The Atlanta Constitution from Atlanta, Georgia • 66

She Atlanta 3mirnal AND CONSTITUTION MAY 24, 1990, Historic Athens house demolished 1 Despite petition, challenges, 1840s structure is torn down street from the hotel is rezoned to allow for a 100-car parking lot Preservationists successfully fought the proposed rezoning before City Council in November, but lost a battle earlier this spring to have the council designate the property a protected historic district According to city officials, the council can't reconsider the re-zoning request until next November. Preservationists had asked Christian College officials to delay the demolition until the fall to give prospective buyers a chance to match the hotel's offer. By Steve Goldberg Staff writer ATHENS One of the oldest houses remaining in Athens was razed Wednesday over the objections of historic preservationists to make room for a hotel parking lot Demolition of the Hull-Snell-ing House once home to former Georgia House Speaker and state Senate President Asbury Hull and former University of Georgia President Charles Snelling began without warning about 8 a.m.,. a day after members of the Athens-Clarke Heritage Foundation presented the building's owners with 3,000 signatures on a petition pleading for the house to remain standing. "It obviously had no effect," said John English, the foundation's former vice president for preservation.

"I feel like there's been a death in the family. It's a very sad, black moment when dol lars count more than history. It's really pathetic." By 2 p.m., the circa 1840 masonry building was reduced to a pile of bricks and broken wood. Officials of Christian College of Georgia, which owns the property, could not be reached for comment. The college has a contract to sell the property at 198 Hull St.

to the Athens Holiday Inn for $400,000 on the condition that the property which sits across the I I m'i 1 i i E-6 I PP1! If mm The Hull-Sneliing House at 198 Hull St. in Athens is no more; crews reduced the historic structure to rubble Wednesday. File Clergy holds seminar on drug fight demolition Killer pleads guilty to lesser charges, gets prison in man's slaying i Haft Irh rr. A "rr Evelyn, and fled with jewelry and Mr. Grimes's wallet A pillow case was thrown over Mrs.

Grimes's head and she never saw the attackers' faces. Stiggers and McGhee were arrested in their Atlanta apartment after a van they were driving was identified as allegedly being driven in the neighborhood. Both men were charged with malice murder and robbery, but District Attorney Lewis R. Slaton said the state recommended accepting the guilty plea for reduced charges because the case was not as strong as it could have been. "We had some difficulty on proving they were there," said Mr.

Slaton. A judge ordered Stiggers committed to a mental institution in 1988 after he pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to robbery in Fulton County. At the time, he also was facing charges in DeKalb and was inadvertently released from DeKalb jail after being found guilty but mentally ill and being sentenced to time served. By Scott Bronstein Staff writer Brown Terry McGhee, 24, one of two men charged with the Jan. 5, 1989, beating death of an elderly Fairburn man, pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and robbery Wednesday in Fulton County Superior Court and was sentenced to three consecutive 15-year prison terms.

Proceedings also began before a Fulton jury Wednesday to determine whether the other man, Drexel Emil Stiggers, 25, who has a history of mental instability, is competent to stand trial on the murder charge. When 76-year-old Dowdy W. Grimes was killed on Jan. 5, 1989, Stiggers had been mistakenly released from the DeKalb County Jail despite a court order committing him to a state mental hospital. Mr.

Grimes's body was found Jan. 5 on his bathroom floor by his wife. The men allegedly forced their way into the Grimes' home, beat Mr. Grimes and his wife, John SpinkStaff Macon residents fighting plans for diversion center art (right), who also has a gun confiscated from drug dealers. Religious leaders met Wednesday at the Cathedral of St.

Philip for a drug seminar. The Rev. Timothy McDonald (left), with the mayor's Atlanta Religious Mobilization Against Crime, holds a weapon to be given to W. James Stew- Groupto move from pulpit to streets will then adopt public housing projects and other drug-infested neighborhoods "to empower the community to run the drug dealers out," said the Rev. Timothy McDonald, the mayor's special assistant for community affairs who is spearheading the program.

W. James Stewart, a narcotics investigator in the Atlanta Police Bureau's Special Investigations unit, said it could be life-threatening for the clergy to go beyond persuading substance abusers to kick their habits. But the Rev. McDonald said ARMAC would go into drug houses. "We may have to beat down a By Alma E.

Hill Staff writer The training session had all the special effects expected at a drug seminar semiautomatic weapons, drug samples and tips on how to detect substance abusers. The only thing out of the ordinary was the audience, a group of about 30 religious leaders who met Wednesday at the Episcopal Cathedral of St Philip in Buckhead for a crash course on how to curb drug use The Associated Press MACON Some Macon residents, angry that they only recently learned of plans for a $1.4 million diversion center in their neighborhood, are working to stop the facility from being built. The state operates 18 diversion centers that house men and women who commit non-violent crimes or probationers who have not paid their fines. Residents work during the day and return to the center in the evening. Judges are sentencing defendants to diversion centers more often to help ease prison crowding.

Residents say they heard nothing about the center until they questioned surveyors check were unqualified to prescribe drugs. While the home had addressed the problems state officials cited, Jo C. Cato, director of the Child Care Licensing Division of the DHR, said the agency would continue monitoring Murphy-Harpst to "make sure they After scrutiny, state renews license of United Methodist home for troubled youths By Rhonda Cook Staff writer The state has renewed the license of a United Methodist home for troubled children that had been accused of overmedicating its charges rather than providing appropriate programs for the emotionally disturbed ing the five-acre site Friday. "It looks like an underhanded way of doing it" said resident Willie Smith. "Something that hush-hush, there has to be something wrong with it." Mr.

Smith said he contacted state Rep. Billy Randall (D-Ma-con), who is trying to arrange a meeting between residents and corrections officials. "We're definitely going to fight it because of the underhanded way they're doing it," Mr. Smith said. "It's not right, I don't believe.

This is a 99 percent residential area." Resident Vera Bloodworth said she is organizing a petition against the project. are in fact doing what they said they would do. It's just some routine monitoring." Mr. Cato also said a United Methodist committee has been appointed to look into the matter and make a report. The Associated Press contributed to this article.

parking lots of the church and nearby businesses, looking for a dark-colored, short-bed pickup truck Ms. Coleman's killer is believed to have been driving. The 18-year-old Ms. Coleman disappeared a week ago while on her way home after making decorations for graduation. Her car was found on a dirt road, the door open, the engine running, the headlights on and her purse on the seat.

Her body was found in a wooded area three days later. Police believe she was abducted and killed the night she disappeared, possibly by someone she knew and who may have attended the funeral. The killer may have tried to burn her body before leaving it in a swampy area of Montgomery County, authorities said Wednesday. door or two," the Rev. McDonald said.

"Once you go into a community you have no choice, if you're serious, but to go into crack houses to take them over." However, tactics will vary depending on the role the clergy wants to play. Rabbi Nathan Katz, of Congregation Anshe S'fard, in Morn-ingside, said he would encourage synagogue members to pressure lawmakers to enact tougher sentences for drug offenders. "If a mother and father cannot teach their children not to use drugs, what can a rabbi do," he asked. which accepts some of the state's most severely emotionally disturbed children aged 5 to 15 prescribed behavioral modification medication, such as Thorazine, to about 73 percent of its residents. State officials had criticized the home for sometimes using medication in place of programs, even though many staffers Joseph Johnson City manager of East Point A in their communities.

Organized by the Atlanta Religious Mobilization Against Crime (ARMAC), the clergy are about to go from the pulpit to the streets to encourage drug users to choose spiritual enlightenment instead of crack. ARMAC is the outgrowth of Atlanta Mayor Maynard H. Jackson's plea to religious leaders to join the city's fight against drugs. The group plans to recruit and train at least 4,000 volunteers from various faiths who youngsters. The state Department of Human Resources (DHR) notified the Murphy-Harpst Home in Ce-dartown of its decision in a letter dated May 17, officials confirmed Wednesday.

"Our agency has been scrutinized and investigated in far Mayor Bruce Bannister, and to force Municipal Judge George L. Barron to resign because of the "hardship" his demotion would cause. Attorneys for the city refused comment. In April, Judge Barron sent a memo to Mr. Johnson and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation seeking an investigation into the disappearance of at least $1,400 in court fines and bond forfeitures.

The council suspended Judge Barron for the "unauthorized communication," but Mayor Bannister vetoed the suspension. A day later, the council overrode the veto, and Judge Barron was again suspended with pay. He has a federal lawsuit pending against the city alleging he was improperly removed from the bench. Mr. Smith, a certified police officer, has been 'on sick leave, East Point officer sues over Hazlehurst mourns slain teen as search continues for suspect greater depth than most agencies go through," said the Rev.

John R. Steiner, president of Murphy-Harpst Home. "In areas where weaknesses were pointed out, we had an opportunity to correct them, and to that extent we're a better agency now." According to an April 9 DHR report, the Murphy-Harpst Home demotion since being informed of his impending demotion, officials said. He was ordered back to the East Point police department because the city wanted all of its certified officers assigned to that area, the suit said. The suit also claims the city's attorney, Tony Eidson, had "great resentment" toward Judge Barron, who "intervened" to ensure a speeding ticket issued to Mr.

Eidson was handled properly, the suit alleges. received a ticket, the fine was paid," said Mr. Eidson. Neither he, nor his partner, John Tal-madge would comment further. Mr.

Smith's demotion before news reports about the missing funds "created the false public impression that the plaintiff had committed wrongdoing with respect to the missing funds," the suit alleges. Claims he was target of political revenge By Elizabeth Coady Staff writer East Point's former court administrator alleges in a federal lawsuit that his demotion was ('political revenge" against two city officials, including a judge who sought a state investigation of missing court fines. Elbert Smith, 52, was court administrator for four years until Feb. 26, when he was removed from his post without cause or a hearing, according to a lawsuit filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Atlanta.

Mr. Smith is suing East Point City Manager Joseph Johnson and City Council members, alleging his demotion to jailer was intended "exact political revenge" on The Associated Press HAZLEHURST Ga. Almost 1,000 people packed the South-side Baptist Church in Hazlehurst Wednesday to mourn a popular Jeff Davis County High School student whose body was found in a wooded area Sunday. "Closed" signs and black bows hung on the front doors of many Hazlehurst businesses as the small community shut down to pay last respects to Rhonda Sue Coleman. Mourners lined the walls of the sanctuary, two and three deep.

While ministers tried to help the mourners inside the church deal with the question of "why," investigators were outside, continuing to work on "who." Officers roamed Hhe jammed.