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Growth, changes coming as new year draws nigh

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Friday, December 14. 2018

By Walter Geiger

With a booming American economy that has filtered down to the local level, growth, change and some new projects will be coming to fruition in Barnesville-Lamar County during the coming new year.

On the industrial front, major expansions are expected at two existing local industries and at least two new industries will open or make great strides toward opening in 2019.

Continental Tire is nearing the end of an expansion of its tire cord manufacturing operations at Aldora Mills. The company has spent over $9 million on new equipment and improvements and expects to add 109 jobs this year. Employees at a plant in Porterdale, which the company is closing, have been offered some of those positions but many will be filled by new hires from the community.

Any sort of growth in the textile industry is a rarity in this day and time. Continental Tire credits the local expansion to the stability and reliability of the local workforce.
Jordan Forest Products is also moving toward serious expansion and reportedly hopes to acquire more land, including the abandoned Rivera Parts building across Grove Street from the current plant. [Full Story »]

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Features

Gayle White

Lamar lynchings included at memorial

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Walter Geiger

Friday, December 14. 2018

By Gayle White

It was Christmas Day, 1889. The weather was ”unseasonably warm,” so Pink Lawrence was probably without an overcoat as he walked down the railroad tracks in Barnesville toward an early evening Christmas gathering.

Pink, who was a black man in his twenties, knew the tracks well. He was a railroad worker with a reputation for reliability. He may have been walking with an extra pep in his step that Christmas Day because beside him was his bride of just one day, Renie Reeves. Her brother, Tom, was also part of the party.

Tom Reeves would later describe what happened: They had nearly reached the church that was their destination when they heard cursing and crude laughter. The sounds took the form of four young white men, staggering drunk. Some of them had pistols.
[Full Story »]

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Death Notices

Bobby David Smith

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Staff Writer

Tuesday, December 11. 2018

Mr. Bobby David Smith, 61, of Barnesville, passed away on Sunday, December 9, 2018 at his residence.
Mr. Smith was born Thursday, December 13, 1956 in Barnesville, Georgia to the late William Hulet Smith, Jr. and Jean Dale Grosinger Smith. He was also preceded in death by his grandson, Austin Smith; step-mother, Evelyn Smith; brother, Jimmy Smith; sisters, Tracy Cato and Cindy Pruitt.
He is survived by his son and daughter-in-law, Chris & Angela Smith; grandchildren, Savannah Smith, Kristin Smith, and Lee Peterman; sisters, Wanda & Mike Smith, Diane Martin, and Denise Brady; brothers, Tommy & Angie Smith, Keith Kennedy, Tommy Ray Kennedy & Cheryl Lewis, Mark & Renee Smith, William “Bill” Smith, Frankie Brady, and Jonathan Smith; several nieces and nephews; special friend, Jannette Wilder.
A funeral service for Mr. Bobby David Smith will be held at 2:00 P.M. on Wednesday, December 12, 2018 at the Barnesville First Assembly of God with Pastor Aaron Watson and Tim Guy officiating. Interment will follow in Mt. Zion Baptist Church Cemetery. The family will receive friends at the Barnesville First Assembly of God from 12:00 noon until the service hour. 552 Highway 18 West Barnesville, Georgia 30204.
To sign the online registry or to send a condolence online, please do so at www.williams-westburyfuneralhome.com
Williams-Westbury Funeral Home, 526 College Drive, Barnesville, is serving the Smith family.

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