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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.