Newspaper Page Text
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, FORSYTH COUNTY NEWS Friday, F«bru«ry 13,1998
; Sheriff’s department adds 5 new blue Crowns to fleet
' By Michael Kurtz
Staff Writer
The Sheriff’s Office is adding
some color to their traffic unit.
~ Five new, blue Crown Victorias
■sßok to the road, Tuesday, as part
'of the new Traffic Enforcement
■JUnit.
‘ Sheriff Denny Hendrix said the
. new unit will have just one goal.
' . “We think an enforcement pro
, gram saves lives,” said Hendrix.
1 In addition to the cars, the unit
' will be the home of the
> Motorcycle Patrol and the traffic
' fatality investigator.
> Nine officers volunteered to
J work the unit which will saturate
• problem areas on the county’s
roads.
Deputies will clock speeders,
look for proper seat belt use, check
child restraint systems, enforce
DUI laws and work with individu
als to teach them proper road safe
ty-
. Hendrix said the unit will con
centrate in five main areas- Ga.
400 at Hwy. 20, Hwy. 20 west,
Hwy. 20 east, Hwy. 369 and the
nKSM&SI
On behalf of the Cumming Kiwanis Club, president Cindy Hayes
presents stuffed animals to the department to go in new cars.
Accused former lawman gets April court date
By Michael Kurtz
Staff Writer
The former Cumming Police Officer
accused of exposing himself to several Police
Department employees waived his State Court
arraignment this week and will go before a
jury in April.
Vince Elzey was arrested Dec. 17 on two
counts of sexual battery and four counts of
indecent exposure.
He allegedly exposed himself and inappro
priately touched two female dispatchers at the
city police department during the past yeat.
According to the warrants, the incidents
Deaths
Hubert Barron
Hubert Barron, 88, of Cumming,
died Wednesday, Feb. 11, 1998. A
native of Forsyth County, he was
the oldest male member of Oak
Grove Baptist Church.
Survivors include his wife, Ruby
Mills Barron of Cumming; daugh
ter-in-law, Oveline Barron
Westbrook of Cumming; grand
children, Stanley and Rebecca
Williams and Tony and Vicky
Barron, all of Cumming; great
grandson, Matthew Williams of
Cumming; great-granddaughters,
Stacey Barron and Ashley Barron,
both of Cumming; sister, Aline
Parson of Stone Mountain; nieces
and nephews; and other relatives.
Funeral services will be held
Friday, Feb. 13, at Ingram Funeral
Home Chapel. The Revs. Ruel
Martin, Hughlen Cochran,
Larmon Barron and Danny
Bennett will officiate.
Interment will follow in Oak
Grove Baptist Cemetery.
Ingram Funeral Home has
charge of the arrangements.
Forsyth County News
February 13,1998
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Five new Crown Victorias are added to the Sheriff’s fleet of rolling stock of traffic enforcement unit.
schools.
Last year, these roadways
accounted for more than half of all
the county’s traffic incidents.
Hendrix said the unit will
focus only on traffic related prob
lems in an effort to eliminate
fatalities and get unsafe drivers off
the roads.
“Saving lives is one of the
main objectives of our office,” said
Hendrix. “This traffic unit’s goal
will be to reduce the number of
occurred several times in Elzey’s patrol car
and at the Cumming Police Station while
Elzey was on duty.
One of the victims took her case to the
Sheriff’s Office when she couldn’t get the
Cumming Police to investigate the case, said
Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Karleen
Chalker.
The second victim came forward later.
Both women have since resigned from the
police department.
The allegations of the two victims prompt
ed two Cherokee County employees to come
forward a week after Elzey’s arrest.
Cherokee County Sheriff Roger Garrison
Carl Pendley
Carl B. Pendley, 84, of
Cumming, died Monday, Feb. 9,
1998 at Baptist North Hospital.
Survivors include nieces,
nephews and other relatives; and
a loyal friend, Billy Hendrix.
Funeral services were held
Thursday, Feb. 12, at Ingram
Funeral Home Chapel, with the
Rev. Elmer Stowe officiating.
Interment followed in Cherokee
Memorial Park in Canton.
Ingram Funeral Home had
charge of the arrangements.
Forsyth County News
February 13, 1998
Newt Cliatt
James “Newt” Cliatt, 89, of
Dawsonville, died Wednesday,
Feb. 11, 1998. He was a retired
lieutenant of the Miami Shores
Police Department and a Mason.
Survivors include his wife,
Thelma Barfield Cliatt of
Cumming; daughter, Sister
Kathryn Cliatt of Cumming;
daughter and son-in-law, Martha
Rose and Sergio Limos Florida;
grandchildren, Rosemary and Eric
Hall of Colorado Springs Air
traffic fatalities and injuries in
Forsyth County by strictly enforc
ing our traffic laws.”
There were 16 traffic deaths
last year and 20 in 1996.
The five new cars, which were
part of the 1998 budget, were
painted blue instead of white like
the rest of the fleet.
Hendrix said the dark color
will help distinguish the Traffic
REDISTRICTING from <a
Otwell, the Central Office recom
mended children from the
Chattahoochee district remain at
North Forsyth Middle School, a
decision that will likely please
many concerned parents.
North Forsyth Middle School
currently houses more than 1,000
students, and although there is
room for additional classrooms on
that campus, there are no special
purpose education sales tax dollars
available currently to pay for addi
tions. However, once the current
11 classrooms are built this sum
mer at Otwell, the school will be
“built out,” and the city of
Force Base, Colo., and Michael
Limos Florida; great-grandsons,
Christopher and Alex Hall of
Colorado Springs AFB, Colo.
A private family memorial ser
vice will be held at a later date.
Memorial donations may be
made to the Cedar Hill
Enrichment Center, 5735
Dawsonville Hwy., Gainesville,
Ga. 30506.
Forsyth County Hews
February 13, 1998
S. Turner Leathers
S. Turner Leathers Sr., 95, of
Sandy Springs, died Tuesday,
Feb. 10, 1998. Bom on Sept. 29,
1902, in Villa Rica, he accumu
lated many real estate holdings in
Villa Rica and Carroll County. He
was one of the original pioneers
of the Timex Watch Company.
Having become a member of the
Atlanta Athletic Club in 1928, he
was a member of various Masonic
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Unit and will make them more
effective when looking for prob
lem drivers.
“They’re harder to see at
night,” said the Sheriff.
The Cumming Kiwanis Club
helped Hendrix inaugurate the
new unit by donating 12 stuffed
animals to the deputies. They will
be given to children involved in
accidents.
Cumming has ordered that Otwell
not use trailers on its campus after
this school year. Therefore, it was
decided that North Forsyth Middle
School will have less capacity
issues in the long run than Otwell.
The other revision to the com
mittee’s plan involved moving
Zone 6, Big Creek Elementary’s
district, to the South Forsyth
Middle School district. The com
mittee originally planned for Big
Creek Elementary students to
graduate into the new west middle
school, which is on the campus of
Vickery Creek Elementary. Some
parents who live closer to the new
said Elzey allegedly made similar advances
toward two of his employees. Elzey was
employed in Cherokee County from 1993-
95.
Neither Elzey nor his attorney has com
mented on the case. Elzey resigned from the
police department immediately after posting a
$4,000 property bond.
His jury trial is scheduled to start in
Forsyth County State Court the week of April
4. Elzey has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
State Court Judge Jeff Bagley and Solicitor
Leslie Case Abernathy have said they will
recuse themselves from the case because of
personal and family ties with Elzey.
organizations. In August 1924, he
was raised a Master Mason in
Joseph C. Greenfield Lodge 400,
becoming the oldest member. On
Dec. 10, 1926, he became a 32nd
degree Scottish Rite Mason and
was initiated into Yaarab Shrine
Temple on May 21, 1927. He was
a member of the 100 Club of
Yaarab Temple, the fifth oldest
member. He was also a member
of the Atlanta Masonic Club.
Survivors include his sons, S.
Turner Leathers Jr. of Cumming
and Jack S. Leathers of
Alpharetta; and a daughter, Mary
Ann Smith Leathers of Sarasota,
Fla.
Funeral services will be held
Saturday, Feb. 14, at 1 p.m. at
H.M. Patterson & Son, Arlington
Chapel.
Interment will follow in
Arlington Cemetery.
Forsyth County News
February 13, 1998
SHERIFF from 1A
the proposed Special Purpose
Local Option Sales Tax which
goes to the ballot next month.
Hendrix said there is no money
allocated for law enforcement, but
Kieffer wants to add a new park in
his district. That park will require
protection.
“You are dividing up over SIOO
million dollar in SPLOST funds.
John Kieffer is pushing for a public
park in his district. It’s his election
year you know. Yet of this over
SIOO million in SPLOST funds, not
one dime was allocated to law
enforcement,” Hendrix wrote.
Funds for the park land pur
chase were allocated in the previ
ous SPLOST. Commissioners
were considering potential tracts
as of Dec. 3, 1997. The March 17
referendum includes $2.5 million
for park development.
“I’m sorry Denny is trying to
attack me for doing my job as a
commissioner,” said Kieffer. He
said Hendrix’ comment may lead
people to believe that he has been
left out of sales tax spending pie.
west middle school are outraged
their children will be bussed far
ther south, but the Central Office
is concerned that heavy develop
ment in the central part of the
county will lead to overcrowding
of Otwell and the new west middle
schools, possibly even before the
start of the 1998-99 school year.
“After looking at numbers,
SFMS was low, and the new west
middle school was at capacity,”
said facilities director Steve
Tomlinson. “So moving Zone 6 to
SFMS brings both schools to
about 800 [students].”
“The west area is projected to
grow,” added Superintendent Dr.
Allene Magill, “and we haven’t
yet been able to acquire more
property.”
The committee also voted to
recommend to the board that no
KICKOFF from 1A
Gault, assistant superintendent of
schools.
Angie Martin spoke of the
trouble she had when she was
pregnant with her twins who
weighed one and two pounds
when they were bom.
She thanked the March of
Dimes for helping her babies,
Edwin and Emily Martin, grow up
healthy.
Place mats at the tables out
lined the progress from the 1930 s
up to present day.
It started off as a plea from
President Roosevelt for dimes to
Forsyth County News
J Your "Hometown Paper" Since 1908 J
DSPS 205-540
302 Old Buford Road, Cumming, Georgia 30040
Phone:77o-887-3126 Fax:77o-889-6017
Internet Address: www.forsythnews.com
Publisher DENNIS STOCKTON
Corporate Editor LEANNE T. BELL
Associate Editor JENNIFER ESKEW Office Manager MICHELLE HEARD
Advertising Director BARBARA SCOHIER Circulation Director WES DORSEY
Published Sunday, Wednesday and Friday by the Forsyth County News Company,
302 Old Buford Road, Cumming, Ga. Second Class Postage paid at Cumming, Ga.
and additional offices. Subscription rate fa Forsyth county, S3O per year; other
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“But SPLOST money cannot
be used for maintenance and oper
ation; it can only be used for capi
tal improvements. And we just did
a big addition to the jail,” Kieffer
said. “In the future, there will no
doubt be a need for a new jail.
“We need this sales tax badly
in his county,” Kieffer said.
Hendrix could not be reached
for comment on why he refused
arbitration. But Sheriff’s Office
spokesperson Karleen Chalker
said the sheriff stands by his letter
to Jenkins.
The dispute started when the
board voted to terminate Sheriff’s
Office attorney Ed McCrimmon,
and did not approve pay raises for
Sheriff’s Office employees
because Hendrix did not turn in
employee evaluations as mandated
by Civil Service policy.
The suit is asking for a court
ruling on who controls the
Sheriff’s Office, its budget and the
day-to-day operations.
The board is expected to file its
response by the end of the week.
“grandfathering” be allowed from
now on, meaning students must
attend the schools to which they
are assigned. Students in Zone 10,
a Sawnee Elementary district, will
still attend North Forsyth Middle
School however, as they were
grandfathered in with last year’s
redistricting.
In addition, the committee sug
gested each principal receive a
quarterly report on the number of
out-of-district students at his or
her school, and that the principal
be responsible for ensuring the
school does not reach overcrowd
ing due to the out-of-district stu
dent population.
The committee will present the
current redistricting plans to the
Board of Education for its vote at
the next regular meeting,
Thursday, Feb. 19, at 7 p.m.
cure polio.
Throughout the following
decades March of Dimes
researchers diagnosed birth
defects, linked alcohol consump
tion with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome
and developed treatments for pre
mature babies among other devel
opments.
“The March of Dimes funds
programs and services that make a
difference in all of our lives,” said
Griffith.
So come out and take a walk
in your community in April for a
good cause.