Newspaper Page Text
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Highs in the 50s
Lows in the 40s.
THIS ISSUE
Copyright © 1997 Forsyth County News
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Cartoonist’s view
on the news
Page 9A
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The latest basketball
region tourney results.
Rage IB
LAKE LANIER LEVELS
Date Level
Feb. 15 N/A
Feb. 16 107r.65ft
Feb. 17 1071.96 ft
Feb. 18 1072.04 ft *
Ngrtnal 1070.00
Boy Scouts attend
Pinewood Derby
Page6A
INDEX
Abby 8A
-Church 4A
Classifieds 5B
Deaths 3A
Entertainment 1C
Events 5A
Horoscope 8A
School 7A
Sports IB
COMING
SUNDAY
Men of Forsyth
Profiles on men of the county
who contribute their efforts to
enhance community life.
Missed paper policy:
. For a replacement paper call
8 a.m. to 6 P.m. Wednesday and
Friday, ana 9 a.m. to I p.m. on
Sunday-887-3128/
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Forsyth County News
J Your "Hometown Paper" Since 1908 • FM6130 0 , /a3/98
GO DAWGS!!!
Vol. 89, No. 22
Testimony begins in neighbor murder case
By Michael Kurtz
Staff Writer
Two murder cases with Forsyth County
ties got into motion this week.
On Monday, the prosecution started
calling witnesses in the trial of Phillip
Hugh Hammond.
He is accused of the shooting and
killing of James Ray Babb during a domes
tic dispute on May 14.
According to reports from the Forsyth
County Sheriff’s office, the argument began
as a phone conversation between Hammond
Beanie Babies up for bid
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Photo/Tom Brooks
Holly Drummond shows one of the “Princess” Beanie Babies up for auction.
... benefiting
By Sheri Toomey
Staff Writer
How much is that Beanie Baby in the
window?
Would you believe $400?
Parsons in Lakeland Plaza is auctioning
off 12 “Princess” Beanie Babies with pro
ceeds going to the United Way.
“Princess” is iy Inc.’s way of remem
bering Princess Di and her compassion for
those less fortunate.
The bear is purple, signifying royalty,
with a white rose stitched over her heart.
Princess Di was known as the white rose of
England.
Ty is donating all proceeds from
Preschooler immunization rate up
By Laura Lavezzo
Staff Writer
Forsyth County’s rate of
immunization for preschoolers
was higher in 1997 than the
state of Georgia’s.
According to Scottish Rite
Children’s Medical Center,
who sponsored the campaign
to “Immunize Georgia’s Little
Guys,” the overall immuniza
tion rate was 92.31 percent
county-wide, while the state’s
Photo/Tom Brooks
Members of the planning
board and the Board of
Commissioners met to
discuss changes to the
zoning application
process and how to
regulate planned unit
developments.
Your "Hometown Paper” Since 1908 «
and Babb.
Following the phone conversation, Babb
allegedly walked over to Hammond’s
house.
Hammond met him in the street and
shot Babb in the face with a 12-gauge
semi-automatic shotgun.
A jury of eight men and six women,
which includes two alternates, listened as
high-profile defense attorney Bobby Lee
Cook cross-examined witnesses, including
Babb’s ex-wife.
Cook’s cross examination of District
Attorney Garry Moss’ case has dealt main-
United Way
“Princess” sales to the Princess Di fund,
said Chris Willis, collectibles manager/part
owner of Parsons.
Ty encouraged participating stores to
use the first 12 “Princess” bears they
ordered to raise money for charity.
Parsons donated the 12 bears to United
Way and all proceeds from the auction will
go to the organization as well.
Bids ranged from $205 to $450 as of
press time Wednesday.
Those who want to participate in the
auction have until Saturday, Feb. 21, at 5
p.m. to make their final bids.
High bidders will be notified of the
results once the numbers are all in, said
Willis.
rate was 89 percent, up one
point from 1996.
The Georgia Department of
Human Resources’
Immunization Program and
Scottish Rite announced the
statistics at the fifth annual
statewide immunization coali
tion meeting last week.
The preschooler immuniza
tion statistics represent 21-
month to 23-month-olds vacci
nated in county health depart
ments who have received four
FRIDAY FEBRUARY 20, 1998
doses of diphtheria, tetanus and
pertussis (DTa/DTP), three
doses of polio and one dose of
measles, mumps and rubella
(MN®).
Linda Rucker, a public
health nurse for Forsyth
County, said the positive news
comes as a result of Gov. Zell
Miller’s initiative to ensure at
age 2 every child in the state
has received the appropriate
immunizations.
See RATE, Page 2A
ly with interviews of law enforcement per
sonnel who worked the case.
Judge Frank Mills upheld one defense
objection to not allow testimony from a
deputy concerning an alcohol test adminis
tered to Hammond after the murder.
Moss can provide an expert witness
about the accuracy of the Intoxilizer 5,000
machine if he wants to pursue the line of
questioning.
Testimony was expected to last through
out the week.
In a separate murder case in Fulton
County, Tuesday, the probable cause hear-
Passing a school bus
could be deadly, costly
By Michael Kurtz
Staff Writer
The Sheriff’s Office and the school
board are combining forces to crack
down on a dangerous situation dri
vers passing stopped school buses.
“It’s becoming a real problem,”
said Sheriff’s Office spokesperson
Karleen Chalker.
During the past week, traffic unit
deputies arrested three people for over
taking and passing school buses drop
ping off and picking up children.
The incidents aren’t just occurring
in subdivisions.
Fingerprints, photo may solve
Lanier Bank and Trust robbery
By Michael Kurtz
Staff Writer
Investigators say they have strong
leads in the Feb. 13 robbery of the
Lakeland Plaza Lanier Bank and Trust.
Sheriff’s Office detective Gus
Sesam said forensic evidence could
lead to a suspect within the next week.
“We are waiting for FBI lab reports
on fingerprints,” said Sesam.
He would not comment on whether
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Business research
Bev Zwick, Forsyth County Library information specialist, shows
Chamber of Commerce members Virginia Krekling and Sandra
Browning how to use the library’s resources to help their businesses.
ing for the two suspects in the beheading
murder of Ronnie Allen Davis at the
request of Fulton County prosecutor Janet
Perlman Manchel.
Michael B. LeJeune, 21, and Rekha
Ananda Anand, 21, were arrested Jan. 20 at
their Holcomb Bridge Road apartment.
The two are accused of murdering Davis
at their apartment, decapitating and dismem
bering the body, dumping it at the Hopewell
United Methodist Church Cemetery and
lighting it on fire.
See MURDER, Page 2A
One person was cited for passing a
bus on Buford Dam Road. A juvenile
was picked up on Gravitt Road after
going around a stopped bus. And one
person was cited for passing buses on
numerous occasions in the Ivy Walk
subdivision.
Georgia law requires any driver
meeting a stopped school bus to stop
their vehicle.
On roads which are not separated
by a median, drivers traveling behind a
bus or approaching one from the other
See BUS, Page 2A
fingerprints were lifted at the scene or
what other evidence has been recov
ered.
He said, however, that he has physi
cal evidence which is promising.
In addition to lab reports, Sesam
said he is also waiting for an enhanced
photograph of the robber taken by the
bank’s security cameras.
The Sheriff’s Office released a
See ROBBERY, Page 2A
Boards talk stricter rules
for zoning applications
By Sheri Toomey
Staff Writer
The Forsyth County Planning Commission and the
Board of Commissioners Tuesday discussed zoning
application procedures for public hearings.
During the monthly planning commission meetings,-
rezoning applications will be heard in the order listed on
the agenda. If the applicant or representative does not
appear at the meeting, the application will be rejected
unless the applicant can reasonably explain his absence.
Those who have comments regarding an upcoming
project will be heard by the planning commission.
Advocates and opposition will both have equal time, no
less than 10 minutes, to voice their views.
See ZONING, Page 2A