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VOLUME CXIV — NUMBER VIII
Brooks Found Guilty Of -
1999 Vehicular Homicide
Several cases involving al
leged sexual offenses are antici-
Sated to be tried starting Mon
ay in Chattooga County Supe
rior Court.
Meanwhile, a Summerville
man has been convicted on five
counts of homicide by a vehicle,
five counts of driving under the
influence (DUT) of drugs and fail
ing to maintain a single lane of
traffic. He was acquitted on five
counts of causing a serious injury
by a vehicle.
BROOKS
Grover Hudgins, assistant
Chattooga Board Hears
From Teachers; Listens
To Gym Use Discussion
By GENE ESPY
Editor
A team of teachers at Chat
tooga High School has come out
in support of CHS Principal
Thurman Waits after they
learned there was a possibility he
would not be rehired for the
2000-2001 school term.
Waits told The Summerville
News that Tom McCullough,
school superintendent, had told
him verbally that he “might not”
be retained as the CHS principal.
Principals in the Chattooga
County school system are typi
cally hired during the March
meeting of the Chattooga County
Board of Education.
Meanwhile, in another mat
ter, the board’s attorney said it
had violated state law in acting
during a closed “personnel
Ga. 157 Atop Mountain Will
Be Widened, Repaved Soon
Culvert Repaired On Summerville-Menlo Roadway
Widening and resurfacing
Ga. 157 atop Lookout Mountain
is anticipated to begin in late
spring, according to the state
Dl;egartment of Transportation
(DOT).
In addition, DOT crews re
cently repaired a culvert under
Ga. 48 just east of Perennial
Springs Road between Summer
ville and Menlo, said Tommy
Sanders, Rome area DOT engi
neer.
CONTRACTOR
C. W. Matthews Construc
tion Co., Marietta, won the $1.7-
million contract for the Ga. 157
work, Sanders said. The highway
will be widened one foot on the
side of each lane or a total of two
feet, he said.
“That road is awfully nar
row,” Sanders indicated.
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DOT CREW USES HIGH-PRESSURE HOSE UNDE% GA. 48
Partially Collapsed Culvert Lined With New Pipe
Board Studies Loss Of Funds '
-- See Page 3-A
The Summerville New
district attorney, successfully
prosecuted the case against
Jimmy Wayne Brooks, 45, of 383
Bittings Ave., Summerville. At
torney Patti Keown represented
Brooks.
The four-woman eight-man
jury received the Brooks case at
12:10 p.m. this past Thursday,
March 2 elected a foreman and
went to lunch. The jurists re
turned at 1:30 p.m. and began
deliberating. The panel askes to
be recharged on some points of
law at 2 p.m. and returned its
verdicts at 2:10 p.m.
Judge Ralph Van Pelt or
meeting.
NOT DISCUSSED
A slate of county school
principals to be hired for the
2000-2001 school term was not
discussed at Monday night’s
“work session.” The recommen
dations might be made at
Monday’s meeting although that
couldn’t be verified at mid-after
rnoon Wednesday because Super
intendent McCuflough was out of
town and couldn’t be reached.
The board can approve or
reject the recommengations of
McCullough in hiring principals
for the county’s schoofis.
Teacher Elaine Allred ad
dressed the board and outlined
some points in the letter. She
then gave the board the letter,
which featured the handwritten
Once the widening is com
?leted, Matthews will then resur
ace the entire highway north
from Ga. 48 at Cloudland to the
LaFayette-Trenton Road.
The project is anticipated to
begin in May or June, Sandeis
said.
GA. 48 CULVERT
Meanwhile, work will con
tinue soon on a culvert under Ga.
48 near Perennial Springs Road,
he added.
Part of the culvert on the
eastbound side of the highway
had started to collapse because
the corrugated 24-inch pipe un
der Ga. 48 had started to rust and
fall apart, Sanders said.
Rather than dig uA) the road
way, the engineer said, the DOT
decided to clean out the culvert
and line it with a new 18-inch
© Copyright 2000 By Espy Publishing Co., Inc. — All Rights Reserved
SUMMERVILLE, CHATTOOGA COUNTY, GEORGIA — THURSDAY, MARCH 9, 2000
dered a pre-sentence investiga
tion of Brooks before imposing
sentence. That usually takes
about 30 days, court officials
said.
Hudgins said Brooks could
receive a sentence of from three
to 15 years.
OCTOBER, 1999
Brooks caused the death of
D.C. “Dee” Brown, 81, Summer
ville, on Thursday night, Oct. 21,
1999 when Brooks’ vehicle
smashed into a vehicle in which
Brown was riding. Also hurt in
the crash were David C. Brown
names of some members of the
high school’s leadership team.
Names on the letter were David
Wilhoite, Allred, Jennie Starr,
John Starr, Alan Perry, Darlene
Scoggins and Louise Johnson.
LETTER
The letter stated:
“We, the undersigned mem
bers of the leadership team of
Chattoo%a High Schoo{). are writ
ing this letter in response to the
unsubstantiated and erroneous
reports that we as a body or even
as individuals are desirous of a
change in administration at our
school. Just the opposite is true.
We believe that tge current ad
ministrative team is conscien
tiously leading the school in a
decidedly positive direction. The
see CHATTOOGA BOARD, page 9-A
corrugated pipe.
'l%)at work was completed
this past week.
The DOT’s bridge crews will
pump Erouting (cement) be
tween the two pI?CS soon to add
to the strength of the culvert, he
said. A six-inch void now exists
between the old line and the new
line. It will be filled with cement.
“LONG TIME”
Reduction of the line’s size
shouldn’t cause any water prob
lems for the hifihway, Sanders
said, because the ditch on the
south side of Ga. 48 at that loca
tion doesn’t have to handle a
high water flow.
“It (the reeair) should last
for along time,” he added.
Cost of that project likely
will range between $3,000 and
see GA. 157, page 8-A
Jr., 40, Summerville, and
Frances Brown, 37, of 104 D. C.
Brown Road, Summerville.
Brooks was under the influ
ence of amphetamines and
methaml)hetamines at the time
of the collision, the julz ruled.
Jon Payne, Chattooga
County probate jud§e, denied
bond to Brooks shortly after the
wreck, Payne said, partly be
cause Brooks expressed more
concern about the condition of
his 1994 Lincoln Mark VIII than
he did about the fatality and in
juries resulting from the crash.
The Broois trial, which at
first had been expected to extend
into Friday, was the final crimi
nal case tried this past week.
SEX CASES
Two sex-related crimes that
the district attorney’s office was
expected to consider trying this
coming week included:
* John Harvey Hogue, who
has been charged with six counts
of child molestation, two counts
of aggravated child molestation
and aggravated sodomy involv
ing two youngboys.
*Curtis O. “Butch” Austin,
Trion, charged with three counts
of child molestation, one count
of aggravated child molestation,
aggravated sexual battery and
misdemeanor sexual battery.
CONTINUED
The case of Matthew
Dewayne Mitchell was continued
until the August term of court.
He had been charged with rape,
four counts of aggravated sod
omy, four counts of aggravated
child molestation, two counts of
aggravated sexual battery, six
counts of child molestation, ag
gravated assault and making ter
roristic threats.
Also continued until the
August term of court was the case
of Jamey Paul Burrage, who had
been charged with statutory rape
and child molestation.
Other cases ranging from
drug-related crimes to fraud also
were on the calendar for consid
eration this coming criminal
court week.
PLEAS
Additional pleas were ac
cepted this past week. They in
cluded:
* Clarence “Bud” Crabtree,
37, addresses listed as both
Ra(liph Chamblee Drive, Menlo,
and Mentone, pleaded guilty to
criminal attempt to commit rape
against a 16-year-old juvenile girl
on Nov. 1, 1999 at a Buck
Gardner Road address. Judge
Kristina Cook Connelly sen
tenced him to 10 years witl‘; three
of those to be served in prison.
The teen told lawmen that
Crabtree knocked on the door of
her home. When she opened it,
he grabbed her arm and pulled
her outside. Crabtree, who was
already exposing himself, told
her he wanted to have sex with
her and be%an touching her in
appropriately. The %:rl escaped
from Crabtree, ran back inside
see BROOKS, page 8-A
Huggins: Complaint
‘Just Politics’ From
State’s Republicans
Sen. Waymond “Sonny”
Huggins, D-LaFayette, has
brushed off as politically moti
vated a complaint filed against
him with the state Ethics Com
mission by Georgia Republicans.
The complaints were filed
against 14 Democratic state
senators, one Democratic repre
sentative and Lieutenant Gover
nor Mark Taylor this past week.
LEE: NO COMMENT
Theodore Lee, executive di
rector of the Ethics Commission,
said he couldn’t comment on any
of the complaints because the
lawmakers would not have had
time to receive the documents.
Lee said he should be able to dis
cuss the matter late this week
because the complaints should
have been delivered to each leg
islator.
“An uncommonly high
number of comglaints have been
filed since the first of the year,”
Lee said.
I * Council To Review Changes l
; == See Page 7-A
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Staff Photo By Jason Espy
FIVE NEW PADDLE BOATS PURCHASED FOR JAMES H. “SLOPPY” FLOYD STATE PARK
Boats Will Seat Four And Are Available To Rent In The Upper Lake Where Repairs Are Ongoing
Park Lake Is Near Normal
Floyd Cabin Construction Due About April 1
James H. “Sloppy” Floyd
State Park rangers are recover
ing from a winter ice storm and
preparing for a surge in srring
time attendance at Its facilities.
Pines trees at the state park
were heavily damaged or fell dur
ing an ice storm on Jan. 15 and
16. Since that time, rangers have
been clearing limbs and remov
ing fallen trees, said Park Man
ager Bobby Chisolm.
“We just have been para
Gore, Bush Win Chattooga
McCain, Bradley Appear Out Of Race For Nomination
Democratic Vice President
Al Gore and Texas Republican
Governor Geotrfie W. Bush were
the winners in the local, state and
nationwide “Super Tuesday”
Presidential Preference Primary.
About 20 percent of the vot
ers in Chattooga County decided
that Gore and Bush would be the
besthresidential nominees for
the Nov. 7 General Election.
“The turnout seems rather
light,” said Jon Payne, elections
superintendent. “We’ve had
much lighter turnouts in the past
though.
1,832 VOTES
Atotal of 1,832 people went
to the 13 county precincts and
“One wave appeared to have
been directed against members
of a particular geaerty and a
counterwave has been directed
at another party,” he added.
He wouldn't identify the
parties but it appeared from re
ports that they involved the Re
publican and Democratic par
ties.
Lee said he didn’t want to
discuss the specific complaint
against Huggins until after the
senator had received notification
of the complaint and its contents.
DATES, JOBS
“I haven’t gotten mine yet,”
Sen. Hugfli}ns said Monday, “but
I know what it is. I didn’t put
down the dates I got the (cam-
Saign donation) checks and I
idn’t putdown the occufiations
of some donors. I usually wait
until I (Pet a number of checks
and I egosit them all at one
time. I'll have to get the bank to
see HUGGINS, page 9-A
lyzed by that first ice storm. It
broke so many trees,” Chisolm
said.
400 TREES
It was estimated that more
than 400 pine trees fell on the
state park’s 561 acres of land.
Staff members removed
many pines close to the roads
and facilities. They didn’t want
logging trucks to damage any ar
eas while cutting the fallen tim
voted Tuesday. The majority
(1,112 voters) came out to cast a
Republican vote. A total of 720
people voted Democratic.
“It’s unusual to have a lot of
Republican voters during a pri
mary, but it’s not unusual here
to have a bunch of Republican
voters during a General Elec
tion,” Payne said.
Although many county resi
dents have voted Democrat dur
TR 0
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GEMA Gives Check For Flood Study
Gary McConnell, third from left, Teloga, di
rector of the Georgia Emergency Manage
ment Agen?', presents a check to the Cit{ of
Summerville to help IP:X for a feasibility
study on stoppir’xfi‘or ucing flooding in
part of the town. The $12,677.02 check, pre
sented on behalf of Gov. Roy Barnes, came
from the state’s Hazard Mitigation flgrant
program. The study will examine different
strategies to prevent or minimize floodin§
in the Ramey and Scoggins streets area, “
congratulate the efforts of the city’s elected
officials and the Chattooga County Emer-
bers.
Chisolm estimated that the
local staff removed 120 trees
from the picnic and camping ar
eas. Many areas such as the
nearly mile-long trail to the state
park’s cave and waterfall re
mained uncleared this week.
Loggers or tree service profes
sionals might be let in to move
these trees off the park trail, of
ficials said.
Removing many of the trees
ing primaries, the county has
elected and supported statewide
Regublican candidates such as
U.S. Senator Paul Coverdell, R-
Atlanta and Seventh District
Congressman Bob Barr, R-
Smyrna.
GORE WINS
On the Democratic side,
Gore defeated former Senator
Bill Bradley 575-102 votes. Not
Fency Management l‘fiency for their work in
ooking for ways to reduce or avoid potential
disasters before they ha%)en," said
McConnell, former Chattooga County sher
iff. “Efforts like these help make communi
ties safer for the people who live there.” From
left are Councilman Dennis Cameell, mayor
pro tem; Freddie L. Horton, Dalton, district
regresentative for U.S. Sen. Max Cleland, D-
Atlanta; McConnell; Mayor Joe Robert
Norton; Herbert Dodd, Chattooga EMA di
rector and Sheriff Ralph Kellett. (Staff Photo).
STILL
ONLY
25¢
came right in time for Floyd Park
officials. A group of park manaE
ers from various state parks
around Georgia met at the park
Wednesday. sl'hat meeting was
part of a tour of the state’s recre
ational parks in North Georgia.
NEARNORMAL
Luckily, Chisolm said, the
water level in the upper lake has
risen almost back to normal lev
see PARK LAKE, page 8-A
only was Gore successful in this
county but Gore captured most
of the Super Tuesday votes state
wide.
The Republican ticket had a
showdown %etween Bush and
Senator John McCain, R-Ariz.
Bush captured 733 votes while
McCain generated 285 votes lo
callg. Alan Keyes, a former U.S.
ambassador, perhaps surpris
see GORE, BUSH, page 8-A