About Barrow journal. (Winder, Ga.) 2008-2016 | View Entire Issue (July 22, 2009)
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
