Time capsule
As reported in The Columbia News 38 years ago on Thursday, May 7, 1964.
Local man killed
A 29-year-old Martinez man was shot and killed in suburban Augusta on Friday night after a dispute at an inn.
James Willie Booker, 29, of Bussey Road, was a bartender at Vincent's Inn on Scott Nixon Road. Police found him dead of a shotgun wound to the chest about 10:05 p.m. - less than an hour after deputies talked to Booker about a group of unruly customers.
Police charged Eugene Bennett, 21, of Stevens Creek Road with the slaying.
School patrolwoman finds fox
Margie Carter will be adding a baby fox to her home zoo that already has a monkey and a raccoon.
Carter, a school patrolman at Perrin School for seven years, found the baby fox "frozen" in the middle of Washington Road. She saw the small animal, stopped her car and got out to retrieve it.
"No sooner had I reached it than its mother burst out of the woods," she said. "She didn't bother me. Just dashed by and into the woods on the other side."
The young fox did bite her, breaking the skin in two places one her left wrist.
"It didn't really hurt," she said.
Rain causes problems
A weekend storm dropped more than 4.5 inches of rain on Columbia County, but did no major damage.
There was some water service disruption, minor flooding and small fires. The rain water also caused an embankment to collapse near the railroad tracks in Harlem, making trains move slow and "travel easy" through the city.
Secretary surprised
Secretaries of all Columbia County Schools recently surprised newly-married Mrs. George Barton, secretary of Harlem High School.
The popular secretary met with the other school secretaries for a luncheon at the Board of Education office in Appling. The other secretaries surprised the former Miss Sylvia Morris by giving her an electric toaster.
The other secretaries included: Mrs. Bonnie Hardaway and Mrs. Cartledge of the superintendent's office, Miss Bessie Akin of Evans, Mrs. Patsy Deas of Martinez and Mrs. Edna Gaskill of Grovetown.