Newspaper Page Text
VOLUME XCIV - NUMBER "
Hearing On
Federal $$
Is Friday
A public hearing will be
held tomorrow, Dec. 14, at 2
p.m. in the Chattooga County
Courthouse to discuss the
possible uses of federal
revenue sharing funds
available to the county.
According to County At
torney Arch Farrar Jr., the
county will receive an
estimated $231,201 for the en
titlement period which began
Oct. 1 and will continue
through Sept. 30, 1980.
This figure compares to
$170,976 the county received
for a nine-month period last
year, said Farrar. That money
was distributed among 12 dif
ferent organizations and
governmental units, Farrar
said, for such purposes as fire
protection, child care and
recreation.
The hearing is designed to
give citizens of the county the
opportunity to provide writ
ten and/or oral comments on
how the funds should be used.
Bloodmobile
To Be Here
In Afternoon
The American Red Cross
Bloodmobile makes its last
stop of the year today, Dec.
13, at the Summerville
Recreation Center on Bolling
Road.
All county residents are
urged to participate in the
blood drive and give the gift
of life— a unit of blood.
The bloodmobile will be
from 12:30 until 5:30 p.m. to
day. Healthy individuals 17 to
65 years of age and weighing
at least 110 pounds are eligi
ble to give blood as often as
every eight weeks. The entire
process including donation
and canteen refreshments
takes less than an hour.
The regional Red Cross
blood center reports that
24,000 volunteer blood dona
tions will be needed for
hospital patients during the
holiday season (Dec. 1
through Jan. 15). Red Cross is
the total supplier of blood to
117 hospitals in 64 Georgia
counties.
"Remember, only people
can give blood— the gift of
life,” said Alfred J. Grindon,
M.D., director of American
Red Cross Blood Services,
Atlanta Region. “Help us
reverse this holiday trend by
giving someone a gift they
can't live without.”
—
111 I </ ri
Fire Destroys Residence
The residence of Frank Abernathy on
Rocky Hollow Road in the Dry Valley
Community was destroyed by fire last
Thursday morning. Trion fireman Lynn
Maddux (R) battles the blaze while Sum-
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No Khomeni Fan Here!
One Summerville merchant minced no words when he displayed his thoughts on
the Iranian situation in his storefront.
Man Sues City Over
Accident In February
A Summerville man, in
jured in February when he
was struck by a police car, has
filed a civil suit against the Ci
ty of Summerville for SB,OOO
in Chattooga County Superior
Court.
Summerville attorney
Branch Connelly filed the suit
last week against the City of
Summerville on behalf of Col
umbus Powell, 49, of State
Street.
The suit stems from an ac
cident Feb. 4 around 9:13 p.m.
in which Powell, a pedestrian,
was injured when he was
struck by a patrol car. Powell
received a concussion, a
severe cut on his head and
severe bruises on his right leg,
according to Connelly. Powell
was hospitalized for a short
time but has since returned to
work, Connelly said.
“Dr. (H. A.) Goodwin said
there was no sign of a frac
ture,” explained Connelly.
“However, Columbus con
tinues to have trouble with his
leg. He also has frequent
headaches.”
According to the court
document, the accident hap
pened when Powell was walk
ing down the shoulder of the
westbound lane of Seventh
Street in Summerville. The
suit said Powell was struck
from behind by a police car (a
1978 Ford LTD) operated in a
merville fireman Leroy Alexander gets
the fire hose in position. The cause of the
fire is unknown. (See additional
photograph inside).
Motorcade Needs Gifts
The deadline for donating
Christmas gifts for patients in
Northwest Georgia Regional
Hospital in Rome has been ex
tended until noon today, Dec.
13, according to a Trion Town
Hall spokesman.
The Town of Trion, City of
Menlo and City of Summer
ville are again taking part in
the state-wide Mayors'Motor
cade program, sponsored an
nually by the Georgia
SUMMERVILLE, CHATTOOGA COUNTY, GEORGIA 30747, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 13, 1979
"negligent manner” by Of
ficer Houston London, a
patrolman employed by the
Summerville Police Depart
ment.
According to the accident
report filed by the Georgia
State Patrol, Officer London
was backing on Seventh
Street with the blue light in
operation at the time of the in
cident. He was backing in the
westbound lane because the
eastbound lane was blocked
due to a traffic accident Of
ficer London had been
assisting with, said the report.
Powell was walking or either
stepped from the shoulder in
to the westbound lane, the
report said, and was struck by
Water System Project
Work Will Begin Soon
A preconstruction con
ference on the Summerville
water system updating pro
ject was held Tuesday at City
Hall, with initial work an
nounced to begin later this
month.
The informal conference
was called to coordinate plans
between contractors, city
representatives, Farmers
Municipal Association.
The gifts, suitable for
either children or adults, can
be left at Town Hall in Trion
until noon, said the
spokesman. The gifts will be
taken to Rome later this after
noon.
Wrapped packages should
be labeled as to their contents
and to which sex and age
category, as well as the name
and address of the donor.
the patrol car.
“Asa direct and proximate
result of the negligence,” the
civil suit alleges, “Powell sus
tained personal injury,
resulting in substantial
medical bills and great pain
and suffering.”
The suit, in addition to
asking for an award of SB,OOO,
is seeking the costs and in
terest of the court action.
The accident was in
vestigated by Cpl. J. E. Ivie of
the Georgia State Patrol. No
charges were made following
the investigation.
The City of Summerville
has 45 days after the filing of
the complaint to respond to
the suit.
Home Administration
(FmHA) officials and utility
companies.
The FmHA is financing
the $3,650,000 project
through a 40-year 5 percent
loan.
According to Bob Moss, an
engineer with the consulting
firm of Williams, Sweitzer and
Barnum, Inc. of Rome who is
project manager, the city has
issued notices to proceed to
two of four contracted firms
involved in the project. The
two firms, one which will be
doing pipework and the other
(Continued On Page 3)
Jobless Rate Rises 3.1%
The unemployment rate
for Chattooga County rose by
3.1 percent in October, from a
revised 5.5 percent in
September to a preliminary
8.6 percent the following
month.
According to figures
released in Rome this week by
the Georgia Department of
Labor, the jobless rate for
Chattooga County was 6.3
percent during October of last
year, with 8,706 persons work
ing and 588 others still look
ing for jobs.
The total number of per
sons employed in October of
this year in Chattooga County
was 8,864, while 829 others
were still unable to find jobs,
the report says.
State Labor reported that
Georgia's jobless rate rose by
two-tenths percent over the
month, from 4.9 in September
to 5.1, but fell from 5.4 at this
same time last year.
“Our state's jobless rate
remained virtually unchanged
from September to October,
especially in our metropolitan
areas and the high concentra
tion of people. Yet our total
civilian labor force is up
almost 35,000 from just a year
ago— October of 1978," said
Georgia's Labor Commis
sioner Sam Caldwell. “The
diversification of Georgia's
economy is the positive
reason. We can suffer the un
fortunate layoffs iu ;he auto
industry— a situation v e hope
is only temporary— and we
still have a jobless rate stay
ing about the same.*’
Statewide at the end of Oc
tober, a total of 2,248,497
Georgians were on jobs, while
121,648 others were still look-
Textile Company Decides
Not To Locate Plant Here
By TOM KIRWAN
Stevco Knitting Co., a New
York-based textile firm which
in recent weeks had con
sidered to locate a plant here,
has decided to put its plant
elsewhere.
Chattooga County
Chamber of Commerce Presi
dent Henry Watson told The
News Friday that he had
received a call the day before
from Steve Kosand, president
of the firm, informing him
that another site has been
chosen for the plant.
“This is not a good
Christmas present,” said a
solemn Watson, who .along
with other Chamber and local
officials has been busy for
weeks trying to lure the firm
here. “We are disappointed
but it has been a good educa
tion, a good experience, for us
in helping us to sharpen our
solicitation skills. Everybody
worked dili-
gently ... we responded
quickly when we had to, and
we had wholehearted support
from local officials, but it just
didn’t come through.
State Official Says:
Available Site With New Building
Crucial For Industrial Development
It’s not enough for a com
munity hoping to snag new in
dustry to simply be available.
The community must, if it is
u> be successful, aggressively
seek new industry and be able
to offer a prime industrial site
complete with a new building
and utilities.
That was the gist of the
message of Emmett Mann, a
representative of the Georgia
Departmen' ’ Industry and
Trade who > at the mon
thly meeting ie Chattooga
County Cnuiuoer of Com
merce Tuesday morning.
“Georgia is a sought-after
state,” in the area of new in
dustrial development, Mann
said, ranking third in a recent
Fortune magazine poll that
asked a group of business ex
ecutives which states are
most desirable for new plants.
Georgia in recent years has
been at the forefront of an in
dustrial boom in the South,
Mann said, “and it behooves
(Georgia) communities to get
on the ball. They (new in
dustrial plants) are going to
come whether Summerville
wants them or n0t...”
Again citing the Fortune
ing for work. “Actually, there
are almost 38,000 more
Georgians working now than
there were at this same time
last year,” Caldwell said.
124,999 others were jobless).
According to Carl Beavers,
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Georgia Public Safety Commissioner
Colonel Hugh Hardison (R) presents the
Kentucky State Police Meritorious
Achievement Award to Paul Mc-
Cullough of Summerville recently in
Atlanta. McCullough, a truck driver,
was cited by the Georgia State Patrol
“We haven’t relaxed our
efforts. We will continue to
make more contacts," he vow
ed.
According to Watson.
*
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fjoE, he said companies are
ookmg for how the prospec
tive community rates in three
areas: productivity, energy
and transportation.
“All three directly bear on
the bottom line as far as pro
fits,” Mann said.
Fortunately for the South,
he said, the work ethic has not
been eroded in this region by
unions and some state govern
ments, as it has in parts of the
Northeast. Southern workers,
he said, tend to “do a dollar’s
work for a dollar’s pay,”
which is appealing to in
dustrialists looking to open a
new plant.
It is a community’s at
titude—toward work in
general, toward existing in
dustry, toward new industty
and toward progress in
general, he said, that often
determines whether a new
plant will be located there. As
a result, Mann said, it's impor
tant that the whole communi
ty is on the “bandwagon” and
supports the community's ef
forts enthusiastically.
Often a handful of people,
he said, are sufficient to act as
the “movers and shakers” to
Manager of the State Employ
ment Security Agency’s Job
Service Center here, the Oc
tober jobless rate for the two
county area served by the
Rome local office is 5.9 per
cent, with 43,485 persons
employed
Summerville Man Honored
Stevco opted to locate in
another community, whose
name was not mentioned,
which already has a new
building which the firm could
locate in within 30 days.
bring in new industry. And. he
noted, in many cases suc
cessful communities use
volunteers rather than paid
professionals to bring in new
industry.
Probably the single most
concrete move a community
can make is to develop a good
size industrial park which has
the shell of a new building and
utilities already installed.
Businesses looking to open
a new plant don't want pro
mises, ne said, and an in
dustrial site complete with
building not only shows a pro
spective industry the com
munity’s interest in new in
dustry but allows the com
pany to move in and get
started more quickly.
Mann said that “nothing
less than 50,000 square feet"
in area should be considered
by a community when it con-
| Board Reaffirms |
I Policy On Auction |
| Os School Buses
The procedure of how
discarded school buses are to
be sold was discussed Monday
night during the regular mon-
and the Kentucky State Police for an act
of heroism shortly after midnight Aug. 2
in Madisonville, Ky. McCullough came
upon a collision of two 18-wheelers. One
driver was injured and trapped in his
burning vehicle. McCullough pulled him
free aeconda before the truck exnlodnd
PRICE 20c
Under the plan that was
considered locally, Stevco was
investigating the possibility
of buying and renovating the
old Fabrics America building
here.
structs a building. At a cost of
S2O per square foot such a
building could cost some $1
million.
“It’s quit? sn
investment, he said, adding
that many communities often
erect a building with three
walls—with the fourth wall
area allowing expansion, if
needed. Additionally, the floor
is often not poured so that the
firm that buys it can con
struct its floor to meet its
needs.
“It takes a lot of money,"
Mann said. “There's no way
around it. But an industrial
development authority can
raise that kind of money and
have it paid back within a few
years," he said.
“It’s an investment,” he
concluded. “It’s an invest
ment in the future. But the
money will come back to the
community.”
thly meeting of the Chattooga
County Board of Education.
Representatives from
Perennial Springs Baptist
Church and Lyerly Congrega
tional Holiness Church were
present at the meeting, each
group requesting to purchase
a bus for their church.
Following some discus
sion, the board was advised
that in a meeting earlier this
year a motion was passed that
all school buses would be sold
only at public auction. A mo
tion was then made to enforce
the earlier motion. The motion
was seconded but this time
failed to carry. Another mo
tion was made then to sell
each group present a bus for
SSOO each. The motion was
seconded but also failed to
carry.
Board Chairman Joel Cook
advised the representatives
that the motion made earlier
this year would stand in force
and the buses could only be
sold at a public auction to the
highest bidder.
In other action the board:
* Hired Sandra Powell as a
teacher at the Summerville
Elementary School. Ms.
Powell will replace Mrs. Ollie
D. Cash, who is retiring at the
end of December after 30
years of teaching.
* Approved for Menlo
Elementary School to sell can
dy one week in February as a
fund-raising project.
♦ Was advised that two of
the new buses had been
delivered and the other two
should arrive soon.