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Vol. No. 119 Issue 22 June 13, 2007 2 Sections, 18 Pages 50#
Serving Peach County For Over 100 Years
a 1!
The
Festival
Two Great
Weekends of Fun!!
June 16 - Byron
June 22-23 - Fort Valley
Take the family to Byron
this Saturday for a day of
fun at this year's Peach
Festival. Enjoy carnival
rides, games and food
located at the Peach
shops of Byron. The
Official Festival Kick
Off begins at 7 p.m. At 8
p.m., Terence Lonon &
The Untouchables will
be performing. This will
be a free concert and
dance event. To top the
evening off, fireworks
will illuminate the
beutiful citv of Bvron.
\4^£fOauNiY ^GEORGIA
Next Week:
The Georgia
Peach Festival
Special Tab.
Get your copy!
fjfTrWjLX
Local Weather
Thu 87/64
6/14 •vs
Slight chance of a thunderstorm.
Fri 89/65
6/15
Partly cloudy, * chance of a thunder¬
storm.
Sat 90/67
6/16
Partly cloudy with a stray thunder¬
storm.
Sun 95/68
6/17
Partly cloudy with a stray thunder¬
storm.
Mon 96/66
6/18 \
Slight chance of a thunderstorm.
WiSaS liiSm
World History .....2A
Social >•••••••• 5A
Faith Matters....... 6A
Sports IB
Crossword Puzzle /
Directory >•••• 2B
Legals.............. 3- 3 B
Classifieds.......6-7B
A Special Tribute to
Fathers - pg. 6A
as
£ L i newspaf;
7
to
By Brian Shreve
News Editor
Though it hasn’t been
easiest season for Peach
farmers, this year’s
Festival is set to make its
phant return this weekend.
Celebrating the area’s
acclaimed natural resource,
tivities are scheduled to
this Saturday in Byron and
include all-day events with
“official kick-off’ at 7
before Terence London and
Untouchables plug in for
DDA works to save former
FV school
By Brian Shreve
News Editor
The Fort Valley Downtown
Development Authority/Fort
Valley Main Street announced
plans last Tuesday which aim to
restore the former Fort Valley
High School.
Addressing the Peach County
Board of Education during its
regular meeting, DDA execu¬
tive director Lorraine Khoury
introduced the endeavor, under¬
scoring the Knoxville Street
school’s historic significance.
“Besides churches, schools
are the most important [insti¬
tutions] to our history,” said
Khoury. I’ve been worried
about how to save this build
ing.
With that, Khoury turned the
podium over to Andrew Ham,
co-founder of Community
Development Partners, a
McDonough-based company
which specializes in the reha¬
bilitation of historic properties
for pragmatic purposes that fos¬
ter economic development.
Ham began by presenting a
slideshow of similar CDP proj¬
ects undertaken throughout the
School board releases
annual
By Brian Shreve
News Editor
Dollars and cents were the pre¬
vailing theme during the Peach
County Board of Education’s
regular meeting last Tuesday,
with the unveiling of a $43.9
million spending plan.
“This is the first reading,”
Superintendent Tommy Daniel
reminded those in attendance.
“There may be some adjust¬
ments necessary before [the
board] makes its final approv
al.’
The first draff of the FY2008
budget will be available for
public review at the BOE Web
site and will be published in
The Leader-Tribune for the
next two weeks—the required
“advertising” period before the
board can take a vote.
As for the system’s revenues,
the document states that feder¬
ally funded grants are expected
to drop by 10 percent with sev¬
eral state grants already abol¬
ished, resulting in the utilization
of local funds to make up
opening concert complete with
fireworks.
All Byron events will take
place at the former property of
Peach Outlet Mall.
On Wednesday, June 20, the
jubilee will make its way to Fort
Valley with an array of events
slated as follows:
Wednesday, June 20
7:00 a.m. - Khoury’s annual
“Walk for Health”
Thursday, June 21
6:00 p.m. - Downtown streets
close as the yearly “Painting of
southeast, the goals of which
he added were angled to trans¬
form deteriorated properties
into housing units, office space,
retail stores or other business
es.
If approved, the school board
would relinquish the building’s
title to the development author¬
ity, signing a memorandum of
understanding with the DDA
as well as CDP; the school’s
potential uses would be deter¬
mined once CDP completes a
feasibility study.
Under that document, financ¬
ing would coincide with cer¬
tain “performance milestones”
achieved by CDP, and all plans
would have to be approved
by the development authority
before any construction begins.
“We have to perform to
receive any financing,” Ham
said.
At this time, there is no
estimate of the venture’s total
costs; according to Ham, such
CDP restorations have ranged
between $4.8 and over $7.2
million in project expenses.
see SCHOOL,
Pg-7^
the cuts.
Daniel said approximately 85
percent of the budget concerns
personnel, which grows with
increases in student enrollment.
In that category, all employ¬
ees received a three-percent
increase in base salary over the
past year.
Rates of certified substitute
teachers increased by $10 per
day, $55 a day to $65; pay for
non-certified substitutes was
raised from $50 per day to $60.
The system further added
nine new teaching positions in
accordance with state regula¬
tions for maximum class size;
in what the draft calls an effort
to expand the schools’ fine arts
program, a music teacher was
also hired for the county’s ele¬
mentary schools.
Other additions include two
graduation coaches, a technolo¬
gy specialist, as well as two new
school buses, new copiers and
math textbooks for elementary
and middle school students.
For a copy of the newly
released budget, see page 8B.
the Peaches” begins
8:00 p.m. - The Community
Choir performs at downtown’s
newly renovated Austin
Theater
Friday, June 22
8:00 p.m. - the music con¬
tinues with a concert from Still
Cruzin’
Saturday, June 23
7:00 a.m. - Annual Kiwanis
Club Pancake Breakfast
9:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. - Fine
Arts Show at Austin Theater
see PEACH, pg. 7A
c f m-'im
i
*
Photo by Brian Shreve / L-T
Tp e deteriorated building of the former Fort Valley High School located on Knoxville
Street in the city’s historic district
The morning after 0 0 0
Photo by Brian Shreve / L-T
An enormous tree
uprooted across the
front lawn of Mayor
John Stumbo’s West
Church Street resi¬
dence in Fort Valley\ . / ;
following torrentiall Monday J5
night's
thunderstorms.
On Tuesday morn¬
ing, there were
scattered reports of
fallen trees, power
lines and damaged
property throughout
Fort Valley.
■i.
_
Photo by Brian Shreve / L-T
Ricky Jackson trims down a tree that fell across the home of his daughter, Kimberly
Jackson, as a result of Monday’s storms. Kimberly was inside the residence — locat¬
ed on Green Street In Fort Valley—with her 7-year-old son.
sT
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