Newspaper Page Text
32 Pages 3 Sections, Plus Preprints A Publication of MainStreet Newspapers, Inc. Winder, Barrow County, Georgia 50« Copy Wednesday, May 2, 2018
Candidate forum set, early voting underway
Barrow
Briefs
Black tie gala
for Hope
4 Xavier
Foundation
The Hope 4 Xavier Foundation
will hold its second annual Black
Tie Gala on Saturday. May 5, at
7 p.m. at the Winder Community
Center to bring more awareness
about autism. The foundation
will also award the Wanda Len’e
Emerson Thompson Memorial
Scholarship to a senior student
who is planning a career in spe
cial-needs education. All pro
ceeds from the event will go to
awareness efforts and the schol
arship fund. The Hope 4 Xavier
Foundation is a 501(c)3 orga
nization and all donations are
tax-deductible. For more infor
mation. call 678-464-4736 or go
to hope4xavierfoundation.org.
Train Day
The Barrow County Historical
Society’s Barrow County Muse
um’s next Train Day is Satur
day, May 12, from 10 a.m. to 4
p.m. at the Gainesville-Midland
steam engine and caboose muse
um. Jim Baughman will be on
hand to share his railroad knowl
edge and memorabilia.
Train-related exhibits will also
be featured on National Train
Day.
‘Finding
Our Irish
Ancestors’
program
The East Georgia Genealogical
Society will host a public “Finding
Our Irish Ancestors’’ program at 2
p.m. Tuesday, May 8, at the Wind
er Public Library, 189 Bellview
St. The program will be presented
by Marie Brennan, who served as
a family history missionary for
the Family History Library of the
Church of Latter Day Saints in
Salt Lake City, Utah.
See Briefs on Page 3A
Index:
Public Safety 7-8A
Opinion 4-6A
Lifestyle columns 1-2C
Church News 10A
Classifieds 3C
Legals 4-8C
Obituaries 11A
Sports 1-4, 6-8, 10, 12B
Mailing
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The six Republican candidates
for the Barrow County Board of
Commissioners are scheduled to
participate in a candidate forum
today.
The forum will be hosted by
the Barrow County Chamber of
Commerce at 6:30 p.m. at the Col
leen O. Williams Theater, 105 East
Athens St., Winder. The candi
dates will field questions from the
chamber’s governmental affairs
committee.
Commissioners Isaiah Berry
(District 4), Billy Parks (District 5)
After spending practically half
his life overseas. Ron Drennan
has found a new passion —
helping local residents become
citizens through a free citizen
ship class started last fall by
Adult Literacy Barrow and now
offered through Lanier Technical
College at the Wimberly Center
for Community Development in
Winder.
“You’ve never really seen a
smile until you see someone
who really wants to be here
become a citizen.’’ said Dren
nan, a longtime professor who
recently moved to Winder from
Gwinnett County, where he was
teaching a similar class to peo-
Statham will hold its first
committee meeting in a long
time about infrastructure prob
lems at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday.
The meeting was first set
for Thursday, but that is the
National Day of Prayer and it
was moved.
The city’s committee on pub
lic works, streets, and water/
sewer will be meeting.
City Council member Dwight
McCormic has spearheaded the
effort to focus on infrastruc
ture.
“My belief is that the city
and Ben Hendrix (District 6) are
all running for re-election and are
facing Republican primary opposi
tion from Derek Cox, Debbie Reid
and Deborah Lynn respectively.
The primary is May 22. None of
the winners will face Democratic
opposition in November.
See coverage of the forum in
next week’s edition.
DEMOCRAT MEET
AND GREET
The Barrow County Democratic
Party will host a public meet-and-
ple seeking to become American
citizens.
“I spent quite a few years liv
ing overseas and been in some
tight squeezes before and people
in those countries helped me
out.”
So Drennan jumped at the
opportunity when Adult Litera
cy Barrow launched the class in
October.
The ongoing class meets Tues
days and Thursdays from noon
to 2 p.m. at the Wimberly Center
and lately has been drawing a
crowd of about seven people.
The class includes instruction
on and preparation for filling
out the N-400 application form,
instruction on English and civics
and preparation for the natu
ralization interview immigrants
needs to direct more resources
to the infrastructure,” he said
Tuesday.
Council member Eddie Jack-
son also is expected to be at
the meeting. McCormic said
Jordan Bennett, a water depart
ment employee, will attend.
McCormic has emphasized
the need for public participa
tion in city government. He
said the city has a “community
for virtually everything,” but
participation has been non-ex
istent for some time.
He said he expects 10 to
15 people to attend Tuesday’s
meeting.
Complaints are expected
greet at 7 p.m. Thursday, May 10,
for local and statewide candidates
on the May 22 Democratic prima
ry ballot. The event will be held
at the Winder Community Center,
113 East Athens St.
Candidates invited include Bar-
row County Board of Education
candidates Johnny Smith and
Anthony Mayweather. state Rep.
Deborah Gonzalez (District 117),
Dawn Johnson (for State Senate
District 47), John Noel (for pub
lic services commissioner), Cindy
Zeldin (for insurance commis-
“You’ve never really
seen a smile until
you see someone
who really wants
to be here become
a citizen. ”
Ron Drennan
must go through to become cit
izens.
Lucy Manchi recently became
the first person to go through
the class, complete her inter
view and be granted citizenship,
and Drennan said another per
son has an interview coming up
and another three or four people
See Citizenship on Page 9A
about the quality of the city’s
water. The complaints include
discoloration and bad taste, he
said.
The city’s water lines are
“aging,” McCormic said.
“That’s what is causing the
quality of the water to deteri
orate.”
McCormic said when the city
water plant does “any kind of
testing or anything, it’s enough
to cause lots of debris on the
inside of the line.”
He said the city needs to
apply for capital improvement
grants to help replace the lines.
Statham is not eligible for
those grants now because it is
sioner), RJ Hadley (for secretary
of state), and Chalis Montgom
ery and Richard Winfield for U.S.
House of Representatives, District
10.
EARLY VOTING
Early voting for the prima
ry election began Monday at
the county elections office. 233
East Broad St., Winder, and runs
through May 18, Monday-Friday
from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.; and on
Saturday, May 12, from 9 a.m. to
4 p.m.
BOE
unanimous
in support
of $ 127M
budget
By Ron Bridg'eman
News-Journal Reporter
The Barrow County
Board of Education unani
mously passed the tentative
budget for fiscal year 2019
of $127.4 million Tuesday
night.
The budget increases by
about $7.5 million over the
current year and is project
ed to use about $2.4 million
in reserve funds.
The Barrow school sys
tem projects a reserve fund
of $7.6 million as of June
30, 2019. The district proj
ects reserves of $10 million
as of June 30.
The budget will fund
nearly 33 new teach
ing positions for the next
school year. The largest
numbers will be at Sims
Academy, six positions;
Haymon Morris Middle
School. 5.5; Winder Ele
mentary School. 4.5; and
Russell Middle and Beth
lehem Elementary schools,
3.5 each.
New money also will
be used to cover projected
growth in student popula
tion. The district had 271
more students this year
after 140 days of school
than it had for the same
period in 2017.
The school district proj
ects revenue of $125 mil
lion for next school year.
It projected $115.3 million
in revenue for the current
year.
The budget anticipates
$4.2 million more in local
taxes and about $4.1 mil
lion more in state money
for FY2019.
The millage rate, which
has not been set or dis
cussed yet, is expected to
remain at 18.5 mills. The
county’s school tax digest
See Budget on Page 2A
past due on completing three
fiscal years of audits, 2015,
2016 and 2017.
McCormic said the meeting
also would be a forum for other
problems, such as street signs
that are “too tall or too short”
or “gigantic potholes.”
The city’s water is supplied
by a 54-acre reservoir near
Highway 316, off McCarty
Road. It has a backup water
supply from Bear Creek Res
ervoir through Barrow County
and the City of Winder.
McCormic said a focus on
city water is more than justified
because “it’s our most valuable
resource.”
Helping fulfill dreams
BECOMING A CITIZEN
Barrow County resident and Ghana, West Africa native Lucy Manchi recently became the
first person to go through a free citizenship class being offered by Adult Literacy Barrow
and Lanier Technical College, complete her naturalization interview and become a United
States citizen. She is pictured above at her swearing-in ceremony in Atlanta. Submitted photo
Lanier Tech offering free citizenship class
By Scott Thompson
News-Journal Editor
Statham sets committee meeting on infrastructure
By Ron Bridg'eman
News-Journal Reporter