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Barrow News-Journal
Barrow County News Est. 1893 • Barrow Journal Est. 2008
Merged August 2016
20 Pages, 2 Sections, Plus Preprints
A Publication of MainStreet Newspapers, Inc.
Winder, Barrow County, Georgia
$1.00 Copy
Wednesday, October 18, 2023
‘Stand with Israel’vigil and rally held
The Barrow-area community united on Sunday afternoon at the south lawn of Winder First
Baptist Church for a Stand With Israel vigil and rally. The gathering, organized by County
Commissioner Alex Ward honored the lives lost, offered prayers for the safe return of hostag
es and expressed solidarity with the State of Israel after the terrorist attack by Hamas on Oct.
7. The attack resulted in the loss of over 1,000 innocent civilians, constituting the deadliest
single-day massacre of the Jewish population since the Holocaust.
Pictured are Labovitz associate for the
American Jewish Committee Sam Halp-
ern , Barrow County Commissioner Alex
Ward and Cantor Gail Foorman, who ended
the event with a song, “Am Yisrael Chai,”
which means “the people of Israel live” and
is an expression of pride and solidarity of
the Jewish people.
During his speech at the event, Rabbi Chaim
Markovits, Chabad of Rural Georgia sent a vid
eo of the crowd cheering in support of the State
of Israel and the Jewish people to his friend,
Shai, a major in the Israeli Air Force.
Local rabbi and his wife
survive terror in Israel
By Morgan Ervin
Rabbi David Otero and his
wife, Rabbanit Kim Otero,
of Auburn, traveled to Jeru
salem for the annual Feast
of Tabernacles, also known
as Sukkot, which commands
a pilgrimage to the holy city
and is one of the most signifi
cant religious observances for
Jews worldwide.
As the Oteros, along with
thousands of Jews from
across the globe, flocked to
Jerusalem to participate in the
sacred event from Sept. 29-
Oct. 6, they found themselves
in the middle of a series of
terrorist attacks carried out by
Hamas, a Palestinian militant
organization.
According to Kim, since
arriving in Jerusalem, there
have been three different
days air-raid sirens have gone
off, warning the Israeli peo
ple of possible attacks. When
sirens go off, Israelis have
a minute to rush to a bomb
shelter. Every new house in
the region is required to have
a bomb shelter, an indication
of the ongoing security threat
MAILING LABEL
Over 5,500 rockets have
been fired into Israel, a sig
nificant number of which are
suspected to originate from
sources in Iran, Syria, Leba
non and even Russia.
According to Kim, “by the
grace of God,” Israel has an
“Iron Dome,” which is its
national security strategy
for protecting civilians from
projectiles like rockets and
missiles launched by Hamas
and other militant groups in
the area.
Despite the sheer terror
surrounding them, the Oteros
embody the enduring spirit of
hope, prayer and compassion
of the Israeli people.
Kim emphasizes that the
conflict should not be reduced
to a mere territorial dispute.
“We hate what is going on
because it’s evil,” she said,
“but we don’t hate Palestin
ians. That’s not what God has
called upon us to be.”
“When were praying,
we’re not just praying for the
Jews, we’re praying for the
Palestinians, we’re praying
for the Arabs.. .we recognize
the confusion that Satan, the
adversary, has done to their
lives,” she said.
“It’s sad on all levels. I feel
compassion for them. We
want their eyes open.”
“Because this is a spiritual
battle, there’s not a way to
rectify this. We recognize that
God is going to rectify as the
righteous judge,” she said.
“There’s nothing you can
do but pray for your ene
mies.”
The Oteros have managed
to secure a flight out of Is
rael this week, however, it
was hardly an easy task as all
American airlines have sus
pended flights into Israel at
this time. The Oteros will use
an Italian airline to leave Is
rael and fly into Atlanta from
there.
The Oteros teach others
about the Jewish Messiah at
the Rock of Israel Messian
ic Congregation, located at
1385 6th Ave. in Auburn. For
more information or to do
nate to show support for the
Israeli people, visit tzurisrael.
org.
Early voting underway
Early voting for the upcoming Nov. 7 municipal
general and TSPL0ST special elections officially
kicked off on Oct. 16 and will continue until Nov. 3.
During this early voting period, voters can cast their
ballots on weekdays between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m.
Saturday voting is available on Oct. 21 and Oct. 28
from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.The designated location for early
voting is the Barrow County Elections Office, located
at 233 E Broad St. in Winder.
The voting window to vote by absentee mail is open
from Oct. 16- 27. This option is available to any
registered voter in Georgia. To participate, one must
complete an application and submit it through mail,
fax, email or in person at the Barrow County Elections
Office. It is essential to ensure that the application
reaches the Elections Office no later than the 11th day
before the election.
The completed ballot must be received by the
Elections Office by the close of polls on election day.
Printable applications can be obtained from mvp.sos.
ga.gov.
There will be no voting on the Monday immediately
preceding election day.
On the day of the election, voters will need to cast
their ballots at their assigned precinct or polling
locations throughout the county. To find your specific
precinct, visit mvp.sos.ga.gov, where voters can also
view the new voting system or review a sample ballot.
Water Wars
Superior Court dismisses Winder’s cose
against Barrow County Water Authority
By Morgan Ervin
The Barrow County Su
perior Court handed an
other legal setback to the
City of Winder, as it ruled
against the city in its com
plaint against the Barrow
County Water Authority
by granting the Authority’s
motion to dismiss on Oct.
11.
At the heart of this le
gal dispute is the Author
ity’s decision to allow
Barrow County to direct
water lines to a planned
residential development
in unincorporated Barrow
County, known as Accent
Springs, for the purpose of
providing the retail sale of
water to customers.
The focal point of the
dispute is differing inter
pretations of two key pro
visions found within the
legislation that empowers
the Barrow County Water
Authority. The first disput
ed clause reads:
“Such general purpose
shall not restrict the au
thority from selling and
delivering water directly
to consumers in those ar
eas where there does not
now exist water distribu
tion systems or furnishing
sewer facilities to such
customers and areas where
any county nor municipal
ity deems it desirable or
feasible to furnish water in
such locality.”
Winder contends this
clause prohibits the Au
thority from serving areas
where other providers al
ready operate. However,
Judge Nicholas Primm dis
agreed with Winder’s in
terpretation, asserting that
the enabling legislation
does not inherently restrict
such activities, empha
sizing that “the enabling
legislation could restrict
an activity, does not mean
The Barrow County Superi
or Court dismissed the City
of Winder’s case against the
Barrow County Water Au
thority regarding water ser
vice to the Accent Springs
development.
that it does restrict that ac
tivity.”
The second disputed
clause of the enabling
legislation states:
“The authority shall not
have the authority to con
struct water lines for the
distribution of water di
rectly to customers within
or served by any munic
ipality without first ob
taining the express written
consent of the appropriate
governing body of said
municipality.”
Winder argues the Au
thority violated this re
striction concerning Ac
cent Springs, as the city
considers Accent Springs
a customer served by its
water infrastructure. Ac
cording to Winder, in the
context of the legislation,
customers are those served
by the water infrastructure,
as they supply water to the
area, including nearby fire
hydrants. However, Judge
Primm again rejected the
city’s assertion, clarifying
that conflating “custom
ers served” with “areas
served” would amount to
rewriting the enabling leg
islation to broaden its re
strictions to include entire
geographic regions, rather
than individual customers
contracting with a munic
ipality to purchase water
services.
According to Judge
Primm, the legislation un
der contention expressly
states that the Authority
shall have the authori
ty to sell its products and
services to customers. It
was also noted that Ac
cent Springs is not yet a
customer served by the
city’s water infrastructure
because the development
remains unbuilt, and nei
ther the developer nor any
individual homeowner has
purchased water services
from the City of Winder.
According to Chairman
of the Barrow County
Board of Commissioners,
Pat Graham, the county is
pleased with the Superi
or Court’s decision. “The
County felt this was a friv
olous lawsuit and we are
glad the court agreed,” she
said.
“The county has al
ways been willing to re
solve SDS [service deliv
ery strategy] issues with
Winder. Unfortunately, the
Mayor of Winder has re
fused all offers to discuss
options and prefers to take
his arguments to court,”
she said.
“City elections will
bring new leadership to
the City of Winder and the
county is looking forward
to working proactively
with the new mayor and
city council members to
adopt a service delivery
agreement that will benefit
our community.”
At this time, the City of
Winder is not releasing a
statement on the case dis
missal.
NGMC Barrow named “Small Hospital of the Year”
Northeast Georgia Medical Center Barrow
(NGMC) Barrow was recognized with “Small Hos
pital of the Year” Award by Georgia Alliance of
Community Hospital at its 40th Annual Conference.
This is a state-wide award and recognition. The 400
attendees of this conference comprised of hospital
CEO’s from all over Georgia, health industry-affil
iated business powerhouses, legislators and other
important dignitaries gathered at Ritz Carlton, Lake
Oconee. John Keaven, NGHS COO and president of
NGMC and campus administrator, JohnNeidenbach,
took time to attend this award ceremony as well.
Barrow County Director of Economic Devel
opment Ben McDaniel submitted the nomination.
NGMC also recognized Winder Mayor David
Maynard, Tommy Jennings, Ellen Petree and Amy
Rhodes for their letters of recommendation support
ing the nomination.
This award is intended to highlight the impact of
See NGMC, page 2A
Submitted photo
Pictured (from left): John Keuven, COO and President of NGMC Gainesville, Barrow, Lump
kin and Habersham, John Neidenbach, NGMC Barrow campus administrator and Sunita
Singh, NGMC Barrow public relations manager.
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