Newspaper Page Text
Hot and humid
Highs in the 90s.
Lows in the 60s.
THIS ISSUE
Copyright 0199 H Forsyth County News
wjLuSs
Cartoonists’
views on
the news.
Pagel4A
Report from the
Amicalola Fitness
Festival.
Page IB
LAKE LANIER LEVELS
Uate Level
I RM® 1071.07 ft
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One of the community’s
survivors for whom the
Relay for Life was held.
Page 12A
INDEX
Abby 7A
Business SA
Classifieds .08
Community 12A
Deaths 2A
Events 6A
Horoscope 7A
Legals SB
Opinion 14A
Sports 1B
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Forsyth County News
J Your "Hometown Paper" Since 1908 J
Vol 89, No 66 ' WEDNESDAY JUNE 3, 1998
Recycling center's bids force delay
By Phillip Hermann
News Editor
The county’s new recycling center won’t
be ready by July and you can blame it on
sub-surface rock. Landfill Director Ben
Knight recommended to the Forsyth County
Commission at its May 27 meeting that bids
for the project be scrapped because they all
came in higher than the anticipated
$150,000 the county wants to spend.
The primary reason for the bids’ esti
mated cost, each well over $200,000 to do
L—_
Photos/Tom Brooks
Relay for Life
Mike Pressl led the way for i
Friday’s Survivors’ lap of the
Forsyth County Relay for Life
held at the Forsyth Central
High School track. Despite
rain, the event, which went on J
until Saturday, was a fund- and
awareness-raiser sponsored ;
by the local unit of the
American Cancer Society. With
round-the-clock entertainment,
some provided along the way
by some hoe-down staffers
from Daves Creek Elementary.
More pictures on Page 12A.
T}fH'l O&vf State aut h°rities warn boaters
-LrCLTLgtsT, about the potential for disaster
By Beth L Chester
Staff Writer
If you go boating on Lake
Lanier at night - heads up.
State Department of Natural
Resources Officers say an accident
Memorial Day weekend has high
lighted a problem they can’t seem
to get the public to recognize:
“You can’t be out in the middle of
the lake with your lights off star
gazing,” warns DNR veteran boat
ing safety patrol officer Jim Pirkle.
If you are, Pirkle says, you’re
putting your own and others’ lives
in serious danger.
Near Nix Bridge Park in
Dawson County last weekend,
four passengers in a canoe came
Physician practiced in Cumming for 53 years
Dr. Rupert H. Bramblett announces retirement
LeAnneT. Bell
Coiporate Editor
Dr. Rupert H. Bramblett of
Cumming retired Monday after
practicing medicine in Forsyth
County for 53 years. His retire
ment comes after a life-long career
which was recently found him rec
ognized as the 1998 recipient of
the Medical Association of
Georgia's Distinguished Service
Award.
The award was presented May
16 at the association’s closing cer-
the job, was the existence of rock four feet
below the service of the target site on Old
Atlanta Road.
Knight noted that the original plans for
the recycling center were that it be
“recessed” to be less obtrusive to residents
living in the area. He said that can be
accomplished at at a lower cost by building
berms around the site and using landscap
ing. The county’s original plan to try and
save as many trees as possible at the site
will remain in place.
Because the specifications will have to
-
fJKr-
close to death when a motorized
boat struck the canoe, splitting it
in half.
But DNR officials say the
operator of the boat wasn’t at fault
because it was dark, and he
couldn't see the unlit canoe.
Remarkably, officials say only
one of the four canoe passengers
was injured, when that passenger
sustained lacerations to a foot.
In short, if you’re on the lake at
night, you must operate state-man
dated running lights required for
your craft. While canoes are not
required to have attached lights,
the operator of a canoe is required
to display a flash light or other
light “in time to avoid an acci
dent,” officials say.
emony of its annual meeting in
Savannah. The meeting launched
the 8,000-member association’s
150th year of service to the people
of Georgia.
“Dr. Bramblett has a remark
able record of service to his com
munity and to his profession in the
past 50 years,” said Priscilla
Daves, speaking for the associa
tion. “He has been involved in all
the different incarnations of the
present Gwinnett-Forsyth Medical
Society since 1946.
“His life-long dedication and
be altered and the project rebid, Knight said
he anticipates construction could begin by
the end of August, two months after die tar
geted date. He added that the project should
be completed quickly because the building
will stand above ground, not as difficult a
task as building below ground.
“I’m meeting this week with CH2 Hill
to work out the redesign and get the new
specifications together,” Knight said. CH2
Hill is the engineering consulting firm
working with the county on the project.
Once completed, the new center will
Motorized boat operators must
meet much more stringent lighting
requirements, displaying lights at
both the front and rear of the boat,
in specific colors and locations
designed to let other boats operat
ing in the area know where you
are - and even more importantly
which direction and how quickly
you’re moving.
“People think the lights are to
protect only themselves - to help
them see,” said Pirkle, “but that’s
not true. They’re required so oth
ers can see you.”
More proof of how dangerous
boating without proper lighting
See DANGER, Page 3A
concern maker this third genera
tion physician and fifth generation
Forsyth Countian a superb 1998
recipient of the Medical
Association of Georgia’s
Distinguished Service Award,”
Daves said.
Bramblett’s father, Rader, and
grandfather, Martin, were physi
cians, and there has been a Dr.
Bramblett practicing in Forsyth
County since 1885.
After receiving his medical
degree from the University of
Georgia School of Medicine, later
Graduation time
for high schoolers
set for Saturday
By Laura Lavezzo
Staff Writer
Hundreds of Forsyth County high school seniors are anticipating this
Saturday as the day they leave their childhood school days behind and
venture into the adult world of college study, the work force and, in
some cases, both. Ulis week, the schools are celebrating their seniors
with picnics, Senior Days and Baccalaureate recognition ceremonies.
Graduation for all three county high schools will take place June 6 at
Lanierland Music Park. Anyone wishing to attend a graduation should
call the school for details. See this Sunday’s edition for the special sec
tion on the accomplishments of this year’s graduates.
Following is a schedule of activities complete with times for
rehearsals for each school.
• Forsyth Central High School ,
A senior picnic will be at noon on Thursday, June 4, at Cumming
City Park. Baccalaureate will be held Wednesday, June 3, at 7:30 p.m. at
First Christian Church.
Students will meet at Lanierland Music Park for graduation practice
at 8:30 a.m. on Friday, June 5, and graduation will take place at 10 a.m.
on Saturday.
For more information, call (770) 887-8151.
• North Forsyth High School
A senior picnic will be on Thursday, June 4, at Stone Mountain Park.
Baccalaureate will be on Wednesday, June 3, at 7 p.m. at First Baptist
Church.
See GRADUATION, Page 2A
Board of Education
chops charter school
By Laura Lavezzo
Staff Writer
Midway Elementary School
will likely not be functioning as a
charter school when its pupils
return this fall. The Forsyth
County Board of Education voted
3-2 Monday to defeat a motion
which would extend Midway’s
current charter school status for
one year.
In the called meeting of the
board, members Eddie Taylor,
Sherry Sagemiller and Ben
Benson voted against extending
the school’s charter status. Paul
Kreager and Don Hendricks voted
in favor of the extension.
On May 29, the motion had
failed with a split vote, with
Taylor and Hendricks voting for
an extension and Benson and
Sagemiller voting against it.
Kreager was out of town when
Friday’s meeting was called, but
wished to be included in the deci
sion-making process. The board
known as The Medical College of
Georgia, in 1944, Bramblett did
his internship at Downey Hospital
in Gainesville. He has been in
Forsyth County practicing general
medicine since 1945.
First at Mashbum Mary Alice
Hospital, Dr. Bramblett was,
among those in the community
who lobbied hard for the bond
which made the Forsyth County
Hospital possible under the Hill-
Burton Act. When it opened in
See BRAMBLETT, Page 3A
offer bins for residents to bring their glass,
plastic, aluminum, some metals and news
paper and recyclable office paper. There
will be a compactor on site for cardboard
and two compactors to compress trash.
There also will be a solid waste disposal
“convenience center” at the site for house
hold trash, Knight noted.
The county already has ordered the com
pactors and other equipment for the center
using a portion of an SBO,OOO grant from the
See RECYCLING, Page 2A
agreed to meet again for further
discussion on June 1, Midway’s
deadline to apply for an extension.
Midway principal Dr. Dennis
Whittle pleaded that Midway is a
unique school with devoted par
ents who have worked very hard
to develop and achieve academic
goals under the charter granted
them in 1995. Whittle cited pro
grams such as extended day and
CORE Knowledge as reasons
why Midway should remain a
charter school. He said parents
have discussed the possibility of
starting the school day earlier,
implementing after-school enrich
ment programs and converting
completely to a CORE
Knowledge school as an alterna
tive to the revised, state-required
Quality Core Curriculum.
“Our community is becoming
more and more populated by fam
ilies with two working parents,”
See CHARTER, Page 4A
' Dr. Rupert H. Bramblett