Barrow journal. (Winder, Ga.) 2008-2016, July 15, 2009, Image 1

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Barrow journal., July 15, 2009, Image 1

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Newspaper Page TextBarrow Journal www.BarrowJournal.com •r Read all over... Wednesday, July 15,2009 Vol. 1 No. 38 22 PAGES 3 SECTIONS A publication of MainStreet Newspapers, Inc. WINDER, BARROW COUNTY GEORGIA 30680 25?) COPY — Inside — County mourns Area news: •In the kitchen with Willene Willis page 1C •Officials tour local processing facility page 2A •K-9 officers assist in local war on drugs page 3A Opinions: •Team effort makes us successful page 4 A •Enduring with cour age page 4A •Early numbers show trends in governor's race page 5A Sports: •Summer work contin ues for football players page 1B •Mat Wildcats learn about summer work page 1B •Lady Wildcats spend June improving page 1B Also Inside: •Classifieds page 5C •Church News page 8A •Public Safety pages 6A-7A •Obituaries pages 4-5B To subscribe, call today: 770-867-NEWS (6397). The Barrow Journal is delivered every Thursday. Mother, son die 2 days apart FAMILY UNIT Will, Ryan, Missy, Heidi and Les Morgan are shown in a family por trait. The family’s heroic battle has been admired by people locally and across the state. A Barrow County mother and son who waged brave battles against can cer died just two days apart last week. Visitation for Melinda (Missy) Morgan and Ryan Morgan will be held Friday, July 17, from 2-4 p.m. and 6-9 p.m. at Smith Memory Chapel in Winder. Services will be held Saturday, July 18, at Bethlehem First Baptist Church at 2 p.m. Missy, 46, died Wednesday, July 8. She was a speech pathologist at Bethlehem Elementary School. Ryan, 10, died Friday, July 10. He was a student at BES and participated in swimming and soccer. Ryan was diagnosed with Stage IV Neuroblastoma in 2004 and had undergone multiple treatments in Atlanta, New York and Vermont. Missy was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2007 and had waged a tough battle while also helping Ryan with his fight against cancer. Ryan and Missy are survived by father and husband Les Morgan; brother and son Will Morgan; and sister and daughter Heidi Morgan. Memorial contributions may be made to The Lighthouse, RO. Box 847, Marietta, GA 30061, or C.U.R.E. Childhood Cancer, 1835 Savoy Dr., Ste. 102, Atlanta, GA 30341. COMMUNITY SADDENED Both Ryan and Missy were well- known not just in Barrow County, but also around the state. For many people, Ryan had become the face of childhood cancer, appearing on television and doing radio fundrais ing to fight cancer. He was active in the Barrow County Relay for Life and participated in a number of special events for children with cancer. The family's struggles received widespread media attention last year when someone broke into their house and stole Ryan’s puppy. The story was covered by media outlets around the state. But to many Barrow Countians, Missy and Ryan were friends and neighbors who inspired courage. “Missy and Ryan were both heroes to everyone at Bethlehem Elementary School,” said Pat Lanthier, formei principal at BES. “They demonstrated an unbelievable amount of strength and gave us a unique perspective about the importance of love and relationships. “Missy was well known as an excel lent speech therapist. She worked tirelessly to serve her students. Hei courage and determination to main tain normalcy was an inspiration to us all. “At BES and everywhere he went, Ryan won the hearts of those around him. He always had a big smile and was a child everyone knew. He was popular among his classmates, with his happy-go-lucky attitude and win ning personality. continued on page 10A EVERYONE WINS While visiting South Africa, Jena Sims hosted her own event, Pageant of Hope. In the end, everyone is crowned something, be it, best hair, best smile, best dressed or most confident. Passion for charity Model spreads compassion BY KATIE HUSTON s a model, Jena Sims is surrounded by glamour and beauty. But as a humanitarian, the 20-year-old Winder native is willing to immerse herself in the gritty poverty of Africa to reach out to others. Sims recently returned home from South Africa, where she spent two weeks touring and servicing the area through her own charity program. “This was truly an eye-opening experi ence and it made me thankful for so much more than I realized,” she said. “In this particular township, 90 percent of the peo ple there had HIV/AIDS. You truly don’t know how bad the third world is until you live their life for a day.” Last week Sims, a graduate of Winder- Barrow High School in 2007, was feted at a Gladys Magazine Cover Model Signing party at Chateau Elan. She began model ing at the age of 10 at Barbizon School of Modeling. She first started competing in pageants when she was 15 and did so to earn scholarship money for college. “I really wanted to learn about the industry before I jumped in,” Sims said via email. “After I graduated (high school), I did a few fashion shows and shoots. Now, I have an agent and do work on a weekly basis.” Sims is a titleholder of America’s Junior National Teenager and was Miss Georgia Teen USA 2007. Sims was involved with modeling while in high school and had to learn to juggle her passion with her educa tional obligations. continued on page 5A Foreclosure rate 60% above 2008 mark Barrow County foreclosure actions moderated slightly for the upcoming August sale date, down to 182 from a record high in July of 245. For the first nine months of 2009, Barrow’s total foreclosures are running 60 percent higher than the same period in 2008. But the August cumulative number means that Barrow County has already had as many foreclosure actions the first eight months of 2009 as it did for all of 2008. Through the August date, Barrow has hit 1,393 foreclosures, the same amount as it tallied all of last year. Unemployment claims increase Barrow County’s initial unem ployment insurance claims were up in June 151 percent over June 2008. The claims were also up from May of this year by 20 percent, with 611 people filing for unemployment for the first time in June. The unemployment insurance filings are often a sign that the overall unemployment rate is about to take another jump. That number for June won’t be available until later in July. County values to plummet Massive reassessment hits 90% of county BY SUSAN NORMAN The Barrow County Tax Assessors Office is reducing the assessed value of almost all of the properties owned in the county. By the end of this week, the county will mail 29,000 reassess ments for real and personal property owned in the county. That represents more than 90 percent of the 31,150 parcels in Barrow County, said Chief Appraiser Cecil Highfield. And 90 percent of those are going down. Property owners have 45 calendar days — until the end of August — to either accept their newly assessed values or to appeal. Highfield said he could not estimate the total impact of the lower assessments on the county’s tax digest. However, the total impact is expected to be below the 20-percent shrinkage of the tax base that he had earlier given the county administration as an estimate. continued on page 9A CRCT analysis Some local schools stronger than peers As parents get ready to send their children back to school in Barrow County, some ask, “how good is my child’s school?” There's no easy way to answer that question given the complex interaction of aca demic, social and extracur ricular issues that make up the overall school environment. But an analysis done by the Barrow Journal of aca demic performance from last Spring’s CRCT tests indicate that while some local elemen tary and middle schools are doing OK, others have a ways to go to be competitive with their peers in Barrow and sur rounding counties. To analyze the data, the Journal looked at both the CRCT failure rates and the “exceeds standard” rates for grades 3, 5 and 8 in all Barrow County schools for all five sub jects covered by the CRCT. That data was then compared to other nearby county school systems to see where Barrow schools rank in relation to near by peers and to each other. In addition, the Journal looked at 2008 results to see where schools were making progress year-over-year. Three Barrow schools don 7 make AYP Three Barrow County schools didn’t make Adequate Yearly Progress according to data released by the Georgia Department of Education this week. Both Apalachee High School and Winder-Barrow High School failed to make AYP status, along with Holsenbeck Elementary School. Details of why the schools failed to make AYP were unavailable as of presstime as many Barrow school offi cials were at an out-of-town conference. Last year, four Barrow Schools failed to make AYP, including WBHS, Bethlehem Elementary, Bramlett Elementary and County Line Elementary. •For complete results and a detail breakdown of the Barrow County data, see pages 6A & 7A.