look back

From staff reports

January

Jan. 1-Police arrested a Griffin woman accused of breaking a 14-month-old child’s arm while working at a day-care center in Fayetteville.

Jan. 3-A day-care worker from Griffin charged with a felony count of cruelty to children is out on bond, according to a Fayetteville police spokeswoman.

Jan. 5-A legal battle is being waged over the validity of Pike County’s attempts to close a faith-based youth drug rehabilitation center that began operation in the community in September.

Jan. 7-The Spalding County Board of Commissioners is denying allegations that the board is seeking to dismiss County Manager William P. Wilson Jr. at Monday night’s meeting.

Jan. 9-It was standing-room-only at the Spalding County Board of Commissioners meeting as area residents turned out in full force to see if the county manager would be reappointed.

Jan. 11-A fire destroyed a single-wide mobile home Wednesday afternoon, displacing a family of five.

Jan. 13-Two adults and one child were killed shortly after noon Friday in a single-vehicle accident on I-75, in north Spalding County, approximately two miles south of exit 212.

Jan. 15-Six Griffin-Spalding County elementary schools earned recognition - and some cash - from the Georgia Department of Education for maintaining “Distinguished” progress for consecutive years.

Jan. 17-The Griffin Downtown Development Authority met for the first time this year Tuesday at the Griffin Regional Welcome Center. Major topics were the Livable Centers Intiative (LCI) study as well as continuing truck traffic coming through Hill Street.

Jan. 20-A former Spalding County Board of Commissioners candidate is expected to raise concerns and questions about the upcoming 800 MHz system at the Monday night Board of Commissioners meeting.

Jan. 23-Just a few days away from a possible recommendation of Spalding County’s upcoming 800 MHz syste two commissioners want to look at an alternative system that doesn’t adhere to APCO 25 standards and that can provide better quality than what is being offered.

Jan. 29-The Spalding County Parks and Recreation Department will hold its third and final public hearing for the upcoming master plan tonight.

February

Feb. 1-Area residents might notice an additional container near their garbage containers this week. City officials are placing about 7,000 recycling containers alongside existing garbage containers.

Feb. 5-A rash of copper-pipe thefts has the Spalding County Sheriff’s Department petitioning state legislators to enact recycling center regulations similar to that in place in Georgia pawn shops.

Feb. 7-Spalding County commissioners voted Monday to institute animal restraint districts throughout the county.

Feb. 9-The Yamaha Corporation of America announced Wednesday that it will cease operation in Thomaston by the end of March, costing the community one of its largest employers.

Feb. 11-“Teacher quality is the single most influential school-based factor toward improving student achievement,” according to a state-based education think tank, the Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education. However, maintaining a pool of capable teachers has become a cumbersome challenge in recent years as veteran teachers retire en masse and new teachers run for the door.

Feb. 13-The development of several grass- and brush-fire calls on Monday has the Spalding County Fire Department advising caution regarding controlled burns in the county.

Feb. 15-Spalding County Commissioners are aiming to make a final decision concerning the selection of an 800 MHz radio communications system on March 19.

Feb. 17-Three female employees of Curves Bar and Grill were arrested for exposing themselves earlier this week following a two-month investigation by the Spalding County Sheriff’s Office.

Feb. 19-After 26 years “and two or three months” of serving the community he loves, one of Griffin’s finest is turning in his badge.

Feb. 27-Three Thomaston residents face a combined total of more than 60 charges which authorities say may have involved more than $200,000 in fraudulent transactions.

March

Mar. 1-A routine traffic stop Tuesday night turned into the largest marijuana bust of the year for the Spalding County Special Operations Unit.

Mar. 3-Local parents can now have up-to-date information on their children’s academic progress from their home computers due to a deal the Griffin-Spalding County School System struck with MyGradebook.com.

Mar. 19-Spalding County commissioners tonight will consider a bit from MA/COM to be the provider of the new 800 MHz system.

Mar. 21-Spalding County voters overwhelmingly supported the continuation of a 1 percent sales tax to further build and renovate area schools.

Mar. 23-Mainstream rap artist and Griffin-native Jacoby Late White, also known as Jody Breeze, was arrested in Griffin Monday on a drug possession charge.

Mar. 26-Calvin Kenyada Sims, a suspected drug dealer wanted by police for possible involvement in a shooting Thursday night that left one man hospitalized, turned himself in to the Spalding County Sheriff’s Department around 7:30 p.m. Saturday.

Mar. 28-Spalding County Special Operations agents seized more than $50,000 worth of cocaine during the largest of three drug busts Saturday night.

Mar. 30-An undercover operation conducted by the Griffin Police Department’s Special Investigations Unit (SIU) Friday and Saturday resulted in citations being issued to 16 individuals for selling alcohol to a minor.

April

Apr. 1-It’s the type of call that raises firefighter’s adrenaline levels - a school bus overturned with multiple injuries and possible entrapment. Unfortunately, such horrors have been brought to even more heightened attention over the past month. Which is why a two-day workshop beginning Saturday involving firefighters around the state at Griffin’s Welcome Center, might have been so relevant to their attention.

Apr. 3-Spalding County commissioners established an 800 MHz project management team during their meeting Monday at the Courthouse Annex.

Apr. 12-A police dog brought down a fleeing suspect who managed to escape after fighting with a narcotics agent and dropping nearly 1,000 ecstasy pills along Interstate 75 in Spalding County, said Capt. Novin Darsey of the Special Operations Unit.

Apr. 14-The city of Griffin and representatives of the Atlanta Regional Commission held an introductory meeting regarding the Community Choices Project 2007 Thursday at the Griffin Welcome Center.

Apr. 16-Spalding County officials will announce the recipient of the Bain Proctor Award for volunteerism, during its Monday night meeting.

Apr. 26-Four numbers on a small card can be used in any basic mathematical way - addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. Each number can only be used once, and at the end, the answer has to be 24.

May

May 1, 2007-The battle over Curves Bar and Grill’s decision to provide adult entertainment could come back before a federal court judge unless the county can work out a compromise with the restaurant.

May 3, 2007-Several new majors for the University of Georgia-Griffin Campus cleared the final in-house hurdle last week leaving only the state board of regents to decide whether the school can expand its undergraduate catalogue.

May 5, 2007-A local club that features nude dancing has segments of Spalding County’s religious community in an uproar.

May 7, 2007-In the wake of a federal judge’s ruling which allowed Curves Bar & Grill to provide nude dancing, Griffin city commissioners will review the municipality’s adult entertainment ordinance during a 9 a.m. workshop Tuesday in the city hall courtroom at 100 South Hill St. The May commission meeting, the first to be held in the new city hall, will follow Tuesday night at 6 p.m.

May 9, 2007-A 64 year-old Spalding County man who allegedly shot his 25 year-old girlfriend to death then held police at bay during a 30-minute standoff was charged with the woman’s murder Tuesday.

May 11, 2007-Although falling short of some locally-set benchmarks, Georgia High School graduation test scores exhibited steady year-to-year progress in the Griffin-Spalding County School System.

May 13, 2007-A long-standing trend in local law enforcement has city officials vying to entice local police officers to stay in the community that hired them.

May 15, 2007-Craig and Jan Frank watched proudly Friday evening as their oldest son, Kyle Frank, received an associate’s degree in physics from Middle Georgia College in Cochran.

May 17, 2007-Spalding County residents awoke Wednesday to a hazy, smoke-filled day, the result of a massive fire in Butts County.

May 19, 2007-The Spalding County Farm Bureau on Wednesday sponsored its 13th Annual Farm Day at the Kiwanis Fairgrounds.

May 21, 2007-The annual Heritage Festival held Saturday in City Park ended abruptly when numerous separate fights broke out, including gunfire.

May 23, 2007-Griffin Commissioners gave consent to close City Park an hour early each night to save on security costs, following the county commission’s refusal to partially fund the request.

May 25, 2007-Rising gas prices have done little to deter the holiday travel plans of most motorists as close to a million people are set to hit Georgia roadways this weekend according to officials from AAA Auto Club South. But, locally area residents are feeling the pinch.

May 26, 2007-Organizers of this year’s Relay for Life met their fund-raising goal but they didn’t stop there. More than $190,000 was collected to aid in the battle against cancer-surpassing the goal of $130,000, according to American Cancer Society officials.

May 28, 2007-Phillip Hill served in the Spalding High JROTC throughout his high school career. But last summer with his senior year approaching, Hill decided that he was interested in furthering his military service.

May 30, 2007-The battle between Spalding County officials and Curves Bar & Grill over the county’s adult entertainment ordinance isn’t finished just yet.

June

June 1-Three customers dining at MoJo’s in the Wal-Mart Plaza shopping center Thursday evening were injured when a vehicle crashed through the window and entered the restaurant.

June 3-Although The Weather Channel predicts isolated thunderstorms for Griffin today, with a 30 percent chance of precipitation it will be a drop in the bucket due to the recent rainfall deficit.

June 5-Employee salaries dominated the discourse at the rancorous Board of Commissioners budget meeting Monday at the Courthouse Annex.

June 7-Griffin Bottling Investors LLC renewed its request to use parking spaces at Taylor Street Middle School along Fourth Street, Director of Construction and Facilities Bruce Ballard announced at the Griffin-Spalding County Board of Education meeting Tuesday.

June 9-Private citizens are being credited with stopping a moving vehicle Thursday evening after the driver, later identified as Roger Cameron Shannon, of Barnesville, lost consciousness at the wheel.

June 11-At a spirited county commission meeting Monday, Spalding County Sheriff’s Deputy Capt. Keith Duncan brought up a problem he called “Gypsy police.”

June 13-Griffin Board of Commissioners members discussed retiree health insurance and LED lights, among other things at their bimonthly pair of meetings Tuesday.

June 15-Steve Marro is the new Pike County manager. After finalizing the contract in a special called meeting Monday, the Board of Commissioners announced its decision after returning from an executive session at the end of Wednesday’s regular meeting Marro received a three-year contract.

June 16-Griffin police June 17-Dr. Henry Anderson is no loner the physician in charge of the Spalding County Medical Clinic, the Board of Health announced during its monthly meeting on Thursday.

June 19-Debate is continuing on the heavily-publicized Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2007, a compromise bill sponsored by U.S. Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Ted Kennedy, D-Mass.

June 21-Truck braking systems that use engine compression to stop the vehicle while sometimes producing loud machine gun-like sounds earned a reprieve in Spalding County on Monday night.

June 23-Curves Bar and Grill General Manager J.D. Gann on June 13 appeared in Spalding County Magistrate Court to answer the first four citations received for violating Section 1 of Spalding County Code 6-3013, which prohibits nudity and the sale of alcohol at the same establishment.

June 25-Griffin resident and former United States Representative John James Flynt Jr. died Sunday at the age of 92.

June 27-The Griffin Police Department responded Tuesday to Griffin’s second armed robbery in three days.

June 30-According to the Centers for Disease control, the number of American adults without health insurance jumped 6 percent from 41.2 million to 43.6 million from 2005 to 2006.

July

July 1-The Spalding County Commission voted 3-1 on Thursday to approve a controversial budget for 2008.

July 3-An apartment in Spalding Heights received heavy damage from a fire Sunday afternoon, but the occupants were not injured, officials said.

July 5-Griffin Police Department officers arrested 20 year-old Abraham Reed for armed robberies that he allegedly committed at 440 North Expressway, 627 W. Solomon St. and 1701 Williamson Road.

July 7-The Pike county High School student who was taken into custody after allegedly making terroristic threats on April 26 was found innocent by a school tribunal and charges were dismissed in juvenile court.

July 9-This month a law intended by the General Assembly to keep illegal immigrants out of jobs and away from government benefits went into effect.

July 11-Tuesday evening’s city commission meeting saw concerned employees turn out en masse to discuss proposed changes in the city’s employee retirement plan.

July 13-The Spalding County Sheriff’s Office is investigating a homicide that occurred Thursday morning at the intersection of South McDonough and Rehoboth Roads.

July 15-Three out of four middle schools in the Griffin-Spalding County School system didn’t meet this year’s Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) standards.

July 17-The city’s mandatory recycling program, in its fourth month of service, is already showing positive effects according to Director of Central Services Phill Francis.

July 19-Pancake Powerhouse IHOP plans to buy casual dining Applebee’s in a deal valued at $2.1 billion, the Los Angeles Times reported.

July 21-Spalding County saw its second suspected domestic violence-related homicide in as many weeks Friday morning with the death of 38 year-old Sara Starks of 337 Norris Road, Barnesville.

July 23-After graduating from Florida A&M University in Tallahassee with a bachelor of science degree in music education in Dec. 2006, Gregory Dumas could have taken a job in West Palm Beach.

August

August 1-A high speed chase involving a white Jeep Commander that began at approximately 8:30 Tuesday morning in Henry County ended in Griffin with the arrest of one man, 32 year-old Rasheed Hand of Ellenwood.

August 3-The third annual business expo for teachers of the Griffin-Spalding school system hosted by the Griffin-Spalding County Chamber of Commerce attracted a significant number of educators to the Griffin Regional Welcome Center Wednesday.

August 5-Students in all four Pike County schools return to their classrooms Monday with the beginning of the 2007-2008 school year.

August 7-Officials with the Griffin Police Department are investigating an armed robbery that occurred Saturday night at K&P One Stop, a convenience store at 401 Airport Road.

August 9-Attendance in the Griffin-Spalding County School System has been slightly higher than last year’s attendance during the same time period school officials said.

August 11-Pike County has been awarded a $35,000 state grant to faster earn Certified Work Ready Community status, according to a press release from the Pike County Chamber of Commerce.

August 13-The Griffin City Commission will hold a hearing at 5 p.m. on Tuesday to discuss the “adverse secondary effects” of adult businesses.

August 15-The old Coca-Cola bottling plant at Taylor and Fourth streets shut down years ago, but is now occupied by several new shops with more coming.

August 17-Recent fires have left a number of local residents displaced and have high-lighted the need for tenants to consider purchasing renter’s insurance.

August 19-For more than 100 years, the University of Georgia’s campus at Griffin has been a major agricultural research station manned by UGA faculty and staff conducting research in food safety and production.

August 21-The 119 Griffin-Spalding County high school students who took the ACT exam in 2007 scored an average of 19.8 out of 36, a one-point increase from last year.

August 23-The fifth annual Summer Senior Fishing Day, held Wednesday at Wyomia Tyus Park on Cowan Road, was well-attended by more than 100 area seniors.

August 25-Security at the Spalding County Courthouse could use some improvements according to Spalding County Board of Commissioners member Dave Phillips.

August 27-A 16-year-old male is currently being held in the Regional Youth Detention Center following his Friday night arrest on multiple drug charges by officers Joshua Oxford and Jonathan McGehee of the Griffin Police Department.

August 29-Tenth grader Contrail Lindsey was having her 16th birthday party at Griffin Skating on Saturday and her mother Felicia wanted to make it special. She contacted Akini, one of the personalities in charge of the morning show at the Atlanta radio station Hot 107.9 and asked the morning show crew to come to the party.

September

Sept. 2 - A Butts County man was killed late Friday night in an wreck in which police say alcohol was a major contributing factor.

The victim, 43-year-old Charles Bret Swafford, of Jackson, was traveling eastbound on Highway 16 toward Jackson when the fatal accident occurred.

Sept. 4 - Spalding County Manager William P. Wilson Jr. announced the appointment of Jimmy H. Sikes as the interim warden at the Spalding County Correctional Institution.

Sept. 6 - The Freeway Chevron at 351 North Expressway was burglarized early Wednesday morning, the third time the business has been victimized since late August.

Sept. 8 - A woman lost her life late Thursday night in the second fatal car wreck in Spalding County in less than one week.

Sept. 10 - The Griffin Police Department is investigating a bomb threat phoned into the Griffin Wal-Mart on 1569 North Expressway Friday evening, that forced the staff to evacuate the building.

Sept. 15 - Those interested in learning about this year’s candidates for the Griffin Board of Commissioners will have the opportunity to see them speak and discuss the issues Monday night.

Sept. 17 - Chief Tommy Jones of Griffin Fire-Rescue has established a citizens’ focus group to address issues of health, safety and fitness in the Griffin-Spalding County community.

Sept. 18 -- Sande Cropsey, who served as manager of the city of Griffin’s Main Street Program for the last 18 months, has announced her resignation effective Dec. 2.

Sept. 20 - A Griffin-Spalding County School System bus narrowly avoided a head-on collision involving two other cars Wednesday afternoon at the intersection of High Falls and North Walkers Mill roads.

Sept. 22 - When the Federal Reserve lowered the federal funds rate Tuesday for the first time in four years, from 5.25 percent to 4.75 percent, it did so with the intention of bringing relief to unstable financial and housing markets, which were expected to eventually cause a recession.

Sept. 24 - Unit CLB6, the troop of Lance Cpl. Jeffrey Walker, the Pike Marine soldier who was killed in May by sniper fire during his duty in Iraq, is expected to visit Williamson on Tuesday at about 3 p.m. taxes on seniors favored by Gov. Sonny Perdue and a plan that would abolish the income tax entirely favored by state Sen. John Douglas, R-Social Circle.

Sept. 28 - The Special Operations Unit of the Spalding County Sheriff’s Office recently made five drug-related arrests in two separate incidents on Interstate 75.

Sept. 30 - Widely known are the benefits that proponents say the proposed Atlanta-Lovejoy commuter rail line will bring to the citizens of Georgia. These include reduced air pollution, less wear and tear on the highways, reduced traffic and more green space unconsumed by urban sprawl.

October

Oct. 1 - For Danny Overstreet, field director of Friends of Disabled Adults (FODA), any handicap ramp his non-profit organization can build can go a long, long way for someone else.

Oct. 3 - Investigators arrived early Tuesday morning at the scene of a structure fire that on Monday evening fully consumed Watkins & Sons Funeral Services Inc., at 452 N. Hill St.

Oct. 5 - At a meeting Wednesday night at the Spalding County Parks and Recreation Department headquarters, director Louis Greene announced to the presidents of the various athletic associations that some changes had to be made.

Oct. 7 - There’s more activity on the legal front in the battle between Spalding County and Curves Bar and Grill.

According to County Attorney Jim Fortune, Curves’ attorneys have filed to reopen the original case and amend it to allow them to attack the new ordinance.

Oct. 9 - Officer Willie Neal of the Griffin Police Department and Thomas Wayne Tyree, chief of the Pike County Fire Department, and director of Pike County Emergency Services and the Emergency Management Agency, were honored Friday during a ceremony at the Georgia Public Safety Training Center in Forsyth.

Oct. 11 - Members of the Griffin Board of Commissioners discussed the possible sale of city-owned public housing units and took care of some other business at their Tuesday meeting.

Oct. 13 - At least one member of the Griffin Board of Commissioners is raising concerns about the Griffin Housing Authority’s plan to sell all three of its properties.

Oct. 15 - A set of bright yellow fliers sits on a shelf at Dits Too, a High Falls Road convenience store and gas station. Next to them sits a petition to prevent the transformation of North McDonough Rd., South McDonough Road and County Line Road into a truck-accessible bypass.

Oct. 17 - There have been some delays in the construction of the 800 MHz communications system, County Manager William P. Wilson Jr. said at Monday’s meeting of the Spalding County Board of Commissioners.

Oct. 19 - Nathan Lovelady, the 17-year-old accused of molesting children attending the Harvest Temple Church of God after-school program, on Monday entered a guilty plea in Spalding County Superior Court.

Oct. 20 - Local public safety leaders are hoping the delay in constructing the 800 MHz system will be a short one, and said the new communications system can’t come online soon enough.

November

Nov. 8 - The Spalding County Sheriff’s Office has broken what has become a significant child pornography ring involving both Georgia and Florida.

Nov. 12 - Under close-to-perfect weather conditions, with a bright sun shining and a slight breeze blowing, this year’s Veterans Day in Griffin once again drew a significant number of people to the Veterans Memorial Park despite the holiday falling on Sunday.

Nov. 14 - Curves Bar & Grill, the North Expressway adult entertainment establishment embroiled in controversy for many months, will not be troubling Spalding County clergymen and commissioners, at least temporarily, as the club closed its doors Oct. 27.

“We’re not permanently closed, just temporarily,” said Terry Stephenson, who holds the license for Curves. “We’re just taking a break.”

Nov. 16 - The Georgia Bureau of Investigation and the Spalding County Sheriff’s Office are each conducting investigations into the alleged abuse of a female prisoner currently incarcerated in the Spalding County Jail.

Nov. 20 - Naheem Daniels, a 16-year-old Griffin High School student, has now been charged as an adult in the shooting death of 15-year-old Nakitta Wilson, a Spalding High School student.

Nov. 22 - In the midst of an arrest on Taylor Street at 10:13 p.m. Monday, several shots were fired at law enforcement officers by the woman they were attempting to take into custody.

As officers with the Griffin Police Department were working a robbery suppression detail, they allegedly observed a woman, later identified as Sharon Louise Taylor-Griffin, soliciting the operator of a commercial vehicle.

Nov. 24 - Recent policy changes involving the Griffin Police Department Traffic Unit have caught the attention of Rep. John Yates, who has, according to a letter forwarded to the Griffin Daily News, requested State Attorney General Thurbert E. Baker review the issue regarding the requirement that all officers assigned to this specialized unit write 20 citations per 10 hour shift.

Nov. 26 - Spalding County foster children are looking forward to a much merrier Christmas than they may have otherwise anticipated, thanks to the efforts of the Spalding County Fire Department (SCFD).

Nov. 28 - At a recent congressional hearing, U.S. Rep. Lynn Westmoreland, R-Ga., interrogated Delta Air Lines Chief Executive Officer Richard Anderson about the possibility of the company merging with United Airlines and leaving the state.

Nov. 30 - Officials with the Spalding County Sheriff’s Office are urging area residents to exercise caution following the attempted rape of a woman at approximately 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 21, in the Honeybee Creek subdivision.

December

Dec. 4 - The SPLOST-funded 800 MHz radio system is moving along again, although some snags remain.

“It’s still delayed (but) we’re down to one tower,” said Paul van Haute, assistant to County Manager William P. Wilson Jr.

Dec. 5 - The Griffin Daily News has learned that the five officers assigned in November to the Griffin Police Department Traffic Unit have not met the performance objective recently established by the administration. This follows the reassignment of five original members of this specialized unit for failing in October to meet that same goal of issuing 20 citations per 10-hour shift.

Dec. 11 - At its meeting earlier this month, the Spalding County Board of Commissioners gave preliminary approval to a measure intended to prevent metal thefts within the county.

Dec. 16 - The memory of the first local soldier lost in the Vietnam War was honored this week by members of the Major Stephen W. Pless Marine Corps League Detachment 1196, as members gathered in Williamson to refurbish the grave site of Lance Cpl. James Thomas Harris.

Dec. 18 - Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 5448 and its Ladies Auxiliary, Boy Scout Troop 77, the Marine Corps League and the Griffin High School JROTC gathered Saturday to honor Griffin’s veterans by laying wreaths at their graves at the Veterans Memorial Cemetery.

Dec. 23 - Deputies with the Spalding County Sheriff’s Office patrolling the intersection of Northside Drive and North Hill Street Thursday night discovered a significant quantity of crack cocaine in a 1997 Honda Accord, located in the parking lot of the Fast Food Mart.

Dec. 26 - Members of the local Republican and Democratic parties believe the upcoming Iowa and New Hampshire presidential nominating contests are going to be close races.

Dec. 29 - Marvin Barrow, former head of the Griffin Police Department’s Uniform Patrol Division, died Wednesday at Sacred Journey Hospice in McDonough.

According to his family, Barrow was one of the first three blacks to be hired by the GPD, where he was employed for 32 years until retiring in 1997.

Dec. 30 - Four people, including two young children, were killed Friday night in a single-vehicle wreck in rural Butts County.