Funding for the digitization of this title was provided by Georgia HomePLACE, a project of the Georgia Public Library Service, the Forsyth County Government, an ARPA Digital Inclusion grant, and the State of Georgia.
Newspaper Page Text
I w
nW
<
• • >*
THIS ISSUE
Copyright © 1998 Forsyth County News
HF
kM
~i
* **’
a , ' *" '*
of Forsyth]
Section D
V '
Review of Thursday
and Friday’s football.
Page 1C
LAKE LANIER LEVELS
Date Level
Sept. 22 1065.33 ft
Sept. 23 1065.33 ft
Sept 24 1065.26 ft
Sept. 25 1065.67 ft
Normal 1071.00 ft
Citizen studies
- Georgia’s salt marsh.
Page IB
INDEX
......m....................*.*...*... J B
• Business.....BA
C1a55ified5...........4C
Health..sß
Forsyth Lifelß
GovernmentllA
Horoscope7B
Opinion •■■•••■•■•••••••••••••■•••••a 14A
Schools •■••■■••« ••■•••••••••••••■
SportslC
Internet address:
www.forsythnews.com
COMING
WEDNESDAY
Commentary Galore
Read Walker Bramblett,
Bill Shipp and Phil Danner in
Wednesday edition.
Missed paper policy:
For a replacement paper, call
8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday and
Friday, and 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on
Sunday - (770) 887-3126.
If
■ GO DAWGS!!!
' . ■ I . NEWSPAPER GEORGIA
rorsy th Count f? „ s
J Your "Hometown Paper” Since 1908 J
Vol. 89. No. 117
I ; • i-W/ I
■ OWr •
F X
\
X
1 8K
\ \ M fl
\ \. t- IMBKJ
■- 1%. A- v
i s -Ba, .-.v X 3
IXX k .
\ * i .'
Xx
iSmh
IS
Photo/Chris Pugh
Little artist at work
At the recent Early Childhood PTA Fair, Megan Crane, the daughter of
Mary Lou and Joe Crane, took advantage of the painting activity to
sharpen her artistic skills. See Page 6A for more scenes from the fair.
High, middle schools fare
well on latest report card
By Laura Lavezzo
Lifestyle Editor
Forsyth County ranks near the top
of the list among Northeast Georgia’s
middle and high schools, according to
the 1998 Georgia Report Card for
Parents published last Monday.
Published by the Georgia Public
Policy Foundation, the report is typical
ly sent out to the media, Chambers of
Commerce and other businesses - but
not to the school systems it reports on.
One of many such “report cards”
published annually, this one was pro
duced using criteria such as test
results (lowa Test of Basic Skills,
High School Graduation Test and SAT
scores) percentage of students eligible
Johnson sentenced to life
in kidnapping with injury
By Colby Jones
Staff Writer
A 24-year-old Forsyth
County man faces life in prison
after a jury found him guilty of
kidnapping with bodily injury,
armed robbery, burglary and
lesser charges Thursday.
The verdict came after three
days of testimony and two
hours of deliberation by the
Verdict being awaited in
vehicular homicide case
By Colby Jones
Staff Writer
The fate of an Alpharetta
man indicted on four counts of
first-degree vehicular homicide
was resting in the hands of a
jury.
Jody McGinnis allegedly
killed a Suwanee man while
driving under the influence of
alcohol and marijuana last
SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 27, 1998
to participate in the free and reduced
lunch program and the poverty index.
“If you look at our high schools,
they all three rank in the top 10,” said
Dr. Allene Magill, superintendent of
Forsyth County Schools. “That’s
good, but it’s hard to judge because
there are so many report cards out
there.”
Magill said the Forsyth County
School System does not rely on the
information provided by the Georgia
Public Policy Foundation, adding that
the information is usually compiled
long after the school system has had
access to it.
See SCHOOLS, Page 2A
eight-man and four-woman
jury.
Because of prior felonies,
Jason Wayne Johnson couldn’t
escape the mandatory life sen
tence for kidnapping with bodi
ly injury. Prosecutors said
Johnson and longtime friend
Jerry Lee Lancaster robbed
Thelma Hammond at knife-
See LIFE, Page 2A
February when his 1994 Toyota
pickup truck broadsided a 1994
Chrysler Concorde driven by
i Albert Rourke Jr., 63.
Rourke died at the scene.
Two eyewitnesses said they
i saw McGinnis’ ‘vehicle run the
red light at the intersection of
Hwy. 9 and Bethel view Road
: on Feb. 18,1997.
See VERDICT, Page 2A
Competitors 'muddied'
amphitheater proposal,
says developer Conlon
By LeAnne T. Bell
Corporate Editor
The water has been muddied in the amphithe
ater issue, and the developer of a proposed per
forming arts center named Twin Creek says his
competitors are at work.
“My competitors have gotten involved and
they did that in Alpharetta,” said Peter Conlon,
co-president of Concert/Southern Promotions,
which is now a wholly-owned subsidiary of SFX
Entertainment.
“They muddied the water,” Conlon said, even
helping to finance a citizens’ group to organize
and pass out leaflets. “That’s what we’re hearing
here now.”
On Thursday, Conlon addressed some of the
issues and concerns which have been raised sur
rounding the proposal he and Alex Cooley want
to bring to Forsyth County.
The performing arts center is being proposed
for part of the 190-acre tract the county contract
ed to purchase in August as the site of the coun
ty’s first water production plant. The additional
property was announced tas an be area for ball
fields and other recreational facilities. It was
referred to as Central Park, which had been
pledged to the community as a part of the Special
Purpose Local Option Sales Tax #3. An estimat
ed $2 million was earmarked for purchase of
property in the central section of the county for
creation of a park. That money remains in the
bank and construction funds for the park were
scheduled for SPLOST #4, for which the county
received its first check this week in the amount
of $1,140,874. Cumming receives 15 percent of
that total for its share of the sales tax pie.
See PROPOSAL, Page 2A
I.JKUr
- I. ' .r x'x ' ••
Photo/Tom Brooks
Three-vehicle wreck claims motorcyclists life
Traffic was snarled Thursday morning as the law enforcement and emergency crews
shut down a portion of McGinnis Ferry Road where a fatal accident occurred. Twenty
nine-year-old Louis Edward McGee of Lawrenceville was killed in the wreck when his
motorcycle struck a car, he flipped over it and was struck by another vehicle. See story
on Page 2A.
K 3M Si/.- |
Lrr ' X
w! -X. 'APRfc • I
’ J * * . 1
wJFr C.— ,i;w r a, -
Photo/Tom Brooks
Fred Hawkins has spent seven decades as a subscriber.
■ ' .r-.
Protest planned
for Monday as
BOC convenes
The Forsyth County Board of
Commissioners is expected to be greeted
by youthful players in ball uniforms as
members arrive for the Monday 5 p.m.
board meeting.
Citizens for a Better Forsyth, a group
which is organizing against the amphithe
ater and as a watch-dog organization, is
sponsoring the demonstration.
“We will be demonstrating support to
our commissioners as we circle the County
Administration Building,” said Cindy J.
Mills, co-treasurer of the group. “We hope
this circle will show our commissioners
how united we stand in wanting the park
that they told us we would get.
“We need all of our youth there in uni
form representing the sport that they play.
Please take time to help us,” Mills said.
She encouraged parents to have their
children make and carry signs supporting
Central Park.
The board will convene at 5 p.m. Public
hearings on zoning matters, alcohol license
requests and the close-out hearing on the
Community Development Block Grant for
the mental health center will convene at 7
p.m.
Subscriber of
70 years renews
‘News ’ again
By Alton Bridges
Staff Writer
Fred Hawkins subscribed to the
Forsyth County News recently for the
70th year.
In 1928, Hawkins paid his annual
subscription of $3 and talked with Joe
Patterson, who was the owner and only
employee of the News.
“The paper was located where Vittles
on the Square is now located,” Hawkins
remembers. “Patterson had on a green
visor and an apron that was covered
with ink because he had to set the type
by hand. The paper and Cumming has
come a long was since then. I’m glad I
have seen the area grow and prosper as
it has since I was bom.
“This century has been remarkable. I
wouldn’t want to go back to the muddy
roads, long working hours and no real
hospitals,” said Hawkins, who says he
was bom on July 25,1906.
His family moved to the area long
before he was bom. “The first Hawkins
to come into this area was John Samuel
Hawkins, who was born in 1817’and
:• ‘
See NEWS, Page‘4A
