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Barrow County’s only award-winning Georgia Press Association member newspaper
Wednesday, June 8, 2016
Barrow k Journal
www.barrowjournal.com Barrow County’s Legal Organ Newspaper
VOL. 8 NO. SB 24 PACES 2 SECTIONS, PLUS INSERTS A PUBLICATION OF MainStreet Newspapers, Inc. WINDER, BARROW COUNTY GEORGIA 30680 50« COPY
Barrow
Briefs
Father’s Day
dance, dinner set
The American Legion Post
163 in Statham will host a
Father's Day dance and din
ner on Saturday, June 18.
The dinner will be served
at 6 p.m. with the dance
beginning at 8 p.m. The steak
dinner cost is $15 and dance
tickets are $8. A special com
bination price for both events
is $20.
Music will be provided by
The Sandy Creek Band. The
public is invited to attend.
Fort Yargo hosts
Junior Ranger Camp
Fort Yargo State Park in
Winder will host upcoming
Junior Ranger Camps.
Each camp will include
tons of outdoor recreation
al, educational opportunities
including hiking, kayaking,
fishing, nature art, and more,
park officials said.
There will also be a liv
ing history component to
the camp, with actors at the
fort dressed in period cloth
ing demonstrating life in
the 1790s. Space is limited,
please pre-register.
This camp is geared
towards kids 8-12 years of
age.
Campers should pack a
lunch for each day.
The day of the living histo
ry program, some period food
may be prepared for partici
pants to try. Participants will
earn a Level 1 and/or Level
2 badge.
Junior Ranger Camps will
be held Wednesday. June 15.
and Thursday, June 16.
Inside:
Index:
Church News 10B
Classifieds 4-5B
Legals 6-1 OB
Obituaries 11B
Opinions 4A
Pets of the Week 10A
Public Safety 6-8A
Sports 1-3B.11-12B
Contact Info:
Phone: 770-867-6397
Mail: 77 E. May Street,
Winder, Ga. 30680
Fax: 706-621-4115
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A Fair Time: Lights. Rides. Food
SUMMER FUN
IN WINDER
The annual Winder
SpringFest carnival wel
comed young and old alike
for several days at Jug
Tavern Park. Rides of all
kinds (above) were offered.
Creeklen Plunkett, 2, and
Oktober Plunkett, 6, (right)
were all smiles at the Jug
Tavern Spring Festival
Friday. (Below) What’s a car
nival without food as Emma
Bare, 5, enjoys a snowcone
Friday night. See more carni
val photos on pages 2A and
12A in today’s edition.
Photos by Wesleigh Sagon
Better Newspaper Contest
Journal once
again named
one of state’s
top papers
Once again, the Barrow
Journal has been recognized as
one of the top newspapers in its
division by the Georgia Press
Association.
This year’s awards mark the
seventh consecutive time the
Barrow Journal has been named
one of the state’s top publica
tions.
In the group’s annual Better
Newspaper Contest for the cal
endar year 2015, the Barrow
Journal won second place in the
coveted General Excellence cate
gory, signifying the top honor for
Georgia publications. The paper
competes in Division G.
Staff photographer Jessica
Brown once again earned sever
al photography awards including
second place for best news photo
(Apalachee High School gradua
tion), second place for sports fea
ture photo (Winder-Barrow High
School youth football camp),
second place for sports photo
(high school track), third place
for sports feature photo (high
school football preview section),
third place for feature photo (road
construction) and third place for
sports photo (WBHS youth foot
ball camp.)
The paper’s sports section won
first place as did its editorial
page. The judges liked the use of
multiple quality photos through
out its sports sections.
The Barrow Journal also
earned second place for local
news coverage and in the layout
and design category. In addition,
the paper won third place for
headline writing.
Alex Pace won third place for
Best Serious Column while Chris
Bridges won first place in that
division.
Of Bridges’ columns, the judg
es wrote, “Very tight race in this
category, but I found this writer
to be a true watchdog for the
community and a very engaging
read.”
Bridges’ three columns in
the Serious Column category
focused on Andrew Brannan, a
decorated Georgia Vietnam vet
eran with post-traumatic stress
disorder, who was executed by
the state after killing a deputy
sheriff; dangers facing journal
ists around the world and an
anniversary tribute to his parents.
See Awards on Page 12A
Qualifying for vacant BOC
District 5 seat set for Aug.
Barrow schools earn
high ‘climate’ scores
By Cliris Bridges
Journal Editor
Billy Parks' decision to step down
from his District 5 seat on the Barrow
County Board of Commissioners to
run for county chairman has left
a vacancy that will be filled in the
upcoming November election.
Elections Supervisor Monica
Franklin said last week that quali
fying for the vacancy will be Aug.
1-3. Qualifying times will be from
9 a.m. until 4 p.m. on Aug. 1 and
Aug. 2 and from 9 a.m. until noon
on Aug. 3.
Parks lost his bid for chairman in
a close primary race to incumbent
Pat Graham. Parks could run for his
previous BOC seat but said during
the recent campaign for chairman
that he will not seek a return to the
District 5 seat.
By the time January 2017 rolls
around, the makeup of the BOC
will be different as current District
2 member Kenny Shook lost in his
primary race against Bill Brown, a
former commissioner who is seek
ing a return to office. Brown still
must face Democratic opposition in
November.
If Parks does not seek his previous
District 5 seat, there will be another
new member on the BOC.
Franklin said in the May 24 pri
mary election in Barrow County.
5,573 of the county’s 33,885 regis
tered voters cast a ballot.
The turnout in the primary elec
tion was just above 16 percent.
A total of 5,153 voted in the
Republican primary with just 390
requesting a Democratic ballot.
There will be three contested
general election races in November
including Districts 2 and 3 on the
BOC and District 6 on the Board of
Education.
Sheriff Jud Smith won his re-elec
tion bid by easily defeating chal
lenger Tim Walker in the Republican
primary. There is no Democratic
candidate vying for sheriff.
By Al ex Pace
Journal Editor
Most Barrow County schools scored high on the 2015
school climate rating. Every school in the Barrow County
School System scored in the top two categories, except for
Snodon Preparatory School, which was closed last year.
School climate refers to the quality and character of
school life — the “culture” of a school, according to the
Georgia Department of Education.
School ratings include: excellent, 5; above average, 4;
average, 3; below satisfactory, 2; and unsatisfactory, 1.
Snodon received a “below satisfactory” rating.
ABOVE AVERAGE RATING
Schools that received an “above average” rating were:
•Apalachee High School
•County Line Elementary School
•Kennedy Elementary School
•Westside Middle School
•Auburn Elementary School
•Winder-Barrow High School
See ‘Climate’ on Page 3A
Inside Today’s Edition: Barrow
4-H members recognized for
memorable year. — Page 9A