Newspaper Page Text
36 Pages 3 Sections, Plus Preprints A Publication of MainStreet Newspapers, Inc. Winder, Barrow County Georgia 50« Copy Wednesday, February 22, 2017
Barrow
Briefs
Square
dance set
for Friday
The Winder Square Dance
Club, “Jug Tavern Squares.”
will have its next dance Friday,
Feb. 24, from 7:30-10 p.m. at
the YMCA in Winder.
No YMCA membership is
required.
See the group’s website for
more information, www.jug-
tavernsquares.org or contact
the club presidents, Buddy
or Sharon Davis, at 770-513-
1189.
Beulah Street
work ongoing
Crews are currently work
ing on installing the raw water
pipeline on South Beulah
Street at the intersection of
Lily Drive, working towards
North Beulah Street at the
railroad crossing.
Construction started Feb. 17
and will be taking place in this
area until around March 1.
Traffic control will be in
place during this time, how
ever at least one travel lane
will be affected during con
struction.
Please avoid this area if pos
sible.
AARP
free tax
preparation
ongoing
AARP is offering free tax
preparation services starting at
9 a.m. Tuesdays and Wednes
days through April 12 at the-
Barrow County Leisure Ser
vices Center, located at 175
2nd St. in Winder.
Those needing assistance
are advised to arrive early and
bring all necessary documen
tation.
Service will be provided on
a first-come, first-serve basis.
Index:
Church News
10A
Classifieds
4-5C
Legals
6-11C
Obituaries
11A
Pets of the Week
3C
Public Safety
7-8A
Sports 1
-10.12B
Mailing
Label Below
Q
14 5 4 1
7
SPLOST money proposed for
Victor Lord Park expansion
Citizen panel hears from Leisure Services director at 3rd meeting
By Scott Thompson
News-Journal Editor
If Barrow County voters
approve an extension of the
current 1-cent special-purpose
local-option sales tax for capi
tal improvement projects in the
county and municipalities in
November, around $7.5 million
of the proceeds would go toward
an expansion of Victor Lord Park
in Winder.
The SPLOST citizen commit
tee, charged with formalizing a
list of county projects to present
to the Barrow Board of Commis
sioners this summer for a likely
referendum, held its third meet
ing Monday night at the Barrow
County Senior Center, where
officials pitched a multi-faceted
comprehensive expansion plan.
Proposed upgrades include:
•200-plus additional parking
spaces:
•as many as five multi-pur
pose athletic fields to be used
for football, soccer, lacrosse, tee
ball practices, Ultimate Frisbee,
tournaments, camps, rentals and
Barrow County School System
purposes:
•synthetic turf installation on
the fields that, while more costly
initially, would be aimed at low
ering long-term maintenance and
labor costs and preventing more
game cancellations;
•eight tennis courts to be used
for tournaments, school system
purposes and pickleball:
•an aquatic center;
•a skate park;
•a dog park;
•a walking trail around the
perimeter of the complex;
•and drainage and stormwater
retention improvements at the
complex.
The new facilities would be
built on an additional 37 acres
at Fort Yargo State Park that
the State Properties Commission
has agreed to allow the coun
ty to build improvements on.
According to the lease agree
ment approved by the board of
commissioners last week, the
county has five years to construct
improvements on the 37-acre
parcel or the land would likely
revert back to the state’s control.
According to county estimates,
all of the proposed improve
ments for Victor Lord Park
would take just under $10 mil
lion to construct and the projects
would total nearly $11.2 million
once professional fees, surveys,
testing and contingencies were
See SPLOST on Page 12A
Barrow’s top stars
STAR STUDENTS AND TEACHERS HONORED
STAR students and teachers for Barrow County were honored at a breakfast last week. They
are, from left, Aaron Cleveland, teacher at Apalachee High School; Ryan Miller, Apalachee
and Barrow County STAR student; Cricket Butler, teacher at Bethlehem Christian Academy;
Tanner Still, BCA STAR student; Matt Perry, teacher at Winder-Barrow High School; and
Isaac St. Clair, STAR student at WBHS.
Barrow County School System, BCA STAR
students, teachers honored at breakfast
By Ron Bridg'eman
News-Journal Reporter
The accolades rolled out in
waves, high test scores and
GPAs, class and school offic
es, athletic accomplishments, a
lengthy list of activities.
But perhaps the highest praise
for the three Barrow County
STAR students came from their
teachers, the ones who talked
about how much better they were
because of having taught the stu
dents. The students and teach
ers were recognized last week.
The Barrow County Chamber of
Commerce sponsored a break
fast to honor the six.
STAR students are Ryan Mill
er, Apalachee High School and
Barrow County; Isaac St. Clair,
Winder-Barrow High School;
and Tanner Still, Bethlehem
Christian Academy.
STAR teachers were, respec
tively, Aaron Cleveland. AP U.S.
history and economics; Matt
Perry, English; and Cricket But
ler, social studies.
STAR counselors were Mike
Wadleigh, Apalachee; Christi
na Lowe, WBHS; and Christy
Pence, BCA.
Ryan was recognized as the
county STAR student. He is the
class valedictorian.
The STAR student is the senior
with the highest single-sitting
SAT score and must be in the top
10 percent of the class.
See Honors on Page 3A
TRAGIC ACCIDENT
Athens-Clarke County firefighter Matt
Hughes, 28, a 2007 graduate of Winder-
Barrow High School, died Monday after
being injured in an off-duty tree-trimming
accident.
Athens-Clarke firefighter
from Barrow dies after
off-duty accident
An Athens-Clarke
County firefighter from
Barrow County has died
from injuries sustained
in an off-duty tree-trim
ming accident on Mon
day.
Matt Hughes, 28, a
2007 graduate of Wind
er-Barrow High School,
was helping a friend
trim trees when he was
seriously injured.
He was transported to
Northeast Georgia Med
ical Center in Gaines
ville where he later died.
His death was
announced on Facebook
by Athens-Clarke Coun
ty Emergency Services.
“After a tragic acci
dent yesterday while
working an off duty
job Firefighter II Matt
Hughes has passed
away,” the statement
read.
“We would like to
send our prayers and
condolences to Matt’s
family and friends.
We will post funeral
arrangements once they
are known.
“R.I.P. Brother.”
Several messages and
condolences flooded the
department’s Facebook
page Tuesday as word
of Hughes’ death spread.
No further informa
tion on the accident or
funeral arrangements
was available as off
press time Tuesday.
Saunders
in court
today
for plea
hearing
A plea hearing in Bar-
row County Superior Court
for former Adult Literacy
Barrow executive director
and former Barrow Coun
ty School System superin
tendent Ron Saunders was
scheduled for this morning.
Saunders was arrest
ed in July and charged
with stealing more than
$100,000 from the organi
zation over a two-year peri
od. Saunders also admitted
to forging board members’
names on checks and other
bank transactions the board
wasn’t aware of.
He was immediately
fired by the board upon
being arrested and was
replaced in December by
Sally Brown.
Statham
City Council
House buy,
lack of audit
among
complaints
at meeting
By Ron Bridg'eman
News-Journal Reporter
Complaints about the
city’s purchase of a house
on Broad Street and the
lack of a city audit were
raised at the end of a
45-minute Statham City
Council meeting.
The house, 1921 Broad
Street, is adjacent to the
current city hall, Mayor
Robert Bridges said after
the meeting.
Dwight McCormic. resi
dent, asked to hold a “hear
ing” about the purchase of
the house and the “series
of events that led up to the
purchase of the house.”
McCormic asked how
the city could have offices
in the house but a business
could not operate there.
See Statham on Page 2A
