Newspaper Page Text
VOLUME CVIII — NUMBER 111
oS " &
4 ’
| 3 . R
», 8 /4 :{2
% P& T ¥ T . gs
N S
f D M ‘ PR e %fié
N o N/
5. & - &g Y e
_ ; bl e wdy o
sy 7 o
’’N N A
) 'f ; y "~ ;
o T
: e i j
777 )i | |
Three motorists were injured in a three
vehicle accident on Rome Boulevard in
Summerville Monday afternoon.
Emergency Medical Technicians with the
Chattooga Emergency Medical Service
Good Financial
News For Panel
By TOMMY TOLES
Editor
The Chattooga County
Hospital Authoringot a cou
ple of dpieces of fig: financial
news during its first meeting of
the new year Monday night.
Subscription Rate
Chattooga Countians have a month to take advantage of cur
rent subscription rates to The Summerville News. They will in
crease on March 1.
The current in-county rate of $8.50 plus tax (9.01 total) will
be in effect until that time. After that date, a one-year subscrip
tion will cost $lO plus tax.
Owners of the award-winning weekly newspaper said subscrip
tion rates were last increased five years ago —on March 1, 1987.
Since that time, paper, ink anx general manufacturing costs
have increased substantially, the{ said. In addition, there has
been a major increase in second class postal rates by the U. S.
Postal Service, they added.
New customers may obtain a subscription for as many years
as they wish and subscribers may renew for as long as thei)\'/[wish
llmder the current rate structure until the offer expires on March
For a real and lasting bargain, renew your subscription now
for several years. A form for obtaining or renewing a subscrip
%fin i\? featured in an ad on Page 2-A of this week’s edition of
e News.
No Improvement Since Coup Failure In Russia
Yeltsin, Other Republic Leaders Former Communist Functionaries, Charges Moscow Professor
et T S
By TOMMY TOLES
Editor
*
The economic and political
climates in Russia and in the
former Soviet republics have
not improved since the failed
coup by Communist hardliners
late last year.
Communist Party func
tionaries are still running the
§gv9mments. of all the former
viet regxbhcs but one, accor
ding to Dr. Alla D. Parojat
nikova. She addressed a joint
meeting of the Summerville-
Board Legisl~_ .
. 82254964
Tl Summerville News
Three Injured In Wreck
The panel also approved a
new three-year management
contract with Floyd Medical
Center, and recommended
three people each for two
authority positions that will
become vacant on June 30. The
February term ChattooFa
County Grand Jury will fill
those two slots.
. Authority members author
ized a new management chart
Trion Rotary and O’Ftimist
Clubs Monday at The Tavern,
Trion. Dr. Parojatnikova was
accompanied by her husband,
Dr. Mikhail M. Bounyaev.
Their visit was arranged bfi
Boyce Dooley who, along;vit
his wife, Gail, toured the Soviet
Union in 1989. Dr. Parojat
nikova served as the tour
group’s lecturer during their
visit.
When Doolei'l saw that the
coup biSoviet ardliners had
failed, he contacted Dr. Paro
jatnikova, who told him that
she and her husband were plan
mnF to visit the United S&tes
to lecture at several colleges.
Doole¥. who owns Clear-Vu
Cable Inc., made arrangements
SUMMERVILLE, CHATTOOGA COUNTY, GEORGIA — THURSDAY, JANUARY 30, 1992
assist Jacqueline Bryant, who was
thrown out of her car by the impact. See
Page 9-A for details and more photos.
(Staff Photo By Tommy Toles).
for the hospital and nursing
home.
The panel also tabled a mo
tion to ban smoking by nursing
home employees inside the
building.
PROFIT
David Hortman, executive
director of the hospital and
nursinfg home, pointed out that
both facilities combined had
posted a paper profit of
$63,013 durmfi the six-month
period ended Dec. 31.
‘The hospital had lost
$151,709 during the period
while the nursing home had
garnered a surplus of $214,722
etween July 1 and Dec. 31.
In a separate notation,
Hortman -listed actual cash
payments to the two facilities
during that period of time, as
well as expenses. The revenue
figure for that period of time
may have represented billing
for months prior to the time
the money was actually receiv
ed, Hortman said. Based on
that measurement, the hospital
had a negative cash flow of
$32,600 during the first six
months.
The financial situation is
improving, Hortman said. Ef
forts are being made to cut ex
penses, he said, but he is not
yet satisfied with the results.
Patient revenues have in
creased, he noted.
McMillan Myers, an
see GOOD FINANCIAL, page 11-A
© Copyright 1992 By Espy Publishing Co., Inc. — All Rights Reserved
SaleS TaX iy Annual F iglll' es * Nine Months
oe [ [we[e[ we [wa
Total Schools $629,974%* $1,330,159 $1,428,541 $1,422,532 $1,635,635 $1,578,633
Sales tax receipts in Chat
tooga County during 1991 fell
below the totals for the cor
responding l{)eriod in 1990, in
dicating either a slow-down in
the local economy or more out
of-county shopping.
The county government
received $1,551,597 during
1991, according to a corlt\}pila
tion by The Summerville News.
That was 1.8 percent less than
the 1990 tota?of $1,580,474, a
Another Landfill
Survey Required
Chattooga County will have
to spend between $18,500 and
$19,500 to conduct a comglete
%eological survey of the Penn
ridge Road landfill site.
Chattooga Commissioner
Jim Parker said the Georgia
Environmental Protection
Division (EPD) had indicated
that the survey will be
necessary. It is SUfiposed to
determine whether the current
four monitoring wells can be
used to monitor underground
water supplies when the land
for the couple to fly to Atlan
ta, where he é)icked them up for
the visit to Chattooga County.
WORSENING
Dr. Parojatnikova told the
two civic clubs that the situa
tion is worsening in the former
Soviet Union, for a variety of
reasons. Her husband, talkin,
after the session, emghasizeg
that the Russian regu lic does
not need charity but rather
“‘cooperation.”
Tfiz republic can help the
United States in various areas
in return for American
assistance in other areas, he
said.
American Eeople have
already gone beyond their
Back Taxes
--See Page 9-A
1991 Sales Tax Receipts Drop
Grotto, Chattooga County’s plumperfect groundhog
and weather prognosticator, will stick his head outside his
burrow sometime Sunday.
What he sees will determine what type of weather the
county will have during the next few weeks.
If the furry little creature sees his shadow, the county
will have another six weeks of hard, cold winter weather.
If, however, he looks around and doesn’t spot his shadow,
Grotto will forecast an early sprin%time.
R_dGrotto usually holes up in a secluded area of Taylors
idge.
'%here are other groundhogs, notably in Pennsylvania
and Florida, who are pretenders to the Groundhog Throne
of Forecasting, but none is as accurate as Grotto.
Chattooga Countians will be anxiously awaiting the
results of Grotto’s foraK out of his deeJ), warm burro on
Sunday. Check back with us next Thursday for the results.
fiovemment to help people in
ussia, Dr. Paroi"atnikova said.
For example, otar{y Clubs
sent a shipment of food and
supplies to Russia last Dec. 6;
it will be March before official
U. S. government aid arrives,
she said.
Corruption and bribery are
still ramlpant in Russia, and it
is unlikely that most American
aid will get to the pe:Ble who
reall’l%need it, the speaker add
ed. The Rotary shipment go to
its designated location simply
because Rotarians dealt direct
ly with the people who were to
receive it, rather than govern
ment bureaucrats, she said.
It is not uncommon for
foreign shipments of aid to be
dollar difference of $28,877.
The county school system
received 4.4 percent less last
year than it did in 1990. The
state distributed $1,130,786 to
the county schools last year,
$51,500 less than the
$1,182,286 it handed out in
1990.
The Trion city schools
received $447,847 last year,
$5,402 less than the 1990 total
of $453,249. That represented
Grotto To
Predict
Weather
For County
fill is closed.
A Rome company had drill
ed the wells in 1990 under
supervision of the EPD, but
the EPD later said the wells
couldn’t be used for monitoring
gurEoses. Commissioner
arker said the difficulties
arose when new regulations
were handed down late last fall
that made obsolete the
previous regulations under
which the wells were drilled.
““We have no choice but to
see ANOTHER, page 10-A
stolen and then sold at exhor
bitant prices on the black
market, Dr. Parojatnikova
pointed out.
OVERWHELMED
Former Soviet President
Mikhail Gorbachev “‘tried to
reform the system,” she said,
but ‘it figt out of hand and
overwhelmed him.”
She expressed some ad
miration for Gorbachev but
said Boris Yeltsin, the current
Russian republic president,
was both “iglr)lorant and
uneducated.”” Dr. Parojat
nikova drew a roar of laughter
from the crowd when she said
« he doesn’t even feel that
ignorance is something that
a decrease of 1.2 percent.
The national economy has
been in the doldrums for much
of the i)ast year although the
unemployment situation in
Chattooga Counalt]y has been im
proving gradually.
" The overall reduced sales
tax receipts could mean that
local residents have cut back
on consumer spendinglbecause
of concern about the future. Or
Economy, Vote On
Board Discussed
By BUDDY ROBERTS
Associate News Editor
*
R(;Yl. Tim Perry said Friday
that all the GeorEia House of
Representatives has done this
year is move the state’s
;wesidential preference primary
rom March 10 to March 3.
The action, approved by the
U. S. Justice Department last
week, will make Georgia “‘the
New Hampshire of the%outh.”
the first Southern state to hold
this year’s primary.
Perry made the statements
during a public meeting at the
Chattooga County Courthouse.
About 40 é)eople attended, in
cluding Commissioner Jim
Parker and Sen. Waymond
“Sonny”’ Huggins.
The meeting was held,
Perry said, for citizens to ask
questions and express their
views about state issues. Perry
spoke briefly about legislative
action this session, which is in
recess until Feb. 3.
Discussion centered on the
state’s economic situation, new
DUI laws, workers’ compensa
tion, and Chattooga’s referen
dum for a five-member
commission.
BUDGET
Perry began by talking
about Gov. fell Mi{ler's $B.l
billion budget proposal. He
said he hopes no more state
jobs will be cut, as happened
Over Your Head?
--See Page 1-B
it could mean they have
started shopping for barlfiains
outside the county. It could be
a combination of goth factors.
The amount of sales tax
revenue to the county, county
schools and the Trion schools
dipped in December from
November.
Revenue to the county fell
from $132,129 in November to
$117,879 in December. It dip
ped from $94,243 in November
last year when more than 2,000
state posts were lost.
Many employees have com
plained to legislators that
“state emaiioyees" “didn’t %let
us into s mess, SOO why
should they have to get us out
of it?”’ Perry said that the
Cash Probi
Summerville Mayor Sewell Cash is investigating the validi
ty of a declaration by a local activist that the city manager tried
to get him to initiate a recall action against Councilman Earl
“Red” Parris.
Mayor Cash said he received a letter from Sid Ponder about
3:30 p.m. Wednesday at city hall and was in the process of in
vestigating Ponder’s allegations. City Manager John Simmons
was unavailable for comment.
Ponder gave The Summerville News a copy of the letter
Wednesday before he turned the original over to Mayor Cash.
Ponder contended in the letter that Simmons had given him
copies of state law relating to the recall of I?ublic officials and
approached him about a petition to recall Parris.
“He and Mr. Parris did not see I to I (sic) and he knew Mr.
lParris was out to get his job,” Ponder wrote in the notarized
etter.
Ponder wrote in the letter that he had discussed Simmons’
alleged actions with Cash and Parris before he wrote the letter.
Mayor Cash said Simmons left early Wednesday to pay
respects to the family of Summerville Officer Duane Jackson,
whose brother died Tuesday. Before he left, Cash said, he told
Simmons about the letter.
The probe was expected to continue today. The entire city
council 1s to meet at 6 p.m. today at city hall on the 1991-92
budget. Whether it will discuss the letter’s allegations remain
ed uncertain late Wednesday afternoon.
should be concealed.” She then
referred to several comments
written by Yeltsin in his book
that seemed to confirm her
opinion.
All current Russian leaders,
including Yeltsin, were Com
munist Party functionaries
who a;;glear to have embraced
nationalism merely to stay in
office or gain power, she
asserted.
The a‘)parent failure of
Soviet::x e Communism isn’t
necessarily a victory for a
multi-party democratic system
and free enterprise “‘the way
¥ou would understand it,” Dr.
arojatnikova told the
Rotarians and Optimists.
After the coup, she and her
to $89,109 in December for the
county schools. Revenue for
the Trion schools dipped from
$37,473 in November to
$35,432 in December.
Christmas shopping usual
ly starts in Novemger%mt the
bulk of yule buying takes place
in December. Revenue col
lected by county merchants in
December was to be paid to the
county, the county schools and
Trion sometime this month.
budfiet had to be cut, and most
of the state’s budget is spent
on employees' salaries and
benefits.
The governor has proposed
increasing user fees for certain
state services, such as drivers’
see ECONOMY, page 5-A
husband and many more Rus
sian citizens thoug_ht they
would have a truly free coun
tr{t, but the outcome so far has
left them bitter.
Yeltsin has closed news
papers that criticized him, she
noted. ‘“We don’t feel this is the
way to a true freedom.”
Continuini, she said, “You
can’t establish democracy us
in!fi undemocratic means and,
ortunately, we see that hap
mfi." The bureaucracy has
ly increased since Yeltsin
assumed power, she said.
He placed his supporters in
positions of authority but most
of them are not coxn%tent. Dr.
Parojatnikova said. For exam
see NO IMPROVEMENT, page 11-A
STILL
ONLY
2 50