Crash flips SUV midair
Today’s local weather
Cavaliers are moving on
Scout achieves Eagle
LOCAL • 6A
SPORTS • 1B
COMMUNITY • 3A
LaGrange Daily News lagrangenews.com
Breaking news at lagrangenews.com
Issue 107, Volume 173
Mayor: ‘We are telling our own story’
Thursday, May 7, 2015 • 50¢
Gov. signs ‘Kia Bill’
Thornton gives ‘State of City’ address By Donny Karr
[email protected]
LaGrange Mayor Jim Thornton presented a “State of the City” address Wednesday to members of the Rotary Club during a luncheon at Highland Country Club. Thornton outlined many of the positive things the city has accomplished and is working towards, as well as things that he wants to see the city become more involved in. “There’s an organizational aspect of a city, and then there’s a community aspect,” said Thornton. “The organization that is the city of LaGrange is second to none. I go around the state to a lot of conferences with other mayors, and we are the envy of other cities. We’re doing the right stuff as a city.” Thornton praised the hard work and dedication of the mayor’s office staff members. He also said that the reason the city of LaGrange has been successful as an organization is because of City Council members and City Manager Tom Hall. “Since I began serving on the City Council, and now as mayor, we have added to the cash reserve of the city,” said Thorton. “We’ve done that despite a recordsetting recession in the last few years. We have also reduced our debt in that time, as well. We, mostly, can thank our city manager, Tom Hall for this.” He listed items that the city is seeking to implement or improve during the next year of his term as mayor. “I spend a lot of time focused on jobs, growth and economic development for our city,” said Thornton. “Those things are essential for
the ongoing prosperity of our city.” Thornton mentioned that the city has been working with a marketing firm in recent months and is preparing to soon unveil a new marketing plan for LaGrange. “We are telling our own story, and we’re not letting other people tell our story for us,” said Thornton. “We want our city to appeal to businesses and industries, and also to potential residents.” He added that, as the city is preparing to accommodate new growth, it created the position of city planner to properly adjust to potential growth. “Leigh Threadgill, our city planner, has become a valuable asset to us as a city,” said Thornton. “We want to make sure that when we channel growth, that we channel it in the right way. She is certainly helping with that.” Thornton also addressed the city’s efforts to combat crime and how LaGrange is dealing with the issue. He noted that the city is dealing with “homegrown” crime, as well as “spillover” crime from Atlanta. “If you go back and look at our crime statistics from 20 years ago, our crime is down by one third and our violent crime is down by half,” said Thornton. “Crime isn’t a new problem, but the street gang aspect of it is.” According to Thornton, city leaders have recently been involved in discussions with Public Safety Chief Lou Dekmar on the city’s response to crime. He said that the city is discussing how it can allocate funds in next year’s budget to create two new positions in the police department for officers who
Tyler H. Jones | Daily News
Gov. Nathan Deal signs the Georgia Business Act — the so-called ‘Kia Bill’ — at the Kia Motors training facility in West Point on Wednesday. The bill provides an exemption from the state’s competitive bidding process for auto manufacturers operating in Georgia.
New law exempts bidding process By Tyler H. Jones
[email protected]
Georgia drivers may soon see more Kias with government tags on the road. Gov. Nathan Deal at the Kia Georgia Training Center in West Point signed a bill into law
Wednesday that allows state purchasing agents to buy cars made in Georgia without going through the competitive bid process. House Bill 259, which lawmakers titled the Georgia Business Act, has also been called the “Kia Bill,” because Kia
is the only auto manufacturer currently in Georgia. It also exempts some purchases totaling less than $25,000 from the bidding process. The previous threshold was $5,000. “I think it is important that we recognize that if somebody makes the investment and creates jobs in our state that they should be given some-
thing of a preference,” he said at the training center on Gabbettville Road following the signing ceremony. “That’s what this legislation does in part. Also, it expands the coverage to give advantages to smaller businesses as well.” The law will take effect July 1. Currently, See Bill | 6A
Crash flips SUV midair By Donny Karr
[email protected]
A wreck involving two vehicles on Lafayette Parkway left at least two people with minor injuries Wednesday afternoon. Witnesses said one of the vehicles flipped two or three times while it was airborne. LaGrange police officials said Wanda Hernandez of Hogansville was driving a blue Toyota Sienna minivan when Donny Karr | Daily News she pulled out of a shopping A LaGrange police officer walks away from a Jeep center in the 1400 block of Grand Cherokee that wrecked on Lafayette Parkway on Wednesday afternoon, causing it to flip in midair, Lafayette Parkway and struck a gold-colored Jeep Grand witnesses said.
Cherokee driven by Ladonna Blackburn of LaGrange as she was eastbound on Lafayette Parkway. Blackburn, as well as her 10-year-old passenger, were transported to West Georgia Medical Center. Hernandez was also taken to WGMC. None of the injuries were serious, police said. “The van started to pull out and then — out of nowhere — we saw the Jeep flipping in midair,” said one witness. “It was like something out of ‘Fast See Crash | 6A
See Mayor | 6A Facebook “f ” Logo
CMYK / .eps
A NEWS Obituary: 2A Community: 3A Comics: 4A Puzzles: 5A Weather: 6A
TCSS names 2015 Nurse of the Year
Facebook “f ” Logo
CMYK / .eps
Contributed report
B SPORTS Sports: 1B Classifieds: 2B, 3B
JOIN THE CONVERSATION What’s your take on today’s news? Go to lagrangenews.com and visit us on facebook to share your thoughts.
Stepping into Loretta Allen’s office is like going to a family reunion. Everyone is smiling, laughing and sharing stories about their day. To the students that come in to see her, and the staff, she is a part of their family. Tuesday, excitement immediately filled the room as they heard she was named the 2015 Troup County School System Nurse of the Year. For the honor, Allen met criteria established by the Scope and Standards of Professional School Nursing Practice. The criteria includes quality of care, performance appraisal and ethics, education and collegiality. She will now advance to the state level for
the Georgia School Nurse of the Year title. Allen, a LaGrange College graduate, received her bachelors of science in nursing and became a registered nurse over 30 years ago. She started her career at a long-term care facility but decided to apply for the nursing position with the school system after a friend who worked for Troup County School System told her about it. Even though she was with the long-term care facility for three decades, after a few life changes and the possibility of a new opportunity emerged, she felt TCSS was the change she needed. Now, four years later, she is being recognized as tops in her profession. Allen was nominated by her peers, which makes this
honor so much sweeter. “I was a nominee before, but this is my first time actually winning,” she said. Seeing almost 400 students a month between Callaway Middle School and LaGrange High School, she does more than bandage boo-boo’s with band-aids. “That’s the biggest misconception. I have to know each student and know how to treat them and their illness. I have students who are diabetic, insulin dependent, and on dialysis. When they are at school I have to know how to treat them if they come into my office,” said Allen while looking at a student’s prom pictures. The student was excited about See TCSS | 6A
Cavaliers are moving on
Scout achieves Eagle
LOCAL • 6A
SPORTS • 1B
COMMUNITY • 3A
LaGrange Daily News lagrangenews.com
Breaking news at lagrangenews.com
Issue 107, Volume 173
Mayor: ‘We are telling our own story’
Thursday, May 7, 2015 • 50¢
Gov. signs ‘Kia Bill’
Thornton gives ‘State of City’ address By Donny Karr
[email protected]
LaGrange Mayor Jim Thornton presented a “State of the City” address Wednesday to members of the Rotary Club during a luncheon at Highland Country Club. Thornton outlined many of the positive things the city has accomplished and is working towards, as well as things that he wants to see the city become more involved in. “There’s an organizational aspect of a city, and then there’s a community aspect,” said Thornton. “The organization that is the city of LaGrange is second to none. I go around the state to a lot of conferences with other mayors, and we are the envy of other cities. We’re doing the right stuff as a city.” Thornton praised the hard work and dedication of the mayor’s office staff members. He also said that the reason the city of LaGrange has been successful as an organization is because of City Council members and City Manager Tom Hall. “Since I began serving on the City Council, and now as mayor, we have added to the cash reserve of the city,” said Thorton. “We’ve done that despite a recordsetting recession in the last few years. We have also reduced our debt in that time, as well. We, mostly, can thank our city manager, Tom Hall for this.” He listed items that the city is seeking to implement or improve during the next year of his term as mayor. “I spend a lot of time focused on jobs, growth and economic development for our city,” said Thornton. “Those things are essential for
the ongoing prosperity of our city.” Thornton mentioned that the city has been working with a marketing firm in recent months and is preparing to soon unveil a new marketing plan for LaGrange. “We are telling our own story, and we’re not letting other people tell our story for us,” said Thornton. “We want our city to appeal to businesses and industries, and also to potential residents.” He added that, as the city is preparing to accommodate new growth, it created the position of city planner to properly adjust to potential growth. “Leigh Threadgill, our city planner, has become a valuable asset to us as a city,” said Thornton. “We want to make sure that when we channel growth, that we channel it in the right way. She is certainly helping with that.” Thornton also addressed the city’s efforts to combat crime and how LaGrange is dealing with the issue. He noted that the city is dealing with “homegrown” crime, as well as “spillover” crime from Atlanta. “If you go back and look at our crime statistics from 20 years ago, our crime is down by one third and our violent crime is down by half,” said Thornton. “Crime isn’t a new problem, but the street gang aspect of it is.” According to Thornton, city leaders have recently been involved in discussions with Public Safety Chief Lou Dekmar on the city’s response to crime. He said that the city is discussing how it can allocate funds in next year’s budget to create two new positions in the police department for officers who
Tyler H. Jones | Daily News
Gov. Nathan Deal signs the Georgia Business Act — the so-called ‘Kia Bill’ — at the Kia Motors training facility in West Point on Wednesday. The bill provides an exemption from the state’s competitive bidding process for auto manufacturers operating in Georgia.
New law exempts bidding process By Tyler H. Jones
[email protected]
Georgia drivers may soon see more Kias with government tags on the road. Gov. Nathan Deal at the Kia Georgia Training Center in West Point signed a bill into law
Wednesday that allows state purchasing agents to buy cars made in Georgia without going through the competitive bid process. House Bill 259, which lawmakers titled the Georgia Business Act, has also been called the “Kia Bill,” because Kia
is the only auto manufacturer currently in Georgia. It also exempts some purchases totaling less than $25,000 from the bidding process. The previous threshold was $5,000. “I think it is important that we recognize that if somebody makes the investment and creates jobs in our state that they should be given some-
thing of a preference,” he said at the training center on Gabbettville Road following the signing ceremony. “That’s what this legislation does in part. Also, it expands the coverage to give advantages to smaller businesses as well.” The law will take effect July 1. Currently, See Bill | 6A
Crash flips SUV midair By Donny Karr
[email protected]
A wreck involving two vehicles on Lafayette Parkway left at least two people with minor injuries Wednesday afternoon. Witnesses said one of the vehicles flipped two or three times while it was airborne. LaGrange police officials said Wanda Hernandez of Hogansville was driving a blue Toyota Sienna minivan when Donny Karr | Daily News she pulled out of a shopping A LaGrange police officer walks away from a Jeep center in the 1400 block of Grand Cherokee that wrecked on Lafayette Parkway on Wednesday afternoon, causing it to flip in midair, Lafayette Parkway and struck a gold-colored Jeep Grand witnesses said.
Cherokee driven by Ladonna Blackburn of LaGrange as she was eastbound on Lafayette Parkway. Blackburn, as well as her 10-year-old passenger, were transported to West Georgia Medical Center. Hernandez was also taken to WGMC. None of the injuries were serious, police said. “The van started to pull out and then — out of nowhere — we saw the Jeep flipping in midair,” said one witness. “It was like something out of ‘Fast See Crash | 6A
See Mayor | 6A Facebook “f ” Logo
CMYK / .eps
A NEWS Obituary: 2A Community: 3A Comics: 4A Puzzles: 5A Weather: 6A
TCSS names 2015 Nurse of the Year
Facebook “f ” Logo
CMYK / .eps
Contributed report
B SPORTS Sports: 1B Classifieds: 2B, 3B
JOIN THE CONVERSATION What’s your take on today’s news? Go to lagrangenews.com and visit us on facebook to share your thoughts.
Stepping into Loretta Allen’s office is like going to a family reunion. Everyone is smiling, laughing and sharing stories about their day. To the students that come in to see her, and the staff, she is a part of their family. Tuesday, excitement immediately filled the room as they heard she was named the 2015 Troup County School System Nurse of the Year. For the honor, Allen met criteria established by the Scope and Standards of Professional School Nursing Practice. The criteria includes quality of care, performance appraisal and ethics, education and collegiality. She will now advance to the state level for
the Georgia School Nurse of the Year title. Allen, a LaGrange College graduate, received her bachelors of science in nursing and became a registered nurse over 30 years ago. She started her career at a long-term care facility but decided to apply for the nursing position with the school system after a friend who worked for Troup County School System told her about it. Even though she was with the long-term care facility for three decades, after a few life changes and the possibility of a new opportunity emerged, she felt TCSS was the change she needed. Now, four years later, she is being recognized as tops in her profession. Allen was nominated by her peers, which makes this
honor so much sweeter. “I was a nominee before, but this is my first time actually winning,” she said. Seeing almost 400 students a month between Callaway Middle School and LaGrange High School, she does more than bandage boo-boo’s with band-aids. “That’s the biggest misconception. I have to know each student and know how to treat them and their illness. I have students who are diabetic, insulin dependent, and on dialysis. When they are at school I have to know how to treat them if they come into my office,” said Allen while looking at a student’s prom pictures. The student was excited about See TCSS | 6A
