The Courier Herald
Transcription
The Courier Herald
The Courier Herald Thursday, April 9, 2015 Twiggs coach resigns, GBI investigating YOUR NEWSPAPER tchnews77@gmail.com • www.courier-herald.com Drawer B, Court Square Station, Dublin, Georgia 31040 • 272-5522 Baker spent several years at Dublin City Schools By JAMES TIDWELL JEFFERSONVILLE — The Georgia Bureau of Investigations has been brought in to investigate allegations surrounding Twiggs County High School's head basketball coach and former Dublin coach Fred Baker. Baker submitted his resignation which was approved by the Twiggs County Board of Education during their regular meeting Tuesday. Twiggs County Sheriff Darren Mitchum said he referred the investigation to the GBI when he was contacted by school system officials. “The school police contacted me and I got in touch with the GBI so we can get the investigation started,” Mitchum said. According to Georgia Bureau of Investigation Special Agent in Charge J.T. Ricketson, the GBI was requested to assist in the investigation involving a Twiggs County High School teacher and coach. “We were asked by the Twiggs County Sheriff's Department to assist them with a criminal investigation concerning a teacher,” said Ricketson of the Perry office, who added he could not comment on an ongoing investigation and was not at liberty to provide any details. Baker, who according to the Twiggs County School System website, is a graduate of Vanderbilt University with a degree in Human and Organizational Development. He has served as the Credit Recovery Specialist at Twiggs County High School and also coached football and was the varsity boys’ basketball coach. Baker is also the president of the Kaolin Middle School League, which consists of Twiggs, Wilkinson, Oak Hill, T. J. Elder and Hancock. Baker spent several years in the Dublin City Schools’ system as a teacher and coach at Dublin Middle School before taking the Twiggs County basketball post. “He has resigned voluntarily and is no longer an employee of the Twiggs County school system,” Twiggs County Superintendent Elgin Dixon said. “Any alleged allegations have been referred to the appropriate agency and we cannot comment on an ongoing investigation.” Knight bags record gobbler By RODNEY MANLEY Hunter Knight says he "was in the right place at the right time" when he bagged a trophy turkey that has scored as a new state-record and the ninth-ranked in the world. Not only did Knight bag the pending-record turkey, he filmed the hunt. "I was just sitting there on the ground, with the camera on a tripod between my legs. He just came over to the decoys, and I just drew back and waited," said Knight. The turkey has been officially scored, and the score of 119.5 submitted to the National Wild Turkey Federation. The record would be in the "atypical bow-kill gobbler." "Atypical" birds have multiple beards. They are scored just as one-bearded turkeys but recorded in their own category. Knight was hunting in Johnson County and used an Obsession bow with a Bi-polar Broadhead arrow. Asked how long he's been hunting, Knight joked "as soon as I came out of my mama." Eddie Bozeman, a former turkey federation official, and Jason Whittington, area chapter president with National Wild Turkey Federation, assisted in the official scoring, said Knight's father, taxidermist Tim Knight. Karen Cavender with the turkey federation also is assisting in the process, Tim Knight said. The bird was bagged on hunting land provided by Ben Attaway at Cedar Creek Timber Co., he said. Volume 101, No. 84, Pub. No 161860 $1 No court date yet in Hooks case BAKER Prosecuting Attorney's Council looking into case Knight shows off the world record-setting bird. Special photo By PAYTON TOWNS III An official with the Prosecuting Attorney's Council of Georgia confirmed that they are currently investigating the shooting death of David Hooks by deputies from the Laurens County Sheriff's Office. The official said they had received the case from the Attorney General's Office and are still investigating the case. No court date has been set yet, the official said. Chuck Spahos, executive director for the Prosecuting Attorney's Council of Georgia, who is leading the investigation, was not available for comment. In early February, Dublin District Attorney Craig Fraser reviewed the case and referred it to the Attorney General of Georgia to determine what action would be taken. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation was called in to investigate the shooting death of Hooks, 59, of 1184 Highway 319 North, on Sept. 24. Hooks’ family attorney Mitch Shook, with SalterShook-Tippett Attorney at Law from Vidalia, said they were glad the case was turned over to the Attorney General. "We felt like that was the right thing to do," Shook said. "From what I understand, (Fraser) is close to the Hooks' family. And obviously, any DA's office is going to be close to the sheriff's department in the counties that they serve. I think he made a decision that other DAs around the country probably should have made as well." Shook hopes Spahos will convene a Laurens County Grand Jury. "We hope he'll present it to the grand jury and they will consider all of the evidence," Shook said. "And it will be presented in a fair matter and not one sided." Shook said they know the direction they want to go in after Spahos and the grand jury has made their decisions. "Once all of that is complete, and we get everything we need, we are prepared to move fairly quickly," Shook said. Spahos has met with the family, Shook said. "He came down and met See HOOKS page 3a Recruiting process: GMC Dublin director busy drawing students to Skyscraper By PAYTON TOWNS III Sitting in her office in the Fred Roberts Hotel, Priscilla Smith couldn't help but have a smile on her face. Just down the road Garbutt Construction workers were busy with the renovation of the Downtown Skyscraper. Three of those floors will end up being Georgia Military College's satellite campus later this fall. "It's exciting," said Smith who will be the director of the GMC's Dublin Extension Campus. "So far (the renovation) is on target and on schedule." Smith was the GMC's campus director in Sandersville before moving over to her temporary office in the Fred Roberts Hotel on Feb. 17 in Suite 106 and 108. She can walk out of the building and down to Madison Street and see how things are going at the Skyscraper. "Anywhere you go in Dublin you can see the building," she said. While that work is being done, Smith has been busy recruiting students to attend the college this fall. "It's been exciting and See GMC page 3a This one’s for the girls...on two wheels Index Obituaries . . . . . . . . . . 2a Editorial . . . . . . . . . . . . 4a Weather. . . . . . . . . . . . 5a Hometown . . . . . . . . . . 8a Sports. . . . . . . . . . . 1b,2b Classifieds. . . . . . . . . . 3b Fun Page . . . . . . . . . . 4b Girl riders traveled from Wisconsin, Florida, Kentucky and even Canada to attend Elena Myers' girls only riding class last weekend at Herrin Compound in Laurens County. Attendees ranged in ages from 10 years old to 60s. Pictured is Elena Myers with Alexis Olivera from North Port, Fla. To see more pictures from the event, see 6a. (Special photo) Playing the waiting game... A train came to a halt in Downtown Dublin Wednesday afternoon, causing vehicles to find alternate routes through the downtown area. (Photo by Payton Towns III) The Courier Herald Thursday, April 9, 2015/Dublin, Ga/Page 2a Obituaries Regina Gail Haywood A memorial service for Mrs. Regina Gail Haywood, age 63, will be held at 11 a.m. Thursday, April 9, 2015 at the Chan Stanley Memorial Chapel with Dr. Al Haywood officiating. Mrs. Haywood was born Oct. 27, 1951 in Dublin, but has made Gainesville her home for the past 20 years. She was preceded in death by her parents, the late Albert Earl Haywood, Sr. and Jimmie Lee Harrison Haywood. She was employed by Chlors Restaurant. Mrs. Haywood passed away Monday, April 6, 2015. She is survived by her children, Robbie Bland of Dublin, Kimberly Johnson, Charlie Scarbrough and Chad Scarbrough all of East Dublin, brothers, Al E. Haywood, Mike Haywood and Ken Haywood all of Dublin, sisters, Wanda Haywood Smith of Dublin and Sandra Haywood Head of Macon and four grandchildren. Stanley Funeral Home and Crematory/Dublin Chapel has charge of funeral arrangements. To sign the Online Register Book please visit www.stanleyfuneralhome.com or call the 24 Hour Obituary Line at (478) 272-0106 to hear the latest updates. CARTER Glynda Hersey Carter Glynda Hersey Carter, 71, of Chattanooga, Tenn. and Waycross passed April 6, 2015 in Erlanger Hospital. Preceded in death by her son, Gary Morgan Carter. She was survived by her husband of 52 years, Carl Morgan Carter; daughter April (Adam) Royer; granddaughter, Morgan Royer. Funeral services will be held at 4 p.m., Friday in the Valley View Chapel of Chattanooga Funeral Home. Graveside services will be held at 2 p.m., Saturday at Northview Cemetery in Dublin. The family will receive friends from 2 to 4 p.m., Friday at the funeral home. Please share your thoughts and memories online at www.chattanoogavalleyviewc hapel.com Funeral arrangements by Chattanooga Funeral Home Valley View Chapel, 7414 Old Lee Highway Chattanooga TN 37421. ——— ——— Cleo Shivers Valentine Funeral services for Mrs. Cleo Shivers Valentine, age 75 of Soperton, who died Saturday, April 4, 2015 at Serenity Place in Dublin, will be held Friday at 1 p.m. in the First Church of God in Christ. The burial will follow in Baker Cemetery. Elder John L. Toler will officiate. Mrs. Valentine was born in Laurens County-Dublin on March 18, 1940 to the late Willie E. Shivers and Lizzie Mae Davis-Shivers. Cleo attended school in Aiken County, S.C. She relocated to Soperton and was a member of Holy Temple COGIC. She was employed by Sweat’s and Coleman’s BBQ for a period of 36 years. Mrs. Valentine was preceded in death by five brothers: Robert Willie, Samuel, Charles and Robert Lee two sisters: Mabel King and Betty Jean Smith. Survivors include four daughters: Sarah (Milton) King, Gloria Smith, Gracie Richards and Delores Worthen of Soperton; five sisters: Willie Mae Williams, Betty Jo (Herman) King of Soperton; Juanita Mosley, Linda (Eugene) Johnson and Lizzie Bell Lewis of Aiken, S.C.; one aunt, Evelyn Davis of Dublin, twelve grandchildren and thirteen great grandchildren; a host of nieces, nephews, cousins and friends. MORRIS Dr. Larry Allen Morris Dr. Larry Allen Morris, age 80, passed away Tuesday, April 7, 2015, after an extended illness. He was born in Macon, but spent his formative years in his beloved Dublin. This is where his love of sports was nurtured as quarterback for four years and also starring as a basketball and baseball player. Larry is survived by his wife, Marjorie (Mardi) Roberts Morris; his daughter, Leslie Louise Morris; his sister Camelia O’Neal and her husband Del; stepdaughter, Amy Roberts Kuhnel, her husband Brian and their three children – Brent, Adam and Elaine; and his stepson, Scott Roberts, his wife Dawn and their children – Chase Price and Ford. He was pre- ceded in death by his wife Linda Burnside Morris and his daughter JoAnna Morris Anastos; his mother, Lillian Huff Morris and father Henry Grady Morris. He was a Phi Beta Kappa honor graduate from Emory. After serving in the army, he then went to the Medical College of Georgia where he was an AOA honor graduate in 1961. Next came an internship at Duvall County Hospital in Jacksonville, Fla, followed by a pediatric residency in the Emory program in Atlanta. His pediatric practice in Gainesville began in 1968 with Dr. Ben Gilbert. In 1984 he served as Chief of Staff of NEGA Medical Center. He – with his partners Dr. Harvey Newman, Dr. Buddy Langston, and Dr. Everett Roseberry – was a founding member of the Longstreet Clinic in 1995. Dr. Langston describes Larry’s practice: “Larry was an exceptional pediatrician who was highly respected by his peers. The loving care given with respect and patience to the children and families who came to him earned him their loyalty and devotion. He was never too busy to answer a question or too tired to get out of bed when needed. His obvious intelligence and pleasant demeanor (except when the Braves or Tech lost) and willingness to do more than his share made him a perfect partner and an asset to the medical community. He made our part of GA a better place to raise a family or practice medicine.” Larry’s mother, a florist, conveyed her love of flowers to him, and he was a dedicated and talented gardener. His parents were strong believers, and he always loved his Lord and his church communities. And he was a truly joyful giver of all he possessed. A memorial service will be held at First Presbyterian, 800 S. Enota Drive, NE, Gainesville, GA 30501 on Sunday, April 12, at 3 p.m., followed by a family reception in Swetenburg Fellowship Hall. Nursery will be provided. In lieu of flowers, donations to his memory may be made to the First Presbyterian mission fund. To express condolences, please sign our online guest book at www.flaniganfuneralhome.co m. Arrangements by: Junior E. Flanigan of Flanigan Funeral Home and Crematory, Buford, 770-932-1133. ——— Sarah J. Macklin JONES Smith Farm’s Berries And More Fresh Soft Serve Strawberry Ice Cream 307 Saxon St. - Dublin, GA 31021 1628 Veterans Blvd • 478-304-1208 Funeral services for Mrs. Minnie Lee Jones, of Rentz, will be Saturday, April 11, 2015, at 1 p.m. at the New Providence Baptist Church, 3127 Fountain Road in Cadwell. Pastor Edward Northcutt will officiate. Interment will follow in the church cemetery. Mrs. Jones who passed on April 3, 2015, was born on January 20, 1918, to Elous and Mary Coley. She was married to the late Frank Jones, Sr. She was educated in Dexter in the public school system. She was a faithful member of New Providence Baptist Church where she was a dedicated member of the choir and was active in many auxiliaries until illness prevented her attendance. Her hobbies were gardening, cooking and sewing. She was a resident of Dublinair Health Care and Rehabilitation Center until her passing. Mrs. Jones was preceded in death by her parents; six brothers, Roosevelt, Flem, Lester, Moses, Elisha and Henry Coley; two sisters, Carrie and Eva. She was also preceded in death by her sons, Ralph, Tarron, Leon, Lynn and Clifton and by a son-inlaw, Dozier Council. She is survived by her children, Jerman (Joan) Dixon of Atlanta, Lois Council of Cadwell, Frank (Wanda) Jones, Jr., of Douglasville, Freddie (Gloria Jean) Jones of Rentz, Marilynn (Gerald) Hobbs of Acworth, Sandra Jones of Rentz, Angela Blue of Macon, Clayton Jones, Sr. of New Orleans, Louisiana; daughter-inlaw, Helen Jones of Dublin. She also leaves to cherish her memories, her sisters; Pinkie Lee Dixon of Jacksonville, Fla., Annie Maude Edmond of Rentz, and Birdie Mae Taylor of Jacksonville, Fla. and a host of grandchildren, greatgreat grandchildren, nieces, nephews, cousins and friends. The family will receive friends at 3287 Fountain Road in Cadwell. Services By Dudley Funeral Home of Dublin. Please post condolences at www.servicesbydudley.com ——— MACKLIN Strawberries For All Your Plumbing Needs! Minnie Lee Jones NOW 2813 Old Eastman Rd. OPEN! 984-8041 • 278-7317 Call for hours. Funeral Services for Mrs. Sarah J. Macklin, 78, of Detroit, Michigan, will be held on Saturday, April 11, 2015 at OCONEE CHECK CASHING SERVICE & PAWN We Cash Checks! We Pawn! We Buy Gold! OCONEE BAIT & TACKLE 754 Central Dr. 7 50 For guest accompanying player at full price off EXTERIOR 00 2,075 00 $ $ 103 Terrace Dr. Dublin, GA SPRING CLEANING TIME FOR 272-3579 1,600 SF x .06 = 96 2,000 SF x .06¢=$12000 ¢ $ 00 Additional Charges for Concrete MPHI 478-272-8138 PEST CONTROL: TERMITE, MOSQUITOS & ANTS Total Protection for your Home! We Do Mold Remediation! Call Devin Nabors 478-272-8955 or Toll Free: 1-866-405-BUGS WWW.BUGHOUSEPESTCONTROL.COM ROBINSON Jaquel Octavius Robinson Funeral services for Mr. Jaquel Octavius Robinson, of Tennille, Georgia, will be held on Sunday, April 12, 2015, at 11 a.m. at the Dixon Grove Church of God In Christ, 2515 Dixon Grove Road in Tennille. Reverend Jeremiah Wooden will officiate. Interment will follow in the church cemetery. Mr. Brown, who passed away on April 5, 2015, was born on January 31, 1996. He was an honor student at Washington County High School, and had planned to enter the United States Army after graduation. He is survived by his mother and father, Chadrick Walker and Jacqueline Lawanda Roberson of Tennille; significant other, Shanita Allen; brothers, Chadrick Dewon (Tyla J.S.) Walker of Gainesville, Quintavious Isiaih Walker of Tennille; grandparents, Linda Jean Merrell and Leon Merrell of Tennille, Bobby Lee Walker of Oconee; aunt and uncles, Sharika L. (John) Wright of Douglasville, Johnathon K. Walker of Tennille, Bobby Jermaine (Yolanda Evette) Walker, Jr. of Tennille, Rodrick Tristan Walker and Robert T. Hicks, Jr. of Roberta; great grandparents, Thelma Lee May and Lenard May, Venita Robinson of Oconee and a host of aunts, uncles, cousins, relatives and friends. The family will receive friends at the family residence, 537 Tennille-Oconee Road in Tennille, and at the Dudley Funeral Home on Saturday, 6-7 p.m. Services By Dudley Funeral Home of Dublin. Please post condolences at www.servicesbydudley.com. See OBITS on 3a SIGN UP TO GET FREE AMBER ALERTS ON YOUR CELL PHONE. wirelessamberalerts.org A child is calling for help. Y B I RT H D AY 6/26/13 Love, Husband, Children & Grandchildren LICENSED BY THE GEORGIA DEPARTMENT OF BANKING AND FINANCE. 275-7477 P AP 4/9/27 East Dublin 1626 Suite D Veterans Blvd. Dublin, Georgia 31021 33ͶȀ͵ͲȀͳͷ H Mon.-Sat. 6 am-7 pm • Sun. 7 am-5 pm 3 36 $ 11 a.m. at the Williams Chapel Baptist Church, 1142 Georgia Highway 29 South, East Dublin. Reverend Brian Ashley will officiate. Burial will follow in the Laurens Memorial Gardens, Buckeye Road, East Dublin. Mrs. Macklin, youngest daughter of the late Arthur Wright and Lavader Rozier Wright was born September 8, 1936. Her early childhood was spent in Dublin. She attended Oconee High School and joined the Williams Chapel Baptist Church at an early age. She moved to Detroit, Michigan in 1955 in search of employment. She retired from the Transportation Industry after fifteen years of service. Sarah loved visiting the sick and preparing her annual neighborhood soup. She also loved gardening, fishing, and playing with her golden retriever, “Sandy” before he passed away. She joined the New St. Paul Tabernacle Church of God in Christ in 1971. After serving faithful in the ministry and being saved for forty (40) years, Mother Macklin chose to celebrate this victory by serving dinner (which she both purchased and prepared) to the New St. Paul Tabernacle Church family. She also helped organize a very successful “Family and Friends Day” in October 2014. In earlier years, Mother Macklin sung in the New St. Paul Tabernacle choir and was President of the Nurses Guild. After a brief illness Mother Macklin was summoned home to be with the Lord. She made her transition on Good Friday Morning, April 3, 2015. She peacefully and quietly transitioned to her new home, one not made by mortal hands. Mother Macklin was preceded in death by her loving husband, Curtis Macklin; parents; and grandparents, Jim and Everline Rozier and Charlie and Mary Wright. Mother Macklin leaves to cherish her fond memories: a sister, Arthurlean (Howard) Ware of Detroit, Michigan; three uncles, Billy Rozier, Eddie (Ruth) Rozier and Norman Rozier of Grand Rapids, Michigan; a devoted aunt, Christine Rozier of Dublin; a faithful god-daughter, Felicia A. Jackson of Southfield, Michigan; god-grandchildren, Lauren and Lynn of Southfield, Michigan; a loyal goddaughter, Ashley McClinton and special god-grandson, Jayron Jernigan both of Detroit, Michigan; a host of relatives, friends, and her New St. Paul Tabernacle Church family. The family will receive friends at 512 Railroad Avenue, East Dublin. Services by Dudley Funeral Home of Dublin. Please post condolences at www.servicesbydudley.com. ——— >/E^ Θ /E^hZ Visitation will be on Thursday, April 9, 2015 from 1-7 p.m. at Baker Funeral Home. Baker Funeral Home has charge of the arrangements. ——— Mr. Fix It 3,ŽŵĞ3ZĞŵŽĚĞůŝŶŐ3Θ3ZĞƉĂŝƌ ͻ3 EĞǁ3ŽŶƐƚƌƵĐƚŝŽŶ ͻ 4ůů3&ůŽŽƌŝŶŐ ͻ 4ĚĚŝƚŝŽŶƐ3Θ3ZĞŵŽĚĞůƐ ͻ WĂŝŶƚ3Θ3ƌLJǁĂůů ͻ ĞĐŬƐ3Θ3WĂƚŝŽƐ ͻ ^ŝĚŝŶŐ3Θ3ZŽŽĨŝŶŐ t3K3/d34>>͊ 34>>3h^3dK4z͊ 478-279-1823 ϭϴϭϭ33ZŝĐĞ34ǀĞ͕͘3ƵďůŝŶ͕3'43ϯϭϬϮϭ3ͮ3&Ădž͗3ϰϳϴͲϮϵϲͲϮϭϮϰ The Courier Herald Continued from 2a Obituaries Favorite uncle reveals himself with a shocking sext message DEAR ABBY: I am heartbroken. I have an uncle "Tony" I'm close to, who is like my best friend. I was sending him pictures of a football game and he sent me back a very inappropriate picture of himself. He says it was a "mistake," that it was supposed to go to his wife, but the text message he sent with it showed different. I don't want to be around him. I'm disgusted and hurt over this. I need advice. What do I do? -- HEARTBROKEN IN GEORGIA DEAR HEARTBROKEN: Share the photo and texts with your parents and ask what they think about them. Then ask if they think you should forward the picture and text message to your aunt with a note explaining Uncle Tony said they were meant for her, and you didn't want her to miss them. Because he makes you uncomfortable, listen to your intuition and keep your distance because what he did was appalling. DEAR ABBY: I'm a female working full-time in an office with all men. Yesterday afternoon, I ate a salad that contained several varieties of beans. I was standing outside my boss's office, laughing at a joke one of the salesmen was telling when the beans got the best of me and I passed gas. I was mortified and wanted to sink through the floor! I patted the salesman on the arm and said, "I guess that's what I think of the joke," and walked back into my office. I didn't know what else to say or do. Today I can't look either of them in the face. Since this seems to be something that happens to older people (I'm 69), and it's something we often don't have total control over -- please tell me how to "recover." If this should happen again, what on earth does one say or do? -- BEANS, THE MUSICAL FRUIT DEAR B.T.M.F.: Stop beating yourself up over this. Expelling gas is normal. According to the National Institutes of Health, the average person passes gas about 14 times a day -- although probably not as spectacularly as you did. If it happens again, don't try to be funny. Just say, "Excuse me," and if the "toot" is a fragrant one, distance yourself. I'm positive that would be appreciated. DEAR ABBY: We are planning to give a joint baby shower next month for two sisters-inlaw who are expecting their babies three weeks apart. The joint shower is a necessity because some of the relatives will need to travel quite a distance to attend. Most of the guests know both girls, but some will know only one of them. Is there a way we can word the invitation so these guests won't feel obligated to "gift" both babies? Any suggestions will be gratefully appreciated because we are stumped. -STUMPED IN OHIO DEAR STUMPED: Put nothing on the invitations themselves mentioning gifts. However, it is acceptable to include an INSERT along with the invitation that states gifts for both babies are not expected. If the shower is going to be a large one, you could email the guests to relay the information. However, if it will be relatively small, pick up the phone and call. Superior Pools 278-6968 Liner Replacements & Weekly Maintenance Hooks Thursday, April 9, 2015/Dublin, Ga/Page 3a SOLOMON Joe Louis Solomon Funeral Services for Mr. Joe Louis Solomon, 76, of Dublin, will be held on Saturday, April 11, 2015, at 12 p.m. at the Green Grove Baptist Church, 2418 US Highway 441 South, Dublin. Reverend Milton Hughes will officiate. Burial will follow in the Moore Station Cemetery, Dublin. Mr. Solomon was presented by God on February 24, 1939, to his parents, Louis and Annie McTear Solomon, both of whom preceded him in death. Affectionately known as “Brother or Bro", he began his early education in Dublin and was baptized and received his early christian experience at the Green Grove Baptist Church. In 1956, Mr. Soloman moved to Miami, Fla., where he continued his christian experience at the New Mount Calvary and eventually at the Greater New Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church under the leadership of Reverend Roscoe Jackson, where he served faithfully on the Ushers Ministry. He was married twice, and to those unions, 3 children were born. Mr. Solomon was a very hard worker. He worked for various companies in Miami, Florida: Dixie Bedding and Ryder Trucking Company. It was at Ryder Trucking where he gained most of his experience as a truck driver to one of the best tire mechanic repairmen and as a lead worker. He retired after 20 years of service in 1997. Following his retirement, in 1998 he moved back to Dublin to “Solomon’s Lane” where he continued farming, and raising/caring for live stock. He also had many hobbies repairing cars, where he was perfected to be one of the best shade tree mechanics and fishing whiz, until he purchased a boat and named it “Lil Shirley,” after his daughter. He also had a love for communication broadcasting (CB Radio). With the handle name: “Tire Hammer” he communicated with travelers and truckers on the road. He also had a passion for fast moving hot rods. He later rejoined the Green Grove Baptist Church, under the leadership of Reverend Milton Hughes, where he was a faithful member of the Ushers Ministry until his health began to fail. On Saturday, April 4, 2015, at 11:13 p.m., the Lord saw a need to call him to a new home, where there is no more pain and suffering. Mr. Solomon was preceded in death by one daughter, Jolinda Solomon Assaf; granddaughter, Tydesha Harrell; siblings, Mary Lee Payne, Willie Solomon, Johnnie Solomon, Annie L. Green, Randolph Solomon and Mary Lou Smith (twin sister). He leaves to mourn two daughters, Brenda Solomon of Miami, Fla., and Shirley Solomon of Ashburn, V.A.; two sons, Larry Whirl and Donald (Elaine) Carswell both of Dublin; one aunt, Tressie Solomon of Oxford, Maryland; six grandchildren, Paris Solomon, Abdul-Kareem and Jihad Assaf of Miami, Fla., Jamal Solomon Pryor of Ashburn, V.A., Montu and Tevin Carswell, both of Dublin; three great-grandchildren; a host of nephews, nieces, great nephews, great nieces, cousins, other sorrowing relatives and friends. The family will receive friends at the Dudley Funeral Home on Friday, April 10, 2015, 5-6 p.m. Services by Dudley Funeral Home of Dublin. Please post condolences at www.servicesbydudley.com. ——— Continued from 1a with the family and saw the scene," Shook said. "He indicated to us then that he had a lot of responsibilities with the General Assembly which was convened at the time. Once that was over, this was going to become his No. 1 priority and he would dive into it head first. Since the legislature is out of session, the hope is it will get moving." Law enforcement and Hooks’ family have two different versions on what happened the night on Sept. 24, 2014. According to a press release from GBI Atlanta Headquarters, the sheriff's office requested the GBI Eastman Office to investigate the case. Preliminary information was that the deputies were executing a search warrant at Continued from 1a HIGHTOWER Swan Hightower Funeral Services for Mr. Swan Hightower, 89, of Wrightsville, will be held on Friday, April 10, 2015 at 1 p.m. at the Antioch Baptist Church, 133 East Trilby Street in Wrightsville. Reverend Norman Roberts will officiate. Burial will follow in the Westview Cemetery, Wrightsville. Mr. Hightower was born in Johnson County, Wrightsville on October 10, 1925, to the late Arthur Curry and Mattie Hightower. He departed this life on Easter Sunday, April 5, 2015, after a brief illness. On March 10, 1959, he married Lillie M. Hightower and to this union a daughter was born. Swan was a lifelong resident of Johnson County and worked many jobs, to include Tennille Cotton Mill and Crowntex, up until his retirement. He was a wonderful husband and father with such a great sense of humor. Mr. Hightower was lovingly known as “Pa-Pa” to his many grandchildren and great grandchildren. When they came to visit, and it was time to leave, he would always give each one of them two dollars. This continued into their adulthood without them ever receiving a raise. Mr. Hightower was preceded in death by two brothers, Willie James Hightower and Cleveland Hightower; and by two sisters, Carrie Patterson and Rebbie Hightower Wright. Mr. Hightower was a caring and kind person who will be missed by many. He leaves to cherish his memory his devoted wife, Lillie M. Hightower; three daughters, Carolyn (Mark) Mitchell of Atlanta, Joann H. (Oliver) Sueing of Sharpsburg, and Thelma Outlaw of Fort Pierce, Fla.; four sons, Jimmie Coleman of Wrightsville, John Coleman of Philadelphia, P.A., Frankie Coleman of Camp Hill, Pennsylvania, and Leon Butler of Wrightsville; one sister, Annie Pearl Sellers of Tampa, Fla.; two devoted nieces, Robbie (Lee) Fails of East Dublin and Dessie Wright of Wrightsville; several grandchildren, greatgrandchildren, and a host of relatives and friends. Mr. Hightower will be placed in the church, and available for viewing, from 11 a.m. until the funeral hour. The family will receive friends at 119 Martin Luther King Drive, Wrightsville. Services by Dudley Funeral Home of Dublin. Please post condolences at www.servicesbydudley.com. fun," she said. "I've been to East Laurens, West Laurens, Dublin, Trinity and Moore Street School and the Diamond Academy. It's special to see the student's eyes when they hear there is going to be another college here in Dublin. Some didn't realize there was another college coming to Dublin. It's exciting to bring that awareness to the students as well as recruiting them at the same time, letting them know that they have another higher education option here." Smith is also trying to reach out to the surrounding counties. "I'm reaching out to them as well to let them know that we have something 30 minutes closer," she said. "For the most part, they'll only be coming this way two days a week, either on Monday and Wednesday or Tuesday and Thursday. That's how our class schedules will be set up. It's a win-win situation. It really is." Before the new campus opens, GMC students from this area had to travel to Milledgeville or Warner Robins. Now they can make a shorter commute to the Dublin Campus. "Now it's in your own backyard," Smith said. "That's a big contrast from having to travel 45 miles to Milledgeville or Warner Robins. Now people can stay closer to home." A few weeks ago, Smith joined other recruiters at a Youth Rally for juniors in Hooks’ house between 10:45 and 10:50 p.m. that Wednesday. When the deputies went to the house, an uniformed deputy went to the door, knocked on the door and announced "sheriff's department, search warrant" three to four times. Hooks came to the door with a shotgun pointed at the deputies, who told him to put the shotgun down. Hooks then pointed the shotgun at the deputies in a more aggressive manner, causing the deputies to fire at him. A week later, Shook told the media that a few days before the shooting, a Lincoln Aviator was stolen from Hooks' house. It was later learned that Rodney Garrett stole the vehicle. Meth was found on Garrett and a digital scale was found in the car along with two firearms. Garrett said the drugs belong to Hooks. The LCSO got a search warrant which Shook said was "invalid." He said the LCSO arrived at the house without emergency lights or sirens on. Because their house had been burglarized two nights before, the attorney said David and Teresa thought the burglars were back and a home invasion was about to happen. Shook said Hooks was trying to protect his wife and house. "There was a lot of evidence and individuals involved that had to be interview and a lot of scientific evidence that had to be gone through," Shook said about the GBI's investigation. "The GBI had other things that were going on too. It took them a little longer than usual to complete their investigation." high school. When it came time for her to make her pitch about GMC, Smith said, "No SAT, No ACT scores required. All you need is a high school diploma or a GED and come and see me. The students were excited. They can't believe that they cam get into college without a SAT or ACT scores. So much emphasis has been placed on those scores, that they think that's the only way they are going to be able to get into college. GMC is offering other alternatives." Smith said students have to take a Compass Placement Test. "We meet the students where they are," Smith said. "If they place in regular college Algebra, that's where we place them. If they test in what we call our learning support classes, that's what classes we put them in." GMC will offer the same type of professors students could find at other colleges or universities. Typically in a year, GMC will have five terms: Fall one, Fall, Winter, Spring and Summer. The Fall one term begins on Aug. 1 and goes to the end of September. "Because the Skyscraper won't be ready until the first week of September, that would fall into the the middle of our term," Smith said. "We won't be able to start offering classes until the Fall term which will begin on Oct. 10." However, dual enrollment classes fir high school students will begin in August. "Because I have recruited and spoke with the councilors, some of the principals and the superintendents from our local school system, they have agreed to allow us to teach dual enrollment classes at their schools beginning Aug. 1," Smith said. "I will hire the adjunct (teachers) to teach the classes. Typically dual enrollment is math and English. I will have a math and English instructor sent to East Laurens West Laurens, Trinity and Dublin to teach the dual enrollment classes. All they need is a minimal of seven students to have those. We weren't expecting that at first." Besides recruiting for students, Smith is actively accepting applications for teachers, especially in math and English. "I'd like to have all of my adjuncts in place by July," Smith said. "Therefore I know who to send and when they'll be going to the high schools." Smith is excited for that first day of class in the Skyscraper this October. "I can't wait," she said. "When they had the lights on inside the building, my face just lit up. It was something to see those lights on while riding through downtown Dublin. I can only imagine what it's going to be like to see those lights on this fall and see the students in the class with the professors in there lecturing. It's really, really happening. I'm excited about this and the community is excited. There is a tremendous buzz in the community about GMC." Barnes, who did not immediately return phone messages. The U.S. attorney's office in Atlanta, which is prosecuting the case, also declined to comment. Prosecutors have said Brooks misappropriated funds meant for charity and used the money to pay personal and family expenses. Brooks has pleaded not guilty. Barnes said at the time that Brooks may not be good at bookkeeping but didn't commit a crime. GMC State Rep. Brooks to enter plea in federal court ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia state Rep. Tyrone Brooks is set to enter a plea on federal charges. Court records show the Atlanta Democrat, who was indicted in May 2013 on charges of mail fraud, wire fraud and filing false tax returns has a plea hearing Thursday afternoon in federal court in Atlanta. Reached by phone Wednesday evening, Brooks referred questions to his lawyer, former Gov. Roy For All Your POOL NEEDS (478) 272-5366 1615 Telfair St., 441 S, Dublin, Georgia 31021 Get ready to swim SALE! Starts Thursday, April 2nd Ends Saturday, April 11th All Pool Chemicals (Discount Good on Cash & Credit Card Sales Only) OVER 3000 POOLS INSTALLED! We build our own pools and never subcontract out the work. MONDAY MANIA 50% OFF Make a donation towards life transformation. 706 Central Dr. East Dublin 478-304-0254 Wedding and Event Rentals Pam Mathis - Owner 1096 Mathis Rd. Dublin, GA | 478-278-4484 • Weekly Maintenance Available • Liner Replacements (with 20 yr warranty) • Pool Renovations 2273 Veterans Blvd. Dublin, GA (478) 275-0506 Milledgeville, GA (478) 452-1976 Vidalia, GA (912) 403-3295 The Courier Herald The Courier Herald GRIFFIN LOVETT, Publisher DUBOSE PORTER, Executive Editor JASON HALCOMBE, Managing Editor PAM BURNEY, Advertising Director CHERYL GAY, Circulation Manager Published by Courier Herald Publishing Company 115 S. Jefferson St., Dublin, Georgia 31021-5146 W.H. LOVETT President and Chairman, 1934-1978 DUBOSE PORTER Chairman GRIFFIN LOVETT President Periodicals Postage Paid at Dublin, Georgia (USPS 161-860) - Daily except Sunday and select holidays POSTMASTER: Send address change to: The Courier Herald, Drawer B, CSS, Dublin, GA 31040 SUBSCRIPTION PRICES: Print Edition - $10/month Digital Edition - $10/month This newspaper is committed to the idea that the press should tell the truth without prejudice and spread knowledge without malicious intent. Our Take: There are 390 reasons we can improve as a community At the corner lawn of the Carl Vinson VA Medical Center, pinwheels shaped to form “390” are clearly visible from one of our busiest intersections. They represent the number of child abuse reports filed in Laurens County in 2014. To say that is “too many” like Brooke Wood, Stepping Stone executive directory, is a true understatement. One is too many. To know that nearly 400 children were potentially abused is unacceptable. How do we reduce that number? For one thing, make it clear to abusers that our community is ready to advocate for children. Second, don’t hesitate to contact the authorities if you suspect a case of child abuse. Finally, be vigilant. Victims and potential victims of child abuse only remain silent if we fail to empower them to speak out and against this heinous crime. Give a voice to the voiceless by shouting from the rooftops that Laurens County will not accept child abuse in any form. — Jason Halcombe Serving You Pres. Barack H. Obama 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. N.W. Washington, D.C. 20500 (202) 456-1414 Gov. Nathan Deal State Capitol Atlanta, Ga. 30334 (404) 656-1776 Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle 240 State Capitol Atlanta, Ga. 30334 (404) 656-5030 Sen. David Perdue B40D Dirksen Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510 Phone: (202) 224-3521 Fax: (202) 228-1031 Sen. Johnny Isaakson United States Senate 120 Russell Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510 Tel: (202) 224-3643 Fax: (202) 228-0724 One Overton Park, Suite 970 3625 Cumberland Blvd Atlanta, GA 30339 Tel: (770) 661-0999 Fax: (770) 661-0768 Rick Allen Congressman WASHINGTON, D.C. 513 Cannon H.O.B. Washington, DC 20515 P:(202) 225-2823 F:(202) 225-3377 Ross Tolleson Georgia State Senator District 20 121 D State Capitol Atlanta, Ga 30334 (404)656-0081 Fax (404) 651-6767 ross.tolleson@senate.ga.gov Matt Hatchett Georgia House of Representatives District 150 State Representative 415 State Capitol Atlanta, GA 30334 404-656-5025 Phone 404-657-8278 Fax matt.hatchett@house.ga.gov In Our Opinion Thursday, April 9, 2015/Dublin, Ga/Page 4a Insight and viewpoints from our editorial board and our readers Seven state contitutions: ‘The acknowledgement of God Email us at tchnews77@gmail.com to share your opinions By DR. JACK E. BROWN America’s Christian/religious heritage is addressed in the contitutions of all 13 original states (formerly English colonies) that comprised the young United States of America. Thus, from the very beginning of our nation, God has been acknowledged. It was politicaly correct to do then, and it is politically correct to do so today. It is hard to argue with the very words of our state constitutions. Her are those initial statements from seven of our original 13 states with the dates their constitutions were approved: Pennsylvania (1776): “We, the people of Pennsylvania, grateful to Almighty God for the blessings of civil and religious liberty, and humbly invoking His guidance, do ordain and establish this Constitution...” Connecticut (1776): “The People of this State...by the Providence of God...that the sole and exclusive right of governing themselves as a free, sovereign, and independent State...and forasmuch as the free fruition of such liberties and privileges as humanity, civility, and Christianity call for, as is due to every man in his place and proportion...hath ever been, and will be the tranquility and stability of Churches and Commonwealth: and the denial thereof, the disturbances, if not the ruin of both.” Virginia (1776): “Article XVI, Virginia Bill of Rights: That Religion, or the Duty which we owe our Creator, and the Manner of discharging it, can be directed only by Reason and Convictions, not by Force of Violence; and therefore all Men are equally entitled to the free exercise of Religion, according to the Dictates of Conscience; and that it is the mutual Duty of all to practice Christian Forbearance, Love and Charity towards each other.” Maryland (1776): “We, the people of the state of Maryland, grateful to Almighty God for our civil and religious liberty...” Georgia (1777): “We, the people of Editorial Roundup... April 7 Anniston (Alabama) Star on the Iran deal: The reality-based mainstream of U.S. diplomacy rides again. We see it in the recently agreed-upon framework to keep Iran's nuclear ambitions in check ... a pragmatic document, a clear-eyed view of the situation as it stands, not how we might wish it to be. This is part of a long bipartisan tradition of U.S. presidential administrations that carefully untangled global threats slowly over time without resorting to full-scale warfare. When the United States deviates from this mindset, it's usually disastrous. See the Bush administration's reckless rush to war with Iraq. The puffed-up neocons tied to President George W. Bush even dismissed dissenters as members of the "reality-based community." Sadly, the reality of pre-emptive war with Iraq squandered Americans' lives and treasure, and the region is still paying the price. The Iran nuke framework as promoted by the Obama administration is anything but the cowboy way. It's more in line with the realists in the first Bush administration who resisted the calls to topple Saddam Hussein in the early 1990s. They knew that the tearing down and toppling would be easy, and the rebuilding would be extremely costly. The realism of the Iran deal is similar to the path chosen by U.S. presidents during the Cold War who managed to avoid direct war with the Soviet Union. Instead, they slowly wore down the Soviets over time until the communists collapsed over their own failed ideology. Will this same strategy work with Iran and its national dream to join the nuclear-weapons club? No one can say for certain, but it's worth a try and far better than all-out war. The recently announced framework is merely a first step in working out a deal to put Iran's nuclear program on hold in exchange for lifting of economic sanctions. There's a long way to go. An agreement is worthless without credible inspections to ensure Iran is sticking to its side of the bargain. Also, there must be a procedure to reinstall sanctions should the Iranians backslide. The world has plenty of reasons to distrust Iran, a disruptive force in its region and a supporter of terrorists and brutal dictators. However, if a deal can be properly structured, the world would be better off with an Iran that paused its nuclear program for at least a decade. Americans can be assured that we've faced down bigger threats in a similar way. ___ April 8 Decatur (Alabama) Daily on legislature needing to separate church and state: State legislators are busy imposing their view of Christianity when they need to be grappling with Alabama's critical problems. It's not new for governments to embrace a religion, or even particularly unusual. But do we really want to go there? One law at a time, the Alabama Legislature is imposing its own gloss of Christianity on a state in which 84 percent of the population is Christian. Rather than try to convince people of their views of morality, they are using the power of the state to mandate those views. Theocracies are not all bad. Vatican City seems to function well enough. If its state-run media is to be believed, the people of Iran are generally content with their Supreme Leader and Sharia-based legal system. And state religions are downright common. Most such governments have Georgia, relying upon protection and guidance of Almighty God, do ordain and establish this Constitution.” South Carolina (1778): “We, the people of the State of South Carolina, grateful to God for our liberties, do ordain and establish this Constitution.” Massachusetts (1780): “We, therefore, the people of Massachusetts, acknowledging, with greateful hearts, the goodness of the great Legislator of the universe, in affording us, in the course of His providence (an opportunity to form a compact)...and devoutly imploring His direction in so interesting a design...(establish this Constitution).” This, then, is our American heritage, our Christian/religious heritage. God has blessed America from her very beginning, and His blessings are clearly acknowledged in the constitutions of America’s first 13 states represented by seven of those states. Praise be unto God! Peace! embraced Sunni Islam. Some U.S. states have had state religions, but it was a practice that petered out quickly with the adoption of a First Amendment that prohibited Congress from making any "law respecting an establishment of religion." Indeed, one of the last to give up on a state religion was Connecticut. ThenPresident Thomas Jefferson famously encouraged the state to disestablish itself from the Congregationalist Church by noting the First Amendment demonstrated America's desire to build "a wall of separation between church and state." Jefferson's comments resonated, because America was populated with many who left England because of their frustration with its state religion, the Church of England. In Alabama, legislators are brandishing their Bibles as they condemn homosexuality, and condone those who would discriminate against gay couples. They can't resist laws making abortion an option only for the very wealthy. They ensured that children can say "Merry Christmas," have prayer meetings and give religious presentations at school. Embarrassed that Indiana is getting all the attention for its law giving businesses the "religious freedom" to turn away gays and lesbians, legislators are seeking to amend Alabama's similar law to make sure it is just as blatant. Alabama has severe problems the Legislature needs to address. It has an archaic tax system that brings in too little revenue and places an excessive burden on the poor. Its corrections system is overwhelmed, its population is unhealthy and it has a broken health care system. Rather than using the power of the state to impose religious views of morality, it is time for the Legislature to tackle the difficult task of running a state. The Courier Herald YOUR COURIER HERALD LOCAL 7-DAY THE NEXT 24 HOURS TODAY TONIGHT TOMORROW 89 65° 86° Sunrise 7:11 a.m. Mostly sunny with a 20 percent chance of showers and Thunderstorms. Sunset 7:56 p.m. Cloudy and mild. Latest observed value Rivers Sunrise 7:09 a.m. Mostly cloudy with a 40 percent chance of showers and Thunderstorms. Ocmulgee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12.51” Oconee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7.64” FRIDAY SATURDAY SUNDAY Hi 86 Lo 64 Hi 83 Lo 60 Hi 78 Lo 59 Sunrise 7:09 a.m. Sunrise 7:08 a.m. Mostly cloudy with a 40 Mostly sunny with a 10 percent chance of percent chance of showers and showers. Thunderstorms. Highs in the lower 80s. Highs in the lower 80s. Lows in the mid 60s. Lows in the mid 60s. Sunrise 7:07 a.m. Cloudy with a 60 percent chance of rain. Highs in the high 70s. Lows in the high 50s. MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY Hi 82 Lo 63 Hi 84 Lo 63 Hi 85 Lo 63 Sunrise 7:06 a.m. Cloudy with a 90 percent chance of thunderstorms. Highs in the low 80s. Lows in the low 60s. Tell It! Older style Ipod stolen from an unlocked vehicle Thursday, April 9, 2015/Dublin, Ga/Page 5a Sunrise 7:04 a.m. Cloudy with a 80 percent chance of thunderstorms. Highs in the mid 80s. Lows in the low 60s. Sunrise 7:03 a.m. Scattered thunderstorms with a 60 percent chance of scattered thunderstorms. Highs in the mid 80s. Lows in the low 60s. COMMUNITY CALENDAR Friday •Dublin Serenity Al-Anon Family Group, 1515 Rice Ave. Dublin (use back entrance) Friday 6:30 p.m. •Dublin/Laurens Commission on Children, Youth and Families (Laurens County Family Connection) Board of Directors. Call (478) 296-9141. •AA I Am Responsible Group contact 272-5244 or 2758259, 1515 Rice Ave., 8 p.m. •NA We Surrender, Contact 275-9531, noon, 629 Broad Street, East Dublin. Saturday •Teen Talk 1-4 p.m. at Turning Point Church of God in Christ, 511 McKinley St. •Wrightsville Serenity Group AA meeting at 8 p.m. Located across from Dairy Queen in Wrightsville. •Millville High School Alumni at 11 a.m. at Millville School •AA I Am Responsible Group Contact 272-5244 or 2758259, 1515 Rice Ave., Saturday and Sunday 8 p.m. •AA 24 Hour Group, Contact 279-0839, 629 Broad Street, E. Dublin, Ga, Sundays at 9 a.m. •NA We Surrender, Contact 275-9531, 629 Broad Street, East Dublin, Sundays at 3 p.m. Today is Thursday, April 9, the 99th day of 2015. There are 266 days left in the year. Today's Highlight in History: On April 9, 1865, Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee surrendered his army to Union Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House in Virginia. On this date: In 1413, the coronation of England's King Henry V took place in Westminster Abbey. In 1682, French explorer Robert de La Salle claimed the Mississippi River Basin for France. In 1913, the first game was played at Ebbets Field, the newly built home of the Brooklyn Dodgers, who lost to the Philadelphia Phillies, 1-0. In 1914, the Tampico Incident took place as eight U.S. sailors were arrested by Mexican authorities for allegedly entering a restricted area and held for a short time before being released. In 1939, singer Marian Anderson performed a concert at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. after being denied the use of Constitution Hall by the Daughters of the American Revolution. In 1940, during World War II, Germany invaded Denmark and Norway. In 1942, American and Philippine defenders on Bataan capitulated to Japanese forces; the surrender was followed by the notorious Bataan Death March. In 1945, German pastor and theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer, 39, was executed by the Nazis at the Flossenburg concentration camp. In 1959, NASA presented its first seven astronauts: Scott Carpenter, Gordon Cooper, John Glenn, Gus Grissom, Wally Schirra, Alan Shepard and Donald Slayton. Architect Frank Lloyd Wright, 91, died ALMANAC in Phoenix, Ariz. In 1965, the newly built Astrodome in Houston featured its first baseball game, an exhibition between the Astros and the New York Yankees, with President Lyndon B. Johnson in attendance. (The Astros won, 2-1, in 12 innings.) In 1983, the space shuttle Challenger ended its first mission with a safe landing at Edwards Air Force Base in California. In 1996, in a dramatic shift of purse-string power, President Bill Clinton signed a lineitem veto bill into law. (However, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the veto in 1998.) Ten years ago: Britain's Prince Charles married longtime love Camilla Parker Bowles, who took the title Duchess of Cornwall. Tens of thousands of supporters of a militant Shiite (SHEE'-eyet) cleric filled central Baghdad's streets, demanding that American soldiers go home. A day after the funeral for Pope John Paul II, cardinals began an intense period of silence and prayer before their conclave to choose the next pope. Feminist author Andrea Dworkin died in Washington, D.C. at age 58. Five years ago: Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens announced his retirement. (His vacancy was filled by Elena Kagan.) Wisconsin forward Blake Geoffrion, the grandson of Hockey Hall of Famer Bernie "Boom Boom" Geoffrion, received the Hobey Baker Memorial Award as college hockey's top player. Meinhardt Raabe, who'd played the Munchkin coroner in "The Wizard of Oz," died in Orange Park, Florida, at age 94. One year ago: A 16-year-old boy armed with two knives went on a rampage at Franklin Regional High School in Murrysville, Pennsylvania, stabbing 20 students and a security guard (all of whom survived). Call 272-0375 The Braves went into South Beach and swept those Marlins. They are 3-0 and it is still possible to go 162-0. Of course they can also go 3-159. I have no problem with what the teacher said because it’s her opinion. I do not believe she should have said it in a sixth grade classroom though. Stuff in Gordon is better than some reality TV shows. Instead of filming that Honey Boo Boo show, they should send a crew to the meetings. I’m ready for the Masters in Augusta. This is really the only time each year that I pay attention to golf. Not only was the teacher wrong but her husband, the board member, knows he was wrong being involved in the parent teacher conference. He should appologize to his fellow board members and she should appologize to her class for bringing this on the school system. We all make mistakes. Let’s remember that Jesus taught us to forgive one another no matter what they did. I did the Teen Maze two years ago. It was a wake up call. Bring on the weekend. W a nt to T el l It? Keep it 37 wo rds or l es s K e e p it c l e a n. Keep it r eal . Cal l 27 2-0 375 tellit@c o urier-herald.c o m o r Tell It! at w w w.c o urier-herald .c o m President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, visited Fort Hood, Texas, the scene of a shooting a week earlier in which three U.S. Army soldiers were killed by a fellow soldier who then took his own life. Today's Birthdays: Playboy magazine founder Hugh Hefner is 89. Satirical songwriter and mathematician Tom Lehrer is 87. Naturalist Jim Fowler is 85. Actor Jean-Paul Belmondo is 82. Actress Michael Learned is 76. Country singer Margo Smith is 73. Country singer Hal Ketchum is 62. Actor Dennis Quaid is 61. Comedian Jimmy Tingle is 60. Country musician Dave Innis (Restless Heart) is 56. Actresssports reporter Lisa Guerrero is 51. Actor Mark Pellegrino is 50. Actress-model Paulina Porizkova is 50. Actress Cynthia Nixon is 49. Rock singer Kevin Martin (Candlebox) is 46. Rock singer Gerard Way (My Chemical Romance) is 38. Actress Keshia Knight Pulliam is 36. Rock musician Albert Hammond Jr. (The Strokes) is 35. Actor Charlie Hunnam is 35. Actor Ryan Northcott is 35. Actor Arlen Escarpeta is 34. Actor Jay Baruchel is 33. Actress Leighton Meester is 29. Actor-singer Jesse McCartney is 28. Rhythm-and-blues singer Jazmine Sullivan is 28. Actress Kristen Stewart is 25. Actress Elle Fanning is 17. Actor Isaac Hempstead Wright is 16. Classical crossover singer D u b lin P o li c e D e p a r tm e n t An officer responded to an entering automobile on Stonewall Street on March 25. The owner of a 2011 Cadillac said someone took an older style Ipod from her unlocked vehicle. - Derrick Wright, 39, of Dublin, was charged with pedestrian under the influence of alcohol or drugs, criminal interference with government property and obstructing or hindering law enforcement officers at the intersection of Prince Street and Roosevelt Street on March 20. - A white Hot Point refrigerator was stolen from an apartment at Johnson Homes between Feb. 25 and March 25. - A Dublin teenager was hit by three people and lost his necklace and cell phone on Dewey Street on March 23. La u r e n s C o u n ty S h e r i f f ’s O f f i c e - A tag and decal were stolen from a 1991 trailer on Blackshear Ferry Road in West Dublin between March 20 and 24. - A Cadwell woman told a deputy about her son receiving a phone call from a possible scam artist on March 24. - A shotgun, revolver, black gun case and BB gun were stolen from a location on Ashland Court on March 24. - A 300 gallon propane tank was stolen from Baker Church Road in Rentz on March 24. - A lawn mower battery S.C. officer who shot man had prior excessive force complaint NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — The white South Carolina police officer charged with murder for shooting an unarmed black man in the back was allowed to stay on the force despite a 2013 complaint that he used excessive force against another unarmed black man. In an exclusive interview with The Associated Press, Mario Givens recounted Wednesday how he was awakened before dawn one morning by loud banging on the front door of his family's North Charleston home. On the porch was Patrolman Michael Thomas Slager, the officer now charged in the shooting death of Walter Lamer Scott, which was captured in dramatic cellphone footage by a bystander Saturday. Givens, who was clad only in a T-shirt and boxer shorts, cracked open his door and asked what the officer wanted. "He said he wanted to come in but didn't say why," said Givens, now 33. "He never said who he was looking for." Then, without warning, Slager pushed in the door, he said. "Come outside or I'll tase you," he quoted the officer as saying, adding: "I didn't want that to happen to me, so I raised my arms over my head, and when I did, he tased me in my stomach anyway." Givens said the pain from the stun gun was so intense that he dropped to the floor and began calling for his mother, who also was in the home. At that point, he said another police officer came into the house and they dragged him outside and threw him to the ground. He was handcuffed and put in a squad car. Though initially accused of resisting the officers, Givens was later released without charge. Asked about the 2013 incident on Wednesday, North Charleston police spokesman Spencer Pryor said the department plans to review the case to see whether its decision to exonerate Slager was correct. Pryor said he had no timetable for the review. Givens' relatives remember the encounter vividly. "It was very devastating," said Bessie Givens, 57, who was awaked by her son's piercing screams. "You watch your son like that, he's so vulnerable. You don't know what's going to happen. I was so scared." It turned out that Givens' arrest was a case of mistaken identity. Officers had been looking for his brother, Matthew Givens, whose exgirlfriend had reported that he came into her bedroom uninvited, then left when she screamed and called 911. The woman, Maleah Kiara Brown, told The AP on Wednesday that she and a friend had gone to the Givens home with the officers and were sitting outside when Slager knocked on the door. The second officer had gone around to the back of the house. She had provided the officers with a detailed description of her ex-boyfriend, Matthew Givens, who is about 5 feet, 5 inches tall. Mario Givens stands well over 6 feet. "He looked nothing like the description I gave the officers," Brown said. "He asked the officer why he was at the house. He did it nicely. The police officer said he wanted him to step outside. Then he asked, 'Why, why do you want me to step outside?' Then the officer barged inside and grabbed him." Moments later, she saw the police officers drag Mario Givens out of the house and throw him in the dirt. Brown said she kept yelling to the officers that they had the wrong man, but they wouldn't listen. Though Givens was offering no resistance, she said, she saw Slager use the stun gun on him again. "He was screaming, in pain," she said. "He said, 'You tased me. You tased me. Why?' It was awful. Terrible. I asked the officer why he tased him and he told me to get back." "He was cocky," she said of Slager. "It looked like he wanted to hurt him. There was no need to tase him. No reason. He was no threat — and we told him he had the wrong man." She said she later told a female police supervisor what she had seen. The next day, an angry Mario Givens went downtown to police headquarters and filed a formal complaint. He and his mother say several neighbors who witnessed what happened on the family's front lawn also contacted the police, though they say officers refused to take their statements. The incident report filed by Slager and the other officer, Maurice Huggins, provides a very different version of events. In the report, obtained by The AP through a public- records request, Slager wrote that he could not see one of Givens' hands and feared he might be holding a weapon. He wrote that he observed sweat on Givens' shirt, which he perceived as evidence that he could have run from Brown's home, and then ordered him to exit several times. When Givens didn't comply, Slager said he entered the home to prevent him from fleeing and was then forced to use his stun gun when Givens struggled with him. The officers' report describes the Givens brothers as looking "just alike." After Mario Givens filed his complaint, the department opened an internal investigation. A brief report in Slager's personnel file says a senior officer was assigned to investigate. After a couple of weeks, the case was closed with a notation that Slager was "exonerated." Brown is listed as a witness in the investigative report, but her purported statement included none of the details she said she provided about Slager shocking Givens while he was on the ground. She said she was never contacted as part of the police investigation and had not spoken with anyone about that night until she was contacted by an AP reporter Wednesday. The report includes statements from Givens and from another woman who was there that night, Yolonda Whitaker, who said she saw Slager stun Givens "for no reason." Efforts to reach Whitaker by phone and the addresses listed for her in the police report were unsuccessful. Givens said he was never contacted as part of the internal investigation and learned the case had been closed only after he went to the station about six weeks later and asked what happened. "They never told me how they reached the conclusion. Never. They never contacted anyone from that night. No one from the neighborhood," Givens said. Givens shook his head Wednesday when asked about his reaction to learning Slager had been charged with murder. Slager is being held without bail. "It could have been prevented," Givens said of Scott's death. "If they had just listened to me and investigated what happened that night, this man might be alive today." For All Your Domestic violence is the single greatest cause of homelessness among women and children in Georgia POOL NEEDS (478) 272-5366 1628 Veterans Blvd • 478-304-1208 FINANCING AVAILABLE 272-8000 or 800-WINGS-03 2273 Veterans Blvd. | (478) 275-0506 | 1-800-284-0506 For All Your Plumbing Needs! 1626 Suite D Veterans Blvd. Dublin, Georgia 31021 307 Saxon St. - Dublin, GA 31021 275-7477 Superior Pools 278-6968 Wedding and Event Rentals Liner Replacements & Weekly Maintenance Police Beat from Auto Zone was stolen on Irish Lake Drive in East Dublin on March 24. - An Atlanta man met with a deputy in reference to a tractor trailer throwing a rock up on I-16 and cracking his windshield on March 24. Editor's note: This information is public record and was taken from reports of the Dublin Police Department and the Laurens County Sheriff's Office. These reports do not reflect on the guilt or innocence. An "arrest" does not always indicate incarceration. Readers are cautioned that people may have similar names. Police Beat does not identify minor children, victims of sexual assault, suicide attempts or medical conditions. Cases dismissed do not appear if the newspaper is notified before deadline. Pam Mathis - Owner 1096 Mathis Rd. Dublin, GA | 478-278-4484 1615 Telfair St., 441 S, Dublin, Georgia 31021 The Courier Herald Ladies Page Thursday, April 8, 2015/Dublin, Ga/Page 6a Mail to: Drawer B, Court Square Station, Dublin, Georgia 31040 Submit online at www.courier-herald.com • Email: news@courier-herald.com • Phone: 272-5522 The best paint color for a dark room EUBANKS - LITTLE TO WED Together with their families, Ms. Katie Eubanks and Mr. Dustin Little would like to announce their engagement. The bride is the daughter of David and Judy Eubanks of Rentz; granddaughter of Louise Allen, the late Billy Wood, Bonnie Eubanks and the late John Eubanks. Katie is a graduate of West Laurens High School and is a CSR at Allgood Pest Solutions. The groom is the son of Gloria Little and the late Woodrow Little Jr., the grandson of the late Woodrow Little Sr., Ruth Little, Nell Tanner and the late Troutman Tanner. Dustin is a graduate of Twiggs Academy and is owner/operator of Little Timber Harvesting. The couple plans to wed May 2, 2015. Dustin Little and Katie Eubanks to wed May 2. (Special photo) Fairview Park Hospital makes donation to American Heart Association Fairview Park Hospital celebrated American Heart Month in a fashionable way – virtually, that is. On Feb. 25, 2015 physicians and staff members gathered in the hospital classrooms to cast their vote on the most creative pose/theme from 12 entries in the fourth annual Go Red Virtual Fashion Show. Earlier in the month Mike Jones, a local photographer captured images of staff members dressed in red. Those images were crafted into display boards and a digital slide show shown during a four hour voting period. Physicians and employees were encouraged to “stuff the ballots” with money on which entry was the best. $673.40 later a winner was declared – the American Heart Association. While the competition is great fun, ultimately the cause is to raise awareness to fight heart disease in our community. Fairview Park will round the donation off to present the American Heart Association with $1,000. (Special photo) This week I’ve been helping a couple choose the right paint colors for their entire house. We’ve had some interesting discussions: she wants to go bold, he wants to play it safe. But what came out of these lively debates were some common misconceptions about how to liven up a dark space with paint. Considering the source and quality of light in a space is important when picking paint colors for it. Natural light affects colors differently than artificial light. Incandescent bulbs present colors differently than fluorescent and LED ones. The absence of light requires the same level of consideration as a brighter room. Insufficient natural light is common in powder rooms, hallways, basements, rooms without windows, and rooms that face north. These spaces present unique challenges when it comes to choosing colors that won’t get lost in the shadows. The solutions are fairly simple, even if they may seem counterintuitive. I found a discussion between two color experts, Ellen Divers and Donna Frasca. The best solution to lighting and lightening up a room? Simple: Add more light, they both say. Here are a few other questions that my readers may be curious about when tackling a dark, shadowy room. What do you think is the biggest mistake homeowners make when choosing colors for rooms with no or insufficient natural light? The biggest mistake is to follow the notion that you must paint the room a light color because light colors reflect more light. Yes, light colors do reflect more light, but if there is limited light in the room in the first place, then there’s not much that’s going to be reflected, and light colors can end up looking sad and gray. Some homeowners think they need to forgo color altogether in a dark room. There’s this common myth that painting a small, dark space white will make it appear larger. That may work to a certain extent, but it can also result in making an already uninteresting room that much more uninteresting. Overall, what types of paint colors work best to enhance dark rooms? Generally, a dimly lit room means more shadows. Shadows will subdue any color you put on the walls. So you may need to compensate and choose a more saturated (brighter, more pigmented) color than you might for a better-illuminated space. Of course the saturated hues work best in any dark area. The cleaner the color (meaning the less black it contains) the lighter and brighter the paint color is. One hue that will brighten a dark room is gold, but you have to choose a “clean” gold such as one with more white in it. What colors would you suggest for a powder room without windows? Powder rooms are great opportunities to do something fun and out-of-the-box. Usually, people aren’t spending much time in these spaces, so we’re not as concerned about the impact of color on their mood. Pick a color that pops, that makes you say “Wow!” While it depends on the bathroom, a fun choice is a dark or unexpected color, which you’d think would be the last thing to do, but it makes an otherwise humdrum room stunning. What colors do you recommend for hallways? Paint them any color you like, keeping in mind what we discussed about how colors behave in the dark. An interesting idea is to paint one wall darker than the other to create the illusion of a wider hallway. Since hallways are often narrow spaces, I would use caution with very bright, very pure colors because they have a way of “jumping off the wall” and making the space feel more enclosed than it really is. Medium values (not light, not dark) might be a good choice here. A light neutral for the hallway is always good because these areas are often dark. Also, and more importantly, because they’re often the main area of the home where many other rooms connect. There will be colors in those other rooms and if you choose a “color” for the hallway, there is no separation; the home can start looking like a bag of jelly beans. Hope these thoughts about paint color will help decide on the right paint color for that dark space. Next week, I’ll give even more tips for picking the perfect paint colors for your rooms. Claire Livingston is an interior designer, public speaker, and workshop facilitator. Send your ideas and comments to her at The Courier Herald, Drawer B, Dublin, Georgia 31040, or contact her at clivingston.interiors@gmail.com. Scenes from Elena Myers’ girls only riding school Special photos MONDAY MANIA 50% OFF 1626 Suite D Veterans Blvd. Dublin, Georgia 31021 Make a donation towards life transformation. 706 Central Dr. East Dublin 478-304-0254 275-7477 Superior Pools 278-6968 Liner Replacements & Weekly Maintenance 3 36 7 $ 50 For guest accompanying player at full price off 33ͶȀ͵ͲȀͳͷ MONDAY MANIA 50% OFF Make a donation towards life transformation. 706 Central Dr. East Dublin 478-304-0254 Wedding and Event Rentals Pam Mathis - Owner 1096 Mathis Rd. Dublin, GA | 478-278-4484 The Courier Herald Thursday, April 9, 2015/Dublin, Ga/Page 7a VA makes little headway in fight to shorten waits for care FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. (AP) — A year after Americans recoiled at new revelations that sick veterans were getting sicker while languishing on waiting lists — and months after the Department of Veterans Affairs instituted major reforms costing billions of dollars — government data shows that the number of patients facing long waits at VA facilities has not dropped at all. No one expected that the VA mess could be fixed overnight. But The Associated Press has found that since the summer, the number of vets waiting more than 30 or 60 days for non-emergency care has largely stayed flat. The number of medical appointments that take longer than 90 days to complete has nearly doubled. Nearly 894,000 appointments completed at VA medical facilities from Aug. 1 to Feb. 28 failed to meet the health system's timeliness goal, which calls for patients to be seen within 30 days. That means roughly one in 36 patient visits to a caregiver involved a delay of at least a month. Nearly 232,000 of those appointments involved a delay of longer than 60 days — a figure that doesn't include cancellations, patient no-shows, or instances where veterans gave up and sought care elsewhere. A closer look reveals deep geographic disparities. Many delay-prone facilities are clustered within a few hours' drive of each other in a handful of Southern states, often in areas with a strong military presence, a partly rural population and patient growth that has outpaced the VA's sluggish planning process. Of the 75 clinics and hospitals with the highest percentage of patients waiting more than 30 days for care, 12 are in Tennessee or Kentucky, 11 are in eastern North Carolina and the Hampton Roads area of Virginia, 11 more are in Georgia and southern Alabama, and six are in north Florida. Seven more were clustered in the region between Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Colorado Springs, Colorado. Those 47 clinics and hospitals represent just a fraction of the more than 1,000 VA facilities nationwide, but they were responsible for more than one in five of the appointments that took longer than 60 days to complete, even though they accounted for less than 6 percent of patient visits. That has meant big headaches for veterans like Rosie Noel, a retired Marine gunnery sergeant who was awarded the Purple Heart in Iraq after rocket shrapnel slashed open her cheek and broke her jaw. Noel, 47, said it took 10 months for the VA to successfully schedule her for a follow-up exam and biopsy after an abnormal cervical cancer screening test in June 2013. First, she said, her physician failed to mention she needed the exam at all. Then, her first scheduled appointment in February 2014 was postponed due to another medical provider's "family emergency." She said her make-up appointment at the VA hospital in Fayetteville, one of the most backed-up facilities in the country, was abruptly canceled when she was nearly two hours into the drive from her home in Sneads Ferry on the coast. Noel said she was so enraged, she warned the caller that she had post-traumatic stress disorder, she wasn't going to turn around — and they better have security meet her in the lobby. "I served my country. I'm combat wounded. And to be treated like I'm nothing is unconscionable," she said. The AP examined wait times at 940 individual VA facilities from Sept. 1 through Feb 28 to gauge any changes since a scandal over delays and attempts to cover them up led to the resignation of VA Secretary Eric Still waiting... The Veterans Affairs system operates more than 1,000 facilities. Here is a look at some regions where waits were longest over a sixmonth period beginning on Sept. 1 and ending Feb. 28: ——— Northern Florida: It's a long drive from the tip of Florida's panhandle to Jacksonville, on the Atlantic coast, but with some detours you can hit four of the most delay-prone VA outpatient clinics in the country. The VA clinics in Jacksonville, Tallahassee, Panama City and Pensacola collectively completed 250,000 appointments during the six-month period. Nearly 13 percent of those visits involved a wait of longer than 30 days, well above the national average of 2.8 percent. In Jacksonville, 7,117 appointments involved a wait of more than 60 days — more than in the entire states of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut combined. ——— Central Alabama: When the U.S. government built a veterans hospital in Tuskegee, Alabama, in 1923, the idea was to create a haven for black servicemen excluded from "whites only" medical facilities. From September to February, that facility and its sister medical center in nearby Montgomery, Alabama, struggled more than any other VA hospitals to meet the department's goals for timely access to care. About 9 percent of patient visits involved a wait of longer than 30 days. ——— Georgia: Of the 100 VA hospitals and clinics with the most patients waiting more than 30 days for care, 10 are in Georgia. A small VA clinic near Fort Benning, in Columbus, Georgia, has been among the worst performers. About 13 percent of patient visits involved a wait of more than 30 days. It has close to the longest average wait for mental health care in the country. At the VA hospital in Dublin, one in 36 appointments involved a wait longer than 60 days. ——— Shinseki in May and prompted lawmakers to pass the Veterans Access, Choice and Accountability Act in August. The analysis included all VA hospitals and outpatient clinics for which consistent wait time data was available. It excluded residential treatment centers, homeless dormitories and disability evaluation centers. Data for individual facilities were not available for August.¬† It is difficult to quantify exactly how things have changed because the VA introduced a new method for measuring wait times at the end of the summer. VA officials say the new methodology is more accurate, but its adoption also meant that about half of all patient appointments previously considered delayed are now being classified as meeting VA timeliness standards. That means published wait times now can't be directly compared with data the VA released last spring. The trend, however, is clear: Under the VA's old method for calculating delays, the percentage of appointments that took longer than 30 days to complete had been steadily ticking up, from 4.2 percent in May to nearly 5 percent in September. Under the new method — the one that counts half as many appointments as delayed — the percentage went from 2.4 percent in August to 2.9 percent in February. The number of appointments delayed by more than 90 days abruptly jumped to nearly 13,000 in January and more than 10,000 in February, compared to an average of around 5,900 the previous five months. That's not a change that can simply be blamed on bad winter weather; many of the places reporting the largest gains are warm year-round. VA officials say they are aware of the trouble spots in the system. They cite numerous efforts to ramp up capacity by building new health centers and hiring more staff. And they say that in at least one statistical category, the VA has improved: The number of appointments handled by VA facilities between May and February was up about 4.5 percent compared to the same period a year earlier. But they also readily acknowledge that in some parts of the country, the VA is perpetually a step behind rising demand. "I think what we are seeing is that as we improve access, more veterans are coming," Deputy Secretary of Veterans Affairs Sloan Gibson told the AP. He also acknowledged that the VA has historically been "not very adroit as a bureaucracy" in responding to those changes. It takes too long to plan and build new clinics when they are needed, he said, and the VA isn't flexible in its ability to reallocate resources to places that need them most. "We are doing a whole series of things — the right things, I believe — to deal with the immediate issue," Gibson said. "But we need an intermediate term plan that moves us ahead a quantum leap, so that we don't continue over the next three or four years just trying to stay up. We've got to get ahead of demand." He also asked for patience. President Barack Obama signed legislation in August giving the VA an additional $16.3 billion to hire doctors, open more clinics and build the new Choice program that allows vets facing long delays or long drives to get care from a privatesector doctor. It will take time to get some of those initiatives expanded to the point where they "move the needle," Gibson said. Between Nov. 5 and March 17, according to VA officials, only about 46,000 patients had made appointments for private-sector care through Choice — a drop in the bucket for a system that averages about 4.7 million appointments per month. For All Your POOL NEEDS Eastern North Carolina: North Carolina is home to the Army's Fort Bragg, the Marines' Camp Lejeune, and nine of the 50 VA medical facilities with the most patients waiting more than 30 days for care. Around 16 percent of the vets getting treatment at the clinic in Jacksonville, North Carolina, had to wait longer than 30 days for an appointment. Close to 1 in 9 patients there had to wait longer than 60 days to see a caregiver. The VA has opened several new clinics in the state in recent years to deal with long waits, but those new and expanded sites haven't met expanding demand. ——— Hampton Roads, Virginia: A home to U.S. naval power, and a popular spot for military retirees, the Hampton Roads region of southeastern Virginia also ranks among the worst places for a vet to get a timely appointment at the VA. About 7.3 percent of the appointments completed at the VA hospital in Hampton failed to meet the department's timeliness standards. At the outpatient clinic in Virginia Beach, 18 percent of patient visits involved a wait of longer than 30 days — although things have been improving. The clinic completed nearly 89 percent of its visits in a timely fashion in February, compared to 76 percent six months earlier. ——— Tennessee and Kentucky: The VA has opened a host of small medical clinics in rural Tennessee and southern Kentucky, and while they treat a modest number of patients, those that do come are among the most likely to face a long wait for care. Thirteen of the 100 VA sites with the highest percentage of patients waiting more than 30 days are in the two states. The outpatient clinic in Hopkinsville, Kentucky, has the highest percentage of delayed appointments of any VA clinic in the country. Nearly 20 percent of the 5,377 appointments completed at that facility involved a wait of longer than 30 days, and things have been getting steadily worse since the summer. ——— DISPARITIES ABOUND In many parts of the country, the VA can boast of being able to deliver care that is just as fast, or even faster, than patients would get in the private sector. Relatively (March 15th - April 30th) This enrollment period is for individuals and families who did not have health insurance coverage in 2014 and who are subject to the fee or shared responsibility payment when they file their 2014 taxes. To be eligible for this special enrollment period, consumers must not already be enrolled in coverage for 2015. Individuals must self attest to the following: • They have paid the penalty for not having health coverage in 2014. • They are not currently enrolled in a plan on HealthCare.gov. • They first became aware of the fee or shared responsibility payment after February 15, 2015, when open enrollment ended, in connection with preparing their 2014 taxes. Coverage effective dates for this special enrollment period: • Enrollments made by the 15th of the month effective the 1st of the following month. • Enrollments made after the 15th of the month effective the 1st of the second month. Individuals who qualify for an exemption would not have to pay a penalty for 2015. • You may qualify for financial help with your health insurance premiums, even if you don’t qualify for other federal assistance. Don’t be shy - ask us! We pride ourselves on being your local health insurance specialists. We know the law, and we work with all clients to insure they get the plan that best fits their needs. 70 years combined experience We remember your name. (478) 272-5366 Clements and Keen Insurance FINANCING AVAILABLE 307 Saxon St. - Dublin, GA 31021 Marcus Clements 2273 Veterans Blvd. | (478) 275-0506 | 1-800-284-0506 1628 Veterans Blvd • 478-304-1208 See VA Page 8a Special Enrollment Period for Health Insurance Coverage 1615 Telfair St., 441 S, Dublin, Georgia 31021 For All Your Plumbing Needs! few VA facilities in the Northeast, Midwest and Pacific Coast states reported having significant numbers of patients waiting extended periods for care. Of the 940 hospitals and outpatient centers included in the AP analysis, 376 met the VA's timeliness standard better than 99 percent of the time. A little less than half of all VA hospitals and clinics reported averaging fewer than two appointments per month that involved a wait of more than 60 days. The difference between the haves and have-nots can be stark. The Minneapolis VA, one of the system's busiest medical centers, completed 276,094 medical appointments between Sept. 1 and Feb. 28. Only 424 of them involved a wait of more than 60 days. At the VA's outpatient clinic in Jacksonville, Florida, a facility handling a third of the volume, 7,117 appointments involved a wait of more than 60 days. That means there were more vets experiencing extended delays at that one clinic than in the entire states of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut combined. Equally surprising: The Jacksonville clinic is practically brand new. It opened in 2013 with the express intent of improving access to care in a fast-growing city with a lot of military retirees and a close relationship with three U.S. Navy bases: Naval Air Station Jacksonville, Naval Station Mayport and the Kings Bay Naval Base. But like other VA facilities built recently in spots now struggling with long waits, the clinic took so long to plan and build — 12 years — that it was too small the day it opened, despite late design changes that added significantly more space. "Even our best demographic models didn't anticipate the rate at which the growth would occur," said Nick Ross, the assistant director for outpatient clinics at the VA's North Florida/South Georgia Veterans Health System. In recent months, the clinic has been enrolling another 25 new patients per day — a growth rate that would require the VA to hire another www.clementsandkeen.com 478-272-8019 Darin Keen The Courier Herald Continued from 7a doctor, nurse and medical support assistant every 10 weeks to keep up with demand, said Thomas Wisnieski, the health system's director. Officials are hoping to lease 20,000 square feet of additional clinic space while they begin the planning process for yet another new building. Clinic construction is also underway in an attempt to ease chronic delays in care on the Florida panhandle. A new outpatient VA clinic is scheduled to open in Tallahassee in 2016, and a groundbreaking ceremony was held in August for a new clinic in Panama City. ——— A SLOW PACE OF CHANGE The Fayetteville VA hopes to celebrate its 75th anniversary this fall with the opening of a huge new outpatient health care center that could ease the types of chronic delays that caused Rosie Noel so much anxiety. (After her canceled exam, the VA paid for Noel to get care at a private-sector clinic; she doesn't have cervical cancer.) With 250,000 square feet of usable space, the center will be almost as large as the main hospital building itself. The new campus will have 1,800 parking spots, a women's clinic and scores of new treatment rooms. It is sorely needed for a region that is home to two of America's largest military bases, the Army's Fort Bragg and the Marines' Camp Lejeune, and one of the highest concentrations of vets in the country. In two core counties, one in five adults is a veteran. Yet the new building is also emblematic of the slow pace of change at the VA. Planning for the facility began in 2008, and Congress approved funding the next year. Construction hadn't even begun when the first target completion date came and went in June 2012. The VA's Office of Inspector General said in a 2013 report that the VA's management of the "timeliness and costs" of seven planned health care centers, including the one in Fayetteville, had "not been effective." The hospital's director since 2010, Elizabeth Goolsby, cited the VA's failure to expand quickly as a primary reason for why eastern North Carolina now has some of the longest waits for care in the country. "The contracting and building time in the Department of Veterans Affairs is a lengthy process," she said. During her tenure in Fayetteville, Goolsby has opened new outpatient clinics in Wilmington, Goldsboro, Pembroke and Hamlet. All now rank among the VA locations with the highest percentage of appointments that fail to meet timeliness standards. At the VA's clinic in Jacksonville— a small medical office built in a shopping plaza near Camp Lejeune's main gate in 2008 — nearly one in nine appointments completed between Sept. 1 and Feb. 28 involved a wait of longer than 60 days. "It's not big enough to accommodate the number of veterans we are seeing or the number of providers we need," Goolsby acknowledged. One solution, she said, has been to keep building. A new 15,000-square-foot clinic is under construction to serve the area around Camp Lejeune. The VA also is trying to develop a clinic in Sanford, north of Fort Bragg. And there have been stopgap measures, like the construction of modular buildings at the Fayetteville hospital this winter to host mental health clinics, and an emergency lease for a temporary medical office that allowed it to bolster staff in Jacksonville. VA Thursday, April 9, 2015/Dublin, Ga/Page 8a An explanation of AP's analysis of VA wait time data By The Associated Press Everyone agrees on the problem: Many patients at Veterans Affairs hospitals and clinics are waiting too long to see the doctor. But what's the best way to measure that problem? In setting out to evaluate the performance of 940 hospitals and clinics in the VA system, The Associated Press chose to focus on the number of appointments that failed to meet the VA's own timeliness goal, which calls for patients to receive non-emergency care within 30 days. In some ways, that number — 30 days — is arbitrary. A one-month wait for a routine annual physical is hardly a burden. For someone in physical or mental pain, 30 days could be an eternity. The standard, though, is a significant one in the VA bureaucracy. Under a law passed in August, VA patients who have to wait longer than 30 days for an appointment are supposed to be offered a chance to switch to a private-sector doctor, at the VA's expense. And, despite its clinical insignificance, the 30-day standard is a useful barometer for identifying VA sites that have a problem providing Some vets whose doctors were moved over to the new Jacksonville space said things improved immediately, even if that has not yet been reflected in the statistics. "It used to take me six months to a year to get a doctor's appointment," Jim Davis, a retired Marine who fought in the first Gulf War and now has Lou Gehrig's Disease. Since he transferred to the temporary clinic, he said, "I've called, and within three or four days I can get in to see the doctor." He called the change a relief, because he preferred to stay within the VA system for care if he could. "There's not a pharmacist at Wal-Mart calling me at home and asking me if the latest change in medicine made me feel sick. But that is happening in the VA," Davis said. "They are so much more respectful, because they know you served." ——— RURAL RECRUITING CHALLENGES After years of planning, a large, new outpatient center also is scheduled to open this fall to expand care offered at the VA medical center in Montgomery, Alabama. That expansion also is long overdue. Among the VA's fullservice medical centers, the Montgomery VA had the highest percentage of appointments that took longer than 30 days to complete. More than one in 11 appointments completed between September and February failed to meet timeliness standards. A sister hospital, a short drive to the east in Tuskegee, was No. 2. There's no guarantee, though, that a new building will help the Central Alabama Veterans Health Care System solve one of its other longstanding problems — a difficulty recruiting enough doctors and specialists needed to handle demand. Both hospitals are surrounded by largely poor, rural counties designated by the government as having severe physician shortages. "They are on the frontier of some of the most medically underserved areas of the country," said Dr. William Curry, associate dean for primary care and rural health at University of Alabama School of Medicine. That could mean that veterans who might otherwise get care in the private sector are more reliant on the VA. It also has historically meant big challenges recruiting physicians, who can make more money in metropolitan areas. "Not a lot of medical students want to go work for the VA in a rural community medical clinic," said Dr. Kevin Dellsperger, chief medical officer at the Georgia Regents Medical Center and former chief of staff at the VA medical center in Iowa City, Iowa. timely care. Ideally, any analysis of patient waits at the VA would include a look back of at least a year, if not much longer, but here that was not possible. The VA has made some adjustments in the way it calculates its statistics on delays, including doing away with a system of measuring delays from the time an appointment is entered into the VA's scheduling software, rather than from the date when the patient actually wanted or needed to receive care. Those changes, made in late summer, had the effect of roughly halving the number of appointments that failed to meet the VA's 30-day timeliness standard and radically changing the average wait times reported by facilities. For that reason, the data the VA releases now cannot be compared directly to numbers it generated in the spring. The AP analysis includes a look at systemwide VA data from Aug. 1 to Feb. 28, and statistics on individual VA facilities from Sept. 1 to Feb. 28. A detailed breakdown of facility performance in August was not available. Dr. Srinivas Ginjupalli, acting chief of staff for the Central Alabama Veterans Health Care System, confirmed that recruiting is a challenge, but he said the VA has been boosting salaries since the summer in an attempt to be more competitive in attracting staff. Goolsby cited similar rural recruiting problems in her enterprise, which serves a sprawling region of hog farms and tobacco fields. Other VA officials said difficulty attracting health care providers to remote or poor parts of the country was an issue throughout the system. ——— NO EASY FIX A few places struggling the most with long waits did report improvements. At the VA in Montgomery, Alabama, the percentage of appointments that take longer than 30 days to complete has fallen from 12.6 percent in September to 6.4 percent in February. That's still a bad number compared to other VA hospitals but, looking at performance only in February, it would be enough improvement to take the hospital from worst to third in terms of the percentage of delays. The VA's most chronically delayed outpatient clinic throughout the summer and fall, located in Virginia Beach, Virginia, reported improvement, too. In September, 24 percent of its patient visits were delayed by at least 30 days. By February, that had fallen to 11 percent — still terrible, but much better. The VA site that had the most trouble meeting the VA's timeliness standard during the whole six-month period reviewed by the AP was a small clinic near Fort Campbell in Hopkinsville, Kentucky. One in five appointments took longer than 30 days to complete, and the rate has gotten steadily worse over time. The centerpiece of the legislation signed over the summer was a plan to expand the number of veterans who are approved to get care outside of VA facilities. Yet the Choice program has barely gotten off the ground. ID cards for the program were mailed starting in November, but many vets still don't understand how it works. It theoretically is open to patients who can't been seen within 30 days, or who have to drive longer distances for care, but enrollees still have to get VA approval to see a private-sector doctor and only some physicians participate in the payment system. "It's not working the way it needs to work," said Gibson, the deputy VA secretary, though he added that he was enthusiastic about its potential. He said some consultants advising the VA said it might take 18 months to build the program. In a meeting with congressional aides and state veterans service officials in March, Goolsby gave some figures to illustrate how the program was working in southeastern North Carolina: Of the 640 patients offered an opportunity for outside care through mid-March, only four were ultimately seen a private-sector doctor. "We're finding that a lot don't want an outside appointment," she said. Reasons vary, she said, but one factor is that switching to a new doctor can be disruptive for someone with an ongoing medical issue. In March, officials loosened the eligibility rules for the program slightly so it would cover more vets who have to drive longer distances for care. The VA also has been trying to tackle long wait times in other ways. The Central Alabama Veterans Health Care System, Ginjupalli said, has been promoting the use of "telehealth" systems that allow patients in rural or backed-up areas to see doctors elsewhere via video conferencing. It also has reached an agreement with the Defense Department to help reduce long delays for care at its clinic in Columbus, Georgia, by moving some staff to a 19,000square-foot building at the military's medical center at Fort Benning. Dr. Daniel Dahl, psychiatrist and associate chief of staff for mental health at the Central Alabama VA, said the new space will triple the VA's capacity for mental health care in the area. In February, the average delay for a mental health appointment at the Columbus clinic was 25 days — seven times the national average. Obama's secretary of Veterans Affairs, Robert McDonald, has cautioned that it will take time for reforms to make a difference. He also warned in recent testimony to Congress that the system may still be decades away from seeing peak usage by the generation of servicemen and servicewomen who fought in Iraq and Afghanistan. Total enrollees in the VA system have ballooned from 6.8 million in 2002 to 8.9 million in 2013. During that same period, outpatient visits have soared from 46.5 million to 86.4 million annually; patient spending has grown from $19.9 billion to $44.8 billion; the number of patients served annually has grown from 4.5 million to 6 million. McDonald told Congress the number of mental health outpatient visits alone is up 72 percent from 2005. "Today, we serve a population that is older, with more chronic conditions, and less able to afford private sector care," McDonald said. That could mean that without further change, waits will only grow. 3 36 FINANCING AVAILABLE 7 $ 2273 Veterans Blvd. | (478) 275-0506 | 1-800-284-0506 1626 Suite D Veterans Blvd. Dublin, Georgia 31021 275-7477 Superior Pools 278-6968 Liner Replacements & Weekly Maintenance 1628 Veterans Blvd • 478-304-1208 MONDAY MANIA 50% OFF Make a donation towards life transformation. 706 Central Dr. East Dublin 478-304-0254 50 For guest accompanying player at full price U.S. President Barack Obama visits the Bob Marley Museum with tour guide Natasha Clark, Wednesday, April 8, 2015 in Kingston, Jamaica. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais) Obama's Caribbean stop comes as China expands influence KINGSTON, Jamaica (AP) — Opening a three-day trip to the Caribbean and Central America, President Barack Obama hopes to capitalize on mutual needs in the face of expanding Chinese influence and weakening power by Venezuela, once the energy juggernaut of the Americas. Obama's arrival Wednesday evening in Kingston, Jamaica, was low-key compared to the excitement he stirred in the Caribbean upon his election in 2008. Greeted at the airport tarmac by dignitaries including Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller, Obama slipped into a motorcade that ran through mostly quiet, empty streets. The visit comes amid a perception that Obama's interest in the region has failed to materialize. Yet his travels — first to Jamaica, then to the Summit of the Americas in Panama — follow a year of increased attention to the region by the U.S. president. His immigration executive orders, his efforts to slow the influx of Central American minors to the U.S. border, and his diplomatic outreach to Cuba have put a foreign policy spotlight on U.S. neighbors to the south. Obama on Thursday will meet with Simpson Miller and with other leaders in the 15-member Caribbean Community. He also plans to speak to young regional leaders in a town-hall setting, continuing a tradition of engaging new generations in foreign political and civil society institutions. The president promptly paid tribute to the island's cultural hero, the late reggae star Bob Marley, making an unscheduled visit Wednesday night to the legendary singer's museum. He toured Marley's former home as Marley's hit "One Love" played through the building's sound system. In the Caribbean, energy security tops Obama's agenda as the U.S. seeks to fill a potential void left by Venezuela's scaledback oil diplomacy. Earlier this year, Vice President Joe Biden hosted prime ministers and other top officials from all Caribbean countries except Cuba at the first Caribbean Energy Security Summit in Washington. "We, in looking at the region, saw that a number of the (Caribbean) countries had significant energy needs," said Benjamin Rhodes, a White House deputy national security adviser. "At the same time, the United States has significant resources, not just in terms of our own energy production, but also in our energy infrastructure, in our ability to work with countries that have formed cooperative solutions to promote energy security." Meanwhile, China has steadily expanded its economic alliances in the Caribbean, providing much of the financing for new roads, bridges and other infrastructure projects. "China is running away with the gold in the view of many region watchers. Its footprint is visible and obvious through its 'checkbook' diplomacy in the Caribbean," said Anthony Bryan, an international relations professor at Trinidad's campus of the University of the West Indies. The public university system serves 18 English-speaking countries and territories. Obama's visit to Jamaica is the first by a U.S. president since President Ronald Reagan in 1982. Obama was last in the Caribbean region in 2009 when he attended the Summit of the Americas in Trinidad. 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Eastman Dublin Milledgeville Albany 478-374-1778 478-296-2800 478-295-3000 1-229-496-1193 www.FastTrackic.com The Courier Herald Thursday, April 9, 2015 Masters: Par 3 contest is family time for most golfers -2b Sports Section B • Scoreboard............................2b • On the Air ..............................2b • Sports briefs ..........................2b Falcons jump out early, fight off Irish for 6-5 win Win knocks Dublin out of first, moves EL closer to playoff spot By RODNEY MANLEY Sports Editor Both playing their third game in three days, East Laurens and Dublin showed no wear Wednesday as the region and crosstown rivals hooked up in a three-hour thriller. The Falcons jumped on the Irish right away, sending 10 batters to plate in the top of the first inning and scoring five runs. East Laurens never surrendered the lead, but the Fighting Irish made it a nailbiter late, scoring four in the fourth to pull to 6-5, then loading the bases in the fifth. Falcons reliever Jimbo Johnson, who also had four hits, pitched in and out of that jam with no runs, ending the threat with a strikeout. He slammed the door from there, striking out five of the next six Dublin batters to save the one-run win for starter Blake Toney. The win knocks Dublin out of first place in Region 3-AA while keeping alive the Falcons’ late push for a playoff spot. The top four teams make the postseason, and East Laurens is now fifth at 4-5 in region play. “It puts us one step closer to four,” East Laurens head coach Gene Mulkey said after the game. “We played three games on spring break — Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday — back to back to back, and won them all. That’s never happened to me since I’ve been in the coaching business.” With one out in the first, the Falcons loaded the bases when Johnson and Austin Scott hit back-to-back singles and Toney was hit by a pitch. Cavin Rotramel then cleared the bases with a three-run double. Freshman Gavin Donaldson drove Rotramel home with another double, then scored on a two-out single by first baseman Chris Lampp to give East Laurens the 5-0 lead. “East Laurens played better than we did today, and they deserved to win,” said Dublin head coach Ricky Watters. “Coach Mulkey had his guys ready to play. I’m proud of our guys. They fought to the end. We had guys get on, just couldn’t get that last hit that we needed.” The Irish got one run back in the bottom of the first, even though Falcons starter Toney struck out four Dublin batters in the inning. K.J. Kinsey led off with a single and took second on a balk. Baisden Holden walked, See RIVALS page 2b Photo by Rodney Manley First-inning drAMA dublin’s kinsey takes a big lead off third as toney takes aim for the Falcons. Photo by Rodney Manley Photo by Rodney Manley FootrAce to First el’s Jimbo Johnson barely beats irish pitcher Jackson tipton to the base. Fired uP irish relief pitcher cory Mallette shouts his approval to catcher cole Mullis after Mullis snagged a pop foul near the net late in the game. All eyes on Mcilroy, Woods as Masters gets underway AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — Three of golf's greatest players began the Masters with ceremonial tee shots. Then the focus quickly shifted to a pair of players who'll be keeping score, Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods. Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and Gary Player — with 13 green jackets between them — came out on a warm, sunny Thursday morning to give the tournament its traditional opening. "Don't fan it," the 85-yearold Palmer jokingly told himself. "I don't think he's kidding," the 75-year-old Nicklaus added with a chuckle. "He said exactly the same thing to me" No problem there. All three champions launched drives that carried well down the fairway, with the longest shot delivered by the 79-year-old Player. Nicklaus and Player are among five players to complete the career Grand Slam. McIlroy is in position to join them, having already won, at age 25, the other three majors. Woods, on the other hand, is looking to play 72 holes in a regular PGA Tour event for only the second time in the past year. While McIlroy and Woods dominated the headlines coming into the Masters, let's not forget the other potential contenders, a lengthy list led by defending champion Bubba Watson. "I feel like I have a shot around here," said Watson, who AP photo AP photo A trAdition unlike Any other nichlaus hits honorary tee shot to open the 79th Masters. has won two of the past three Masters and can become only the fourth player to win backto-back titles. "It doesn't mean I'm going to do it. But I'm going to try to compete at a high level, and hopefully on Sunday we have that chance on the back nine." McIlroy was the clear favorite, having won the last two majors of 2014 (the British Open and the PGA Championship) to leave the Masters as the only big title missing from his resume. Woods, Ben Hogan and Gene Sarazen are the only other members of the exclusive club. "Golf is a very fickle game," McIlroy said. "You don't take anything for granted." If he needs proof of that, all McIlroy has to do is remember what happened at this very place four years ago. He had a four-shot lead in the Masters, ready to be crowned the next big thing in golf, when he shot 80 in the final round. McIlroy handled the collapse with remarkable poise, insisting AlMost tee tiMe scorekeeper richard Muns sits under a leaderboard before the first round. he would learn from his mistakes. Two months later, he set scoring records while winning the U.S. Open at Congressional for his first major title. "A lot of that win has to do with what happened at Augusta," he said. While the expectations are higher than ever for McIlroy, they've never been lower for Woods. He is competing for the first time since Feb. 5, when he walked off the course at Torrey Pines to work on a game that made him look more like a weekend duffer than a 14-time major champion. Woods has shown much improvement in three days of practice, including nine holes he played Wednesday with Ben Crenshaw and Jordan Spieth. Then again, no one — not even Woods — is sure how he'll play when the shots actually count. "I'm excited to be back, to be back playing at this level," he said. "I feel like my game is finally ready to compete at this level, the highest level." Watson is trying to join Nicklaus, Woods and Nick Faldo as the only Masters champions to defend their titles. Then there's Jordan Spieth, who had a shot at becoming the youngest Masters champion in his debut a year ago. Now 21, he might be the hottest player on the PGA Tour, having won, finished second, and lost in a playoff in his past three starts. "Last year," Spieth said, "I had no expectations, didn't know what it was going to be like, had never played the tournament before. This year, I come in maybe expecting to play well on a course I feel very comfortable on. I feel like it suits my game nicely, and I also feel like I've been playing well." The Courier Herald Thursday, April 9, 2015/Dublin, Ga/Page 2b Streelman wins Masters Par 3 in sudden-death playoff AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — Kevin Streelman beat Camilo Villegas on the third hole of a suddendeath playoff Wednesday to win the Par 3 tournament on the last day to relax at Augusta National. Streelman and Villegas finished the nine holes tied at 5 under. They each opened with a par then a birdie before Streelman topped Villegas, who had not one, but two holes-in-one through his first eight holes. Americans Ben Martin and Cameron Tringale tied last year's Par 3 champ Ryan Moore at 4 under. Streelman, who played at Duke, tied for 42nd last year in his best finish in three appearances at the Masters. Winning the Par 3 contest has been considered a bad omen since no one has won both that title and the Masters in the same week. Streelman called it a fun day where his focus was on helping Ethan from the Make-a-Wish Foundation have a great day. "Done all I can do," Streelman said. "Now I've just got to go out and have fun and play." Villegas got his first ace on No. 4 along with Jack Nicklaus and Matias Dominguez of Chile. The Colombian followed that with his second hole-in-one of the day on the 120-yard No. 8, taking him to 5-under 22 and tying Streelman. Holes-in-one are nothing new for Villegas who had the 14th of his career last week at home with a 5-iron. He said his pitching wedge on his first hole-inone Wednesday kept trickling back and went in the hole. He used a 54-degree wedge on his second ace. "The second one, we were a little more emotional there," Villegas said. "We just kind of jumped. Enjoying it man." Tiger Woods had company playing the Par 3 for the first time since 2004. His 6-year-old son, Charlie, and 7-year-old daughter, Sam, caddied for him with girlfriend, Olympic skiing champion Lindsey Vonn, joining them. Woods even let his daughter handle his putting, and she showed a deft touch on the green. "I'll always have memories of my pop at Augusta and now Sam & Charlie," Woods wrote on Twitter. "An amazing day." Family time is the best part of this event. Ernie Els let his daughter Samantha putt. Caleb Watson looked adorable in his caddie suit and green hat following his daddy, two-time Masters champ Bubba from hole to hole. Brendan Todd had his hands full carrying son Oliver when not swinging a club. "Definitely the best part was carrying my son, six-month-boy, all over showing him off to the crowd," Todd said. Nicklaus, the six-time Masters AP photo Having Fun Ernie Ells reacts to daughter Samantha’s putt champ, looked like he just might win his first Par 3 title at the age of 75 after a hole-in-one on No. 4. His iron shot bounced twice before taking a little hop spinning back into the hole. Braves finish off three-game sweep of Marlins with shutout Special photos golFing and BBQing For a good cauSE green acres hosted a benefit golf tournament for ricky Maddox, whose business burned recently. a Baker Baptist church missions team prepared and donated barbecue plates, and between plate sales, golf entries and donations, the tournament raised $9,000. The Morris State Bank team won first place. The teams from green acres and Bradley Steel tied for second. Golf benefit tournament a mission, ‘a great day’ Special to The Courier Herald By Keith Carr Thursday, April 2, there was a benefit held for Ricky Maddox of Rentz at the Green Acres Golf and Recreation Club in Dexter. Ricky’s taxidermy business burned to the ground a few weeks ago, along with his livelihood and many memories in the form of trophies of various kinds. It was at this time that a friend of his, Kenny Stewart, phoned me and asked if my mission team at Baker would help cook some Boston Butts and sell plates. I said I'm sure we could, but why don’t we combine it with a golf tournament and do barbecue at the course. Thus began a very arduous task of coordinating, what was to become, a major undertaking. So it began with a bunch of “men” trying to organize something that was bigger than all of TodaY auTo racing 2 a.m. NBCSN — Formula One, practice for Chinese Grand Prix, at Shanghai golF 3 p.m. ESPN — The Masters, first round, at Augusta, Ga. MaJor lEaguE BaSEBall 1 p.m. MLB — Regional coverage, N.Y. Mets at Washington or Minnesota at Detroit 7 p.m. MLB — Regional coverage, San Francisco at San Diego or Boston at Philadelphia MEn'S collEgE HocKEY 5 p.m. ESPN2 — Division I, playoffs, semifinal, Providence vs. Neb.-Omaha, at Boston 8:30 p.m. ESPN2 — Division I, playoffs, semifinal, Boston U. vs. North Dakota, at Boston nBa BaSKETBall 8 p.m. TNT — Chicago at Miami 10:30 p.m. TNT — Portland at Golden State nHl HocKEY 8 p.m. NBCSN — Chicago at St. Louis TEnniS 1 p.m. us. We had very little time and "selling" plates seemed too hard, so we just trusted God to bless it and we just took donations. God proved his word about giving in Malachi 3:10: “Test me in this, says the LORD Almighty, and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.” That’s just what HE did. Between the golf tournament and the barbecue plates that were strictly donation, the benefit raised a total of about $9,000. It was a great day for our community. Home missions is just as important as foreign missions. Thanks to all the businesses, schools, Green Acres staff and individuals who made this a success. It was one of the best days I can remember in a long time. ESPN2 — WTA, Family Circle Cup, round of 16, at Charleston, S.C. FridaY auTo racing 11:30 a.m. FS1 — NASCAR, Sprint Cup, practice for Duck Commander 500, at Fort Worth, Texas 2 p.m. FS1 — NASCAR, Sprint Cup, "Happy Hour Series," final practice for Duck Commander 500, at Fort Worth, Texas 4:30 p.m. FS1 — NASCAR, XFINITY Series, pole qualifying for O'Reilly Auto Parts 300, at Fort Worth, Texas 6:30 p.m. FS1 — NASCAR, Sprint Cup, pole qualifying for Duck Commander 500, at Fort Worth, Texas 8:30 p.m. FS1 — NASCAR, XFINITY Series, O'Reilly Auto Parts 300, at Fort Worth, Texas 3 a.m. NBCSN — Formula One, qualifying for Chinese Grand Prix, at Shanghai BoXing 9 p.m. ESPN2 — Boxcino, semifinals, heavyweights, Lenroy Thomas (19-3-0) vs. Andrey Fedosov (26-3-0), at Bethlehem, Pa. 10 p.m. SHO — Middleweights, Sergiy Derevyanchenko (4-0-0) vs. Alan Campa (13-1-0); middleweights, Ievgen Khytrov (90-0) vs. Aaron Coley (9-0-1); super welterweights, Frank Galarza (15-0-2) vs. Sheldon Moore (13-2-1), at Westbury, N.Y. golF 3 p.m. ESPN — The Masters, second round, at Augusta, Ga. MlB naTional lEaguE East division W l Pct gB Atlanta 3 0 1.000 — New York 1 1 .500 1½ Philadelphia 1 1 .500 1½ Washington 1 1 .500 1½ Miami 0 3 .000 3 central division W l Pct gB Cincinnati 2 0 1.000 — Chicago 1 1 .500 1 St. Louis 1 1 .500 1 Pittsburgh 0 2 .000 2 Milwaukee 0 3 .000 2½ West division W l Pct gB Colorado 3 0 1.000 — Los Angeles 2 1 .667 1 San Francisco 2 1 .667 1 Arizona 1 2 .333 2 San Diego 1 2 .333 2 Wednesday Chicago Cubs 2, St. Louis 0 Philadelphia 4, Boston 2 Washington 2, N.Y. Mets 1 Atlanta 2, Miami 0 Cincinnati 5, Pittsburgh 4, 11 innings Colorado 5, Milwaukee 4, 10 innings San Francisco 5, Arizona 2 L.A. Dodgers 7, San Diego 4 Today Pittsburgh (Burnett 0-0) at Cincinnati (DeSclafani 0-0), 12:35 p.m. N.Y. Mets (Harvey 0-0) at Washington (Strasburg 0-0), 1:05 p.m. San Francisco (T.Hudson 0-0) at San Diego (Kennedy 0-0), 6:40 p.m. Boston (Masterson 0-0) at Philadelphia (Buchanan 0-0), 7:05 p.m. Friday Chicago Cubs (T.Wood 0-0) at Colorado (Matzek 0-0), 4:10 p.m. Washington (G.Gonzalez 0-0) at Philadelphia (Williams 0-0), 7:05 p.m. St. Louis (Lackey 0-0) at Cincinnati (Marquis 0-0), 7:10 p.m. Tampa Bay (Andriese 0-0) at Miami (Haren 0-0), 7:10 p.m. N.Y. Mets (Niese 0-0) at Atlanta (Stults 0-0), 7:35 p.m. Pittsburgh (Locke 0-0) at Milwaukee (Fiers 0-0), 8:10 p.m. L.A. Dodgers (Anderson 0-0) at Arizona (Anderson 0-0), 9:40 p.m. San Francisco (Lincecum 0-0) at San Diego (Morrow 0-0), 10:10 p.m. MIAMI (AP) — Basking in the roar of the crowd, Giancarlo Stanton grinned and waved. The $325 million right fielder's first memorable moment of the season was a catch. For Stanton and the rest of the Miami Marlins, the offense is yet to come. Stanton turned a dazzling double play, one of several defensive gems Wednesday by the Marlins, but they again sputtered at the plate and lost 2-0 to the Atlanta Braves, who completed a three-game sweep. The Braves are supposedly rebuilding, while the Marlins have playoff hopes, but Atlanta outscored Miami 16-3 in the series. The season-opening sweep was the first for the Braves since 2007. A.J. Pierzynski hit a two-run homer and five pitchers combined on a six-hitter for Atlanta. The 38-year-old Pierzynski, playing in his first game with his newest team, broke up a scoreless tie in the seventh inning. Shelby Miller made his first start with the Braves and allowed four hits in five innings. Rivals Continued from 1a then he and Kinsey moved into scoring position with a double steal. Toney struck out the next three hitters, but the final strike to Dublin pitcher Jackson Tipton on what would have been the third out skipped in the dirt and to the backstop. Tipton ran to first, and Kinsey ran home. The home umpire initially made no call on Tipton’s check swing but ruled everyone safe. Toney retired the side with another strikeout, then struck out the first two hitters in the second inning as he held the Irish hitless from there until the four-run fourth. Meanwhile, Dublin starter Tipton also settled down after the first, holding the Falcons scoreless until the fourth inning when Donaldson’s sacrifice fly drove in Johnson, who had led off with a single. Now down 6-1, the Irish fought back into the game with their four-spot in the fourth. Cory Mallette walked to lead off the inning, and catcher Cole Mullis followed with a double. Still with no outs, Dublin DH Josh Price delivered a two-run single and took second on the throw to the infield. Kinsey knocked in another run with a one-out double, then scored on a Baisden single to pull aMErican lEaguE East division W l Pct Baltimore 2 1 .667 Boston 1 1 .500 New York 1 1 .500 Toronto 1 1 .500 Tampa Bay 1 2 .333 central division W l Pct Detroit 2 0 1.000 Kansas City 2 0 1.000 Cleveland 1 1 .500 Chicago 0 2 .000 Minnesota 0 2 .000 West division W l Pct Los Angeles 2 1 .667 Oakland 2 1 .667 Houston 1 1 .500 Seattle 1 2 .333 Texas 1 2 .333 gB — ½ ½ ½ 1 gB — — 1 2 2 gB — — ½ 1 1 Wednesday Detroit 11, Minnesota 0 Philadelphia 4, Boston 2 N.Y. Yankees 4, Toronto 3 Tampa Bay 2, Baltimore 0 Kansas City 7, Chicago White Sox 5 Cleveland 2, Houston 0 Oakland 10, Texas 0 L.A. Angels 5, Seattle 3 Today Minnesota (Gibson 0-0) at Detroit (Greene 0-0), 1:08 p.m. Chicago White Sox (Danks 0-0) at Kansas City (Volquez 0-0), 2:10 p.m. Cleveland (Bauer 0-0) at Houston (Wojciechowski 0-0), 2:10 p.m. Texas (N.Martinez 0-0) at Oakland (Graveman 0-0), 3:35 p.m. Boston (Masterson 0-0) at Philadelphia (Buchanan 0-0), 7:05 p.m. Toronto (Da.Norris 0-0) at N.Y. Yankees (Sabathia 0-0), 7:05 p.m. nBa EaSTErn conFErEncE atlantic division W l Pct gB y-Toronto 46 32 .590 — Boston 36 42 .462 10 Brooklyn 36 42 .462 10 Philadelphia 18 61 .228 28½ New York 15 63 .192 31 Southeast division W l Pct gB z-Atlanta 59 19 .756 — the Irish to within a run at 6-5. Mallette came on in relief for Dublin and held the Falcons scoreless over the final three frames, allowing just one hit and two walks. The Irish, however, could get no closer. Johnson made sure of that for the Falcons. The shortstop/pitcher walked the bases loaded after coming on to pitch in the fifth, but he held the Irish hitless and off the board the last three innings. He struck out seven. Toney was equally as overpowering early for East Laurens. He also struck out seven. He allowed five hits, and four of those came in Dublin’s big fourth inning. “Blake Toney did a good job,’ said Mullkey. “He threw over 100 pitches, so he was going to have to come out whether he was tired or not. Jimbo Johnson did a great job coming in to close it out.” Johnson’s four singles paced the Falcon 11-hit attack. Scott, Donaldson and Lampp all had two hits each. Kinsey led the Irish with a single and a double, and he scored two runs. The Irish, now 7-3 in the region and a game behind Screven County, control their own destiny. They already hold a win over the Gamecocks, and victories over Screven and Swainsboro next week will earn Dublin the regular season crown. x-Washington45 33 .577 Miami 35 43 .449 Charlotte 33 45 .423 Orlando 25 53 .321 central division W l Pct y-Cleveland 51 27 .654 x-Chicago 46 32 .590 Milwaukee 38 40 .487 Indiana 35 43 .449 Detroit 30 48 .385 WESTErn conFErEncE Southwest division W l Pct x-Houston 53 25 .679 x-Memphis 53 25 .679 x-San Antonio53 26 .671 x-Dallas 47 31 .603 New Orleans 42 36 .538 northwest division W l Pct y-Portland 51 27 .654 Oklahoma City42 36 .538 Utah 36 42 .462 Denver 29 49 .372 Minnesota 16 62 .205 Pacific division W l Pct z-Golden State63 15 .808 x-L.A. Clippers53 26 .671 Phoenix 39 40 .494 Sacramento 27 51 .346 L.A. Lakers 20 58 .256 x-clinched playoff spot y-clinched division z-clinched conference 14 24 26 34 gB — 5 13 16 21 gB — — ½ 6 11 gB — 9 15 22 35 gB — 10½ 24½ 36 43 Wednesday Washington 119, Philadelphia 90 Orlando 105, Chicago 103 Boston 113, Detroit 103 Toronto 92, Charlotte 74 Atlanta 114, Brooklyn 111 Indiana 102, New York 86 Memphis 110, New Orleans 74 Cleveland 104, Milwaukee 99 San Antonio 110, Houston 98 Denver 119, L.A. Lakers 101 Utah 103, Sacramento 91 Dallas 107, Phoenix 104 Portland 116, Minnesota 91 For All Your POOL NEEDS (478) 272-5366 1615 Telfair St., 441 S, Dublin, Georgia 31021 TodaY Baseball Dublin at Treutlen County, 5:30 p.m. West Laurens at Bleckley County, 6 p.m. Soccer Trinity at John Milledge, 4:30 p.m. MondaY Baseball Treutlen County at Dublin, 5:30 p.m. West Laurens at Jones County, 5:30 p.m. TuESdaY Baseball Bulloch at Trinity, 4:30 p.m Metter at East Laurens, 5:30 p.m. Screven County at Dublin, 5:30 p.m. Houston County at West Laurens, 6 p.m. Soccer Trinity at Memorial Day, 5:30 p.m. East Laurens at Harlem, 5:30 p.m. golf Bleckley County at West Laurens, 4 p.m. Moose lodge tournament april 18 The Dublin Moose Lodge Golf Tournament will be held Saturday, April 18, at Green Acres Golf Course. Entry fee for the four-man scramble is $45 per player, with mullligans available at two for $5. Cash prizes awarded for first-, secondand third-place finishers in each flight. Also, longest drive and closest to the pin prizes will be awarded. A fish dinner will be served at the Moose Lodge, where prizes will be awarded. To register a team or sponsor hole, call the lodge at 272-1818 and leave a message or ask for Daphine Alexander. ‘Swing Fore Hope’ Tourney May 2 Riverview Golf Course will host the 15th annual “Swing Fore Hope” Golf Tournament, with proceeds benefitting the non-profit Promise Of Hope Inc. in Dudley. Format will be a 4-person scramble with flight winners receiving meat prizes including ribeye loins, bone-in pork loins and country hams. Entry fee is $200 per team with shotgun starts available at 8 a.m. and 1 p.m. based on a full tournament field of 36 teams. For more information, contact Steve Brown at 277-1408, e-mail: browns@dlcga.com or contact the Promise Of Hope, Inc. at 676-4673. Free junior golf clinic at riverview april 18 Riverview Golf Course will host a free Junior Golf Clinic on Saturday, April 18, beginning at 9:30 am in the Emory Thomas Auditorium. A 30minute discussion on golf rules and etiquette will be followed by two hours of instruction on the range and putting green. The clinic is open to ages 10-16 and will be taught by PGA Class A Professional Jack Dean. Stop by or call the Riverview Golf Course Pro Shop 275-4064 to sign up. For more information, contact Manager Of Golf Operations Steve Brown at 277-1408 or e-mail: browns@dlcga.com. Mda softball tournament april 25 A Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) Boot Drive co-ed softball tournament will be held at the Johnson County Recreation Department April 25 at 9 a.m. Entry fee is $150 per team. Deadline to enter is April 23 at noon. For more information, contact the Wrightsville FireDepartment at 478-864-9759. dublin Touchdown club grid iron classic The Dublin Touchdown Club will again host the 2015 Grid Iron Classic golf tournament Saturday, May 23, at Dublin Country Club. The tournament will be a four-person scramble format. Tournament day check-in begins at 8 a.m., and tee time is at 9. For entry forms and information, contact Steve Versprille at (757) 777-2018.door prizes and more. Trinity to host cornhole tournament april 25 Trinity Christian School will host a cornhole tournament April 25 to raise money for basketball camp. Two-person teams will compete in the double-elimination tournament under ACA official rules format. Entry fee is $40 per team. First- and second-place teams will win cash prizes. For more information, contact boys basketball coach Robby Foskey at robbyfoskey@yahoo.com or call (478) 279-3477. 33 36 7 $ 50 For guest accompanying player at full price 33ͶȀ͵ͲȀͳͷ off The Courier Herald Thursday, April 9, 2015/Dublin, Ga/Page 3b Automotive Real Estate Garage Sales Employment Business Services & Much More C Classifieds la ssifieds TO PLACE YOUR CLASSIFIED AD PLEASE CALL OR EMAIL: 2015 YARD SALE RATES DEADLINES 3 Lines for 3 Days.....$14.00 3 Lines for 2 Days.....$12.00 3 Lines for 1 Day..........$8.00 Monday thru Friday - 2 Days in Advance Saturday- Thursday at Noon 478-272-5522 tchnewspaper@gmail.com Each additional line $1.55 SELL YOUR CAR SELL YOUR HOME CLASSIFIED RATES FREE CLASSIFIEDS MONTH MONTH Let us run your item free for 10 days!* * Max 3 items per person per 30 day period. Items valued at $999 or less. Private individuals selling personal property only. No pets. $ 3355 48 w/picture for 1 month $ 3 Lines $ 5555 (Private party vehicles for sale only)* 68 w/picture for 1 month $ (Home owner only, one home per ad)* 3 DAYS..................$1860 6 DAYS..................$3180 12 DAYS..................$6000 (1) All advertising is accepted, subject to approval of the publisher, who reserves the right to revise or reject any advertising without notice. The publisher reserves the right to correctly classify and edit all GENERAL INFORMATION copy. (2) Please check your ad the first day it runs to see that all the information is correct. This will insure that your ad is exactly what you want the reader to see. (3) Rate charges are quoted at time of ad placement and must be paid for at time of placement unless a credit application is approved by the publisher. (4) Minimum size advertisement two lines. (5) *Special rates can be canceled during the schedule, but no refund will be made. Ads published at the open rate can be canceled during the schedule, and the publisher will prorate your billing to the nearest earned rate. PEOPLE TO PEOPLE 015 LOST AND FOUND FOUND: Beautiful Blk Lab/spayed female, 1-2 yrs old, all shots current. Call: 478-272-9189 or 770-310-8851 035 AUCTIONS ANTIQUE AUCTION Sat. Apr. 18th, 7pm @Dublin Auctions, 1807A Rice Ave, Dublin. Call 478-279-2817 for more info. Jeff Kidd GAL#3898 040 YARD SALES GARAGE SALE RAIN OR SHINE, ENCLOSED BLDG. AT 304 WINCHESTER COURT FRI. & SAT. 7:30 - UNTIL EVERYTHING MUST GO, PRICED 50% OFF, EXCEPT STERLING SILVER JEWELRY IT IS 25% OFF Multi-Family yard sale at 309 Couey Rd. off Morris Station Rd. first road on the right past the bypass Sat. 7:30am - 11:30am YARD SALE Sat. 04/11 8am - 12pm 1137 Jasmine Rd, Dublin, toys, kid’s clothes, HH items, etc. YARD SALE, FRI. & SAT. 8:00 - until Misc. items, Day Bed & Mattress. 1328 N. Jefferson St. YARD SALE: Apr. 11, Sat. 9 -1, HH, Clothes, BR Ste, bookshelves, misc. 1827 Claxton Dairy Rd, Dubliin. YARD SALE: Multi-family, Sat 04/11 8am - 2pm. 2179 Hwy117, Rentz, brown bldg across from Gary’s Grocery. Boat, 2 kyaks and bunk beds and much more. 140 MERCHANDISE FOR SALE FURNITURE Beautiful Solid Oak Bunk Bed w/ matching dresser & mattress’s, Paid $1,022., asking $350. 478-795-0444. 210 COMPUTERS/ SOFTWARE FOR SALE: Alienware M11 x R3, Intel Core i3, 11” 2012, 4GB, 500 GB hard drive, MNVIDIA $550. Call: 478-279-1396. 215 PRODUCE/PLANTS Fresh Brown Eggs for sale. $1.50 per dozen. 478-279-0412. 310 VOCATIONAL GENERAL HELP WANTED 2 temp farmworkers needed 4/27/1512/15/15. Workers will perform duties associated w/ planting, cultivating & harvesting employer’s crops. Must have 3 months verifiable experience working in tobacco & affirmative verifiable job references. Random drug testing at employer’s expense. Guaranteed 3/4 of contract hours. Work tools, supplies, equipment provided at no cost. Conditional housing provided for non-commuting workers. Transportation & subsistence reimbursed to worker upon completion of 50% of contract or earlier if appropriate. $10.28/hr. EOE. Worksites in Montgomery Co., TN & Todd Co., KY. Report or send a resume to the nearest GA DOL or call 478-275-6525 & ref job #TN359827. Thomas & Thomas Farms LLCClarksville, TN. 25 DRIVER TRAINEES NEEDED NOW! Learn to drive for Schneider National! Earn $800 per week! No experience needed! Local CDL Training! 1-877-648-2817 Wanted: Musician for church services each Sunday, and must be able to read music. Contact the church: 478-272-8932 or 478-697-2379 310 GENERAL HELP WANTED 4 temp farmworkers needed 5/11/1512/10/15. Workers will perform duties associated w/ planting, cultivating & harvesting employer’s crops. Must have 3 months verifiable experience working in tobacco & affirmative verifiable job references. Random drug testing at employer’s expense. Guaranteed 3/4 of contract hours. Work tools, supplies, equipment provided at no cost. Conditional housing provided for non-commuting workers. Transportation & subsistence reimbursed to worker upon completion of 50% of contract or earlier if appropriate. $10.28/hr. EOE. Worksites in Robertson Co., TN. Report or send a resume to the nearest GA DOL or call 478-275-6525 & ref job #TN361535. Brooksher BrothersAdams, TN 5 Temporary Farm Workers Needed. Triple J. Farms of Cedar Hill LLC – Cedar Hill, TN. Perform all duties of Tobacco, Straw/Hay, Row Crop, & Fruit/Vegetable Production; including planting, cultivating, irrigating, spraying, harvesting, & packaging; and other alternative work. Employment Dates: 06/10/2015 – 12/20/2015. $10.28/hr. Piece rates may be offered. Worker guaranteed 3/4 of contract hours. Tools provided at no cost. Free housing provided to non-commuting workers. Transportation & subsistence reimbursed when 50% of contract is met. Random drug testing may be done after hire at employer’s expense. Apply for this job at the nearest Georgia Department of Labor Career Center or call 478-275-6525 and reference job order TN363784. 6 Temporary Farm Workers Needed. Jackson 1 Farms LLC – Cedar Hill, TN. Perform all duties of Tobacco Production; including planting, cultivating, irrigating, spraying, harvesting, & packaging; and other alternative work. Employment Dates: 06/15/2015 – 12/15/2015. $10.28/hr. Piece rates may be offered. Worker guaranteed 3/4 of contract hours. Tools provided at no cost. Free housing provided to non-commuting workers. Transportation & subsistence reimbursed when 50% of contract is met. Random drug testing may be done after hire at employer’s expense. Apply for this job at the nearest Georgia Department of Labor Career Center or call 478-2756525 and reference job order TN364152. 80 temp diversified farm workers needed 5/15/15 to 1/3/16. Workers will perform various tasks involved in planting, cultivating & harvesting crops according to supervisor’s instructions. Workers may perform hand cultivation, weeding & hoeing & may aid in irrigation. Must have 3 months verifiable experience hand harvesting produce and affirmative, verifiable job references. Random drug testing at employer's expense. Guaranteed 3/4 of contract hours. Tools, supplies, equip. provided at no cost. Conditional housing provided for non-commuting workers. Transportation & subsistence reimbursed to worker upon completion of 50% of contract, or earlier if appropriate. EOE. $10.00/hr. or applicable piece rate. Worksites in Lexington & Saluda Co., SC. Report or send a resume to nearest GA DOL office or call 478-275-6525 & ref. #608466. Walter P. Rawl & Sons, Inc. – Pelion, SC CDL Van Drivers Needed SE Carrier/ 500 mile radius, no touch freight, drop & hook, 24 hour delivery, home weekend, .44 p/mile & full per diem pay. Call 912-375-3366, ext 311. The annual Masters Golf Tournament is played at the Augusta National in Augusta every first week of April. FINANCING AVAILABLE For All Your Plumbing Needs! 307 Saxon St. - Dublin, GA 31021 2273 Veterans Blvd. | (478) 275-0506 | 1-800-284-0506 310 GENERAL HELP WANTED FIREFIGHTER The City of Dublin is accepting applications for team members with positive attitudes and initiative. A firefighter is needed for the Fire Department. Applicants must possess a valid Georgia driver’s license and a high school diploma or its equivalent. All applicants will be required to pass a drug test, physical examination and an entry level firefighter’s test. This is a shift position with Firefighters working 24-hour shifts every third day. Prefer applicants with previous public safety work experience. Starting salary is $30,866 per year plus an extensive fringe benefits package. Applications will be taken in the Human Resource Department located at City Hall, 100 S. Church St., Dublin, GA through Wednesday, April 15, 2015. The City of Dublin is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Fork Lift Technician needed. Highschool Deploma or GED required. Must be Georgia work ready certified. Must be able to pass drug and background screen. Previous fork lift repair experience is required. Apply at Fred’s Distribution Center, 2815 Hwy 257,Dublin, Ga. 31021 HELP WANTED: Millwrights Welders-Pipe fitters. Must pass drug screen. Apply in person at GHW Industrial, 1201 Hillcrest Parkway, Dublin, Ga. 31021 478-277-9902 Independent Contractors Delivery Drivers/Couriers Seeking professional and quality driven independent contractors/owner operators with reliable MINIVAN, LARGE SUV for same day deliveries originating in the Hawkinsville area. Contractors sujbect to background checks, drug screen, and MVR checks. Call 877-476-4555. www..fleetgistics.com. Secretarial position open, 4 days a week, must have a working knowledge of microsoft word. Send resumes to : The Courier Herald Drawer B, CSS Box B Dublin, Ga. 31040 320 MEDICAL HELP WANTED CERTIFIED NURSING ASSISTANTS NEEDED 7PM TO 7AM SHIFT 94 BED SKILLED NURSING FACILITY SEEKS FULL TIME CERTIFIED NURSING ASSISTANTS. PLEASE APPLY IN PERSON. WRIGHTSVILLE MANOR NURSING HOME 608 WEST COURT STREET WRIGHTSVILLE, GA 31096 CNAs needed for America’s finest veterans, PRN shifts and weekends a must. Submit resume to: Concierge_care1@yahoo.com LPN NEEDED 7PM TO 7AM FULL TIME Please apply for a rewarding job that will offer you: •Every other weekend off •Shift plus weekend differential pay •Overtime pay every pay period •A 12 hour shift •15 days off during the month For all of these benefits, please apply at: Wrightsville Manor Nursing Home, 337 W. Court St. Wrightsville, GA 31096 in the business office 320 MEDICAL HELP WANTED REGISTERED NURSE NEEDED FULL TIME DAY SHIFT 94 BED SKILLED NURSING FACILITY SEEKS FULL-TIME DAY SHIFT REGISTERED NURSE, PLEASE APPLY IN PERSON. WRIGHTSVILLE MANOR NURSING HOME, 337 WEST COURT STREET, WRIGHTSVILLE, GA. 31096 351 VEHICLES FOR SALE 505 USED CARS AND MOTORS Dublin-Laurens Humane Society “We speak for those who can’t speak for themselves.” 2001 Chevy Blazer Extreme, Black w/ air, heat + cd player, good tires & brakes, $3700.obo 478-275-2505 725 LAWN SERVICES Tim’s Lawn Care & Pressure Washing. Call 478-290-1632 478-272-5341 REAL ESTATE ACREAGE Hayfield for rent. 6.68 acres. Call: 850-866-5925. 355 FARMS Keep your day job and hunt wild hogs at night with bows. Fill up your freezer with pork. 4 hunters max $300 each for 1 week lease call: 478-988-9082 360 HOMES FOR SALE ODDS OF A CHILD BECOMING A POP SINGER: 1 in 58,000 ODDS OF A CHILD BEING DIAGNOSED WITH AUTISM: 1 in 166 316 N. Omega St. Dexter. Historical charm, sits on 1.32 acre lot. new plumbing. $59,900. 436 Valambrosia Rd, Dublin. 4BR, 21/2BA, Tri-level home in a country setting. $135,000. 711 Pointe West LP, 4 BR, 2 1/2 BA, 2 story, on 1acre with nice storage bldg. $105,000. Tiffany Green Xcel Realty Group, LLC 478-275-1110 Office 478-279-2009 Cell www.xcelhomes.net FOR SALE by owner Downtown Condo (in Fred Robert’s Hotel) Call: 697-1678. FOR SALE OR RENT 3BR, 21/2 BA, 108 Fox Fire Circle. $1,350/mth 478-272-7529 or 770-598-2661 405 RENTALS STORAGE Strange Mini Storage Best Prices! Call 478-275-1592 425 APARTMENTS BROOKINGTON APARTMENTS Spacious 1 & 2 bedroom apartments with fully furnished kitchen. Lake, pool and clubhouse. Full maintenance with on site manager. 2726788. 440 HOMES FOR RENT 445 MOBILE HOMES FOR RENT House for Rent. 215 Brentwood Dr. 2400 sq ft. 4BR, 3BA $1,000/mth. Call: 478-595-8314 RENTAL: 3BR/2BA DW Mobile Home, 1ac, $550 478-213-7717 Cumberland Island National Seashore contains the ruins of Dungeness, the once magnificent Carnegie estate. In addition, wild horses graze among wind swept dunes. To learn the signs of autism, visit autismspeaks.org GRAPHIC DESIGNER Dependable, self motivated individual needed to fill an opening in our ad composition/pagination department. Must be organized and able to meet deadlines in a fast paced environment. Applicant must have computer experience, Macintosh preferred, an eye for attractive layout and detail. Salary commensurate with experience and benefits. Send Resume to: The Courier Herald Drawer B, CSS, Box H Dublin, GA 31040 or email to: advertisingtch@gmail.com FOR BETTER OR FOR WORSE BY LYNN JOHNSTON GARFIELD The Courier Herald Thursday, April 9, 2015/Dublin, Ga/Page 4b BY JIM DAVIS OVERBOARD BY CHIP DUNHAM ZITS BY JERRY SCOTT AND JIM BORGMAN Z I G G Y DEFLOCKED P L U G G E R S BY JEFF CORRIVEAU CROSSWORD PUZZLER CELEBRITIES BORN ON THIS DAY: Elle Fanning, 17; Kristen Stewart, 25; Leighton Meester, 29; Dennis Quaid, 61. Happy Birthday: This is a year to take action. Sitting back will only make you anxious and will lead to regret. Step up and get started. You are responsible for your own happiness. Set your sights high and don’t be afraid to make mistakes. What you learn from your experiences will contribute to a prosperous future. Express your thoughts and don’t look back. Your numbers are 4, 11, 15, 27, 32, 39, 46. ARIES (March 21-April 19): Get involved in the events, activities and networking functions that will allow you to use your skills and make new contacts. Don’t be discouraged by negative or critical individuals when you should be putting your thoughts and energy into exceling. 5 stars TAURUS (April 20-May 20): You’ll be tempted to overspend on items you don’t need. Think before you commit to any deal that requires monthly contributions or payments. Unexpected bills are likely to leave you short of cash. Pace yourself in all aspects of your life. 3 stars GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Emotional deception will be present when dealing with business partnerships. Focus on what’s in front of you instead of wallowing in past regrets or failures. There is much to gain if you approach life in a vibrant and engaging manner. 3 stars CANCER (June 21-July 22): Make career choices that will lead to professional advancement and more money. Educational pursuits will lead to contacts that will play a part in helping you reach your goals. Love and romance will have an impact on your life. 3 stars LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Your energetic mood will attract attention and bring about an opportunity to get ahead. Attend conferences, seminars or networking events that will allow you to meet potential clients. Don’t let an emotional situation ruin your chances to advance. 5 stars VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Interacting with people who have knowledge or expertise regarding something that interests you will lead to an unusual opportunity. Explore your options and consider a partnership that can help you develop new skills. Love is in the stars. 2 stars LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Your ability to see all sides of an issue will help bring order to a chaotic situation. Your talent will not go unnoticed, and greater personal and professional assistance will be offered. A positive change regarding an important relationship is apparent. 4 stars SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Draw from past experience in order to avoid being taken for granted. Keep life simple and refrain from unnecessary spending. Concentrate on home, developing innovative ideas and mastering what you enjoy doing the most. Make romance a priority. 3 stars SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22Dec. 21): Put honesty and integrity first. Don’t evade issues that need to be addressed. The purpose of clearing the air is to allow you the right to move forward without guilt. Do what needs to be done and don’t look back. 3 stars CAPRICORN (Dec. 22Jan. 19): Size up whatever situation you face without getting into a dispute with someone who is disagreeable. Work alone in order to avoid interference. Put more into home, family and self-improvement, and you will make gains and avoid disruptions. 3 stars AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Surround yourself with people who are aiming to get the same re- sults as you. Focus on work, partnerships and getting ahead. Don’t get into senseless arguments over petty matters. Do your own thing and try to make monetary gains. 4 stars PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Keep a low profile. Now is not the time to confront a situation. Instead, put your time and effort into your dreams and ideas. Once you have an ironclad plan in place, you can make your move with confidence. 2 stars Birthday Baby: You are entrepreneurial and powerful. You are charismatic and appealing. Eugenia’s websites - eugenialast.com for confidential consultations, eugenialast.com/blog/ for Eugenia’s blog and join Eugenia on twitter/facebook/linkedin Theatre Dublin Presents K E E P C H E C K I NG H E R E F O R MO R E D E TA IL S FOR THEATRE BOOKING AND INFORMATION, CALL MAIN STREET DUBLIN AT 478-277-5074 OR VISIT OUR WEBSITE AT WWW.THEATREDUBLINGA.COM