Newspaper Page Text
Mashbum hosts
dad-daughter dance
PAGE 6A
Forsyth County News
J Your "Hometown Paper" Since 1908 J ~ FBO6I3 ®«
VbLUME 88, NUMBER 43 Copyright © 1997 Forsyth County News
WEDNESDAY EDITION |
Burning
ban will
be back
May 1
By Laura Boggs
Staff Writer
Requests for outdoor burn
ing permits have increased
during the weeks before a
burning ban is reinstated May
1.
The ban will last through
Sept. 30. Everything from
land-clearing fires in develop
ments to backyard leaf-burn
ing will be prohibited in 13
Atlanta area counties.
Environmental Protection
Division officials say the air
Atlantans breathe in the sum
mer has reached unhealthful
levels and burning is a major
source of ground level ozone
forming pollutants.
Agricultural burning and
fires for recreation, cooking
and training for firefighters
will still be allowed during
the five-month ban.
Local builders, who slash
and torch sites for construc
tion, have been learning to
work around the ban since it
was first implemented last
summer. Many have turned to
grinders or hauling to get rid
of trees and stumps.
The EPD doesn’t have to
do much in the way of enforc
ing the ban, as commercial
violations are often reported.
“Most of the contractors
know better,” said Clark
Reynolds, EPD Northwest
Regional manager. “And their
See BURN, Page 2A
WEATHER
Partly cloudy
Wednesday,
high 65. Partly
sunny Thursday,
high 69.
Showers Friday,
high 70, low 49. *
INDEX
Abby 9A Events 8A
School News 6A Military News 5A
College News 7A Horoscope 9A
Classified 6B Business 4A
Editorial lOA Sports IB
COMING FRIDAY. ..
Explosion device
Investigators are still looking at who
placed an explosive device on
Mountain Road. See an update on
the case in Friday’s newspaper.
Emissions testing
There are only a few weeks left
before the May I auto tag deadline,
and cars made in odd-numbered
years must be tested for vehicle
emissions before that. Information
about the Inspections will be in
Friday's edition.
Missed paper policy: For replacement
paper call between 8 a m. 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.
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Photo/Tom Brooks
Rhubarb Jones, Y106.7-FM’s morning disc jockey, hands out prizes at the country radio
station’s public party at the City Park. Cumming is one of the station’s biggest listening
areas. Friday’s fan appreciation event included a free cook-out and music by up-and
coming artists like Mark Wills and the Buckboard Bandits.
Explosive device discovered on Mountain Road
By Michael Kurtz
Staff Writer
Investigators are trying to
determine who left an explosive
device on Mountain Road
Saturday afternoon.
A foot-long yellow cylinder
marked “explosive” was discov
ered at about 1:40 p.m. Saturday
by Bobby Criddle, 20.
Criddle was working on a
clean-up detail when he found the
explosive along the tree line on
Mountain Road, about a quarter
mile from Highway 9.
’ “I thought it was trash until I
saw ‘explosive’ printed on it,”
Criddle said. “I carried it for
about three or four minutes until I
found the guy in charge.”
The head of the clean-up
detail notified the Sheriff’s
Office, which then evacuated six
homes in the area.
Members of the Forsyth
County Sheriff’s Office, the
Forsyth County Fire Department
and the Fulton County bomb
squad arrived and removed the
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Painting The Place
Judge Jeff Bagley helps paint The Place, a community service agency, during the sec
ond annual Great Day of Service Saturday. Forsyth County Bar Association members
spruced up The Place as part of the project. The exterior of the building was stained,
and all trip trim work was painted. Local lousinesses donated time and materials.
War Eagles stun
Bulldogs at home
SPORTS, IB
Cumming, GA / April 9,1997
device.
According to Major Ron
Casper of the Sheriff’s Office, the
device was not a pipe bomb but
was capable of detonating at the
scene.
“It had a blasting cap and
wires connected to it,” Casper
said. “It could have exploded.”
Investigators did not comment
on what type of explosive it was,
but Criddle said it appeared to be
dynamite.
The Fulton County bomb
squad has taken the device to a
secure area in Atlanta to process
the explosive for fingerprints and
chemicals and safely defuse it.
Sheriff’s investigators are
now working with agents of the
ATF and FBI to determine where
the device came from.
Investigators are also trying to
determine if the explosive is
related to a bomb threat made
later Saturday afternoon or a theft
of explosive chemicals from a
See DEVICE, Page 2A
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Photo/Tom Brooks
The explosive device found on Mountain Road Saturday is taken away by members of
the Fulton County bomb squad for investigation.
Pollen season
arrives with force
PAGE 9A
Cumming to see
zip code changes
By Sheri Toomey
Staff Writer
Tell all your friends and rela
tives to update their address books.
Effective July 1, the U.S. Postal
Service will change zip codes for
about 360,000 north Georgia resi
dents whose zip codes start with
300, 301 and 302. Cumming,
Suwanee and Alpharetta customers
will be affected by the changes.
Adjustments also include new
zip codes for some residents of
Marietta, Jonesboro, Commerce
and some Atlanta post office box
customers.
“These changes will not only
allow us to deliver better service to
our customers now,” said Robert J.
Sheehan, Atlanta district manager,
customer service and sales, “but
they will also prepare us to meet
service demands from additional
growth that is expected in the area
over the next several years.”
Forsyth County is listed as
Georgia’s fastest growing county
from 1990-96 and the fifth fastest
Commissioners postpone
decision on library budget
By Sheri Toomey
Staff Writer
A request by library officials
for $1.2 million, a 22.6 percent
funding increase, for the next year
was postponed Monday by county
commissioners until an April 28
meeting.
The branch’s budget proposal
for fiscal year 1998 asks for a
$222,098 increase in local fund
ing, mostly to expand the existing
staff.
The library asked for five new
full-time employees and one part -
time employee. The full-time jobs
include a computer systems coor
dinator, a materials assistant, a cat
aloged an information specialist
and an administrative specialist 1,
which is a county position. The
part-time position is for a chil
dren’s assistant to help the youth
services coordinator with library
programs. J
1
growing in the nation, according to
U.S. Census Bureau population
estimates.
Several measures have been
taken to ensure a smooth transition
for postal customers affected by
the changes.
Ninety days prior to July 1, cus
tomers will be notified of their new
zip codes via direct mail, Sheehan
said. Thirty days before the effec
tive date consumers will be sent a
second reminder with postage-paid
change of address cards. Mailing
lists have been updated with state
agencies, Georgia Power, Atlanta
Gas Light and others for automatic
delivery to customers with new zip
codes.
Sheehan said postal customers
should begin using their new zip
codes immediately after July 1 to
avoid service problems. During the
transition period mail with old zip
codes will be delivered without
delay, but continued use of previ
ous codes may result in lagging
service.
The Forsyth County Public
Library is “the second highest per
capita in circulation in the state of
Georgia with 553,000 items circu
lated,” said Jon McDaniel, direc
tor of the branch.
In the past year, 6,800 people
were issued new library cards, a
33 percent increase from the pre
vious year.
In other business Monday, the
commission postponed adding a
grandfather clause proposed by
Commissioner Lamar Suddeth '
regarding the new amendments to
Ordinance 30 approved by the
commission in March.
“I just wanted to vote on the
changes. I thought everything else
was grandfathered in,” Suddeth
said. “I feel like I’ve been misled.
I think this is terrible, and I want
to redo the voting.”
See MEETING, Page 2A,
Cents
