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VOLUME xcrv - NUMBER XXV
Carter Appeal Draws Response From Chattoogans
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President Jimmy Carter’s recent taJ
the nation on the‘energy crisis drew r o ;
praise and some criticism in the media.
in Chattooga County, response to th Oi
dress ranged disgust to overwhelminj S
port, a spot survey conducted by The C p
indicates. "
“I thought it was a wonderful s[
said antique dealer LaVerne Freeman g
has the backing to do it—if the peo,
the Congress would support him—it would be
good. I thought it was an inspiring speech."
Similarly, Gore storekeeper, Mrs. Dill
Ballenger was impressed with what she
heard. “I thought it was a good speech," she
commented. “The papers are really pulling
for him right now.”
Several other residents contacted by The
News agreed with that sentiment. Trion
postmaster Ralph Sprayberry called the
speech one of Carter's “most impressive
speeches." Riley Parham, who works at a
Impact Os New Nursing
Home Being Proposed
Is Topic Os Meeting
The administrator of the local
hospital and nursing home said
this week he fears that a proposed
private nursing home to be built
in the county would drain staffers
from Oak View Nursing Home,
which in the past year or so has
been plagued by a high employee
turnover.
And in other business the local
hospital authority agreed that a
room rate increase will be needed
soon at the hospital, and the
authority made plans for a series
of "consumer briefing meetings”
designed to improve community
awareness of the local hospital.
The developments came at the
monthly meeting of the authori
ty, held Monday at the hospital.
Administrator Bob
Throneberry told authority
members that a proposed
120-bed, for-profit health care
facility could lure Oak View
employees away from their pre
sent jobs. “My main question
(about the proposed facility) is
where they are going to get the
manpower,” he said. “It’s a pro
blem for us.”
.Throneberry asked whether
the authority wanted him to ap
pear before the area Health
Systems Agency, which must
grant the proposed facility a “cer
tificate of need” before it can be
built, to oppose the insurance of
the certificate. It was noted that
aside from the possible employee
related problem, the construction
of the proposed facility would
most likely prevent Oak View
from expanding in the future. One
of the purposes of the HSA is to
ensure that new hospital and nur
sing home beds are needed in an
area; if a private nursing home
were built here it would be unlike
ly the HSA would authorize an
expansion at Oak View in the
future as a result, he said.
Ben Ansley, administrator of
Floyd Medical Center (which
holds a management contract
Most Long Distance Calls
In Ga. Now Costing More
Rates for most long-distance telephone calls inside Georgia will
be higher on bills General Telephone customers receive beginning in
Local telephone company manager Kenneth McPeak said the
/ higher rates were due to an increase granted to Southern Bell
I Telephone Company. Since long-distance rates inside the state are
I the same throughout Georgia, General Telephone’s customers are
I also affected. Rates for local telephone service will remain the same.
I The new long-distance rates were effective for calls placed July 1
I and after.
"To work the new long-distance rates into our billing system, we
had to enter them into our computer,” McPeak added. This caused a
delay in billing for toll calls during the month of July. Customers
that receive July telephone bills before July 28 will not be charged
for any long-distance calls made in July. These calls will come out on
their August bill.
The new rates have one feature that could save money for people
■ who make brief long-distance calls, McPeak said.
'■ ’ "A one-minute rate was estabished that is lower than the three-
minute minimum rate we used before,” he said. “In addition, a new
ra ** was established for the weekend hours. There is now aSO per
cent discount on intrastate calls placed between 11 p.m. on Friday
and 5 p.m. on Sunday. Until now those calls had received only a 25
1 percent discount.”
I According to McPeak, the charge for a three-minute, direct-dial
\ call to Rome or LaFayette (made on a weekday from 8 a.m.-5 p.m.)
\ from Summerville that previously was 38 cents is now 53 cents. But
the same call made between 11 p.m. and 8 a m. on a weekday now
runs 25 cents, where previously 33 cents was charged.
Telephone bills in late July and August will be accompanied by
an insert containing additional rate information.
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^ummerutUe New
e grocery store in Summerville, called it “a
£ darn good speech.” He added: “If the bunch
t up there (in Washington) will back him,
5 things will get better.”
j Trion pharmacist Herman Haygood
* echoed that opinion. “It sounded good,”
Haygood said. “If he could just get Congress
to do something. No matter what the Presi
dent said, the Congress is going to do what
they want to do anyway. He can’t swing the
Congress—hasn't been able to do so, so far.
Congressman Larry McDonald says what
most people think, but for the most part, the
senators and representatives are up there
playing their own games.
Fate Shamblin, a Riegel retiree who is
now a sign painter and farmer in Dry Valley,
commented, “He seemed sincere, didn’t he? I
think he’s putting an all-out effort to really
do something. If he does what he says, I
reckon we'll be all right ... I thought it
was the best speech he's made. I think if we’ll
with the local hospital and nurs
ing home), agreed that private
nursing home could pose a threat
to the local facility. “I believe it
(the construction of a private
nursing home) would create a
more intense labor shortage, for
nurses especially,” he said. “I
don’t know where they’re going
to get them.”
But three hospital authority
members—Katherine Camp, Dr.
Herman Spivey and Bill
Espy. said they doubted the pro
posed facility will ever be built.
They said soaring construction
costs would most likely prevent
its construction, indicating that
the federal government controls
nursing home fees and that such a
facility probably wouldn’t be
financially feasible as a result.
Dr. Spivey noted, however,
that there is a need for more nurs
ing home beds here. Even with
the addition of 21 new beds at
Oak View (to open later this sum
mer), he said there are many local
residents in nursing homes
elsewhere or living with relatives
who would like to be residents of a
local nursing home. He cited one
instance of a local married couple
being separated—with one spouse
being at Oak View and the other a
resident of an Alabama nursing
home.
Upon Dr. Spivey’s recommen
dation, the hospital authority
agreed that an assessment of the
need for more nursing home beds
in the county be undertaken
before any possible opposition to
the proposed nursing home be
mounted by the hospital board. A
30-day announcement of an HSA
review for the proposed facility
must be given, it was noted, and
such an announcement had not
yet been made.
“Future planning is needed,”
the physician said. “We need to
develop two-year, three-year, and
five-year plans and start working
towards them.”
SUMMERVILLE, CHATTOOGA COUNTY, GEORGIA 30747, THURSDAY, JULY 26, 1979
"We need to assess the
needs,” Chairman Charles
Williams agreed, “and find out
where we’re going in the next
several years. Then we can make
a decision or not as to whether we
should object to this certificate of
need."
In other action:
* The first consumer briefing
meeting will be held at the
hospital on Oct. 6, it was agreed.
For the first meeting, the authori
ty voted to invite local of
ficials—including mayors and the
county commissioner, to eat
breakfast at the hospital and then
go on a tour of the facility. Later,
members of the general public
would be asked to go on similar
tours. The idea of the meetings is
to give the public a better
understanding of the facility and
to get input on how services
might be improved.
* A required state inspection
has turned up a few minor
modifications which must be
made on a hospital wing which
has been converted to nursing
home use. Throneberry said. “We
hope to put in residents by
August 1,” he said.
* Administrator Throneberry
said that a hospital room fee in
crease is warranted in the near
future. He noted that the Chat
tooga County Hospital has
among the lowest fees in the
state. (A semi-private room at the
local hospital costs $66 per day;
by contrast the semi-private rate
at Floyd Medical Center is $83.)
“Inflation due to the need to give
employees a cost of living raise”
was cited by Throneberry as one
of the reasons for the needed in
crease. The federal minimum
wage will increase to $3.10 per
hour in January, he noted, and
social security payments must
also be increased then, it was
noted. Throneberry said he believ
ed a 10 percent fee increase would
see IMPACT, page 3-A
all do like he said, he'll get us out of this
jam—if we all stick together instead of pull
ing apart. You know there's people who ob
ject to anything, no matter what it is.”
Trion housewife Gwynne Little said
Carter "made a tremendous effort.”
“I think he’ll have to have some help,
some cooperation, ” she continued. “If people
cooperate, he can get something done. He
can’t do it by himself.
Former sheriff Reuben Lyons of
Cloudland indicated the President has a
tough road to follow, but seemed optimistic
about the future. “I don't know what he can
do, but he’s going to have to do something or
he’ll be back in Plains,” Lyons said. “We’ve
got plenty of coal and oil, but our refineries
have been shut down. This thing is a rip-off.
I'm for putting our railroads back in opera
tion. I’ve lived through a depression, a reces
sion and several wars, and we've always
come out of it, and I believe we’ll do it again.
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Mural Project Is Filmed
WAGA-TV’s Phil Flynn snows off a
T-shirt given him by mural coordinator
John Turner Wednesday when “Georgia
Camera” visited Summerville. At right
is Carrie B. Freeman, who helped Flynn
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‘Georgia Camera 9 Focuses
On Local Mural Project
Chattooga’s colorful mural
program will gain statewide
recognition soon following a visit
last week by Atlanta television
station WAGA's “Georgia
Camera.”
Reporter Phil Flynn and
cameraman Leroy Powell taped a
segment of the popular news
feature which will be aired
sometime in the future on Chan
nel 5 (cable channel 10). The News
contacted the station yesterday
in an effort to learn the exact date
of the airing of the segment; a
secretary said the segment's date
for airing apparently had not yet
been set.
Conner Allen, Carrie B.
Freeman and the art project’s
coordinator, CHS teacher John
Turner, took the newsmen on a
tour of the many wall paintings in
the county.
The mural program began last
summer and is continuing during
the summer months this year.
Turner is supervising a group of
high school students doing the
work. The students are paid
through the CETA program, a
federal program aimed at reduc
ing unemployment. The project is
a joint project of the city and
county governments and the
Chattooga County Chamber of
Commerce.
©
and his cameraman while they were
shooting a news story here. Below,
Turner talks to Flynn about one of
several murals executed last summer.
Turner and his crew were film
ed working on their latest mural.
Turner took the opportunity to
present Flynn a present—a
City Resident Is Wounded;
Father Claims Self Defense
A Summerville man remained
in Floyd Medical Center Wednes
day afternoon from gunshot
wounds received early Wednes
day morning during a domestic
argument with his father.
Charles Johnson, 52, of 500
Highland St. was taken to Chat
tooga County Hospital by the am
bulance service around 3:30 a.m.
Wednesday. He was admitted
with four gunshot wounds. He
was later transferred to Floyd
Medical Center in Rome, where he
was listed in fair condition yester
day morning.
Sgt. Doug Shamblin and
Patrolman Randy Bailey of the
Summerville Police Department
and Sgt. Johnny Bass of the
sheriff’s department answered
the call to the residence of Homer
Johnson at 500 Highland St.
around 3:30 a.m. Upon arriving
We need to start burning coal and putting
our people to work.”
The Rev. Jack Colwell, pastor of the First
Baptist Church in Summerville, called
Carter's address “a good speech, one of the
strongest things he’s done. I felt like his
message was one of the strongest challenges
he’s issued the American people.”
The President has some critics, though,
too. “I think he’s trying to brainwash the
people,” commented Trion barber Wesley
Cordle.
Jim Wable, a United Parcel serviceman
who lives in Calhoun and who works in this
area, was impressed with the speech but
thought it was late in coming. “I liked it,”
hesaid. "It's going to create more time and
money for us. It’s just like everything else;
everything has got to come to an end. But for
the average working person, gas going up
doesn't hurt them that bad, but you’ve got
people on a fixed income. They’re the ones
T-shirt emblazoned with
“Georgia Camera” and a
caricature of Flynn and his uni
que travels throughout the state.
officers found Charles Johnson
had sustained gunshot wounds to
his chest and head. An ambulance
was called and he was
transported to the hospital.
Johnson, reports said, had receiv
ed a bullet wound to the left side
Fire Report
Only one fire call was
answered by the Summerville
Fire Department throughout the
week ended Wednesday.
Firemen responded to a fire at
the residence of Ben Maxwell on
Roseway Circle Friday morning.
Firemen worked at the scene for
less than an hour before they
were able to extinguish it. Light
damage was sustained to a roof
fan where faulty wiring was
believed to have started the fire.
July Rains
Nourishing
Area Crops
By PAM PURCELL
Crops in the county are doing well compared to recent years with
the help of over three inches of rain this month, according to County
Extension Agent Ted Clark.
“The crops and land were getting real dry before the rains," Clark
explained. “Now the soybeans, cotton and corn crops are looking real
good. They’re looking better than they have in three or four years.
Some of the corn crops in the county have already made.
“It's a lot better than it was last year or the year before that,' con
tinued Clark, as he recalled droughts that plagued the county two
years in a row. “Also, there aren’t as many insects right now as there
were last year or the summer of '77 when we had so much trouble with
the army worms. We have had some insect problems with late-planted
corn, but we always have that. There doesn't seem to be as many pro
blems at all as there were last year. Everything seems to be doing much
better."
According to Evan Bowman, official rainfall observer in the county,
there has been 3.54 inches of rainfall since July 7. The most rain record
ed this month to date fell last Saturday night, July 21, with .70 inches
of rain measured, Bowman said. The showers throughout the month,
however, were 'spot showers' and may have occurred in only parts of
the county, Bowman advised.
So far this July there has been .58 inches more rain than there was
last July, said Bowman. Last July there was only 2.96 inches of rain for
the entire month. At presstime Bowman had six more readings to make
before the month is over.
Clark said a couple more rains this season should help the crops
even more and make the harvest season more plentiful than last year.
Son Sought In
Double Slaying
A former county resident and
his wife were found shot to death
Friday morning at their Alabama
home. Outstanding murder war
rants are being held by local
authorities for the arrest of the
man’s son in connection with the
fatal shootings.
The body of John Whisenant
(no age available), formerly of
Welcome Hill and operator of the
Chattooga Garage in Dickeyville,
was found by a neighbor early
Friday morning in his driveway in
DeKalb (Ala.) County.
Authorities said he was shot at
least three times, and possibly as
many as five times.
He sustained pistol wounds in
the back, arm and head.
Police found his wife Meredith
(no age available) lying on the kit
chen floor with a pistol wound in
her chest.
Local authorities have two
of his head near his eye, two
bullet wounds in his chest, and
one wound in his left side just
below his belt. He had been shot
with a .32 caliber pistol.
Homer Johnson, father of the
wounded man, told officers at the
time of their arrival that his son
had started beating him with a
walking cane while he was in bed.
Johnson, 78, also stated that "he
had shot his son several times in
fear that Charles was going to do
him harm.”
Following an investigation, of
ficers found a Clerke .32 caliber
revolver under the bed which had
been fired four times and still had
a live cartridge in the chamber,
said reports. A walking cane with
a metal shaft was found in
Charles Johnson’s possession at
the time the officers arrived,
police said.
who are hurting. He should have taken that
stand two years ago."
Retired engineer Charles Elder of Sum
merville seemed heartened by the speech.
"One atomic bomb on Saudi Arabia and the
whole Western World as we know it would be
brought to its knees,” he said. “Thank God
our government now plans to spend $142.2
billion in the next 20 years to make us again a
free and independent North America.
Over a dozen residents contacted by The
News said they hadn't heard the speech, or at
least not enough of it to form an opinion on.
And several residents didn’t want to be
quoted by name. “The job is too big for him,”
one said. “He’s a lonely voice crying in the
wilderness.”
Several residents who didn’t want their
names in print expressed sympathy for
Carter. “I’m sorry for him," said one, ‘
‘The weight of the job is really aging him.”
murder warrants for Elbert Joe
Whisenant (no age or address
available), who is the son of the
deceased man.
As of Wednesday he had not
been apprehended.
Man Held For
Break-In Os
City Home
A Summerville man charged
in the break-in of a local residence
remains lodged in the county jail
Wednesday afternoon.
Authorities identified the man
as James Terry Goodgame, 38, of
30 W. Fourth St. He was arrested
Wednesday and charged with
burglary. A $5,000 bond was set.
According to a warrant at the
sheriff's department, Goodgame
entered the residence of Katie
McGuire at 409 E. Seventh St. in
Summerville Tuesday. He
allegedly took a sewing machine,
a ceramic rooster, a radio and a
picture of Ms. McGuire's grand
daughter.
The sewing machine, ceramic
rooster and picture have been
recovered. The picture was in
Goodgame's possession at the
time of his arrest, a report said.
The incident is still under in
vestigation.
PRICE 20c
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