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Barrow Journal
www.BarrowJournal.com •r Read all over...
Wednesday, July 22,2009
Vol. 1 No. 39 20 PAGES 3 SECTIONS A publication of MainStreet Newspapers, Inc. WINDER, BARROW COUNTY GEORGIA 30680 250COPY
— Inside —
Features:
•In the kitchen with
Patrick Chandler
page 1C
•Peach sale to benefit
Barrow County 4-H
2C
•Gardening advice
from county extension
agent Britt West
page 3C
Opinions:
•Grassroots candidate
makes mark
page 4 A
•Property owners fac
ing tax hike
page 4A
•Lake ruling could
swamp North Georgia
page 5A
Sports:
•Football players work
for new season
page 1B
•Statham All-Stars set
for World Series
page 1B
•Barrow Saints prepare
for new season
page IB
Also Inside:
•Classifieds
page 5C
•Church News
page 5B
•Public Safety
pages 6A-7A
•Obituaries
pages 4B
To subscribe,
call today:
770-867-NEWS
(6397).
The Barrow
Journal is
delivered
every
Thursday.
Involves 13-year-old
Law silent on abortion case
BY SUSAN NORMAN
A 13-year-old Barrow County
youth ran away from home last week
to reportedly avoid pressure from
her parents that she have an abor
tion. But Georgia officials say there
is no clear provision in state law to
determine how to resolve situations
when underage children want to have
a child and parents want them to have
an abortion.
Spokesmen for the local and state
offices of DFCS were not available
for comment Tuesday. But Russ
Willard of the Georgia Attorney
General’s Office said in an interview
that the parental notification and judi
cial bypass statutes were written to
address a situation in which “a teen is
wanting to have an abortion and the
parents are objecting.” Willard said
there is “nothing in those provisions
that contemplate the reverse.”
However, Willard said there is no
question about another element of the
girl’s case.
“The age of consent is 16,” he said.
“It is impossible for a 13-year-old
to have willing sex in the state of
Georgia. If she’s not 16, she cannot
say ‘yes’ to having sex in the state of
Georgia.”
LOCATED SUNDAY
A Barrow County Sheriff’s depu
ty located the girl Sunday morning
at the Barrow County home of her
17-year-old boyfriend where he ini
tially questioned whether she should
be returned to her parents after she
said that they wanted her to have an
abortion.
With the girl in the back of his
patrol car. Deputy Nick Hansen
contacted both the Department of
Juvenile Justice and the Barrow
County Department of Family and
Children Services to see whether he
should return the young girl to her
home.
The juvenile justice staff said run
ning away did not merit detention in
a youth facility and the DFCS worker
told him to return the girl to her par
ents because their desire to have her
back home meant that she was not a
“deprived child.”
“I asked (the DFCS staff) since she
was pregnant and her parents were
pushing her to have an abortion if this
changed anything,” the deputy wrote
in a report about the incident.
The DFCS worker responded that a
caseworker would talk to the family.
The girl was returned home.
REPORTED MISSING
It was the girl’s father who had
called police Sunday morning aboul
two hours after discovering his daugh
ter was missing.
The father said his daughter had
announced her pregnancy July 17,
after which he purchased a home-
pregnancy test that confirmed the
pregnancy.
continued on page 3A
First Piedmont Bank fails
Other local banks struggled in 1 st Quarter
Area Community Banks 1st Quarter 2009 Results
Bank
Stars*
Asset
Size
Profit/
Loss
TAR A
Liquidity**
Capital
Ratio
Mountain Valley Bank
3
$156
million
$78,000
13.07
s
Exceeds
NEGA Bank.
2
$414
million
$1 million
52.53
M
Exceeds
Pinnacle Bank
2
$603
million
$723,000
24.22
W
Exceeds
Fidelity
2
$1.8
billion
-$$2.7
million
55.86
W
Exceeds
Hamilton State
2
$283
million
-$524,000
29.04
M
Subst.
Exceeds
First Georgia Bank
1
$813
million
-$1.1
million
52.69
W
Somewhat
Exceeds
Peoples Bank
1
$518
million
-$588,000
63.42
W
Exceeds
Requirement
Community Bank
& Trust
1
$1.2 billion
-$2 million
95.39
W
In
Compliance
Habersham Bank
1
$510
million
-$1.6
million
174.6
W
In
Compliance
Hometown Community
1
$134
million
-$383,000
141.27
S
May Not Be
Compliance
First Commerce
1
$190
million
-$460,000
139.65
M
Somewhat
Exceeds
First Piedmont
CLOSED 7-17-09
1
$124
million
-$680,000
439.51
M
Not in
Compliance
Net Losses = $10 million
Net Profits = $1.8 million
*Stars are the bank’s rating by Bankrate.com, a leading financial analysis firm. Ratings
are from 0-5 with higher numbers being better.
A TAR is the Troubled Asset Ratio for the bank. Lower numbers are better; numbers
over 100 are red flags that the bank needs to raise additional capital.
** Liquidity: S=Strong, M=Mode rate, W=Weak
Large multi-state or regional banks are not included in this report since those banks
do not reflect NEGA area market conditions. Banks shown here are based in or have
branches in Barrow or Jackson Counties, with the exception of Habersham Bank which
is located in Halt County, but whose branch is in the Town of Braselton.
LAST WEEK'S closure
of Winder's First Piedmont
Bank by the FDIC and
Georgia Department of
Banking underscores just
how hard the economic tur
moil continues to hit some
area banks.
First Piedmont was taken
over Friday evening by
regulators. First American
Bank and Trust of Athens
assumed the bank’s depo
sits. The bank reopened
Monday as a branch of First
American Bank and Trust
Company.
First Piedmont was the
second bank in the Barrow-
Jackson County area to fail
this year. Freedom Bank,
based in Commerce with
branches in Jefferson and
Winder, was taken over by
the FDIC in the spring.
Two other area banks —
Community Bank & Trust
and Habersham Bank — are
currently under cease and
desist orders to correct pro
blems due to questionable
loans.
On Monday, the AJC
reported that Winder’s The
Peoples Bank had been the
lead institution out of 67
banks that participated in
a $100 million syndicated
loan for a real estate develo
pment in Arizona that went
bust. That property has been
foreclosed and is being mar
keted for $48.5 million, less
than half its loan amount,
according to the article.
But Chris Maddox, CEO/
President of The Peoples
Bank, said the loan had only
a minimal impact on his
bank’s balance sheet.
“First, The Peoples Bank
originated the referenced
loan and then sold it to
Silverton Bank; Silverton
Bank, not The Peoples Bank,
then sold the loan downs
tream to 66 other lenders
from around the country,”
Maddox said. “Secondly, we
made the loan in good faith.
The developer was based in
Atlanta with local projects as well
as projects in Arizona. At the time
of origination, it was a good loan;
however, property values have dete
riorated at unprecedented levels.
Finally, participation loans were an
excellent tool to mitigate risk by
diversification.
continued on page 3A
Graham set to run for State Senate
Decision leaves Braselton mayor’s position open
Braselton Mayor Pat Graham
won’t run for re-election this fall
and will instead seek the Georgia
State Senate seat currently held by
Sen. Ralph Hudgens.
Hudgens will be running for
Georgia Insurance Commissioner,
thus opening up the Senate District
47 seat.
Graham, a Republican, said her
new campaign would be based on
“conservative principles.”
“Over the last eight years, we
have relied on conservative prin
ciples and worked to transform
Braselton into a recognized City
of Excellence,” she said. “We have
never raised taxes and yet the city
is in solid financial shape. I’ll rely
on those same conservative princi
ples and management experience
to help prevent any tax increase
and make state government more
efficient.”
Graham has had a high profile in
the state while serving as Braselton’s
mayor and was profiled in a Georgia
Trend magazine cover story this year.
continued on page 3A
GRAHAM
Statham finalist
for Army Center
BY CHRIS BRIDGES
The City of Statham appears to have emerged
as the frontrunner for a new Army Reserve
Center.
Statham planner and code enforcer Randy
Gordon told council members at the July
work session last Thursday other towns are
still being looked at, but Statham has a good
chance of being selected.
“I was told once the surveying and engi
neering is done, it’s pretty much a done deal,”
Gordon said.
The 43,000-square foot building would
house military personnel each month for train
ing. There would be 179 parking spaces at
the proposed facility located off Hwy. 316 on
16-acres on Old Bethlehem Road.
The project has a target price of $12 million,
but could be anywhere from $10-$25 million,
according to bid information. The construction
phase is estimated to take 486 days.
Statham officials said if the facility is con
structed locally, it should bring an increase in
business traffic to the downtown area when
military personnel are in town.
continued on page 2A
Carl looks at alcohol
sales in restaurants
BY KATIE HUSTON
The Town of Carl is looking to allow the
purchase of alcohol at restaurants in the com
munity.
Mayor Dave Brock said at the town's coun
cil meeting last week that he hopes to place a
resolution on a ballot for citizens to vote on in
November.
The ordinance would be similar to that of
Auburn’s and Barrow County's, along with the
other municipalities in the area. Brock said if
the people of Carl did not pass the resolution,
it would be the only area within a wide range
where a restaurant could not serve alcohol.
continued on page 3A
Schools have to deal
with more state cuts
BY CHRIS BRIDGES
The Barrow County Board of Education, like
its counterparts across the state, is trying to
figure out this week what
another round of school
cuts will mean for the
system.
Governor Sonny Perdue
announced Tuesday an
additional three percent
cut for public school
budgets as teachers face
the possibility of unpaid
furloughs.
Barrow superintendent
Ron Saunders said dur
ing a called work session
Tuesday night he had a conference call with
Perdue earlier in the day.
SAUNDERS
continued on page 3A
