Newspaper Page Text
Region roundup
Page 5C Barrow Journal JL Wednesday, November 2, 2011
BANKS
COUNTY
Early voting
ends Friday
Early voting for municipal elections
in Banks County will end on Friday.
Elections will take place on Tuesday
in Maysville, Lula and Also.
In Maysville, elections will take
place for three of the four town coun
cil seats (Wards I, II and IV). In Lula,
two candidates qualified for the Post
1 seat, and in Alto, two candidates are
running for mayor.
BARROW
COUNTY
City dwellers
get out the vote
As early voting winds up this week
across the county, voters in the cities
— Auburn, Bethlehem and Winder —
outpaced voters from unincorporated
parts of the county.
Of the 660 votes cast in the first
two weeks of early voting, 421 were
cast in the countywide elections and
reflect the beszt estimate of actual
voter turnout, according to elections
supervisor Monica Franklin. That
total includes 239 voters from the cit
ies within Barrow County and another
182 from unincorporated areas.
Early voting ends Friday. Absentee
ballots may be requested through
Friday and must be returned to the
elections office before the polls close
at 7 p.m. Tuesday.
Winder has three contested races
for mayor and council. The contests
feature Mayor Chip Thompson versus
challenger David Maynard; Ward 2
council incumbent Charlie F. Eberhart
versus Jim Cooley; and at-large coun
cil candidates Tim Bolt and Larry
Evans.
Statham has a three-way race for the
seat held by incumbent councilwoman
Hattie Thrasher. Challenging her are
Rudy Krause and Perry Barton.
The countywide special election
also on Tuesday is for voters to decide
two issues: whether to allow stores
to sell beer and wine by the package
on Sundays, and whether to have a
county manager run the day-to-day
operations of the government.
CLARKE
COUNTY
Close to 20
felons nabbed
An Athens-Clarke police officer was
looking for wanted felons in an apart
ment complex downtown Wednesday
when he chased a suspect into a home
where a gunbattle could have broken
out.
According to the Athens Banner-
Herald, Joseph Desmonde Baughns,
26, told the officer he was reaching for
an ID in his back pocket, which actu
ally held a loaded revolver, according
to police.
He is one of nearly 20 felons that
authorities locked up in a two-day
sweep of Athens-Clarke County,
which centered on the Bethel Midtown
Village apartment complex.
The Clarke County Sheriff’s Office
put together a task force that included
local deputies, county and state pro
bation officers, specialized Athens-
Clarke police units, and members
of the Northeast Georgia Regional
Drug Task Force and a U.S. Marshals
Service fugitive task force.
Local deputies serve arrest warrants
almost every day, but the task force
was assembled to find people who
are very good at hiding, according
to Clarke County sheriffs Capt. Eric
Pozen.
The warrant task force rounded
up 19 people — 17 felons and two
who were wanted on misdemeanor
charges.
Professors team
with area schools
Four years ago, University of
Georgia assistnat professor of physics
Chad Fertig began a physics leam-
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
ing community where professors and
area high school teachers meet once a
month to discuss better ways to teach
physics and how to meld what stu
dents learn in high school with what
they learn at the University.
He told The Red & Black he has
never taught physics to middle or
high school students, but the learning
community - which won a $10,000
grant from Vernier Software and
Technologies - bridges the gaps.
Craig Wiegert, an assistant physics
professor, said seeing what students
learn in high school helps him teach
his introductory physics classes.
“It's had a big impact on me because
I know a little bit better what students
have seen in high school or what they
haven’t seen and what can I expect in
the beginning of class,” Wiegert said.
Becky Bundy, a physics and chem
istry teacher at Madison County High
School, said many high schools only
have one physics teacher, so there’s
no one else to ask questions to or
exchange ideas with.
“In physics often, we’re kind of all
by ourselves,” Bundy said. “The goal
of any learning community is to come
together, to share ideas, to help each
other. It’s almost like a support group
in a way.”
Half marathon
raises $65,000
The Athens Half Marathon brought
1,900 runners to Athens last month
and brought in an estimated $65,000
for arts and music educational pro
grams for the coming year.
Organizer Jared Bailey estimated
the event netted about $65,000 for
education, according to the Athens
Banner-Herald.
That’s a good increase over last
year’s total of $50,000. The number
of runners was up, too — 10 percent
more than last year.
“I’d say we got more people from
out of town. Last year, we had a lot of
first-time half-marathoners,” Bailey
said.
The race benefits AthFest’s year-
round activities, including three main
initiatives.
The program brings performers to
play concerts in schools — mostly
during lunchtime to avoid interrupting
the curriculum — schedules musi
cians to do after-school programs and
funds Keys for Kids, which last year
bought $5,000 in instruments for one
middle-school orchestra.
GWINNETT
COUNTY
HOT lanes
usage jumps
Three times as many drivers are
using the express lanes on Interstate
85 four weeks after tolls began.
According to the Gwinnett Daily
Post, each week since the Oct. 1
opening, the lanes have reached a new
record, proving for now the expecta
tions of officials of an increase in
usage.
For example, more than 10,000
drivers used the lanes last Thursday
— a 10 times more than the 1,041 on
the opening day and the 3,217 from
the first weekday.
After a public outcry in the opening
week. Gov. Nathan Deal called for a
reduction in the tolls, and SRTA’s rate
were cut nearly in half.
The average toll paid last week
was $1 compared to a high of $2.35
charged Oct. 4. The highest amount
charged for the entire 16-mile
stretch from Old Peachtree Road to
Chamblee-Tucker Road was $1.95
during both the morning and after
noon rush hours.
Cityhood vote
divides area
A referendum on Nov. 8 will allow
residents of Peahchtree Comers to
vote on whether they think the subur
ban live-work-play community should
be a city.
And the vote has cut a dividing
line through the area, marking those
who want an official backbone for
the community, and those who don’t
want any part of being a municipality,
according to the Gwinnett Daily Post.
For years, the volunteers in the
United Peachtree Corners Civic
Association have done more than just
advocate for the community. They
raised money from area businesses
to pay for landscaping of Peachtree
Parkway, which serves as the area
“Main Street.” They eventually added
street toppers and even a “Welcome to
Peachtree Comers” sign to help brand
the area.
That’s why the organization has
pushed for years for some kind of offi
cial standing for the community.
But while leaders say the city will
be limited in scope, many neighbors
are concerned that a city charter that
lists everything from sidewalks to a
city jail could lead to another level
of bureaucracy that could impose on
freedoms.
With 38,000 residents, the area
would be the largest city in Gwinnett
County the day it is incorporated.
Rental scam
nets more victims
Investigators have uncovered 19
cases of people who allegedly were
duped into leasing homes from a man
who had no right to rent them out, and
there could be hundreds of victims
in the metro Atlanta area, Channel 2
Action News reports.
John Eugene Harris is being held
in Cobb County Jail on $200,000
bond on burglary, theft by deception
and forgery charges. The 44-year-
old Smyrna man is accused of hav
ing acted through his company, New
Life Granted, as leasing agent for the
vacant residences.
Harris has been active in seven coun
ties, allegedly breaking into homes,
changing the locks and leasing the
dwellings to unsuspecting families
- collecting thousands of dollars in
security deposits and rents that don’t
rightfully belong to him.
Victims have turned up in Cobb,
Fulton, DeKalb, Gwinnett, Henry,
Clayton and Carroll counties.
HALL
COUNTY
Contested races
rare in city
When voters in Gainesville head
to the polls on Tuesday, they will see
something unusual: A new name on
the ballot.
Debra Harkrider, as a new person
seeking to unseat an incumbent on the
Gainesville City Council, is somewhat
of an anomaly in the city’s political
landscape.
The Times of Gainesville reports
that, as a local business owner and
registered nurse, she is the first person
in eight years to challenge an incum
bent on the board.
The faceoff between Harkrider and
longtime Councilman Robert “Bob”
Hamrick at the city polls Nov. 8 will
also be the first contested race seen
in Gainesville since a special election
to fill an unexpired term drew three
candidates in 2006.
Gainesville’s city council doesn’t
see a lot of turnover, nor a lot of
interest. Some blame comfort. Others
blame apathy or the intimidation of
incumbency. Others blame the city’s
at-large voting system.
Council candidates in Gainesville
run to represent one ward but are
elected citywide by residents of all
five. Harkrider is only the fourth can
didate to take on Hamrick since he
was first elected in 1969.
Longtime E. Hall
scorekeeper dies
The funeral was held Tuesday for a
woman who was a fixture at East Hall
basketball games for nearly 30 years.
Kay Davidson Barrett, 60, of
Gillsville, died Saturday at Emory
University Hospital following a brief
illness.
A lifelong resident of Hall County,
she taught 32 years in Hall County
at Brookton Elementary, Lula
Elementary and East Hall Middle
School before retiring, according to
WDUN.
Barrett was the scorekeeper for
East Hall basketball for 28 years, but
another passion was gospel music,
which she shared with her daughter.
Her daughter went on to form the
gospel group CS&K, where Barrett
was manager since the group’s begin
ning in 2003.
Tax rolls don’t
drop as expected
Commission Chairman Tom Oliver
said the county anticipated an 11
percent drop in property values, but
as of Monday it was six percent of
the budget, and he estimated it would
be about nine percent of the county’s
revenues to support the 2012 budget,
according to WDUN.
While Oliver said he remains
opposed to property tax collections
twice a year, he said the first collec
tion on Oct. 1 was orderly.
Commissioners voted last November
to change to twice-a-year due dates.
The first tax payment for at least
half of the tax bill was due Oct. 1,
with the remainder due Dec. 1.
MADISON
COUNTY
Man honored
for heroism
Madison County leaders honored
Loganville resident Norb Krzak last
week for his heroic act of pulling an
injured man off the railroad tracks in
Carlton as a train bore down on both
of them.
According to the Athens Banner-
Herald, Krzak, a fence builder, was on
his way to a job in Elberton about 7:30
a.m. Saturday when he saw a car drive
off the steep embankment next to Ga.
72 and land on the tracks — ejecting
a man onto the tracks. Another injured
man was ejected off from the car,
away from the tracks.
Krzak pulled over to help and when
he noticed a train coming up the
tracks, he hauled the injured man
off the tracks. Krzak’s call to 911
recorded the rescue.
Madison County commission
ers honored Krzak’s actions, as well
as the dispatcher, Rita Fulcher, who
remained calm and talked to him
throughout the rescue. Dispatchers
Irene Jordan and Mollie Smith-Reeves
also were honored for their help.
7 OCONEE
COUNTY
OCAF hosts
writers workshop
Hall-of-Fame author Terry Kay will
conduct an updated version of his
writing workshop, “Finding Voice in
the Silence of Words,” on Nov. 19 at
Oconee Cultural Arts Foundation in
Watkinsville.
The workshop will serve as a follow
up to Kay’s earlier seminar in March
and is designed to review writing
fundamentals and explore tricks for
creating interesting reading regardless
of form.
The workshop will take place 10
a.m.-3 p.m. with an hour break for
lunch. Enrollment will be limited.
The author of 12 published works of
fiction, including the Southern clas
sic “To Dance with the White Dog”
and the recently released “The Greats
of Cuttercane” and “Bogmeadow’s
Wish,” The fee is $65 for OCAF
members and $75 for non-members.
For more information, call 706-769-
4565, or email to info@ocaf.com.
WALTON
COUNTY
FISH expects
increase in need
Faith in Serving Humanity is mak
ing a few changes to its Secret Santa
ministry this year, in anticipation of
record numbers of needy children.
Estimating between 3,000 to 3,500
children might require the charity this
Christmas — as opposed to 2,300 in
previous years — the program will
now be taking applications for only
a limited time and cutting off new
applicants after Nov. 12, according to
the Walton Tribune.
And for the first time, the newspaper
reported, the Secret Santa program is
capping children eligible for presents
at eighth grade and below.
The Secret Santa program provides
presents for children of low-income
families during the Christmas season,
a service Little said is invaluable to
many in the community, especially
given the current economy.