About Barrow journal. (Winder, Ga.) 2008-2016 | View Entire Issue (May 20, 2009)
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
