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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