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Juvenile Crime Upml Percent In Forsyth
BY JAY JORDAN
News Editor
Forsyth County Sheriff’s Department records show there
has been a 61 percent increase in the number of juvenile ar
rests in the first five months of 1980 over the last five months
of 1979.
But this may not mean there is any great wave of juvenile
crime.
Sheriff Wesley Walraven attributed the increase in arrests
to several causes, but said, “I think the major reason is we
have more stringent investigations.”
The sheriff added a lower legal drinking age and the in
creased mobility given to teenagers by cars have contrib
uted to the problem of juvenile crime.
Larry Petty, Forsyth County’s juvenile worker for the
Blueridge Judicial Circuit, said while there are a few repeat
juvenile offenders, “the majority are basically pretty good
kids who just made a mistake. They’ve learned a lesson
Partnership
Of Talents
By LANE GARDNER CAMP
Staff Writer
Tony and Ann Hamilton of Cumming first formed a
partnership twenty-six years ago when they were mar
ried.
Today, though, their partnership is more than that of
man and wife. They are also now combining their ef
forts in the creation of a unique craft: wood carved and
hand-painted butterflies.
The merger of their respective talents (Tony does the
carving and Ann does the painting) came about in an
unexpected way.
Ann, who had studied at the High Museum of Art in
Atlanta and had dabbled in art off and on for many
years, finally got into some serious painting about ten
years ago.
Calling herself a nature painter, Ann says that rather
than painting scenes (like her well-noted artist brother,
John Kollack), “I paint the things people step on,”
like mushrooms, flowers and butterflies.
One day, Tony, an active businessman in Atlanta, who
Ann says had looked for a hobby all his life, took up
wood carving. One subject he eventually chose to carve
was a butterfly from one of Ann’s paintings.
When Ann saw what he had done, she begged to be
able to paint it. The result was a narrowed-bodied insect
with four beautifully hand-colored wings all made out
of wood.
From there on out, it was a winning combination of
talents. The Hamiltons’ butterfly interpretations are
now available as sculptures and on pins, plaques, hair
picks and jewelry boxes.
Ann says of their joint craft, “It’s great to have some
thing to say to your husband after raising four kids.”
Now they spend much of their time working on the but
Board Of Education To View
Budget At Its Next Meeting
The Forsyth County Board of Educa
tion will consider its budget for the
1980-81 school year at its monthly meet
ing on Wednesday, Oct. 8, at 7 p.m.,
according to Superintendent Robert B.
Otwell.
A tentative budget, which was made
public by the school system last week,
suggests that in order to operate the
Forsyth County School System as an
ongoing concern, close to S2O-million
will be needed.
Donnie Rockmore, school system
bookkeeper, explained that the esti
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Pocket Weather
With cooler weather setting in, those Forsyth County students wbo must wait oo a
bua for their ride to school, are having to draw a little warmer. From left, Nsncy
Shirley and Teresa Shirley (who «ay they are not slaters), tuck their hands in the
pockets of their Jackets as they wait for their bos oo highway It, sooth of Cam
ming. Nancy is in the tenth grade and Teresa is in the seventh. (News staff photo
by Lane Gardner Camp.)
Till 1 FORSYTH lIPflTg
A nil COUNTY IV Cl WW 9
VOLUME LXXI—NUMBER 40
mated total payments of $19,537,604.91
includes the school system’s building
fund which stands at $7,186,662.32.
Provided the budget is approved and
a millage rate is set at Wednesday
night’s meeting, the budget will then be
sent to the state for approval.
The 1979-80 school budget called for a
total of $17,259,301.11 in total payments,
meaning an increase this year of just
under $2.5-million.
The reason for the increase in antic
ipated expenditures is mainly due to
raises in the salaries of school system
from it.”
Peer pressure, home and family problems, and a ?**co
nomic situation contribute to juvenile crime, iid.
Walraven went on to stress juvenile crime a
very small percentage of the young people of tjjßjea."
Most youngsters are “hard working, church goingftflwho
suffer for the actions of a criminal minority. .
Walraven said about 50 percent of all juvenile is are
for burglary and related charges.
About 25 percent involve drugs in some way, the
same amount concern runaways, drunkennt ■ wother
miscellaneous charges.
In the past, juvenile burglary was often
or as the sheriff said, “kick the door down
candy and run with it. ” ®
Now, though, youthful burglars are or the
dollar,” are being more selective, the sheriff®
The primary reason may be to finance Wal
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TONY AND ANN HAMILTON
... holding same of their butterfly creations
terflies and consulting on upcoming arts and crafts
shows where they exhibit their creations.
For a year-and-a-half, the Hamiltons even had a gal
lery in Helen, called Kleine Ecke Galerie (Little Comer
Gallery), which featured their buttefflies. v, v
The way the Hamiltons work is that Tony first does
the carving from bass wood. (The smaller butterflies
are in three pieces: two wings and a body; while the
larger butterflies are in four pieces: four wings and a
body.)
After carving, Tony then jessos the pieces and sands
them down. Ann then takes the pieces and paints them
Continued on Page 2A
employees, says Superintendent Ot
well.
The 1979-80 millage rate for school
operations was 17.24, which was 13.81
mills for maintenance and operation
costs and 3.43 mills on school bonds.
This year’s expected increase in the
millage rate will be the first such in two
years. The 79-80 millage rate for school
operations was a decrease from the
17.62 in 1978-79.
Superintendent Otwell and Mrs.
Rockmore have been holding work ses
sions on the budget in the last several
weeks.
Southern Bell Telephone and Tele
graph Co. recently proposed a major
overhaul in the way it prices service?
and products offered to the company’s
1.8 million Georgia customers.
In what he described as the "new
reality” of the 1980 s, Southern Bell
Georgia Vice President S.E. Jennette
Jr. said the restructuring of the compa
ny’s pricing structure would reduce
some rates, increase others, redesign
the revenue contribution made by
many services and, overall, generate
$100.7 million in new revenue.
Jennette empahsized that the total
increase would be about 12 percent
over today’s rates and that the total re
quest made to the Georgia Public Serv
ice Commission is in compliance with
the president’s wage and price
guidelines. The actual needs of the
company are $l4B million but were re
duced to $100.7 million to comply with
the guidelines.
“We are facing the new reality of
competition, deregulation and unre
lenting inflation,” Jennette said.
“What we have proposed today faces
up to those facts in the most sincere
and realistic way we know how.”
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER*. IMS— CUMMING, GA. 30130
Southern Bell Asking PSC
For A 12 Percent Increase
raven explained. Local youngsters are not supporting hab
its, but are trying to fit in with their friends, he said.
There is a noticeable trend among teenagers away from
drugs to alcohol, the sheriff said. This is probably because it
is easier to get and has laxer legal penalties for misuse.
The sheriff said he didn’t know what effect the recently
raised drinking age would have on the trend.
Also, there is a gradual increase in the number of female
offenders, both adult and juvenile, Walraven said.
Recently, a 15 and 16 year-old boy and girl were arrested
in connection with 15 burglaries, the sheriff said.
In another example of juvenile crime, eight juveniles, in
cluding a female, were arrested last spring and charged
with being involved in drug sales. This cleared up 35 un
solved thefts on the records, Walraven said.
Juvenile law is unique, Walraven explained. Anyone under
the age of 17 is a juvenile by law and if he commits major
crimes will be treated as a juvenile.
Hospital Rate Hike
Expected Jan. 1
The Forsyth County Hospital Author
’ ity will likely go up on its room charges
and intensive care and nursery rates
beginning Jan. 1,1981.
The increases, which were approved
by the Forsyth County Hospital Author
ity at its meeting on Sept. 25, will be
submitted to Blue Cross/Blue Shield by
*WfO,yided Blue Cross/Blue Shield ap
pffbvei the increases, which Hospital
puntroAer Terry Grizzard feels certain
they wifi do, the new rates will go into
effect the first of the year.
Grizzard believes the raised prices
will be approved because, he says,
“We’re still well below competing hos
pitals:” :
The authority agreed to all rate in
creases sujbmitted by Grizzard except
for an increase in emergency room
services. Authority members could not
several stated that
the nOflKil’s emergency room is the
only area orthehospital they ever hear
complaints about.
Those rate increases that were ap
proved by the authority are as follows:
• Private room, $92, to be increased
sl2 (15 percent) from SBO.
• Semi-private room, SB2 and SB7, to
be increased sl2 (17 percent and 16 per
cent ) from S7O and $75.
• Intensive Care, $225, to be in
creased $25 (12 percent) from S2OO.
• Nursery, $35, to be increased sls (75
percent) from S2O.
Grizzard stated that these increases
are appropriate because of the hospi
tal’s ‘‘new, well equipped, well staffed”
facilities. (The hospital recently com
pleted a major renovation and expan
sion project.)
While these rates will likely go up,
the hospital’s fees for “ultra sound”
have gone down “overall about 20 per
cent” as of Oct. 1, according to Griz
zard.
This decrease has been brought
about because of the purchase of an ul
tra sound machine by Dr. Olaf Alvig
for use in the hospital. Rather than
having medical personnel from outside
the hospital perform this service, it is
now being provided by Dr. Alvig at the
hospital.
This is saving patients money, says
Grizzard.
Jennette stated that unregulated
competition in both the long distance
and equipment markets continues to
reduce the support made to basic resi
dence service. “Inflation has conspired
to drive up the prices of everything we
use,” he said. “We have only had one
rate increase in four years, and our
rates today reflect the cost of doing
business in 1978. During the period
since then, inflation has roared along
with the cumulative effect of about 25
Approximately $20,000 Is
Taken From Cannongate Safe
The Forsyth County Sheriff’s Depart
ment is investigating a break-in and
burglary at Cannongate Golf Club,
where an estimated $20,000 in cash and
checks was taken from a safe, accord
ing to Sgt. J.C. Adams.
- Sgt. Adams said thieves entered the
buidfing by sawing a hole in the roof.
“They went down into the room were
the safe was kept, opened the safe and
took the money from a small metal
30 PAGES, 2 SECTIONS—2S CENTS
Mi . ' iSHp,:'
Taking Her Turn
When the Forsyth County chapter of the American Association of Retired People
(AARP) challenged the Gainesville chapter to a host of games at Cumming City
Park on Friday, Oct. 3, it was Gainesville that came out on top. According to Dave
Horton, special activities director at the park, the win was determined by a “last
hand of bridge.” After about four hours of playing everything from Scrabble and
Rook to ping pong and lawn darts, the final score was Gainesville, 3,250 and For
syth, 2,630. Shown above, Ruby Deen Crider of Cumming wi»lm« her move in a
dominoes challenge. See more photos on page 2-A. (News staff photo by Lane
Gardner Camp.)
percent, yet our prices have remianed
the same. That’s an impossible situa
tion.”
While the price of home phone serv
ice in Atlanta would increase from
$11.85 a month to $14.85, Jennette said
that a special set of reduced rates
would be offered in the form of Mea
sured Service. “These lower rates for
residence and business service will
give our customers a choice for the
first time in the prices they pay for
box,” he said.
The investigator said nothing else
was reported missing.
He said the theft occurred sometime
during the night on Sept. 21 and was re
ported the next day. “It was the first
time money had been left in the safe,”
he added.
Sgt. Adams said evidence was gath
ered at the scene and the investigation
is still under way.
The sheriff said he has a special cell for juveniles, sepa
rate from the rest of the prisoners. Juveniles are never held
over 12 hours, but are released to their parents or sent to the
youth detention center in Gainesville.
This past summer, Petty said he was swamped with work
in what was normally a slow time of the year.
As the county grows, the sheriff said, juvenile problems
will increase.
Walraven wants to add a special juvenile investigator to
his staff to deal with juvenile crime.
His regular three investigators handle every other crime
in the county and now have no time to do anything except
make an arrest and move on to something else, he explained.
“A juvenile investigator would give us the opportunity to
work with kids and identify families with problems...We
want to get to the root of the problem,” Walraven said.
Walraven hopes his juvenile investigator could prevent
crimes before they happen.
service.
“Rates for a single business line in
Atlanta would increase from $33.10 to
$39.20.
“Residence Rates for the Cumming
area will increase from $7.90 to $8.90.
“Single line business rates for Cum
ming will increase from $16.75 to $19.25.
However, we hope to also ask for a siz
able reduction in the band mileage cur
rently being paid by Cumming
subscribers. In Cumming, we presently
have five mileage bands and we hope to
be able to reduce this to one.
“Supplemental services,” Jennette
continued, “such as business switch
boards, key systems, Touchtone and
Trimline sets, among numerous other
items, will be increased in price. Addi
tionally, service connnections charges
those charges paid only by individu
als installing new or transferring
phones will be increased so that
those customers who create the cost
pay for it.”
Describing the other price changes to
the PSC, Jennette said, “We are posi
tioning ourselves so that various seg
ments of our product and service lines
Continued on Page 2A