have stripped
local newspapers and magazines
of the advertising dollars these
community institutions rely on to
survive. The drop in ad revenue
has proved lethal. More than 60
American dailies and 1,700 week
lies have closed since 2004.
The papers that have survived
have seen their news-gathering
budgets slashed. This effectively
silences speech within communi
ties and shrinks the marketplace
of ideas at a grassroots level.
The collapse of local newspa
pers doesn’t end with the loss
of jobs and the elimination of
important big news stories. The
small stories that unite communi
ties disappear, too. The coverage
of church events, town hall meet
ings, local fairs, and local team
sports evaporates. These types of
stories help communities define
and cement themselves. They are
a bonding agent.
Ensuring our free press has the
financial strength to operate and
fulfill its role as an unimpeded
publisher of information is crit
ical to keeping the marketplace
of ideas open. To counteract the
erosion of the press’s financial sta
bility, initiated in part by Google
and Facebook, we need to allow
the free press to defend itself.
As crazy as it sounds, newspa
pers and other news providers are
prohibited by the antitrust laws
from banning together and nego
tiating a deal with the monopoly
tech platforms. That, apparently,
would be unfair — to the mo
nopolies!
You can’t make this stuff up.
One legislative solution that I’ve
championed would lift antitrust
restrictions against small media
companies banding together to
negotiate. This will let publishers
negotiate and collect from the
digital platforms that have greatly
profited from news organizations’
work. The proposal provides a
four-year safe harbor window to
hammer out terms to recoup ad
vertising and subscriptions from
digital giants who used news
articles to gather data.
Google and Facebook don’t
have any incentive to negotiate
with deserving members of the
media because as it currently
stands, the monopolies get their
content for free and receive all the
revenue. The only leverage that
small newspapers can have is to
band together and deny Google
and Facebook a large quantify
of original content. But I hope a
legislative solution can be crafted
that allows a more even negotiat
ing position.
Rep. Ken Buck represents Colo
rado’s 4th Congressional District.
BUCK
PUBLIC NOTICES
Continued from page 3D
furthest away from residential homes.
Planning and Zoning Public Hearing:
Monday, March 27, 2023, at 5:30 p.m.
Board of Commissioners Public Hear
ing: Tuesday, April 4, 2023, at 6:00 p.m.
Public Hearing Location: 38 West
Main Street, Forsyth, Ga 31029.
For questions and concerns, please
contact Kelsey Fortner, Community
Development Manager at 478-994-
7040, kfortner@monroecoga.
org or visit www.monroecoga.
org, Facebook Page or Insta-
gram
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I
23-099
STATE OF GEORGIA
MONROE COUNTY
Unified Development Ordinance
Monroe County Planning and Zoning
A series of public hearings will be held
for a newly proposed Unified Develop
ment Ordinance in Monroe County.
This document can be found on our
website www.monroecoga.org, picked
up from our office or it can be request
ed by email.
The Planning and Zoning Public Hear
ing will be held Monday, March 27,
2023, at 5:30 pm.
The Monroe County Board of Com
missioners Public Hearings will be
held Tuesday, April 4, 2023, at 6:00pm.
At these public hearings, the following
matters will be discussed: adoption of
the Unified Development Ordinance
generally; policies and procedures for
conduct of public hearings; standards
for the exercise of the zoning power;
the readoption of official zoning map;
the regulation of signs; and other mat
ters contained within the Unified De
velopment Ordinance.
Both public hearings will be held at 38
West Main Street, Forsyth, Ga 31029.
For questions and concerns, please
contact Kelsey Fortner, Community
Development Manager, at 478-994-
7040, kfortner@monroecoga.org,
Facebook or Instagram.
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I
23-100
STATE OF GEORGIA
MONROE COUNTY
Conditional Use Application in Com
mercial
Monroe County Planning and Zoning
Application: 2023-004
Legal Description: Rumble Road, For
syth, Ga 31029
Map 080 Parcel 023
Property Owner: Five Rivers Invest
ments, LLC
Applicant: Sonny Singh
Request: A conditional use under
Commercial to open and operate a
convenience store with fueling sta
tions.
Planning and Zoning Public Hearing:
Monday, March 27, 2023, at 5:30 p.m.
Board of Commissioners Public Hear
ing: Tuesday, April 4,2023, at 6:00 p.m.
Public Hearing Location: 38 West
Main Street, Forsyth, Ga 31029.
For questions and concerns, please
contact Kelsey Fortner, Community
Development Manager at 478-994-
7040, kfortner@monroecoga.org or
visit www.monroecoga.org, Facebook
Page or Instagram
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