About Barrow journal. (Winder, Ga.) 2008-2016 | View Entire Issue (June 29, 2016)
Barrow County’s only award-winning Georgia Press Association member newspaper Wednesday, June 29, 2016 Barrow k Journal www.barrowjournal.com Barrow County’s Legal Organ Newspaper VOL. 8 NO. 36 44 PACES 3 SECTIONS, PLUS INSERTS A PUBLICATION OF MainStreet Newspapers, Inc. WINDER, BARROW COUNTY GEORGIA 30680 50« COPY Barrow Briefs Winder Library offers free lunch program The Winder Public Library is providing free meals to chil dren this summer in partner ship with the United States Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service, Georgia’s Bright from the Start agency and the Athens Housing Authority. Lunch will be served from noon until 1 p.m. on Tuesdays at the library, located at 189 Bellview Street. The program will continue through Tuesday, July 12. The program is open to children up to 18-years-old. Children must be able to eat alone, without the assistance of parents. Concert planned at Fort Yargo A July 4 weekend concert will be held at Fort Yargo State Park in Winder on Friday, July 1. The bluegrass band 3 Bucks Shy will perform Friday from 7:30-9 p.m. at the Beach Pavilion. The band features Gary Scott on guitar, Jeff Carter on man dolin, Terry Fohey on banjo and Ernie Graham on bass for this special event. There is no charge for the concert other than the usual parking fee to enter the park. Journal closed for July 4 The Barrow Journal office will be closed Monday, July 4. Dealines for the Wednesday, July 6, edition will be Friday, July 1, at noon. All classified and retail advertising as well as church news and other social news submissions must be made by this time. Inside: Index: Church News 10A Classifieds 4-5B Legals 6-9B Obituaries 11B Pets of the Week 10A Public Safety 6-8A Sports 1-3B,10-12B 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 2-year-old drowns at Ft. Yargo Family member charged with involuntary manslaughter A two-year-old drowned Saturday at the beach area of Fort Yargo State Park and a family member has been charged with involuntary manslaughter follow ing an investigation into the incident. The drowning occurred Saturday afternoon during the hottest day of the year and despite the efforts of emergency personnel, who responded to the scene within minutes. Following an investigation by the WPD and the Department of Natural Resources, 28-year-old Tarnue Kolubah of Winder, a relative of the family who was reportedly responsible for watch ing the child at the time of the incident, was charged with involuntary manslaughter and cruelty to children in the second degree. At approximately 2:48 p.m. Saturday, the Winder Police Department, Winder Fire Department and Barrow County EMS responded to the Fort Yargo State Park beach area following a report of a child drowning in the designated swimming area of the park. Fort Yargo State Park employees also responded to the scene. A WPD officer arrived within one min ute of the call being dispatched. A citizen visiting the park had already begun CPR efforts on the two-year-old male child who was unre sponsive at the time. See Drowning on Page 9A TARNUE KOLUBAH Road work ahead... CONSTRUCTION JUNCTION Work continues not only on the new Russell Middle School but on the roads sur rounding the new facility. In recent days, this intersection of Candler Street and Green Valley Drive has been undergoing upgrades as the start of the 2016-2017 school year approaches. At times, access into the entrance of Green Valley Drive near the home side of W. Clair Harris Stadium has been blocked while at others motorists have been unable to continue through on Candler. Photo by Jessica Brown New budget approved Employees to receive raises in Statham By Chris Bridges Journal Editor Statham’s new fiscal year budget will go into effect July 1 and will include items such as a new officer for the police department and a three-percent salary increase for city employees. The new budget also allo cates $60,000 for the hiring of a new city administra tor. That position has been vacant since the resignation of Steve Martin last year. Martin, who previously served as Statham Police Chief, was the first city administrator but resigned from the position following criticism from some citi zens. The position has been vacant since. Statham mayor Robert Bridges will handle the task of searching for a new city administrator, per the city charter. With the new fiscal year budget allowing for a new police officer at a salary of $35,323, the depart ment will have six officers, including police chief Allan Johnston. See Statham on Page 9A Auburn plans July 4 event The City of Auburn has scheduled its annual Independence Day cel ebration for Saturday, July 2, from 5-11 p.m. The event will include fireworks, food, crafts, specialty vendors and other shows and demon strations. The Tangents Band will be in concert. Barrow receives grant for West Winder bypass Barrow County has received a $1.08 million grant from the state of Georgia for the West Winder bypass, officials have announced. The State Road and Tollway Authority (SRTA) Board voted last week to approve $27 million in grants and loans for 20 trans portation infrastructure projects around the state. The funds will be pro vided through the Georgia Transportation Infrastructure Bank (GTIB), a revolving infra structure investment fund estab lished by state legislators in 2008. Georgia Governor Nathan Deal serves as the SRTA board chairman. “(The vote) marks a major transportation milestone for Georgia.” Gov. Deal said in a news release. “Through the GTIB Program, significant trans portation infrastructure invest ments have been made towards the future of our communities — continuing to give Georgia a competitive edge. Georgia mobility is pivotal to the eco nomic vitality of our great state, and this supplemental funding will enhance accessibility and quality of life for employment centers throughout Georgia.” The West Winder bypass will widen five miles of Patrick Mill Road from two lanes to four lanes and will include a sep arated interchange at Ga. 316 to help alleviate traffic conges tion. improve regional freight mobility and enhance access to emerging development along the corridor. The county has been com pleting preliminary engineering designs and drawings for phase three and acquisition of rights of way for the roughly $73 million state project scheduled over the next three years. Officials hope construction will be completed by 2020. The bypass will create an 11-mile transportation corridor connect ing Ga. 316 to Ga. 211 to 1-85. Barrow County economic and community development direc tor Guy Herring said. “This ease of access to 1-85 and (Ga.) 316 will open up hun dreds of acres for industrial and commercial development, as well as. move existing commer cial and industrial traffic more safely and efficiently through our community,” Herring said last week. See Bypass on Page 9A
