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24 Pages, 2 Sections, Plus Preprints A Publication of MainStreet Newspapers, Inc. Winder, Barrow County, Georgia $1.00 Copy Wednesday, January IS, 2020 County eyes having part-time state court By Scott Thompson sthompson@barrownewsjournal.com Barrow County is taking steps toward having a state court that will handle misde meanor and traffic cases, a move designed to decrease the caseload burden on other courts. During its Tuesday, Jan. 14 meeting, the county board of commissioners authorized county manager Mike Renshaw to proceed with a request for local legislation that would establish a part-time state court in the county. The legislation, which will be introduced in the Georgia General Assembly in the coming weeks, would also allow for future expansion to a full-time court at commis sioners’ discretion. Renshaw said he would be working with the executive director for the Council of State Court Judges, who would conduct a feasibility study for a state court in Barrow County. The study would examine current and future projected caseloads and determine what resources would need to be allocated to a full-time court. During the board’s annual planning re treat in March 2019, Renshaw addressed what he described as challenges the District Attorney’s Office was facing with process ing traffic and misdemeanor cases, which was also leading to increases in the inmate count at the detention center because in mates were awaiting trial. Renshaw said many of the misdemeanor cases go untried as prosecutors focus on more serious felony cases. A part-time state court would draw all of the Barrow County Superior Court’s mis demeanor cases and a portion of its civil case workload and would allow the District Attorney’s Office to process felony cases more expeditiously, Renshaw said. All traffic cases currently heard in Bar- row County Probate Court would also go through the state court. All state court judges would have to meet statutory requirements, including hav ing practiced law for a minimum of seven years, Renshaw said. Renshaw said counties of similar popu lation size — he cited Jackson and Bulloch counties as examples — have had success with state courts. Jackson County’s state court has been in place for over 20 years, he said. Chairman Pat Graham said Superior Court Judge Currie Mingledorff had spoken favorably of having a state court, saying it would improve the overall efficiency of the county’s court system. Graham and commissioner Rolando Al varez, a former county school board mem ber, also said the state court would help the school system with truancy cases by pro cessing them more quickly. See BOC, page 2A Barrow Briefs ANNUAL MLK CELEBRATION SET The Barrow County Mar tin Luther King Jr. Day Committee will host its annual MLK celebration Sunday and Monday. Jan. 19-20. The MLK Gospel Con cert will be held at 6 p.m. Jan. 19 at White Oak Spring Missionary Baptist Church, 123 East New St., Winder. Church choirs and various singing groups will per form. All MLK community choir members are asked to contact Cathy Simmons at 678-963-8243 for choir rehearsal schedule. Each church choir will be asked to perform two selections. The annual march through Winder will be held at 10:45 a.m. Jan. 20. The march will begin at Quality Foods on Broad Street and take about 40 minutes to complete, ending at White Oak Spring Baptist Church. All of those needing trans portation to the beginning point of the march are asked to meet in the parking lot of the church no later than 10 a.m. The annual MLK ceremo ny will be held at 11:50 a.m. in the church sanctuary and is scheduled to last about two hours. The keynote speaker will be Tommie Smith, a 1968 Olympic gold medal ist in track and field and a promoter of human rights around the world. The theme of this year’s celebration is, “Your life begins to end, the day you become silent about things that matter.” A KID’S DREAM OF FERING NEW CLASSES Winder-based nonprofit A Kid’s Dream is offering See Briefs, page 2A MAILING LABEL '0 4879 14541 o Top science projects recognized LET'S GO BELOW Photos by Ron Bridgeman Dave Holland, with ArtsNow, talks to students who entered the Barrow County Science Fair about vibrations. Barrow County School System presents ‘gold’ to top science projects By Ron Bridgeman ron@mainstreetnews.com Nine in the junior division and two in the senior division were awarded gold medals in the recent Barrow County School System science and engineering fair. Students from Russell Middle School took four of the gold medals in the junior division, grades 6-8. Students at Winder-Barrow High School won the two senior division golds. The gold medal projects will compete in the Northeast Georgia Regional Fair Jan. 31 in Wmterville. The “top projects” went to a Haymon-Morris Middle School student and the high school award went to a team of seniors at Winder Barrow. Brianna Ashe, eighth-grad er at HMMS, won gold for her project, “Which Cup Will Keep Water Cold or Hot?” The WBHS team of Justin Ri ght. Aryana Payne and Brittany Vicente-Francisco, took the top prize for their project, “Measuring Sugar Content with a Laser Pointer.” Lee Bane, the district’s director of innovative learning, said about 50 projects were entered. The district had an in crease in the number of senior division projects entered. The three seniors with the top project Kight, Payne and Vicente-Francisco, were from the school’s AP environmen tal science class, as were all the Winder-Barrow students. All said it took about two weeks to prepare the projects — after coming up with the concept and gathering the mate rials. The laser pointer also could be used with passers-by who stopped to ask questions. Kight demonstrated with a couple of questioners. The sixth-grader Ariel Brooks explained her project on “sensory stress relief’ to Brad Bowling, special education director for the district. She said she made a video creating stressful situations, including the sound of fingernails across a blackboard. Thirteen to 15 people were tested, she said. Gold winners in the junior division were: •Russell Middle: seventh, Frances Beckemeyer, “Hali tosis and Hypotension”; sixth, Natalie Mays, “Fabric With Scotchguard”; sixth, Josephine Lundy, “My Hamster is A-MAZE-ing!”; and sixth. Emma Pittman. “Are Our Tastebuds Colorblind?” Arts & Innovation Magnet program: seventh, Hannah Oliver and Kendall Sanders, “Recapture” and sixth. Kayla Boebel and Alexis Williams, “Who’s is the Nastiest?” Bear Creek Middle: sixth. Michael Huebner, “Slime Time.” 513* *1 p — L ■ JfV \ Ariel Brooks, sixth-grader at Haymon-Morris Mid dle School, explains her science exhibit to Brad Bowling, special education director for the Bar- row County School System. Haymon-Morris Middle: sixth, Ariel Brooks, “Sen sory Stress Relief’ and eighth, Brianna Ashe, “Which Cup Will Keep Water Cold or Hot?” Senior division: WBHS. Kendraya Jones, Ivory Coates-Powell and Kristain Johnson, “Chemical Anal ysis of Slime Components” and Justin Kight, Aryana Payne and Brittany Vicente-Francisco, “Measuring Sugar Content with a Laser Pointer.” Science fair exhibitors also heard a presentation from Dave Holland, with ArtsNow. Holland told the students that “every molecule” in their bodies vibrate and vi brations can be targeted for health and for emotional response. “You’re mostly water.” he observed. He talked about frequency and amplitude of vibra tions, about the “angle of vision” and friction. Holland often thanked the students for responding with correct a nswers. “Thank you very much,” he would say after feeding them obvious clues about his point. He had a host of “musical” instruments. Tambou rines were evident, as were “homemade” concoctions with spoons and other items. It included various kinds of metals and rocks. “In science.” Holland said, “the very first thing we have to do is learn to observe.” He interspersed his comments with rhythmic tunes. He encouraged the students to cultivate “probably the most valuable skill” they could leam — “doing nothing” and thinking. Derrick Maxwell Maxwell ‘interim’ principal at WBHS By Ron Bridgeman ron@mainstreetnews.com Winder-Barrow High School has a new “interim” principal, one who has some experience. Derrick Maxwell, who was hired in October as the Barrow County School Sys tem’s “strategic initiative coordinator,” has replaced A1 Darby, who graduated from Winder-Barrow and has now moved to the dis trict’s central office. Maxwell has the “inter im” tag on his title. He will hold the job for the remain der of the year. He also will be a candidate for the per manent job. Maxwell was the princi pal at Cedar Shoals High School in Clarke County when he was hired by the Barrow County Board of Education. He had been at that school since 2018. He is in his 18th year in educa tion. Cedar Shoals has about 1,600 students and Wind er-Barrow has about 2,100. Maxwell said he expects to lose about 300 students to the new Barrow Arts and Sciences Academy. Maxwell also was the principal at Commerce Mid dle School for two years. It was his second tenure at Ce dar Shoals. He had been an assistant principal there. Darby will be the “chief administrative officer for athletics and student activi ties” on a district-wide lev el. He will be in the support services department, where Ken Greene is the assistant superintendent. See Maxwell, page 3A