Newspaper Page Text
South Forsyth to
present play this
weekend
PAGE 7A
Forsyth Count -KT " s
J Your "Hometown Paper" Since 190 i fITHE4S 3B 30611
VOLUME LXXXVII, NUMBER 43 Copyright © 1996 Forsyth County News
Ricketts
could be
released
on bond
By Jennifer Eskew
Staff Writer
A technicality of Georgia
law may release Greg Ricketts
on bond. He was indicted
Monday on charges he mur
dered his wife.
Superior Court Judge
Richard Gault denied Ricketts
bond last month based on the
possibility of witness intimi
dation and on Ricketts’ suici
dal mind-set at the time of his
arrest.
Ricketts, 33, is charged in
the Jan. 4 murder of his wife,
Sharia. She was shot five
times with a .380 caliber
semi-automatic handgun.
Ricketts was arrested at the
home they shared on 7580
Fields Drive, Cumming and
brought to the Forsyth County
Jail the same day.
According to Georgia law
a defendant has the right to a
grand jury hearing within 90
days of being confined when
bail is refused.
The case against Ricketts
was not presented until the
94th day, said his attorney
David Canon.
According to the law, “in
the event no grand jury con
siders the charges against the
accused person within the 90
day period of confinement, the
accused shall have a bail set
upon application to the court.”
Gault heard a motion to set
See APPEAL, Page 3A
WEATHER
Fri. will be partly
sunny, high of
77. Chance of
showers on Sat. <
Thunderstorms
on Sun., hiqh of
76. J
INDEX
Abby 10A Events 9A
Kid’s Page 8A Entertainment 6A
Deaths 3 A Horoscope 10A
Classifieds 4B Church news 5A
Opinion 11A Sports IB
COMING SUNDAY...
O?ym^KS S P art * n t* l6
See Sunday's Life section to find out
what various groups and the school
system is doing to participate in the
Summer Olympics.
Administration byildjng
putting on finishing
touches
Th? Forsyth Cqunty Administration
Building is putting on its final touch
es to complete The building. See
Sunday's edition for an update.
Missed paper policy: For replacement
paper call between 8 a.tn. to 6 p.m. on
Wed., 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Friday, and 9
a.m. to 1 p.m. on Sun., 887-3126.
mi ■
Ig ME
J
Auditoriums might be delayed
By Laura Boggs
Staff Writer
Better late than never?
Disappointed audience members
weren’t thinking that way when it was sug
gested the Board of Education hold off on
building high school auditoriums for more
than a year.
“The battle’s not over,” said North
Forsyth High School drama teacher B.J.
Smith. “The board has not accepted the rec-
FORSYTH RECOGNIZES ITS STARS
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Photo/Tom Brooks
The county’s STAR students were all recognized by the Cumming Kiwanis Club on
Wednesday. From left to right are: Patty Helen Burtz of North Forsyth, Bryce Bryan
Jaeck of Forsyth Central, David Blankman of the Kiwanis Club, Erica Lynn Smith of
North Forsyth and Erika Mary Clough of South Forsyth.
Students rewarded for excellence
By Laura Boggs
Staff Writer
Making the highest SAT score
at school and being in the top 10
percent of the class has its
rewards.
Forsyth County’s STAR stu
dents were honored during a
Cumming Kiwanis Club lun
cheon Wednesday, as were the
STAR teachers that influenced
them. South Forsyth student
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Photo/Tom Brooks
The James H. Drew midway exposition will also be a part of the Cumming Spring
Celebration which begins this Tuesday, April 16 and continues through Sunday April 21.
Above, fairgoers enjoyed one of the many midway rides available during October’s
Cumming Country Fair and Festival.
Raider boys pick up
soccer win
SPORTS J B
Cumming, GA / April 12,1996
FRIDAY EDITION
ommendation. There are still tilings we can
do.”
Facilities Director Steve Tomlinson told
the board during a Tuesday meeting that
constructing the three auditoriums right
now would cost SI million more than is
budgeted, or between $300,000 to
5400,000 per facility. While 51.269 million
was budgeted for the auditoriums, bids are
estimated to come in at about 51.7 million
per auditorium. Jack Pyburn Architects
Erika Clough scored a 1,400 out
of 1,600, the highest in the coun
ty.
The senior has been involved
with marching band, concert band
and drama. She has a leading role
in South’s production of “Lurking
on the Railroad” this weekend.
Erika also sings in the Victory
Baptist Church choir.
Next year, she will attend the
Mississippi University for
Women, where she has been
designed the auditoriums for North, South
Forsyth and Forsyth Central with the input
of teachers.
“1 recommend that we proceed cau
tiously and postpone the bidding process,”
Tomlinson told board members. “By wait
ing for a belter bid market, costs should
come down.”
Tomlinson said he wanted to wait until
summer 1997 to accept bids from builders,
and the auditoriums would be complete by
awarded almost a full scholar
ship.
Erika chose Patti Smith, her
Advanced Placement (AP)
English teacher, as a STAR
teacher.
“She’s just great. She’s a won
derful teacher,” Erika said.
Senior Bryce Jaeck earned a
1,340 on the SAT, the highest
score at Forsyth Central. He plays
See STAR, Page 3A
Soap Opera review,
movie review
PAGE 6A
Trial date set for former
Cumming police officer
By Jennifer Eskew
Staff Writer
A tentative date for the murder
trial of former Cumming
Policeman J.D. Swansey, charged
with the alleged beating death of a
Cumming businessman, is set for
May 20.
“This is a best case scenario,”
said Superior Court Judge Frank
Mills. “If anything interferes,
we’re probably looking at
August.”
The possible interferences
include a Georgia Stale Supreme
Court decision on whether the
grand jury indictment against
Swansey should be thrown out.
Swansey was charged with
murder after a July 1995 police car
Commissioner and library
officials to negotiate budget
im Brooks
By Laura Boggs
Staff Writer '
I
“It’s more than I hoped it ’
would be,” said Board of
Commissioners Chairman Ron <
Seder about the $1.06 million the ]
commission is being asked to allo
cate to the Forsyth County Library. I
The fate of the library’s <
finances is up to the commission- 1
ers. The branch is not asking for 1
new services or materials in its sis- <
cal year 1997, which starts July 1, <
the day a 39-year-old partnership I
with Gwinnett County will end.
Operating as an independent sys
tem will involve start-up costs.
"I’m going to sit down with the
library board and go through it,”
City gearing up for next
week’s Spring Celebration
By Thomas W. Krause
Staff Writer
As residents of Forsyth County
are eagerly anticipating the arrival
of the Cumming Spring
Celebration, organizers are busy
finalizing last minute details for
the fair.
The spring fair, beginning
April 16, will be a smaller version
of this past October’s fall fair, said
Lori Grindle, programs coordina
tor for the Cumming Recreation
and Parks Department. But even
though the fair will be smaller, it
has the potential to draw a larger
crowd, Grindle said. Two major
entertainers are booked Tracy
Lawrence performing at 8 p.m.
Friday and Shenandoah perform
ing Saturday at 7 p.m. and 9 p.m.
Another enticement for the crowd,
with any luck, will be the weather.
The fair in October was rained
out for two days due to Hurricane
t
December 1997 at the earliest instead of
the original target date of December 1996.
He said metro Atlanta school systems
are having trouble finishing building pro
grams because of the area’s high construc
tion prices.
“A lot of people want to throw the
Olympics into it, but those projects are
See SCHOOL, Page 2A
chase, which left William Wade
Wallace dead.
Two Forsyth County deputies,
who assisted in the arrest of
Wallace, stepped forward after
Wallace died, stating they had seen
Swansey strike Wallace several
times with a mag-flashlight.
Wallace died four days after the
accident.
Swansey was later indicted for
felony murder, aggravated assault,
aggravated battery and false state
ments.
The Supreme Court is expected
to decide if it will hear the appeal
regarding the indictment by April
17 or 18.
See TRIAL, Page 2A
Seder said. “I’ve seen the num
bers, but I haven’t focused on
them yet. We’ll do the same tiling
we’re doing with everyone else.”
Seder will meet with Forsyth
County Library Board Members
Mary Helen McGruder and Janet
Vanderhoff, who were appointed
to represent the board by
Chairman Melvin Stancil, and
Interim Branch Manager Jon
McDaniel Wednesday during a
closed session. The group will dis
cuss the $1.23 million proposed
budget, a 39 percent increase over
1996 expenditures, which will be
See LIBRARY, Page 2A
Opal. Grindle said she wants to
remind everyone to keep thinking,
“No rain.”
' The Spring Celebration will be
I open Tuesday through Thursday
I from 4 p.m. until 11 p.m., Friday
' from 4 p.m. until midnight,
Saturday from 11 a.m. until mid
night and Sunday from 12:30 p.m.
: until 7 p.m.
i Motorists should take warning;
I Castleberry Road will be closed at
4 p.m. Tuesday through Friday
i and all day Saturday and Sunday,
i No shuttle bus service will be
available for this fair.
Exhibits and shows at the fair
should appeal to a wide variety of
interests. Heritage Village will be
decorated in a spring theme and
will feature a working cotton gin
running ever hour, a saw mill run
ning every half-hour and a corn
See FAIR, Page 3A
50 Cents
