Newspaper Page Text
Serving the communities of Braselton, Hoschton, Chateau Elan, Mill Creek, West Jackson and South Hall
Gi* £
Member of the
Georgia Press Association
250 copy
Wednesday, November 21,2007
Vol. 4 No. 30 A publication of MainStreet Newspapers, Inc. BraseltonNews.com 26 pages, 3 sections
Inside
•Familiar face named
principal of new school
page 3A
AREA NEWS
• ‘Mean girls’ are new
school bullies
page 2A
Sports:
•Mill Creek Athletic
Association holds first
jamboree page 4B
•Students attend
national journalism event
page 11A
Opinion:
•The News will be your
aggressive local paper
page 4A
Public safety:
•Teen’s birthday party
causes stir in Hoschton
page 6A
•Church events
page 7A
•Obituaries
page 8A
Fight disrupts Mill Creek High School
BY KRISTI REED
Mill Creek High School was
locked down for approximately an
hour and a half last Thursday morn
ing after a fight erupted between
several groups of students.
Principal Jim Markham said the
situation was handled with the best
interests of Mill Creek students
and staff in mind.
“There was a situation; we han
dled it; we investigated it; we
punished those that have appropri
ate punishment coming and that is
essentially it,” he said.
In a videotaped message posted
on the school’s website, Markham
explained the reasons for the lock-
down.
“As a consequence of the fight,
and while we were trying to sort out
those who were actually engaged in
the altercation, and because of the
rumors associated with the fight,
I made the decision to
place the school in lock-
down,” said Markham.
“The rumors were of
such a nature that we
felt like, in the interest
of safety and security,
that we ought to do that
while we got the prob
lem sorted out.”
Rumors of weap
on involvement also
led neighboring Frank Osborne
Middle School to go into lock-
down for a brief period of time.
Jorge Quintana, director of
media relations for Gwinnett
County Public Schools, said no
weapons were involved in the
fight. Quintana said the number
of students involved in the fight, as
well as the incident itself, are still
under investigation.
Markham said the persons that
disrupted the school
“have been arrested or
are going to be arrested.”
Markham reiterated that
the policy of Mill Creek
High School is that fight
ing will have “police
consequences”.
“I am pleased to
report that we think we
have every kid that was
involved in the fight either
suspended, arrested or about to be
arrested,” he said. “Now we are
working on those that were oper
ating on the fringes of the alter
cation. Our administrative team
is working very hard to remove
disrupters from the school.”
After the school was placed on
lockdown, the front office was
inundated by hundreds of calls
See FIGHT on page 3A
MARKHAM
Christmas lights at Chateau Elan
SPECIAL LIGHTS AT CHATEAU
Chateau Elan will mark the beginning of the Christmas season with its “Lighting of the Chateau” on
Friday night.
Lighting of the Chateau ahead Friday
Chateau Elan will hold its “Lighting of the Chateau”
on Friday, Nov. 23, from 3-7 p.m.
The event will include activities for families, such
as holiday arts and crafts, giant bouncy things, Santa
Claus, wine tours, magic performances by Joe M.
Turner and story-telling.
A fireworks display is planned at 7 p.m., but is sub
ject to weather conditions.
Other activities will include a puppet show by Peter
Hart, cookie decorating, petting zoo and pony rides,
“Like the Dickens” carolers, wine market gift shop
ping and putt-putt golf.
Commercial request gets favorable vote
BY KERRI TESTEMENT
The Hoschton Planning
Commission recommended ap
proval of a rezoning request for
property near downtown Hoschton
that could become part of a larger
commercial project.
The planning commission rec
ommended approval on Monday
of a request by Shannon Sell to
rezone lot seven on Oak Street
from R-l to C-2, highway com
mercial. The property is located
on the east side of Oak Street and
about 200 feet from Pendergrass
Road (Ga. Hwy. 332).
The Hoschton City Council
is expected to discuss the pro
posal during its work session on
Thursday, Nov. 29, at 7 p.m. and
possibly vote on the request dur
ing its regular meeting on Monday,
Dec. 3, at 7 p.m.
Sell told the planning commis
sion on Monday that he doesn’t
have any plans to develop the
property, but is open to ideas.
“You know, the market is really
strange these days,” Sell said.
Lot seven is about 6,000 square
feet and adjoins other commercial
ly-zoned properties owned by Sell.
The property was actually rezoned
to Office-Residential (O-R) recent
ly by the city council, among other
properties in the area.
Sell said he will ask the city to
rezone other small lots he owns
along Oak Street over the next few
months.
Other properties near Oak Street
include two professional offices
and Hwy. 332, which will soon
be re-routed to Hoschton Towne
Center Parkway. The existing por
tion of Hwy. 332 will be desig
nated as a city street, according to
city planner Wistar Harmon.
Hoschton planning commission
member Jeanne Sheffield said she
doesn’t want an eyesore on Sell’s
property, which is located across
See HOSCHTON on page 3A
Home for Thanksgiving
SOLDIER WELCOMED
A special homecoming celebration was held Saturday in a Barrow
County subdivision for Cpi. Justin Thacker. He is shown with his
parents, Lynn and Tom.
Local subdivision welcomes
solider’s return to home
BY KRISTI REED
Dozens of friends and neighbors
turned out Saturday to welcome
home Cpl. Justin Thacker, USMC.
Thacker, currently on leave from
the 2nd Combat Engineer Battalion,
returned last month from a seven-
month tour in Iraq and has been
stationed at Camp LeJeune since
arriving stateside.
Thacker said he was glad to be
home and was pleasantly surprised
by the reception he received from
neighbors in the Beringer Pointe
subdivision, located on Ga. Hwy.
124 in Barrow County, near the
Braselton town limits.
“It’s nice,” he said. “I really appre
ciate it.”
Thacker said the support shown
by his neighbors and others helps
boost morale of service men and
women oversees.
“It’s nice to know that people
think about us over there,” he said.
Nancy Buffington and Pat
Carpenter organized the wel
come home reception for Thacker.
Buffington, the hostess for Saturday’s
event, said she felt it was important
to recognize those who are serving
our country.
“I think all of our men and women
who are defending our country right
now need to be told ‘thank you,”’
Buffington said. ”1 don’t think they
get told enough.”
Pat Carpenter agrees: “We feel
very strongly in our subdivision that
we need to support our military and
let them know that what they do is
very much appreciated.”
“It does your heart good to know
that these young men are serving our
country,” she added.
Thacker’s parents, Lynn and Tom,
were also present at the reception.
Lynn Thacker is very proud of her
son, but admits knowing he was in
Iraq was difficult.
“It was scary,” she said. “At first,
“I think all of our men
and women who are
defending our country
right now need to be
told, ‘Thankyou.’”
—Nancy Buffington
when he went over there, I felt
like reading everything about Iraq
because I wanted to be informed. It
became too nerve wracking. After
I stopped reading the paper and lis
tening to the news, it became easier
for me to tolerate him being over
there.”
Lynn said Justin decided to join
the Marines in high school. After
meeting with a recruiter his junior
year, Thacker wanted to join imme
diately, but his parents would not
sign the release.
“We wanted him to be absolutely
sure he knew what he was doing,”
Lynn said.
As soon as Justin graduated, he
entered the Marine Corps. Lynn
said her son was recently promoted
to corporal and is doing well in his
military career. Still, she is glad he
is home even if only for a couple of
weeks.
“I am relieved and excited,” Lynn
said. “We just love having him
here.”
The entrance to Beringer Pointe
subdivision was decorated with yel
low ribbons and American flags to
welcome Cpl. Thacker home and
thank him for serving. Pat Carpenter
said it was important to her and other
community members to do what
they could to show their support.
“I don’t think there is enough
focus on the positive things our
youth do,” Carpenter said. “This is
one small way we can pay tribute
and I would love to see other subdi
visions do the same thing.”
Hoschton budget hearing set
The Hoschton City Council will hold a public hearing about the pro
posed 2008 budget on Monday, Nov. 26, at 7 p.m., at city hall.
The Hoschton City Council is proposing a 2008 general fund budget
of $771,350, compared to 2007’s amended budget of $798,808.
City officials said recently that the latest proposed budget doesn’t call
for cutting city jobs or starting a property tax.
The city council will discuss the proposed budget during its work ses
sion on Thursday, Nov. 29, at 7 p.m., and during its regular meeting on
Monday, Dec. 3, at 7 p.m.
