Newspaper Page Text
Barrow ... Journal
www.BarrowJournal.com Or Read all over...
Wednesday, December 31,2008
Vol. 1 No. 10 20 PAGES 2 SECTIONS A publication of MainStreet Newspapers, Inc. WINDER, BARROW COUNTY GEORGIA 30680 25c COPY
— Inside —
Area news:
•Annual Shop with a
Cop program held in
Barrow
page 12 A
•Freedom Bank issued
'cease and desist' order
page 2A
Opinions:
•Changewas Barrow's
byword in 2008
page 4A
•A 2009 Barrow
County wish list
page 4A
Sports:
•WBHS hosts George
Thompson Memorial
Wrestling Tournament
page 1B
•AHS senior Chaun
Gresham earns All-State
football status
page 1B
•Lady Wildcats earn
wins in three of past four
contests page 1B
Other News:
•School News
page 5B
•Public Safety
pages 6-8A
•Church News
page 11A
•Obituaries
page 9A
CC £ < o
5 o « E
<«o5
o q_ a.
<
o
o
Is airport lighting issue dead?
BY SUSAN NORMAN
The controversial ILS lighting proj
ect for Barrow County’s Northeast
Georgia Regional Airport appears to
be dead, at least for the foreseeable
future.
The Barrow County Airport
Authority passed its overdue bud
get for fiscal year 2009 on Dec. 23
without any funds included for the
project. A week earlier, the author
ity had authorized up to $350,000
for the project, but vice-chairman
Lee Barnett said it cannot go for
ward without additional funding
from the Barrow County Board of
Commissioners and that support is
in doubt given the change in
county leadership happening
this week.
The project requires local
matching funds of $894,000.
Barnett said if the county
government comes up with
$500,000, the airport authority
would come up with the rest.
But that $500,000 is in doubt
given the state of the economy and
the fact that $200,000 of the amount
has already been spent.
Voters approved up to $500,000 for
airport upgrades on the last SPLOST,
but since the airport is low on the
SPLOST priority list and sales taxes
are down, it’s unlikely those
revenues will be available
anytime soon.
In addition, with the
changes on the BOC and
the county’s tight budget,
it’s also unlikely the board
would authorize other funds
to complete the lighting part
of the ILS system.
The Federal Aviation
Administration informed the author
ity a few weeks ago that the local
share of the nearly $1.3 million light
ing project will be $894,000, rather
than the $350,000 the authority had
expected to pay.
The FAA has set a deadline of
June 2009 for the use of the federal
funds, or perhaps forfeit that amount
of funding.
ALREADY
SPENT PART
Barrow’s Chief Administrator
Keith Lee said in an interview
Monday that the county had already
spent about $200,000 in sales tax rev
enues by borrowing from the roads
SPLOST account for another airport
project — Runway 31-13 — leaving
about $300,000 that has yet to be col
lected or spent for the airport.
continued on page 3A
LEE
$5 sign-up
special ends
The introductory special of
$5 for a year’s subscription
to the Barrow Journal ends
this week. Coupons with the
$5 special will continue to be
honored, but no new coupons
will be made available.
“The response to the
Barrow Journal has been
overwhelming,” said Mike
Buffington, co-owner/
publisher of Mainstreet
Newspapers in Jefferson,
which publishes the Journal.
“The community has really
welcomed us over the last
10 weeks as we’ve got the
Journal up and running and
we appreciate the tremendous
show of support.”
The newspaper has been
mailed free to every address
in Barrow County over the
past two months, but that
ends with this week’s edi
tion. Subscribers may mail or
drop off their subscription at:
Barrow Journal, 77 East May
Street, Winder, 30680.
In addition to subscrib
ing, readers can also find
the Journal in stores around
Barrow County for weekly
purchase. Stores who don't
currently don’t carry the
Journal can do so by con
tacting Susan Mobley at
770-867-NEWS (6397). The
Journal will supply either
inside newspaper racks or an
outside newspaper box.
“Times are challenging
in Barrow County just like
everywhere else and that’s
why citizens need a com
munity newspaper that will
keep them fully informed,”
Buffington said. “What hap
pens in your community is
important, probably more
important than what happens
in Atlanta or Washington
D.C.”
No hospital
appeal yet
BY KERRI TESTEMENT
Northeast Georgia Health
System hasn’t filed the
paperwork yet to appeal a
recent decision by a judge
about its new hospital in
Braselton.
The Gainesville-based
health system has until Jan.
14 to file a request with the
Georgia Court of Appeals.
“We’ll definitely be meet
ing that deadline,” said
Melissa Tymchuk, a spokes
person for the health system,
on Monday.
Superior Court judge Bob
Adamson ruled in favor of
Barrow Regional Medical
Center two weeks ago in
a lawsuit that challenged
the state’s granting of a
Certificate of Need (CON)
to Northeast Georgia for
a new 100-bed hospital in
Braselton on Thompson Mill
Road, near Chateau Elan.
continued on page 3A
BY SUSAN NORMAN
Barrow County's retiring
sheriff has asked the Georgia
Bureau of Investigation to look
into an ongoing dispute with
a Snellville supply firm that
in 2007, outfitted 36 sheriff's
office vehicles with allegedly
overpriced equipment that did
not meet county specs.
But an attorney for the parts
dealer said this week the sher
iff’s move was just “a publicity
stunt by an outgoing politi
cian.”
In a Dec. 17 letter to the
GBI, retiring Sheriff Joel H.
Robinson alleges that after win
ning a contract with the county
in 2007, Parts Enterprises sub
stituted cheaper parts on sher
iff’s department vehicles.
“Upon receiving the com
pleted vehicles, we began to
notice numerous problems with
the installation,” Robinson's
letter states. “In addition, we
discovered that the specified
parts identified in the specs
had been replaced with parts
from another manufacturer.
These parts were less expen
sive, yet they were billed at the
same price.”
The parts in question were
consoles and push bumpers.
Robinson's letter states that
the sheriff's office notified the
company of the alleged dis
crepancy and was told that
fleet maintenance director
for Barrow County, Tommy
Parten, had approved the parts
substitution.
continued on page 3A
The unemployment rate
in Barrow County hit 7.9
percent in November, near
ly double the rate from
November of last year and
higher than the overall state
average for the month. It’s
also one of the highest rates
in the area as the economic
slowdown is shedding thou
sands of jobs.
According to the state
numbers, some 2,686 Barrow
Countians are unemployed.
One possible bit of good
news was that Barrow’s ini
tial unemployment insur
ance claims dropped in
November from October by
13 percent to 457 from 526
in October. But that number
was still 90 percent higher
than the year before.
Both numbers are likely
to stay high in the com
ing months as the eco
nomic downturn continues
to create layoffs and higher
unemployment in the area.
Statewide in November, the
unemployment rate topped
7.5 percent, the highest in
more than 25 years.
“Job losses are acceler
ating throughout most of
the state's economic sec
tors, with the exception of
healthcare, education, and
the federal government,”
State Labor Commissioner
Michael Thurmond said.
The last time Georgia
posted a seasonally adjusted
unemployment rate at this
level was in July of 1983
when the rate was also 7.5.
Hoops Season
SOARING HIGH
Winder-Barrow High School’s Bo Aldridge puts in
a basket during a recent Bulldogg game. WBHS,
coached by Eli Connell won its final two tournament
games at Southwest DeKalb High School last week
and will return to action Saturday at Flowery Branch
as the second half of the 2008-09 season begins.
Connell’s team practiced Monday and Tuesday in
preparation for this weekend’s contest.
Photo by Jessica Brown
Sheriff contacts GBI
over parts controversy
Unemployment hits
7.9 percent locally
Unemployment rates
Location
Nov. 2008
Nov. 2007
State
7.5%
6.9%
Barrow County
7.9
4.1
Clarke County
6.1
3.6
Gwinnett County
6.4
3.6
Jackson County
7.4
3.7
Madison County
6.4
3.6
Oconee County
4.4
2.8
Walton County
7.7
4.2
Banks County
5.2
2.8
Initial Unemployment Insurance Claims
Location
Nov. 2008
Oct. 2008
Nov. 2007
Chanae’
Barrow County
457
526
240
90%
Clarke County
545
680
385
42%
Gwinnett County
3,261
3,639
1,864
76%
Jackson County
336
382
226
49%
Madison County
219
227
149
47%
Oconee County
102
109
77
32%
Walton County
491
573
305
61%
Banks County
124
81
130
-5%
*Percent change from Nov. 2007 to Nov. 2008
THREE WISE MEN
A live nativity scene was on display in Bethlehem as
part of the city’s annual Christmas celebration last
week. Photo by Jessica Brown
