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BARROW
COUNTY
Costume raises
pageant’s hackles
A Barrow County woman is catch
ing heat after her 3-year-old daughter
appeared in a beauty pageant dressed
as Julia Roberts’ character in “Pretty
Woman.”
Wendy Dickey has appeared on
a number of national news shows
recently to defend the outfit, which
is a replica of the one worn when
Roberts played a prostitute in the
movie, according to WDUN.
“I tried to figure what kind of char
acter I could do ‘Pretty Woman’ to be
non-sexual, just funny, hilarious and
comical, and this is the routine I came
up with,” Dickey told Joy Behar on
Headline News.
The costume garnered national
attention after Dickey and her daugh
ter Paisley appeared on the TLC pro
gram “Toddlers & Tiaras.”
CLARKE
COUNTY
Housing to be
razed, rebuilt
The Athens Housing Authority
will demolish a Hawthorne Avenue
housing project and replace it with
mixed-income housing, according to
the Athens Banner-Herald.
Jack R. Wells Homes, commonly
known as Pauldoe, was slated for
renovation over the next few years.
Instead, AHA officials decided to
work with a private company to com
pletely redevelop the 40-acre, 125-
unit apartment complex built in 1967.
AHA Executive Director Rick Parker
described the project as a transforma
tion, rather than a modernization.
AHA is working with Columbia
Residential, an Atlanta-based company
that has redeveloped five other public
housing projects in Atlanta, Marietta,
Columbus and New Orleans.
The redevelopment would double
the number of affordable units at
Pauldoe.
UGA toughens
harassment policy
The University of Georgia has
adopted a new, tougher sexual harass
ment policy that for the first time
explicitly defines sexual violence as a
violation of UGA policy.
The university’s cabinet, a group of
high-ranking administrators, adopt
ed the new Non-Discrimination and
Anti-Harassment policy with little
discussion in a meeting last Thursday,
according to the Athens Banner-
Herald.
The new policy also takes jurisdic
tion over student-on-student harass
ment complaints away from the UGA
Student Affairs office and places it
under the UGA Equal Opportunity
Office, which already handles cases
involving UGA workers.
Under both the old and revised pol
icy, UGA professors and graduate
teaching assistants are flatly prohib
ited from sex with their students, or
even dating them.
Mayor mulls tax
cut for seniors
Athens-Clarke Mayor Nancy
Denson introduced a proposal let
week to give senior homeowners a
break on their taxes, a key campaign
promise in 2010, according to the
Athens Banner-Herald.
Faced with projections of $10 mil
lion in budget cuts or tax increases
over the next four years just to main
tain current services, though, com
missioners gave the plan a lukewarm
reception.
Denson wants to let seniors freeze
their homes’ tax values when they turn
65 so their taxes don’t rise with high
er assessments. The Clarke County
School District instituted a similar
policy, known as a floating homestead
BANKS
HALL
• Homer
• Gainesville
Commerce
MADISON
Flowery Branch
JACKSON
• Danielsville
• Braselton
v • Hoschton
• Jefferson
• Bufori
• Winder
CLARKE
• Athens
GWINNETT
BARROW
Lawrenceville
Watkinsville •
Loganville
OCONEE
• Monroe
WALTON
exemption, in 2002.
About 5,000 homeowners are eli
gible for the floating homestead
exemption on school taxes — a third
of the owner-occupied households in
Clarke County — and about 3,000
have taken advantage of it, county Tax
Commissioner Mitch Schrader said.
GWINNETT
COUNTY
Tolls on 1-85
Start Oct. 1
On Oct. 1, the new managed-lane
system — and a toll — will replace
Interstate 85's high-occupancy lanes
from Chamblee-Tucker Road to Old
Peachtree Road, according to the
Gwinnett Daily Post.
The date, which is two months after
the original plans to open, is contin
gent on weather and testing.
Until then, crews will work to add
the final touches to the lanes, includ
ing signage about the tolls. But driv
ers will not be charged until Oct. 1,
officials said.
Tolls will vary from 10 cents to 90
cents a mile based on the congestion
at the time. The lane will remain free
for motorcyclists and alternative fuel
vehicles, but while the carpool lane
once allowed cars with two people,
the toll will only be waived after
October if there are three people in
the car.
Everyone, even those driving in the
lane for free, must have a Peach Pass.
To sign up for an account, go to www.
peachpass.com or call 1-877-PCH-
PASS.
2 high schools
top SAT stats
Newly released SAT scores show
test takers from Dacula High School
and Mill Creek High School exceeded
county, state and national averages,
according to Patch.com.
In 2011, Dacula High School stu
dents had a combined SAT score of
1525 and Mill Creek students scored
an average of 1535. Gwinnett County
Public Schools as a whole averaged
1511 compared to 1445 statewide and
1500 nationwide.
The SAT is a college entrance exam
that includes three sections — criti
cal reading, mathematics and writ
ing. It is designed to assess whether
students possess the critical thinking
skills necessary to succeed in college.
Possible scores range from 200 to 800
for each section. The highest possible
composite score is 2400. In Gwinnett,
students scored an average of 501 in
reading, 521 in mathematics and 489
in writing.
Students at Dacula High School
averaged 510 in critical reading, 522
in mathematics and 493 in writing.
Mill Creek students scored an average
of 508 in reading, 530 in mathematics
and 497 in writing.
Buford woman
dies on 1-85
A Buford woman is dead after
attempting to cross 1-85 early Friday
morning.
Police say 39-year-old Jade
Christensen of Buford crossed the
northbound lanes of 1-85 just south of
Buford Drive and was attempting to
cross the southbound lanes at approx
imately 12:45 a.m. when she was
struck by a 2004 GMC Envoy driven
by a 64-year-old Georgia man.
Christensen died at the scene as a
result of injuries sustained in the col
lision.
Officers with the Gwinnett
County Police Department Accident
Investigation Unit (AIU) believe
Christensen was under the influence
of alcohol at the time of the accident.
The accident remains under inves
tigation.
Students learn
business skills
The Dacula Coffee Shop on the
campus of Dacula High School is
open for business — and business is
booming.
“It started out kind of small. We just
started out in the mornings on little
carts, selling, and then we come to
where now we have our own room
and it’s kind of like a little Starbucks,”
Special Education teacher Cheryl
Gardner told Fox 5. “And we try
to make it like a little coffee shop
(where) the kids can come in and
relax during lunchtime.”
The coffee shop is run by students
from one of the school’s special needs
classes, and students are getting some
practical, hands on experience run
ning a real business.
“Some of the curriculum is so dif
ficult in high school that you really
struggle as a teacher telling the kids
why you are going to need to learn
this,” Gardner told Fox 5. “But when
the students can see, ‘This is why I
need to learn this concept,’ and they
get something out of it and they enjoy
it, that’s when they’re going to learn.”
HALL
COUNTY
Flowery Branch
seeks light input
After only two residents signed up
to add their input on Flowery Branch’s
streetlight plan last Thursday, city
council members have issued a plea
for more opinions.
According to WDUN, members of
the Council said they needed to hear
from more residents so they would
know what the “will of the people”
was.
“Call us. Tell us. Get a group of
your neighbors together. Invite us
somewhere; we’ll meet you...at your
house.. .wherever,” urged Councilman
Chris Fetterman.
The two residents who signed-up to
express their views on the street light
ing assessment resolution, Charles
Goodwin and Fred Richardson,
are directors on the Madison
Creek Subdivision Home Owners’
Association.
Councilman Kris Yardley attempted
to stoke the campaign to arouse more
citizen comment, “What we’re look
ing at is how to prioritize our spend
ing; what services that can we sustain.
We want to know what you (the citi
zens of Flowery Branch) want.”
In order to continue the ordinance
a vote was necessary. It passed 4 to
1, with Councilwoman Tara Richards
being the sole “no” vote.
YMCA moves
into S. Hall
The Georgia Mountains YMCA
appears poised to expand into South
Hall.
According to The Times of
Gainesville, the Oakwood City
Council voted last week to move for
ward with the Gainesville-based non
profit organization, beginning Oct.
1, to develop parks and recreation
programs in the city.
City Manager Steve Brown told the
newspaper that some details still need
to be worked out, ssh as membership
fees and which programs to offer. The
YMCA already operates the swim
ming pool in the Oakwood City Park
off Railroad Street, between Main and
Allen streets, during the summer.
The city plans to pay the YMCA up
to $12,500 over the next three months.
The total cost for the parks and recre
ation program next year will be about
$50,000.
“For what we see as a very moder
ate investment, we will be able to
offer a lot more opportunities for
our citizens, better utilization of our
facilities and lay the foundation for a
more enhanced parks and recreation
program in the future,” Brown told the
newspaper.
The agreement now goes before
the YMCA board of directors for
approval.
Fire destroys
S. Hall home
A family of four is homeless but
safe after an fire early Friday morning
destroyed their South Hall home.
According to The Times of
Gainesville, Hall County firefighters
responded to the call in the 5200
block of Strickland Road in Flowery
Branch. Four adults were living in the
home at the time but escaped safely.
Fire Chief David Kimbrell said in a
news release..
Firefighters found approximately 70
percent of the 3,600-square-foot home
engulfed in flames.
Fire crews were able to put out the
fire but the house is a total loss, with
damage estimated at $500,000.
An investigator has been called to
determine the cause of the fire.
County 2nd in
annual job loss
Georgia recorded nearly 34.000 job
losses in the past twelve months, but
state Labor Commission Marc Butler
said there is a “silver lining” to those
numbers: an increase in manufactur
ing jobs.
Meanwhile, as reported by WDUN,
Gainesville, percentage-wise, was
second in the state in terms of job
losses for the period. Gainesville lost
1,800 jobs in the past year, from
73,200 jobs in August 2010 to 71,400
jobs reported last month, or a loss
of 2.5 percent, second only to a 2.6
percent decline in the number of jobs
in Valdosta.
On the other hand, Athens added
800 jobs, a one percent increase, dur
ing the period, topped only by Macon,
which picked up 1,400 jobs, a 1.5
percent increase.
OCONEE
COUNTY
City OKS Civil
War memorial
A local camp of the Sons of the
Confederate Veterans will erect a
small granite memorial and lighted
flagpole in the Watkinsville cemetery,
the Athens Banner-Herald reported.
Watkinsville’s City Council
approved the memorial during a meet
ing last Wednesday. Council mem
ber Brian Brodrick voted against the
request.
The memorial will mark the
Confederate soldiers buried in the
cemetery. The flagpole will fly the
American flag and the “stars and
bars” Confederate flag and include a
solar-powered light to spotlight the
memorial at night.
WALTON
COUNTY
DDA names
interim post
The Downtown Development
Authority has announced an interim
director to oversee events through the
end of the year.
Matthew Chancey, a Monroe native,
will oversee what past director Ansley
Holder implemented for the year,
according to the Walton Tribune.
Currently city planner, Chancey will
oversee the fall festival, Christmas
parade and downtown lights and
decorations for the Christmas sea
son.
Chancey has been city planner since
last September and has worked with
the city since 2000.
He will serve as the interim director
for DDA until the city elects a new
director for the New Year.
Angel Food
suspends service
Angel Food Ministries, a nonde-
nominational nonprofit, has suspend
ed food deliveries for September.
The program was started in 1994
by pastors Joe and Linda Wingo, who
wanted to help families in Monroe
affected by industrial plant closings.
Starting with 34 families, eventually
other churches got involved, and Angel
Food began feeding hundreds of fami
lies across the southeast. Currently,
Angel Food provides food to more
than 500,000 families a month in 45
states.
A recorded message at the phone
number and a written message on the
website explain that services have
been suspended this month and cus
tomers’ money will be refunded. If
a credit card was used, the refund
should already be back in the cus
tomer’s bank account. If an EBT card
was used, the refund is still being
processed.