Newspaper Page Text
Barrow County’s Only Mid-Week Newspaper
B * Wednesday, December 30, 2015
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www.barrowjournal. com
Barrow’s Only Award-Winning GPA Newspaper
VOL. 8 NO. 10 16 PACES 1 SECTION, PLUS INSERTS A PUBLICATION OF MainStreet Newspapers, Inc. WINDER, BARROW COUNTY GEORGIA 30680 50«f COPY
Barrow
Briefs
Library Trustees
schedule meeting
The Barrow County Board
of Library Trustees will meet
Monday, Jan. 25, 2016, at the
Winder Public Library at 189
Bellview Street.
All meetings are open to
the public.
The Piedmont Regional
Library System Board
of Trustees will also meet
Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2016. at 5
p.m. at the Harold S. Swindle
Public Library at 5466 Hwy.
441 South in Nicholson.
Planning underway for
Class of 1966 reunion
The Winder-Barrow High
School Class of 1966 is plan
ning its 50-year reunion,
which will be Saturday, April
9. 2016, at the Holiday Inn in
downtown Athens.
Reunion organizers are
in the process of collecting
e-mail and postal addresses
for all class members. All
classmates are invited to par
ticipate in the planning.
A Facebook page has been
established at “WBHS Class
of 1966.” Class members
are encouraged to visit the
site frequently for reunion
updates.
Barrow Journal
office closed Friday
The Barrow Journal office,
located at 77 E. May Street in
Winder, will be closed Friday
for New Year’s Day. The
office will re-open Monday,
Jan. 4, at 9 a.m.
Inside:
Index:
Church News
12
Classifieds
13-14
Legals
11
Obituaries
15
Opinion
4
Op-Ed
5
Pets of the Week
12
Public Safety
6
Sports
8-11
Contact Info:
Phone: 770-867-6397
Mail: 77 E. May Street,
Winder, Ga. 30680
Fax: 706-621-4115
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www.barrowjournal.com
Mailing
Label Below
Goodbye 2015, Hello 2016
The top local headlines of past year
The following is a recap of
the past 12 months of news and
happenings from the pages of the
Barrow Journal as compiled by
reporter Alex Pace.
JANUARY
•A groundbreaking ceremony
was held for the new Russell
Middle School. The Barrow
County Board of Education
broke ground at the site on Jan. 6.
•Road work projects were
ongoing on streets in downtown
Winder near City Hall.
•The annual Martin Luther
King Jr. Day parade was held.
A special service was held at a
local church following the parade
through downtown Winder.
•The cities of Auburn and
Winder teamed up to complete a
reservoir project.
The cities entered into an inter
governmental agreement that
Auburn will own the reservoir
site and Winder will have the
right to store water.
•The City of Statham began
work to update its water treat
ment plant.
The city council approved hav
ing an engineering company to
complete a performance survey
and operational evaluation of the
city’s water system.
See 2015 on Page 2
RED RIBBON MORNING
The official ribbon cutting for the new Lanier Tech facility
in Winder was held in June. State Rep. Terry England
(R-Auburn), who helped spearhead the drive for the new
$18 million facility, is shown with Barrow County Chamber
of Commerce president Tommy Jennings, Georgia First
Lady Sandra Deal, Governor Nathan Deal and Gretchen
Corbin, Commissioner of the Technical College System
of Georgia. Photo by Jessica Brown
O’ Holy Night...
A BETHLEHEM TRADITION
Wise men Christian Zahm, Joe Brooks, Steve Smith (above) take part in the live nativity scene held last week
in downtown Bethlehem. The event is sponsored by Bethlehem First United Methodist Church and has been
a Christmas tradition since 1963. Angie Bagwell and Ken Bagwell (below left) portray Mary and Joseph at the
rainy event. Shepherds gathered around the fire to stay warm during Bethlehem’s annual Christmas play in the
park (below right). See more photos on page 3A. Photos by Wesleigh Sagon
Child porn charges dropped against former local teacher
Prosecutors offer no comment on case
involving one-time middle school educator
A former Barrow County
Middle School teacher, who was
indicted on child pornography
charges, has had all charges
against him dropped before the
case ever went to trail.
William Kimbrell, a one-time-
technology teacher at Westside
Middle School, had been indict
ed by a federal grand jury on
child pornography charges, the
day after he resigned his teaching
position in early spring of 2014.
Kimbrell was arraigned on fed
eral charges of accessing with
intent to view child pornography.
He was indicted by a federal
grand jury on March 18, 2014,
the day after his resignation
from the Barrow County School
System.
Kimbrell worked in the district
for one year and eight months as
a connections technology teacher
at the middle school.
“I’ve worked hard to build my
reputation over the years, and in
just a matter of minutes it was
simply destroyed,” Kimbrell said
in a published story. “Popular
belief was that immediately I
was guilty and didn't give me a
chance to share my side of the
story.”
The indictment led to a night
mare of legal events for the for
mer teacher. He was placed on
house arrest and only allowed to
leave his house for certain events,
such as doctor’s appointments or
church. His legal fees are now
more than $100,000.
In late November of this year,
however, Kimbrell learned the
charges against him had suddenly
been dropped. The former teach
er had maintained that he was not
in Statesboro at the time investi
gators alleged he was distributing
child porn via a computer.
Kimbrell and his lawyer
believe the issue may have arose
from the fact the former teacher
used a specific software to down
load music.
See Teacher on Page 16