Seniors Told,
'Go Fly a Kite!'
-3,4
Methodists Attend
Church Conference_sA "1
-IOA
61, NO. 14
sted
Heists
JOHN KUYKENDALL
two people from
have been
charged with 21
of burglary by the
County Sheriff's
to Troup
Sheriff Donny
the department
an investigation into
in Feb. 2003.
had been following
leads in the case, but
got a break with a
to the "IYoup County
giving us a
tip led officers to
JoAnn East of
"The caller stated that
East was going to Town
Motel located on
Franklin Road in
to 'get rid of some
Turner
department dis-
gators to the
t the
the investigators
computer equip-
view in East's
ding to police
F
advising Ms. East
! u er Miranda rights, she
mtessed that she and her
>Yfriend had taken items
~m mini-storage buildings
~Hogansville Road,"
er said.
Iavestigators with the
~ent reported that the
r~ge buildings had been
21 times.
her boyfriend,
Alan Moore were
and charged on
of burglary.
East has admitted
most of the stolen
r said. "Three
loads of stolen
Were removed from
Hogansville and
to the Sheriff's
said other
might be forthcom-
investigation into
continue.
II
The
Formerly The Hogansville Herald
Serving the Hogansville-Grant lle Area Sim::e 1944
HOGANSVILLE, GEORGIA - THURSDAY, APRIL 1,2004
By Clint Claybrook
ALMOST READY- Workers put in a lot of hours to get the recreational facility pre-
pared for the long-awaited opening.
By Clint Clay'brook
OPENING SET- Mitchell Hill of the Troup
County Recreation Department stands in front
of one of the baseball fields at the new
Hogansville Sportsplex.
Sportsplex
Finally Gets
First Games
PRSRT STD
AUTO
U S POSTAGE PAID
HOGANSVILLE GA
PERMIT NO 35
• :~~ C~.AYlB~ .... ~ ...............
The first games of the 2004
Softball and Baseball Seasons were
played at the new Sportsplex in
Hog~msville on Monday night and ded-
ication of the facility has been sched-
uled for later this month at the facil-
ity, w here four baseball and softball
fields, restrooms and a concession
stand have recently been completed.
The dedication is scheduled for
5:15 p.m. April 19.
The,re are 14 teams signed up for
this season and they will involve about
170 you ngsters ranging in age from
four to 14 years, according to Mitchell
Hill, the Hogansville center supervi-
sor while Regina Dukes, the program
manager for Hogansville, is out on
materniqv leave, he said.
There are three T-Ball teams and
10 PAGES • 1 SECTION ,50¢
See SPOFITSPLEX, Page 2A
Straight Truth: Gay Marriage
A/rexzdy Illegal, Asserts Epps
From STAFF REPORTS
State Rep. Carl Von Epps
this week asserted that he is
opposed to gay marriage, fol-
lowing a controversial house
vote.
Epps issued a statement
this week, following letters
to the editor of various news-
papers in which readers
questioned Epps' stance on
Fry Dispute Erupts
Super-Sized Argument
Police sometimes get
calls - especially
~the moon is full.
~bout this one on
h 22, when the moon
even full?
report filed by a
officer on
an offi-
~Vas called to the local
rail
concerned about a
raised by a cus-
The complaint obviously
wasn't of the major league
variety: The officer wrote in
his report that the incident
involved "subjects in a white
vehicle arguing over an order
of French fries."
"The order was straight-
ened out and the customer
left" before he arrived on the
scene, the officer noted.
In other police activity
within recent days, accord-
ing to police reports:
*Jimmy Clark of 125 1/2
Granite St. was issued a cita-
]Run-Down
:Structures
Get Boot
Strict Code Enforcement,
Demolition Is Underway
By CLINT CLAYBROOK
The landscape in
Hogansville is changing: City
crews are at work demolish-
ing several o~ the old, aban-
doned houses that have been
left unattended for years by
absentee owners.
And the city is also mov-
ing to force landlords to ren-
ovate some of their commer-
cial buildings or face con-
demnation proceedings
which could result in the city
tearing them down and
billing the owners for demo-
lition costs.
And if the owners won't
pay, the city can move to
attach liens against the
Company building on
to "ante up" for the cost of
tearing them down and haul-
ing off the debris before the
land can be sold.
In recent days, the city
has moved against the own-
ers of a building practically
in the heart of the city that
partially collapsed sometime
in the past and now is con-
demned as an "unsafe struc-
ture."
The old Greene Oil
See POLICE, Page 2A
the same-sex
marriage con-
troversy.
Epps said
there "still
seems to be a
great deal of
Epps confusion about
Senate
Resolution 595."
Epps indicated that cur-
rent state laws already pro-
hibit gay marriage.
"The resolution is not
about whether you are for or
against gay marriage," Epps
Stated. "It is a resolution
about whether or not to place
the question on the ballot as
a Constitutional Amend-
ment."
In order to get married in
Georgia today you must be a,
See EPPS, Page 2A
Highway 29 is one of the lat-
est structures to be con-
demned by the city.
And the owner of a lawn-
mower repair shop that oper-
ates in part of the building
has been cited under the city's
nuisance ordinance, meaning
he'll have to clean up his oper-
ation or face court proceed-
ings.
VICTOR DOTSON has
what city officials say is a
successful lawnmower
repair business, but they are
attempting to force him to
clean up around the building,
including getting rid of what
appears to be dozens of old,
no-longer working lawnmow-
ers that spill out of the build-
~g praCticalIy into a'nea~:by
street.
Dotson rents the entire
Greene Oil Company build-
ing from its owners in
Fairburn, City Manager Roy
Jordan, who doubles as the
city's building inspector, and
the roof has collapsed in
places and it appears about
ready to crumble over the
See CLEANUP, Page 2A
By Cant ~aybrook
TOO MUCH CLUTTER - City Manager Randy Jordan
takes a look at some of the junk that's accumulated on
the back streets of downtown Hogansville.
Police to Hand Out
400 Free Gun Locks
By Oi~ C'tayb~3k
LOCKS A-PLENTY - Hogansville Police Lt. Johnwy
Lockard accepts the 400 handgun locks ,~at were dona t-
eci to the department as part of a campaign to keep guts
safe from children.
By CLINT CLAYBROOK
A national sports shoot-
ing organization has donat-
ed 400 gun locks to the
Hogansville Police
Department and they will
be given away free to resi-
dents who want to help
ensure that their handguns
can't be accidentally fired
by children.
Ryan Williams, who
works with the National
Shooting Sports
Foundation, and is helping
distribute the gun locks
across the country, deliv-
ered four cases of the locks
to the downtown
Hogansville Police
Department on Monday.
Police Lt. Johnny
I_x~ckard said the locks will
be given to any Hogansville
residents who wants them
as a way to help keep their
guns safe from misuse by
children.
See LOCKS, Page 2A
