About Barrow journal. (Winder, Ga.) 2008-2016 | View Entire Issue (June 15, 2016)
Barrow County’s only award-winning Georgia Press Association member newspaper Wednesday, June 15, 2016 Barrow k Journal www.barrowjournal.com Barrow County’s Legal Organ Newspaper VOL. 8 NO. 34 24 PACES 2 SECTIONS, PLUS INSERTS A PUBLICATION OF MainStreet Newspapers, Inc. WINDER, BARROW COUNTY GEORGIA 30680 50« COPY Barrow Briefs Local unemployment rate drops to 4.3 While Georgia's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate stayed at 5.5 percent in April, the Georgia Department of Labor reported last week that Northeast Georgia saw a sharp decline in unemploy ment. That includes Barrow County, where the April rate fell to 4.3 percent, down from 4.7 percent in March. Jackson County was tied for the second-lowest rate in the state. Other area counties fared similarly: •Jackson, 4.1 percent, down from 4.5 •Banks, 4.6 percent, down from 5.0 •Hall, 4.2 percent, down from 4.5 •Athens-Clarke, 4.9 per cent, down from 5.2 •Madison, 4.4 percent, down from 4.7 Oconee County, with a 3.7-percent jobless rate (down from 4.0 in March) had the lowest jobless rate in the state for April. 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. Inside: Index: Church News 10A Classifieds 4-5B Legals 6-1 OB Obituaries 11B 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 ‘Like us’ on Facebook www.barrowjournal.com Mailing Label Below Grand opening approaches for new Russell Middle School CONSTRUCTION CONTINUES Work continues on the new Russell Middle School. Plans are for the new middle school location to be ready for the start of the 2016-2017 school year in early August. Photos by Jessica Brown Boys ol summer TAKING A SWING Barrow County was a host for the Dizzy Dean Baseball Tournament this past weekend. In addition to Barrow County, teams from Hall, Jackson and Dawson counties were represented. Photo by Jessica Brown False rumors... Local theater will not face wrecking ball The lesson to be learned in this story is that Facebook is typically not the best source for reliable news. Last week the Barrow Journal received multiple phone calls concerning a local resident’s Facebook post stating “I have information from a very good source that says the Colleen Ouzts Williams Theater building will be demolished, along with the civic center. Although it seems the floor needs replacing in the theater it would seem our elected elite and the DDA have decided otherwise. If this is true then who the HELL is running this town? Surely not the people who live here,” A quick check with the City of Winder, however, determined there was no truth to the Facebook post. A city official said, “there are no plans to tear the buildings down.” In fact, there have been no discussions at Winder City Council meetings concerning destruction of those locations. The Facebook post also talked of “High license fees, non friendly cops, a city owned golf course and elected jackasses who hire someone else to do the business they were elected to do. Do the people who care really want this bureaucracy for their town? I sure don’t and I believe you don’t either. If the source who gave me the above information is right then “we the people” have let our forefathers down in electing a Soviet class of imbeciles to ruin our town.” Inmate death ruled accidental The death of a man who was an inmate in the Barrow County Detention Center has been ruled an accident. A spokesman with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation told the Barrow Journal Monday afternoon that Johnathan Ray Manus died from injuries “consistent with a ground level fall.” After officials reviewed video tape and talked with others at the Detention Center, the death has been ruled an accident. Manus died at a local hospital and not at the Detention Center, GBI spokesman Jesse Maddox said. The death has officially been ruled an accident and the Detention Center has been cleared of any wrongdoing. Manus died April 18 after going into “medical distress” the previous day. Maddox said Monday an official release on the investigation into Manus’ death would be given later this week. City of Winder to hold hearing for new budget Tuesday, July 5 City of Winder officials are cur rently working on the details of the new fiscal year budget. The proposed budget will be sub mitted to the council on Monday, June 27. Beginning on this date, citizens can view the budget at no cost inside the Winder Customer Center at 45 East Athens Street between 9 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. Copies of the proposed budget can also be purchased at the Customer Center for 10 cents per page or on a CD for $2. The proposed budget can also be viewed free of charge at www.cityofwinder.com beginning June 27. The Winder City Council will hold a public hearing on Tuesday, July 5, at 6 p.m. concerning the new budget. The meeting will take place at the Community Center at 113 East Athens Street. Citizen comments will be heard at this time. The council will then meet Tuesday, July 12, at 6 p.m. at the Community Center and vote on whether to approve the new budget which will be for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2017. Road work to close part of Candler Ongoing road work on McNeal Road will cause parts of Candler Street to be closed for the next month. Work is scheduled for the areas near the Candler/McNeal and Candler/ Greenvalley Drive intersections. In addition, due to a sewer and manhole repair, there will be partial lane closures at night at the intersection of North Broad and Williams Streets. The work will be performed from 7 p.m. until 5 a.m. One lane of traffic will remain open at all times, officials said. CHEER FOR SUMMER Apalachee High School recently hosted a youth cheerleader camp. There are numerous youth athletic camps taking place this month. See page 2B in today’s edition for a complete rundown. Photo by Jessica Brown
