Newspaper Page Text
VOLUME LXXXIV, NUMBER 65
Lawmen
continue
search
for suspect
By Kara Sproles
Staff Writer
Forsyth County Sheriffs
deputies and agents from the
Georgia Bureau of Investigation
issued arrest warrants and
were searching
Monday for a
suspect in the
Aug. 12 kid
napping and
rape of a 29-
year-old conve
nience store
clerk.
Michael
Carl Dinsmore,
36, has been
charged with
rape, kidnap
ping, aggravat
ed sodomy and
possession of a
firearm during
the commission
Officials continue
their search here
for Michael Carl
Dinsmore, 36,
shown above in a
1988 mug shot
from police files.
of a crime, said Sheriff Wesley
Walraven.
Around 5 a.m. last
Thursday, a clerk working at
Wee Willy’s at Hammond’s
Crossing in east Forsyth County
was lured away from inside the
store by a white male who
claimed a gas pump would not
work correctly, officials said.
When the victim, whose name
has not been released due to the
nature of the alleged crime,
stepped outside, the suspect
reportedly pulled a small calibre
handgun and forced her inside
his car.
He then allegedly drove the
two about a mile away, to a
wooded area near the intersec
tion of Hwy. 306 and Ga. 400,
where he is said to have raped
her and then fled.
Dinsmore, a convicted felon
with an extensive criminal his
tory, had reportedly been living
in a Peachtree Road trailer
close to Lake Lanier in Forsyth
County. Years ago the divorcee
listed a Riviera Drive address in
Cumming, according to records.
Dinsmore was identified by
the victim through a picture
lineup and other evidence,
See RAPE, 2A
Weather:
Cloudy
Some clouds and isolated
showers with highs in the
low 90s and lows in the
upper 60s.
INSIDE
Abby. 9A
Births 5A
Church Briefs. 10A
Classified. 4B
Editorials 14A
Events 11A
Extension service 12A
Grover Johnson 15A
Horoscope 9A
Food& Nutrition 7A
Outdoors. 2B
Policebeat. 4A
Sports 1B
■ HI!
Kollege days are near
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A M a GEORGIA NEWSPAPER PRJ
rorsyth Count /r. 77 -
Cumming Elementary
sweats school deadline
By Kristin Jeffries I
Staff Writer
Cumming Elementary is
at the bottom of the list of
readiness in the school pro
jects expected to be done for
the Sept. 13 opening date.
“This is the school I have
had the most concerns
about,” said John Clark of
the M.B. Kahn manage
ment construction compa
ny. The company is acting,
free of charge, as owners’
representative at some of
the critical projects this
summer.
He made his report at the
Monday workshop of the
Board of Education.
“The rooms are looking done - it is the
stuff above the ceiling that isn’t done,”
Clark said, referring to a great amount of
electrical work still to be completed.
Commissioners delay
Winn-Dixie alcohol license
By Lee Johnson
Staff Writer
Coun t y |
Commissioner
David Sexton,
in a prepared
statement pre
sented Monday
night at the
Commissioners
Workshop
Meeting, con
demned Winn-
Dixie Atlanta,
Inc. for their
reassigning of
two black
employees sent
to work at their
Grand Opening.
Winn-Dixie
Atlanta, Inc.
had a proposal
pending before
the Board of
Commissioners
requesting an
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Photo by Porfirio Solorzano
Question of approving an
alcohol license for a local
supermarket brings a fur
rowed brow to Comm.
David Sexton.
Covered bridge needs a new lease on life
By Kara Sproles
Staff Writer
The old, covered bridge with a
rusty tin roof leans to one side
and sags slightly in the middle,
as if it’s fighting to stay alive.
Nearby signs read that the
decrepit bridge is closed and
bright orange, warning stakes
block the passageway. The
inside walls of the structure are
painted with graffiti. The land
around the bridge is littered
with bottles and cans evi
dence that the area is used for
more recreational purposes.
It is evident the little piece of
history is not forgotten.
Perched atop some flat rocks
perfect for sunning, an elderly
couple is taking advantage of
the serene surroundings of
Pooles Mill Bridge, which is
located in northwest Forsyth
County. They say the come once
a week to “get away from it all.”
A little further downstream,
four teenagers take turns tip
toeing across the rocks and
splashing one another with
water.
“We come here fairly often,”
says 15-year-old Shawn Hall of
Doc Sams Road.
“We sometimes ride our motor
cycles here,” adds Chris
Edwards, 15, who attends
Forsyth Central High School
with Hall.
Built in the early 1900 s, Pooles
Mill Bridge, which spans
Settingdown Creek, is one of
about 27 authentic covered
bridges still standing in Georgia,
according to “Covered Bridges of
the South,” a book by Richard
Sanders Allen.
Floods, fires, vandalism and
progress have drastically
reduced the ranks of covered
bridges in Georgia during the
past decade, Allen writes. There
are records of at least 185 tim
bered tunnels that once stood in
the state, and the all-time total
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Photo by Porfirio Solorzono
Cumming Elementary School
Principal Tom Yankus is hit with
some tough news at Monday
night’s board meeting.
putting the new areas on hold until after
school begins, he said.
Midway is seeing the close to the same
See SCHOOL, 2A
alcohol license to sell malt beverages and
wine by the package in their new store at
Lanier Crossing Shopping Center.
“I feel very strongly that the recent deci
sion by Winn Dixie to reassign two of
their African American employees is not
in keeping with the beliefs and attitudes
of the citizens of Forsyth County,” said
Sexton. “ I feel it is the position of the
County that any person, regardless of
their race, creed, color, sex, or national
origin is welcome to live and work in our
community.”
Citing the behavior of Winn Dixie in the
matter and the continued negative public
ity directed towards Forsyth County
because of it, Sexton made a motion to
postpone action on the alcohol license
application until the August 30th meet
ing. The motion was swiftly carried and
approved unanimously by the Board.
“We cannot be held responsible for the
actions and/or comments of individuals or
corporate citizens,” stated Sexton.
Also approved was a request by the
Board of Appeals for authorization for a
See COMMISSION, 2A
is probably a conservative 250.
The custom of enclosing
bridge’s sides and roof was pri
marily practical, not aesthetic,
historians say.
“The roofs were put on covered
bridges to keep the main struc
tural timbers dry,” Allen writes.
“Staunch as they appeared, they
would quickly rot if left exposed
to be alternately wet by rains
and dampness, and then
scorched by the sun.”
Forsyth County owns the
bridge and the road going
through it, according to the
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Needed donation
Catherine Hansard, left, a line waitress at Russell Corporation in Cumming becomes a blood donor with the help of
L.P.N. Carmen Broome from the main Red Cross center in Atlanta. The organization’s mobile unit spent three days in
front of the clothing manufacturer on Castleberry Rd. for the drive, focusing on O negative, which is in shortage, to be
distributed to 109 hospitals in 80 counties in Georgia. The normal needs for blood have risen to 800 to 1000 pints per
day.
Cumming, Ga. / August 18,1993
A meeting was scheduled
to occur Tuesday morning
with the main contractor at
Cumming.
Cumming Principal Tom
Yankus was upset about the
projects lag in the last few
weeks.
“I received criticism from
parents about allowing the
project to begin two weeks
before school was out.
Imagine what would have
happened if I hadn’t done
that,” he said.
Otwell is also seeing some
delays in masonry work but
the work is getting done,
said Clark.
The crews are concentrat
ing on finishing up the
existing areas and are
:i\
Public Works Department.
However the land surrounding
the structure is privately owned.
In the mid-1980s there were
plans of the county making a
park or picnic around the bridge,
according to Forsyth County
Commission Chairman Michael
Bennett. Pooles Mill bridge is
located in his commission dis
trict.
“A prior owner had donated 10
acres around it for a park, but
when it was never deeded and
when he finally sold it there was
nothing about it,” Bennett
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Richard Payton and Mitchell Saam, local members of the Lutheran Brotherhood, lend
The Place a couple of pairs of helping hands.
Brotherhood works
to help make life better
By Kristin Jeffries
Staff Writer
The Lutheran Brotherhood likes to
put both its money and its brawn
into action to make life better for
others.
Last Saturday more than a dozen
men from a 9-county area descended
on The Place Rural Social Services
in Forsyth County to give the thrift
shop there a face lift.
The thrift shop gives people of
Forsyth County a place to come for
very inexpensive clothing and also a
place to give back to the community
after they have received help from
the Catholic organization. Knowing
about the work The Place does and
the needs it has, the Lutheran
Brotherhood, including many men
from the local Christ the King
Lutheran Church, decided to step in
and make a difference.
recalls. “The county thought we
owned 10 acres but we never
did.”
A few years later the bridge
collapsed, Bennett added, and
the county reconstructed it
using most of the old material.
“I still think it’s one of the
prettiest areas in the county and
it needs to be preserved for
future generations,” said
Bennett, adding that some
friends of his were married
See BRIDGE, Page 2A
They spent S4OO on materials and
set out to brighten, strengthen, and
improve the facilities there. Paint
rollers and sprayers, saws, hammers
and nails as well as a little sweat
were their tools.
The Lutheran Brotherhood is a
part of the Fraternal Life Insurance
Company. Its profits are given back
to the communities in many ways.
“None of it goes into the churches,”
said president Pastor Ed Ralph,
from Athens.
On top of the profits from the
insurance, local congregations are
encouraged to give. Often the compa
ny will match the funds raised by
local congregations.
About 10 men from the local con
gregation turned out to help with
this project.
Another project in the works is
See PLACE, 2A
Photo by Porfirio Solorzano
25 cents
Photo by Kristin Jeffries
Dry spell
takes toll
By Lee Johnson
Staff Writer
The US Department of
Agriculture has declared Forsyth
County an agricultural disaster
area due to this summer’s severe
drought, allowing local farmers
eligibility for low-interest emer
gency loans from the FmHA.
According to the Department of
Agriculture, 154 Georgia coun
ties sustained sufficient produc
tion losses to warrant disaster
area status. The remaining 5
counties were named as contigu
ous disaster areas. The statewide
losses are estimated to be in
excess of SSOO million dollars.
The emergency assistance is
available through the Georgia
Emergency Management
Agency, a division of the State
Governor’s Office. The Farmers
Home Administration will be
assisting family-sized farm oper
ators who have been affected by
the drought in filing applications
for emergency assistance loans.
Each application will be consid
ered on the basis of extent of
losses, security available, repay
ment ability, and other require
ments.
“Hay is the big issue in Forsyth
County,” said lan Cowie, Forsyth
County Extension Agent. “There
is 47 percent less hay in the
county this summer. Local cat
tlemen are having to decide,
‘Should I buy more hay (at much
higher prices), or should I sell
cows?’ Most of these farmers
have worked for years to build
up stock. There are some real
decisions being made.”
lan Cowie is a board member of
the Agriculture Stabilization and
Conservation Services office, a
division of the USDA. The board
See TOLL, 2A
ii;