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Searels At Auburn
UNIVCRSITY OF GFORGIA --See Page 10-B
VOLUME CII- NUMBEI 8 y VII
Prison Bids Too High
Blood Drives Slated
Two blood drives have been planned for Chattooga
County during the last week in'this month, according to
Jean Lambert of the American Red Cross.
The first drive will be held from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Mon
day, Sept. 28, at the Trion Community Center. The Red
Cross hopes to have 64 volunteers and net 52 pints of blood
at that time, Mrs. Lambert said.
The second drive will be held from 3 to 7 p.m. Wednes
day, Sept. 30, at the Summerville Presbyterian Church. A
Lo§3l of 45 volunteers and 40 pints of blood is the goal, she
said.
~ “We hope to receive more but those are our goals,”’ she
added.
BY 7 PERCENT
Digest Factored
Chattooga County Commis
sioner Harry Powell was ex
pected to set a new tax rate to
day or Friday following a deci
sion late last week %)y the
Georgia Revenue Department
to factor the county’s 1987 tax
digest by seven percent.
The Chattooga Board of
Education voted Monday
night to adjust its tax rate
downward slightly to offset the
factor (see related story).
ACTION TODAY?
Ed Surles, county attorney,
said late Wednesday that he
had just received written con
firmation of the school board’s
Monday action that afternoon
and it probably would be today
beforg the commissioner of
ficially sets a new county tax
rate.
Peace Found After 17 Years
Summerville Family Finally Learns Truth
By TOMMY TOLES
Editor
SEVENTEEN YEARS
and thousands of miles
later, an Oregon man has
found his peace. And a Sum
merville {;mily has finally
learned the truth about the
death of a young soldier in
Vietnam.
It all began on March 10,
1970 in §outh Vietnam.
Larry Duke of Summerville
and a friend, Dan Braden of
Salem, Ore., boarded a
helicopter and headed for a
remote outFost. Both were
members of the First Radio
Battalion.
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DAN BRADEN POINTS OUT NAME OF FRIEND
Oregon Man Remembers Larry Duke
Jhe Summerville News
The commissioner must
have the school board rate
before adopting a new resolu
tion for the schools and the
county. B
The City of Summerville
adopted a new, lower rate Mon
day night (see related story).
The state requires the tax
digest of each county to assess
property at 40 percent of its
market value. “Plfen the state
determines that property in the
county hasn't been assessed at
that figure, it is authorized to
factor the digest by-a percen
tage that it feels will bring the
assessment level up to 40
percent.
LOWER RATES
The law requires local tax
rates to be lowered by an
amount equal to the factor so
A CATASTROPHE oc
curred while the helicopter
was in the air. [t went down.
Larry Wade Duke, only
22-years-old at the time, was
kil{ed. His family was
notified that everyone on
the aircraft had died. His
body was shipped home to
his grieving parents, Mr.
and Mrs. George Duke, 14
Espy St. He was laid to rest
in éreen Hills Memory
Garden, Pennville.
Seventeen years later,
Sgt. George Dean picked up
the phone at the Summer
ville Police Department.
The caller was in Oregon
and wanted to know if
anyone knew the Duke fami
ly. Dean handed the phone
to officer J. R. Johnson.
SUMMERVILLE, CHATTOOGA COUNTY, GEORGIA — THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 1987
State Studies Problem
Officials of the Georgia
Degartment of Corrections
(DOC) Wednesday were trying
to figure out their next move
since bids for the proposed new
state prison at Pennville came
in far over estimates Tuesday
afternoon. A decision is ex
pected this week.
Only one of nine bids came
anywhere close to the
s2§l-million authorized for the
project and it was over
estimates by $866,000.
that gross revenues under the
factored digest won't be more
than one-half of one percent
over what had been estimated
under the old digest.
Chattooga’s §igest wasn't
changed by the state in 1986
but it was factored by 15 per
cent in 1985. :
. .“Although tax rates will be
lowered, some property owners
may see an increase in their in
dividual taxes, tax officials in
dicated. Most of those affected
will be around the “breaking
point” where homestead ex
emptions offset all or most of
a property owner’s tax liabilty.
A homestead exemption of
$2,000 is available to all pro
perty owners but additionaf ex
emptions are also available to
older citizens and to disabled
see DIGEST, page 11-A
THE CALLER iden
tified himself as Dan
Braden and said he had sur
vived the helicopter crash
that killed Larry Duke. He
wanted to find out if Larry
Duke’s family still resided
in Summerville. Johnson
was well-acquainted with
the fami(l]y. Braden
wondered if the family
would object to a visit.
Johnson promised to
find out so he went to the
Duke home and found that
Mr. and Mrs. Duke were
very receptive to a visit
from their late son's friend.
But they were also shocked
that anyone had survived
the crash. That wasn't the
government's story back on
that awful day in the early
spring of 197?)'.
THE OFFICER then
visited Mrs. Gary Duke,
who is married to Larry’s
brother. She is employe({ in
the Chattooga County Pro
bate Judge's office. She, too,
was astounded but eager to
meet with Braden.
A number of additional
calls between Johnson and
the Duke’s took place before
Braden and his wife, Bena,
headed east from Salem
earlier this month. They ar
rived in Illinois 42 hours
later by both alternating
driving and sleeYing
enroute. Sixteen hours later
they were at the Vietnam
War Memorial at the west
end of the mall in
Washington. b€
*x %
THEY LOOKED
through the register at one
end of the somber V-shaped
memorial and found the sec
tion for which they had been
searchini. Braden and his
wife walked slowly to the
spot and there they found
the name of his friend, Larry
Local Accountability
--See Page 2-B
© Copyright 1987 By Espy Publishing Co., Inc
David Evans, DOC com
missioner, was greatly surpris
ed at the bids, said John g;ler.
fublic information officer for
he DOC. During an address to
the Summerville-Trion Rotary
Club last month, Evans said he
thought the bids would come in
under budget and mentioned a
figure of some sl9-million. The
remainder of the money would
be for contingencies and start
up costs, he indicated at the
time.
LOW BID?
The apparent low bid was
$23,866,000 and it came from
Carlson Southeast Corp. based
in Massachusetts.
Siler said Wednesday that
the bid specifications included
17 deductible alternates.
However, he said that the
deductions for one of those
alternates ranged from SI,BOO
to $186,000. The range of other
deductions was similar, he said.
DOC officials and prison ar
chitects were puzzle(f) about the
wide variation given by con
tractors bidding on the project,
Siler indicated.
“It came as a surprise to
everybody,” Siler continued.
When all the bids had been
opened, Evans ordered a
meeting with architects,
engineers, DOC officials and
contractors for Wednesday
morning to discuss the pfo
blem, Siler said.
REBID?
After reviewing all the bids
and discussing the proposals
with contractors, the Dd’C will
make a decision on whether to
rebid the project or to attempt
to negotiate with the apparent
lowd bidder, the DOC official
said.
Y} E 3 £
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LARRY DUKE
KIA In 1970
Duke. ;
Bending slowly with
moist eyes, Braden placed
flowers near Larry’s name.
They then walked up to the
statue of three weary but
proud Vietnam veterans
and the memories came
floodini back. They took
some photographs.
Then they headed south
to Summerville, Ga.
THEY VISITED with
members of the Duke fami
ly from about 11 a.m. last
Thursday until shortly after
5 p.m. Then they headed
back to California to visit
with friends before driving
north to Salem and home.
Braden was helpinfi
transport equipment an
supplies to Hill 364 17 years
ago. Larry, his friend, was a
courier and was taking some
papers to the Hill. But the
real pur%ose of Larry being
aboard the helicopter was so
he could say goodbye to
some friends at the outpost.
see PEACE, page 8-A
Other base bids received by
the DOC include Blount
Brothers Corp., Montgomery,
Ala., $26,053,000; Cadgell Con
struction Co., Montgomery,
$24,999,000; Daniel Interna
tional Corp., Jacksonville, Fla.,
$27,014,000; Dawson Con
struction Co., Gadsden, Ala.,
$25,140,000; Lott Construc
tors, Houston, Texas,
$24,820,000; Ray Bell Con
see PRISON, page 14-A
Wreck
Injures
Woman
Three people were injured in
two separate traffic accidents
in Chattooga County during
the past week, according to the
(Georgia State Patrol.
A Fairmount woman was
hurt in a one-car wreck at 9:10
p.m. Monday on U.S.
Highway 27 about seven miles
Sout gs Summerville, said
'l*roofier Dennis Tucker.
She was identified as Glen
da Sue DeSat, 32, driver of the
car.
GOING NORTH
Trooper Tucker said the
DeSat car was traveling north
on U. S. 27 when it went off the
east side of the roadway and
traveled some 165 feet before
coming back on the highway.
It then traveled 120 feet across
the roadway before careening
off the west side some 75 feet,
Tucker said. It then hit a
culvert and flipped end-over
end 45 additionaneet, pinning
Ms. DeSat’s left arm under the
roof of the car.
- Nearby residents, motorists
and at least two tractor-trailer
drivers stopped at the scene of
the accident and went to Ms.
DeSat’s aid. They succeeded in
lifting the 1979 model car up
see WRECK, page 8-A
Neelley Case
Briefs Due
This Friday
Legal briefs are due Friday
in DeKalb County, Ala. Circuit
Court in the case of Judith Ann
Neelley, who is seeking to
avoid the electric chair in the
1983 murder of a 13-year-old
girl atop Lookout Mountain.
Judge Randall Cole gave
the Alabama Attorney's
General Office and Robert
French, Mrs. Neelley's lawyer,
until Friday to submit written
briefs in the case.
HEARING
French had asked for a
hearinf on Ms. Neelley's re
quest for a new trial or a new
sentencing hearing in an effort
to overturn her death sentence.
The hearing was held in mid-
August in %ort Payne, Ala.
Cole indicated at that time
that he would make a decision
in the case no later than Oct. 9.
In 1983 a jury convicted
Mrs. Neelley in the September,
1982 death of Lisa Ann
Millican, LaFayette. Testi
monf' revealed that Mrs.
Neelley repeatedly injected
caustic drain cleaner into the
13-year-old before shooting her
in the back and pushing her
body in Little River Canyon.
Testimony also revealed that
the Millican child, who was
residing in a church-operated
home in Cedartown, had been
sexually molested.
DEATH
The jury recommended life
for Mrs. Neelley but Judge
Cole overruled the panel under
see NEELLEY, page 12-A
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FAIRMOUNT MOTORIST REFUSED AMBULANCE RIDE TO HOSPITAL
Driver Allowed Trooper To Take Her To Chattooga Facility
Gilley Dropout Director
To Assume Duties On Oct. 5
Former guidance counselor
Clarence Gfiil(lay was appointed
dropout coordinator For the
Chattooga County School
System by the Chattooga
Board of Education Monday
evening.
Gilley will assume duties of
the new position Oct. 5 if he is
formally accepted by the Ap
palachian Regional Commis
sion (ARC), which is funding
half of the one-year experimen
tal program aimed at reducing
Chattooga's dropout rate,
highest in the state.
COUNTYWIDE
Gilley was chosen from a
number of applicants to coor
dinate a countywide effort of
parents, business and com
munity leaders to encourage
young people to stay in school
until graduation.
The county *‘Stay In School
Program’ was proposed last
Feb(;uarfy fl?ll(()iwing an in-depth
study of the dropout program
by ’I")Ile Summer%ille %legrs in
January. In the si)ecial report,
The News revealed that the
county school system had the
highest dropout rate in the
state for the past two years
(11.9 percent in 1985, 12.8 per
cent in 1986). The special
report also revealed that funds
were available from the (ARC)
to help correct the problem.
The school system applied
for a $25,000 matching grant
from the ARC in February and
was approved in mid-Aprii The
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LAWMEN INVESTIGATING FIRE AT HIGHWAY 114 HOUSE
Former Home Of Accused Murderer’'s Brother
Rape Investigated
--See Page 13-A
addition $25,000 was provided
by state and federal grants for
the one-year trial period.
PROJECTS
One of the main projects
funded under the ARC grant is
the establishment of a
“homework hotline”” to be
manned by teachers after
school hours. The telephone
hotline is aimed primarily at
students in grades tgree
through eight. High school
students will be served
through a tutorial program at
Chattooga High School. The
program would be staffed b
gifted students and Beta Clug
members under the supervision
of teachers.
see GILLEY, page 3-A
Jarrells Residence
Destroyed By Fire
A house rented for the
brother of an accused murderer
in the Chattoogaville communi
ty burned to &e ground early
last Friday morning.
The Chattooga County
Sheriff's Office and the
Georgia Bureau of Investiga
tion are probing the blaze to
determine whether the fire was
arson.
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MR. GILLEY
The rental house, occupied
by Mr. and Mrs. Jackie Jarrells
and family, had been rented to
the father of Mrs. Jarrells.
DEATH
Jonathen Jarrells, 30,
Oceana, W.Va., the brother of
Jackie Jarrells, was charged
with murder on Aug. 28 in con
see JARRELLS, page 12-A