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THIS ISSUE
Copyright © 1997 Forsyth County News
Cartoonists’
views on
the news.
PagelOA
I
b x*
South cheerleaders win
competition
at Mt. Zion
Page IB
LAKE LANIER LEVELS
Date Level
Jan. 30 1070.17 ft
Jan. 31 1070.07 ft
Feb. 1 1070.16 ft
Feb. 2 1070.22 ft
Nprmal 1071.00 ft
k sL
...
Bringing together
the family for
some reading time.
Page 3A
INDEX
Abby 8A
Gassifieds .7B
Community .3A
Deaths 2A
Events •oeoooooooaooeooooooooooeooaoooeoo 5A
Horoscope 8A
Legals 4B
Opinion 10A
Schools.... 3A
Sports IB
COMING
FRIDAY
Entertainment Section
. Expanded TV listing,
Jill Jackson's Hollywood,
Critics Comer,
Country Music
all in Friday's edition.
Missed paper policy:
For a replacement paper, call
8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday and
Friday, and 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on
Sunday-(770) 887-3126.
[W
Forsyth Counl®=- ’ s
J Your "Hometown Paper” Since 19 ATHENS GA 30602
Vol. 89, No. 15
■t -....
Man is facing charges of kidnapping
By Michael Kurtz
Staff Writer
A Fulton County man is in custody after the
alleged Sunday kidnapping of his 11-month-old
daughter from the Forsyth County home of the
child’s mother.
Ricky Lamar Hughes, 50, was captured at his
Hopewell Road residence by members of the
Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office, the Gwinnett
County SWAT team and Fulton County authori
ties.
About 8:30 a.m., Hughes went to the
Winding Creek Drive home of Loretta Sue
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15 days remain to register
for March SPLOST vote
By Sheri Toomey
Staff Writer
/
Just a reminder.
County residents have 15 more
days to register if they want to vote
on the March penny sales tax refer
endum.
The Board of Commissioners
and the Cumming City Council have
approved numerous special projects
for the SIOO million incoming funds
if the five-year referendum passes.
Feb. 17 is the last day to register
to cast a ballot in the upcoming ref-
Proper marking of home
could save lives, property
By Michael Kurtz
Staff Writer
Numbering houses could mean
the difference between life and
death.
During the weekend, firefighters
were called to a Holbrook Road res
idence when the homeowner
smelled a noxious gas.
But firefighters had difficulty
finding the residence because it was
poorly labeled.
Public Safety Director Miles
Butler said no one was injured, but
Your "Hometown Paper" Since 19
WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 4, 1998
erendum.
According to plans, the county
would use SBS million of sales tax
revenue for road improvements,
libraries, a water treatment plant,
county park system expansion and
historical site preservation. The city
has slated sls million for recreation,
road improvements and renovation
and construction of city hall.
While commissioners are opti
mistic about possibility of securing
sales tax dollars for needed projects,
c
See REGISTER, Page 2A
the consequences could have been
drastic.
“Unfortunately, sometimes it
takes and emergency and a delay
before people realize it doesn’t hap
pen to the other guy, it happens to
them,” he said.
Because the house numbers
weren’t clearly marked, rescue
workers spent an extra five minutes
searching for the correct house.
See MARKING, Page 2A
Cunningham, 25.
According to Sheriff’s Office reports, Hughes
was armed with a handgun and threatened to kill
Cunningham.
She started struggling with Hughes, who
allegedly fired the gun at her.
Cunningham received a laceration on her
head as a result of the scuffle.
Hughes took the child and fled to his
Hopewell Road home.
Cunningham went to a neighbor who called
911.
Hughes was arrested without incident. The
baby was not harmed during the altercation.
Forsyth Central Players with
chamber board members,
including (front and center)
new chairman Mary Helen
McGruder and outgoing
chairman Robert Shepherd
entertained during the Friday
night program. In special trib
ute, the chamber announced
a new award to be presented
annually to a community
member who exemplifies the
attributes of the late Charles
Welch, who was slated to be
the ‘9B chamber chairman.
His wife, Marie, and sons,
received a framed photo
graph from Mayor Ford
Gravitt and chamber execu
tive director Pat Topping.
Photos/Tom Brooks
Returning champ Henderson defends title
Caucus, chasm wins spelling bee
By Laura Lavezzo ■ 1
Staff Writer ffjj f|Lj
Thirteen of the county’s I , '
best spellers in the fourth I
through eighth grades were at | »?',‘\V F
Coal Mountain Elementary ■
Saturday for the Forsyth 'gffrW'. kJ
County School System ''' Hpr,' I
Spelling Bee, where eighth
grader Chancey Henderson HRT' 'Wi
was named county-wide HF
spelling champion for the sec- 9 Q. 11 f
ond year in a row. j H * ■
Henderson, in his last year < • '
at North Forsyth Middle / ■
School, says his favorite 4 ||
classes are gym and math, and ; / |
claims that winning the .
spelling bee requires “95 per- £ -Z I
cent practice and five percent t » ■
luck.” If.- ; "W W
Fifth grader Stephanie F v
Harper won the runner-up
position, but only after giving S
her final opponent reason to fl
worry. In the final round, she ''
handled words like “perjury” A
and “askew,” while he was ’
asked to spell “swivel” and :
■‘grovel.” Harper was finally
eliminated from competition
with the word ‘'caucus,” H ■
whose definition is not likely BH
to have crossed a fifth grad-
cr’spaih. t i pweychrtsfugh
See SPfU. Page 4A <^nx>wispel| e r Chancey Henderson. o
treated by firefighters on the scene,
Cunningham was not seriously injured.
Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Karleen
Chalker said the child was being cared for by
one of Hughes’ relatives when he was arrested.
The child has been returned to Cunningham.
Chalker said investigators do not yet know
what prompted the incident. It is unclear whether
the couple had been married, though both say
they are the parents of the 11-month-old.
Cunningham has legal custody of the child.
Hughes is charged with kidnapping, aggra
vated assault and burglary. No bond or court date
has been set for his preliminary hearing.
McGruder is ’9B chair
New chamber
award to honor
Welch’s work
By Jennifer Eskew
Associate Editor
Performing a “song and dance routine” in the business
community is nothing new but the Cumming/Forsyth
Chamber of Commerce board took it literally at the 1998
annual banquet held Friday evening.
Joining the Forsyth Central Players for an altered rendi
tion of “Everything’s Coming Up Roses” changed to
“Everything’s Coming Up 400,” the board started the festivi
ties.
Outgoing chamber chairman Robert Shepherd presented
the 1998 awards and passed the gavel to incoming chairman
Mary Helen McGruder.
But the highlight of the evening was a new award
announced by the chamber to honor the late Charles Welch,
who was slated to be the 1998 chamber chairman.
With Welch’s wife, Marie, and their two sons, Justin and
Chuck, present, Mayor Ford Gravitt presented an enlarged
picture of Welch to the family.
“Charles Welch was my friend and anyone who came in
contact with him felt the same,” Gravitt said.
A duplicate picture of Welch will also hang in the cham
ber’s board room, which will now be renamed the Charles
Welch Room.
And beginning next year, the Charles Welch Award will
be presented to someone, not necessarily a chamber member,
who makes the kind of difference in the community that
Welch did.
The Business of the Year Award went to Carol and Steve
Low of Window Creations. The company moved to Forsyth
in 1990 and has since been involved in many community
programs.
See CHAMBER, Page 6A
50 Cents
HflyL - £ A.jß
Hughes