Newspaper Page Text
Barrow >;Journal
www.BarrowJournal.com Barrow County’s Award-Winning Newspaper
Wednesday, September 7,2011
Vol. 3 No. 46
32 PAGES 3 SECTIONS plus inserts
A publication of MainStreet Newspapers, Inc.
WINDER, BARROW COUNTY GEORGIA 30680 25<j COPY
Community:
•Beyond the field on
Friday night
page 7C
Opinions:
•'Welcoming fall with
open arms'
page 4 A
•'Immigration restric-
tionists hurting our
economy'
page 5A
•Readers have their
say in Letters to Editor
page 5A
Sports:
•AHS Wildcats wel
come Flowery Branch
page 7B
•WBHS runners battle
elements
page 7B
•Bulldoggs' Bennett
named Runner of Week
page 6B
Also Inside:
•Church News
page 8C
•Classifieds
page 7 7 C
•Obituaries
page 9C
•Opinion
page 4A
•Pets of the Week
page IOC
•Public Safety
pages 6-9A
•School News
page 7C
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WELCOME
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Barrow & journal
County searching for elections supervisor
By Susan Norman
snorman @ barrowjournal. com
Nine weeks before what is likely to
be a challenging election day on Nov.
8, Barrow County is still without an
elections supervisor.
The county’s first attempt at find
ing a replacement for Katie Ferm,
who left in late July, was unsuc
cessful, and the position had to be
re-advertised.
A team of county officials was
scheduled to go through the second
batch of applications Wednesday. As
of the newspaper’s Sept. 7 deadline,
there was no word on whether the
additional applicants have the req
uisite training and experience for
the job. Holding down the fort in
Barrow County Elections and Voter
Registration in the meantime are
Monica Franklin, an elections assis
tant who is the office’s only full-time
employee, and her mother, Jeannine
Hardigree, the long-time voter regis
trar who retired in 2009 as part of the
county’s reduction-in-force, but has
been working part time in the office
for several months.
Franklin admitted last week that
she is feeling the pressure of hav
ing to plan for several complications
of what are often relatively simple
municipal elections.
“We are in the meat of it now,”
she said.
The challenges include:
•a countywide referendum that will
be held the same day and require
some city residents to vote at both
city and their county polling places;
•a Sunday alcohol sales referen
dum that will require Auburn and
Braselton voters to go to city polling
places even without any contested
mayoral or council races;
•and the timely federal approval of
Winder’s and Braselton’s new elec
tion maps. With no contested races in
Braselton, the new map will not have
an impact there. But the ballot in
Winder’s Ward 2 could be a surprise
to voters who have been moved out
of or into that election district.
In addition, Gov. Nathan Deal as of
last week had not signed the August
legislation that calls for the county
wide referendum on whether a coun
ty manager should run the day-to-day
operations of the government.
“He has not, but we still have to
proceed as if he has or we’ll pass our
deadlines,” Franklin said.
Rep. Terry England said Wednesday
morning in a text message to the
newspaper that the governor was
expected to the sign the legislation
that day.
See Elections on Page 3A
Training under lire...
SWAT SCHOOL
(TOP) Students attend
ing the Barrow County
Sheriffs Office Special
Weapons and Tactics
(SWAT) class last
week barged into an
abandoned house
off Duanhoo Road in
Winder on Sept. 1.
(LEFT) Sgt. David Bell,
with the Fulton County
Sheriffs Office, aimed
his simulated weapon
during hostage nego
tiation training. Sgt.
Bell assisted Sgt. David
Wayne Aderhold, BCSO
lead SWAT instruc
tor, with the weeklong
class, Aug. 29-Sept.
2. More photos of the
training are featured on
page 9A.
Photos by
Jessica Brown
Winder Jug Tavern offers fun for all
There will be something for everyone at
the Jug Tavern Festival, hosted by the City of
Winder Friday, Sept. 9 from 5 p.m. until 9:30
p.m. and Saturday, Sept. 10 from 10 a.m. until
10 p.m.
The event will be at the Jug Tavern Park
next to the Winder Community Center and
among the many offerings are a national
barbeque cook-off, continuous live entertain
ment and fireworks on Saturday night. Event
admission is free; most vendors will charge
for their wares and activities.
For the second year in a row, competi
tors from the Kansas City Barbeque Society
(KCBS) will convene in Winder on Thursday
night, set up camp, fire up their cookers and
ply their skills through Friday night. On
Saturday morning samples of the final prod
ucts will be available for $5. The People’s
Choice awards will be given midmorning.
This year 35 teams from several states are
entered and the winner of the Winder cook-off
will advance to the national KCBS champion
ship. The awards decided upon by the panel
of guest judges will be given at 5 p.m. on
Saturday on the Trax Side Stage.
See Jug Tavern on Page 10A
Auburn budget calls
for no tax increase
By Katie Cofer
katie @ barrowjournal. com
The Auburn City Council approved a $4.7 million FY2012
budget and budget ordinance on Sept. 1 that includes no city
property tax increase, a spending reduction in 13 out of the city’s
18 departments, and no budgeted items for capital improve
ments in the city’s general fund. The total adopted revenue is a
$161,000 difference over projected expenditures.
In the city’s general fund budget, the revenue reflects 21 per
cent from ad valorem taxes; 36 percent from local option sales
tax; and 37 percent from a blend of franchise fees, insurance
taxes, and other fees; and a six percent interfund transfer from
the city’s water fund of $206,000.
The city council and city department heads met four times
through a four-month period to produce the budget, as well as
held a mandatory public hearing Aug. 18, to which only one
citizen attended.
See Auburn Budget on Page 10A
City of Auburn FY 2012 General Fund Budget - Where the money goes
| kudiic Safety/Courts
| Public Works/Roads
] Administrative/City Council
] Cultural, Recreational & Library
| Gcneral/Othcr Government
Illustration by Katie Cofer
Orr back in jail following
emotional court hearing
By Susan Norman
snorman @ barrowjournal. com
A Superior Court judge last week found former fire lieuten
ant Todd Orr in violation of probation and sent him back to jail
for another 600-plus days.
That was an approximate number of days, as of the Sept. 1
hearing, that remained in the 24 months of probation Orr had
received for actions leading to a Christmas 2010 gun incident
that cost his pregnant daughter her right arm.
A May 26 plea deal spared Orr a felony conviction and pos
sible prison term, but it fell apart just two months later, when
on July 30 he called his estranged wife from his girlfriend’s
house and angrily told her that he wished he had blown her
head off instead of trying to kill himself last Christmas.
During last week’s three-hour probation revocation hearing,
prosecutor James Knox produced witnesses who consistently
testified that Orr not only talked about harming Teresa Orr,
but also told her afterwards that he could return to the family’s
Winder home that night and asked her, “Do you believe me?”
Defense attorney Billy Healan countered with witnesses,
including Orr’s girlfriend, who testified that his client never
uttered a statement about blowing off his wife’s head.
See Orr Hearing on Page 11A
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