Jackson Progress-Argus (Newspaper) - August 24, 1994, Jackson, Georgia the Since a former president was hooted at for being bom - it's not unusual to see political candidates arguing about who is the most Inside Today Badness Business Church Classified - 13B 1k 12A 12B Legal Real - 7B A 8B- 12B IB 1 tern Volume 1 2 1 - N u m b e r 34 ( USPS 272- 140) J a c k s o n August 24,1994 Serving Butts County Since 1873 5 2 Sections 30 Pages 50 Cents per copy I COPYRIGHT Jackson { 404- 775- 3107 1 New officer is making impact on drug pipeline By L a r r y Stanford Two weeks into his the Butts County Sheriff s Office's new traffic enforcement officer has already made three related arrests and confiscated more than $ 10,000 in suspected drug All of the arrests and seizures have come during routine driving violation stops on 1- 75. Many law enforcement officers consider 1- 75 to be a drug pipeline from Florida to the The first arrest came at 3: 01 a. m. on August 8. The who has requested that his name be stopped a rental car on 1- 75 for improper The officer became suspicious while talking to the driver and asked the driver for permission to search his and the driver Upon searching the the officer discovered approximately 78 marijuana plants concealed behind the back In trunk he found boxes containing growing Two hundred dollars in cash was also The Troy T. 31, of was arrested and charged with a count of manufacturing and a traffic Sheriff Gene Pope said if the 78 marijuana plants had been allowed to reach they would have been worth about $ 156,000. At 2 a. m. on August 16, a 1994 Lincoln Continental occupied by four black males was stopped on 1- 75 for The officer grew suspicious when the men told contradicting stories of where they had been and where they were He received permission search the vehicle and found $ 9,980 in A portion of the money was found in a paper bag on the front passenger and more money was found wrapped up in clothes in the trunk of the Two of the men claimed not to know about the and the other two could offer no proof that the money belonged to so it was No charges were filed and the men were Major Larry head of the Patrol said that the money was turned over to the federal Drug Enforcement Agency ( Welch said the DEA will advertise possession of the money in USA and ask that anyone wanting to claim the money to bring proof showing it is their If the cash is not it will be condemned in federal court and divided up among the law enforcement with Butts County receiving a portion of the Two men were arrested on August 17 following a 2 a. m. traffic stop on 1- 75. A 1994 Chrysler LeBaron occupied by two black men was stopped for After talking with the the officer received permission to search their During the approximately 3.5 ounces of a quantity of and a handgun were found in the - The men were arrested and the car Arrested were Eddie 51, and Doddie 41, both of GA Both have been charged with trafficking in cocaine and possession of a firearm by a convicted Flovilla Fire Dept. congratulated for work during flood By S u s a n J o n es The regular monthly meeting of the Flovilla City Council began Aug. 16 by again congratulating their fire department for a job well during the flood from tropical storm Members of the fire department were presented with a plaque of appreciation by council member Riley Following previous negative reports from the Environmental Protection Division resulting from flood water department chairman Harvey Whitehead said that Flovilla's water system is now in good Member Tammi Jones noted for the record that she thinks well superintendent George Smith should be compensated for overtime put into righting the situation following A similar request was contained in a letter member Louella Connor left with council in her absence from the I believe anyone contracted to provide a service should be compensated for their time or Mr. a licensed System contracted by the is requesting compensation the additional time he is spending to monitor our The amount of time is seven hours a but the inspections must nevertheless be performed as mandated by ' t h e State of Department of Natural The State notified the City of their requirement a certified letter dated May 12, 1994. Please my approval of this Harvey Norris admonished that council had already ' discussed the matter a n d ' s a i d - h e told Smith that since the installation of Smith doesn't as much to however his pay was not decreased and would not be increased unless a raise is in for Smith at the beginning of the See page 2A A comforting sight New and returning Jackson Primary School students found a comforting sight waiting for them at the entrance to the school Monday a cuddly panda bear that they could touch and The bear made the transition from summer time to school time easier for the young Photo by Stanford Cemetery plot sales of grave concern to Jackson council By L a r r y Stanford The sale of city cemetery plots continues to be an issue of grave concern to the Jackson City Council For the second time in as many the council debated without end over the city's procedure for selling cemetery ' Atf issue is whether or not the city should ask for the full payment for the plots at the time of or establish a payment system with those buying the The issue first came up at the council's August 2 meeting when Mayor Charlie Brown informed the council that it had been discovered that in excess of $ 7,000 is owed the city by a list of more than 10 people who have purchased plots in the city Brown said that the city apparently never set up a payment plan for the sale of the and that many of the people on the list had reserved a site paid for the first gravesite and buried a and never paid for the He added t h a t he was unsure if the city would be able to collect from those people because he was unsure if they - were- still Jiving in the area or still At the August 2 the council debated over establishing a new policy of payment up front for cemetery or establishing a financing plan for paying off No decision was reached and the council instructed Mayor Brown to check with other cities and counties to find out how they handle their cemetery Brown returned to the issue at the August 16 meeting by stating he had found that the majority of other cities and counties in the surrounding area allow a private company to handle the sale of cemetery plots and collect a fee from the The exceptions to that policy were the cities of Barnesville and where cemetery plots are fully paid for at the time of Brown added that Jackson appears to be the only city still handling the sale of cemetery plots and not collecting payments up He then opened the issue for Theodore Patterson stated that while the consensus of local governments Jackson seems to be to charge for plots up he is still concerned about the ability of everyone wanting to buy family plots being able to pay for them all at one Harold Duke said he remained firm in the belief that the only way the city should sell the plots is See Grave page 3A county are combining on business survey By L a r r y Stanford Butts County and the City of Jackson are combining efforts to study a new occupation for They are also joining forces in an effort to get federal funds for the renovation of the Jackson The city and county have 1 jointly out a survey to some 450 businesses in Butts requesting information on the gross The survey is an effort to determine which of three options will be the most fair way for local governments to impose an occupation or business on local businesses in 1995. The county currently does not have a business license The city had a but is looking at revising it to conform to a new state At a commission work session last County Manager Tom Williams explained the need for the Williams said ihe county had looked at a business license tax in 1991 and ' 92, and got negative responses to the proposal at public { j In 1993 the Georgia j Assembly revised the state t dealing with renaming the an occupation tax Under the new beginning iii 1995, local governments will have only three ways to impose a business ( 1) based on the number of employees a ( 2) based on gross receipts of a or ( 3) based on a combination the gross receipts and profitability ratio of a A study of the three shows the third a combination of the gross receipts and the profitability be the most fair way to businesses in Butts Williams asked the commissioners to study the and look toward implementing it in Commission Jimmy B. Hardy asked if any surrounding counties have such a ord i n a n in. Williams said Newton and Henry counties already have the ordinance in See page 2A Drug search Members of the the Department of Natural and the VS. A m joined forces with the Butts County Sheriff's office last week for their annual search for uana fields comes in for a landing ion the Recreation Department parking to beginning the The search was cut short by violent rain storms that came through the county around grounding the i Larry
