Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page.

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