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THIS ISSUE
< op> right © 1997 Fnriyth County News
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Cartoonists’
views on
the news.
Page 18A
Casting Kids in
competition at
Lakeland Plaza.
Page IB
LAKE LANIER LEVELS
Date Level
June 12 1071.70 ft
June 13 1071.66 ft
June 14 1071.67 ft
June 15 1071.67 ft
Normal 1070.00 ft
F
Model home opens for
new development
Page 8A
INDEX
Abby 11A
Business 8A
Classifieds .68
Deaths .2 A
Events 10A
Horoscope 11A
Legals....._ .48
Opinion 18A
School 14 A
Sports IB
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FRIDAY
Entertainment Extra
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Forsyth County News
J Your "Hometown Paper" Since 1908 J
Vol. 89 No. 72
> --- - ---■ ■■■
Interviews begin for new district attorney
By Michael Kurtz
Staff Writer
The governor’s office will set up inter
views this week with Forsyth County’s
three candidates for district attorney, but
there could be a delay on the federal level.
Amanda Hamilton, spokesman for Gov.
Zell Miller, said the Georgia Bureau of
Investigation completed background checks
of the candidates for the first DA of the
Bell-Forsyth Superior Court last week.
But the state is still waiting for approval
on the new circuit from the federal govern-
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Spice up the 4th with the twist
By Sheri Toomey
Lifestyle Editor
Get ready to twist around the
square.
The city of Cumming will hold a
twist contest Friday, July 3, after the
Independence Day fireworks.
The contest is for children 12
and under and was the brainchild of
Butch Evans of Butch and the
Buckheads. Mayor H. Ford Gravitt
asked him to think up something to
entertain the crowds after the annu
al fireworks display more than three
years ago.
Butch said he thought about the
daily twist contest his band hosted
out at Lake Lanier Islands and how
well it was received.
"It was a real crowd-pleaser,"
said Evans.
This year all proceeds from the
twist contest will benefit The
Place’s youth program which was
also Evans' idea.
ment.
“We have to get pre-clearance from the
Justice Department or the District Court in
Washington D.C.,” said Deputy Attorney
General Dennis Dunn.
Pre-clearance is a requirement under the
Voting Rights Act of 1965.
As a result of the act, states which had
laws considered discriminatory to minority
groups must get approval from the federal
government before enacting laws changing
voting lines, polling places or positions.
Dunn said the Voting Rights Act was
High school flashbacks:
poodle skirts, yearbooks
and juke box music
Examining the styles of high school days when
long gloves with gowns and white coats accented
with boutonnieres were the fashion, the 290
attending the Forsyth County High School reunion
over the weekend could reminisce while looking
over yearbooks and photographs and discussing
where the past 40 or so years have gone. With five
different high school classes - all of which moved
into the brand-new high school for the 1955-56
school year - coming together for the reunion was
a venture which some said couldn’t be done. But
for Rupert Sexton, one of the leaders of the Class
of ‘57, it was a challenge which was met with suc
cess. ‘They all did an excellent job,” Sexton said of
the planners. He said he issued a challenge to the
Class of 1959 to continue the new tradition. At left,
Lynette Harris McElroy, who was dressed in a poo
dle-shirt from the day, examined a school year
book. She traveled from Sidney, Neb., to attend
the school reunion. More scenes from the reunion
on Page 7A.
Photos/Chris Pugh
“I thought about all the stuff
with kids in the schools,” said
Evans, referring to some kids “not
getting enough attention. It’s some
thing for them and it’s their first
civic activity.”
Easter egg hunts, library trips,
picnics and swimming are all part
of the youth program, said Dolores
Mitchell, executive director of The
Place.
Evans has been running around
the four corners of the county for
the past two weeks getting the word
out about the contest and putting up
posters.
There will be eight judges cho
sen from among the 25 sponsors
and eight finalists who will win T
shirts and pizza. The crowd will
chooie the top three twisters with
their applause. These top three win
ners will receive either a SSOO, S3OO
See TWIST, Page 2A
WEDNESDAY JUNE 17, 1998
Honored
Sgt. Rod Johnson is pinned as
an honorary colonel by his wife,
Elaine, Saturday at a benefit
held in their honor. The benefit
raised $4,000 to help Rod and
Elaine pay their medical bills
resulting from Rod’s recent
back surgery and Elaine’s fight
with cancer.
Photos/Tom Brooks
created to stop practices such as charging
poll taxes, redistricting lines to keep blacks
from having a majority vote and moving
voting locations to areas which minorities
couldn’t get to.
The act includes Forsyth County’s court
district and the 14 judgeships created by the
Georgia General Assembly last session.
“Whenever a new slot is created, we
take the statute the General Assembly
passed and send it off to the Justice
Department,” Dunn said.
The Justice Department reviews the
Food service law
still in question
By Phillip Hermann
News Editor
It’s been nearly six months since the Forsyth County Board of
Commissioners conducted a public hearing on two new ordinances
designed to speed the process of correcting food service and sewerage
related violations.
Right now, both proposals appear to be dead in the water and there’s
speculation by some county insiders that the situation will continue.
Under the proposals, enforcement of such violations would fall to the
county’s Environmental Health Department and be adjudicated in
Magistrate Court, rather than Forsyth County Superior Court.
It’s the second time in the past three years that such changes have
been proposed, with the first go-round failing by a close vote by the
commission in 1995.
Depending on who you talk to at the county level, the continued
delays on voting on the changes are the result of legal issues, discus
sions on who should issue citations and concerns about the ability of
Environmental Health Department staff to handle the job.
County Administrator Stevie Mills said Monday that it’s his under
standing that the commissioners have delayed voting on the proposals
because of concerns by some of them about adopting state regulations as
See FOOD, Page 2A
Man dies in one-car wreck
By Michael Kurtz
Staff Writer
An Acworth man is dead after
a one-vehicle accident on
McFarland Road early Sunday
evening.
According to the Sheriff’s
office, Gerald Folson, 33, died
after losing control of the Ford
pickup truck he was driving.
The right front lire left the
roadway and got caught in a
crevice on the side of the road,
said Sheriff’s office spokesman
Karleen Chalker.
“He apparently tried to jerk the
wheel back and lost control,”
Chalker said.
The truck flipped at least three
times. Folson was ejected from the
vehicle and landed in a wooded
area near the road, Chalker said.
He was transported to North
Fulton Hospital where he died
from head and internal injuries.
Two passengers in the truck
had to be freed by rescue workers.
Dr I f x
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statute and determines whether it would
result in discrimination against any minority
groups.
Dunn said the majority of statutes are
approved within the 60-day time limit.
“Georgia sends about 25-30 items a year to
Justice. One objection is unusual,” Dunn
said.
The Justice Department has 60 days to
approve or reject the legislation. If the
department fails to respond one way or
See INTERVIEWS, Page 2A
Folson’s wife, Ellen, 35, suf
fered lacerations to her arm and
face, a broken shoulder and sever
al broken ribs. She was trapped for
more than a half hour, Chalker
said.
Randall Grider, 29 of Acworth,
was treated at North Fulton
Hospital for minor injuries and
released.
Chalker said the accident is
still under investigation and no
charges have been filed.
No other vehicles were
involved.
This was the 14th traffic fatali
ty in Forsyth County.
On Sunday, funeral services
were held for 3-month-old
Brittany Walker.
She was taken off life support
at Scottish Rite Children’s
Hospital during the weekend after
being critically injured in a wreck
on Ga. 400 Friday night.
The Georgia State Patrol is still
investigating the case.
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