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Barrow g Journal
www.BarrowJournal.com Or Doesn’t everyone you know read the Journal
Doesn’t everyone you know read the Journal?
Vol. 4 No. 3
Wednesday, November 9,2011
36 PAGES 3 SECTIONS plus inserts A publication of MainStreet Newspapers, Inc.
WINDER, BARROW COUNTY GEORGIA 30680 25(t COPY
Inside:
•Sights of fall around
Barrow
pages 1C, 3 C
•Community briefs
page 13 A
Opinions:
•'Some BCCS leaders
still in denial'
page 4A
•'Presidential voting
just around the corner'
page 4A
•Readers respond in
Letters to the Editor
page 5A
Sports:
•Wildcats begin work
for 2012
page 1B
•Cope places ninth at
state
page 1B
•Cheer Cats to com
pete at state
page2B
Also Inside:
•Church News
page 6C
•Classifieds
page 11C
•Obituaries
pages 8-9C
•Opinion
page 4A
•Pets of the Week
page 3C
•Public Safety
pages 6-12A
•School News
page 7C
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The Barrow
Journal is
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by mail every
Thursday.
Maynard elected Winder mayor
Voters approve changing county government; Sunday alcohol sales also get OK
By Susan Norman
siwrman@barmwjoumaI.com
In historic elections Tuesday, Barrow
County voters changed the county gov
ernment to a county manager system
and Winder voters sent their incumbent
mayor packing.
In Winder, voters elected challenger
David Maynard mayor over incumbent
Chip Thompson 745-548 (58 percent to
42 percent). Maynard beat Thompson
in all four city precincts Tuesday as
well as in the three weeks of advance
and absentee voting.
The vote to restructure the county’s
governing authority to a manager form
of government was 2,305 (60.04%) to
1,534 (39.96%). The measure passed
in all 16 of the county’s precincts.
Turnout for the county’s special elec-
Inside
•More 2011 election coverage
— Page 3A
tion was stronger than expected, with
3,908 votes cast. But that was still just
12 percent of Barrow County’s regis
tered voters.
While Winder’s turnout of 1,299 vot
ers might be a city election record, more
residents of unincorporated Barrow
County voted in the county wide special
election than did all of the municipal
voters in Auburn, Bethlehem, Statham
and Winder combined. As one observer
stated Tuesday evening, the county’s
strong turnout and decisive results
show the outcomes were representative
of public sentiment.
See Vote on Page 3A
ALL SMILES
David Maynard, left, (talking with Matt Elrod) defeated incumbenl
Winder mayor Chip Thompson Tuesday. Photo by Jessica Brown
TEAM ROYSTER ROCKS...
...fashion-wise at the TLC (Tonya Lynn’s Children) Benefit Race. (L to R) Rita
Etheridge, Tracy and Lexi Hamilton, and Jenny and Teresa Fowler said they
are “more than happy to do anything we can to help support Tim and Donna
(Royster) and those kids.” Rev. Tim Royster and his wife, Donna, have cus
tody of Tonya Lynn’s four children. Tim is Tonya’s brother.
Photo by Lorin Sinn-Clark
Benefit race held for Royster children
By Lorin Sinn-Clark
lorinn @ barrowjournal. com
T he folks at Anytime Fitness in
Winder were touched and sad
dened by the news of Tonya Royster
Lynn's murder in July, allegedly at
her husband’s hands, which left their
four children without parents. So, they
decided to do what they do best to raise
money for Tonya Lynn’s kids — get
people moving and make them sweat.
Last Sunday afternoon the ballfield park
ing lot in Auburn was crawling with more
than 200 runners, walkers and bikers, some
of them sporting Royster-wear, during the
TLC (Tonya Lynn’s Children) 5K Race
sponsored by Anytime Fitness. The goal
of the 10K Bike Ride/5K Race/1 mile Fun
Run was to help meet the needs of Tonya
Lynn's children “from counseling to col
lege” race organizers said, as well as show
that “we, as a community, can make a dif
ference.” An entry fee/donation of $20-25
(depending on race registration date) was
charged for the 5K or Bike Race; a $10
donation was asked to enter the Fun Run.
T-shirts were sold and all proceeds went
to a fund established for the children.
See Benefit on Page 2A
Auburn mayor finalist for national award
Auburn mayor Linda Blechinger has been selected as a
finalist for a national award presented to women for their
leadership skills. She is one of five females in the nation
selected for the Women in Municipal Government (WIMG)
2011 leadership award.
The WIMG Leadership Award recognizes a female local
official for unique and outstanding leadership in local gov
ernment, a WIMG press release states.
The winner is recognized for individual achievement in
initiating creative and successful programs in local govern
ment, which help citizens, particularly if the leadership
serves as a specific mentoring model for future female
leaders.
See Award on Page 2A
BLECHINGER
Homes illegally rented to
those with mental illnesses
By Susan Norman
snorman @ barrowjournal. com
County licensing and law enforcement officials are planning
to meet this week to decide how to deal with a local family that
has been illegally renting rooms in their homes in the Cambridge
Estates subdivision to people with serious mental illness.
Magistrate Court Judge June Davis on Nov. 1 fined Narquitta
Street $616 for illegally operating two businesses out of her
home at 926 Downing Drive — one a barbershop that her hus
band Mario Yarbrough operated in the garage and the other a
“transition house” for six mentally ill adults unrelated to the
family.
During that court hearing, officials learned of a second house
nearby at 1144 Otis Drive where two mentally ill adults were
under the care of Priscilla Streete, who is a relative of Narquitta
Street and spells her last name differently.
Barrow County deputy Yvonne Petty, who works full time in
the county planning department to enforce county codes, issued
Pricilla Streete a citation, and her case is to be heard in Barrow
County Magistrate Court in December.
The fine issued to Yarbrough and Street is a daily fine of $616
for both businesses, but local officials do not know if the couple
is continuing to rent the rooms.
No one responded to a reporter's knocks at the door of either
home Tuesday afternoon.
Both homes have been operating under the radar of local and
state regulatory officials, and Sheriff Jud Smith said he is very
concerned about the situation due to multiple domestic violence
complaints in the years before the family began renting rooms
to the mentally ill.
See Housing on Page 16A
Veterans Day service
set for Friday at 11 a.m.
The annual Veterans Day Memorial Service will be held
Friday, Nov. 11, at 11 a.m. at Barrow Memorial Gardens.
The event is held each year on the 11th day of the 11th month
at the 11th hour, unless the day falls on Sunday, coordinator
John Mobley said.
Mobley, who served in Vietnam and retired from the United
States Air Force in 1975, said an emphasis is placed on honor
ing all veterans, living and deceased. The opening prayer will
be given by Rich Kohus. The Pledge of Allegiance will be pre
sented by Shirley Gordon.
Retired Winder Fire Department chief Ray Mattison will pay
tribute to Col. John King and past Post 53 Commander William
“Billy” Segars.
Former Winder police chief Jimmy Terrell is the guest
speaker.
Cadets from the Winder-Barrow High School and Apalachee
High School JROTC programs will read the names of all Barrow
County veterans who have died in the line of duty.
The ceremony will conclude with a brief wreath-laying cer
emony, Mobley said.
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