Newspaper Page Text
SEE PAGE IB
SEE PAGE 10A
Lady Tigers
Give McCurley
th Victory
5 11
Maysville Holds
'Christmas
In The Park'
Vol. 133
No. 43
18 Pages
2 Sections
50 Cents COVERING THE COMMERCE AREA SINCE 1875
Man Shoots Sleeping
Wife, Calls Parents, 911
A Commerce
man who alleged
ly shot his sleep
ing wife multiple
times in the head
early Friday morn
ing then called his
parents and told
them to come pick
up the troubled
couple’s 3-year-old
daughter. He then called 911
and told the operator he’d
killed his wife.
That is the sequence
of events reported by
the Commerce Police
Department, which has
charged Martin Lewis
Seymour, 31, with the mur
der of his 29-year-old wife,
Jamie Sue Seymour.
Apparently upset because
his wife, who police say was
engaged in an extramarital
affair, had planned to leave
the next day with the cou
ple’s daughter for Indiana,
Seymour shot her as she lay
on the couch in the living
room, said Detective Chad
Knight, head of the depart
ment’s criminal
investigation divi
sion.
“We believe she
was asleep when it
happened, based
on the place
ment of the body
and the entrance
wounds,’’ said
Knight. “It didn’t
appear that there was any
kind of struggle.’’
Jamie Seymour was a
1997 graduate of Madison
County High School, where
she served on the cheerlead
ing squad. Martin Seymour
was a 1995 graduate of
MCHS.
Knight confirmed that
the child slept through the
shooting. When Commerce
officers arrived, they found
Martin Seymour sitting in
the driveway. The couple’s
daughter was already in the
car with the suspect’s par
ents, Knight said.
Preliminary evidence
Cont. on Page 3A
Martin Seymour
Instructions For The Big Guy
Landry Kate Martin gives her Christmas wish
list to Santa Claus Saturday during “Breakfast
with Santa” hosted by the Commerce Downtown
Development Authority. Photo by Mark Beardsley
Prize-Winning Float
The First United Methodist Pre-School’s float was among the winners in the
Commerce Christmas Parade Saturday. It tied for first place with Candy Castle
Childcare in the school category. Other winners were Commerce Presbyterian
Church and Mt. Calvary Baptist Church, below, (tied in the church category);
Dink Wood’s Garage, business; and the Humane Society of Jackson County,
nonprofit groups. Photos by Mark Beardsley
Shop Commerce By Candlelight Dec. 19
mxm
THURSDAY, DEC 11
Rain: Low, 32; high, 50;
90% chance rain
FRIDAY, DEC 12
t
Partlly cloudy: Low, 29; high,
50; 10% chance rain
SATURDAY, DEC 13
Mostly sunny: Low, 33; high,
54; 10% chance rain
SUNDAY, DEC 14
Partly cloudy: Low, 41; high,
55; 10% chance rain
Local Reservoir Levels
Commerce: 698.1 (.5 feet above
full)
Bear Creek: 688.31 (6.69 feet
below full)
Rainfall this month
.30 inches
Rainfall This Year
42.82 Inches
INDEX
Births 7A
Church News 8A
Classified Ads 6-8 B
Calendar 3 A
Crime News 6A
News Roundup 2A
Obituaries 9A
Opinions 4-5A
School News 1OA
Sports 1-3B
Social News 7A
4 8 7 9 1 4 1 4 1 ® 9
Downtown Commerce
will offer a rare nighttime
shopping experience with
“Commerce by Candlelight’’
Friday, Dec. 19.
Approximately 20 stores
will stay open until 9:00,
and shoppers will be able to
stroll from store to store on
luminary-lit sidewalks, hear
Christmas carols performed
by the county’s top vocal
ensemble, see Santa, enjoy
refreshments and maybe
even win a door prize.
The event is a joint pro
duction of participating
merchants, the Commerce
Area Business Association
and the Downtown
Development Authority.
“Every retailer and restau
rant is participating,’’ points
out Hasco Craver, executive
director of the DDA, “as
well as a few professional
offices and service-oriented
businesses. We wanted to
Please Turn to Page 3A
City Schools
Perfect In
Meeting AYP
CHS One Of 9 GA High Schools
To Earn 'Platinum Award'
By Ben Munro
Commerce Schools were
perfect when it came to
meeting Adequate Yearly
Progress (AYP) — and then
some.
All city schools made
AYP and three recently
received recognition from
the governor’s office of
student achievement.
The Commerce Board
of Education (BOE) was
presented that news at its
Thursday night meeting.
“We have four very, very
good reasons to celebrate,’’
assistant superintendent
Joy Tolbert said.
The awards were based
on performance during
the 2007-2008 school year.
Commerce High School
earned the platinum award,
the highest honor that can
be bestowed upon a school
for AYP accountability.
Platinum winners must
make AYP for three con
secutive years, have at
least 35 percent of stu
dents exceed standards in
all test areas and place
in the 98th percentile in
“greatest student achieve
ment gains.’’
Only nine high schools
in the state can boast that
distinction.
“The students and the
teachers are the ones who
deserve all the credit when
ever we receive any kind
of positive recognition,’’
CHS principal Donnie
Drew said, adding that he
felt that the high school
students have worked hard
every year, not just 2007-
2008.
Commerce Elementary
School achieved gold sta
tus, one of 13 elementary
schools in the state to do
so.
“Gold’’ schools must
make AYP for two con
secutive years — CES has
made it three straight years
— have at least 30 of stu
dents exceeding standards
in test areas and place
Please Turn to Page 3A
J. Mac Barber
Dies In Macon
Former Legislator, PSC Member, Mayor,
Among Most Colorful Public Officials
J. Mac Barber, 91, died
Sunday, Dec. 7, 2008, in
Macon.
A memorial service will
be held Friday, Dec. 12,
2008, at 2 p.m. at the First
United Methodist Church
of Commerce. The Revs.
Hoyt A. Allen and David
G. Bowen will officiate.
The body has been donat
ed to Emory University
Medical School.
Barber, a lifelong politi
cian and public ser vant was
one of the most colorful
figures in recent Georgia
history. Known universally
as “Mac,’’ Barber was born
in Banks County, the son
of the late William L. and
Susan K. Barber. He grew
up in Commerce.
He is survived by a niece,
Angela G. Adams, Macon,
and a great-nephew, James
J. Mac Barber
Adams III, and a great-
niece, Kathryn A. Brooks,
both of Macon. He was
preceded in death by his
wife, Janette McGarity
Barber; two sisters, Marian
Barber and Kathryn B.
Gaultney, and brothers,
William Ralph Barber and
Dwight F. Barber.
Please Turn to Page 3A
Official Statement From PSC
The Georgia Public Service Commission
(Commission) issued a statement Monday on the
passing Sunday of longtime former Commissioner
J. Mac Barber.
“We mourn the passing of former Commissioner
Mac Barber who served the people of Georgia on this
Commission, in the Georgia General Assembly and
as mayor of Commerce over more than five decades.
Mac was a friend to everyone and an advocate for
the people. He was a one of a kind in Georgia state
government who will truly be missed.”