About Lake Oconee news. (Greensboro, GA) 199?-current | View Entire Issue (July 28, 2017)
Your official newspaper serving Greene, Morgan and Putnam counties in Georgia’s Lake Country \ www.LakeOconeeNews.us VOL. 19 NO. 30 G FRIDAY JULY 28 2017 75 CENTS GREENE COUNTY Milestones reveal good, bad in schools Mark Engel engel@lakeoconeenews.us Earlier this year, 91 students at Greene County High School (GCHS) took the American Lit erature test as part of the Georgia Milestones “End-of-Course As sessment.” The results are in and the per centage of students who passed the test was more than three times the percentage that passed last year. The Milestones are given to students in grades three through high school. Grades three, five and eight are the most critical because children who score in the lowest level can be held back from moving up to the next grade. The Georgia Department of Ed ucation has posted on its website results for every grade at every school in every county in Georgia. We have provided a chart of some selected results relating to grades three through eight in Greene, Morgan and Putnam counties. The story of education in Greene County depends on what numbers you pick. SEE SCHOOLS » A3 Photo courtesy of Georgia DNR Georgia DNR Game Warden Ricky Bowls shows the cast nets he confiscated. The DNR game wardens also have seized 18 gill nets, some of them homemade. DNR has big catch of fish poachers Lynn Hobbs lynn@lakeoconeenews.us Authorities of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources have dealt with people catching fish illegally for years, but this year there seems to be a lot more of it, game warden Ricky Bowls said. Bowls, who patrols Lake Oconee with the law enforcement division of GDNR out of the Social Circle office, said more than 700 game fish have been confiscated from the arrests of at least 10 people on various charges, in cluding taking game fish by illegal methods, use of gills nets, fishing without a license, unlawful dumping and littering. Noting the poachers usually fish in groups of two to 10 people, Bowls said he has caught about eight groups this year fishing with casting nets, and Sgt. Matt Garth- right recently caught one person with 259 fish that were caught illegally with a casting net. “Taking 120 to 200 fish at one time makes a huge impact on our natural re sources,” Bowls said. Most of the fisher men were caught during routine license checks, Garthright said, noting game wardens pay atten- SEE DNR » A10 index Calendar B4 Churches B8 Classifieds D1 Community B1 Obituaries A8 Opinions A4 Recipes D1 Sports C1 Sports C1 FRIDAY 90/73 Isolated T-storms WEATHER »D6 0 94922 87855 7 Published by Smith Communications Inc. GREENE COUNTY Crowd of 1 attends budget hearing Mark Engel engel@lakeoconeenews.us What if they held a public hearing on the $36 million 2017-2018 oper ating budget for the Greene County School System, and no one came? Well, they held it Tuesday morning and one citizen joined one journal ist in the audience. At times, there were three school officials there, in cluding GCSS chief financial officer Dean Ware who gave the presenta tion. Ware said there will be 1,540 students attending the Greene County school district when school starts August 7- That includes SEE HEARING » A3 Mark Engel/Staff Greene County Schools chief financial officer Dean War explains the proposed 2018 school budget at a public hearing on Tuesday. The second public hearing will be Aug. 3 at 5 p.m. MORGAN COUNTY Foster Street developer strikes out with PZC again Katherine Klimt katherine@lakeoconeenews.us The Madison Planning and Zoning Commission, with one ab staining vote, denied developer Brad Good’s application to rezone property between Foster Street and Main Street from R2 To R4 at last week’s meeting on July 20. The PZC’s decision follows the recommenda tion of the Historic Preservation Commission, which decided during its meeting on Tuesday, July 11 to file a letter of comment in opposition to the proposal. This latest denial represents another for Good and his partner Wayne Lamar who have been trying to find a way to develop the land for more than year. Good first tried to convince the city to allow a PRD (planned residential district) in the same area, but that idea was met with stiff opposition from residents who live in Madison’s historic district. PRDs already exist within the borders of the district and include neighborhoods such as the Silver Lakes senior apartment complex and the Candler Lane development, but the proposed rezoning of sections of Main and Foster Streets has proven especially contentious. Good’s appli cation seeks to reclassify the area’s current zoning from R2 to R4, a move that opponents say could prove disastrous for not only the surround- SEE DEVELOPER » A2 recommend them for any real estate needs. THE MULLIGANS FEATURED LISTING ★★★★★ HIGHLY LIKELY TO RECOMMEND 1216 SWORDS ROAD Who you choose to work with in real estate makes all the difference.. 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