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The
"l
Formerly The Hogansville Herald
Sen g the HogansviUe-Grantt le Area Since 1944
PRSRT STD .~
AUTO
U. S. POSTAGE PAID
HOGANSVILLE GA
PERMIT NO. 35
NO. 13
HOGANSVILLE, GEORGIA- THURSDAY, MARCH 25, 2004
10 PAGES • 1 SECTION * 1 INSERT ,50¢
Waste Removed
Growing Concerns
Troup
Agent
Help
R.INT CLAYBROOK
For the first time in
three years, Troup
residents - includ-
; those in Hogansville -
have a "farm agent"
from the
of Georgia
Service to help
with everything
best kind of lawn
for their yards.
because David
has been hired
by Troup and
counties: He
farm agent
but he is the
paid
counties.
to
after spending 30
as a vocational
He came to the
area
t the Bryan
Extension Service
a misnomer today,
farming on the wane
the Southeast.
modern-day
Page 2A
Team Clears Debris at House
Believed Used for Meth Lab
By C~a
BLAZING NEW FRONTIERS- David Moulder is not the first farm agent to serve mul-
tiple counties in Georgia, but he is the first in the state to be paid jointly by two coun-
ties.
By JOHN KUYKENDALL
A hazardous waste team
from Atlanta was called to
Hogansville on Thursday,
March 18 to remove and dis-
pose of contaminated items
believed to have been used to
produce methamphetamine
(meth) from a residence.
The Troup County
Sheriff's Department, fol-
lowing a tip, executed a
search warrant at 194 West
Hopson Road around 11:30
p.m. Thursday.
The department had
received information that
Maria Paige Blakeney, 32,
was in possession of and sell-
ing and manufacturing meth
at the residence.
"The agents made contact
with Blakeney when she was
arriving home and attempt-
ing to enter the residence,"
said Investigator Wesley
Gaddy with the Troup County
Sheriff's Department, the
tigatiorL
The officers searched
Blakeney and found numer-"
ous zip lock bags commonly
used to package meth and
approximately eight grams
of suspected finished meth
which was packaged in four
separate bags. According to
Gaddy, one of the bags con-
tained what officers believed
to be the "ICE" from of metl~
The agents then entered
the home and a search of the
residence uncovered the fol-
lowing items in the kitchen:
rock salt, methanol and
aquarium tubing. These
items are commonly used to
produce the drug.
In the bedroom of the
home, officers found two
plastic bags which contained
coffee filters that appeared
to have been used in the
extraction and drying
process of the cooking pro-
cedure to manufacture the
drug.
"After detecting a strong
chemical and ether odor com-
ing from a locked storage
building located at the rear
of the residence, agents
found a tote bag that con-
tained atwo gallon glass jar
inside the building," Gaddy
said.
"The jar contained what
is commonly referred to as
the "brain," which is actual-
ly methamphetamine oil. Just
outside the storage building,
agents found a one gallon gas
can filled with ether."
Blakeney was charged
and possession of suspected
methamphetamine with the
intent to distribute.
Officers also discovered
that Blakeney was wanted for
failure to appear in court as
a result of a previous arrest
for cn_minal attempt to man-
ufacture methamphetam_ine.
Because the items used
to produce the drug are very
unstable and hazardous,
agents contacted the haz-
ardous waste.team to remove
and dispose of all the items.
of Missing Contracts Muddles Streetscape Project Plans
"The check's in the mail" is said
One of the world~ great lies.
Tuesday, Hogansville offi-
must have been wondering ff
fs
)ject had fallen into
they were supposed-
r FedEx from the
engineering firm near
hag for a colby of those documents,
said Hogansville City'Manager
Randy Jordan, and DOT is even clos-
er to the Pr~ion l~anning offices
than is Hog~nsviRe.
And Tuesday was the day that
Mayor W'flson St. Clair and other
Hogansville officials hoped to sign
the contracts and let the Phenix City
firm know that it was supposed to
begin work within the next few days
or weeks.
But first, DOT had to agree that
everything was up to snuff in the
contract. And Dan Lee,
Hogansville's city attorney, was also
supposed to look it over.
still hadn't arrived by 1
city officials
award a $269,498 contract
to a Phenix City, AI~,
Work on the long-awaited
The state Department of Hogansville Streetscape Project,
was also still look- which is supposed to make the down-
town area more attractive - and
more user-friendly to the handi-
capped- could still begin with a mat-
ter of days.
Ripping up the old sidewalks and
pouring of the first load of concrete
couldn't come any too soon for city
officials, who have seen the project
pushed back, then again, and then
once more.
One three-week delay occurred
after DOT made the city redesign
a crosswalk at Highway 29 at Main
Street, to incorporate a signalized
pedestrian cross walE
Jordan was still hopeful early
26 could remain on target,
If that holds, it is hoped that
work, which will include essential-
ly rebuilding the sidewaU~,, rework-
ing the crossing at Main Street and
Highway 29 and a new 5,000-foot-
long sidewalk on Highway 29 from
the Piggly Wiggly to the Dairy
Queen can begin within a few days,
maybe by April 1.
City officials lmpe the work can
be substantially completed in time
for the July 4 parade.
Brooks Construction's bid was
some $263,000 below the bid of
J.H.C. Corp. and almost $169,000
Tuesday afternoon that the docu-less than the $431,891 bid by
ments would he delivered that day Ear-thscapes Inc., also of Phenix
by FedEx so that plans for a pre- City.
construction conference on March Part of the work will include
se Violation, Stolen Flagpole
Police in Hogansville Busy
" he stopped the Oldsmobile
fCUNTCLAYBROOK Cutlass at 11:53 p.m. On
March 22 because of an
An alert " Hogansville "improperly transferred
officer who spored a (license) plate," but made the
city street without a arrest after discovering that
to check it out: all VIN plates had been
vehi- removed from the car.
after it
out that all theVIN *Another traffic stop, this
identification num- one for violation of the state
Highway 29 on March 16.
*In unrelated incidents,
• police:
*Charged Phillip Wayne
M Millmn, 26, of 423 Power
Plant Road with disorderly
conduct and issued a warn-
ing about criminal trespass
when an officer was called to
Carters Manufacturing on
Industrial Road on a com-
plaint about "an employee
being out of control."
*~re told that a flag and
a flag pole were stolen from
the side of Phfllip Newell's
residence at 512 Askew
Street on the night of March
18.
Newell valued the flag
and the pole at $10 each,
according to that report.
was impound-
of .the missing
Nathan Lamar
23, of 8119 Forrest
Grantville, was
with improperly
a license plate.
Kenneth Knox
that
law regarding tinted win-
dows, resulted in a
Hogansville woman being
charged with having a sus-
pended license, according to
another police report.
In that case, Janie Lynn
Huffman, 36, of 105 Marshal
St, was charged with driving
with a suspended license
after she was stopped at the
corner of Ware Street and
installation of new street lights on
decorative poles downtown.
Another part will include mak-
:~ ing downtown sidewalks more
accessible by the handicapped,
which will also give them better
access to the downtown shops.
How far behind schedule is the
Streetscape Project?
It depends on the meaning of
"tentative," you might say: The City
Council had "tentatively" hoped that
the work could being in September
2003, after the city forwarded plans
for the project to the DOT in July
of last year.
The work will be paid for pri-
marily With federal highway funds,
which ~ be administered by the
state DOT.
POLICE BUILDING - Recent good weather has altowed for real progress on the
new IX)~ headquarte_ rs. The building is fi~ ~ red ~ ~ ~ln Street,
near the city garage. IWO workmen are ~ wo~ on a ~ wall.
