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Formerly The Hogansville Herald
Seraring the Hogansville-Grantville Area Since 1944
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HOGANSVILLE, GA
PERMIT NO 35
61, NO. 11
HOGANSVILLE, GEORGIA - THURSDAY, MARCH 11, 2004
10 PAGES • 1 SECTION • 1 INSERT .50¢
3ple to
le best
Birthday Use for Dr. Seuss
Author
On March 2 Dr. Seuss,
~amous children's author
i~ustrator, would have
.~.~mla:~'i~l 100 years old.
Elementary
)50 Down students and staff
his birthday and
with special activ-
Beginning on March 2,
~daAccofdi dressed to cele-
~o~.~cen~ his books. Tuesday
400 DO~ in the Hat day.
Many classes made hats
wore red bow ties.
The Cat in the Hat vis-
classrooms and shared
classic story.
On Wednesday, stu-
crazy socks and
"Fox In Socks."
was "My Many
and stu-
wore the color that
how they felt that
Friday was "500 Hats of
Cubbins"
wore silly
Each day a guest read-
Seuss story over
SChool broadcast sys-
goal in writ-
s to make read-
~_ fun for children.
|rlu'ough these exciting
~etivities, students were
~eminded that reading is
MOt only valuable, but fun
well.
THAT HATISWHERE IT'S AT- Keiaushane Cameron
models the appropriate headgear during Hogansville
Elen~ntaw's ce4ebration of famed author Dr. Seuss.
• More photos, 10A
ansville Council Targeting
ntee Landl6rds, Eyesores
"C~LAYBROOK
L H°gansville is cracking
[,,,,a on absentee landlords
an effort to rid the city of
I dilapidated buildings that
ve been neglected for
ars and have been allowed
into disrepair.
The first three or four
buildings found unsafe and
to be health hazards by City
Manager Randy Jordan- who
doubles as the city's building
inspector - have been con-
demned and given good
weather, cry crews will prob-
ably begin tearing them down
within the next few days.
Last week the
Council
"administrative fee" that will
be used to help the city recoup
part of the cost of having
many of its old houses and
rundow~:eemmercial build-
ings -" such as an abandoned
laun~ in the Mill Village
- demolished and the debris
hauled off.
City .... " .......
adopted a new See ~-S, Page 2A
rork Progressing Smoothly
Dn City's New Police Station
L~°gansvme,s new police
~*uquarters building can
~.w .be seen rising out of the
Lg footings for the build-
Were poured on Monday,
" arch l, Police Chief Guy
'r~dlin said at a Ciw Council
~eung that night. '
aStd now the walls fram-
the basement are going
and earlier this week
i< rkmen were setting the
)~ ms for the pouring of what
!be the concrete floor in
basement of the building.
:,EStimated cost of the
~ taty, Which will include 10
! P'~, is some $375,000.
i tne facility will replace
• .eta'rent police building on
Street downtown,
I t ch is so tiny that there's
. Space even for suspects
[[ be interviewed out-of the
r'-~enee of other people.
~. On the main floor will be:
~L. ~y port" - a covered
.rang where prisoners can
L
be brought in and out and kept
out of the weather; the 10
offices; a conference
room/training room; a break-
room and five restrooms.
The basement will be
used for storage.
Police Chief Guy Spradlin
won City Council support for
constructing the new build-
ing a few months back, citing
growing pains, over-crowd-
ing and the generally run-
down condition of the old
downtown facility.
One reason council mem-
ber's so readily agreed to the
chief's proposal was that the
new headquarters will be
built entirely with seized
drug funds - money that was
conirLscated over the last year
from suspected drug-run-
ners and users who were
caught inside the city limits.
Several of the biggest
"busts" came on Interstate
85, which is known as a cor-
ridor for drug-runners sup-
plying Atlanta and points east
and north of Georgia's
biggest city.
Spradlin and his officers
seized more than $1 million
from druggies or their sup-
pliers in the last year. In addi-
tion to funding the new build-
ing, that money will support
the city's new Boys and Girls
Club for the first year.
Some of the drug money
-or revenue from the sale of
automobiles, weapons and
other items connected to cap
tured drug-carriers or users
- has also gone to provide the
police department with all
new high-tech -equipped
patrol cars over the last year.
Hogansville will save
even more money on the new
headquarters building
because "We're acting as our
own (general) contractor and
subbing everything out," said
City M.~ger Randy Jordan.
"We tried two or three
times to bid the project out,
but we never did get a decent
bid so we decided to act as
the contractor ourselves.
"We're giving ourselves
four months" for construc-
tion time, he said.
Couple Faces
Drug Charges
Search
Follows
'T s'
By JOHN KUYKENDALL
A Hogansville couple has
been arrested and charged
with possession of suspect-
ed methamphetamine
(meth).
Jason Jimmy Johnson,
39, and his wife, Amanda
Christine Johnson, 21, were
both arrested and charged
with possession of suspect-
ed meth.
On Friday, March 5,
agents with the Troup County
Sheriff's Office Drug Unit
executed a search warrant at
373 Power Plant Road, Lot 1,
in Hogansville at approxi-
Troup County Sheriff
Donnie Turner stated that the
department had received
tips that drugs were being
sold from the home.
"Upon arriving at the
home, agents observed Jason
Johnson run into the resi-
dence," Turner said. "Agents
made contact with both Jason
and Amanda in the couple's
bedroom.
"After searching the bed-
room, agent~ found a large
number of small zip-lock
packaging bags, a set of dig-
ital scales, a tin container and
a taped medicine bottle
which had possibly been used
to store meth. Agents also
found a glass pipe in the bed-
room which we believe was
tised to smoke meth.
"In the kitchen, agents
found another glass smoking
pipe on top of the refrigera-
tor which we also believe was
used to smoke meth."
The couple was charged
and transported to the Troup
County Jail.
GOOD SHOWING- Feb. 26, 27 and 28 students from
the Stars & Strips D~_nce Studio in LaGrange attend-
ed a Contest of ~ampions at Walt Disney World. They
won three first place trophies and a third place trophy.
Their director is Carolyn Evans. From the bottom, going
clockwise are BdannaNeese (kneeling), Tiffany Hewett,
Megan Richardson, Heather Richardson and Jackalin
Neese.
• ,L,
t, ,,,
By c,.t c~/ixook
GOING UP - Workmen seen here are getting ready to pour the concrete floor in
Hogansville's new police headquarters buildin~ which is rising out of the red clay on
Lincoln Street. George Patrick is at the front of the, line of workers; Willie Terry is on the
Bobcat loader. ..... '
