What started off as a cold rain turned into an icy mess Monday night and Tuesday morning as temperatures dropped below freezing, causing rainy roads to become slick with black ice. Kingston Road was the site of the most accidents, but slip-and-slide collisions were also reported on Turner McCall, Shorter Avenue, Alabama Road, Redmond Circle, and Martha Berry Boulevard. Temperatures rose above freezing by mid-morning, however, and the ice was pretty much gone by lunchtime. Problems were considered too isolated for the school systems to close, although they told parents to exercise caution and good judgment in deciding whether it was safe for their kids to go to school.
The official desegregation plan under which Rome City Schools had been operating ever since the 1968-1969 school year began won belated approval from the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, which meant that the city school system was cleared to receive all federal funds for which it qualified. Rome was one of only 46 systems in the state that was judged fully compliant.
The Rome City Commission was on board with Governor Lester Maddox's proposed 1% sales tax increase, since the extra tax would bring the city $833,261 in the first year, and more than $146,600 would go to the school system.
Rome Police Chief Nelson Camp skipped right over the rash of Rome burglaries and robberies to focus on the real crime wave threatening the city: double-parking in downtown Rome. The chief warned people that the city would no longer allow double-parkers to pay their fines and be done with the matter; instead, they were going to require all recipients of double-parking citations to appear in court.
And speaking of burglars, safecrackers hit Westdale Hardware, peeling the safe open and stealing more than $100 in cash and several hundred dollars worth of tools. Burglars attempted the same sort of crime at Saunders Supply, but they were unable to open the safe. Burglars also entered East Rome Junior High School, breaking into the principal's office and ransacking it; school employees were unable to immediately determine what, if anything, was missing.
Three Armuchee men were arrested for counterfeiting after it was determining that they were passing bogus $10 bills to city and county businesses. Unfortunately for them, they chose to pass some of the bills at businesses where the owners knew them by name...
The Coosa Valley Fair received top honors for fairs during the annual meeting of the Georgia Association of Agricultural Fairs in Atlanta. Wesley Johnson, Coosa Valley Fair Association president, accepted the award. 1968 Fair Queen Diane Weeks was awarded second runner-up in the "Fairest of the Fairs" contest.
What we would give for these interest rates today: National City Bank was paying 5.12711% interest on one year savings certificates (the equivalent of certificates of deposit) this week in 1969, with Rome Bank and Trust and First National Bank following close behind at 5.05%.
Piggly Wiggly had beef liver for 38¢ a pound, Tide detergent for 49¢ a box, and cabbage for 8¢ a head. A&P had veal steaks for 89¢ a pound, bakery-fresh sweet potato pies for 45¢ each, and vine ripe tomatoes for 29¢ a pound. Big Apple had pork chops for 69¢ a pound, Sealtest ice milk for 39¢ a half-gallon, and Coca-Cola/Tab/Sprite for 33¢ a carton plus deposit. Kroger had chicken breasts for 49¢ a pound, strawberries for 33¢ a pint, and Crest toothpaste for 33¢ a tube. Couch's had Armour Mira-Cure bacon for 59¢ a pound, Blue Plate apple jelly for 15¢ a jar, and JFG coffee for 69¢ a pound.
The cinematic week began with The Secret Ceremony (starring Elizabeth Taylor) at the DeSoto Theatre, If He Hollers, Let Him Go (starring Dana Wynter) at the First Avenue, and The Paper Lion (starring Alan Alda) at the West Rome Drive-In. The midweek switchout brought Angel in My Pocket (starring Andy Griffith) to the DeSoto, The Parent Trap (starring Hayley Mills) to the First Avenue and Who's Minding the Mint? (starring Jim Hutton) to the West Rome Drive-In.
Trying to ride the coattails of Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In's success, ABC unveiled its sketch comedy series Turn-On on February 5th. While viewers loved Laugh-In, Turn-On was quite the turn-off, though: it became one of the very few TV series to be cancelled after only one episode!
Marvel Comics' short-lived attempt to poke fun at themselves and their comics competition came to an end with the release of Not Brand Echo #13, the final issue of the series. While Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, and other big-name talents were on hand to launch the series, by the time it came to an end, the book had been turned over to less high-profile (but still very skilled) creators like Roy Thomas, Arnold Drake, Marie Severin, and Bill Dubay.
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