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Cox Elected; Wine Question Ties!!
By TOM KIRWAN
Summerville voters elected
Dennis Cox to the city council
Wednesday, but failed to give
the city council and mavnr a
clearcut direction o .ne
sale controversy by 3> on
that question 222 vtg g, 2 22
votes. — 5 £
S S
Cox, a retired en S of
the city post office, m § up
59 percent of the vo it
ing Jerry Frady by ; ' g >te
p 21
VOLUME XCIII NUMBER Lil
Authority Has
Brief Meeting
A brief session marked the
monthly meeting of the Chat
tooga County Hospital Author
ity Monday, with the following
action taken:
* In a move to “get out of
the real estate business,’’ the
board voted to sell the hos
pital’s home on Ellen Street -
formerly rented to doctors and
administrators-for $28,000.
The board will also consider
selling a small tract of land,
located behind Price Funeral
Home, at its next meeting.
•* J. B. White was an
nounced as the high bidder fol
lowing the opening of sealed
bids on two citizens band units
and a public address system. Os
the eight bids received. White’s
bid of $75 for the amplifier
and $125 for the CB equip
ment was the highest.
* The board asked Rep.
Jerry Money to seek funds
from the Governor’s Emer
gency Fund for a 10-year plan
ning study covering health care
in the county, at a cost esti
mated between $2,500 and
$3,000.
* The board voted to renew
a $36,000 note with the First
National Bank.
* The board approved the
naming of Shirley McCrickard
as assistant administrator of
the hospital.
Following the regular ses
sion, a brief executive session
was called for the stated pur
pose of discussing personnel
matters.
Dozens Get Tickets as
Parking Law Takes Hold
Several dozen local residents
recently learned the hard way
that the two-hour parking limit
in downtown Summerville is
now being strictly enforced.
Mayor Sewell Cash, in a
story which appeared in The
News two weeks ago, vowed
that all city ordinances would
be enforced under his admini
stration, including the two
hour parking limit on the
downtown streets.
The ordinance went into
effect over two years ago when
the city council voted to
remove parking meters from
the downtown area at the
request of merchants.
But since then the parking
law regarding to the two-hour
limit has been largely un
enforced.
According to Patrolman
Hinton Logan, who is in charge
of issuing parking tickets,
between 65 and 70 tickets have
been written under the two
hour limit since Jan. 1.
Less than half of those
Car Overturns
Into Creek
Icy road conditions early
Friday morning apparently
caused an automobile driven
by an Alabama woman to slide
off the road into a creek off of
the Oak Hill Road. However,
no one was injured.
Lavon H. Gentry, 35, of
Route 1, Gaylesville, Ala.,
driver of a 1973 Ford Torino,
was traveling south on the Oak
Hill Road, came around a curve
and began sliding, according to
reports filed by Corporal J. E.
Ivie of the Georgia State
Patrol.
The Gentry vehicle then,
reports said, apparently broad
sided off a small bridge and
landed upside down in the
creek.
An estimated SBOO worth of
damage was done to the
Gentry vehicle and SIOO worth
of damage to a bridge railing
belonging to the county.
margin.
Cox racked up 268 votes
while Frady, a General Tele
phone employee, netted 185
votes.
The real surprise of the
evening came when Chief
Election Manager Hall Baker
announced the tie vote on the
wine question around 7:50
p.m. Ironically there were nine
spoiled straw ballots--all blank
-which if properly cast would
ehc ^ummeruilk
—--W
IS tSL.
If
Another Ticket Issued
Patrolman Hinton Logan of the Summerville Police
Department issues one of an estimated 70 parking
tickets that have been given out since the two-hour
parking ordinance went into effect again in down
town Summerville two weeks ago, a move ordered by
Mayor Sewell Cash.
citations have been paid off,
the patrolman said.
The $2 tickets must be paid
at the police department
within 24 hours of being
issued, a spokesman for the
department noted. Drivers who
don’t pay their tickets
promptly are then served with
a summons, upping the fine fee
to $lO.
If that summons is ignored,
a second summons is sent out
and a new-and higher—fine is
issued.
“There has been two-hour
parking ever since the parking
meters were removed,” said a
police department spokesman,
“but due to the lack of
personnel, it just has not been
enforced. We feel this parking
law will help merchants of
Summerville, not hurt them,”
Hoping to get the point
'across, citv officials recently
Griffin Pledger Ends 29-Year Police Career
Griffin Pledger-the man
whose name has become
synonymous with the Summer
ville Police Department
retired this month following a
29-year career with the depart
ment.
The soft-spoken, amiable
city resident, who first joined
the police department in
September of 1948, says he has
mixed emotions about his
decision to leave the force.
“It grows on a fella like any
other job,” he commented. “It
gets in your blood and you
hate to quit. If I was 10 years
younger I wouldn’t think
about leaving police work. As
long as I’ve been there, and at
my age, I think it’s time to let
somebody else come in-some
body younger.”
Pledger was born 67 years
ago today in Chattooga
County. Raised on a farm, he
later went to work at the
have decided the issue.
Baker and his half dozen
ballot counters took some 25
minutes to tally the wine vote,
but on a recount found the
results to be the same-222
votes each.
“We couldn’t get them any
closer, 1 don’t think,” Baker
commented, “If people (who
cast the spoiled ballots) would
have voted one way or the
other, it would have been dis-
SUMMERVILLE, CHATTOOGA COUNTY, GEORGIA 30747 THURSDAY JANUARY 26. 1978
installed several signs in the
downtown area declaring the
two-hour limit.
Residence Is
Burglarized
A burglary at a local resi
dence Thursday night is still
under investigation by the
Summerville Police Depart
ment.
Vanessa Fain of 105 Allred
Street told officers that some
one gained entry to her resi
dence by cutting the screen on
the back door.
Taken from the trailer were
10 to 15 albums and a child’s
money bank containing
approximately sls in change.
No arrests have been made
at the present time.
hosiery mill here.
Still later he started his own
trucking business, which
eventually evolved into his
running a taxi service in
Summerville.
When World War II broke
out he joined the Navy, serving
with the Seabees. Returning to
Summerville in 1948, he went
back to his taxis, but it wasn’t
long before he was hired on at
the police department as a foot
patrolman.
In a few years he was
promoted to sergeant, and in
1957 he was appointed police
chief. He held that post for 17
years before stepping down as
chief in 1974. However, he
remained on the force as a
patrolman-dispatcher
It is notable that during his
long stint as a policeman that
until this past December when
he took a few sick days, he had
never missed a single workday.
ferent.”
What effect the tie vote will
have on the council’s decision
to approve or dissaprove wine
sales in the city was imme
diately unclear. The mayor and
council had hoped the straw
ballot would once and for all
help them solve the thorny
issue of proposed wine sales
here. While the council was
under no obligation to follow
the results of the straw ballot,
a majority of the council had
Georgia House Approves
Funding for Campsites
At ‘’Sloppy’ Floyd Park
By TOM KIRWAN
The recreation facilities the
county has to offer got a big
boost last week as funds for
the development of camping
sites at James H. “Sloppy’
Floyd State Park were released
by the Georgia House.
Bill Seeks to
Up Salary of
School Board
Members of the Chattooga
County School Board would
have their meeting stipend
nearly doubled if a bill soon to
be placed in the hopper of the
Georgia House is approved.
Rep. Jerry Money said this
week he will soon introduce
the bill, which would raise the
school board members’ salaries
from current payments of S2O
a meeting to $35 per meeting.
“It’s been years since they
(school board member pay
ments) have been changed,” he
said in explaining his bill.
His key reason for introduc
ing the bill, he said, was to
adequately pay board members
because they sometimes miss
work to attend meetings.
When it was noted that the
board’s regularly scheduled
meetings are at night, Money
said: “Sometimes they have
special meetings^n the day, to
inspect school buildings, for
example:”
He said the current meeting
payments could dissuade a
prospective candidate from
running for the school board
because he or she would know
“they wouldn’t get (fully)
reimbursed for missing work”
to attend school board meet
ings.
Money said that there is no
maximum in his bill regarding
how many meetings a board
member could draw for in a
single month. He expressed
confidence that there would
not be abuses, adding that the
law could be changed if abuses
did occur.
v
GRIFFIN PLEDGER
indicated they would vote
whichever way the majority of
the voters expressed their
opinion on the question.
v Boyd Williams, the only
councilman available for
comment immediately follow
ing the vote, indicated it was
unlikely another straw ballot
would be held. “It looks like to
me it would be left up to the
mayor and council,” he said.
In all, 453 persons voted in
State Representative Jerry
Money made the announce
ment in an interview Tuesday,
obviously pleased that the
funds had been included in the
Georgia House’s supplementary
budget.
The action, which came
Friday prior to the General
Assembly taking a two-week
recess, earmarked $96,000 for
JP Dismisses Charges
Stemming from Shooting
Which Paralyzed Man
Justice of the Peace Ralph
“Country” Brown Wednesday
dismissed charges against a
Chattooga County man who
was involved in a shooting Dec.
30 which left another county
resident paralyzed below the
waist.
Emerson Branch, 55, of
Summerville was charged with
aggravated assault following
the shooting, which sent
Vandalism Probed
Someone vandalized several
automobiles in a used car lot
on Scoggins Avenue sometime
between last Tuesday and
Friday, according to reports
filed at the Summerville Police
Department.
James Bailey of 23 Scoggins
Avenue reported to officers
that sometime between Tues
day, Jan. 16, and Friday, Jan.
20, someone cut the seats of
several of his used automobiles
and also broke the turn signal
arms off.
The incident is still being
investigated.
Wednesday’s special election,
representing 31.9 percent of
the city’s 1,416 registered
voters.
Rain and cold temperatures
-the mercury never went above
48 degrees during the 12 hours
the voting was held-was
blamed for the poor turnout.
Cox was expected to be
sworn into office this evening
at 7, prior to a special meeting
of the mayor and city council
at City Hall.
park development plans.
Money said the funds will
be used to build some 25
camping sites at the park,
which currently has no camp
ing areas open to the general
public.
Each site will have running
water and electricity, Money
said, and will be able to accom
modate recreational vehicles
Bolling Ratliff of Silver Hill to
the Chattooga County Hospital
with three gunshot wounds
from a .32 caliber revolver.
Ratliff was later transferred to
Floyd Medical Center, and
later sent to a veteran’s hospi
tal in Atlanta where he was
listed in satisfactory condition
Monday afternoon.
Following a preliminary
hearing Wednesday, the justice
of the peace said according to
the testimony of some six to
eight state eyewitnesses, the
evidence indicated the shooting
was an act of self defense.
Despite the ruling. Branch may
still face charges stemming
from the shooting, the district
attorney’s office said.
According to the witnesses’
testimony at the hearing.
Brown said. Ratliff had
allegedly threatened to kill
Branch the day of the shoot
ing. In the afternoon Branch
was at Floyd Union 76 Station
at the intersection of the
Lyerly Highway and the
Bolling Road when Ratliff
came in.
Ratliff bumped Branch with
His faithfulness to the job
didn’t go unobserved when he
retired. The Summerville
Mayor and City Council gave
him a certificate of appreci
ation along with a SSOO check
in gratitude of his long, faithful
service to the city.
In addition to his faith ful
ness to the job, it is also
notable that Pledger never fired
his gun at anyone while he
served on the force.
"The only time 1 shot was
to scare them,” he observed
recently. “1 pulled it out and
shot into the air. But I’ve come
close. I’ve come close ...”
Did he ever fear for his life?
“Lots of times," he
responded without hesitation.
The incident that stands out
in his mind the most of his
sometimes-violcnt experiences
happened some 10 years ago.
He had pulled over a driver
5 ’U ;
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TWO SECTIONS - 28 PAGES
for overnight camping.
Under the plan, part of the
$96,000 will be used to acquire
some 90 acres adjacent to the
park, which is located two
miles south of Summerville on
U. S. 27.
The property being eyed by
park officials. Money said, “is
the most suitable for develop
ment” in the area around the
his elbow, witnesses testified,
and asked him if that “same
old thing” was bothering him.
Branch walked away from him
and said he did not want any
trouble. At this point, testi
mony indicated that Ratliff
invited him outside the station,
the justice of the peace said the
testimony showed.
The two men proceeded
outside where the shooting
took place, witnesses said. No
one, according to testimony,
apparently saw who pulled a
gun first. Afterwards Ratliff’s
gun. a .38 caliber revolver, was
found lying three to four
inches from his hand on the
ground, testified witnesses, and
had not been fired.
Ratliff received gunshot
wounds in the stomach area,
the face and in the back,
officials said.
Following the hearing
Wednesday, Assistant District
Attorney Craig Gillen said his
office would probably make a
special presentment of the case
to the February term of the
grand jury which begins its
deliberation Monday. Feb. 6
who appeared to be drunk, he
recalls.
As he attempted to arrest
the driver, a scuffle ensued.
“The feller was choking
me.” he recalled. “I’d have
been justified in shooting
him-he just about choked me
down. I reeled back to get my
blackjack, but his arms were
about six inches longer than
mine. I broke his hold and
knocked him to the ground. He
got up and 1 knocked him
down again. He then just ran
and jumped into the squad car
and 1 brought him back to the
station.”
Pledger was asked what he
recalled as the best part, and
the worst parts, of being an
officer.
"The best part was being
out there all the time and
seeing people. Some people
PRICE 15c
park.
The property is currently
owned by Georgia Marble
Company. Money said Tuesday
negotiations are in the works
now but that it is expected the
property can be bought by the
state at fair market value.
The addition of the camping
sites has been a pet project of
the first-term legislator after
being elected a little over a
year ago. “I feel this is the
biggest accomplishment of my
term in the legislature.” h.
commented.
But at the same time he
lauded State Senator E. G.
Summers for his support of the
project in the Senate.
“Sen. Summers did a lot of
work in the Senate.” Money
said.
Money told The News he is
unsure when the project will be
started and completed.
Commissioner
Slates Public
Hearings
County Commissioner Pete
Denson has slated two public
hearings Tuesday-one con
cerning federal revenue sharing
funds and the second involving
the proposed adoption of a
mobile home ordinance in the
unincorporated areas of the
county.
Residents have been invited
through newspaper advertise
ments to suggest possible uses
of the county’s revenue sharing
funds, through the allotment
period which ends Sept. 31 of
this year, at a 2 p in. hearing at
the courthouse.
Earlier on Tuesday, at 10
a.m.. residents will have an
opportunity to ask questions
and submit possible amend
ments to the county's pro
posed mobile home ordinance.
The ordinance is being passed
in compliance with the state
wide mobile home registration
law which went into effect Jan.
1.
have got domestic problems
and everytime something goes
wrong they’d call the police
department. Some of the worst
calls 1 worked involved
domestic fights. But the best
part was working with all the
other people-the majority of
the pcople-who just enjoy
working and living.”
For now, Pledger said, he
just plans to take it easy at his
home on North Commerce
with his wife Frances. “I’m
gonna rest awhile,” he
explained. “I’ve got some
minor health problems, but
when I get straightened out I'll
work some.”
Near the end of the conver
sation, his eyes slightly misty,
he remarked: “You be sure to
put in there the city’s been
good to me all these years. I
really hate to leave.”