Newspaper Page Text
Rotary St:holarships Readied
--See Page 3-4
VOLUME CIX — NUMBER VIII
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Staff Photo By Buddy Roberts
STRETCHER AWAITS INJURED INSIDE PICKUP TRUCK
Vehicle Runs Off Road, Hitting Tree Near Tidings
First Fatality Of Year
Motorist Dies In Tidings Accident
A Summerville area woman
became Chattooaia County’s
first traffic fatality of 1994
when the truck in which she
was riding left U. S. Highway
27 and slammed into a tree.
Mrs. DaisKCraig Price, 68,
Summerville Rte. 5, died in the
accident, according to Trooper
Caron Darden of the Georgia
State Patrol. Mrs. Price and
her husband, James, 63, same
address, were taken to Red
mond Regional Medical Center,
Rome, by the Chatt.ooafa Coun
t]% Emerggxcy Medical Service
(EMS) after the accident.
TRUCK
Trooper Darden reported
Panel To Discuss Morale
Former Hospital Employees Offer Complaints
A committee to review
employee morale at Chattooga
County Hospital and Oak View
Nursing Home is expected to
be appointed this week by the
chairman of the hospital
authority.
The action came after two
former employees complained
to the panel about alleged
morale problems at the medical
facilities Monday evening.
Meanwhile, the authority
learned that 74 percent of the
emé)loyees of the nu.rsin%home
and hospital like their jobs and
enjoy talking about them, ac
cording to a poll completed by
83 of the institutions’ 260
em%oyees.
r. Gary Smith, Trion, an
authority member, moved that
the special committee be
established to review morale
issues at both facilities. Mike
Woodard, another authorit!
member, offered a second.
Members Smith, Woodard,
Esther Bryant and Susan
Logan voted for the proposal.
Rick Pewitt and Larry Stansell
opposed the measure, which
passed on a 4-2 vote.
“I will deal with that this
week,” said McMillan Myers,
authority chairman, after the
vote.
PROCEDURES
He and Stansell had argued
I Were You At Normandy?
- Didyou partim;,pate in the D-Day in
vasion of Europe s ;
The Summerville News is looking for
Chattooga County residents who were
involved in the invasion against Hitler’s
Nazi forces at Normandy. ~
The 50th anniversary cf the attack,
Bcne ]v M ok ke
urope i a year later,
on June 6, 1944. Germany mm
on May 7, 1945. Rl
dh Summeruville News
that a 1978 model truck driven
by James Price was traveling
north on U. S. 27 just south of
Tldma when it entered the
southbound lane, traveled a
few feet, and then re-entered
zlfiz northbound lane,ckra.n off
-the-high w?*andm‘ J atree:
25 feet off the road.
Price said he was taking
medication and blacked out
while driving, Trooper Darden
reported. Price was injured in
the accident.
Funeral services for Mrs.
Price were held at 1 p.m. Satur
day at the General Assembly
First Born Church of God. In
terment was in Chapel Hill
Cemetery.
unsuccessfully that the
authority shouldn’t ““micro
'manafie” the medical centers
but should set policy and be
the final step taken by
employees following the
established grievance
procedures.
Jean McGraw and Debra
Howard, two former employees
whomifined on Jan. 7, criticiz
ed David Hortman, executive
director of the hospital and
nursing home, during a brief
‘ appearance before the authori
ty %-ior to its action. ;
rs. McGraw said she
disagreed with Hortman’s
Survey: Most Are Happy
A significant majority of
employees who responded to a
survey is happy with their jobs
at Oak View Nursing Home
and Chattooga County
Hoi}‘)ital.
ighty-three employees out
of some 260 responded to the
survey, which was conducted
by the Staff Support Commit
tee of the two medical institu
tions recently. ;
Copies of the survey results
were given to the Chattooga
TheNewstgelanstofeatureanumber
of stories on the invasion on Thursday,
June 2. ,
An?'one involved in the invasion
e baot Moy thtven
paper, at 857- ey
Fn&ayp“ The paper is ially in
terested in photos of local Ggsornurses
who took um‘rt in the final assault
against Hitler. ;
) v . :
IMERVILLE, CHATTOOGA COUNTY, GEORGIA — THURSDAY, MARCH 3, 1994
A Chattooga County
woman complained of injuries
from a two-vehicle accident on
Mahan Road shortly after 4
%.rm. Saturday, reported
ooper Bill DeHart of the
State Patrol.
' “"She was identified by the
trooper as Brenda Dooley
glalock, 44, Summerville Rte.
DeHart said that a 1975
model sports utility truck
driven by Kevin Lamar Mar
tin, 22, Summerville Rte. 3,
was involved in a near head-on
collision with a 1973 model car
driven by Ms. Blalock.
see FIRST, page 12-A
management philosophy, not
the hospital’s policies.
“The management we have
now is the poorest I have seen
in 16 Kears." she said, noting
that she had worked with five
administrators during her
tenure. Hortman has not ac
complished anything except to
create problems for employees
who knew how to run the
hospital, she said. “They are
gone, now. The hospital is go
ing down and it’s going down
quick.”
No money is coming into
the hospita{ she asserted.
Later in the meeting, Hortman
Hospital Autho:;i:g Monday
evening (see related story).
MOTIVATORS
The top three motivators
for employees listed included
compliments from supervisors
(61 percent), money (57 per
cent) and compliments from co
workers (53 percent).
Eighty-eight percent felt
their jobs were important and
74 percent liked their jobs and
enjoyed talking about them,
© Copyright 1994 By Espy Publishing Co.. Inc. — All Rights Reserved
Parris Defense Starts Today
Jury To Hear More Evidence About Suspended Councilman
By BUDDY ROBERTS
Associate News Editor
Arguments for the defense
are expected to begin this mor
ning in the trial of a suspend
ed Summerville city coun
cilman charged with theft by
deception and making false
statements.
Attorney Bobby Hannah
will open the defense’s case at
9 am. in Chattooga County
Superior Court. District At
torney Ralph Van Pelt rested
the state’s evidence at 4“?.m.
Wednesday. Judge Jon Wood
is presidinfg in the case.
Parris faces four counts of
making false statements in the
form of reimbursement
receipts to the City of Summer
ville and one count of theft by
deception involving S4BO. The
alleged incidents took place in
September, 1992.
Jury selection for the eight
man, four-woman panel began
at 9:15 a.m. Wednesday, and
lasted almost an hour.
WITNESSES
Van Pelt elicited testimony
from Keitha Shamblin, Sum
merville’s city payroll clerk;.
Tommy Toles, editor of The
Summerville News; and a
series of witnesses whose
names appeared on the receipts
that Parris turned into the ci
ty when requestin§ reimburse
ment for wages he lost while on
city business. '
Agent Robert Mandell of
the Georgia Bureau of “Ins
vestigation (GBI) was the pro-.
secution’s last witness
Wednesday.
Van Pelt, in his opening
statement, said the case
represents ‘‘an abuse of trust,”
and is ‘“one of the dire pro
blems the city has faced recent
ly.” It involves, he continued,
a Summerville ordinance that
allows its officials to be reim
bursed for expenses and lost
said $469,323 cash had been
received by the hospital in
January and $3,686,374 during
the first seven months of the
current fiscal year.
RESIGNED
. Four people resigned from
the hospital staff onlgnan. 7 and
one more person resigned after
ward, Mrs. McGraw said.
Thirteen empl?j;ees were
told on Jan. 6 that they should
go home and contemglate
whether they wanted to
become team players and
change their attitudes, she and
see PANEL, page 12-A
the survey indicated.
It showed that 80 percent
of the employees responding
felt that their supervisor was
available to discuss problems
and concerns. A slightly lower
percentage (76 percent) felt
comfortable asking co-workers
for help.
The lowest percentage (66
percent) felt f}:hey were en
cour to offer suggestions
and m
Eighty-four percent felt
that assignments were equal
and fair, and 89 percent knew
where to find needed supplies.
Another 77 percent felt that
eqzx;rment and supplies were
available.
The survey also indicated
that 76 pgfenfia of those
responding felt that working
conditions on their unit were
good to excellent.
Compliments in general or
from supervisors and co
workers were listed as six of
the top seven most important
ways to recoinize ac
complishments, the survey
showed. The seventh, ranked
second in order of importance,
was money.
see SURVEY:, page 12-A
wages while they are out of
town on city business. :
Most cities reimburse of
ficials only for their ‘‘out-of-
Pocket" expenses and not for
lost wages, Van Pelt told
jurors.
He charged that Parris ask
ed the city to reimburse him for
lost wages while he attended a
municipal conference in
Warner Robins. He turned in
handwritten receipts showinfi
his income — received in cas
—the week prior to use as a
base for determining how much
reimbursement he could
receive, Van Pelt said.
S4BO
It was determined, the
district attorney continued,
that Parris coukf' receive S4BO
in lost wages, };}us expenses he
incurred while at the
conference.
Elem Acquitted By Jury
Cloudland Man Innocent Of Molestation
By JULIE GRIFFIS
Staff Writer
A five-man, seven-woman
ggn decided that Wendell
gmlt off Clou dlantgd wgsé not
y of aggravated sodom
and child mo{astaition charge)s'
Tuesday afternoon in Chat
too%a Superior Court.
he panel deliberated for
one hour.
Elem had already spent six
months in jail in 1993 after be
ing arrested when he could not
make his bond for a crime the
jury said he did not commit.
An Elem relative by mar
riage accused him of forcing
her to lie on the sofa with him
at his home, and fondling her
sexuallK.
He had been charged with
one count of aggravated
sodomy and three counts of
child molestation for fondling
and touching.
The-then 6-year-old girl
alle?d that once beini forced
on the sofa with her back to
Elem he ‘‘unzipped his
overalls,” pulled out his penis
and touched it to her bod{
She also alleged that Elem
continually put the fii.rl's hand
on his penis, which she said she
removed each time, and in
serted his fingers in her and
“wiggled them.”
In a dramatic moment, Ken
Bruce, defense attorney, show
ed the jury the overalls that
Elem wore at the time of the
alleged incident. The overalls
had a button fly.
Bruce also seemed to suc
cessfully prove to the )u;‘y that
the alleged penetration did not
take place.
During his cross
examination of Dr. Bruce
Pendley, Hutcheson Medical
Center, Fort Oglethorpe, Bruce
held ug Elem’s right hand,
highlighting its large size, and
the larg:ness of Elem’s fingers.
In his report of an examina
tion of the fiirl, Pendley said
there could have been ““possi
ble fondling.”
On cross-examination,
Pendley said there were no
signs of {.lrauma, lesions, tea::i
etc., to the youngster’s i
area. When Bruce nsi:il if
hands and fingers the size of
Elem’s would have left trauma
to the genitals of a 6-year-old
girl, Pendley replied that it
would leave tearing that would
have been identifiable in such
an exam even more than a year
later.
The alleged laceim:id:lnl:
reportedly took place in July,
1992, while the girl was ex
amined in Ar\otllmat, 1993.
Bruce the dice,” as
he called it, when he called the
s:l’s 10-year-old brother as a
witness, having never
dlecuuedu')_ d the case with the
people that the boy and
another brother were lying on
the floor asleep when the
molestation occurred.
The bo{eem ied that he
had not n asleep and
nothing unusual occurred. He
Carrying Cross For Christ
; --See Page 1-B
Acting on an anonymous
phone call, Toles requested
copies of Parris’ receipts
thrm:gg the Georgia Open
Records Act, and contacted the
agencies named on the receipts.
Toles’ queries, Van Pelt said,
revealed that those named had
not had contact with Parris in
September of 1992.
“Listen to what Mr. Parris’
stories are,” Van Pelt told the
jury. “Thefy have changed over
a period of time. None of these
receipts are truthful. His ex
planations just don’t hold
water.
NOT POLITICS
“I don’t know what his
defense will be, but I expect
him to scream ‘politics.’ That'’s
what they all say. He will try
to shift your attention to in
vestigations of other things
that are not part of this case.
also said the girl told him after
she reported the incident that
nothinfilhad happened.
In h;s hfl;iitlfi arguments,
Bruce highli the varying
accounts the girl %am*‘
mother, Amalene Elrod, a
worker for the Department of |
Family and Children Services ‘
More Court Set March 14
The first week of Chattooga
County Superior Court will end
by Friday with the second
week scheduled to start on
Monday, March 14.
A number of guilty pleas
was accepted late this past
week and early this week.
Two people were acquitted
by J'uries in the first two trials
and charges were dismissed
against a few others.
DISMISSED
Charges of possessing co
caine against James W.
Christopher were dismissed.
A jury Monday acquitted
Homer Douglas Farmer on
charges of criminal attempt to
violate the state’s drug laws.
Charges of afgravated
assault and silw: e battery
against Tony Wilson were
dismissed.
Marijuana charges against
City Awaits Image Offer
By TOMMY TOLES
Editor
The City of Summerville
was awaiting a formal reaction
from Image Industries Inc. to
a counter-proposal by the town
on the sale of nine acres of land
for an immediate Image
expansion. :
The city council has voted
unanimously to sell the nine
acres to Image for $4,000 cash
per acre, or a total of $36,000.
IMayor Pro Tem Ira Pollu%
an Image employee, presided in
the absence of Mayor Sewell
Eash, :h‘o is recovering from
eart surgery. Coun
cilman 121111 Cavin, another Im
nge mpl(:{w. abstained from
the vote. As presiding officer,
Pollard didn't cast a vote.
OFFER :
Councilwoman Betty Bush
moved that $4,000 offer be ex
tended to Image. Councilman
Ralph Sutn‘l:Lyseeonded the
mo&m_ Stanley, Mrs. Bush
and Councilman Mike King
voted for the measure.
Imagefhad m to buy the
p y lor $3,600 per acre.
:m Bush's d;-:tion hchlt
a provision that |
given first refusal on mhm
‘... There is no reason for
The Summerville News to say
anything false about Mr. Par
ris. There is no reason for the
GBI to say anything false
about Mr. Parris. There are no
politics involved, and there is
no newspaper ‘witch-hunt.’
“It’s not a whole lot of
money involved in this case,
but it’s the principle of the
thing,” Van l?elt said.
POLITICS
Hannah's opening state
ment for the defense charged
that Parris was on trial by
“those solitically opposed’’ to
him and by The Summerville
News. The indictment against
him resulted from po%itical
maneuvers by other city of
ficials, the lawyer claimed.
He said the city’s ordinance
is “not artfully diafted,” and
see PARRIS, page 13-A
(DFACS), Joey Norton, then
investigator for the Chattooga
Sheriff’'s Office, and Ann
Coons, a counselor for VISTA
Community Services, as well as
“to Judy Goodman, a nurse at
Hutcheson Medical Center.
He wondered aloud why the
girl’s mother waited more than
Tina L. Cochran were
dismissed.
Charges of manfixf%cuging
marijuana against Ruby Faye
Young were dismissed.
GUILTY PLEAS
Guilty pleas entered
through noon Tuesday in
superior court included:
Gloria Jean Adams,
criminal attempt to violate the
state’s drug laws, two years
probation plus 200 hours of
commmfltfi service; Michael
m ichols, marijuana
i s, five years probation
and a SI,OOO fine; Patricia
/Alford, habitual violator and
driving under the influence
(DUI) of intoxicants, fiv:lfrears
g;obation. 48 hours jail and
es of $1,520; Christopher
Bare, burglary, five years pro
bation plus restitution, court
costs, attorney fees, and time
Nine Acres Sought By Recycler
sale of an add;il:lonal 30 acres of
city industrial park propert
SR £ b nine acroa,
Jmage had indicated this
- past October that it would ex
ercise its five-year option on 39
sdjacent acres in the industrial
park. But that option expired
on Feb. 21 without being exer
cised. The option price had
been $3,600 per acre.
The expiration of the option
means that the property is
available for sale to any other
busittess or industry that
;!‘igt’_‘mt to locate in the
Image ths to move its
friea el To 8 nov Sty o
the nine Summerville acres be
ing sought by the company.
ADDITION
- Jerry Johnst te
.}:' s - o s lhm
et the company
Plus tlna to 35 emploti:es at
tine ad g ol
e pee o ey
oI W : 8
STILL
ONLY
25¢
P # R
. g L
1 5
e
. S
broas s o
3 4 oA P
£ 5 & i ,i
~ e .8 3 <
o e &
A 5 e
R e M
; i P
Y PRt b
s Y I
i *;; Re . S
E SRR y
oy o ol i P A 8
MR. PARRIS
a year after the a]leged incident
to take her to the doctor for a
Egrecological exam, and why
visiting a counselor twice,
she did not.return with the
child for more counseling
sessions.
Courtroom spectators, in
see ELEM ACQUITTED, page 8-A
in a boot camp; Susan
Brewster Ostrander, habitual
violator, five years probation
and a fine of $750; Christopher
Dale Bryant, incest, first of
fender, t{ree years suagemsed'
probation and mental health
treatment; Starlin Lee
Cochran, manufactuxzi.:g mari
juana, 90 days in jail; Brian
Richard C%peland, marijuana
violations, five years probation
and SI,OOO fine.
Vickie Marie Cromer, ob
taining drugs for an inmate,
two years Erobation and a SSOO
fine; Vicki Junell Darden,
criminal attempt to violate the
state’s drug laws, two years
probation and 200 hours com
munity service; Paul Hix
Elrod, possessing drugs,
revoke the balance of his pro
bation plus three more years in
prison; Reuben Fife, possess
see MORE COURT, page 8-A
apjgce. another Image official
3aid. :
Overall, the expansions
could eventually mean up to
150 new jobs in Summerville,
the official indicated. :
The city would spend about
$7,500 on materials to expand
water, natural gas, and
sewerage to the nine-acre site
adjacent to the current Image
R G
inney, city manager.
GRINDING
Councilman Cavin, who
ilidn‘t votoeutl)(xi: tll:e matter, said
m: W ave to spend
al:oo‘ixgt:e $250,000 preparing the
land for the sorting and grin
ding operation, in addition to
the cost of the buildinf and
:332)lment that would be
The ion announced
bein ion to the new extru
consolidate Image’s fib g
turned out to be “a gre:
ee e e
see CITY AWAITS. page 8A