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PAGE 2E FORSYTH COUNTY NEWS-WEDNESDAY, MARCH 2. 1988 NUMBERS FOR EVERYTHING • The land area of Forsyth County totals 226 square miles. • There are 147 miles of Lake La nier shoreline in Forsyth County, which makes Forsyth second in rank behind Hall county in terms of share of the lake. Hall has 308 miles of lake shoreline. The other counties having minimal acreage of the lake are Daw son, Lumpkin and Gwinnet. • Numerous land deals took place in the county in 1987. According to the Beasley Report, a publication that monitors land transactions in Forsyth and surrounding counties, there were 21041 r ansa eft ons involving tracts val ued at $5,000 or more. In terms of acreage, there were 122 sales of par cels consisting of 10 acres or more. • A total of 1,549 building permits were issued in Forsyth County last year. Of that total, 390 were for mobile homes, 735 were for single family building, six were for mult-family, 19 were for industrial and 399 were in the “other” category' which includes of fice and other professional building, retail construction, service stations and residential additions. • If all the books on loan at the Forsyth County Public Library - were returned at the same time, there would be 12,000 books on the shelfs. The local library also has access, via computer hook-up, to all the materi als in seven other library' branches in Gwinnett and Dawson Counties. • The total number of registered voters in the county is 13,982. • As of 1985, there were 373 teach ers in Forsyth County schools. • According to 1985 figures, some 6,542 students are enrolled in county schools. • As of 1985, there were 39,385 ve hicles registered in the county. Of that total, 22,338 were passenger cars, 12,125 were trucks, 4093 were trailers, 790 were motorcycles and 39 were buses. • Business licenses issued in the county in 1987 totaled 1,784, some 249 more than were issued in 1986, the in augural year for the issuance of busi ness licenses. • Poultry production continues to outweigh any other agricultural pro duction in the county. Between 1983 and 1985, some 46,500,000 commercial fryers were raised here along with 650,000 chickens were raised as layers. f - votet of I**i \ X i*mu* iamo" V I&WHKE il S Radio ll7okc 887-3136 Cumming, GA 577-5998 Soon to be serving you with 5000 WATTS! “Bigger and Better Than Ever” IN 1986, WHNE RADIO CELEBRATED 25 YEARS OF BROADCASTING IN THE CUMMING/FORSYTH COUNTY AREA. MANY THINGS HAVE CHANGED SINCE OCTOBER 13, 1961, WHEN WSNE (THE CALL LETTERS CHANGED TO WHNE IN 1 980) SIGNED ON THE AIR FOR THE FIRST TIME. THE 1 000 WATT AM STA TION LOCATED ON HWY 9, SOUTH OF CUMMING, IS READYING ITSELF FOR THE FUTURE. WITH A FULL TIME STAFF OF FIVE, CONSISTING OF OPERA TIONS MANAGER DARRYL BAGWELL, NEWS DIRECTOR DARRIS BROCK, SALES MANAGER JULIE SANDERS, TRAFFIC DIRECTOR WANDA WOOD, AND OF COURSE, STATION MANAGER, PHIL CASTLEBERRY, THE STATION’S PART TIME STAFF HELPS SMOOTH OUT THE REST OF THE STATION’S OPERA TION. PART TIME EMPLOYEES INCLUDE CHARLES PHARR, MYRA POWELL, JOYCE JORDAN, CECIL CASTLEBERRY, AND BART HAMMOND. IN THE LAST YEAR AND A HALF, THE STATION’S LOGS HAVE BEEN TRANSFER RED TO COMPUTER. TWO YEARS AGO, WHAT TOOK AT LEAST A DAY TO TYPE ON A REGULAR TYPEWRITER, NOW TAKES LESS THAN ONE HOUR. THE STA TION’S BILLING WAS TRANSFERRED TO THE COMPUTER SIX TO EIGHT MON THS AGO AND MADE THAT PROCESS MUCH MORE EFFICIENT AND MUCH LESS HARROWING! BUT THE MOST EXCITING NEWS TO HIT THE STATION RECENTLY WAS THE AP PROVAL FOR A POWER INCREASE. ON DECEMBER 2, 1987, THE FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION (FCC) NOTIFIED WHNE THAT A REQUEST FOR A POWER INCREASE TO 5000 WATTS HAD BEEN APPROVED AND THOSE CHANGES COULD BE MADE IMMEDIATELY. WHNE’S MANAGEMENT IS NOW IN THE PROCESS OF GETTING THAT POWER INCREASE IN EFFECT AND HOPES TO BOOST ITS SIGNAL AROUND APRIL OF 1 988. “THIS POWER INCREASE WILL BENEFIT OUR COMMUNITY BECAUSE IT WILL INCREASE OUR ABILITY TO REACH OUR LISTENERS WITH THE KIND OF NEWS, INFORMATION, AND ENTERTAINMENT THEY WANT”, SAID STATION MANAGER, PHIL CASTLEBERRY. WHNE INVITES YOU TO TUNE IN ANY TIME AND INVITES YOUR QUESTIONS, COMMENTS, OR REQUESTS. CALL 887-3136 OR WRITE TO WHNE, P.O. BOX 609, CUMMING, GA 30130. “The Voice and Choice of LAKE LANIERLAND” I I I! ' | r ; * A • i r *«. - I \ W- i ! ** In ” " W** ■: 4 N m ‘ *>*• -r - - - . • XJ*. Traffic accidents As Forsyth County grows, so does the number of traffic accidents recorded by local law en forcement agencies each year, in 1987, 18 people lost their lives in accidents in Forsyth County. County acci- dents fall under the jurisdiction of the sheriff ’s department, the city police, or the Georgia State Patrol Post located in Lawrenceville B lllK J3UARAN' Vta AJ \ No matter how j * you break them. y No matter how many times. No matter if they’re glasses, bifocals, or even sunglasses. If you bought them at any Pearle Vision Center, you can take them back to any Pearle Vision Center. And we’ll replace or repair them as needed. Ab solutely free. For one full year after purchase. Because we think that’s one break you deserve. NOBODYCARES FOR EYES MORE THAN PEARLE. TWO CONVENIENT LOCATIONS Tri-County Plaza Cumming 889-2019 LABOR More than most other counties in the state, Forsyth works. Balanced on the northern edge of metro Atlanta, Forsyth County con sistently scores one of the lowest un employment rates statewide, usual ly hovering about a percentage point below Georgia’s average. Though year-end data has not been computed by the state Department of Labor, officials are quick to recog nize Forsyth as one of the top counties. “Certain ones are consistent and Forsyth County always tends to be among the lowest,” said Ginger Blackstone, director public relations for the labor department. “Forsyth has a consistently healthy unemploy ment rate.” AV E RA. G E Continued from page 1 county’s work force is employed in this fashion, followed by 12 percent who work as machine operators, as semblers and inspectors. Only four percent of the work force still tills the soil. • Bringing Home an Average In come of $23,000. (Editorial note: This reporter takes no responsibility for the number of employees this infor mation may induce to insist upon a raise.) • A Fairly Self-Sufficient Sort. Only 4.4 percent of all households in the county receive public assistance. • But Rather Apathetic. Out of an estimated population of approxi mately 36,000, only 13,982 are regis tered to vote. If you use 1980 census figures, there are approximately 9,272 people under voting age in the county. If you add the registered vot ers with that number, that accounts for 23,254 people. OK, so what sort of excuse do the other 13,000 of you have? • Possessing a Particular Affini ty for Fried Chicken. It would be fast er to name the restaurants in the liiT rjs 1L? £ i/iii-i; IMPROVING FORSYTH’S VISION Since Spring 1983 Professional-Experienced Eyecare and Service. Jack Hudak-Franchise Owner Bobby Scoville, LDO-Manager Marilyn Wilson and Elaine Gober-Optical Assistants Eye Examinations by Dr. Howard Oifer and Dr. Mark A. Hegestchweiler “For all your vision needs” PEARLE) vision center J December’s figures show For syth’s 3.3 percent unemployment rate was the state’s second lowest, behind Banks County. The state av erage was 5.4 percent. Out of a total civilian work force of 19,197, only 662 Forsyth County resi dents were unemployed, Blackstone said. That figure represents fewer unemployed persons than in Novem ber, when 942 were jobless a rate of 4.7 percent. Figures have remained stable over the past year, with the rate for last December only .2 percent higher at 3.9 percent. The work force size has also stayed near 20,000, which Blackstone characterized as a medi um size labor pool. county that don’t serve fried chicken than it would be to name the ones that do. Couple the traditional southern appreciation for an expertly fried bird with the fact the county’s largest employer happens to be a chicken processing plant, namely Tyson Foods, and you can readily see why poultry production outweighs any other farm production in the county. But the fondness for fried food may have a direct correlation with this fact about our “average guy:” • Quite likely to drop dead from a heart attack. Heart disease is the leading cause of death among county residents. Take heart, though. If you’re male, a simple sex change operation can help you live longer. (No county sta tistics on sex change operations yet. Maybe next year.) Our “average guy” is: • Likely To rive Longer If He’s a Woman. The average life expectancy for male county residents is 64; for women, it’s 76. You can draw your own conclusions from that. Generally, the new tax law requires children and other dependents to file tax returns for 1987 if: • they have any investment income, such as interest on savings, and • this investment income plus any wages is more than SSOO. Publication 922 contains detailed information. To get one, call the IRS Forms number in your local telephone directory'. — Ti —r A FuMl* lervkf of L/w Iff* BRANNON SQUARE Roswell 998-9656