Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page.

PAGE 2A BARROW NEWS-JOURNAL WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 1, 2020 Barrow County firefighters raise money for cancer research through ‘No Shave November’ Submitted photo / Pictured, from left to right, are Deputy Chief Heath Williams, Chief Alan Shuman, Lt. Nic Bourchier, North east Georgia Medical Center Barrow president Chad Hatfield, and NGMC Barrow public relations manager Sunita Singh. Firefighters are tradi tionally clean-shaven. But in November, some firefighters with Barrow County Emergency Ser vices (BCES) let their beards grow for charity in support of local cancer pa tients and services. No Shave November is a nationwide campaign started in 2009 where fire fighters opt to forgo shav ing in order to evoke con versation and raise cancer awareness. Originally started with a focus on prostate cancer awareness, the No Shave November campaign has grown to include aware ness for all cancers and cancer research. Any member of BCES who donated $25 to the Barrow Fire Foundation was allowed to waive the requirement to shave. The firefighters raised $935 that was recently presented to Northeast Georgia Flealth System (NGFIS) Foundation and designated for local cancer services. “This is the third year BCES has participated by putting our razors down, and participation has grown every year,” Chief Alan Shuman said. “Our firefighters look forward to the chance to not shave for a few weeks while also raising funds for a good cause.” Shuman did reiterate that if at any time a firefighter’s facial hair interfered with the ability to obtain a tight seal on his breathing mask, he’d be required to shave. “We are so thankful for the work our emergency workers do every day,” said Chad Hatfield, presi dent of Northeast Georgia Medical Center Barrow. “It is a privilege and an honor to have them sup port our organization’s cancer services. Being able to keep their dona tions locally, will help us impact lives of those in our community.” Projects continued from 1A Persinger said, because of the more immediate results and the opportunity to adjust an individ ual student’s learning. In addition, the Milestones test is “a once-a- year snapshot of student achievement at the end of the school year,” McMichael said. He said the goals are to “develop and imple ment an assessment system that reduces test ing time, provides teachers data they can use to guide instruction during the school year and challenges students to develop the higher-order thinking skills they need to succeed in college and careers.” Persinger explained that three pilot projects were established by state law and process. One of those ended, she said, when it was “decided that’s not what we wanted to do.” The results will be sent to the state Depart ment of Education and that will be forwarded to the federal level. Persinger said the pilot study will include a language arts and math test in the spring of 2021. All students will take that, she said. She said the testing should deal with “ac countability,” which now is done through the Milestones, and the need for data teachers can use in the classroom. 2019 continued from 1A Eddie Jackson and Rudy Krause in the race to re place outgoing Mayor Robert Bridges, who had announced his retirement earlier in the year. Piper’s election was part of several chang es to the government in Statham, which started the process of transitioning from a strong-mayor to a weak-mayor form of gov ernment. The city council will also have two new fac es in 2020. Gary Venable was elected to the coun cil, while Tammy Crawley won a special election to fill the seat Jackson va cated in order to run for mayor. The city also saw its po lice chief, Allan Johnston, resign Dec. 1. The criti cism of Johnston became near-constant after a se ries of arrests by then-of ficer Marc Lofton in 2015 and 2016. Statham faced, and still faces, multiple federal lawsuits over those arrests, most of which involved driving under the influence-less safe charges. TWO NEW WINDER COUNCIL MEMBERS ELECTED On Nov. 5, two new members were elected to the Winder City Council. Kobi Kilgore defeated incumbent councilman A1 Brown in Ward 2, while Holly Sheats beat out Robert Lanham for the at- large seat held by outgo ing councilman Michael Healan, who chose not to seek re-election. Kilgore and Sheats will become the second and third women to serve on the council, following Beth Caldwell. Incumbent council man Travis Singley was re-elected in Ward 4, fend ing off a challenge from Holt Persinger. ALVAREZ WINS SPECIAL BOC ELECTION The Barrow County Board of Commissioners elected a new member in March as Rolando Alvarez won a special election to fill the District 3 seat left vacant by Roger Wehunt, who had resigned in Oc tober 2018 due to health reasons. Alvarez defeated Scott Vickery for the seat. Alvarez had served on the Barrow County Board of Education in an at- large seat prior to running for the BOC. The school board appointed Jordan Raper to be his replace ment. VICTOR LORD PARK EXPANSION PROJECT GETS UNDERWAY A groundbreaking cere mony was held in June for the voter-approved Victor Lord Park expansion proj ect at the corner of Second Street and Highway 11 in Winder. The roughly $8.3 mil lion project will add three multi-purpose athletic fields (one synthetic turf, two natural grass), an eight-court tennis com plex, press box/conces sion building, restrooms and other amenities to the Considering ((TM*R) )) buying or selling? 770-867-9026 www.maynardrealty.com SOCIAL SECURITY DISABILITY Applications & Appeals We Do All The Hard Work! Hynes & Associates LLC Disability Advocates Call 706-969-7420 • SSIHelp.org $ BBB Free Consultation. No Fee Unless Approved NOTICE TO THE PUBLIC City of Statham Special Called Meeting Personnel, Vice Mayor & Committees January 3, 2020 • 6:30 p.m. park. The facilities are ex pected to open in spring 2020. Recreation advocates have long sought the fa cilities in Barrow County that they say will attract tournaments and events that will be a boon to the local economy. The project was the cornerstone of a 1-cent SPLOST renewal project approved overwhelmingly by voters in 2017. Near ly $3 million in overruns from the initial estimated price tag of $7.36 million caused county leaders to scale the project back some. The board of commis sioners voted in 2018 to transfer $1.3 million from its reserves to the Barrow County School System to complete the turf in stallation at the two high schools (part of the orig inal master plan budget), and the county will have access to those fields for games and events through a joint-use agreement. The remaining amenities that were part of the original master plan are planned for completion in later years. In March, commission ers voted 4-3 to approve $500,000 in additional funding for the expansion, money that county man ager Mike Renshaw said would go to cover the bulk of design and project man agement costs while al lowing for more upgrades. REZONING OF HWY. 211 PROPERTY FOR LARGE SUBDIVISION APPROVED On Oct. 22, the Barrow County Board of Com missioners approved Law- renceville-based Corridor Development’s request to rezone 86.8 acres at 627 Hwy. 211 NWto allow for the construction of up to 247 single-family homes. The approval marked the next step toward the build ing of the first large-scale residential development in Barrow County since prior to the Great Recession. Corridor’s plans had gone through several it erations and the version approved was scaled back from an original one that called for 182 single-fam ily homes and 128 sin gle-family townhomes. Corridor representatives have long contended a residential development at the site, just to the north of where the future West Winder Bypass will ter minate at Highway 211, would be compatible with other current and future development in that area. RULING ON NEW HAMILTON TRIAL UPHELD BY SUPREME COURT In a decision released Sept. 3, the Georgia Su preme Court upheld for mer Piedmont Judicial Circuit Chief Superior Court Judge David Motes’ October 2018 ruling that Grant Notice The Technical College System of Georgia’s (TCSG) Office of Adult Education will open its multiyear adult education grant competition in January 2020. State and federal Workforce Innovation & Opportunity Act grant funds can be used to provide adult education and literacy activities to individuals over the age of 16 without a high school diploma, as well as English language learners. TCSG will hold a technical assistance day for all interested applicants on February 10, 2020 from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm at Chattahoochee Technical College. More information is available at https://tcsq.edu/adult-education/. TCSG is an equal opportunity institution and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age, or disability. Paul Hamilton, convicted for the 2015 murder of his nephew, was entitled to a new trial. Hamilton was convicted Oct. 5, 2018 on a charge of felony murder and three counts of aggravated as sault in the death of Bran don Lay, 32, of Statham. On Oct. 25, 2018, Motes imposed a mandatory life sentence, but then imme diately reversed the con viction on the grounds that he had erred in his instructions to the jury and that he did not believe the evidence presented during the week-long tri al supported a conviction, saying a new trial would be "consistent with the principles of equity and justice.” In the Supreme Court ruling, Justice Sarah War ren quoted state statutes that “Even when the evi dence is legally sufficient to sustain a conviction, a trial judge may grant a new trial if the verdict of the jury is ‘contrary to...the principles of justice and equity,’ or if the verdict is ‘decidedly and strongly against the weight of the evidence.’” CONSTRUCTION ON NEW HIGH SCHOOL GETS UNDERWAY In March, Barrow Coun ty School System officials broke ground on the dis trict’s third high school on Austin Road in Winder, next to Sims Academy of Innovation and Technolo gy- The high school, which was formally named Bar- row Arts and Sciences Academy later in the year, will be an arts and scienc es magnet school and will offer most athletics with the exception of football and basketball. It is sched uled to open in August 2020. Dale Simpson will be the principal. NEW VISITORS’ CENTER AT FORT YARGO OPENS In May, local and state officials held a ribbon-cut ting ceremony for the new and larger visitors’ center at Fort Yargo State Park in Winder. The project included about $4.2 million in state funding — from bonds and park receipts — plus additional private funding. It was designed by Stevens & Wilkerson GA, Inc. and contracted by Bayne De velopment Group, LLC. The new center, locat ed about a half mile south from the original center, spans more than 5,000 square feet. It was com pleted in April and sits across the lake from the historic fort. It includes an expanded gift shop, con cession area, bike rental space, public locker and a reception room for confer ences, weddings and other events, along with an ele vated community fire pit by the lake. M and M Construction and Farms Bobcat & Farm Services • Grading • Bush Hog Work • Excavating • Land and Brush Clearing Over 40 Years Experience • Insured Mark Childers 678-618-1446 December 25, 2019 Select Fence Group Crossword Answers I 1 A S p 1 C U A T E R M O C O U R L 1 N K O L D 1 D Y E R Y D A T E A L A S Y O K E S E E S S L A M T A C O O U R S O N E S L D 1 A S s R A p s M 1 1 D E N R S H E S 1 A L P S K Y Select Fence Group: (678) 201-6548