Newspaper Page Text
■ vvwWw
Showers early.
Highs in the mid-60s.
Lows near 40.
THIS ISSUE j
Copyright © 1999 Forsyth County News
Rookie of the Year
honors
Page IB
Abby, horoscopes,
toons and puzzles.
Page6A
'LAKE LANIER LEVELS
Data -Level
March 20 1067.38 ft
i. March 21 1667.40 ft
March 227- 1067.41 ft
Normal lOroOO
vnmhrmb|
,
Easter egg hunts
galore on track.
Page 5A
.?• i
INDEX i
Abby..-
Business —IB
Classifieds —4B
Community 8A
Deaths 2A
Events.. 5A
Kids'Page 4A
; Opinion 7A
Horoscope 6A
Sports extra SB
' ' * 1 1
COMING
FRIDAY
Entertainment Exira
Soap Opera Updates, Critics
Comer, Jill Jackson's Hollywood,
Country Music
all in Friday's edition.
Missed paper policy:
. For a replacement paper call
8 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. Wednesday,
Thursday and Fnday, and 9 a.m. -1
p.m. on Sunday - (770) 887*3118.
Forsyth Count
•/ Your "Hometown Paper" Since 1908 •/
Ivol 90, No. 37
Sheriff: Pleased to have police help
By Colby Jones
Staff Writer
I An officer will not sit at the information
desk in the administration building any
more, but that does not mean the Sheriff’s
Office will not provide adequate security in
county buildings, Sheriff Denny Hendrix
said Tuesday in response to the county
commission’s decision to ask the city
police department for its help.
Commissioners voted unanimously
Monday night to request an intergovern-
1 \ 1 nB W h! n ll
' * isl ... ..
i V " - - Photo/Tomßrooks
This Snap ‘N Strap stops at Heardsville and Franklin Goldmine roads started as a traffic violation but ended
in a drug bust by Snap 'N Strap K-9 officer David Garrison and dog Lindee.
School improvement on lawmakers’ minds
By James Salzer
Morris News Service
ATLANTA - Students could get
credit for taking SAT preparation
courses; teachers may have an easier
time keeping troublemakers out of
their classrooms, and schools would
be mandated to teach children
about character - all under educa
tion bills that passed the House
and Senate Monday.
The General Assembly also
agreed to set up a committee to
study more comprehensive educa
tion reform over the summer.
Gov. Roy Barnes plans to chair a
panel that will look at possible
changes in the state’s more-than
decade-old Quality Basic Education
reform law and school accountability.
The SAT bill was approved by the
Veteran recalls venture of
war and his homecoming
By Alton Bridges
Staff Writer
In the 1840 s, the great-grandfather of
William J. Fagan decided to build a little
store at his home in the newly formed
county of Forsyth.
The store was built at the
crossing of what is today Hwy.
141 and Sharon Road. Both
these roads were small trails and
the people living nearby were
small farmers. At that time, the
seat of state government was in
Milledgeville.
In 1925, the family built a
store on the hill. Today the store
has been enlarged and is still a
place where people stop when
traveling along Hwy. 141.
William J. Fagan remembers returning
to the store when he was released from
active duty at the end of World War 11.
“We couldn’t write our family and tell
them where we were and what we were
doing,” said Fagan. “Our letters were cen-
mental contract from the City of Cumming
to provide security for county buildings.
Commissioner Andy Anderson made
the motion after receiving a letter from Col.
Earl Singletary last week.
“We are forced to reduce this position to
an occasional walk-through type security.
As you probably already know, Judge
[Ralph] Jackson has required us to trans
port inmates from the detention center to
his office for first appearance hearings and
warrant hearings. This has placed a tremen
dous strain on an already over stressed
House 92-71 despite criticism that
giving students credit to prepare for a
single test sends a bad message. J
Georgia’s students have
ranked 49th on the much- /
watched Scholastic S'
Assessment Test exam for K
years, despite the state’s
Li jU J
pouring millions of dollars into
preparatory software and classes.
Georgia’s average score ranks
ahead of only South Carolina in part
because so many high schoolers here
take the test. In many other states,
only the top students take the SAT,
sored and that type of information was cut
out of the letters. No telephones existed in
the community, so we couldn’t call home
when we wanted. I was sent back from
Europe to Newport News, Va., and then to
Fort Gordon at Augusta. They wanted to
discharge everyone as quickly as
possible because it was
Christmas. I got discharged at
two o’clock in the morning and
started for Cumming.”
Fagan caught a bus to Atlanta
and then took a bus that was
owned and operated by Fred
Jones of Dahlonega. The bus
route followed Hwy. 9 through
Cumming, Dawsonville and
Dahlonega. The bus stopped at
Fagan
Bill Poole's restaurant just north of .the
courthouse. “I looked around the town
and not a lot of changes had taken place
while I was gone,” remembers Fagan. “I
was just happy to be home.”
See VETERAN, Page 2A
THURSDAY MARCH 25, 1999
which is used by colleges to help
* determine admission.
Under the bill that gained
final approval Monday,
students can earn half of
an elective credit for the
SAT prep class.
“This will allow us to
who handled the
bill in the House.
However, Rep. Charlie Smith, D-
St. Marys, argued against giving cred
it to students to prepare for one test.
“Their motives are good, but the
See SCHOOL, Page 3A
demand for services from this department,”
stated Singletary.
Jackson had issued an order to Hendrix
earlier this month informing the Sheriff that
magistrate judges would hold first appear
ance hearings in the Government Annex
building instead of at the county detention
facility.
“We are pleased as a peach the Board of
Commissioners has asked to enlist the help
of the city because we all have the same
mission,” Hendrix said Tuesday. However,
he noted the city limits stop at the door to
perform better
on this very
important indica
tor,” said Rep.
| Carolyn Hugley,
" D-Columbus,
■ EL fl If B
Photo/Tom Brooks
Mrs. Cumming Nursing Center crowned
On Saturday, Eloise Turner was all smiles when she received the title of Mrs.
Cumming Nursing Center and was crowned with a tiara. She also received* a
sash, a bouquet of roses and a plaque. Activities director Ila Lark, who assisted
with the crowning beneath the magnolia-draped trellis, applauds the winner.
Master of ceremonies was Rick Lee. See Page 8A for more pictures.
county-owned buildings and state law
would require him to authorize city police
officers to work in the jurisdiction of the
county.
The motion read by Anderson asked the
city to provide necessary manpower to
patrol and “otherwise provide security to
county publicly owned buildings and prop
erty at such times and places it deems
appropriate and necessary...”
The request offers no payment to the
See SHERIFF, Page 2A
Strap ‘N Snap nets
drug, traffic arrests
By Colby Jones
Staff Writer
More than 100 citations were issued this week as state
and local law enforcement agencies cracked down on seat
belt violators as part of the ongoing Strap ‘N Snap program.
The Sheriff’s Office and Georgia State Patrol set up
checkpoints on county roads from Monday through
Wednesday during the seventh wave of the operation. The
program, set up by the Department of Public Safety, has been
credited with helping to increase seat belt usage in the state
to 76.4 percent.
“In law enforcement, we have all seen accidents where a
person was seriously injured of killed primarily because they
were not wearing a seat belt. As a matter of fact, the injuries
from our last two serious traffic accidents can be directly
attributed to the persons not wearing their seat belts,” said
Sheriff Denny Hendrix.
See ARREST, Page 3A
Third site proposed
for cellular tower
By Jim Riley
Staff Writer
At their meeting Monday night, the Forsyth County
Commissioners held several public hearings regarding
zoning issues.
SBA Georgia Towers presented the third alternate site
for a proposed cellular tower after meeting stiff resistance
from surrounding subdivisions.
The current site on Browns Bridge Road involves
rezoning a parcel of land from HB (highway business) to
CT (communications tower).
Attorney Woody Galloway, who represented SBA,
spoke in favor of the proposed 191-foot monopole tower.
“The site does meet our coverage requirements, and is a
great alternative to the previous site,” he said.
The original proposal involved placing a 250-foot las-.
tice type tower close to the Timberline and Little Mill
subdivisions.
Several of the original members of the “no on the
tower” committee spoke and said they would not opposite
this alternate site. “Each one of us wishes that cell towers
were not necessary in Forsyth County,” said Linda Ebert.
See TOWER, Page 2A
50 Cents