From the Sentinel: Sentinel Editor’s Note: For Douglas County, 2014 had its share of triumphs, tragic losses and political drama. The editorial staff at the Sentinel compiled a list of what we believe were the top stories from last year. The list is not in any particular order. WINTER WEATHER STRIKES: The 2-3 inches of snow that hit the area on Jan. 28 was dubbed “Snowpocalypse” by the Atlanta media and won’t soon be forgotten by those who lived through it. Snow started falling mid-morning, catching commuters and the school system off guard. Roughly 700 Douglas County public school students spent the night in local schools. The number of unsung heroes, from regular citizens, to teachers, school staff, and first responders who took care of students and stranded motorists was a bright spot in an otherwise miserable event. A second winter storm that hit on Feb. 11 caused power outages and other issues, but after getting caught off guard two weeks earlier, citizens and officials were better prepared. HERB EMORY: Legendary WSB traffic reporter and longtime Douglas County resident Capt. Herb Emory died April 12 after collapsing while helping at an accident scene near his home. Emory’s legacy of giving and helping others any way he could continues through the work of his wife, Karen, friends, WSB colleagues and fans all over metro Atlanta. The Toys for Tots event he helped put on every year was held in his memory and raised $40,000 and two truckloads of toys for needy children on Dec. 13. ELANA MEYERS TAYLOR: The Lithia Springs High School graduate put Douglasville on the world map at the Winter Olympics in 2010 when she won a bronze medal as a brakeman in women’s bobsledding. In 2014, she became a national celebrity, winning the silver medal while driving the top American women’s bobsled at the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. She came home to a huge reception at Arbor Place Mall and was honored by the governor and General Assembly. Meyers Taylor made history last month when she and Canadian Kaillie Humphries became the first women to compete in the four-man bobsled discipline in a World Cup. FIRST RESPONDER PAY: Hundreds of people attended a Douglasville City Council meeting on July 21 to support Police Chief Chris Womack after he told the Sentinel that he was losing officers because of low pay. “The chief is still the chief,” City Manager Bill Osborne said following a two-hour closed session where it appeared Womack’s job was on the line. Later in the year, Douglas County Sheriff Phil Miller made the same case to the county Board of Commissioners, who responded by giving all sworn sheriff’s officers 7.5 percent raises in 2015. The raises for the sheriff’s office left some Douglas County Fire Department employees questioning why they didn’t get the same pay increases. CHANGING POLITICS: Douglas County elected its first new district attorney in 24 years after David McDade resigned at the end of April as part of a non-prosecution agreement with the state attorney general’s office. Republican Brian Fortner, McDade’s former chief assistant, edged Democrat Dalia Racine by less than 500 votes in the November general election. On the Douglas County Board of Education, there was a power shift as Democrats Tracy Rookard and Michelle Simmons knocked off incumbent Republicans Janet Kelley and Dr. Sam Haskell. Democrats will hold a 3-2 edge when the school board meets Monday, which is when it is expected that D.T. Jackson, previously the lone Democrat on the board, will become the new BOE chairman. HOMICIDES: There were nine homicides county-wide in 2014, including six murders, and two vehicular homicides and a voluntary manslaughter charge. Of those, the most bizarre might have been the case of Dewey Calhoun Green, the Alabama man who is charged with murdering Janice Pitts on June 25. Authorities say Green rammed Pitts’ SUV multiple times on Highway 5 at Douglas Boulevard, then ran over and killed her when she got out to see what was going on. ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT: A proposed Westing Hotel and Conference Center at Foxhall in southern Douglas County was in the news most of the year. Proponents say it would be an economic engine the county needs to take some of the tax burden off homeowners. Opponents cited the risk of the tax-payer backed bonds proposed to get the project off the ground and a desire to keep the rural part of the county unblemished by a large development. The Board of Commissioners ultimately decided the tax-payer backed bonds were took risky. But the county development authority met Tuesday of this week to move forward using taxable bonds for part of the project. Officials say the new funding method would not put county taxpayers at risk. While the project at Foxhall remains uncertain, the county and city development authorities landed a big-name company in June. Thats when Keurig Green Mountain Inc. announced during a ceremony at the State Capitol June 19 plans to open a 585,000-square-foot manufacturing center in Douglas County that is projected to create 550 jobs and bring $337 million in capital investment into the county over the next five years. Officials expect the new Keurig facility to be operational in the second quarter of 2015. HISTORIC BUILDINGS DESTROYED BY FIRES: Town and Country Fabrics and Upholstery caught fire in the early morning hours of Aug. 5, completely destroying the century-old Brown Building on Broad Street in downtown Douglasville. Later that same month, on Aug. 29, the late 1800s era Flint Hill Masonic Lodge in the Fairplay/McWhorter area of the county was destroyed by a fire that started around 2 a.m. Authorities initially ruled both fires arsons. SERVICE DELIVERY GETS DONE: The Douglasville and Douglas County governments are notorious for not getting along. Nowhere was that more apparent than in the service delivery negotiations. The two sides needed two years and a number of extensions to finally get a deal done for fire and animal services. The Douglasville City Council held a called meeting two days before Christmas where it passed a final version of the deal, and the county Board of Commissioners met the day after Christmas where it signed off on the city’s final changes. More than 50 services total were involved. The city will pay the county $1.6 million a year for fire services and $250,000 for animal services. HIGHWAY 92 CONSTRUCTION: Construction on the major relocation of Highway 92 finally started in October. As part of the project, the road will veer to the east at Hospital Drive, go under the railroad tracks at U.S. Highway 78 and Strickland Street and run north of the city to the area around Jessie Davis Park. The project is expected to be completed in 2018.
Posted on: Fri, 02 Jan 2015 01:24:27 +0000
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