Church Yard
Sale a Hit
r Bill Will Save Bucks
For Homeowners
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The
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Formerly The Hogansville Herald
Sewing the Hogansville-GramTiUe Area Since 1944
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HOGANSVILLE, GA
PERMIT NO. 35
VOL. 62, NO. 14 HOGANSVILLE, GEORGIA- THURSDAY, APRIL 7, 2005 10 PAGES . 1 SECTION . 1 INSERT .50¢ .
,Februaw '
Jobless Rates
Jobless
Picture
Worsens
By ROB RICHARDSON
Spring begins with unem'
ployment in the four-county
West Central Georgia area
substantially higher than it
was a year ago.
Troup rose to a 6.9 per-
cent rate in February com-
pared to a 6.8 in January.
In February of 2004,
Troup had 4.8 percent rate -
shortly before massive mill
layoffs were announced at
WestPoint Stephens.
According to figures just
released by the Georgia
Department of Labor, the
Harris-Troup-Meriwether-
Talbot area showed an aver-
age jobless rate-of'IS.2 per-
cent for February, compared
to 5.0 percent a year ago.
The area's 6.2 rate rose
slightly from the 6.1 percent
average shown in January.
: West Central Georgia's
numbers also remain high-
r than the statewide unem-
ployment average, which
Yeas 5.3 percent in February,
p from the 5.0 recorded for
lanuary.
The state rate was 4.2 in
February of 2004.
In the four counties, some
3,561 workers were jobless,
according to the labor depart-
ment.
Troup, the most populat-
ed of the four counties, had
the most unemployed: 2,080.
There were 722 in
Meriwether, 552 in Harris
and 207 in Talbot.
The jobless rate
improved slightly from
January to February in
Meriwether, but worsened in
Harris, Troup and Talbot.
;ee JOBLESS, Page 2A
By Clint Claybrook
THAT TIME OF YEAR - Willie Rosser, who learned his gardening techniques from
his mother; was at work among his flowers last week, including this azalea in his
yard at 406 Askew Avenue.
• ;. -
Auction s access No. Pleasing Ev, ,.ryone
By CLINT CLAYBROOK
:: The large crowds that the Van Byars
and Son Auctions bring downtown
!every other Saturday arestarting to
bother some Hogansville residents.
In recent weeks, Beverly Weeks and
others have complained about trucks
with merchandise headed to the auc-
tion showroom at 308 East Main St.
Weeks, in particular, has griped
about the Van Byars trucks blocking 'a
couple of handicapped parking places
in front of their store while unloading
during the week.
Some merchants have complained
that the auction crowds take up nearly
all the parking spaces in downtown on
Saturdays.
That would be understandable, per-
haps, except that promotion of down-
town "traffic"- shoppers, that is - is one
of the main objectives of the newly
organized Downtown Development
Association.
Traditionally, progressive mer-
chants learn to draw those crowds, who
are already downtown, into their own
stores.
Instead, it seems, the complaints
By Clint C!aybrook
WHAT AM I BID? -Jackie Byars
shows off one of the items some 80
people were bidding on in Hogansville
last Saturday.
about the auction traffic are continu-
ing. The DDA is known to be looking
into how to deal with the complaints
and downtown traffic in general.
On Saturday, April 2, just about
every parking place downtown was
occupied.
Downtown was so crowded that the
Hogansville Pharmacy had a red traf-
fic cone placed in one parking space
out front, reserving it for drug store
traffic only.
Inside the auction room, a crowd of
some 80 bidders was looking for deals
on everything from toy railroad cars
to individual pieces of china and com-
plete rooms of antique furniture.
Jason Brooks, the son of Van and
Jackie Byars was among the auction-
eers keeping up the constant stream Of
patter aimed at bidders, while his moth-
er helped display the many items on
sale. t
The Byars family has been helping
draw crowds for 14 years with their
auctions, a thrift shop on Highway 29
and the Oak Rose Bed and Breakfast,
which opened last year.
Saturday's crowd was small in com-
parison to others, Jackie Byars said.
"Normally we'd draw 200 to 300"
people at the auctions every two weeks,"
Maybe their son will help keep them
coming: Jason was recently judged the
best auctioneer among major college
entrants by the Georgia Association of
Auctioneers and will be competing in
July to find out if he's the best in the
country.
Alcohol
License
Approved
Packed House Watches Council
Unanimously Agree to Proposal
By BRYAN GETER
The Hogansville City
Council Monday night unan-
imously voted to approve an
application for an alcohol
license for China Cafe at 1879
East Main Street.
A packed house was on
hand for a public hearing
prior to the regular meeting
to voice their opposition to
the application.
One man said that there
was enough alcohol already
in Hogansville without vot-
ing for more to come.
Pastor Robert Longshore
of the Lighthouse Church
said he had given the coun-
cilmembers a brochure stat-
ing the dangers of alcohol.
"John Mayo, founder of
the Mayo Clinic, said that
alcohol is a poison," Preacher
Longshore stated.
He urged the council to
hesitate before voting on the
issue.
, "I have 20 grandchildren
and 12 great-grandchiIdren
that I am concerned about,"
he added.
One citizen asked, "don't
we have enough drinking and
drlving on our highways
already? One drink leads to
another."
But council members
unanimously approved the
license, except for
Councilwoman Jean
Crocker, who was absent:
Burglary, FireRaise-
Authorities' Suspicions
By CLINT CLAYBROOK
Investigators are looking
into a burglary that happened
on Friday, March 18 and a fire
that heavily' damaged the
same residence just south of
Hogansville four days later.
A mobile home belonging
to Greg and April Whaley at
360 Tin Bridge Road that had
been extensively added on to
was already burning when
one of their sons arrived
home about 3:30 p.m. on
March 22, April Whaley said.
It spread rapidly into
other parts of the house when
the boy opened the door,
according to Troup County
Fire Chief Jerry Heard.
The house was heavily
damaged through-out, so
extensively "that they'll just
have to bulldoze it hnd
rebuild," according to April
Whaley.
She said "everything but
my husband's clothes, and
mine, was destroyed" either
by fire, smoke or water.
BURGLARS who had hit
the residence on March 17
took just about everything
that wasn't nailed down, she
said, including her sons' Play
Station equipment.
She said the fire was more
than a little suspicious. "They
know it was suspicious
because a gas can was found
betweent the living room and
the dining room" and the eyes
on her gas stove were left
burning by whoever set the
fire, she believes.
The sheriff's department
is investigating, an investiga-
tor told The Home News.
OTHER HOUSES on Tin
Bridge Road have been bur-
glarized in recent days, the
Whaleys said.
In one of those incidents,
, according to sheriff's inves-
tigators, several pieces of
lawn equipment were taken
in a burglary that happened
between March 21 at 10 p,m.
and March 22 at 8 a.m.
Among the items stolen
in that incident at 573 Tin
Bridge Road were a Snapper
44-inch riding mower, a green
Murray self-propelled push
mower with an attached
grass catcher, a Stihl gas pow-
ered weedeater and a
TaskForce air compressor.
A bank account has been
opened at Flag Bank in
Hogansville to help the
Whaleys,and friends are ask-
ing the public to make
deposits to "The Whaley
Fund" and help a family in a
time of need.
By Clint Claybrook
TOTAL LOSS - Photograph made through a broken win-
dow at this home at 360 Tin Bridge Road shows the gut-
ted remains of Greg and April Whaley's residence,
