Newspaper Page Text
•TIU. UNBBATKH
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Girls’ softball team
extends winning streak
by sweeping double-headers
SPGItTS, PAGE IB
VOLU IUMBER 78
Forsyth County SAT scores below state average
By Laura McCullough
Managing editor
While the state ballyhoos improved
scores on the Scholastic Aptitude
Test, the news in Forsyth County isn’t
quite that good.
In fact, Forsyth juniors and seniors
who took the test last year scored two
points lower than their peers the year
before, and averages are still well
below state and national figures.
Students scored an average of 381
on the verbal section and 428 on the
math for a total mean average of 809.
Test results in 1983-84 show Forsyth
students scoring an average of 811,
with 388 on the verbal and 423 on the
math.
Polo Fields’
recommended
for approval
By Chuck Thompson
Gwinnett Daily News
A proposed 300-acre polo development was among 15
rezoning requests recommended for approval by the
Forsyth County Planning Commission in its regular
meeting Tuesday night.
“The Polo Fields,” a development consisting of 188
residential lots, would be located at the intersection of
Ga. 371 (Post Road) and Majors Road in southwest
Forsyth County.
Developer Howard Chatham told the planning com
mission that lots in the development would range from
Vz acre to 15 acres.
In addition, two 15-acre polo fields and a recreation
area are planned. Chatham said he will extend county
water to the 300-acre site.
A change in classification for the property from A
(Agriculture) to R-2-R (Residential/Single-Family/Res
tricted) has been recommended for approval by the
planning commission.
The rezoning does not apply to the proposed recreation
area and polo fields.
Another 433 acres was included in two separate
requests by the F.A.P. Company for rezonings to R-l-R
(same as R-2-R, but with larger lot sizes).
One of the requests involved 226 acres on Ga. 369, just
east of Four Mile Creek.
Gene Patten, spokesman for the firm, said plans are to
develop a subdivision on the property with lots ranging
from IVz to 5 acres.
Another request from F.A.P. involving 207.70 acres
between Ga. 141 and Old Atlanta Road was filed jointly
with Peter Maltese.
Plans for the property include a subdivision and a 50-
acre lake.
The two requests were recommended for approval,
along with three proposed industrial rezonings in the Ga.
400-McFarland Road area.
Requested by Hiram Cochran and Cochran Prop
erties, the three rezonings total 193.68 acres, which will
be developed into building sites for high technology
industries.
Sizes and locations of the three tracts are as follows:
(1) 16.44 acres, northwest comer, intersection of
Ga. 400 and McFarland Road;
(2) 83.47 acres, off Union Hill Road, near its
intersection with Jones Road; and
(3) 93.77 acres, on McFarland Road, across from its
intersection with Shiloh Road.
The applicants are seeking to rezone all three of the
See ZONE, Page 6A
Cost of ambulance service prompts complaints
Government-supported service
costs more than private firm
By Dawn Holcomb
Staff writer
A Forsyth County man was
charged SIBO for a trip to St. Joseph’s
Hospital and back. Another patient,
who also visited the hospital, rode in
the same emergency vehicle.
“I thought it (the bill) was a little
high,” said C.L. Cox of Cumming. “It
was SIBO total. And they (Life Stat)
carried two patients. If they charged
the other man the same amount,
seems to me that’s pretty high. That’s
$360.”
A family who suffered the loss of a
family member because of a cardiac
Forsyth County News Hpi
11
The SAT is an entrance-require
ment at most of the nation’s colleges
and universities and is scored on a
scale of 200 to 800 per section.
Statewide, students scored 399 on
the verbal and 438 on the math for an
average of 387 some 23 points
higher than Forsyth’s average.
National averages were 92 points
higher than in Forsyth County. The
mean score is 906, with verbal aver
age of 431 and math of 475.
States within the Southern area
posted a mean average of 877 with a
verbal score of 418 and a math score
of 459.
Counties surrounding Forsyth each
posted higher averages.
Forsyth’s male students outscored
ESlli' •
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.x warn i
By Chuck Thompson
News editor
Sub-zero temperatures in January and a
late April frost have been named as con
tributors to an estimated crop loss of more
than 30 percent in Forsyth County this
year.
Gov. Joe Frank Harris has written to
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture John R.
Block, asking that Forsyth, Dawson and 84
other Georgia counties be declared agri
cultural disaster areas.
In a letter to Block, Harris pointed to
record low temperatures in Georgia on
Jan. 21, cold weather in the early spring
and extremely dry weather in May and
June.
The temperature in Forsyth County fell
to -10 on Jan. 20, -12 on Jan. 21 and -9 on
Jan. 22.
Effects of severe weather in Forsyth
arrest was billed $561.55 by Life Stat
for an emergency ride from Shady
Grove Road to Forsyth County Hospi
tal about 12 miles. They, too, had
questions about costs of emergency
service.
Mike Satterfield of the Hall County
Ambulance Service said that his most
expensive trip (inside the county) has
been $125. “We have very few trips
over SIOO. We figure that the tax
money should pay for the majority of
the trip,” said Satterfield.
Randy Norred of Cherokee Coun
ty’s Emergency Service said, “We
try to keep prices down so people can
live with them. We just charge what-
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 1985—CUMMING, GA. 30130—40 PAGES 3 SECTIONS
Mean Verbal Mean Math
Male Female Male Female
Forsyth County 375 387 446 410
Georgia 406 393 460 419
Southern Area 425 412 478 436
National 437 425 499 452
their female peers on the math sec- the verbal and 446 on the math while
tion but the girls posted higher aver- the females scored 387 on the verbal
ages on the verbal part. and 410 on the math.
Males scored an average of 375 on In 1983-84 male students scored 404
Drum majors Greg Phillips and Teresa
Edgill have led the Flash of Crimson
Band in its halftime performances this
year, as wellas directing the group in
its first competition of the year Satur
Forsyth crop loss estimated at 30 percent
ever it costs to replace whatever we
used on the trip.”
Norred said that a cardiac arrest
call, similar to the one for which the
Forsyth County family was billed
more than SSOO, would run about $lO5,
not counting the cost of drugs that
might be used.
Med-1, the private ambulance serv
ice in Forsyth County, charges no
more than $270 for a cardiac arrest
call. “Prices vary at times,” said
John McCormick, one of the owners
of the local service, “but an arrest
call would never be over that
amount.”
There are two ambulance services
in Forsyth County. Life Stat is county
subsidized and receives SIBO,OOO a
year from taxes to serve the county.
The county emergency service is
privately owned by Mike Oglesby, but
because they do have the county
Strike up the band
day. For more than 100 FCHS students,
it is the blare of the horn and the beat
of the drum which means excitement
on Friday night, as a story on page
2A shows.
County were varied. Nectarines, the hard
est-hit crop, was listed as a 100-percent
loss, while blueberry production was down
an estimated 25 percent.
Hugh McMillian, with the local Exten
sion Service, says six of the county’s apple
growers saw their production drop an
estimated 20 to 29 percent.
At least two of the county’s apple grow
ers had estimated losses of more than 29
percent.
McMillian says normal apple production
for Clarence Gazaway and Homer Jones is
250 bushels per acre.
This year, he says, Jones’ production
was an estimated 130 bushels per acre (-48
percent), while Gazaway’s production was
an estimated 150 bushels per acre (-40
percent).
Decreases in apple production here were
attributed to three factors:
(1) Apple blossoms destroyed by a late
HAMPf NG KIPB
Discipline expert
offers free lecture
for parents
PAGE 2A
StaH Photo Norman Baggs
NoivEnMrgwcy P«r Mile Chtrgt Cardiac
Bata Rata Outside County Oxygen Monitoring | y
MED 1 SSO $2 sls $35 $30.00
Life Stat S6O $3 $lO $34 $27.50
Cherokee County SSO $2 $lO S3O $15.00
Hail County SSO sl-75 $0 $7 $5.00
V j
"These prices are quoted from telephone interviews.
Actual billed amounts may vory considerably.
contract and are governed by the
Forsyth County Commissioners, Life
Stat leases the emergency vehicles
from the county for $1 a year.
All 911 calls which are dispatched
from the Forsyth County Sheriff’s
Department go to Life Stat.
Life Stat charges a patient SIOO
for transport from the convalescent
home in Cumming to the county hos
pital and back. Med-1 charges SSO.
on the verbal section and 446 on the
math while the females scored 372 on
verbal and 400 on math.
Janis Drumm, counselor at For
syth County High School, said 146
students took the SAT during the last
school year. Statewide, 49 percent of
the 1985 seniors took the SAT. This
accounts for 33,278 students.
According to the College Board,
which administers the SAT nation
wide as part of its Admissions Testing
Program, the most significant factor
is the proportion of eligible students
taking the exam. In general, the
higher the percentage of students
taking the test in a state, the lower
the average scores in that state.
The SAT is not the only require-
Status of county’s
day care center
hinges on meeting
By Laura McCullough
Managing editor
A meeting between directors of the
Forsyth County Day Care Center and
representatives of Ninth District Op
portunity Monday could determine
the future of the day care center,
which officials say may be in jeop
ardy of closing its doors.
According to several sources, the
board of directors for the federally
funded center will meet with officials
from Ninth District Opportunity out
of Gainesville to discuss the possibil
ity of the community action agency
taking over the center.
Janice Riley, executive director of
Ninth District Opportunity, and Cul
len Larson, chairman of its board of
directors, will meet with officials
from the day care center. According
to Mrs. Riley, the agency operates
April frost;
(2) Destruction of fruit by birds; and
(3) Three percent of trees dying because
of cold weather.
In Dawson County, the estimated loss in
apple production was 10 percent due to a
late April frost, but no trees were reported
killed.
Blueberry production in Dawson County
was reported down, with 3 percent of
blueberry plants killed by cold weather.
Looking at the total picture, Forsyth
County had 19 farms with physical losses,
while Dawson County had two farms with
physical losses.
If Harris’ request is approved by Block,
the 85 Georgia counties would be eligible
for a series of government aid programs
ranging from direct USDA disaster pay
ments to low-interest loans from the
Fanners Home Administration.
In his letter to Block, Harris said severe
Where Hall County, Cherokee
County and privately owned Med-1
charge SSO as their base rates, Life
Stat charges S6O. Mileage, outside of
the county, costs $3 per mile if using
Life Stat, however Cherokee County
and Med-1 charge $2 and Hall County
charges $1.75 per mile.
Oglesby said the reason his prices
were high was because, “We’re sav
ing the taxpayers money. By charg-
■ r, jdpffl
ment for entering a college or univer
sity of the University System of
Georgia. Due to the Quality Basic
Education law, this year’s tenth grad
ers must meet 15 specific course
requirements to be admitted to any
unit of the University System.
This includes four years of English
including advanced composition
skills; three years of mathematics
including two courses in algebra and
one in geometry; three years of sci
ence including two laboratory
courses from biology, chemistry or
physics and three in social studies
including American history, world
history and a unit in economics-gov
ernment and two years of foreign
language.
programs in 17 Northeast Georgia
counties including the Headstart/Ho
mestart program here in Forsyth, the
cheese program where commodities
are given away, Community Block
Grants and weatherization, to name a
few.
The agency also operates the NDO
Day Care center in Gainesville.
Mrs. Riley said the meeting will
simply be held for both sides to pre
sent what they have to offer. Several
events have occured in the past six
months which lead up to this meeting.
The include:
• The Forsyth County Commis
sioners discovered an error in the
county’s suppliment to the day care
center. The county contracted and
budget $12,600 for the year to be paid
in monthly installments of $1,050.
See CARE, Page 6A
weather in Georgia has “caused extensive
damage and losses, particularly to onions,
peaches, apples, blueberries, pecans and
truck crops.”
“Nectarines, grapes, plums, strawber
ries and tobacco have also been affected,”
he said.
Forsyth was among 74 counties suffering
estimated losses of 30 percent or more, and
is therefore eligible for assistance. Daw
son County is among 11 other counties
experiencing estimated losses of less than
30 percent, but contiguous to one or more
of the eligible counties.
The 11 counties were included in Harris’
request under rules allowing contiguous
counties to receive assistance.
“Weather conditions have been such
during this period that small grains, in
cluding com and other crops, have also
See WEATHER, Page 6A
ing the person using the ambulance a
little more, it’s cheaper for the tax
payer.
“Rather than staying county (oper
ated), we went private and it saved
the county over SIOO,OOO last year,”
said Oglesby.
Asked why his charges are more
than the private service here, Og
lesby replied, “The three owners of
the private service do not solely live
off their company. They have a
source of income from other jobs.
“For my people, this is their only
job. They have to support their wives
and kids. If I weren’t here they’d be
without a job.
“As for cost, if you want quality
service, you pay a litt more for it. If
:you pay minimum, you’ll get mini-
See AMBULANCE, Page 6A
35 CENTS