Newspaper Page Text
Radio
employees
call press
conference
See below
VOLUME LXXXII —NUMBER 83
Cumming
youth is
airlifted
from Haiti
By Kristin Jeffries
Staff Writer
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A Class of
90 graduate
of Forsyth
Central has
felt the im
pact of politi
cal unrest in
Haiti. Jim
Fish was
among a
group of
Mormon mis
sionaries
airlifted
from Haiti back to the United States
on Friday.
He has spent the past few weeks
holed up with seven other missionar
ies in a house in the small village of
Leogone in Haiti with the unstable
Haitian government in turmoil
around them.
Missionary Jim Fish is son of Linda
and Mel Fish of Cumming. He is serv
ing a two-year program as missionary
to Haiti through the services of the
Mormon Church.
According to his family, he and 18
other Mormon missionaries were air
lifted out of Haiti on Friday to Boston,
where they will continue to serve with
a Haitian community.
They could be sent back to Haiti at
any time if things quiet down, said
Mrs. Fish.
“I know he is heartbroken,” said
Jimmy’s mother.
Since Sept 30 he had been under
the protective custody of the church.
The date coincides with the time the
local dictatorship regained control of
Please see HAITI, Page 2A
Weather:
Nice
Today’s weather is perfect for a
drive to the mountains to see colors
at their peak. Monday through
Wednesdaywillbefairwithhighsin
the7osandlowsintheupper4o’sac
cording to the Forsyth County
weather bear.
INSIDE
Abby 108
Church Briefs 9A
Classified 4B
Deaths 4A
Editorials 6A&7A
Events 8A
Horoscope 108
On Campus 11A&12A
Sports 1B
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LIBRARY
ATHENS
Construction bids to be opened
By Kristin Jeffries
Staff Writer
Site work on Forsyth County’s
eighth elementary school should start
around the end of November.
The bids for the site work on Holtz
claw Road will be opened on Nov. 21
and construction should be ready to
begin as soon as the site work is com
pleted, Doug Frederick, assistant su
perintendent in charge of building re
ported to the school board at its
meetings last week.
With the help of a building commit
tee the board chose bricks and colors
for the new school which will be open
sometime during the 1992-93 school
year.
The school will relieve overcrowd
ing in Cumming Elementary and oth
er local schools.
While plans for the elementary
school are going smoothly, adminis
trators are awaiting some word on the
state funding for the new middle
school building for South Forysth
Middle School.
The state still has not sold bonds for
capital outlay projects in the state for
the fiscal year 1992. Once those are
sold in the next few weeks there may
be some light shed on state funding
for the 1993 projects, said Superinten
dent Rick Case.
While the county has qualified for
the state funding for the middle
school, the project will depend on
funding from the General Assembly.
Case reported a recent meeting
with the state school superintendent
revealed the fact the governor has
asked for plans for a potential addi
tional 5 percent cut in the state school
budget by mid November.
It is not clear yet whether any cut
would be made through furloughs or :
cuts at the local level, said Case.
The growth that caused need for
two additional schools is continuing,
Case reported.
The official enrollment at the end of
the first month of school is 7,917 with
an average daily attendance of 7,589.
The enrollment is up 370 from the end
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Staff photo - Porfirio Solorzano
WHNE employees Belinda Skelton and Brad Daugherty, from left, spoke to
the press with county commission chairman Barry Hillgartner in support
WHNE reporters hold press
conference to air their views
By Kara Sproles
Staff Writer
Two employees of Cumming radio
station WHNE-AM called a press con
ference Thursday in the meeting
room of the County Commissioners in
the Forsyth County Courthouse. The
purpose was to make public their alle
gations that they as employees of
WHNE-AM had been pressured to fa
vor the politics of the Cumming City
Council and Mayor Ford Gravitt
News Director Brad Daugherty and
Public Service Director Belinda Skel
ton made statements to representa
tives ofthe press and television. WSB
TV reporter Don McClellan was
present to hear the allegations.
WHNE is an affiliate of WSB-TV,
Daughterly said.
Daugherty and Skelton said they
were told by employers “to trip up”
the opposition while on the job. The
two came forward with the allega
tions of wrongdoing saying they felt it
was “the right thing to do.”
“I’ve been pressured to direct the
news in favor of (Cumming Mayor
Ford) Gravitt and city officials in gen
eral,” WHNE News Director Brad
Daugherty stated. Public Service Di
rector Belinda Skelton added that she
thought “WHNE has been wrongfully
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 20, 1991-CU MMING, GA 30130-30 PAGES 3 SECTIONS
of the 1990-91 school year.
Comparing the state growth fore
casts for Forsyth County to reality -
the county’s ninth grade now has 728
students and the state expected the
ninth grade to have just over 500 stu
dents in the 1993-94 school year.
“If those numbers continue like
that we may be in line for another
high school at some point,” said Case
Also, the state 1993-94 forecast for
fifth grade is 550. However the county
now has 663 fifth graders.
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Volunteer call
Local dentist Dr. Robert Joiner snapped this dramatic photograph recently during a controlled burn on Shady Grove
Rd. The burn was a training exercise using an abandoned building. The session involved representatives of all member
stations of the Forsyth County Volunteer Fire Department. It was conducted by the training department of the
organization as an ongoing program to keep volunteers current on fire-fighter techniques, according to Fire Chief Norris
Bennett.
used as a politically corrupt vessel.”
“(The owners) said they did not buy
the station to make money, but to be
politically influential,” said Skelton.
The 1170 AM station is owned by
Amy Rives McCollum and her hus
band, Van McCollum, according to
Station Manager Phil Castleberry.
Even though the Federal Communi
cations License shows the name ofthe
previous owner, the late Howard
Rowe & Associates.
Castleberry explained that the FCC
regulations require updating of the
license every 7 years. The change to
the names of the current owners had
not been made yet Both McCollums
were contacted by The Forsyth Coun
ty News in an effort to get expanded
statements concerning the allega
tions presented by the two employees.
However, Van McCollum said he
wanted to go just with a written state
ment issued earlier Friday.
“We just don’t have enough infor
mation. We are going to speak with
our employees and see what the prob
lems are,” he said.
He said he would be happy to talk
with the press later.
The statement from the owners ad
dressing the situation was: “WHNE
Please see RADIO, Page 2A
The school board has been asked to
spend $6,000 to participate in a traffic
study along with the city, county, and
the developer of the Otwell Meadows
property between Dahlonega Street
and Tribble Gap Road.
Plans have been approved to place
the new U.S. Post Office on the oppo
site side of the road from Forsyth Cen
tral High School and to extend Elm
Street, on which Cumming Elemen
tary fronts, down to Dahlonega Street.
Unification
committee
resolves
not to unite
By Kara Sproles
staff Writer
The unification committee, which
met for the last time Wednesday, con
cluded business by voting on a recom
mendation about combining the city
and county governments. The resolu
tion which passed by a narrow margin
will now be sent to state lawmakers
for their review.
The Cumming-Forsyth County Con
solidation Commission through a se
cret ballot vote decided to officially
recommend a resolution proposed by
city-representative Charles Welch.
‘lt is strictly a recommendation,”
State Rep. Bill Barnett, who intro
duced the legislation to set up the
group, later said about the resolution.
‘They don’t have any binding author
ity. They are a study commission”
The resolution brought forth by
County Commissioner Welch was fa
vored in a 7 to 6 vote over another one
proposed by county representative
Ron Seder. Seder’s resolution re
ceived five favorable and eight nega
tive votes. Each proposal was voted on
separately by the commission.
Welch’s threefold proposal stated it
was the finding and recommendation
of the committee that:
•“There is no substantial interest in
unification except by those who have
failed in their efforts to take over the
city through other efforts. The com
mission should not have been pro
posed because it was bom of a selfish
political motive and not out of a genu
ine desire to objectively study the
question and its benefits to our
citizens.
•“Substantial savings may be possi
ble through consolidation of services
and both governments are urged to
pursue on a continuing basis.
•“Any legislation proposed directly
affecting local governments should be
Please see UNIFICATION, page 2A
Some board members were ada
mant about not spending education
money on traffic studies while others
worried about being left out of the
planning process if they refused mon
etary support
Because it was not clear whether
the request was coming from the city
or the developer, the board voted to
wait until they knew how both the city
and county would participate in the
study.
Submiffed photograph
The fun continues
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Moonshine Festival
Kids are finding the monkey booth at the Moonshine Festival in
Dawsonville a popular place. Dawson County Jaycee President
Rodney Denard estimated that more than 4,00 people stopped in
the small town of Dawsonville last Sunday to visit booths of arts,
crafts, foods, games and hear the great country music. The Moon
shine Festival continues today and winds up Sunday, Oct. 27.
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Employees
are moving
into new
headquarters
After two years of planning and
building, Scientific Games has begun
moving employees into their new
plant in Bluegrass Industrial Park off
of McFarland Road in Cumming.
The company announced its inten
tions to move to Forsyth County in
October, 1989
The company is in the process of
moving its corporate headquarters
from Atlanta to the new Bluegrass
plant. There will also be a printing
plant on the premises which will em
ploy about 200 people.
Scientific Games produces lottery
tickets and on-line games like lotto
and has contracts with more than half
of the 33 state lotteries.
Cumming
man faces
charges in
Dawson death
By Kara Sproles
Staff Writer
A Cumming man was recently ar
rested in Dawson County after offi
cials say they learned he was solicit
ing someone to commit the murder of
a GBI agent and another official in
vestigating his ties to a previous
crime.
Please see CHARGE, Page 2A
Photo by Porfirio Solorzano
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