Llii
NATION
THE BATTALION
11A
Thursday, January 22, 2004
1 Georgia authorities defend police
response in slayings, abduction case
By Harry R. Weber
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
ATLANTA — Authorities said Wednesday they could not have
I saved four people killed in rural Georgia even though 911 calls
reveal police knew of a possible slaying 7 1/2 hours before entering
the victims’ homes.
On Jan. 7, Melissa Peeler repeatedly told dispatchers in Gordon
and Floyd counties that suspect Jerry William Jones had called her
and said he killed her family and kidnapped her three daughters.
After an initial call at 3:30 p.m., police checked the outside of the
two homes where the killings occurred, then left after mistakenly
concluding that nothing was wrong.
In one phone call at 9:39 p.m.. Peeler reiterated that Jones had
told her what he had done and bragged about it: “Looks like I have
custody now,” Peeler said Jones told her.
It wasn’t until 11 p.m., following yet another call from Peeler,
that police entered the homes in the tiny town of Ranger, about 55
miles north of Atlanta.
Jones is accused of fatally shooting Peeler’s parents, Tom and
Nola Blaylock, and strangling Peeler’s sister, Georgia Bradley, and
Peeler’s 10-month-old daughter by Jones, Jerri “Harley” Jones.
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Search begins for
cause of fire at
retirement home
By Duncan Mansfield
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
MARYVILLE, Tenn. —A fire that swept through
la rural retirement home without sprinklers or access
to a hydrant left three elderly residents dead and six
[hospitalized Wednesday.
The privately owned Home Away from Home was not
■ required to have a sprinkler system under state rules. A
I former employee said there had been problems with resi-
Idents smoking inside the home, but investigators were
■ withholding comment about what started the blaze.
“Nothing is ruled out,” said Bob Pollard, a special
■agent with the state fire marshal’s office.
Fifteen residents, a caregiver and a guest were in
Ithe ranch-style, brick building when it caught fire
[late Tuesday.
Neighbor Jack Wilson said residents were wheeled
jdown a narrow two-lane country road on stretchers to be
[loaded into ambulances that couldn’t drive all the way to
Ithe facility 15 miles south of Knoxville. A dozen ambu-
jlances jammed the road leading to the home.
“It was chaotic,” he said. “I don’t think it should be
lere, and that proved it last night.”
With no fire hydrant available, firefighters fashioned
makeshift pool by dumping truckloads of water into a
jlow spot on the ground and using that to supply the
loses. Temperatures in the mid-20s forced firefighters
|to put salt in the water to keep it from freezing.
Authorities identified two of the dead as residents
mcille Law, 87, and Molly Wright, 84. The third vic
tim’s identity was not released. One of them was
(trapped in the building, said sheriff’s spokeswoman
larian O'Briant.
In all, 13 people were treated for smoke inhalation
md burns, and one victim suffered a hip fracture. Six
jemained hospitalized, three in critical condition.
State law exempts older retirement homes from having
Sprinklers if they have not been renovated since 1994.
State licensing records list Home Away from
lome’s administrator as Curtis Sorrells, who refused to
lalk to reporters Wednesday.
Brach’s moving corporate
headquarters to Dallas
DALLAS (AP) — Brach’s
Confections Inc., maker of the nation’s
top-selling jelly bean and candy com
brands, is moving its corporate headquar
ters from Chicago to Dallas.
Brach’s, purchased in September by
Swiss chocolate maker Barry
Callebaut, is the seventh-
largest U.S. candy maker,
with sales last year of
$340 million.
Terry O’Brien, Brach’s
president and CEO, told
The Associated Press on
Wednesday that the com
pany chose Dallas over
several other locations.
O’Brien said Dallas
was chosen because it
provides a new start with
Brach’s parent company and offers prox
imity to its other operations.
“We think with our new facility and
our new parent company that Brach’s
has a new start and new competitive
advantages we didn’t have before,"
O’Brien said. “It was a very difficult
decision leaving Chicago, which has
been a great home for the company.
We’re looking forward to coming to
We're looking
forward to coming
to Dallas.
— Terry O'Brien
Brach's president and CEO
Dallas.”
The move will be completed
Monday, O’Brien said.
Brach’s employs about 1,600 peo
ple, with about 50 in its corporate
headquarters. Thirty-eight people will
be transferred from the corporate
office in Chicago, and
about 14 will be hired
locally, the company
said.
The relocation will
help consolidate corpo
rate operations, which
had been split between
Chicago and
Chattanooga, Tenn.,
where Brach’s pur
chased another candy
company several years
ago, officials said.
“We’re excited," said O’Brien, who
spent 14 years in Dallas with Frito-Lay
and Dean Foods Co. before joining
Brach’s in August. “We opened up a
state-of-the-art plant just over the bor
der in Mexico. This puts us much clos
er to that facility, which is an important
part of our future and makes us com
petitive again."
NEWS IN BRIEF
First lady to honor San Angelo museum
for excellence in art education
SAN ANGELO, Texas (AP) — First lady Laura Bush on Thursday will pres
ent a national award to the San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts for its contribu
tion to the sparsely populated West Texas region it serves.
The 2003 National Award for Museum and Library Service and a $10,000
check goes to the museum that began in a fort and strives to educate about
art in a 14-county area far from big-city cultural centers.
The first lady, who is from West Texas, will also honor two other museums
and three libraries across the country during the East Room ceremony.
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Jones was captured a day after the killings during a police chase that
ended in East Ridge, Tenn. The three girls were released unharmed.
On Wednesday, Jones waived extradition to Georgia, where he faces
murder, kidnapping and weapons possession charges. Jones, who shot
himself in the face as the chase ended, is recovering in a hospital.
John Bankhead, a spokesman for the Georgia Bureau of
Investigation, insisted it would have made no difference when police
found the bodies.
But Peeler’s sister Kathy O’Donnell said blood was visible on the
front door of her parents’ home and police should have known
something was wrong.
“I can’t help but think that just maybe had they gone in at that
time, maybe my sister might have been breathing,” she said.
Peeler’s 911 calls contradict law enforcemertt officials’ earlier
contention that they didn’t leam about the deaths until about 10:45
p.m. on Jan. 7.
“That’s what the sheriff told us,” Bankhead said. “1 don’t think
he knew. You’ll have to ask him.”
Gordon County Sheriff Jerry Davis and County Attorney
Suzanne Hutchinson did not return repeated phones calls
Wednesday from The Associated Press.
Peeler’s lawyer, Brent Erwin, said her client would have no
comment.
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Thursday, January 22nd
M:10am-2:25pni. Harrington 204
A History on Psrspoctlvss of "Rac»"
Lsctun by Dr. Sh—ta Athreya
Raviaw of tha earliest scientilic studies of
"race' and division based on race
IT.IOanv 12:25pm. Blockar 160
Cultural Relativism Lecture by
Dr. Cynthia Werner
Cultural beliefs can only be judged from
within the culture in which they exist.
t1:30am-1pm, Rudder Fountain
MSC Literary Arts Committee:
The World's Longest Poem
Students will offer reflections on their own
experiences with diversity through poetry
n*r More ImUm malUiit. < oi»i«« i Ihr
htl|»: tlrra
12pm-1pm, Rudder Fountain
MSC Town Hell: Lunch Box Concert
Free live musk concert showcasing
student and community talent
12:45pm-2pm, O&M Building 210
"Surviving the Middle Passage"
Lecture by Dr. Tom Green
Explores the survival of elements of
African culture in Western Hemisphere
5pm, Association of Former Students
Southwestern Black Student
Leadership Conference Registration
7pm. MSC 201
MSC CIA: American Voices
Stretches the issue of diversity to
examine American lifestyles
UM at *4S ISIS * Iruu »*M I nix r.ilv
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when you can walk
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- Huge 1 bedroom floor plans
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- Now preleasing for spring!
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Friday. January 23
Campus with a Dream Night
9:00 pm -1:01) am
SBSLC Variety Show - 7:00 pm in Rudder Auditorium
School of Rock at 7:00 & 9:45 pm in Rudder Theater
$1 w/ TAMU ID in Collaboration w/ MSC Film Society
Volunteer Service Day Projects in MSC Hallways at 9:00 pm
In Collaboration w/ MSC LEAD, FISH, ALOT, and Hospitality
Hip Hop Freestyle Contest in the MSC Flagroom at 10:00pm
In Collaboration w/ MSC Town Hall
free activities in the MSC Basement: pool, arts & crafts,
bowling, and DDR in Collaboration with Cepheid Variable
FREE FOOD and Drinks!!!
Free door prizes at 11:10 PN in NSC Flagroom*
Hust be present te win)
* /
979.845.1515 aggienights.tamu.edu
A- For special needs, please contact us
three days prior to the event at 845-1515.