Newspaper Page Text
VOLUME CII — NUMBE] !
County Officers
To Get Pay Hike
The heads of major count,
offices in Chattooga wiII
receive a three percent pay in
crease next year as the result
of legislation aprroved by the
Georgia General Assembly.
Chattooga Rep. Johnny
Crawford said Sheriff Gary |
McConnell, Clerk of Court |
Lann Cordle, Tax Commis- |
sioner Hugh Don Hall and Pro
bate Judge Jon Payne will
receive the increase next |
January. The hike will also |
mean an automatic increase for |
Commissioner Harry Powell'
since local legislation provides
that the sheriff can’t make l
more than the commissioner. |
SECRETARY, RAISE '
Legislation giving the Chat- |
tooga State Court Solicitor a |
fulltime secretary has been ap- |
proved, Crawford said. It also |
gives Judge T.J. Espy and
new Solicitor Al Palmour Jr. a
SI,OOO per year pay increase |
each.
Other local legislation ap
proved by the General |
Assembly includes an annexa
tion request by the City of
Summerville (see City Council |
story), and extending the effect |
of two constitutional amend- |
ments. The two amendments |
assure the continued election of |
the Chattooga Board of Educa- . }
tion and provide that the ,
salaried tax commissioner can- |
not retain fees for collecting |
Final Utility Pact Awarded
Summerville's Mayor and
Council Monday night award
ed contracts for the second
phase of water, sewer and
natural gas service to serve a
new state prison at Pennville.
The panel unanimously
awarded a contract for the
water and sewer work to Chas
tain Construction Co.,
Ooltewah, Tenn. The firm,
¥ ¥ ¥
°
Parking
®
Lines To
°
Be Painted
Stay off Commerce Street
Sunday. Or, at least don’t park
on the street.
That's the word from Sum
merville officials, who said
plans were being made to “‘re
stripe’” the parking spaces
covered by paving crews last
week.
If all goes according to plan
— and the weather cooperates
—the parking spaces will be
restored on Sunday in time for
use Monday morning.
Grady McCalmon, city
manager, asked that residents
not park on the main
thorougfi)fare Sunday to make
it possible for an outside con
tractor to stripe the spaces.
Minister May Be Retried On Molestation
A 63-year-old Baptist
minister is exglected to be tried
again on a child molestation
charge after a Chattooga Coun
ty Superior Court jury%ate last
week failed to reach a verdict.
Judge Joseph “Bo” Log
gins declared a mistrial in the
case of the Rev. Luther Lee
Parker late last Thursday
when jurors indicated that the
were hopelessly deadlockec{
11-1. Six men and six women
served on the panel.
David “Red’” Lomenick,
district attorney for the
Lookout Mountain Judicial
Circuit, indicated Thursday
afternoon that he would retry
the case if a mistrial was
declared. The next term of
Dept. Dawg Visits
--See Page 1-B
¢ £
52
o 3
75:-’233
<R © Copyright 1987 By Espy Publishing Co., Inc.
taxes for the schools but must
remit them to the schools.
The Georgia House and
Senate were in recess Wednes
day and were scheduled to go
back to the capitol today t%r
the last day OF the 1987 ses
sion. Mostly routine business
was expected to be transacted
today, Crawford said, unlike
the wild ending of the 1986 ses
sion that left several major
pieces of legislation pending at
adjournment.
QBE
An amendment to the
Quality Basic Education (QBE)
act was to have been voted on
Tuesday afternoon relating to
the special education program,
the solon said. Another pro
posal would set a uniform
school opening date for all the
state's school systems.
Crawford said he planned to
ogpose the measure, saying
that most North Georgia
systems feel starting school
after Labor Day each year as
required by the I;ill would push
classes into summer the next
calendar year because of days
missed due to snow and ice.
Crawford said he was able
to save a homemaker position
for the Chattooga Department
of Family and Children ser
wvices that had been scheduled
to lapse. The homemaker
assists 35 to 40 mostly elderly
people at their homes, he ex
which did the first phase of the |
project, was the low bidder on |
the project with a proposal of |
$95,741.80. y
Councilmen also awarded a |
contract to Center Line Corp., |
Leeds, Ala., for the second |
phase of the gas extension. The [
Alabama company had submit- |
ted a low bid of $49,300. \
Bids were opened in late
Kebruary.
CHIPPER
The panel also voted to buy
a wood chipper machine and ‘
leaf vacuum from Municipal
Equif)ment Sales : Inc., ‘
Woodstock, for $19,500. The
firm submitted the only bid on
the two machines. It su{)mitted
a bid of $20,950 for both but
councilmen negotiated the
price down with the owner dur
ing the meeting. The city had
allotted $20,000 in this year’s |
budget for the equipment. |
The panel discussed
limiting use of the chipper,
which is used to dispose of
brush, limbs and even trees up
to 10 or 12 inches in diameter,
to 30 minutes or one hour per
resident per month. No official |
action was taken but Grady |
McCalmon, city manager, said
the city would experiment with I
providing no more than 45 |
minutes to one hour of service |
with the chipper per resident '
request each month. ‘
The Council also authorized |
the purchase of $2,899.40 ‘
worth of materials to complete
criminal court will begin Aug.
24.
CHANGES
The jury began its delibera
tions around 4:55 p.m. Wednes
day after a two-day trial.
Parker had been charged with
sexually molesting a 11-year
old girl] at Ebenezer Baptist
Church, Haywood Valley, last
MaL)]' 5.
udge Loggins let the jury
go home around 6:45 p.m.
March 4 after it had considered
evidence in the case for approx
imately two hours and told it
to return at 9 a.m, Thursday.
It asked to be charged again on
Parker's rights wien Ee was
questioned and on the defini
SUMMERVILLE, CHATTOOGA COUNTY, GEORGIA — THURSDAY, MARCH 12, 1987
plained. If only two of those
people were forced to enter a
nursinfg home because of the
loss of the homemaker's ser
vices, it would cost more than
the salary of the homemaker.
Crawfordypointed out.
TRION SCHOOLS
Trion schools should also
receive $36,000 to $38,000 to
help fund new elementary
classrooms, Crawford sai(l.
Total cost of the five
classrooms was estimated last
fall at $140,432. The classroom
funds were contained in the
fiscal year 1988 state budget
given final approval Monday.
The total budget was
$5.7-billion, some $570-million
more than the previous fiscal
year, Crawford said.
It also contains a 3 percent
pay increase for teachers, to go
in effect next September, and
a 2%, percent hike for other
state employees, to go in effect
July 1. 'Feachers and workers
wilfl also receive merit in
creases, Rep. Crawford said,
giving them an average 5 per
cent annual pay increase.
The General Assembly has
also passed a bill, including an
amendment by Crawford, to
reduce the red tape involving
the inspection of rebuilt
vehicles. Two more inspectors
were approved and the func
tion was transferred from the
see COUNTY. page 11-A
about 20 sewer connections on |
U.S. Highway 27 between ‘
Summerville and Trion. |
McCalmon said the work was
omitted from a utility reloca
tion contract last year because
City Seeking Grant
Summerville’s Mayor and Council voted unanimously Mon
day night to seek a $400,000 Community Development Block
Grant (CDBG) for a multi-purpose recreation building to be
located near the current Fairway Recreation complex in the
Northeast part of the city.
Mayor Sewell Cash made the proposal, saying he hoped
it would end ug being a joint city-county proposal when the
application is filed next December.
Noting that he doesn’t favor an increase in the city’s pro
pertfi tax to finance such projects — unless approved by voters
in a bond issue — Mayor cash said $400,000 would construct
an adequate multi-use facility, including a gymnasium.
The only future cost to the city, should the grant be ap
proved, would be maintenance, Cash said.
location of the connections was
unknown at the time.
UTILITIES
Gary Harbuck =~ Inc;
Americus, is performing the
relocation work. McCalmon
said the relocation work should
come in about $30,000 under
budget because the firm hasn’t
run into any rock along the
roadway that would increase
the amount of the project.
tion of child molestation later
that morning. Loggins com
pleted the recharging at 10:55
a.m. The panel deliberated un
til lunch and at 3:17 p.m.
Thursday, Judge Loggins
charged the jurors on the
necessity of making every ef
fort to reach a verdict in the
case.
However, when they
reported being still hopelessly
deadlocked at 11-1 around 6
p.m., Loggins declared a
mistrial and dismissed the
jury.
DEFENSE
Parker was defended by
noted Summerville attorney
Bobby Lee Cook Sr. David
Vote Machine Issue
--See Page 3-A
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Get High Without Drugs. Page 8-A
Mayor Sewell Cash said he
felt the city's engineers should
have included the work in the
original contract, but said he
thought the city didn't have
any choice but to finance the
additional connections during
the current stage of
construction.
DEFERRED
A decision on whether to
extend city water service Lo
James H. *‘Sloppy” Floyd
State Park at a materials cost
of $19,867 was deferred to the
April meeting since no
residents along the roadway
appeared to request the work.
Dunn, assistant district at
torney, grosecuted the case
against Parker.
Cook attempted to show
that statements made by
Parker to Georgia Bureau of
Investigation 1(1881) agents in
mid-May, 1986 about the case
had been coerced and that the
minister was confused and was
suffering from heart and ner
vous problems. Cook grilled
GBI aéents Claude Nix and
Lewis Evans during the trial.
Dunn sought to show that
statements made by Parker to
GBI agents were voluntary,
not coerced, and showed the
minister’'s guilt. In one state
ment, Parker denied the
charges, saying any contact
Councilmen approved spen
ding city funds to make
necessary utility connections
for a new shopping center at
the intersection of Rome
Boulevard and Lyerly
Highway. Estimated cost of
the ’Froject is $7,200.
he panel also voted to
““clean up”’ the old city water
pumping station and storage
tank in Oil Mill Road at the re
quest of Ronnie Winters,
Bankson il Co. City officials
discussed putting a new roof
on the brick building but
McCalmon said he wouldn’t
recommend a new roof until the
city plans to use the facility.
Alr windows in the building
have been broken out, the roof
has caved in and it is surround
ed by weeds, city officials were
told. Before any major renova
tion work is done on the
building, McCalmon is to get
back with the Council for Exr
ther instructions.
In other action Monday
night, the Council:
ANNEXATION
— Approved the annexa
tion of Alta Hutchins and
James Thompson, Lyerly
Highway, into the city Pi,mits
subject to the signature of
Gov. Joe Frank Harris on local
legislation authorizing the ac
tion. Chattooga Rep. Johnny
Crawford said the bifl’ has pass
ed and was awaiting the gover
nor's signature.
— Decided to check city
see FINAL, page 10-A
with two girls had been ac
cidental. In a second statement
given to GBI agents at their
>alhoun office following a
polygraph examination, Parker
admitted the molestation
charges, Dunn said. Polygraph
test results are not admissible
in court and the results were
not disclosed at the trial.
During his testimony last
Wednesday, March 4, Parker
steadfastly denied molesting
the 11-year-old, or a
now-14-year-old girl, several
years ago while teaching the
youngster to drive.
FEARFUL
The alleged victim and the
see MINISTER, page 12-A
Chattooga Guard
To Be Elite Unit
The Long Range Recon- |
naissance Patrol ( L}%RP) Com- |
pany to be stationed in Sum- |
merville and Cartersville next |
fall ““is and will be an elite |
unit,”” Maj. Gen. Joseph W. |
Griffin said in Trion Tuesday |
morning. ’
He was guest speaker at the |
q’l:arberéy Booster Breakfast of '
the hattooga County
Chamber of Commerce at The
Tavern. The general revealed |
that the unit will be Company |
H, 121st Infantry, Georgia Ar- |
my National Guard. ‘
“NOT FOR TIMID”
The 189-man company will
“not be for the timid,” he said
and due to its mission, will be
o?en only to males. Members
of the unit, all of which must be
airborne qualified and one
third of which must be Army
Ranier qualified, “must be
tough mentally and physical
ly,” the general said.
He said the unit is
separated into two segments,
one at Summerville and the
other at Cartersville, Gov. Joe
Frank Harris’ hometown,
because it is so large that its
roster couldn’t be fi%led by one
location — except for a city the
size of Atlanta or perhaps
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- e M TR R e
MEN 17-35 SOUGHT
Recruitment Office Set
For Guard In Chattooga
A temporary recruitment |
office will be established within |
the next couple of weeks at the |
Chattooga C}:)unt Chamber of |
Commerce buildying for the |
benefit of local men interested |
in joinir;f the new Summerville ‘
National Guard unit.
Lt. Col. Terry Nesbitt,
recruiting and retention
manager for the Georgia Army
National Guard, made the an- |
nouncement early this week
during a visit to the county.
The new unit will be known
as Company H, 121st Infantry
Division, it was revealed Tues
day morning by Maj. Gen. |
Joseph W. érift}i,n, Georgia's
adjutant general. General Grif
fin spoke to the quarterly
Booster Breakfast of the
Chamber (see related story).
The general had officially an
nounced last Jan. 30 that the |
new unit would begin opera- |
tions in Summerville and
Cartersville Oct. 1.
17 to 35
Colonel Nesbitt, who was
also at Tuesday’s breakfast,
said the .Guard will be
Budget Confusion
--See Page 10-4
Rome.
The largest part of Com- |
pany H — 100 enlisted men |
and three lieutenants — will be |
based in Summerville, he said, |
adding, ‘‘We're pleased to be
here.”
The Georgia Guard hopes
to draw some Georgians now in
the Alabama or Tennessee Na
tional Guards back to the Sum
merville or Cartersville units
when it becomes operational,
the general indicated.
- HEADQUARTERS f
The first step will be to con
firm temporary quarters for
the company and to obtain a
permanent site for a future ar- ’
mory, Griffin said.
The old Summerville Junior ’
High Building, Rome |
Boulevard, is one of the sites |
being viewed by the Guard as
temporary quarters for the ’
unit. Two sites are being con- |
sidered for the armory — one |
near the Chattooga Memorial |
Home at Pennville and the |
other near the county works |
camé) on Farrar Drive. j»
omissioner Harry Powell |
and William Tyson, com- |
mander of Veterans of Foreign |
Wars Post 6688, both were at |
Tuesday morning's meeting. |
GEN. GRIFFIN (C) ENJOYS GOOD LAUGH
Mayor Cash (L), Bill Kinzy, Will Hair (R)
targeting men ages 17 through
35 in two basic categories:
former military men and new
recruits. Much of the effort in
Chattooga will concentrate on
the latter category, he
indicated.
Those with prior military
experience won't have to
return for basic training
although they likely will have
to undergo airborne or Army
Rarll\?er training.
ew recruits will face 12
weeks basic training plus air
borne and Ranger training.
They probably would be put on
a waiting list for Ranger train
ing, he indicated.
Colonel Nesbitt said he will
be seeking high school
graduates, pointing out that
the military offers ‘‘some ex
cellent programs” for helping
to finance college. Enlistment
bonuses of up to $2,000 will be
offered to encourage recruits.
MINIMUM
A minimum 9th grade
education is required to be con
sidered for the program. A stu
dent currently a junior in high
PRICE 25c¢
The Guard will be looking
for high school %}'aduates “who
want to go to college” to fill the
new companf'. General Griffin
said. Imtially, the comfany
commander and some officers
will have to be supplied from
outside the area but non
commissioned officers and
enlisted personnel will be
sought in Chattooia and Bar
tow counties and the surroun
ding area.
EMPLOYEES
“We solicit your su for
this,” he sai(}i,. askiggortthat
employers cooperate with the
Guard and employees who seek
to join the unit. The average
enlisted Guardsman served 50,
days last year rather than the
anticipated 38, he pointed out,
however. ‘‘We drive our
soldiers and our officers and
our units more than we did five
years ago.”’
The company will benefit
the Chattooga area, General
Griffin said, adding, “We can't
get over the overwhelming
reception we've gotten from
here . . . we a;;rreciate 8.
Company H *‘is goinfutno be
first class and be a compliment
to this town,” he asserted dur
see GUARD, page 11-A
school who is 17 can enlist with
approval of his parents, Col
onel Nesbitt said, and take half
his basic training during the
summer. The last half of his
basic instruction would be held
the following summer after
high school graduation. During
his senior year, the student
recruit would attend Guard
weekend training assemblies
about once a month.
No date for opening the
recruit office at the Chamber
had been set as of Tuesday.
But the colonel said a recruiter
will be in Chattooga on the
same day each week and a
telephone answering device will
also be installed to record in
quiries during the times the
recruiter was not in
Summerville.
NEW GI BILL
Under the new GI bill,
Nesbitt said, $l4O could be
paid monthly to a fulltime stu
dent. A student loan retpay
ment g:‘:l)]g-ram will be offered
which will pay up to 15 gereent
of an outstanding loan balance
see MEN 17-35, page 11-A