Newspaper Page Text
Barrow a Journal
f, 4 www.BarrowJournal.com Barrow County’s Legal Organ
Wednesday, July 11,2012
Vol. 4 No. 38 52 PAGES 4 SECTIONS plus inserts A publication of MainStreet Newspapers, Inc. WINDER, BARROW COUNTY GEORGIA 30680 500 COPY
Inside:
•Farmer's Market in
Statham going strong
page 12A
•Community Briefs
page 4C
Opinions:
•'Thank your Journal
staff for the job they
do'
page 4A
•'Team effort makes
state awards special'
page 4A
•'Loving a vacation'
page 4A
•'Won't somebody
help?
page 5A
Sports:
•Gridiron Doggs back
to work
page 1B
•AHS volleyball has
lofty goals for fall
page 1B
•Mat Bulldoggs return
bulk of roster for next
season
page 1B
Also Inside:
•Church News
page 5C
•Classifieds
pages 6-7C
•Legals
pages 1-24C
•Obituaries
•Opinion
•Op-ED
page 9C
page 4A
page 5A
•Pets of the Week
page 3C
•Public Safety
pages 6-9A
Page design by Chris Bridges
WELCOME
to tke fjcmufiy!
Julie Sanson
Lorri Carithers
Amanda Payne
Carolyn Wade
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Barrow i journal
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Journal named best in its class
F or its hard-hit
ting investigative
reporting, award-winning
photography, excellent
sports, features and busi
ness coverage in 2011, the
Barrow Journal on Saturday
night was honored as the
state’s top weekly newspa
per in its division.
The paper's co-publisher
Mike Buffington accepted
the first place award for
General Excellence at the
Georgia Press Association’s
126th annual convention in
Destin, Fla.
“This is quite an accom
plishment for a newspaper
that last year was in only
its third year of publica
tion," Buffington said. “I
am extremely proud of this
staff."
The Journal staff won 15
awards, including six first
places in addition to the top
General Excellence Award,
plus six second-places and
three third-places.
The paper took top hon
ors in Lifestyle Coverage,
Sports Section, and Layout
and Design.
Of the Lifestyle Coverage,
the judges wrote: “Great
lifestyle coverage! Photos
breathtaking — good job!"
Of the Sports Section, the
judges wrote: “Excellent
overall coverage of a vari
ety of sports. Outstanding
photos. Clever headlining.
This topped the strong com
petition."
Of the newspaper’s
Layout and Design, they
wrote: “Community page
well done. Paper flows con
sistently, great job!"
INDIVIDUAL AWARDS
Individual Journal writ
ers recognized by the press
association included Susan
Norman, who won first-
place awards for both inves
tigative reporting and local
business coverage.
The judges said of her
investigative stories regard
ing Winder’s voting list
fiasco last fall: “Great ini
tiative. Excellent follow
up. Uncovered sloppy pub
lic policy decision-making
resulting in an important
protection of citizens’ right
to vote. Great community
journalism! You won over
a lot of great competition!
Great community journal
ism is alive and well in the
state of Georgia!”
See Awards on Page 12A
GENERAL EXCELLENCE NEWSPAPER
The staff of the Barrow Journal displays the first-place awards earned Saturday at
the Georgia Press Association annual convention. Shown are, front row, from left,
legals clerk Debby Sisk; writer Lorin Sinn-Clark; office manager Susan Mobley;
advertising director Susan Treadwell; columnist Shelli Bond Pabis; columnist
Helen Person and photographer Jessica Brown; back row, from left, marketing
director Jeremy Ginn; reporter Katie Cofer; editor Chris Bridges; advertising rep
resentative Jessica Carter and co-publisher Mike Buffington. Not pictured are co
publisher Scott Buffington, government news editor Susan Norman, sports writer
Tyler Rollason, feature writer Blair Spiva-Rivkin and reporter Erin Rossiter.
Photo by Steve Brown
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VETERAN DEDICATION
The new Statham Veterans Memorial Park was dedicated July 4. The event
was attended by Statham officials and residents as well as citizens from
throughout Barrow County. See pages 1C and 3C for more coverage.
Photo by Jessica Brown
BCSS finishes
FY2011 in black
The Barrow County School System was in the black foi
FY2011, although that may now seem like little consolation
as the board of education struggles now to balance its FY2013
budget amid more state funding cuts and a lower tax digest.
But for FY2011, the BCSS had a strong financial result,
building its General Fund reserves to nearly $15 million oi
which $12 million was undesignated and available to help fill
in revenue shortfalls.
Of that $12 million, the system used $2.8 in FY2012 leav
ing the current reserves balance at $9.2 million at the start oi
FY2013.
AUDIT
Overall, the system took in $118.4 million and spent $115.3
million in FY2011. Of those expenses, $4.9 million went tc
debt service while $2.4 million went to capital projects.
The system’s largest fund, the General Fund, took in $110.5
million and spent $107.9 million in FY2011. Of that revenue,
$59.8 million came from state funds while $29.9 million came
from local property taxes. Another $15.3 million came from
federal funds.
There were no compliance findings in the FY2011 audit.
Auburn to discuss budget
By Erin Rossiter
erin @ barrowjournal. com
The Auburn City Council will meet for two budget work
shops next week where department heads plan to go over
proposed spending plans and revenue projections for 2013.
The meetings are scheduled for 7 p.m. Thursday and 7
p.m. Monday, July 16 at city hall.
Agendas for those meetings outline Thursday’s topics as
including the general fund, water and storm water revenue
discussion, law enforcement, courts and code enforcement
and administrative expenditures.
Monday's agenda includes public works, roads, special
events, parks and leisure, planning and zoning, downtown
development and ANT, the city's recently established
transportation system.
A timeline for the budget process following the work
shops includes a mayor and council retreat on Aug. 4,
meetings with department heads on Aug. 9, a budget
review Aug. 23, public hearing on Aug. 30 and budget
adoption on Sept. 6.
Yearwood
By Susan Norman
snorman@barrowjournal.com
Ignoring a request from
the chairman of the Barrow
County Republican Party to
avoid political attacks, Danny
Yearwood went on an all-out
offensive Monday night at a
political forum in his uphill
battle to unseat District 47
Georgia Sen. Frank Ginn.
That was perhaps the high
light of several races featured
at the forum.
Next week there will be
the final two forums prior to
us. Ginn highlights political forum
the July 31 primaries. The
Barrow County Farm Bureau
has invited 25 candidates —
including both Republican
and Democratic candidates
— to speak at its forum,
which will be at 7 p.m. on
Tuesday, July 17, at the
Winder Community Center.
The GOP's last forum
is two days later at 7 p.m.
Thursday, July 19, at Statham
Elementary School.
Early absentee voting
began Monday and will
continue through July 27.
There also will be voting
Election 2012
on Saturday, July 21, from
9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Early electronic voting is
at the elections office at the
county administration build
ing at 233 E. Broad St. Paper
absentee ballots for mailing
also are available.
GINN VS. YEARWOOD
The first-term incumbent
senator spoke first, point
ing out some of the bills
for which he has worked —
one that would have reduce
a planning requirement for
local governments, another
that will transition to zero
budgeting of all state depart
ments over the next eight
years, and a third that would
have tightened ethics con
trols.
“I’m proud to be on the
team, a great Republican
team, where we can see prob
lems, can solve issues and
can work together to make
those things happen,” Ginn
said.
See Election on Page 11A
Inside today:
•Water problems getting
critical in Barrow County
— Page 2A
•Auburn officials amend
city travel policy
— Page 2A
•B0E delays budget
approval
— Page 3A
•School uniform confu
sion addressed
— Page 3A
