Newspaper Page Text
28 Pages 2 Sections, Plus Preprints A Publication of MainStreet Newspapers, Inc. Winder, Barrow County Georgia 50$ Copy Wednesday, May 24, 2017
Barrow
Briefs
Barrow Co.
Memorial Day
ceremony set
The Barrow County Veterans
of Foreign Wars Post 1187 and
its Ladies' Auxiliary will host
their annual Memorial Day
ceremony Monday. May 29.
at 9 a.m. at Rose Hill Ceme
tery on West Candler Street in
Winder.
Music will be followed by
a salute to Barrow County
natives who gave their lives
in the line of duty. The names
of all Barrow County armed
forces personnel who died in
service to their country, dating
back to World War I, will be
read aloud.
State Rep. Terry England
will be the guest speaker.
The Winder Fire Department
and representatives from the
JROTC units at Winder-Barrow
and Apalachee high schools
will also participate in the cer
emony.
Springfest
carnival set
The SpringFest Carnival will
take place beginning Friday,
May 26, through Sunday, June
4, at Jug Tavern Park in Wind
er.
Presale Tickets are now
available for purchase for $15
each, good for one day, unlim
ited rides. Regular unlimited
ticket prices are $20. You may
purchase presale tickets at the
Winder Customer Center, 45
East Athens St., Winder.
A fireworks celebration will
be held Saturday, May 27, and
Saturday. June 3, at approxi
mately 9:30 p.m. as part of the
SpringFest Carnival Celebra
tion at Jug Tavern Park. The
Midland Avenue Parking Lot.
across the street from the for
mer Bob’s Tire, will be closed
May 27 and June 3. There
will be a road closure for a
brief amount of time on East
Midland Avenue and Georgia
Avenue for the duration of the
fireworks show (approximately
10 minutes). For more infor
mation, contact April Plank,
Index:
Church News
6B
Classifieds
8-10B
Legals
11-15A
Obituaries
10A
Public Safety
8,9A
Sports
1-5B
Mailing
Label Below
o
Habitat audit launched
Police report: Former executive director paid herself too much
The finances of Bar-
row County Habitat for
Humanity are being
audited after two board
members told Wind
er police that money
was missing from the
non-profit organization.
According to an inci
dent report, board trea
surer Connie Lane and
board member Dale
Sauls told police on May
2 that after reviewing the
organization's finances,
they discovered former
executive director Dawn
Puckett paid herself
$34,000 too much during
her time with the organi
zation from 2014-16 and
that the organization had
not filed taxes with the
Internal Revenue Service
for three years.
The nonprofit received
a $95,000 grant that paid
Puckett’s salary for the
three years. The board
fired Puckett in January
after she began habitu
ally canceling monthly
board meetings, accord
ing to the report.
An audit of the years
2014-16 began in mid-
April, according to the
report.
Police told Lane and
Sauls they would need
the results of a completed
audit before beginning a
formal investigation.
When reached last
week. Lane said the
organization was con
ducting an audit of the
past three years’ financ
es, but declined further
comment.
Go and ‘make
a difference’
GOOD TIME AT GRADUATION
Apalachee High School seniors proceed into R. Harold Harrison Stadium during the school’s
class of 2017 commencement ceremony Thursday. For more photos of the Apalachee,
Winder-Barrow High School and Bethlehem Christian Academy graduation ceremonies last
week, see Page 12B. Photo by Jessica Brown
AHS, WBHS, BCA hold graduation ceremonies
By Scott Thompson
News-Journal Editor
More than 700 local students turned their tas
sels last week during graduation ceremonies at
Apalachee and Winder-Barrow high schools and
Bethlehem Christian Academy and prepared to
enter the next phase of their lives.
The messages from the three schools' valedicto
rians and salutatorians were similar: Make change
and a positive impact in the world and never let
adversity deter your goals and potential.
“No matter what past you’re leaving behind
or what future you’re moving towards, there is
always uncertainty, and that can be scary but
it can also be exciting,” Apalachee salutatorian
Jessica Hogsed told her classmates Thursday
during the school’s commencement ceremony at Bethlehem Christian seniors celebrate during
R. Harold Harrison Stadium. “In the midst of that the school’s graduation ceremony Sunday
See Graduation on Page 2A afternoon. Photo courtesy of Karen Carlyle
HATS OFF!
GRADUATION OF BULLDOGGS
Winder-Barrow seniors celebrate their graduation Friday night. Photo by Jessica Brown
Barrow boy
dies after
jumping
out of boat
Emergency crews
recovered the body of an
11-year-old boy from a
Barrow County pond Fri
day afternoon after the boy
went underwater Thursday
evening and never resur
faced.
Barrow County Emer
gency Services was alerted
around 6:20 p.m. Thursday
that Andrei Lurco, who had
just completed fifth grade
at Holsenbeck Elementa
ry School in Winder, was
with his brother in a boat
on a pond along Hancock
Bridge Road when he
jumped out of the boat to
swim and went underwater.
BCES crews along with
Jackson County and Hall
County dive teams searched
until it was too dark to con
tinue, but could not locate
the boy, BCES spokesman
Capt. Scott Dakin said. The
search efforts resumed at
7 a.m. Friday, and Lurco's
body was recovered around
4:20 p.m.
The Georgia Depart
ment of Natural Resources
also assisted in the search
efforts.
BOC OKs
railroad
agreement
An agreement between
Barrow County and CSX
Transportation to close
three public railroad cross
ings as a condition for a
new crossing at Ed Hogan
Road opening is now offi
cial.
Under the agreement
approved unanimously by
the Barrow Board of Com
missioners on Tuesday, the
crossings at Cosby Road/
Airport Road (already
closed) and a crossing
at Bird Hammond Road
which closed in 2008 will
count as two of the three
CSX-required closings,
and the crossing at Deer
Run Trail will be closed
after the phase 1 overpass
of the future West Winder
Bypass opens. That open
ing is anticipated to be in
2021, according to the lat
est county projections.
Under the agreement, the
Deer Run Trail crossing
would be closed within 30
days of completion of the
overpass. The agreement
also requires the county to
deposit $155,889 upfront
to CSX to complete the
crossing closures ahead of
the Ed Hogan Road cross
ing opening, scheduled for
See BOC on Page 2A
