Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page.

Barrow 4 Journal www.BarrowJournal.com Or Read all over... Wednesday, November 5,2008 Vol. 1 No. 2 18 PAGES 2 SECTIONS A publication of MainStreet Newspapers, Inc. WINDER, BARROW COUNTY GEORGIA 30680 250 COPY • Barrow County Museum gets renova tion page 2A Opinions: • Many changes in span of decade in Winder, Barrow page 4A Sports: •Winder-Barrow's Ben Corley gets chance to be top Bulldogg page 1B •Senior Night held at Apalachee High School.. page 2B •Wildcats win offensive shootout page 3B Other News: •School News pages 8B •Public Safety pages 7-8A •Church News page 6B •Obituaries page 9A Photo Feature: •Young and old both enjoy recent Air Show in Barrow County page 6A Healan out; Jud and June roll BY SUSAN NORMAN The nation gave Democrats control of the White House and Congress on Tuesday, but Barrow County voters went the other direction and handed Republicans com plete control of the local government. Swept out of office by a difference of fewer than 600 votes was the county’s lone Democrat incumbent, 3rd District Commissioner Bill Healan. A huge number of voters partici- p a t e d in the elec tion with Barrow having a 73 percent turn out, Local voters also elected Republican Jud Smith as the new sheriff 17,854 to 5,725 over Democrat James B. Bonnemer, Sr. and rewarded incumbent Republican Chief Magistrate June Davis with another four years in her job with a 16,998 to 6,181 win over Democratic Johnny C. Barrow County’s African-American leaders celebrate Obama victory. — 3A A PRIVILEDGE VOICING THEIR OPINION Roy Rice, 100 years old, prepares to vote Tuesday at Barrow County voters cast their ballots Tuesday at the Winder Community Center. Precinct 2. Local voters overall continued to support Photo by Susan Treadwell Republican candidates. Photo by Jessica Brown Smith. The 45 days of early voting added some drama to election night. Tuesday’s turnout of 9,397 voters was swamped by the magnitude of the 43-percent turnout prior to election. Some 13,885 residents voted in person at the county annex and another 1,435 voted by absentee paper ballot. Those early and absentee votes were not tallied until after all 16 poll ing places had reported their Tuesday results. So it wasn’t until 11:20 p.m. Tuesday night that local candidates learned their fates. continued on page 3A Journal to publish kids photos for Christmas The Barrow Journal will publish photos of your children and grandchildren in our Christmas week edi- ton. You can send in photos of your child with Santa, a school photo, or a photo that you make at home. Children must be under 12-years-old. The deadline for pho tos is Dec. 3. The photo graphs may be mailed to or dropped by the Barrow Journal at 77 East May Street, Winder, Ga. 30680 or you can email your photo to news @ barrow- journal.com. Include the child’s name, parents or grandparents name and town. The child or a parent or grandpar ent must live in Barrow County. Cost for the photo is $10 for a single child’s photo or $15 for a photo of multiple children. You can pick up the pho tos you send in after the Dec. 24 Barrow Journal edition at the Journal office. THE BAND PLAYED ON... The Winder-Barrow High School band will perform at one final football game this season Friday when the Bulldoggs host the Loganville High School Red Devils at 7:30 p.m. at W. Clair Harris Stadium. Senior band members will be recognized along with senior fall sport athletes. Photo by Jessica Brown Bethlehem purchases new computer, copier BY CHRIS BRIDGES In an effort to improve overall operations at city hall, Bethlehem officials voted Monday night to purchase a new copier and computer. A combination scanner, copier and fax machine will be purchased for $1,951, which includes a three-year lease. The Konica Minolta Cl OX will be purchased from Graham Office Equipment in Comer. The new copier was needed since the current was one estimated to be 20 years old. In addition, city officials agreed unani mously to purchase a new computer at a cost of $499 plus tax from Home Computers in Bethlehem. A 19-inch monitor will also be purchased for $190. The 19-inch monitor was only $30 more than the 17-inch model being offered. The current computer being used was approximately four years old. Software decision postponed BY CHRIS BRIDGES Despite a plea from some members of the Barrow County Board of Education, no action was taken during the board’s meeting Tuesday night concerning the expan sion of the “Classworks” com puter program for all elemen tary and middle schools. Superintendent Ron Saunders recommended to the board that $424,000 be used to expand the program from the current four elemen tary schools. That amount did not include an additional $31,500 for computer servers and $25,935 per year for the next three years for a service charge. Classworks is a program to help teachers meet the needs of all students, regardless of the level they are at. The comput er-based program is also used to help students reach CRCT goals and to target learning problems and help give solu tions for weaknesses. A presentation about the program was made by compa ny officials during a two-hour work session in October. continued on page 3A Barrow being sued by stable owners over zoning denial BY CHRIS BRIDGES Phillip and Jacquelin Twiss are suing the Barrow County Board of Commissioners after the BOC voted to deny the couple’s rezoning request for 24 acres on Hancock Bridge Road from R-l to AG. While the Barrow County Planning Commission voted to approval the request, the BOC voted unanimously in September to deny the rezon ing. A suit was filed in Barrow County Superior Court over the matter against Barrow County chairman Doug Garrison, commissioners Jerry Lampp, William Brown, Bill Healan, Isaiah Berry, Bill Parks, Ben Hendrix and chief administrator Keith Lee. The Twiss own and oper ate Across the Way Stables. When Jacquelin Twiss and her husband Phillip pur chased the land on Hancock Bridge four years ago, they did so with the intent of relocating the stables to the property. When they learned the business, which special izes in the retraining of thor oughbred racehorses, is not allowed under residential zoning, a request was made for the land to be rezoned to agricultural. The planning commis sion voted to approve the request with the recommen dations that the riding arena be moved and a maximum of 11 horses be kept on the property. The planning staff said the rezoning would be suitable for the area and would also be consistent with the coun ty’s comprehensive plan. The analysis further voted the rezoning would not cause any adverse affect on adja cent and nearby property. But neighbors Kenny and Karen Post voiced strong opposition to the plans. Karen Post said Riverbluff subdivi sion is a residential area and that agricultural activities would have a negative impact on her property values. Twiss said it would not harm the neighborhood. “If one looks one mile down the road from us, a new subdivision with homes start ing at $200,000 just went in next to Horse Feather Farms, another equestrian facil ity,” she said. “In the other direction (Jackson County), there are homes around $500,000. If one were to look at Alpharetta properties, the horse farms are the most expensive.” Twiss said it would not be commercial boarding. “We are a thoroughbred facility,” she said. “We board horses that are in training with us. We are not a public barn. There will not be tons of traffic. There never has been traffic in and out of our place. We do sponsor clinics, but that doesn’t mean they are held at our place. We do not have the facilities to host the number of people that attend.” continued on page 3A