Newspaper Page Text
Region roundup
Page 5C ^ Barrow Journal M Wednesday, October 19, 2011
BARROW
COUNTY
Winder submits
250 voter names
After three weeks of controversy
over the handling of Winder's list of
voters to challenge, the city on Friday
submitted only 250 names. That is
a fraction of the 3.000 names it had
planned to challenge before a public
outcry forced officials to reconsider
the city’s purge process, a process that
had led to a number of errors.
The city got the list of registered
voters earlier this week and work
ing with both city employees and an
outside consultant, went through the
names to get the final number of 250.
The voter challenge list was due
back to county officials Oct. 14. The
250 challenge voters will now get a
letter from the county notifying them
that their voting status has been chal
lenged. Those on the list who do show
up to vote on Nov. 8 will have to vote
a provisional ballot.
In Bethlehem, the city submitted
one voter name to be challenged.
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
CLARKE
COUNTY
Homewood gets
new grocery
The Dollar General store in
Homewood Village is bringing a
grocery store to the shopping center
off Jefferson Road just north of the
Athens Perimeter, according to the
Athens Banner-Herald.
The Dollar General will convert to
a DG Market, said Bryan Austin with
Sumner Properties, the property man
agement company for Homewood
Village. DG Markets carry all Dollar
General’s regular items, but also will
offer a selection of groceries, includ
ing frozen and dairy items, fresh pro
duce and fresh meat.
Construction on the 22,000-square-
foot Dollar General Market should
start in early November and take from
10 to 12 weeks. The existing Dollar
General will remain open until it
moves into the renovated space.
Students catch
protesting bug
Social tides are changing world
wide, and University students have
taken notice.
More specifically, a surge in student
protests has been drawing campus
attention this semester, according to
The Red & Black.
Themes for the demonstrations have
been wide-ranging. Issues with local
ties — such as the University's use of
coal and its treatment of undocument
ed students — are being dealt with the
same hand as more nationally-perti-
nent issues, such as the Occupy Wall
Street movement and the execution of
Troy Davis.
A quick review of student protests
this semester shows not only a marked
increase in the number of protests that
are occurring, but also in the number
of students that are actively participat
ing in them.
“Social movement scholars know
that protests work in cycles,” David
Smilde, an associate professor of soci
ology at the university, told the news
paper. “There are certain moments in
which there are more protests than
others, and then they die down. If
you look at what you might call the
‘political opportunity structure,’ right
now, you think about the mind-set of
students and progressives in general.
... They’re no longer going to wait and
see with Obama — they’re going to
try and influence what happens from
here on out.
“They’re going to try and get their
issues on the map and make sure that
they're heard.”
‘Secret’ meeting
killed river plan
The Athens-Clarke Economic
Development Foundation illegally
closed a meeting last month when it
voted to kill off a taxpayer-subsidized
commercial district along the North
Oconee River, the Athens Banner-
Herald reported.
Several lawyers said the EDF board
should not have gone into closed ses
sion Sept. 12 to talk about hiring a
consultant to oversee the river district,
or Project Blue Heron, a proposal for
a $25 million public investment in
land and infrastructure to draw high-
tech companies to Athens.
Even if the board could have closed
the meeting, it strayed so far from
the topic of hiring that it should have
opened the meeting back up to the
public.
State law allows government bodies
to meet in executive session for three
reasons: to discuss lawsuits, person
nel matters and real estate transac
tions. Contractors and consultants,
as opposed to permanent employees,
don’t fall under the personnel excep
tion.
Wounded K-9
gets surgery
Lakota nearly lost his life in the line
of duty this month, but the 5-year-old
German shepherd is on the mend and
can live out his life in comfort with his
human partner and family, according
to the Athens Banner-Herald.
Even after it became apparent the
Clayton County K-9 would survive
his injuries from a car wreck — which
also seriously injured Officer Travis
Fox — vets thought they would have
to amputate one of Lakota's three
broken legs.
But a second opinion from the
University of Georgia’s College of
Veterinary Medicine helped them save
the leg, and college officials charged
only $3,000 for Lakota's surgery and
other medical treatment that otherwise
would have cost more than $10,000.
The co-owners of a Pet Supplies
Plus franchise on Alps Road paid that
bill, and the Darford dog food com
pany pledged a lifetime supply of free
dog food.
Travis Fox wrecked Oct. 3 while
racing to a reported home invasion in
Clayton County. He lost control of his
car, which struck a fence and tree, and
he and Lakota both were ejected.
The officer suffered spinal fractures
and other injuries, but doctors expect
he'll fully recover, his wife said.
GWINNETT
COUNTY
12Stone ranked
fastest growing
According to Outreach Magazine's
annual Outreach 100 survey, Gwinnett
County’s 12Stone Church is the fast
est growing church in Georgia and
ranked No. 30 as one of the largest
churches in the country, according to
the Gwinnett Daily Post.
From February to spring, 12Stone
had 23 percent growth, adding 2,185
more people to the congregation,
totalling 11,182 members. When re
evaluated in September, the numbers
reached more than 12,500 attending
Sunday service.
12Stone Church, located in
Lawrenceville, Hamilton Mill and
Flowery Branch, offers an online ser
vice and plans to build a new church
at the Sugarloaf/Interstate 85 corridor
to accommodate all of the parishio
ners.
which they said will save taxpayers
$800,000 over the previous budget
year.
Also cited as major revenue boost
ers is a new fee schedule for Animal
Services and a resolution allowing
Hall County to claim its share of pre
paid wireless phone taxes collected
by the state.
Oakwood plans
‘community’ sign
Church gets vial
of Pope’s blood
A Polish church tucked off
Lawrenceville Highway that seats about
500 at full capacity has been bestowed
with what few other congregations in
the world can claim—a vial of Blessed
Pope John Paul IPs blood.
According to the Gwinnett Daily
Post, the relic, extracted from the
church leader and historical giant after
his 2005 death, was unveiled Sunday
at St. Marguerite d’Youville Catholic
Church in Lawrenceville to coincide
with a renaming of Atlanta’s Polish
Catholic Apostolate.
Church leaders hope the relic —
encased in a gold frame, in a cylindri
cal vial encircled by the words “Blood
of Blessed John Paul II” in Latin
— affords congregants and Catholics
across metro Atlanta a sense of prox
imity to a pope known for his human
touch.
“This is very special for us, for
all Polish people in America,” Father
Piotr Nowacki, church chaplain, told
the newspaper.
A similar vial that toured Mexico
notwithstanding, the relic is the
only vial scheduled for the foresee
able future in North America, said
Meaghan Schroeder, spokeswoman
for the Archdiocese of Atlanta.
HALL
COUNTY
Cutbacks save
at least $1 million
Hall County officials are adding
up the amount of cash they’ve saved
since the fiscal year 2012 budget took
effect on July 1.
According to WDUN, officials say
$142,000 has been saved by reorga
nizing several director positions and
abolishing the public safety direc
tor and Allen Creek facility manager
position. In addition, they said more
than $351,000 was saved by closing
the Allen Creek Compactor Site.
County officials also said changes
to employee health insurance benefits
approved in September are expected
to eliminate a projected $4 million
deficit that the county faced for the
2013 fiscal year.
They also note the August reorgani
zation of Parks and Leisure Services,
The city of Oakwood and Lanier
Technical College are moving for
ward on plans to build a “commu
nity” sign off Ga. 13/Atlanta Highway
at Thurmon Tanner Parkway and
Interstate 985's Exit 17, according to
The Times of Gainesville.
Oakwood City Manager Stan Brown
showed City Council a possible design
for the sign showing a stacked-stone
foundation, 19-foot-wide aluminum
arbor and electronic message board.
The sign also will feature space for
Oakwood and Lanier Tech logos.
Officials have met with the Georgia
Department of Transportation “and
we've got sort of a way ahead on how
to get the permitting process done for
this,” Brown said.
Also, Lanier Tech Foundation is
working toward sponsorships to pay
for the sign, which would be less than
a mile from the school, and Rochester
& Associates of Gainesville “is going
to donate the engineering that's need
ed to get the permit,” Brown said.
Hallmark movie
features local boy
Sixth-grader Nicholas Stargel
will appear this week in a Hallmark
Channel movie, “Oliver's Ghost.”
In the movie, according to WDUN,
Stargel plays 11-year-old Oliver,
who can see ghosts. When his family
moves into an older house.
Co-stars in “Oliver's Ghost” include
actor and comedian Martin Mull, who
has appeared in, among other things,
“Rosanne,” “Ellen,” “Two and a Half
Men” and “Clue.” “Cheers” veteran
Rhea Perlman also stars.
The movie will premiere at 9 p.m.
Saturday on the Hallmark Channel.
MADISON
COUNTY
Ila man gets 41
years in stabbing
Nancy Morrison says an Ila man got
“what he had coming” for cutting her
throat and stabbing two other people a
year ago in a Madison County trailer
park.
According to the Athens Banner-
Herald, Morrison's assailant, 27-year-
old Shane F. Yerdon, was convicted in
a two-day jury trial earlier this month
in Madison County Superior Court
and sentenced to 41 years in prison
followed by 40 years on probation for
aggravated battery, simple battery and
three counts of aggravated assault.
“He’s lucky we weren’t trying him
for murder. He really slashed her
throat pretty good,” District Attorney
Bob Lavender told the newspaper
about the Sept. 28, 2010, attack at
Momingside Mobile Home Park in
Hull.
Yerdon never testified in his trial.
At the time of the crime, none of the
victims could say why Yerdon attacked
them. Yerdon cut Morrison's throat for
no apparent reason as she sat in a chair
in her home, and stabbed another two
while they lay in bed, according to
police reports at the time.
OCONEE
COUNTY
ACTS cancels
food delivery
Area Churches Together Serving
has cancelled the pantry scheduled
for Oct. 20, and severed its relation
ship with the Food Bank of Northeast
Georgia, according to the Oconee
Enterprise.
The mobile food pantry typically
costs ACTS $700. Although the Food
Bank provides food for free, the cost
of delivery is $300, and mandated
advertising is $400.
“We feel we can spend the money
more efficiently, buying the foods
we need to give to people that are
in need,” Chairman Reiny Hiss told
the newspaper. “The last time we
got food from the Northeast Georgia
Food Bank, 90 percent was not food
to make a meal.
7 WALTON
COUNTY
Vendor files suit
vs. Angel Food
A lawsuit has been filed against the
now-defunct Angel Food Ministries
by one of its food suppliers for breach
of contract.
According to christianpost.com,
Omaha, Neb.-based Skylark Meats
filed suit against AFM Sept. 30, short
ly after the nonprofit low-cost food
distributor announced it would close
its doors after rounds of layoffs and
failing to distribute food as scheduled
last month.
The suit accuses faith-based AFM
of failing to pay for or returning food
delivered to the Good Hope-based
ministry. Skylark Meats is attempt
ing to collect at least $77,202.96 in
damages
County abandons
subdivision roads
In an attempt to limit liability and
responsibility for upkeep, the Walton
County Board of Commissioners is
taking steps to abandon roads in two
subdivisions — the first of about 20
where the county intends to abandon
roads to some degree.
At the monthly commission meet
ing earlier this month, Planning and
Development Director Mike Martin
told the Walton Tribune in many
instances, there are weeds, brush
and small trees growing up through
unkempt roadways. These subdivi
sions, many of which have been fore
closed on and owned by banks, also
have infrastructure being damaged as
a result of lack of care.
The process began with legal noti
fication of the property owners as
well as public notices. The roads to
be abandoned are Thoroughbred Trail
and Palomino Pass in the Kensington
Place subdivision off of Bethany
Church Road and Chapman Grove
Lane, Chapman Circle and Carriage
Court in the Chapman Grove Estates
subdivisions located off Hickory
Grove Church Road. The goal is to
abandon roads in vacant subdivisions
and then proceed to abandon portions
of roads in subdivisions which have
few residents.