Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 2A
> FORSYTH COUNTY NEWS Sunday, February 15,1998
SHERIFF from 1A
Hendrix said an outside party
could still be used, but that party
would have to be impartial.
“Judge Stan Gault is capable of
appointing a neutral arbitrator,” he
said.
On Friday, the commissioners
filed their response to Hendrix’
lawsuit.
In the response, they deny they
are trying to interfere with
Hendrix running the Sheriff’s
Office.
They also argue that employ
ees of the Sheriff’s Office do fall
under Civil Service because they
were placed under that board in
1996 by former Sheriff Jerry
Padgett.
The Board also listed several
Photo/Tom Brooks
ROBBERY from 1A
The suspect fled the area on
foot and was last seen running by
the garden center of Kmart.
The suspect is a white male in
his late 20s or early 30s. He is 6-
feet 3-inches tall and weighs about
170 pounds. He has shoulder
length brown hair and possibly a
: rough beard or mustache.
; Chalker said the man was
dressed in a sweatshirt and blue
ijeans. He was wearing a light
green toboggan cap at the time of
the robbery.
Investigators recovered the dis
carded cap in a dumpster behind
Kmart.
SCHOOL from 1A
responsible problem-solving and
trust-building to high-risk kids.
The program was introduced for
: possible implementation at the
Crossroads Alternative School
(future Piedmont Learning Center)
and for use by all county students
and faculty. See future issues of
the Forsyth County News for
PARKING from 1A
Blackburn said the city would
love to have people use the lot
which usually sits empty while
drivers circle the square and the
administration building in frustra
tion searching for a space.
The county is also looking into
ways to increase parking spaces
downtown.
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counterclaims in their response,
saying the sheriff “filed this action
in bad faith and in an apparent
attempt to harass and/or coerce the
Commissioners into actions incon
sistent with the law.”
The response says Hendrix has
refused to cooperate with the
board or County Attorney Rachel
Iverson on this issue and others,
including a sexual discrimination
claim filed by a former Sheriff’s
Office employee against Hendrix.
The commissioners are asking
for the court to award them attor
ney’s fees and any actual damages
the court might find appropriate.
Iverson and attorney Edward
Tolley will handle the case for the
board of commissioners.
Chalker said investigators
believe he may have run to a car
and driven away. They are also
looking into the possibility that he
had been at the shopping center
during the day.
Deputies, Georgia Bureau of
Investigation agents, a Georgia
State Patrol helicopter and a track
ing dog searched the area around
Lakeland Plaza but were unable to
find the perpetrator or pick up a
scent.
The Federal Bureau of
Investigation has been notified, as
is procedure during a bank rob
bery.
more.
* The state’s Department of
Health will be conducting a
meningitis prevention study in the
county’s high schools, based on
the fact that there have been no
reported cases of meningitis in
Forsyth County in the last year.
See Page 17A for more.
At its Monday, Feb. 9 meeting,
the Board of Commissioners voted
unanimously to advertise for bids
to construct a temporary parking
lot behind the administration
building in the grassed area.
So stop gnashing your teeth
and enjoy free parking in one of
the few places where it’s still free.
Tolley’s firm was hired by the
board on a case-by-case basis at
their Nov. 24 meeting. He was
hired to be used when a conflict of
interest existed in any legal mat
ters affecting the board.
Commissioner John Kieffer voted
against the motion.
Tolley successfully defended
Commissioner Julian Bowen dur
ing his trial in October.
CORRECTION
The following quote was incor
rectly attributed to Sheriff Denny
Hendrix in Friday’s edition.
“The board has been more than
fair,” said Commission Chairman
Bill Jenkins. “Anything we can do
to help the sheriff, we have.”
Deputy Sheriff Chris Shelton
begins the paperwork process
after Friday afternoon’s armed
robbery at Lanier Bank. The
report sent law enforcement
swarming to secure the area.
Cars were busy up and down
Ga. 400 as a helicopter
searched from the air and a
search dog worked the wood
ed area behind Kmart.
PROJ ECTS from 1A
In December, County
Commission Chairman Bill
Jenkins asked county personnel to
prepare a status report of projects
funded by the March 1996 refer
endum.
Property on Old Atlanta Road
has been purchased for the South
Forsyth library branch.
Construction is estimated at $2
million with 50 percent proposed
to come from this next referendum
since state funds were not avail
able for the project.
Sawnee Mountain Park in the
Ducktown and Friendship commu
nities is scheduled for completion
in the spring.
The 44-acre park will have 10
athletic fields for baseball, softball
and soccer, four to six tennis
courts, walking trails, jogging
trails and a concession stand. The
frtsw park has been allocated $2
million in SPLOST funding.
The Midway Park and Coal
Mountain Park expansions added a
total of 50 acres to the existing
parks using SBOO,OOO of special
purpose tax funds.
Poole’s Mill Park in the north
west section of the county
received $200,000 for new picnic
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Man among many questioned in Frady case
By Beth L Chester & Michael Kurtz
Staff Writers
Authorities are confirming that
a 44-year-old Fbrsyth County man
arrested on drug and other charges
last week has also been questioned
in connection with the Levi Frady
murder investigation.
But they deny rumors that
Jackson “Jackie” Tailant has been
charged in the case or that charges
are currently pending.
“There’s no one in custody in
the Frady, case,” said Georgia
Bureau of Investigation agent Jim
Hallman, who is the special agent
in charge of the Gainesville
bureau.
The 11-year-old was found
shot to death Oct. 23, one day after
he disappeared near his home on
Burris Mill Road. His bike had
been found earlier that morning on
Little Mill Road, just over the hill
from his home near Bennett Park.
Tallant was arrested by Forsyth
County Sheriff’s Office narcotics
agents Feb. 6 after officers execut
ed a search warrant for illegal
drugs at his home on Settendown
Road. The road connects Ga. 400
and Hwy. 369.
He has been charged with sale
of methamphetamine (prior to the
search), possession of a firearm by
a convicted felon and possession
tables, a nature trail, pavilions and
a parking lot.
Hie county has a total of 206
acres of park and recreation space
with the new parks and expansions
to existing parks, according to fig
ures provided by county parks and
recreation director Jeny Kinsey.
The commission is still consid
ering potential tracts for the
Central Park.
Ten million dollars of the
county’s sl7 million SPLOST
funds were slated for a four year
road improvement plan.
Last year, $2,492,219 was col
lected by December while the bulk
of the money - $4,939,734 - is
expected to clink into the county
coffers this year.
Six major road improvement
projects for Hwy. 20, Hwy. 141,
Bethelview Road, McFarland
Road, McGinnis Ferry Road and
Old Buford Road and Castleberry
Road are in various stages of the
process. r . -
The city of Cumming is
expected to let these road widen
ing projects with the state
Department of Transportation in
March.
The intersections of McFarland
of non-tax paid alcohol.
According to Forsyth County
investigator Tim Murdock, a small
quantity of a substance believed to
be methamphetamine was also
found during the search, but crime
lab results are not yet available.
Murdock said scales were
found in two vehicles located on
the Tallant premises, which
encompasses Coal Mountain Auto
Sales, but he said no vehicles were
seized from the property.
“This was a drug search war
rant,” and that’s all, said Murdock.
Only agents from the Forsyth
County Sheriff’s Office were pre
sent at the search for narcotics,
said Murdock, and no GBI agents
were called to the scene.
Tallant is reportedly being held
in the Forsyth County Detention
Center pending a Superior Court
bond hearing.
Dawson County Sheriff Billy
Carlisle confirmed that numerous
callers to his department have
questioned whether Tallant is sus
pected of involvement in the Frady
case.
“He has been interviewed
involving this case, but that’s all,
and we’re not pointing any fingers
at him,” Carlisle said.
The GBI also confirmed that
Tallant “has been interviewed sev
eral times” in the Frady murder,
Road and Union Hill Road,
McFarland Road and Bluegrass
Lakes Parkway, and Hwy. 9 and
Francis Road are complete as well
as the intersection of Hwy. 141
and Laurel Springs Parkway, the
Hwy. 20 and Sanders Road inter
section, the Intersection at Old
Atlanta Road and James Burgess
Road and the intersection at Hwy.
20 and Hwy. 371.
Forty-two miles of county
roads have been resurfaced and
other intersection improvements
are either under contract or expect
ed to be bid before the end of the
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Forsyth Count yNews
d Your "Hometown Paper" Since 1908 J
USPS 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 •
4
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but Hallman pointed out that sev
eral hundred others have also been
questioned during the three-and-a
half month investigation.
“Many others have been inter
viewed on more than one occa
sion,” said Hallman. “The public
shouldn’t draw any conclusion one
way or the other because we inter
view someone.”
Hallman wouldn’t say whether
interviews with Tallant about
Frady’s murder have resulted in
leads in the case. “If he did pro
vide any information, we’re look
ing into it,” he said.
Speaking in general about the
investigation, Hallman said agents
do currently have potentially
promising leads but warned those
leads may not pan out. “We have
had promising leads in the past
that looked good and turned out to
be nothing,” he said.
Throughout any investigation,
Hallman said leads develop which
are followed until they’re either
dismissed or confirmed. s
Hallman said agents still need
the public’s help in the case.
If you have information, you’re
urged to phone investigators at the
Frady hotline at (800) 432-9284 or
the GBI at (770) 535-5423. To
mail information, write to: Frady
Case, P.O. Box 229, Dawsonville,
Ga. 30534. i
year.
Numerous road improvement
projects slated to begin in 1998 are
already in the design process
including the intersection of
Jot’em down Road and Hwy. 306
and the intersection '>of
Chattahoochee Road and
Holtzclaw Road.
Several road projects scheduled
to begin in 1999 are also in the
design phase.
(This is the first of series arti
cles leading up to the March 17
Special Purpose Local Option
Sales Tax balloting.)