,F Grand Jury to hear Trice allegations in...
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By Ashley Biles editorial3@ thomastontimes.com The Upson County Board of Commission- ers heard a presentation earlier this month from Chief Tax Assessor for Upson County Jim Davis and Gary Steele of Pictometry Inc. Mr. Davis explained that one of the first needs he identified when he took office in June was an up-to-date mapping sys- tem to make sure that everyone is treated fairly throughout the county when it comes to taxes. Pictometry is a visual intelligence agency that was established in 1992. It uses aerial imagery to map out counties, cities and states; giving the ability to see all around a structure instead of just straight down. Steele went on to say that the software also al- lows the user to meas- ure things like the heights of buildings and the distance of a fire hy- drant from a structure, which could be benefi- cial to emergency re- sponse personnel. It was asked, by con- cerned citizen Gary Self, if this software would eliminate posi- tions in the tax asses- sor’s office. Steele re- sponded that it would allow employees to be more productive be- cause it would cut down on the amount of time it took field appraisers to do each parcel since everything could be done from a computer rather than traveling to each location. He noted that a typical day for an appraiser without Pic- tometry is to see be- tween 12-15 parcels a day. With the software, they were able to see 12- See Pictometry on 5A Your Hometown Newspaper for 143 Years! www.thomastontimes.com 143RD YEAR NO. 15 TUESDAY ,FEBRUARY 22, 2011 2SECTIONS , 12 PAGES Printed on 100% recycled paper Inside Today Page 2A.......Day by Day Page 4A............Editorial Page 5A.........Obituaries Page 6A....School News Page1B-2B...........Sports Pages 3-6B...Classifieds WEEKLY WEATHER Check out your Weekly Weather Forecast, sponsored by Teal Recycling, on Page 2A I t ’ s n o t t o o l a t e t o c a s t y o u r v o t e i n T h e T h o m a s t o n T i m e s C u t e s t P e t C o n t e s t 5 5 p e t s t o c h o o s e f r o m , i n c l u d i n g C h e s t y ( l ) a n d Z o e y ( r ) G o t o w w w . t h o m a s t o n t i m e s . c o m a n d c l i c k o n C u t e s t P e t C o n t e s t V o t i n g d e a d l i n e i s W e d n e s d a y , F e b r u a r y 2 3 , a t 1 1 : 5 9 p . m . Will Ellerbee (c) displays his STAR Student Certificate at the Thomaston Ki- wanis Club. Left to right are ULHS Principal Cleve Hendrix, School Super- intendent Dr. Maggie Shook, ULMS Social Studies and STAR Teacher Chip Clark, STAR Student Will Ellerbee, his parents - Barry and Yodie Ellerbee, and Kiwanis President Chuck Knight. Ben Blevins was also honored as STAR Student as he and Will tied for the high school on their SAT tests. ULHS Band Director Katie Sosebee was Ben’s STAR Teacher. Photo by Larry Stanford Thomaston Kiwanis honor STAR Students and Teachers Grand Jury to hear Trice allegations in June By Sheila A. Marshall editorial4@ thomastontimes.com The Chattahoochee Circuit District Attor- ney's Office has an- nounced its intent to seek a multiple-count indictment against Up- son County Commis- sioner Sandra Trice when the grand jury convenes in June. According to Assistant District Attorney Letitia Sikes, the case is ready to present now, but Su- perior Court trials may present a scheduling conflict that would pre- vent a grand jury pre- sentment as early as March. In January of last year, the Georgia Insurance Commissioner's Office began an investigation into Trice Funeral Home and the Lincoln Memo- rial Savings burial asso- ciation. In May, agents of the Insurance Com- missioner's Office, the Secretary of State's of- fice and the Georgia Bu- reau of Investigation conducted a raid on the funeral home and Com- missioner Trice's home. Findings from the in- vestigation were turned over to Flint Judicial Circuit District Attorney Scott Ballard for consid- ering of possible presen- tation to a Grand Jury. But Ballard's office re- cused itself, claiming a conflict of interest, since Trice is one of the Com- missioners who ap- proves the D.A.'s budget in Upson County. The case was turned over to the Chattahoochee Cir- cuit. Sikes alleges Trice has for a number of years been operating an illegal burial society, and in the process, has victimized numerous people who sought to prepare for ei- ther their own or a loved one's burial needs. “It's very common in the black community,” Sikes explained. “Peo- ple will pay monthly premiums for burial needs, believing they have an insurance pol- icy that will be payable upon the policy holder's death, but what Mrs. Trice was doing was pocketing the money without issuing a pol- icy.” Sikes said pre-need fu- neral planning can be conducted legally, but it is a regulated industry with specific licensing requirements. “Mrs. Trice was not li- censed. It's a case of pretty clear violations,” Sikes said. “You have to be licensed in order to do that. You have to have the authorization from the proper author- ities, and she (Trice) didn't. The violation is she issuing the policies. She didn't have the au- thorization, resources or oversight to do that.” Sikes said she is at this time unable to cite how many counts her office will seek to bring against Trice, but did confirm that she believed there are numerous victims involved, some of whom may never come for- ward. “I think she's (Trice) been doing this for a long time – for several years, at least. I don't have an exact time line I can give you right now, but that will be included in the indictment,” Sikes said. “I believe a lot of people were pretty seri- ously affected. She took advantage of the elderly and others in need. Es- sentially, she took ad- vantage of too many people for too long.” Parks, Sprewell Bluff on minds of residents at third SPLOST hearing By Ashley Biles editorial3@ thomastontimes.com Several residents of the Salem community at- tended the third town hall meeting held by the Upson County Commis- sioners to discuss the proposed 2011 SPLOST. They asked a wide vari- ety of questions pertain- ing to the community parks, IT improvements and the observation deck at Sprewell Bluff in the hour long meet- ing. Citizens of Upson County will vote on the SPLOST on March 15. There will be one final town hall meeting this Thursday, February 24, at the Yatesville City Hall, at 7 p.m. Commission Chair Maurice Raines ex- plained to the crowd that $200,000 is set in the SPLOST to go for parks throughout the community. Instead of designating how much money each park will receive like the last SPLOST did, each park will be given funding on a need basis. The board decided to change from set funds for each park this time because some parks may need more or less money than others. Raines stated that most of the parks in the area are in pretty good shape, needing only minor up- grades. With the ever-changing world of technology, IT improvements are a must. Raines stated that the funding will go to- wards new computers and new software for the county offices over the next five years. The last main item that was asked about is the observation deck planned for Sprewell Bluff. The county owns 90 acres before you enter the park and is planning to build a deck where peo- ple can walk out and enjoy the scenery at the overlook, which is the area where you can look down and see the park and where the river forks. Since the state is no longer maintaining the park, the Commission- ers indicated that they wanted the county to as- sume control of the area. However, so far the state is not in favor of giving the park to Upson County. There- fore, the board decided they could do some- thing to build up the area that is owned by the county, which is where the idea for the observation deck came from. Commissioner Steve Hudson explained that no preliminary drawing for the project have been done because the See SPLOST on 5A BOC considers aerial imagery to assist in property appraisals Beatrice Potter comes to Upson-Lee South Upson-Lee South first graders were treated to a story time performace by Beatrice Potter (Holly Stevenson) last Thursday, February 17. Stevenson, who works with the Woodruf Arts Center’s Young Audiences entertained the students with tales of Peter Rabbit and his friends. The free production was brought to the school by the Thomaston- Upson Arts Council (TUAC). TUAC will be pre- senting the “Sound of Music” this coming weekend, February 25 and 26 and again on March 4 and 5. The performance featuring many local children and adults will be held at the R. E. Lee Auditorium at 7 p.m. each night. Photos by Ashley Biles
Transcript of ,F Grand Jury to hear Trice allegations in...
By Ashley [email protected]
The Upson CountyBoard of Commission-ers heard a presentationearlier this month fromChief Tax Assessor forUpson County JimDavis and Gary Steele
of Pictometry Inc. Mr.Davis explained thatone of the first needs heidentified when he tookoffice in June was anup-to-date mapping sys-tem to make sure thateveryone is treatedfairly throughout thecounty when it comes totaxes.Pictometry is a visualintelligence agency thatwas established in 1992.It uses aerial imagery tomap out counties, citiesand states; giving theability to see all arounda structure instead ofjust straight down.Steele went on to saythat the software also al-lows the user to meas-ure things like theheights of buildings andthe distance of a fire hy-drant from a structure,
which could be benefi-cial to emergency re-sponse personnel.It was asked, by con-cerned citizen GarySelf, if this softwarewould eliminate posi-tions in the tax asses-sor’s office. Steele re-sponded that it wouldallow employees to bemore productive be-cause it would cut downon the amount of time ittook field appraisers todo each parcel sinceeverything could bedone from a computerrather than traveling toeach location. He notedthat a typical day for anappraiser without Pic-tometry is to see be-tween 12-15 parcels aday. With the software,they were able to see 12-
See Pictometry on 5A
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Will Ellerbee (c) displays his STAR Student Certificate at the Thomaston Ki-wanis Club. Left to right are ULHS Principal Cleve Hendrix, School Super-intendent Dr. Maggie Shook, ULMS Social Studies and STAR Teacher ChipClark, STAR Student Will Ellerbee, his parents - Barry and Yodie Ellerbee,and Kiwanis President Chuck Knight. Ben Blevins was also honored asSTAR Student as he and Will tied for the high school on their SAT tests.ULHS Band Director Katie Sosebee was Ben’s STAR Teacher.
Photo by Larry Stanford
Thomaston Kiwanis honorSTAR Students and Teachers
Grand Jury to hear Triceallegationsin JuneBy Sheila A. [email protected]
The ChattahoocheeCircuit District Attor-ney's Office has an-nounced its intent toseek a multiple-countindictment against Up-son County Commis-sioner Sandra Tricewhen the grand juryconvenes in June.According to AssistantDistrict Attorney LetitiaSikes, the case is readyto present now, but Su-perior Court trials maypresent a schedulingconflict that would pre-vent a grand jury pre-sentment as early asMarch.In January of last year,the Georgia InsuranceCommissioner's Officebegan an investigationinto Trice Funeral Homeand the Lincoln Memo-rial Savings burial asso-ciation. In May, agentsof the Insurance Com-missioner's Office, theSecretary of State's of-fice and the Georgia Bu-reau of Investigationconducted a raid on thefuneral home and Com-missioner Trice's home.Findings from the in-
vestigation were turnedover to Flint JudicialCircuit District AttorneyScott Ballard for consid-ering of possible presen-tation to a Grand Jury.But Ballard's office re-cused itself, claiming aconflict of interest, sinceTrice is one of the Com-missioners who ap-proves the D.A.'s budgetin Upson County. Thecase was turned over tothe Chattahoochee Cir-cuit.Sikes alleges Trice hasfor a number of yearsbeen operating an illegalburial society, and in theprocess, has victimizednumerous people who
sought to prepare for ei-ther their own or a lovedone's burial needs.“It's very common in
the black community,”Sikes explained. “Peo-ple will pay monthlypremiums for burialneeds, believing theyhave an insurance pol-icy that will be payableupon the policy holder'sdeath, but what Mrs.Trice was doing waspocketing the moneywithout issuing a pol-icy.”Sikes said pre-need fu-neral planning can beconducted legally, but itis a regulated industrywith specific licensingrequirements.“Mrs. Trice was not li-censed. It's a case ofpretty clear violations,”Sikes said. “You have tobe licensed in order todo that. You have tohave the authorizationfrom the proper author-ities, and she (Trice)didn't. The violation isshe issuing the policies.She didn't have the au-thorization, resources oroversight to do that.”Sikes said she is at thistime unable to cite howmany counts her officewill seek to bring againstTrice, but did confirmthat she believed thereare numerous victimsinvolved, some of whommay never come for-ward.“I think she's (Trice)
been doing this for along time – for severalyears, at least. I don'thave an exact time line Ican give you right now,but that will be includedin the indictment,” Sikessaid. “I believe a lot ofpeople were pretty seri-ously affected. She tookadvantage of the elderlyand others in need. Es-sentially, she took ad-vantage of too manypeople for too long.”
Parks, Sprewell Bluff on minds ofresidents at third SPLOST hearingBy Ashley [email protected]
Several residents of theSalem community at-tended the third townhall meeting held by theUpson County Commis-sioners to discuss theproposed 2011 SPLOST.They asked a wide vari-ety of questions pertain-ing to the communityparks, IT improvementsand the observationdeck at Sprewell Bluffin the hour long meet-ing. Citizens of UpsonCounty will vote on theSPLOST on March 15.There will be one finaltown hall meeting thisThursday, February 24,
at the Yatesville CityHall, at 7 p.m.
Commission ChairMaurice Raines ex-plained to the crowdthat $200,000 is set inthe SPLOST to go forparks throughout thecommunity. Instead ofdesignating how muchmoney each park willreceive like the lastSPLOST did, each parkwill be given funding ona need basis. The boarddecided to change fromset funds for each parkthis time because someparks may need more orless money than others.Raines stated that mostof the parks in the areaare in pretty good shape,needing only minor up-
grades. With the ever-changingworld of technology, ITimprovements are amust. Raines stated thatthe funding will go to-wards new computersand new software forthe county offices overthe next five years. The last main item thatwas asked about is theobservation deck plannedfor Sprewell Bluff. Thecounty owns 90 acresbefore you enter thepark and is planning tobuild a deck where peo-ple can walk out andenjoy the scenery at theoverlook, which is thearea where you can lookdown and see the parkand where the river
forks. Since the state is no
longer maintaining thepark, the Commission-ers indicated that theywanted the county to as-sume control of thearea. However, so farthe state is not in favorof giving the park toUpson County. There-fore, the board decidedthey could do some-thing to build up thearea that is owned bythe county, which iswhere the idea for theobservation deck camefrom. Commissioner SteveHudson explained thatno preliminary drawingfor the project havebeen done because the
See SPLOST on 5A
BOC considers aerial imageryto assist in property appraisals
Beatrice Potter comes toUpson-Lee South
Upson-Lee South first graders were treated to astory time performace by Beatrice Potter (HollyStevenson) last Thursday, February 17. Stevenson,who works with the Woodruf Arts Center’s YoungAudiences entertained the students with tales ofPeter Rabbit and his friends. The free productionwas brought to the school by the Thomaston-Upson Arts Council (TUAC). TUAC will be pre-senting the “Sound of Music” this comingweekend, February 25 and 26 and again on March4 and 5. The performance featuring many localchildren and adults will be held at the R. E. LeeAuditorium at 7 p.m. each night.
Photos by Ashley Biles
340526
Daniel Wisham706-975-4186
UpcomingThursday, February 24UPSON REGIONAL WILL OFFER A BREASTFEEDINGCLASS on Thursday, February 24, 7 – 8 p.m. loca-tion to be announced. To register for this freeclass, contact Upson Regional at 706-647-8111ext. 1462.
“HEART HEALTHY COOKING” will be presented byURMC Chef, Charles Lockhart along with Regis-tered Clinical Dietitians Dawn McCoy and JoyDaniel on February 24th at 2pm. Watch this freelive cooking demonstration, delicious hearthealthy foods being cooked using tasty mouth-watering low sodium and fat recipes. Learnwhich seasonings to use with fish, chicken, beef,etc. Participate in fun interactive discussions re-lating to current issues in nutrition. Take homefree recipes and handouts. Located in the Well-ness Center, limited seating is available. Pleaseregister early at www.URMCwellness.org/heartor call 706-647-4466.
Friday, February 25TUAC PRESENTS "THE SOUND OF MUSIC" Directedby Anita Fillingim on February 25 & 26 andMarch 4 & 5 at the R. E. Lee Auditorium. Theshow will begin at 7 p.m. Tickets are $8 for adultsand $6 for children. For more information call706-647-1605.
Saturday, February 26NEW HOPE BAPTIST CHURCH, located at 1165 Han-nah's Mill Road invites you to the monthly com-munity-wide free pancake breakfast on Saturday,February 26 from 8 a.m.-10 a.m.
NoticeUPSON HIGH SCHOOL CLASS OF '81: ANYONE IN-TERESTED IN BEING PART OF A 30 YEAR REUNIONplanning committee, please contact DonnaCook (Sinclair) at [email protected] 828-280-3266. We are looking at having thereunion this summer and may possibly startmeeting once a month in February.
THE TEEN COMMUNITY OUTREACH ASSOCIATIONpresents the 2nd Annual Formal Ball for 6th,7th, 8th, and 9th grades. The Ball will be heldon April 2 from 6p.m.-11:30 p.m. at theThomaston-Upson Civic Center. For more in-formation contact: Rhondalynn Traylor (706)646-2115 or (706) 741-8298; Yolanda Hickman(706) 647-7457 or (706) 741-0823; or KishaunBarron (706) 647-1681 or (706) 975-2370.
THE HIGHTOWER MEMORIAL LIBRARY holds storytime for preschoolers on Wednesday's at 10:30a.m. where they read stories, sing songs, do fin-ger plays make crafts and much more. Eachstory time has a theme and lasts about 30-40minutes. Parents and caregivers are invited tocome and participate with the child. Please tryto be on time each week; latecomers can be adistraction to the children. Younger childrenare welcome, but you want this to be a special
time for your preschooler, so please use goodjudgement to determine whether or not youryounger child is ready to sit still and listen. Theschedule for this month is: January 5-All aboutme; January 12-Staying warm; January 19-Tacky penguin; January 26-Let it snow!
THE GEORGIA THREE RIVERS CHAPTER of the RedCross will be providing training for volunteerslocally during the months of January throughMarch. Anyone interested in becoming a REdCross volunteer can contact Chad Norsworthyat 706-884-5818 or via email at chad.redcross@att. net.
THOMASTON HOSPICE will be scheduled everymonth for Free Blood Pressure Checks at theThomaston-Upson Senior Center, MemorialHall. Call 706-647-1607 for the dates.
THE CENTRAL GEORGIA SHRM (SOCIETY FOR HUMANRESOURCES MANAGEMENT) is a professional organ-ization whose membership represents Human Re-source executives and professionals from ourlocal and surrounding counties. Our main objec-tive is to provide meaningful programs, seminarsand resources for all of our members and guests.We also provide excellent networking opportuni-ties with other Human Resource professionals to-ward the advancement of the Human Resourceprofession in the Central Georgia area. We wouldlike to invite you to attend one of our monthlymeetings, which are usually held on the secondWednesday of each month at 7 a.m. at Norris'sFine Foods located at 695 Short E Street. Formore information call Rhonda Curry, President ofthe Central Georgia SHRM, at 706-975-8305 orMonica Prevost, Membership Coordinator at 706-647-9743.
THE NORTHSIDE VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENT/NORTHSIDE FIRE-RESCUE is collecting 2010 dues.The dues are $25.00 for every residence or ad-dress. The dues can be paid at Northside Drugsor mailed to Northside Volunteer Fire DepartmentP. O. Box 209, Thomaston, Ga. 30286. If you haveany questions feel free to contact Chief Andy Hayat 706-648-4146 or Joyce Snider at 706-648-2556,Treasurer.
AMERICAN LEGION LUCIUS WORTHY POST 532Legion and SAL meetings are held on the first andthird Thursdays of each month at 7:30 p.m. at thepost on Solomon Street in Lincoln Park. Auxil-iary meetings are on the first and third Thursdaysat 6 p.m. also at the Legion building.
A GRIEF SUPPORT GROUP is held first and thirdWednesdays each month. The group will meet from4:30-5:45 p.m. at the First Presbyterian Church inThomaston. Call 706-647-5914 for directions. Thegroup is sponsored by VistaCare Hospice and isopen to adults in the community.
THE WOMEN'S AA MEETING is now on Thursdayfrom 3 p.m.-4 p.m. at the Zebulon Senior Center.There are no Monday or Wednesday women'smeetings.
HOSPICE ADVANTAGE in Fayetteville and surround-ing area is seeking volunteers and/or interns tojoin its team. Volunteers assist families and pa-tients who are living with a life limiting illness,training is provided. Areas of service includecompanionship, caregiver relief, community out-reach, and office assistance. Those interested orwho would like further information may call 678817-4180.
THE LOCAL BRANCH OF THE NAACP is holding a mem-bership drive. Annual membership is $30 and a $15initial payment is the start of becoming a member ofthe oldest civil rights organization. Contact GwenCopeland, membership co-chair, at 706-975-8200.
Humane Society is now on Facebook at UpsonHumane.
VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENT DUES — For ques-tions about dues, to which department to paydues, other locations where dues may be paid oranything else about the volunteer fire depart-ments, please contact someone from the UpsonCounty Volunteer Fire Departments. Phone num-bers, addresses and contact persons are listed.Rock Hill – P.O. Box 21, The Rock, GA 30285
Nicky Hamby, Chief - 706-472-3038Lincoln Park – P.O. Box 291, Thomaston, GA Donnie Andrews, Chief, 706-647-3938
Northside – P.O. Box 209, Thomaston., GA Joyce Snider, 706-648-2556
Andy Hay-Chief, 706-648-4146Thurston – 4188 Crest Hwy. Thomaston, GA Richard Hickman, Chief, 706-656-5961
Salem – 170 Salem Dr., Culloden, GA 31016Ruben Holston, Chief
2270 Pleasant Grove Rd. , Yatesville, GA 31097Yatesville – P.O. Box 225, Yatesville, GA 31097
Ronnie Riggins, Chief, 706-472-3709
Medication Assistance Program, Career Assis-tance Program, Business Development Program(fee-based), Home Care & Health Services (fee-based) — If you are currently seeking affordablemedications prescribed by your physician, or ifyou are interested in any of the other services orprograms, please contact God’s Refuge at 706-
656-2239. Our goal is to help low income individ-uals obtain their prescription medications for freeor at a discounted price, job skills or referrals, aswell as a new outlook on life.
OngoingHEALTH TALK BY DR. RICHARD CLAYTON. WeeklyHealth Talk providing current information onhealth trends and ways to improve health. EveryMonday night at 6 p.m. at Clayton Family Chiro-practic, 205 Thomas Street, Thomaston, 706-601-0553 (call or text). www.drrichardclayton.com. Find us on Facebook at Clayton Family Chiro-practic.
Silvertown Baptist Church holds a free soupkitchen every Tuesday and Friday from 11:30 a.m.until 1 p.m. in the Silvertown Baptist Church Fel-lowship hall. Those in need of a nutritious lunchand fellowship are welcome to attend. No soul isturned away. For more infmation or to volunteercall 706-647-4844.
THE THOMASTON-UPSON SENIOR CENTER, located be-hind the R. E. Lee Government Complex, is openMonday-Friday from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. The mission ofthe center is to provide a comfortable, inviting at-mosphere for Upson County residents 50 years ofage and up. A variety of activities are offered at theSenior Center each day including billiards, pingpong and use of exercise equipment. On Mondaysthe quilting club meets at 1 p.m.; on Tuesdaysbridge is at 1:45 p.m. and Thursdays bingo is at 9a.m. and bridge is at 9:45 a.m. Fit and Fun exerciseclasses are offered every Tuesday, Wednesday andThursday with different classes for each fitnesslevel and Pilates meets each Wednesday at 4 p.m.The Alzheimer's Support Group also meets at theSenior Center. Anyone with questions, programideas or comments can call Donna Auth, center di-rector, at 706-647-1607.
12-Step meetings Alcoholics/Narcotics Anony-mous— AA and NA are now located at 301 GreenStreet, at the corner of West Lee Street and GreenStreet, behind the Potting Shed on Church Street.AA meets Sunday, Monday, Thursday and Fridayat 8 p.m. NA meets Tuesdays, Wednesdays andSaturdays at 8 p.m. Parking is located at the backof the building and behind the House of Care.
Al-Anon — Al Anon, a 12-step group for the fam-ily and friends of alcoholics, meets Wednesdaysat 8 p.m., 301 Green Street, next to House ofCare.Narcotics Anonymous — Are chemicals takingover your life? You are not alone. NarcoticsAnonymous meets Tuesday, Wednesday, and Sat-urday at 8 p.m., corner of West Lee and GreenStreet.
WOMEN'S ONLY 12 STEP RECOVERY PROGRAM.Meet-ings held every Monday at 1:30 p.m. in theThomaston senior citizens building. For informa-tion call GA at 706-646-2900.
1st MondayWoodmen of the World meet — Woodmen of theWorld Lodge 109 meets the first Monday of everymonth at 6 p.m., at the Upson County Civic Cen-ter.
Upson Men and Women of Action, Inc. to meet— The Upson Men and Women of Action, Inc.,will meet the first Monday of each month at 6p.m., at the Eddie Collier Recreation Park.
2ND & 4TH MONDAYSLIONS CLUB MEETINGS — The Lions Club will meetevery second and fourth Monday of the month at7 p.m., at the Britt House, next to the Archives.Upson Historical Society-presents a program onthe fourth Monday at 7 p.m. in the Archives Con-ference Room at 301 S. Center Street. For moreinformation contact Penny Cliff at the Archives,706-646-2437.
3RD MONDAYTHOMASTON JUNIOR WOMAN’S CLUB MEETING — TheThomaston Junior Woman’s Club meet the thirdMonday of every month (September throughMay) at 7 p.m. Call 706-647-9884 for more infor-mation.
EACH TUESDAYROTARY CLUB MEETINGS — The Rotary Club ofThomaston will meet every Tuesday at 12:15 p.m.,at the Flint River Community Development Cen-ter. For information about Rotary, visit our web-site at thomastonrotary. com or call 706-646-3470.
KIWANIS CLUB MEETINGS — The Kiwanis Clubmeets every Tuesday, at noon (lunch), at the CivicCenter. Anyone interested in the club’s activitiesmay call Ruth Hatchett at 706-647-6957.
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SubmissionsWe, at The Thomaston Times, strive to provideyou a community newspaper full of local stories,activities and happenings and we feel that we doa good job with that. However, sometimes we arenot able to get to every event, so this is whereyou, our readers come in. If you did not see the story you were looking forin today's paper, we would love to hear from you.We are always looking for new ideas for features,such as unique things people are doing or busi-nesses that have recently opened, but do not yethave an advertising budget. We would like our readers to submit any newstip, story idea, event or activity that you feel de-serves coverage in the newspaper. Also, if you attended a local event, whether it issports related, a church event or a little leagueteam holding a car wash for a fundraiser, feel freeto submit a photo and a write-up to us about whatwent on. We want to hear from you! You may email anystory ideas to our editor, Larry Stanford, at [email protected], sports stories to WesMcCard at [email protected], orcall the office at 706-647-5414.
THE THOMASTON TIMES-Tuesday, February 22, 2011
This Week’s Local Forecast
TuesdayMostly Cloudy
69/38Precip Chance: 20%
SaturdayMostly Sunny
68/46Precip Chance: 5%
FridayScat'd T-storms
71/44Precip Chance: 40%
ThursdayPartly Cloudy
67/50Precip Chance: 20%
WednesdaySunny66/41
Precip Chance: 0%
Weather Trivia Weather History Moon PhasesAre cities struck bylightning more thansurrounding areas?
Answer:Yes, by about 20 percentmore times.
?
MondaySunny72/50
Precip Chance: 0%
SundayMostly Sunny
69/45Precip Chance: 5%
Feb. 22, 1986 - A 12-day siege of heavy rain and snow, whichproduced widespread flooding and mudslides across northernand central California, finally came to an end. The storm causedmore than 400 million dollars in property damage.
Last2/24
First3/12
Full3/19
New3/4
For more weather, please visit: www.WhatsOurWeather.com
TEAL RECYCLING
WHERE RECYCLING PAY$315A N. Church StreetThomaston, GA 30286
706-648-1188All MetalsBatteries
CansJunk Cars
383531
National ConsumerProtection Week, March6-12, is an annual effortled by the US FederalTrade Commission toeducate the public onhow to use their moneywisely. As a part ofNational Consumer Pro-tection Week, BBB rec-ommends five easy stepsyou can take to become asmart shopper and savvyconsumer.
In a tough economy,it’s more important thanever to protect themoney you have fromscammers and bad busi-nesses. A few simplesteps will go a long wayto fighting off the com-mon cons and rip-offsthat steals millions fromunsuspecting consumersevery year.
BBB recommends thefive following tips to pro-tect your wallet againstscammers and unscrupu-lous businesses:
• Get everything inwriting and always readthe fine print.
Contracts, customeragreements and fine printprotect the business andoutline the terms of theagreement with the cus-tomer. While it’s naturalto want to avoid readingthe legalese, it’s impor-tant that customersunderstand their rights.Whenever signing a con-tract, BBB recommendsreading the fine printcarefully-even if it meanstaking it home and sleep-ing on it. Also, don’t justtake a sales associates’word for it; get all verbalpromises in writing.
• Protect your identity-and your pocketbook.
Fighting identity theftmeans staying vigilantonline and off. Protectyour identity by takingthe following steps:
Always shred sensitivedocuments that includepersonal financial infor-mation such as bank,credit card and Social
Security numbers.Monitor your financial
accounts closely to morequickly detect suspiciousactivity.
Make sure your com-puter has up-to-date anti-virus software and beextremely selective whenopening attachments orclicking on links in e-mails.
Shop online throughsecure sites only andalways confirm that thebusiness is trustworthybefore entering yourcredit or debit card num-ber.
• Never wire money tosomeone you don’t know.
Many scams bilk vic-tims by convincing themto wire money. The rea-sons for wiring the moneycan vary and includemystery shopping, payingfees to win a lottery, and-if the target is a smallbusiness owner-overpay-ment for goods or servic-es. Scammers know it’sextremely difficult totrack money sent viaMoneyGram or WesternUnion. More troubling forvictims is the fact that it’snearly impossible to getyour money back. Even ifyou’ve been given acheck to supposedlycover the amount you’rewiring, never send moneyto someone you don’t
know personally.• Know where to com-
plain.If you’ve been ripped
off by a business, thereare any number of organ-izations and governmentagencies that want tohear about it. You can filea complaint with:
Your Better BusinessBureau at www.bbb.org/us/file-complaint,
Federal Trade Commis-sion at www.ftc.gov, and
Your state AttorneyGeneral or consumer pro-tection bureau.
If you’ve been rippedoff by a scam online-suchas a phishing e-mail ordeceptive website-”youcan also file a complaintwith the Internet CrimeComplaint Center atwww.IC3.gov.
• Always check busi-nesses out with BBB.
Nearly 400,000 busi-nesses bear the BBB sealof accreditation and meetour standards; you canfind the seal on websitesand at business locations.However, BBB doesn’tjust report on accreditedbusinesses. You cancheck out BBB BusinessReviews for nearly 4 mil-lion businesses acrossNorth America for free byvisiting www.bbb.org/u s / F i n d - B u s i n e s s -Reviews/.
PAGE 3ATHE THOMASTON TIMES – Tuesday, February 22, 2011 - Thomastontimes.com
By Penny CliffWhenever my family
and I want to visit a newarea, many times, I callthe local chamber. I haveasked about everythingfrom what activities areavailable for families towhere the best places toeat are located. And, visi-tors to our communitycall our Thomaston-Upson Chamber of Com-merce for similar reasonsas well.
But, what exactly doesour chamber do? Is it justanswering phone calls tofind restaurants or placesfor the tourists? To thatobservation, ChamberPresident Lori ShowalterSmith and Office Manag-er Mary Strouss wouldgive a resounding NO!Each month, this columnwill focus on not onlywhat the chamber does,but why it is important,and also what the cham-ber can do for businessesand the community as awhole. What can thechamber do for thoseinterested in visiting, ormoving here? From timeto time, I’ll share aboutdifferent events, happen-ings and fun tidbits.
For those of you whoare interested, the cham-ber has a packet of infor-mation on what thechamber is and does.Here is a little of what youwill find in this informa-tion. First of all, theChamber of Commerce isa voluntary organization.It unites business andprofessional leaders andfirms creating a centralagency whose focus is toimprove business andbuilding a better commu-nity.
In a letter that Lorisends out to prospectivechamber members, shesays that “We (the cham-ber) are the place con-cerned individuals callwhen they need to knowwho sells a particularitem. Or they call to checkout the merchant who hasnot taken care of a prob-lem properly. When newbusinesses or industry arelooking to locate in ourarea, we are the placethey turn to for help.When it’s time to planand implement a specialcommunity event, we arethe place that either han-dles the event, or workswith the organizationhandling the particularevent.”
And for those of usinterested in what ourtowns and county has tooffer, our chamber has anew video that can beviewed at the chamberwebsite. Did you knowthat Yatesville has a light-house? It does. Go on tothe video and see it. You’llbe surprised how manyevents and places are fea-tured on the communityvideo. Visit the chamberwebsite at www.thomas-tonchamber.com andclick on the video link onthe right of the page. Inthe next column I willnote the advantages ofbeing a Partners inProgress Thomaston-Upson Chamber of Com-merce member and alsowrite about some of theongoing and upcomingprojects.
The chamber is locat-ed in the former NealLogue Building next tothe government annex(where the Clerk ofSuperior Court and TaxCommissioners office is).The first person to callthe chamber with whatwas the first type of busi-ness at this location winsa prize. Clue: The yearwas 1891. Call theT h o m a s t o n - U p s o nChamber of Commerceat 706 647-9686.
NSDAR visits Kiwanis ClubPat Cox, Current Regent of the John Houston Chapter of the National Soci-
ety of the Daughters of the American Revolution (NSDAR) was the guest speak-er at the Thomaston Kiwanis Club on February 8. The NSDAR began in 1890,and the John Houston Chapter started in 1911. On March 15, 2011, the JohnHouston Chapter will celebrate its 100th anniversary. The NSDAR is a non-profit, non-political volunteer women’s service organization with 3,000 chap-ters in 50 states and 11 foreign countries. Their focus is promoting patriotism,and they have ongoing projects of cleaning Glenwood Cemetery and takingclothing and toiletries to the V. A. Hospital in Dublin. The only requirement forbeing a member of the NSDAR is for a woman to be able to trace her heritageback to someone involved in the American Revolution. The John HoustonChapter meets the second Wednesday of each month at First Baptist Church.
Photo by Larry Stanford
By Steve Larsen,CCIIO Director
Thanks to the Afford-able Care Act, teachers inMontana will have thecomfort of knowing thattheir health insurance willbe there for them whenthey retire.
Retirement is supposedto be your goldenyears.€ But in the cur-rent economic downturn,many retirees are strug-gling to make ends meet.This can be a particularchallenge for earlyretirees who are not yeteligible for Medicare.
Early retirees-thosebetween the ages of 55and 64-can face some ofthe highest costs trying topurchase coverage in theindividual health insur-ance market. Andemployers are strugglingto continue to afford tohealth insurance for theirretirees.
The Affordable CareAct is already working tohelp those retirees andemployers through theEarly Retiree ReinsuranceProgram. This programprovides a total of $5 bil-lion in financial assis-tance to sponsors ofemployment based healthplans to help them main-tain coverage for earlyretirees and their spous-es, surviving spouses, anddependents. Read abouthow the Early RetireeReinsurance Programhelped this early retireein Pennsylvania.
Today, we announcedthat a total of 5,000 com-panies, small govern-ments, non-profits andother employers havebeen accepted into theEarly Retiree ReinsuranceProgram-an increase of1,400 since October 28,2010.
One of those organiza-tions accepted into this
program is the MontanaUnified School Trust-which provides cost-effec-tive health benefits tomany employees inschool districts andschool-related organiza-tions across Montana.Many school districtswere accepted into theprogram, including seveneach in Michigan andIdaho, nine in Wisconsin,and 24 in Missouri.
Through the EarlyRetiree Reinsurance Pro-gram, the Montana Uni-fied School Trust is goingto get help covering thecost of care for earlyretirees with very highmedical bills. This finan-cial help is going to trans-late into direct benefitsfor all former schoolemployees and their fam-ilies enrolled in the insur-ance plan. The Trust isplanning to use the dol-lars to help keep premi-ums down as well asinvest in the long-termstability of the plan.
Other local govern-ments and serviceproviders will receivehelp-including the TulsaFirefighters in Oklahomaand the Santa Ana PoliceOfficers in California. InFlorida, Broward Countyand two cities joined the84 local and state govern-ment entities in that statealready accepted into theEarly Retiree ReinsuranceProgram.
The result? Thanks tothe Affordable Care Act,more and more Ameri-cans who are relying onhealth coverage fromtheir former employerswill have the peace ofmind that their coveragewill continue to be therefor them and their fami-lies if they need it. Andemployers will know theycan keep the promise ofhealth coverage to thoseformer employees.
ChamberCliffNotes
More Americansare keepingtheir Coverage
BBB’s top five tips on howto become a savvy consumer
The Thomaston Times,www.thomastontimes.com
Think green –
Recycle
379278
Baby Lane’sChildren’s Consignment Store
Opening March 1st, 2011105 South Center Street • Downtown, Thomaston
Baby Lane’s is the perfect place to consign your infant & children’s items, accepting preemie to teen & everything in between!
We are currently seeking consignors. Earn some extra cash by consigning with us!Not interested in consigning? We will be hosting “buying days” before the store
opens, no appointment necessary. Just bring your freshly laundered Spring & Summer items, toys, & baby equipment, & we will pay you a fair price for them!
Buying Days:Tuesday, February 22nd • Friday, February 25th • Saturday, February 26th 1:00 pm - 6:00 pm
Considering Consigning? Contact us for more information. You set your prices, we do the rest!706-741-9842
DON’T MISS OUR GRAND OPENING EVENT SATURDAY, MARCH 5TH! JOINUS FOR A CELEBRATION & BRING YOUR LITTLE ONES TO MEET ELMO!!!
Join us on Facebook! • [email protected]
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When I first startedworking in Thomaston alittle over a year ago, I wasamazed to see the cityand county governmentssharing a building. Youwill never see that inHenry County, where Ilive. Each governmenthas its own, separatebuilding in a separatelocation, far from anyother building.And for at least three of
the governments, italmost seems like theyare competing to see whocan build the biggest andmost lavish governmentcomplex. Locust GroveandHampton have stayedout of it, with LocustGrove using an old two-story school building fortheir City Hall, andHampton using an oldbank building for theirs.But Henry County,McDo-nough and Stockbridgehave all built these huge,elegant government build-ings. Currently, I’d sayStockbridge is in the lead,having the newest andmost extravagant CityHall, and possibly thebiggest government build-ing in the county. If youare ever driving east on
North Henry Boulevard(138) and cross over therailroad bridge, the hugemonstrosity to the left isStockbridge City Hall.But I digress. As I said
in the beginning, I wasamazed to see Thomastonand Upson County shar-ing the R. E. Lee govern-ment building. Yes, theiroffices are at oppositeends of the building, butthey share everythingelse, including the meet-ing room and auditorium.I thought, “This is great!These two governmentsare showing the rest ofthe cities and counties inGeorgia how to get alongand work together!”Apparently, I thought
wrong.While the city andcounty may have gotten
along fairly well in thepast, there is very littleevidence of that today.From the joint projects toSPLOST, it seems that thetwo governments arestanding toe-to-toe, head-to-head, and not giving aninch. And that’s a shame.With the mills closeddown, Upson Countyneeds its top two govern-ing bodies to be workingtogether to attract newindustry. They seem to, atleast, on the IndustrialDevelopment Authority,of which the Board ofCommission Chair andCity Mayor are both on.But outside of that, theredoesn’t appear to bemuch cooperationbetween the two entities.Why is that? Sometimes
I wonder if all the combi-nation names aren’t con-tributing to the split.T h om a s t o n - U p s o nArchives, Thomaston-Upson Airport, Thomas-ton-Upson Arts Council,Thomaston-Upson Cham-ber of Commerce,Thomaston-Upson Indus-trial Development Author-ity, Thomaston-UpsonRecreation Department,Thomaston-Upson School
System. Just like neverseeing two governmentssharing a building, I’venever seen so many com-bination names. Sure, it isnice to give both entitiesequal billing, but by doingso, I thinkwemay be con-tinuing the split, insteadof bringing them all inunder one name.And even one name
may be divisive. CountyCommission ChairmanMaurice Raines wantseveryone to be on TeamUpson. But just like thatinspirational sportingphrase, “there is no I inTeam,” there is also noWE in Team Upson. Infact, instead of having onegroup of people workingtogether for the commongood, there seems to betwo teams, Team Upsonand Team Thomaston,and they appear to becompeting against eachother.I don’t have a cute little
name we can call our-selves, and I know chang-ing a few words here andthere won’t amount tomuch in the long run, butWE need to find somecommon ground, and findit soon.
Discussing, Debating, Analyzing & EnlighteningPAGE 4A –TUE SDAY, F E B RUARY 22 , 2 0 11
Common ground
Larry StanfordEditor
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The Thomaston TimesP. O. Box 430
109 N. Center StreetThomaston, GA 30286
706-647-5414
www.thomastontimes.com
Member ofThe Thomaston-Upson
County Chamber of Commerce
&
Thomaston MainStreet Association
The General Assemblyis in session. That meansit’s time for everybody totalk about how we cancut government spend-ing.I’m all for that. But,
some of the proposalsconcern me.This week I heard the
Governor and the ChiefJustice of the GeorgiaSupreme Court suggestthat we should savemoney by sending onlyviolent offenders toprison.I guess that means we
wouldn’t imprison forg-ers, burglars, drugoffenders, tax cheats,identity thieves, habitualviolators of the trafficlaws, car thieves, vandals,shoplifters, and countlessother criminals. No mat-ter how many times theyre-offend.In the Griffin Circuit we
offer probation to manyof these types of criminalson their first offense. Wetry to include conditionsof probation that sting.Then we hammer them ifthey don’t learn their les-son. After all, who would-n’t steal if all they had todo if they were caught ispay the money back, likean interest-free loan?One exception is bur-
glary. We believe that aperson who enters yourhome or business withoutpermission and with theintent to steal deserves togo to prison for at leastthree years on the firstoffense. We’ve held tothat policy for manyyears. It’s a policy weintend to keep.Another exception is
drug dealers. Out ofgreed, they ruin familiesby preying on addicts.And they bring violenceto our communities. Webelieve they need to go tojail on the first offense.But, along comes the
Governor and the ChiefJustice, two persons weelected to enforce thelaws and keep us safe,and propose that we stopsending non-violentoffenders to prison. Theydon’t suggest alternativesdesigned to deter these
criminals. They don’toffer proof that anothersystem works better.They just say we need tosave money.I’ve got a problem with
that. Courts don’t exist tofind bargains. Their onlypurpose is to do justice.Before the big wigs of theState tinker with our safe-ty, they should assure usthat our protection is thetop priority. There is aterm for the practice ofendangering the citizensto save money. It’s called“selling out.”And while cutting the
prison population mightsave us tax dollars, themeasure would still costus in other ways. Likeincreased insurance pre-miums when theft andvandalism rates rise. Orhigher prices in retailstores hit hard byshoplifters. And through-the-roof credit card inter-est to defray the expenseof financial card fraud.Some of the reform
measures are crafty. Likemental health courts.There is a Senate bill thatwould require anyonecharged with a crime ofany type to be funneledinto a mental health courtif he has a mental illness.Proponents say that it is
expensive dealing withprisoners who are men-tally ill. These specialtycourts would providetreatment for criminalswith mental illnesses. Asif that doesn’t cost money.What they don’t tell you
is that we already have asystem that diverts thetruly mentally ill to men-tal hospitals when itwould be unfair to putthem in prison.And they ignore the
fundamental flaw in theplan. Imagine a guynamed Joe. He has amental illness and des-perately needs help. Hebuys insurance andworks hard to pay for histreatment and medicine.Another guy, Sam, isequally mentally ill. But,because he breaks thelaw, his treatment is pro-vided free by the mentalhealth court. What’s fairabout that?When I go on vacation
and want to save money,I choose a hotel withfewer amenities.I’ll bet that principle
would save money in theprisons, too. That way, wecould still handcuff crim-inals who threaten us,rather than the judgesand prosecutors trying tokeep us safe.
DA’s corner
How much is a trillion dollars and how can we payour national debt without hurting our children?
Dr. Harold W. PeaseGuest columnist
We are presently over14 trillion dollars in debt,three trillion of which wasincurred the last twoyears under PresidentBarack Obama. So whatis a trillion dollars? Letme try to give some per-spective. To begin with atrillion is the number 1followed by twelve zeros.A trillion dollars is a thou-sand billion and a billionis a thousand million.This still means very littleto my students who counttheir money in fives, tensand twenties.One mathematician
gave us a more practicalway to evaluate our out-standing debt. One trillionone-dollar bills stackedatop each other (not endto end but flat) wouldreach nearly 68,000 milesinto space – a third of theway to the moon. If so,the debt incurred underPresident Obama alone
would take us to themoon. Moreover, if youlike traveling atop thisstack of ones, you couldreturn to earth for yetanother three trillion dol-lars which is six trilliondollars. You could repeatyour visit to and from themoon for yet another sixtrillion, making 12 trilliontotal. We have two trillionin debt remaining, justenough to get us two-thirds of the way to themoon again (See CNNNews Cast, Feb. 4, 2009).Senator Mitch
McConnell gave anotherillustration just as awestriking. He calculatedthat if we spent a milliondollars every day sinceJesus was born we stillwould not have spent atrillion dollars – onlythree-fourths of a trilliondollars. We would have 131/4 trillion left.Someone else equated
our national debt to sec-onds and concluded that
a million seconds is about11 ½ days and a billionseconds is about 32 years.A trillion seconds is about32,000 years thus 14 tril-lion seconds is 448,000years (See CNN NewsCast, Feb. 4, 2009). Thisis not helpful and onlymakes my head spin. MyPh. D is not in math.I ask my students,
“Who gets to go withoutso that this debt can bepaid?” Go without?” Thatis a concept foreign tothis generation!! They donot know and neither dotheir parents and grand-parents who laid it ontheir backs. When theyare told that their imme-diate share of the debt is$127,529 (see USDebt-Clock.org) due immedi-ately, they are angry. The13th amendment endingslavery has been rescind-ed. The past generationwanted nice costly pro-grams for free and werewilling to sell their chil-
dren in order to drive newCadillac’s now. Well, theCadillac’s are in the autowrecking yards, Commu-nist China owns a tenth ofus and the bills are due.What is worse is the oldergeneration is still anxiousto incur even more debton our defenseless chil-dren and grandchildren.Are we the most debtaddicted, insensitive gen-eration in all human his-tory?But there is hope.
When you go bankrupt inyour personal life you areexpected to sell every-thing that you own to getout of debt. The nationhas one asset left thatcould probably vaporizethis national debt and doso in one generation, but Iam reluctant to bringattention to it until wehave learned the lessonthat we cannot spendbeyond our means with-
SEE PEASE, PAGE 5A
Scott Ballard
District Attorney
OPINIONThe Thomaston
TimesGeneral ManagerRoland Foiles
EditorialEditor - Larry Stanford
Associate Editor - Ashley BilesSports Editor - Wes McCardReporter - Sheila Marshall
AdvertisingRetail Advertising - Lucy Chaney
Retail Advertising - Rebecca CalcaterraClassified Advertising - Linda Knight
Administrative AssistantWillie Green
DistributionErnest Haygood
Letters PolicyThe Thomaston Times welcomes and en-
courages Letters to the Editor on any topic oflocal interest. The Times guidelines are:
• Letters must be signed and include the tele-phone number and city of the author. (No ex-ceptions. Telephone numbers will not beprinted.)
• Letters which contain slanderous statementsor statements which are clearly not supportedby facts will not be published.
• Letters which call for business boycotts willnot be published.
• Letters from the same author will not bepublished more frequently than once per month(with rare exception.)
• Letters should not include dedicationpoems.
• Letters must be written by the author.
• The Times will correct grammar, spellingand punctuation.
Call 706-647-5414 if you have questions re-garding Letters to the Editor or need assistance.Letters can be sent by email to [email protected], or by mail to TheThomaston Times. P. O. Box 430, Thomaston,GA 30286.
Continued from 1A-15 parcels an hour,which he pointed out,saves the county moneyby reducing the amountof field trips. “We need a current
flight of the county todo our job properly andbe fair to all the citi-zens,” said Davis. “Ithink this is somethingwe need in our office tobe current, but it is alsosomething that has un-limited potential formany other depart-ments.”Raines stated that
what the board is look-ing at with this is theaccuracy it can offer.
The commissioners de-cided to take the pres-
entation under evalua-tion.
Continued from 4Aout someone paying forit later. Unfortunately,neither party is fullythere yet. Sell govern-ment land. Most are sur-prised to learn that thefederal government un-constitutionally owns athird of the landmass ofthe United States. TheConstitution limits theamount of land that thefederal government canhave to 10 square milesfor a capital and landacquired through thelimits of the Constitu-tion for military pur-poses.Over the decades thefederal governmentwithheld the land thatwent with statehood inthe West. New stateswere so anxious to gainstatehood that theyoverlooked the omis-sion. According to pub-lic land statistics Alaskaowns only 1 ½ % of it-self. Arizona 56% of it-self, California 52 ½ %of itself, Idaho 36% of it-self, Nevada, a mere12% of itself, and Utah36 ½ % of itself. We, ofcourse, would have to
restrict foreign coun-tries and perhaps placea limit on individualtakes, but the ideawould be to spend everypenny derived from thesales to liquidating our14 trillion dollars ofdebt.
Dr. Harold Pease is anexpert on the UnitedStates Constitution. Hehas dedicated his careerto studying the writingsof the Founding Fathersand applying thatknowledge to currentevents. He has taughthistory and political sci-
ence from this perspec-tive for over 25 years atTaft College.
THE THOMASTON TIMES-Tuesday, February 22, 2011 Page 5A
Pease
This scenic view of the Flint River from Sprewell Bluff is one of the most pic-turesque scenes in Upson County. Currently, there is only a little gravel pull-off where people can stop to look and take photos. If the SPLOST isapproved, the county is planning on building a observation deck there.
SPLOSTContinued from 1Aboard is waiting untilafter the vote to see ifthe SPLOST passes ornot. Each of the Commis-
sioners, along with theChair, told the crowdhow important they feelthe passing of theSPLOST is for the com-munity. CommissionerSandra Trice stated thatshe feels a penny tax isa good way to fund proj-ects and help keep the
county from having toraise taxes. She went onto say that without thepassing of this SPLOST,many of the projects onthe list would not beable to be completed.Commissioner Hudsonadded that if theSPLOST does not pass,the projects that have tobe done will have to befunded through taxes. Itwas also noted by Com-missioner Frank Sprag-gins that only a small
percentage of people inUpson County pay prop-erty taxes and he feelsthat this is a fair tax be-cause it is somethingthat everyone pays for. Everyone is encour-
aged to attend the townhall meeting inYatesville and ask ques-tions to better informthemselves on whatthey will be voting onnext month.
Pictometry
Thomaston Council approvesWatershed Protection PlanBy Ashley [email protected]
After working on theplan for a couple ofyears, the ThomastonCity Council approvedthe Watershed Protec-tion Plan which willmonitor the watershedat four different points.The action came at theirmeeting last Tuesdaynight.City Manager Patrick
Comiskey stated thatthe state requires thereto be monitoring of the
watershed, which is de-fined as the streams thatflow out of town. Thecity has to check thequality of the water andcome up with new ideasto improve the overallwater quality. He alsonoted that this is the be-ginning of more regula-tion that they are beingrequired to do by thestate. Mayor HaysArnold told those in at-tendance at the meetingthat the full documentwas pretty extensive,but it was available toanyone who wished to
review it.In other business, thecouncil gave approvalfor the City Manager toenter into an IndemnityAgreement with theGeorgia Department ofTransportation for thewidening of Route 19.Comiskey stated thatthe city will maintainthe right of way for 50years, beginning oncethe document is exe-cuted. The city hasplans to some landscap-ing in the area also.
By Sheila A. [email protected]
Upson County resi-dents, along with healthand law enforcementprofessionals, now havea much clearer under-standing of schizophre-nia thanks to a recentfree educational evententitled Achieving Well-ness and Recovery.Held at the Upson
County Senior Centerrecently, the event fea-tured Dr. James Parker,a psychiatrist in practicein Birmingham, AL, whowas on hand to presentinformation on recentprogress in the treat-ment of schizophrenia.With more treatmentoptions available forthose diagnosed withschizophrenia, Parkersaid patients have agreater than ever beforechance of managingtheir symptoms as theprogress in their recov-ery.As he spoke to a crowdof more than 50, Parkersaid one positive trendis that more people inthe public eye, such ascelebrities and profes-sional athletes, arespeaking openly abouttheir experiences withmental illness, whichmay help in removingsome of the stigma sucha diagnosis often brings.“It's very important for
people to see them-selves as a person in-stead of just a mentalillness,” Parker said.“The good news isthere's less stigma. It'sstill there, but there'sless than there has beenin the past.”He stressed the impor-tant role the support offamily and friends playsin the treatment of men-tal illness, but reiteratedthat patients must ac-tively take control oftheir own health care.With regard to treat-
ment plans, Parker said,“You should have inputand agree with it, and ifyou don't, don't sign thetreatment plan.”He urged those presentwho have been diag-nosed with mental ill-ness to set realistic,attainable goals thatpromote successfultreatment.“What I see that worksbest for people is to setsmall goals so that youcan see progress alongthe way,” he said.Rosemarie Hardeman,the director of theUpson County Counsel-ing Center, said she ishopeful the event wasbeneficial not only tomental health patients,but local residents withinterest in the subject,as well.“I hope it was very in-formative,” she said.Hardeman said due to
changes in mentalhealth treatment, rais-ing public awareness ofnot only schizophrenia,but other forms of men-tal illness, is perhapsmore important nowthan ever before.“We wanted to do thatbecause the movementinvolving mental healthis going towards treat-ment in the communityinstead of hospitals andjails,” she said. “That'swhere the state is going.They say that by 2015,all the state hospitals forthe mentally ill will beclosed.”Within Upson County,there is a sizable popu-lation of individuals re-ceiving mental healthcare, and Hardemansaid she hopes the edu-cational event created abetter understanding ofschizophrenia.“We work with McIn-tosh Trails, whichserves seven counties,but the Upson CountyCounseling Centerworks only with UpsonCounty people,” shesaid. “We have over 700active consumers inUpson County who arebeing treated for mentalillnesses. Not all of themare schizophrenic –there are a lot of diagno-sis. We started withschizophrenia, but Ihope to do more in thefuture.”
Upson care-givers learn aboutdealing with schizophrenia
The Thomaston-UpsonCounty Library Boardand staff know that theservices and resourcesof the Hightower Me-morial Library andYatesville Public Libraryare valued by the public.Library users say itevery day. But just howmuch is the library’sservices worth?
Ask yourself howmuch you would have topay out of pocket, if theservices provided byyour public library didnot exist. That questionwas considered and an-swered several yearsago by a Library Use &Return on Investment
Calculator developed bythe Massachusetts Li-brary Association andadapted by the GeorgiaPublic Library Servicefor local use. The valuesthat were arrived atwere interesting. Purchasing an averagebestseller or audio bookis around $25. Holding ameeting in a rented hallwould be $50 per hour.A single child attendinga Summer Reading Pro-gram performance isaround $6. Surfing theinternet for one hour is$12 per hour. Havingone reference questionanswered is $7. Pur-chasing a State Park
Pass for one person’suse would be $8. Eachof these services is avail-able at no cost at yourpublic library. These are just a few ex-amples of 14 identifiedlibrary services or re-sources available atyour local public library.If a person used eachfrom a non-library sourcethe total out of pocketcost would be approxi-mately $203.44. Your public library is
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PAGE 6A THE THOMASTON TIMES – Tuesday, February 22, 2011 - Thomastontimes.com
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School News
DeAnn Hopkins is pictured with student actors from the drama Egypt Game:Kaley Bates, Austin Burkett, Leah Colligan, Tripp Greer, Faith Ishee, MorganLew, and Joseph White
DeAnn Hopkins is pictured with student actors from the drama Three BillyGoats Gruff: Alondria Ruiz, Holly Hamby, Brianna Adams, Chrishundra Cald-well, Ashlyn Murphy, and Grace Horn
Colony Bank chooses Upson-LeePre-Kindergarten feature teacher
Janice Crook, a teacher at Upson-Lee Pre-Kindergarten, was chosen as aColony Bank Feature Teacher. Pictured l-r: ULPK Director Jana Marks, ColonyBank Feature Teacher Janice Crook, and Doreen Pittman of Colony Bank.
Alternative Schoolfeature teacher is named
Coach Carl Flowers (left) was the Colony BankFeature Teacher for January. Coach Flowers teach-ers at Upson-Lee Alternative School. Pictured withCoach Flowers is Doreen Pittman of Colony Bank.
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THE THOMASTON TIMES-Tuesday, February 22, 2011 Page 7A
All About Your HealthKeeping you informed about important health issues
February has long been associated with mattersof the heart – love, cupid, chocolate, even hearthealth. February is Heart Health Month, a monthdedicated to improving the cardiovascular healthof men and women.Cardiovascular diseases, including stroke, are
our nation's No. 1 killer. Although there are differ-ent types of cardiovascular disease, they all sharecommon risk factors. Screening for these risk fac-tors will be the focus of a Heart Health Month pro-gram at Upson Regional Medical Center. Hosted by Upson’s Cardiology Services, “Your
Heart’s in the Right Place” will be held Thursday,February 24 from 3 – 7 p.m. in the Upson RegionalMedical Center Auditorium. Free screenings willinclude Blood Pressure, Cholesterol, Body MassIndex and Blood Sugar, all relevant tests to assessrisk for heart disease.
Three physicians will present the latest informa-tion in prevention, diagnosis and treatment of car-diovascular disease. Dr. Mark Dorogy, acardiologist from Macon, will talk about innova-tions in treatment for individuals with heart dis-ease. Dr. Keith Huckaby, a local internal medicinephysician, will review risk factors and prevention,and Dr. Charmille Hare, a family medicine physi-cian at Upson, will discuss the special warningsigns for women and heart disease.The symptoms for women can be far more sub-
tle than those for men, Dr. Hare said. “Symptomsfor women to look for include shortness of breath(often without any chest pain); feelings of anxietyor doom; unexplained fatigue, weakness or dizzi-ness; pain in the chest, upper back, shoulders, neckor jaw; and flu-like symptoms — specifically nau-sea, clamminess or cold sweats,” she said.
Dr. Huckaby urges, “It is very important to listento your own body. Sudden decline in exercise tol-erance may be a sign of heart disease, which canoccur without any other symptoms. Make yourphysician aware of changes such as this so thatproper evaluation can be performed. Regular ex-ercise is extremely important for the entire body’shealth.’“Heart disease can usually be prevented and
treated,” he said. “This screening and informationalsession is a very good opportunity for everyone tobecome more informed about heart disease as acondition and about their individual risk for devel-oping it.”Pre-registration for Your Heart’s in the Right
Place is recommended. To register, call 706-647-8111 ext. 1338.
Your Heart’s in the Right Place at URMC
The heart is one of the essential components ofhuman life. It was once also believed to be thecenter from where love and other emotions em-anated. Many feel a heart can break and that itcan know no bounds of love. Dr. Seuss' "TheGrinch" was said to be nasty because his heartwas "two sizes too small."Although there is mystery surrounding matters
of the heart, there is much known about the phys-ical makeup of the human heart. Here are sevenfacts about the human heart.
1. Heart attacks and heart disease may beviewed as an illness that primarly affects men.However, this couldn't be further from the truth.In fact, women have more cases of heart-relatedillnesses than men, and heart disease kills 500,000American women, which is 50,000 more womenthan men.
2. A bigger heart isn't necessarily a sign that aperson is more inclined toward love. An enlargedheart is actually a medical condition, which canlead to heart failure.
3. A hearty laugh is good for the heart. This
laugh attack can actually cause the lining of bloodvessels to relax, enabling more blood to flowthrough for at least 45 minutes afterward.
4. Romantic endeavors in the bedroom can beas good for the heart as a brisk 15-minute walk. Intimate acts canburn up to 200 calories and be thecardiovascular exercise a personneeds.
5. A glass of wine can be goodfor the heart because of the antioxi-dant properties contained ingrapes. Alcohol can also thin theblood, enabling better flow. Just besure to stick to one or two drinksper day. Over-indulgence won'tmake the heart healthier.
6. The heart is a fist-sized mus-cle that can beat an average of100,000 times every day. In under aminute the heart can deliver oxy-gen-rich blood to every cell in thebody.
7. A woman's heart beats faster than a man's.In some cases doctors are able to predict the gen-der of a fetus by the baby's heart rate.
7 Facts About the Human Heart
Heart Conditions Can Be 'Silent' The image many peo-
ple get when they thinkof heart conditions is agrown man cluthing hischest. But not all heartconditions are as obvi-ous or pronounced asheart attack.Ischemia is a term
used to describe the re-striction of oxygen-richblood to an area of thebody. Cardiac ischemiaoccurs when the bloodcannot reach the heart.Generally cardiac is-
chemia causes pain inthe chest, known asangina. However, insome cases there is nowarning pain and thecondition is called silentischemia.Facts & Figures on
Silent IschemiaSilent ischemia af-
fects roughly 3 to 4 mil-lion Americans everyyear. Individuals whohave had a previousheart attack are athigher risk for silent is-chemia than others. Butthere are many otherrisk factors:* Diabetes* Coronary artery
disease* Hypertension* Coronary artery
anomalies* Smoking* Obesity* Alcohol and
drug abuse* Cardiomyopa-
thyIf ischemia lasts
too long or is espe-cially severe, it maycause a heart attack.It can also affect thenatural rhythm ofthe heart and itspumping ability,which can causefainting, and evensudden cardiac ar-rest.Symptoms and
Diagnosis of SilentIschemiaSilent ischemia
has no symptoms.However, if a personhas had previousepisodes of chestpain, there's a likli-hood that he or shecould also be experi-encing silent ischemiaand not know it. Doc-tors may use an exer-cise stress test to
determine silent is-chemia. Also, a specialmonitor called a Holtermonitor will record theheart rate and rhythm
over the course of a dayand determine if is-chemia occurred.TreatmentThe main ways to
treat silent ischemia isto reduce certain behav-iors that increase risk.This includes quittingsmoking, avoiding alco-
hol and maintaininga healthy weight anddiet.For those who are
diagnosed with silentischemia, there aresome treatment op-tions available. Mostof these involve im-proving blood flow tothe heart, which of-ten requires prescrip-tion medications.Oxygen also may begiven to increase theoxygen content ofthe blood that isreaching the heart.Other people maytake medicines thatrelax blood vessels,enabling more bloodto flow. In most casesthis is all that isneeded to fix the sit-uation. For those notresponding to treat-ment, they may needa percutaneous coro-nary intervention(PCI), such as bal-loon angioplasty, co-ronary artery bypass
surgery, or a similarprocedure.
Did You Know? There are two types of cholesterol, one that can make the arteries less flex-
ible and therefore make a person more susceptible to heart attack or stroke;and the other that actually protects against heart attack. Cholesterol cannotdissolve in the blood, which means it has to be transported to and from thecells by carriers known as lipoproteins. Low-density lipoproteins, or LDL, areconsidered "bad" cholesterol. When too much bad cholesterol is circulating inthe blood, LDL can slowly build up on the inner walls of the arteries, possiblyeven teaming with other substances to form plaque, a thick, hard deposit thatnarrows the arteries and makes them less flexible. High-density lipoprotein, or
HDL, is what's considered "good" cholesterol. That's because medical expertsfeel HDL carries cholesterol away from the arteries and back to the liver,where cholesterol is then passed from the body. In addition, some experts alsofeel HDL removes excess cholesterol from arterialplaque, slowing its buildupas a result. And though cholesterol is commonly, and falsely, considered a dirtyword, low levels of HDL actually increase a person's risk of heart disease. Asimple blood test can help men and women learn their HDL and LDL levels,and if they need to make any changes to get on the right track.
Free heart screening this Thursday, February 24
Join us for our open house!- Free Tours - Free Workouts
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THE THOMASTON TIMES-Tuesday, February 22, 2011Page 8A
TH
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Boneless Beef
SHOULDER ROAST
Per Lb
$269 $399
Family Pack Tray
CHICKEN LEG QTRS
Per Lb 59¢
$169
Roger Wood RED
HOTS Per Lb
99¢
Select Varieties DEL MONTE TOMATOES
14.5 Oz
Homogenized, 1%, 2%, or Skim
PIGGLY WIGGLYMILK
Gallon
Carolina Pride No Poultry
JUMBO FRANKS
Lb Pkg
$129Oscar Mayer
Reg, Thick, or Thin
SLICED BOLOGNA
12 Oz
$139
CATFISH NUGGETS
Per Lb
$149
$100
BLUE BELL ICE CREAM
Pints
Bluebird
HONEY BUNS
6 Ct 10.5 Oz
Nabisco
NILLA WAFERS
11-12 Oz4/$5 $129 Piggly Wiggly
ROUND TOP BREAD
20 Oz
Chocolate
YOO-HOO DRINKSFridge Pack
Boneless Beef
SHOULDER STEAK
Per Lb
$299
USDA Choice Beef Boneless
TOP SIRLOIN STEAK
Per Lb
2/$6DELI/BAKERY
$599
Tennessee Pride SAUSAGE BISCUITS
20 Count
Bone-In Sirloin
PORK CHOPS
Per Lb
$139
IDAHO POTATOES
8 Lb
$249
79¢Cameo, Braeburn, or
JONAGOLDAPPLES
Per Lb
$299
24 Pack
DASANI WATER
.5 Liter Bottles
$499
Italian or American
FRESH EXPRESSSALAD MIX
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$139
Smoked HOG
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AMERICAN SINGLES
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8 Oz
2/$5$119
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Sherbet or PIGGLY WIGGLY
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6-6.4 Oz
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DEODORANT2-2.5 Oz 2/$3
2/$4
Green Giant
CORN COB NIBBLERS
6 Count
Select Varieties
GREEN GIANT VEGETABLES
8-10 Oz
$12999¢
On-CorCharbroiled Patties or
SALISBURY STEAK
28 Oz
$199
MEDIUM YELLOW ONIONS
$1003 Lb Bag
2/$6
Sara Lee DOMESTIC SWISS CHEESEPer Lb
$599
$699
Frito-Lay MULTI-PACK
CHIPS22 Ct
2/$3Chilean
Red or White
SEEDLESS GRAPES
Per Lb
Select Varieties SARA LEE HAM
$499Per Lb
FARMLAND SLICED BACON
$19912 Oz
$399
Williams SAUSAGE
PATTIES18 Ct
2/$3
Crystal Farms AMERICAN
SINGLES12 Oz
BAR-S SMOKED SAUSAGE Regular, Hot, or Polish
$3493 Lb
Captain John Derst
OLD FASHION BREAD
20 Oz
CHEETOS SNACKS
8.5-9 Oz 2/$3$200
FRESH STRAWBERRIES
1 Lb Clamshell 2/$4
IMPORTED CANTALOUPES
Each 2/$3
Collards or Mustard NATURE’S
GREENS 16 Oz 2/$4
Heart of Dairy Land LONG HORN COLBY CHEESEPer Lb
$499Plain, Whole Wheat, or EverythingSMART BAGELS 6 Count2/$3
Cajun, Fried, or Lemon Pepper BUTTERBALL TURKEY BREAST
$499Per Lb
Sliced Jowls $169
16 OzStrawberry
Pie Glaze
99¢
Lb
8 Pack
COKE PRODUCTS
12 Oz Bottles
12 Pack
COKE PRODUCTS
12 Oz Cans 3/$132/$7
4/$5
Glaceau VITAMIN
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By Wes [email protected]
The Upson-Lee tennisteams opened up their2011 seasons last Thurs-day at home against MaryPersons. The LadyKnights fell to the LadyBulldogs by a score of 3-2, but the Knights domi-nated the BUlldogs andtook the victory 5-0.Standout freshman
Andrew Fletcher defeat-ed his opponent fromMary Persons 8-0 in hisfirst ever varsity tennismatch. Clay Lamb alsohad an impressive per-formance, as he downedhis opponent by a scoreof 8-3.The doubles tandem of
Josh Gish and MatthewRapillard bested theiropponenets by a score of8-2, and Damien Kingand Satul Patel roundedthe Knights’ day off withan 8-1 victory over theiropponents.The Lady Knights
struggled in their individ-ual matches, as team cap-tain Madison Williams
was defeated 8-0, andLaurenWilliams lost by ascore of 1-8. FreshmanNatalie Roselas lost hermatch as well by a scoreof 0-8.The Lady Knights dom-
inated the Lady Bulldogsin doubles competition.The team of ShelbyBridges and ElisabethFletcher defeated theiropponents by a score of8-2, and Nicole Williamsand Ashley Palmer wontheir match 8-5.The Upson-Lee teams
have many new faces thisyear, and according tohead coach Cathy Lee,this young team shows alot of promise.“We are expecting
some good tennis thisseason,” said Lee. “This isthe strongest boys teamwe have had in quite awhile. We have gooddepth with our singles’and doubles’ competitors.We also have some youngkids coming up, such asfreshmen Andrew Fletch-er and Natalie Roselas,and I expect big things
from them as well. One ofthe players I am mostproud of is MadisonWilliams. She is a senior
who has provided greatleadership in the pre-sea-son, by encouraging ouryounger players. She sets
a great example on thecourt and off the court forour new players.”Upson-Lee will have
some stiff competitionthis season in their newregion. This is the firstseason which Upson-Leewill compete in Region3B, with teams such asMcIntosh, Whitewater,Starr’s Mill, and North-gate, all of whom havegood tennis programs.“This region is going to
be tough with the FayetteCounty teams,” said Lee.“They are known for real-ly good tennis in that areaof the state. We want toshow up and give them abattle each and everytime we face them. Youjust never knowwhat canhappen on any givenday.”
PA G E 1 B - F R I D AY,M AY 2 2 , 2 0 0 9SPORTS
Tuesday, February 22, 2011Page 1B
Thomastontimes.com
Wes McCardSports Editor
So many questions, solittle answers. That’s theexciting part about base-ball in the Spring for me.As many of you know, Iam a huge Braves fan,and I am very optimisticabout the 2011 season,but I do have a few ques-tions. Here are some con-cerns that I have aboutmy beloved Braves for2011.What will the ageless
wonder do? I have beenvery critical of ChipperJones throughout theyears, though in my opin-ion he is a Hall of Famer. Ihave often wonderedabout Chipper and hisdedication to the game, orlack there of. Many timesover the years, Chipperhas missed games withnumerous injuries rang-ing from bad feet, to tornligaments in his knee, andmy all time favorite, theoblique strain.He had me wondering
how many times a guycan go down with astrained oblique musclefrom something that hedoes every day, swing abat. After seeing Chippergo down last year againstthe Astros with anotherserious knee injury, I saidto myself and my dad,That’s it. It’s over. Chip-per just ended his careerwith the Braves.Now, I will admit that
Chipper is not my favoriteplayer, but he earned myrespect when he said hewas going to try andcome back, not wantingto end his career that way.He could have easilyslipped into the sunsetwith Bobby Cox, but herehe is in spring training,giving it another go. Iadmire that, and I haveno reservations aboutChipper playing hurt.Trust me, if he is hurting,he will not play, but he isout there giving it hisbest, and there is a lot tobe said for that. I justhope the 38-year-old canmake it through the 162-game season and back tothe playoffs, so he canend his storied career onhis own terms.Too young to close? If
only the Braves couldhave convinced BillyWagner to come back foranother year, then thisquestion would never beasked. It was nice to seethe Braves have a shut-down closer last season,but after perhaps his bestseason in years, Wagnercalled it quits, leaving theBraves young guns toserve in the closingduties.After a superb rookie
season last year, leftyJohnny Venters made hisname known in theNational League, postinga sub 2.00 ERA, andmak-ing left handed batterslook silly. Now, he and 22-year-old Craig Kimbrel,who also showed signs ofgreatness last season, arethe two favorites to winthe closing job.However, when I think
of the great closers fromyears past, I think of agritty veteran, likeWagn-er, Rivera, or even thecooky Brian Wilson isalmost 30 years old. So Iwonder how the Bravesyoungsters can handle
For the first year ever,Upson-Lee High Schoolhad a diving team; soph-omores Jonny and JasonColley. The brothers tookup diving last June anddecided to compete in
high school diving meets.Jason ended his seasonearly due to a stress frac-ture in his foot, but Jonnyqualified for the statechampionship meet.The High School State
Championship for Swim-ming andDiving was heldthis past weekend at theGeorgia Tech AquaticCenter. Forty divers fromdivision 1-4A schoolsstarted the morning pre-
liminary diving rounds onthe 1 meter springboard.As divers were eliminat-ed during the morningrounds, Jonny made itinto the evening finalsround for the top 16 maledivers. With as final scoreof 284.25, Jonny finishedin 15th place for the day.It was an excellent finishfor the first year diver.For the third year in a
row, swimmer ChrisMoroz qualified for theState Championshipmeetin several events. Themeet was held at GeorgiaTech this year to accom-modate the roughly 1,300swimmers from division1-4A schools. Chris swamin the 200 yard IndividualMedley and the 100 yardbreast stroke, and againfor the third year, he qual-ified for the final heats inthose events.In the 200 IM, Chris
swam his personal besttime of 2:00.99 and fin-ished 16th of 42 swim-mers. In the 100 breast,Chris swam his personalbest time of 59.58 with afinish of 7th out of 66swimmers. His fast times
qualified Chris to com-pete in the Southeast Sec-tional meet for USASwimmers that will beheld in Raleigh, NC nextmonth.First year coachWanda
Renfroe was extremelyproud of the performanceof the Upson-Lee diverand swimmer as bothearned points for theteam. With only 2 ath-letes, Upson-Lee finished34th out of 108 schools.The coach was disap-pointed that for the firstyear since 2006, Upson-Lee did not have a boy’srelay team to compete atthe state championshipmeet. With only threeboys on the swim team,there were not enough fora 4-man relay team.The coach hopes that
more athletes willbecome interested inswimmingwith the returnof a recreational swim-ming league to UpsonCounty this summer, asthe T-U Stingrays teamplays a vital role inpreparing young swim-mers for the high schoolswim team.
The 2011AtlantaBraves
SEE BRAVES, PAGE 4B
Swim team successful at state
Chris MorozPhoto by shelleyphotoreflect.com
Jonny ColleyPhoto by johnzphotography
Upson-Lee splits with Mary PersonsFletcher goes undefeated to open up season for the Knights
Andrew Fletcher dominated his opponent fromMary Persons with an 8-0 victory. Fletcher, only afreshman, show great promise for the Upson-Leetennis team.
379284
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By Ashle
y Biles
editorial3
@
thomasto
ntimes.co
m
Re-electe
d County
Com-
missione
rs Rusty
Black-
ston(Dis
trict3)
and
Frank Sp
raggins (
District
4) were s
worn in
to serve
another f
our-year
termby
Probate
Judge
Gary
Hamby a
t thefina
l meet-
ingof th
e Upson
County
Commiss
ioners h
eld last
week. T
his is the
second
termfor
Commiss
ioner
Blacksto
n and th
e fourth
for Comm
issioner
Sprag-
gins.
Spraggin
s stated t
hat he
is veryhum
bledto be
elected
to a fourth
term
andwan
tedto le
t every-
onein Dist
rict4 and
througho
ut Upson
Coun-
ty thathe
would help
themin a
ny way t
hathe
could.
Blacksto
n echoed
Sprag-
ginssent
iments,
saying
thathe
apprecia
ted
everyone
whowen
t outto
thepolls
andvote
d. He
alsostate
d thathe felt
goodthin
gs were c
oming
forthe
commun
ityin
2011.
In other b
usiness, C
ounty
Manager
KyleHoo
d told
theboar
d that th
erehas
beenan incr
easein call
volume
after ho
ursand
on weekend
s relatin
g to
Animal C
ontrol.
"Weare
doing som
e
studies r
ightnow
on the
datato see
if we coul
d
justify
changing
the
hours sl
ightly to
stagger
theshift
s ofemp
loyees.
Thiswou
ld allow
us toin-
corporat
e more of the
evening
hours a
nd some
weekend
time,"
said
Hood.
He stated
theyare w
ant-
ing to do
thisfor t
wo rea-
sons, the
firstbein
g the
employe
esof
Animal
Control
haveacqu
ireda
lot of ove
rtime an
d comp
timeresp
onding
to the
callsand
when they
all
haveto take
it before
theylose
it, there are
daysat a
timewhe
n there
is nota full
staff. Th
e
other re
asonHoo
d gave
is thatbein
g openonly
during regu
larbusi
ness
hours a
nd noton wee
k-
endshas
given a lowe
r
number
thanthey
would
liketo have
foradop
-
tions.
"Weare
going to do a
trialon s
taggerin
g times
forthe
evenings
and
weekend
s inJanu
aryto
seehow
it would
work
out,"said
Hood. "If
we get
a positiv
e respon
se from
boththe
Animal C
ontrol
staffand
thepub
lic,we
maymak
e it aperm
anent
thing."The
board also
ap-
proved b
oth the jo
int and
county ap
pointmen
ts for
2011. Tho
se appointe
d
forjoin
t appointm
ents
are:Arch
ivesReco
rds
Advisory
Board - Cl
au-
dette Faga
n,two-
year
term; Th
omaston
-Upson
Airport A
uthority
- Henry
L. Wilder
, six-yea
r term;
T h om a s t
o n -U p s o
n
County
Industria
l Au-
thority - Jo
hnny Broa
d-
nax,two-
yearterm
;
T h om a s t
o n -U p s o
n
County
Office Buil
ding
Authority
- Freddy
Harp,
oneyear
term; Th
omas-
ton-Ups
on County
Plan-
ningCom
mission
- Lucy
Chaney,
three-ye
ar term;
Council
ofthe
Three
Rivers R
egional D
evelop-
ment Co
mmissio
n - Jim
Fletcher
, citizen
and
Steve Hud
son,com
mis-
sioner, o
ne yearterm
s;
Thomas
ton-Ups
on Recre
-
ationCom
mission-
Lucy
Chaney
andVann
Phil-
lips,four
-year term
s;
Downtow
n Business
As-
sociation
- Frank S
prag-
gins; Tax
Assessor
Board
- TedMcK
issick; H
ospital
Authority
nominee
s -
KyleHoo
d, PamWon
num
andKay
Robinso
n.
County
appointm
ents
for2011
are:Cou
nty
Clerk - Pam
Wonnum
;
County
Attorney
- Mal-
loryand
Trice; Vi
ce Chair
- Frank S
praggins
; Coun-
ty Auditor
- Driver
and
Adams;
andCou
nty Man-
ager- Ky
le Hood.
www.thomastontim
es.com
Your Hometown Newspaper for
143Years
!
2 SECTIONS , 12
PAGES
143RDYEAR N
O. 1
TUESDAY, JANUA
RY 4, 2011
WEEKLY WEATH
ER INSIDE
Check o
ut
your We
ekly
Weather
Forecast
,
sponso
redby
Thomas
tonFord
,
on Page
2A
As fello
w Commissio
nerSan
draTric
e (backg
round) w
atches, D
istrict 4
Commissio
nerFran
k Spragg
ins
(l) and D
istrict 3
Commissio
nerRus
ty Black
ston(2nd
fromleft)
are swor
n into of
ficefor f
our-year
terms
by Upson
County P
robate Ju
dgeGar
y Hamby. T
he re-ele
ctedCom
missioners
tookthei
r oaths a
t theBoa
rd
of Commissio
ners’ meetin
g onDec
ember28.
Photo by
Ashley B
iles
Blackston
, Spraggins sworn
into office
2010- The year
in review
By Larry
Stanford
editorial1
@thoma
stontime
s.com
Between
announce
ments o
f variou
s
governm
entiniti
atives, ne
w industrie
s
coming
to town,
theopen
ingof G
reat-
est Gener
ationPark
, andscho
ol news,
2010has
beena bu
sy and ex
citing ye
ar
in Thom
aston an
d Upson
County.
If we
triedto re
member e
verystor
y ofsign
if-
icance fo
r thepast
12 month
s, itwou
ld
takeseve
ral editio
ns toget i
t allin. I
n-
stead, w
e havechos
en thetop
news
story (in
ouropin
ion)for e
achof th
e
past12 mon
thsand
present
themto
youas o
ur look b
ackat 20
10. Below
it
are some
of the oth
er notewo
rthyhead
-
linesfor t
hat month
.
January
County
to take f
urlough
days
TheUps
on Count
y Board
of Comm
is-
sioners
decided
to make
county h
oli-
daysfurlo
ughdays
as away
to trim the
(Editor's
note: Un
fortunate
ly, less th
an
twomon
thslater
theplan
t closed
as
contract
negotiati
onsbetw
eenthe
owner, V
aleroEne
rgy Corpo
ration, an
d
theoper
ator, Am
erican Proc
ess,Inc.,
broke do
wn over
intellectu
al proper
ty
ownersh
ip andothe
r issues.
To date,
the plant
stillstan
ds idle.)
• Alex J
arvis is
2010STA
R Student
• BOEapp
roves dram
atizatio
n for
prom-go'e
rs
• Thomasto
n Hardwa
re featured
in
Nathan Dea
l video
• Upson
County
receives
$500,000
CDBG gran
t
• BoilWater
! Cityissu
es advisory
after pro
blems at
water pla
nt
March
Upson Coro
nerTim
Cochran
passes
away
Upson C
ounty Co
roner Tim
Cochran
passed a
wayon T
uesday, M
arch16. H
e
hadsuffe
red amas
sivehear
t attack tw
o
Thomasto
n native
Bobby D
aniel ann
ually sp
onsors B
obbyD's B
ike Fund
-raiser
in order
to donat
e new bike
s tochil
drenin n
eedfor C
hristmas. D
aniel is s
een
herehost
inga rec
ent aucti
on durin
g which h
e also re
ceived 2
4 bikes d
onated
by South
sideRide
rs Assoc
iation
Photo by
Sheila M
arshall
371026
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r
APTS FOR RENT2BR, 2BA, & 3BR, 2BA apts avail-able. C/H/A, appliances, $475-$540, deposit required.706-647-2147 or 706-646-3223.
Apartments / Townhouses
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1999 LS CHEV. PICKUPRegular cab, longbed, 89,000miles, green. Really nice, $7,000firm. (c)770-598-7054.
Trucks
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HERITAGEFAMILY
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Mon. - Tue. - Thurs.1-6 p.m.
.Counseling. Free Pregnancy Testing
. AcceptsDonations forMaternity andBaby Clothes(up to 4T)
. Baby Furniture
Yard Sale
ESTATE SALEThe Estate OfNellie Dickerson
1431 Cook Road-Zebulon GaFeb 25 8:00-5:00 &Feb 26th 8:00-4:00
Awesome Estate Sale-Quality Fur-niture & Collectibles. For Pictures &Info go to www.kellysantiques.com(706) 741-0530
Yard Sale
MICROFIBER! sofa, love, & ta-bles! everything NEW! in crates,warranty, retails over $1550, sacri-fice for $550, delivery available, call706-566-4517
KING Euro PILLOW TOP mat-tress & box , TOP BRAND, in plas-tic, 100% ALL NEW. WARRANTY-$245, 706-566-4517, delivery avail-able
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Furniture
900 Merchandise
PUPPIES FOR SALE3 Shih Tzu, white/black, 9-wks old,$500/ea.
5 Schoodles, 15-wk old, $400/ea.
4 Pomapoos, 5-days old, 3/black,1/tan, $300/ea.
3 male Schnauzers, 7/mths old,$300/ea.
706-648-1151.
Pets
600 Animals
LOST DOGLast seen on W. Peachtree St.,Sunnyside area.7 year old Jack Russell named"Brownie", white with brown mark-ings. Short legs with husky body.She is blind & walks with nose toground. No tags or collar. Call JohnMcGuffey 706-656-9572 or 706-647-2802.
Lost & Found
200 Announcements
The Thomaston TimesCLASSIFIEDSimply Stated
ADS THAT SELL!Call Linda
(706) 647-5414 • Fax: (706) 647-2833P.O. Box 430
Thomaston, Georgia 30286
BUSINESS POLICYThe Thomaston Times reserves the right to classify all advertisements, todelete objectionable words or phases or to edit or refuse any advertisements.Every classified advertisement must specify a bona fide offer in good faith.Advertiser will hold The Thomaston Times harmless against all claims result-ing from publication of his advertisement. All ads must be accompanied withname and phone number (or address) of person placing ad.
ERRORSThe Thomaston Times makes every effort to avoid errors in advertisement.Each ad is carefully checked and proof-read. Mistakes do slip through whenyou handle hundreds of ads each day, therefore we ask that you check yourad the first day, and if you find an error, report it immediately by calling 647-5414. We regret that we cannot be responsible for more than one day’s incor-rect insertion.
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LOOKING FOR a used car?Check the classifieds. We mayhave just what you are lookingfor.
Page 2B THE THOMASTON TIMES - Tuesday, February 22, 2011
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ASSISTANTS NEEDEDIf you are interested in assisting theelderly and disabled with in-homecare, then we are interested in you.We offer competitive wages and anopportunity for fulfilling career.Must have current results of TB testand dependable transportation. Po-sitions available immediately inUPSON and surrounding counties.If you are interested, APPLY ON-LINE ATWWW.HOMENURSE.NET
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Must be willing to work any hrs.,3yrs exp. a must. Clean MVR.Apply in person atWatson Brothers Inc.555 Thomaston Hwy., Butler, GA.
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COLLEGE ADMISSIONSCOUNSELOR
Professional individual to representthe college in recruitment activitiesand conduct recruiting sessionswith prospective students/parents.Assist in Campus Visit Days andnew student orientations. Travel re-quired. Minimum requirements:Bachelors degree, excellent oraland written communications, orga-nizational and interpersonal skills.Computer skills including Word,Excel, and PowerPoint. Valid driv-ers license.Full-time position includes excel-
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THE THOMASTON TIMES - Tuesday, February 22, 2011 Page 3B
that type of pressure. Iknow the Braves havesigned Scott Linebrinkand George Sherrill, sohopefully they can fill theleadership void whichWagner left. Both Line-brink and Sherrill haveexperience closing in themajors.Defense, Defense,
Defense… OK. TheBraves signed Uggla, andChipper is trying to comeback, but will the Bravesbe good enough defen-sively over 162 games tomake it back to the play-offs? Thank goodnessBrooks Conrad is backwhere he belongs, on thebench. However, Uggla isno Gold Glove winner atsecond, and once madethree errors in an All-Stargame. Also, Martin Pradomoves to left field. Iunderstand that he playedleft field in Winter ballthis season back in homecountry of Venezuela.Honestly, the Bravesdefense, especially up themiddle, concerns memore than anything forthe 2011 season.Will Heyward hit a
sophomore slump? Mynew favorite player on theBraves, along with Prado,is Jason Heyward. Hisfirst two weeks of 2010were two of the greatestweeks I have ever seen bya rookie, especially ahighly touted rookie withtons of pressure on him tolive up to the hype. Hey-ward was never the sameafter he injured his thumbearly in 2010. He hit acouple of slumps duringthe season, but finishedwith an average in the270s and nearly 20 homeruns.Since his rookie season
did have some downfalls,
due to injury or not, I donot see him hitting thewall in his sophomoreyear. Actually I look forhim to improve on his2010 season. Now thehype is on another rook-ie, Heyward’s best friendand roommate, FreddieFreeman. Freeman iscoming off a year wherehe won the Rookie of theYear award in the Inter-national League, playingfor the Braves AAA affil-iate in Gwinnett. Freemangave us glimpses of whathe can do at the end of2010. His glove at first is“Gold Glove” worthy, andhis bat as we saw againstRoy Halliday, has plentyof pop. From what I haveheard Freddie is not ahuge power hitter, but hasplenty of power to thegaps, which will play per-fectly at the spaciousTurner Field. ThinkMarkGrace, but with more
power. That’s not toomuch to ask for?Those are my main
concerns, but I have oth-ers. Howwill Cris Medlenlook when he comes backlater in the year? CanNate McLouth bounceback from a horrid sea-son last year, or will Jor-dan Schafer finally showthe Braves he is not abust? Can the Bravesstarting rotation continueto go deep into ballgames, keeping thebullpen fresh throughoutthe season? Will FreddieGonzalez be able to starthis own legacy in theshadows of the retire-ment of Bobby Cox?Those are all questionsthat are on my mind forthe 2011 season. Howev-er, the good news is thatSpring training is here,and the 2011 season isaround the corner. Let’splay ball!
THE THOMASTON TIMES-Tuesday, February 22, 2011Page 4B
Upcoming eventsToday
Upson-Lee (Boys) J.V. Soccer vs.Warner Robins 5:30 p.m. (MatthewsField)Upson-Lee (Boys) Varsity Soccer vs.
Warner Robins 7:30 p.m. (MatthewsField)Upson-Lee Baseball vs. Mary Persons
5:30 p.m. (Silvertown Ball Park)Baseball - (Bold)Feb. 26 UL vs. Schley County 3 p.m.
(Ga Southwestern)Mar. 01 UL vs. Jackson 5:30 p.m.
(Matthews Field)Mr. 03 UL @ Jones County 5:30 p.m.
SoccerFeb. 25 UL @ Pike County - Girls @
5:30 p.m Boys @ 7: 30 p.m.Feb. 28 UL vs. McIntosh - Girls @ 5:30
p.m Boys @ 7: 30 p.m.Mar. 01 UL @ LaGrange - Girls only
@ 5:30 p.m. (@ Pike County Tourna-ment)Mar. 04 UL vs. Henry County Boys
only @ 5:30 p.m. (Bulldog Cup@MaryPersons)
TennisFeb. 23 UL@Mary Persons 4:30 p.m.Mar. 01 UL vs. Harris County 4:30
p.m. (Home)Mar. 02 UL vs. Griffin (Home)J.V. Soccer- (Bold)Feb. 24 UL vs. LaGrange - Girls only
5:30 p.m.Feb. 28 UL vs. Mary Persons - Girls
only 5:30 p.m.Mar. 01 UL @ LaGrange - Girls only
5:30 p.m.
BRAVES FROM 1B
Knights open up 2011 on the diamondtodayPictured above is Tyler Jarrell as he rips a ball up the middle in a scrimmage
game in Macon against Westside on Tuesday. Upson-Lee opens up their regu-lar season today at Historic Silvertown Ball Park against Mary Persons. Firstpitch is set for 5:30 p.m.
Photo by Wes McCard
12 & Under All-StarsTeammembers include Kalen Puckett (Bulls), Michael Smith (Lakers), Tavias
Fagan (Suns) Raekwon King (Bulls), Charkevius Walker (Nets), Jayden Barron(Thunder), Cameron Barron (Cavaliers), Emmanuel Jordan (Cavaliers), CameronTraylor (Suns), and T.K. Mann (Lakers). Coaches are Curtis Traylor, Walter Jor-dan, and Terrell Mackey.
14 & Under All-StarsTeam members include TaQuaylon Reviere (Thunder), Jarvis Atwater (Lak-
ers), WyQuavious Battle (Nets), Dangalo Smith (Nets), Aquavius Tunstall (Cav-aliers), Malik Harris (Cavaliers), Jamerio Durham (Bulls), Brandarius Turner(Thunder), Justus Hughley (Suns), and Simjareet Singh (Nets). Coaches areAlvin Marshall and Patrick Graddick.
An upset for the agesBy Monte DuttonIf you didn’t know better, you’d think
the winner of the Daytona 500 was anEnglish chap, perhaps on holiday fromthe festival at Goodwood.But the winner of NASCAR’s biggest
race, Trevor Bayne only turned 20 onSaturday. Sir Trevor Bayne would havea nice ring to it, but, alas, the accent heaffects is fromKnoxville, Tenn., not Liv-erpool or Kent, andwhen he praised theLord afterward, he sounded as if hemeant it.Truly, Bayne knew all about the power
and the glory after winning at DaytonaInternational Speedway, NASCAR’ssacred shrine.“If I tried to put this into words, I
wouldn’t be able to do it justice,” saidBayne, to which reporters replied,“Please try.”“Anybody I drafted with was headed
to the front,” he said among all the gush-ing and hosannas, “and the big thingwas that these guys (Wood BrothersRacing) gave me a rocket ship.”
“Whenwewere testing down here, hedidn’t get to do any drafting because Iwouldn’t let him,” said Bayne’s crewchief, DonnieWingo. “Hewanted to, butI knew he had the poise to race it. Someyoung drivers can go fast but can’t race.I could tell Trevor was different.”How did this upset of epic proportions
occur? The final laps read like a novel.With six laps remaining, Regan Smith,who is not exactly a household name,led. Bayne was 10th.Exit Smith on lap 197, jettisoned from
his draft with Kurt Busch and relegatedto fifth place (he finished seventh).Behind Smith and Busch, Ryan New-man, Clint Bowyer and Denny Hamlincrashed.That guaranteed a “green-white-
checkered” finish and led to a “green-yellow-green-white-checkered” finish.A.J. Allmendinger, Newman, Dale Earn-hardt Jr. and Martin Truex Jr. crashedon lap 203, leaving first place inNASCAR’s biggest event to … TrevorBayne.
385369
Here Comesthe Guide!
384523
Please submit yourwedding photos from 2010
to be displayed in ourBridal Guide.
We would also like any tips,suggestions or ideas you wish to pass along
to someone else planning a wedding.
Couples married 30 years ormore are welcome to sharetheir photos & secrets for a
long marriage.Please submit your photos and other info to:
109 N. Center St. Thomaston or email to: [email protected],[email protected] or [email protected]
Deadline is Tuesday, February 22, 2011 @ 5:00pm
Nocharge
The Thomaston Timespresents the
2011Bridal Guide
Publish onFriday
February 25, 2011
