Newspaper Page Text
Barrow Journal
www.BarrowJournal.com •r Read all over...
Wednesday, May 20,2009
Vol. 1 No. 30 22 PAGES 3 SECTIONS A publication of MainStreet Newspapers, Inc. WINDER, BARROW COUNTY GEORGIA 30680 250COPY
— Inside —
Area news:
•Bramlett Elementary
hosts annual carnival
page 6B
•In the kitchen with a
Cook of Barrow County
page 1C
•Ouzts Chevrolet look
ing to sell
page 2A
•Statham community
center to close earlier
page 2A
Opinions:
•A good dose of com
mon sense is needed
page 4A
•Thank you governor
page 4A
•Don't create
'Barrowfornia'
page 4A
Sports:
•Diamond Doggs wrap
up successful spring
page 1B
•Action continues at
W-B Speedway
page 2B
•AHS baseball exceeds
expectations in 2009
page4B
Also Inside:
•Classifieds
page 6C
•Church News
page 8B
•Public Safety
pages 6A
•Obituaries
pages 4-5C
To subscribe,
call today:
770-867-NEWS
(6397).
The Barrow
Journal is
delivered
every
Thursday.
Winder soldiers set to depart country
BY SUSAN NORMAN
Winder's two National Guard units
have completed pre-deployment train
ing in Mississippi and are heading to
Afghanistan within the next week.
“We are on track for our scheduled
departure for Afghanistan before the
end of the month,” said Lt. Col.
Matthew Smith, the units’ command
er both here and in Afghanistan.
“Our advance team is already on
the ground there, and our first sig
nificant group of soldiers (over 100)
will fly out over the next week,”
Smith said in an e-mail update to the
Barrow Journal.
He said Winder’s soldiers are in
good spirits and “ready to go.”
Of the 220 soldiers deployed from
Winder in late March, 19 returned
home due to medical conditions. But
accompanying Winder’s units are
additional “special skill soldiers”
from other organizations. Smith said.
“We will deploy in excess of 106
percent of our authorized number
of soldiers. The extra people are a
tremendous accomplishment because
it allows us extra flexibility once we
are deployed.”
Smith said he has learned from
his counterpart in Afghanistan that
Georgia soldiers from the 108th
Calvary Regiment are on the ground
and doing “a great job with their mis
sions.”
The deployment of actual units for
mentorship missions in Afghanistan
is a first, Smith added.
“Previously, the mentorship mis
sions for the Afghans were manned
by random, 16-man teams who were
brought together for two months of
training at Fort Riley, Kansas, and
then sent to Afghanistan,” he said
recently.
continued on page 3A
PREPARING FOR DUTY
Members of Winder’s National Guard prepared to depart Barrow
County in March.
A worthy event
focn
cheating
^VAflS OF
A SIGN OF HOPE
Those taking part in last Friday’s Barrow County Relay for Life display a mes
sage of hope as they walk arond the track at W. Clair Harris Stadium at Winder-
Barrow High School. See more coverage of the event on page 1C of today’s
edition. Photo by Jessica Brown
Barrow foreclosures climb 49%
Airport authority has
new, but familiar, name
BY SUSAN NORMAN
“North East Georgia Regional Airport” is no more - at least in
name.
The Barrow County Airport Authority Tuesday night shucked
the “regional” moniker in favor of the new name, “Barrow County
Airport.”
The name change comes four years after the previous authority
changed the name from the original “Winder-Barrow Airport” in
an attempt to attract more corporate and business users.
But the panel’s new chairman, Frank Nocera, said local residents
opposed to the rapid expansion of the airport want the name to
reflect the totally local nature of its service.
“Barrow County has a tremendous asset in this airport and the
citizens have requested that we basically try to stay focused on
community service and allow the airport to grow in a natural man
ner,” he said. “I feel the name we have now, NE Georgia Regional
Airport, does not really represent the community that it serves.”
He said the action would be a good gesture to reassure local resi
dents that the authority is “trying to move away from this forced
growth we thought we might have in the past.”
Robert Cartmill, who served on the previous authority, pointed
out that under the state charter, the airport is called “Winder-
Barrow Airport.”
But Nocera said the Winder portion of the name was relin
quished under an intergovernmental agreement when the city
turned over the airport to the airport authority.
Foreclosures in Barrow County are up
49 percent for the first six months of 2009.
Some 965 foreclosure sales have been held
or scheduled from January to June this year
compared to 648 for the first six months of
2008
For the upcoming June foreclosures sales,
the number doubled from June 2008 from
91 last year to 183 this year.
For all of 2008, Barrow County saw
1,395 foreclosures. The 2009 rate so far has
been well above that pace
Barrow County
Foreclosures
Month
2009
2008
January
111
79
February
131
117
March
158
121
April
169
115
May
213
128
June
183
91
Total
965
+49%
648
County unemployment claims up 126%
Unemployment insurance claims were up
in Barrow County in April 126 percent over
the same month last year. Some 560 Barrow
Countians filed for first time unemploy
ment benefits in April, up from 312 in April
2008.
While that number was up significantly,
it did mark a small drop of six percent from
March when nearly 600 people in Barrow
County filed for unemployment benefits.
Unemployment insurance filings often
reflect changes in the unemployment rate.
The April rates won’t be released until later
this month.
Barrow Unemployment Claims
April
April
March
2009
2008
2009
560
312
594
PATRIOTIC RECOGNITION
Winder celebrated Armed Forces Day Saturday with numerous special
events and performances including the Haymon-Morris Middle School Voice
Ensemble. See page 8A for more photos from the event.
Photo by Jessica Brown
continued on page 3A
County finances...
FY10 budget could
see $7 million shortfall
BY SUSAN NORMAN
County Chairman Danny Yearwood has scheduled a called
meeting of the Barrow County Board of Commissioners for
4 p.m. Thursday, May 21, to discuss the budget crisis facing
the county.
With expenses rising and revenues in a freefall, the board’s
budget committee is now projecting a budget gap of $7 million
or more in FY 2010.
Yearwood said it’s time to bring together all of the county’s
elected public officials and department managers who over
the next few weeks will develop their budget requests for
FY2010.
“We're going to discuss our budget situation, the shortfall,”
Yearwood said this week. “I want to let the people know
what’s happening — if we’re going to fund this budget, what
it’s going to take.”
He said he would not announce any cost-cutting proposals
at the meeting.
“I will just lay the facts out on the table and open it up
for questions and suggestions,” Yearwood said. “I want
the employees to know and the citizens to know where we
stand.”
The current year's revenue forecast is $34 million, and the
one for FY2010 is $28.9 million, including small grants that
have yet to be confirmed.
continued on page 2A
DO THE MATH:
Projected FY10 Revenue:
$28.9 million
Minus Current Salaries and Benefits:
-$25.3 million
Minus FY10 Health Premium Increase:
- $.74 million
Minus FY10 Debt Service Payment:
- $ .92 million
Minus FY10 Costs for New Facilities:
-$1.0 million
(reserve)
Funds available for FY10 operations:
$1 million or less
Operating expenditures for FY09:
$ 8.0 million
Estimated Shortfall in FY 10
- $7.0 million
