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VOLUME XCV — NUM €& <XIX
Widening Cost
Said Too Much
For Summerville
The Summerville City
Council learnad Monday night
that even with some aid from
the Department of Transpor
tation, a proposed project to
widen U. g 27 between Sum
merville and Trion could cost
the City over a third of a
million dollars.
Several months ago the Ci
ty wrote the DOT a letter
which stated the City could
not afford to pay the costs of
moving (or, more accurately,
replacing) water and natural
gas lines along the route.
ince then city officials have
met with D(¥T officials in
hopes that state funds could
be found to pay the utility
costs involved, but MaKor
Sewell Cash said Monday that
enormous costs wouldy still
have to be borne by the City if
the pro{ect goes forward as is
currently being discussed.
The Department of
Transportation says no final
decision has been made reqar
ding the widening proposal.
According to Cash, the
DOT has agreed to pay for 50
gercent of the costs incurred
y the city in connection with
the utility work inside the city
limits, which totals an
estimated $99,062, the mayor
said. But the DOT declinetr to
aid the cii{ on work outside
Summerville, a cost estimated
at $300,000, the mayor said.
In all, that would mean the
project could cost the Ci?
$350,000, the mayor observed.
He said the Project “cur
rently is on a hold basis” and
that the DOT “is waiting to
see what the City of Summer
ville is going to do.”
Councilman James Crouch
urfied that the council get
behind a by-pass alternative,
which he saicf in the long run
would benefit the city by
reducing truck traffic. “I'm
for the (widening) project, but
we don’t have the money to do
our part of it,”” he said.
“We simply cannot volun
tarily go with this,” said the
mayor, ‘‘because we cannot af
ford it. The state does have
the right to make us do it
because it's on their right of
way. But if they have the
money, they must use it (to
help the City).”
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AT
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3 2
NEW STAFFER AT
RECREATION CENTER
Cathy Jenkins recently joined
the staff of the Summerville
Parks and Recreation Center.
She graduated from the
University of Alabama in Bir
mingham in September with a
major in health, physical
education and recreation. The
Gadsden, Ala., native, age 25,
is directing women's activities
at the center, replacing Judy
Ellis, who recently moved
from the area.
*
Recession Over?
By PAM PURCELL
Manfi local residents, a random, unscientific poll conducted
by The News indicates, don’t believe the recession has ended as
many national experts claim.
Only one person out of the 10 county residents surveyed in a
telephone poll over a two-week period expressed a hopeful
outlr(’)ok about the recession.
When asked if she thought the recession has ended, Mrs.
Glenda Holbrook, a receptionist at radio station WGTA,
replied, “'I hoie so. I think so. I'm going to be optimistic.
Things are looking better all around for me. I'll be optimistic
about it and say yes.”
The other residents contacted had mixed reactions to the
same question. Some residents said the recession has not ended,
while others thought we might slowly be coming out of it.
Joel Cook Jr. of Summerville, who teaches at the Pennville
Elementary School, said, “‘l'd say we're coming out of it (the
recession). I don’t think it has ended.”
Mrs. Henry Reynolds, a Dickeyville resident emgloyed with
Harding Manufacturing Company, commented on the recession
question, “‘Lord no, do you think it's ended? I think it's getting
worse,’ accordinfdto grocery bills and kids’ clothes prices. We
have a 15-year-old boy and 1t (the cost of clothes) is ridiculous. I
wish it (the recession) would end and prices would come down.
We're only working three days a week at the glove mill, and it’s
hard on us with just three in the family. I don’t know how peo
ple, where there are five and six in a family, are managing.”
“l don't know,” replied Mrs. Lizzie Young, a Teloga
housewife, when %uest.ioned by The News. “Seems like it will
probably go on a [ittle longer, till after the election (Nov. 4).”
Another housewife, Mrs. Johnnie Myers of Summerville,
Che Summeruille News
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BSVAT R e MW&W
| Indians Named ‘Team Of The Week’
The Chattooga Indians were named
“North Georgia Team of the Week'’ by
virtue of their 14-13 upset victory over
Carrollton last Friday night. The award
is sponsored by Nortg Georgia Toyota of
Freak Accident Leads
To Death Of Local Boy
““He was my right hand
man.”’
That's how Wayne Parker
described his 10-year-old son
Chris, who died last Wednes
day in a freak accident at their
Welcome Hill community
farm.
In an interview Monday
afternoon, Wayne Parker
described the events that led
up to the tragic death of his
and his wife Cfilarlotte's oldest
of three children.
Parker recounted that on
Tuesday the big-bodied
chicken {itter spreader truck
used by the meily in its
chicken operation became
bogged down. Parker said he
was unable to free the fully
loaded truck (weighjnf about
10,000 pounds), and told Chris
they would try to g)ull it out
the next day with the family’s
4,000-pound Farmall 460
Model tractor.
“I told him we needed to
work on it when I got home
(Parker works for Georgia
Power Co. in Trenton),”’
Parker recalled.
““He'd been drivingha trac
tor since the time he was
about 5-years-old. He
graduated from a garden trac
tor, you know, as he got older,
ug to a big one. He was real
a e]pt at it, you know, he was a
rea ggod driver.
“So when I got in from
work, he was sitting on the
porch waiting on me, and we
went down and cranked the
big tractor uE,” Parker said.
They took a chain, he re
counted, and attached it to the
tractor, and then hooked the
chain to the truck that was
stuck.
‘“He wanted to drive the
tractor,” Parker said of his
son, because ‘‘he’d never been
in the truck before. So I said
‘Fine,” because we'd done this
same operation numerous
times, not just a few times.”
“So he let out on the
clutch, and the truck that was
stuck didn’t move and neither
did the wheel of the tractor
spin. What happened was the
front end of the tractor he was
on just raised up and turned
SUMMERVILLE, CHATTOOGA COUNTY, GEORGIA 30747, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 16, 1980
Dalton. Pictured above is the swarming
defense stopping a Trojan runner (44)
after a short gain. Indians shown are
Jack Ledford (58) and Alan Fletcher (55).
completely over backwards,
pinnini him underneath.”
“When the tractor first
laid over on him,” he con
tinued, ““I tried desperately to
push it off him, just with my
own strength, and of course
that failed: It's a huge tractor.
Fortunately we had another
front-end loader tractor down
there, and I jumped on it im
mediately and then knocked it
(the overturned tractor) off of
him ... I sat it up on its side
and I drug him out from
underneath it. I saw im
mediately that his neck was
almost severed. And I ran
down there and intercepted
his ma to keep her from seeing
the sight. She just fell to her
feet, and I had to pick her up
and carry her back to the
house and by that time the
peig}}bors had started arriv
ing.
A young neiihbor's boy
who witnessed the accident,
he said, had summoned his
father and an ambulance was
called.
But it was too late for
young Chris Parker. His
father believes he died in-
Two Hurt As Vehicle
Strikes State Patrol Car
Two local teen-agers were
injured Tuesday morning
when the Army recruiting
vehicle they were passengers
in struck a Georgia State
Patrol car in the rear two
miles south of Summerville on
U. S. Highway 27.
Michelle %‘hompson, age
17, of 215 Hawkins Drive in
Summerville and Edwina
Chambers, age 17, of 31 Cur
ran St. in Summerville were
taken to Floyd Medical Center
in a private vehicle following
the 8:42 a.m. accident. They
were treated and released.
According to a GSP report,
Trooper Bifl{ Wayne Pledger
was traveling south on
Highway 27 in a 1980 Ford
Informal Poll Indicates
s Y . '
Many Don’t Think So
shared her thoughts on the recession ending, ‘‘No, not really.
Around this area I don’t think it (the recession) has ended.
Maplbe in some uplaces, but it’s still bad around here.”
rs. Mozelle Alexander of Summerville, a LaFayette
hosiery mill emg)loyee. stated, ‘I don’t believe it has (ended).
There is so much unemployment and things going so high is the
reason I don't think it has.”
When asked about the recession ending Darryl Young, a
Clear-Vu Cable employee from Cloudland, commented, ‘‘No,
peOfile are still out of work. Especially in this area there are
work shortages.”’
a 5 A A e 0P A A B 0 SRS T 5 0 NG B
‘Around this area I don’t think it has ended.
Maybe in some l{»elaces, but it’s still bad around
here.” — Local Resident
Y 75 4 <8 A 0 O e O N A 40 PP 288 -3 A A AR BT S e
Mrs. Myrtle Thompson, a housewife from the Pennville com
munity, said, “Well, it don’t seem like it has (ended) to me. 1
doubt it, but I really don’t know. I just got back from the
grocerz store and groceries keep ‘foing up.”
A housewife from the Dry Valley community, Mrs. Inez
Morfan. commented on the recession question, { don’t think
so. It sure don’t look like it in the work area (with high
unemg‘loyment)."
A Trion housewife commented, “‘I think it (the recession) has
partly ended, most of it an{way. I go in stores and can tell lot
more than I did. We can 100 forwarfi to a better year next year,
I think. I lived through the Depression. I think if you manage
things right, you’ll make it.”
stantly from the impact of the
tractor's steering wheel and
column.
‘“He sure did (die
instantly),” Parker said, ‘‘He
never did move.”
Parker said his son thrived
driving farm equil;‘)ment: “He
was happy when he was driv
ing a tractor.” He loved to
drive it; he just lived so he
could drive something with a
motor on it . ..
‘‘Everyone in the
neifihborhood thought the
world of him, and everyone at
the church. His death touched
a lot of people. It goes without
saying that it Erieves us to no
end. But we know he’s in a
hafpy resting place and better
off than we are.”
“He was my right hand
man; he helped on everything
we did,” Parker said of his
son. “We enjoyed working
together. As far as machinery,
if machinery was running, he
wanted on it or something else
in conjunction with it.”
An estimated 350 people
attended the funeral services
for Chris on Friday afternoon.
LTD patrol car and Army
Recruiting Officer Glenn
Kratz was traveling behind
the patrol car in a 1976 AMC
Hornet. A vehicle in front of
Trooper Pledger stopped in
the southbound lane of the
highway, said the report.
Trooper Pledger stopped
behind the stopped veflncle.
the report said, and the Kratz
car struck the patrol car in the
rear.
Trooper Pledger nor Of
ficer Kratz were injured in the
accident, said the report.
Following an investigation
by Sgt. Joe Gossett and
Trooper Bill DeHart of the
GSP, no charges were made in
connection with the incident.
‘Leash Law’ Compromise
Worked Out By Council
In a compromise move, the
Summervilfe City Council
Monday night deleted part of
a proposed animal control or
dinance that opponents to the
measure foun(r offensive, but
added another section which
should make proponents hap
py.
Before a group of about 20
residents (representing both
ogponents and sugporters of
the measure), the council
voted to delete
subsections*A" and “B" of
Section 4-19 of the proposed
ordinance, which was placed
on first reading last month.
The subsections made it
unlawful for an animal to be
allowed off the property of the
owner unless it was under the
control of its owner with a
leading device or under voice
contro{ or in a vehicle from
which it could not escape.
Councilman Ira l?:llard
made the motion to delete the
two subsections.
That move was quickly
followed by a motion by Coun
cilman James Crouc{‘ The
council approved his motion
to amené’ the ordinance to
read that an animal owner is
responsible for his dogfi and if
found guilty, an animal owner
would face a $25 fine should
his animal ‘‘become a
nuisance or damage
property.”’
Federal Lawsuit Against Sheriff,
Two Ex-Deputies Gets Under Way
Testimony in a federal civil lawsuit
which began this week in Rome is ex
pected to continue through today in a
case in which Sheriff L. D. Ragland and
two former deputies, Randy Bailey and
Roger Powell, are named as co-defen
dants.
Judfy Anne Dockery Palmer, the
plaintiff in the case, is a{leging that her
civil rights under the U. S. Constitution
were violated by the deputies on the
night of Jan. 6, 1977, when she was sear
ched by one of the deputies and arrested
on a marijuana possession charge that
was subsequently thrown out .of
Juvenile court because the juvenile
referee found the officers had no pro
bable cause to make the investigation
that led to her arrest. She is seeking an
award for mental anguish she alleges she
has suffered as a result of the search and
arrest.
The incident occurred on the night of
Jan. 6, 1977 on the Back Penn Road. Ac
cording to testimony, she was one of
four occu(i)ants in a car that was parked
on the side of the road; the two officers
stopped and investigated the car, and
the arrests and searches of the four oc
cupants followed.
The trial began Tuesday morning in
Rome with U. g District .f‘::dge Harold
Murphy presiding. Selection of a three
woman, three-man jury earlier this
month allowed the case to begin without
delay.
OPENING REMARKS
Rome attorney Anthony
Destephano, who along with Clayton
Holingsworth (also of Rome),
represented the Mrs. Palmer, said in
opening remarks to the ju that
testimony and evidence woulg, show
then-deputy Roger Bailey “illegally and
unconscionably put his hands . . . in the
brassiere and the panties of this young
juvenile . . . "’ while searching her person
prior to the arrest and that his partner
that night, ex-deputy Roger Powell, fail
ed to protect “her as he should have.”
““All this came about because one Bil
l}}'l(}ent.ry, who is an amateur informer of
the Chattooga County Sheriff's Depart
ment . . . who is unpaid and directlg' and
exclusively responsible to Sheriff
Ragland”’ Kad set ug the plaintiff, her
boyfriend Vernon Hartline and her
brother (Ralph E. Dockery Sr.) for the
arrest, the attorney alleged.
“Circumstancial evidence,”’
Deste?hano said, would show that Gen
try “framed the peorle in the car in
order to be part of an arrest. The
evidence will show you that the gun they
will make so much of belong to this in
former . . . that the marijuana belongs to
this informer . . . that by a pre(fondance
of evidence this entire incident was
designed by the informer for this illegal
arrest.”’
The evidence would also show, he
said, that two state courts have ruled
that there was no probable cause for the
Bailey and Powell to stop and in
vestigate the car that night. “Only
because of this informer’s malicious en
trapment were they (the deputies) com
ing to this car and searching it,” the
lawyer allelfied.
‘We will also show that because of
this investifiation Judy Anne Dockery
(Palmer) suffered great mental torment;
that her grades dropped; that she even
tually withdrew from school; and even
“That will put some teeth
in (the ordinance) to keep
them (dogs) off somebod
else's property,” Crouch saidy.y
Under the City Code, the
amended ordinance would go
on second reading at next
month’'s regular council
meetin%. and if approved then
would become law. Should it
be amended further at that
meeting, it could be adopted
at the subsequent regular
meeting, unless it was further
amended then.
In related comments prior
to the regular meetin Blt)n
--day night, Mayor Sewe%l Cash
took exception with an opi
nion piece which appeared in
SECTION 4-19
RESTRAINT OF ANIMALS
The owner or keeper of each animal within the City shall be
responsible for keeping it from becoming a nuisance or from en
ggn%ering or injuring any other persons or property, and accor
ingly: :
(a) It shall be unlawful for the owner o;.kfieper of any animal
to allow the animal to go on the pro, C‘o “any other person,
firm or corporation or any puh%t gh -ofway, roadway or
street; . \ W
(b) When allowed off the p¥operty of the owner or keeper, all
animals must be aecompanied By the owner or other responsible
keeper and be @ aiped on a leash, rope, chain, or other
substantial leading-device held by the owner or under voice con
trol or keeper or be in a vehicle driven or parked from which the
animal cannot escape.
tually had to seek help from her physi
cian and a psychiatrist ““to help her cope
with this grievous act by the people you
trust, the sheriff’s deputies,” he saici
Testimony would also show, he said,
that she suffered embarrassment
because a radio news story, although not
naming her, linked her by association to
the three males in the car whose names
were broadcast (the three men were
adults at the time of the arrest; she was
15, 11 months old).
DEFENSE: DIFFERENT PICTURE
County Attorney Arch Farrar Jr.
(assist,edi)g his father Arch Farrar Sr.)
represen the sheriff and two ex
deputies and painted a wl.al(lf' different
picture of what the evidence and
testimony would show. (Also at the
defense table was au,omed' Harvey
Brown, representing Powell). In his
opening remarks, Farrar said that the
gsearch of the plaintiff was not disputed
by Bailey and Powell, but he said it was
done in a professional manner and for
good cause.
Gentry, ‘‘a good time later worked as
an informer,” Farrar said the defen
dants’ case would show, but that the
Flaintiff 's allegations that he was an in
ormer that night would be shown to be
untrue. That Gentry was an informer
that night, Farrar said, was a story
developed by the plaintiff because, in
depositions taken in connection with the
case earlier this year, Gentry refused to
alter his testimony ‘‘to square with”
that of Mrs. Palmer, her brother and her
former boyfriend.
Testimony would show, Farrar said,
that while on routine patrol the two
former deputies rounde(P a curve on the
Back Penn Road and saw a car parked
on the side of the road. They apgroached
the car, simply to “find out if the people
in the car needed any help,” he said, and
that when the driver fiz‘entry) rolled
down his window the deputies smelled
marijuana. Additionally, Farrar said,
they noticed a gun in plain view and
“decided to get those people out of the
o,
The four were searched for weapons
and contraband, Farrar said the
testimony would show. Mrs. Palmer, he
said, ‘“was searched like anyone else,”
Farrar said.
““She’s complaining about something
because she got caught...” Farrar
allefied. ‘
e told the jury members that in
federal court the [‘;w ‘““considers her
equal to any other individual,” that her
sex should not enter into their decision.
He said that she was not molested in the
search, that Bailey had in a professional
manner, with two fingers, searched her
wasteband and between her breasts for
weapons.
“Look for evidence to see if they were
harrassing, doing more than simply ar
resting her for breaking the law,” g‘arrar
advised the J‘l:ry.
Mrs. Palmer, wearing a light blue
dress and a white ribbed sweater, led off
the testimony at the hearing Tuesday
xpom@n%k‘ihe related that she presently
lives in gville, but that at the time of
the arrest lived on Mitchell Avenue in
Trion.
Prior to the arrest, she testified Tues
day, she had been at her father's home
with Gentry, her bo‘y’;friend (then) Ver
non Hartline, and her brother, J. E.
The News last week by the
editor, titled, ““Without A Ci
ty Dog Catcher, No Dog Law
Has a Chance.” The mayor in
dicated the column was unfair
to the mayor and council, who
he noted have a combined
total of 46 years of public ser
vice to their credit. He said
that the column indicated that
the City has no dog-catcher; in
fact, he said, the City does
have a part-time dog catcher
and has plans to hire a
fulltime (or nearly so) dog cat
cher sometime in the future.
l In other action, the coun
cil:
* Approved the purchase
of four crosswalk signs at a
cost of $1,392, to be installed
by the Citg in the business
section on Commerce Street.
* Awarded Southern Cross
Corp. a contract for a leak and
corrosion survey of the
naturale‘fas system, at an
estimated cost of $3,450.
* Agreed that the City's
usual cut-in fee should be
reduced for new natural gas
customers when an apartment
complex is involved because
the cost of installation is less
on a per-unit basis.
* Approved roughly
$14,000 to be spent from the
water project contingency
fund for improvements not
covered under the original
contract.
* Agreed to reduce b{ half
an outstanding natural gas
bill owed the City b* the Chat
tooga Count utrition
Center for the glderly.
* Agreed to give its ‘“‘fair
share’’ to help tge Chattooga
County Rescue Squad buy ac
cessories to its ‘‘Jaws of Life,"”
a tool used to cut auto acci
dent victims from the
wreckage. The rescue squad is
seeking donations from local
governments for the equip
ment,
* Said it would create a
““Man of the Year Award” to
honor the individual who
helped the City the most in
civic affairs.
Dockery Jr. The group had been at the
house for some 15 minutes, she said, and
Gentry repeatedly urged that the four of
them drive to the A& W Rootbeer
Drive-In in Pennville, TheK finally
agreed, she said, and Gentrfi' then drove
the group in his car on Back Penn Road
and parked along the side of the road,
saying he was getting out to go to the
bathroom. He returned, she said, and
the group, after being there about five to
10 minutes (smoking cigarettes, listen
ing to a tape player and talking), saw
“the law’’ pull up “with its lights.”
Genua' got out and walked to meet
the two deputies, she said, and “Bailey
came around to our side of the car.”
Bailey told the three in the car they were
sugspected of smoking marijuana and
directed them to get out of the car. (She
denied that anyone in the car was smok
ing marijuana; she further testified she
never has smoked marijuana nor knows
what it smells like).
She described how she and her
brother, on one side of the car, put their
hands on the trunk during the arrest,
One of the delfluties looked in the car
with the flashlight and said he had
found a marijuana cigarette, she
testified.
Bailey searched her and her brother,
she said. ‘‘He pulled two fingers in bet
ween my breasts and my wasteline,”’ she
said, describing the search.
How d(:rly did he probe? her at
torney asked.
““He searched around the edge (of her
brassiere cud)s) with his fingers, alon
the edge, all away around,” she saitf,
demonstrating. -
“Did he say anything?"' the lawyer
quizzed.
“No sir,” she replied.
Destephano asked the young woman
how she Ezlt at the time,
“I felt awful,” she replied, "I felt
hurt.”
She said the group was asked if any
additional marijuana was in the car and
that Gentry vo{unwered that there was
some in a bag under the driver’s seat.
Under further questioning from her
attorney, she said that she was subse
quently ‘“‘ashamed to fio to school,
because of talk’’ about the incident. ‘I
wouldn’t get out and do anything,”’ she
said. “I didn't want to be around
people.”’
ghe said she remembered hearing a
radio news account of the incident, and
that it referred to her (indirectly, later
testimony would show). Destephano
asked whether her friends, after hearing
that a minor female was arrested along
with Hartline, Gentry and Dockery,
would know it was her. ‘‘Yes sir,” srg'e
said.
Under cross examination from Far
rar, she regeawd much of her earlier
testimony. She denied that she had been
caught smoking marijuana in a
bathroom at Chattooga High School
prior to her arrest with three or four
other girls, but admitted that ‘‘one
time”’ she had been apgrehendod with
gome pills in her purse. She was holding
the pills for “somebody" she did not
name. Farrar asked if a “roach clip’’ (us
ed by marijuana smokers to hold t.ge last
bit of a marijuana ‘joint’) was also
found; she described it as a “tie clip.”
Did school officials also find a%nh
pipe? Farrar asked, “‘They sure didn't,”
see LAWSUIT, page 14-A
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