Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page.

Possible Rain I ■ I High in the high 80s. Low in the low 70s. THIS ISSUE Copyright C 29M Forwyth County Newii AMC, Prestige Cable honor local contest winner. Page7A ' I I „ . . ♦ j '. r J ' - ♦ ® Juniors tee off at Ode Atlanta Golf Club. Page IB LAKE LANIER LEVELS Date Level June 9 1067.28 ft June 10 1067.14 ft June 11 1067.12 ft June 12 1067.07 ft Normal 1071.00 ft ~ P 'W **» ** jik I rcL * ■ ■ Dear Abby dishes out good advice. RagelOA INDEX Abby 10A Business . 9A Classifieds 5B Community 4A Deaths 2A Horoscope 10A Legate 3B Opinion 12A Sports... IB COMING THURSDAY Community Living Sunday singing returns to Forsyth County - all in Thursday's special section. Missed paper policy: For a replacement paper, call 8 am. - 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, and 9 a.m. -1 p.m. on Sunday - (770) M 7-3120. w Forsvfh CZ oi i nt' *- s JL vZLIj y 111 swswp ' J Your "Hometown Paper" Since 190 .Vo \c 92 Low water pressure leaves area high, dry By Jonathan Hamilton Staff Writer Tasks as simple as taking showers and flushing toilets have become an ordeal lately for some Forsyth County residents because of low pressure in the county water system. Since the state last week imposed a daily outdoor watering ban from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., some county residents have found little or no water available from their taps in the four-hour period before the ban takes effect. “The Y2K preparations that we took are coming in handy,” JS, ' VJT • , Bk *. I jat^ : ' > ' .< iwMr ..J£WmßMftw>P 22k ■ ▼X. Jbst \ r JI Jr - r \ It ft fwl' WOfci trWw y w Girl Scouts tour new fire safety house By Lisa Renzi Staff Writer The Forsyth County Fire Department gave something more to the community’s youth Thursday as Station 15 hosted Brownie Troop 3784 in an effort to share valuable fire safety infor mation that could potentially save lives. Under the guidance of Troop Leader Jackie Parker and Assistant Troop Leader Pam Elzey, the girls from Chatta hoochee Elementary met with Fire Education Officer Sam Henderson and Chief Norris Bennett at the county’s Fire Safety House to get a rundown of what to do in a fire. “It’s really a valuable teaching tool because we can tell and explain fire safety, and now we can show them as well,” said Henderson. “We can let the chil dren practice some of the things they can do to keep them safe in their homes, schools or anyplace they are visiting.” The house is, in essence, a two-story portable trailer that is designed to imitate an actual Watering ban expanded The Forsyth County Commiss ion has expanded the county’s watering ban. See Page 2A for the full story. said Aberdeen subdivision resi dent Steve Kirkpatrick. Because of the lack of water pressure, his family has resorted to keeping buckets of water so they can flush toilets early in the morning. The Forsyth County De partment of Water and Sewer believes the problem has been Photo/Tom Brooks Scout members feel around on the floor for an escape as the county’s new fire safety house fills with smoke. house. Set up as many real homes are, the safety house comes equipped with a fireplace, a down stairs living area and kitchen and sleeping quarters on the second floor. Once the scouts were assem bled in the house, Henderson explained the principles of fire safety and achieving a safe escape in the event of an actual fire. After the lesson, the scouts had WEDNESDAY ‘ . limited to the south end of the county. “The problem isn’t not having enough water to get to the resi dents,” said Mitch Clarke, Forsyth County spokesman. “The problem we are having is a pressure prob lem. You can only get so much water through the pipes.” Doug Mercer, city of Cumming water superintendent, said the city has not experienced any water pressure problems this year. “The watering ban has certain ly made the situation worse,” Kirkpatrick said, “i understand why the state issued the outdoor an opportunity to try out some of their new skills. The house has a unique mech anism that mimics an actual fire. First, the building fills with non toxic smoke to show the children that, in the event of fire, they need to crawl on the ground to be able to breathe the cleanest and coolest air. See FIRE, Page 2A Lanierland Music Park hosted the graduation cer emonies of three county high schools Saturday. For more information and photos, see Page 11A Photos/Tom Brooks « Sr V •>. ’ V’ * 4"' F — 7-7 HHE HW® fl -’-S Photo/Tom Brooks Aberdeen subdivision resident Steve Kirkpatrick says his family has resorted to keeping buckets of water so they can flush toilets early in the morning. watering ban. It makes getting ready in the morning a challenge.” Several times in the past few weeks Aberdeen residents have Let the future commence Board upholds electrical inspector’s suspension By Colby Jones Staff Writer An appeals board has decided a senior electrical inspector with the Forsyth County Planning and Zoning Department deserved to lose a week’s pay after he alleged ly spread rumors that he would try to get his boss fired. The Civil Service Board upheld Gill Johnson’s five-day suspension and loss of about $525 pay following a Thursday hearing. Johnson received the suspen sion in March after allegedly telling a coworker during a lunch meeting that he planned to attempt to get Chief Building Inspector Tony Pierce fired. The coworker testified Johnson told him he had two county commissioners “in his pocket” and could get a third vote by contributing money to another commissioner’s re-election cam paign. Pierce said he knew about the rumors and had previously warned his entire staff about the pitfalls of office gossip. The director of the county’s planning and zoning department, Jeff Watkins, approved Pierce’s decision to sus pend Johnson on March 3. Pierce, who represented him- ... . 50 CcnH not been able to get water until after 10 a.m. The outdoor water- See WATER, Page 2A Farmers’ Market reopens in county By Cheryl Rhodes Features Writer Smoldering heat’s not the only thing to roll back into Forsyth County with the arrival of sum mer. The kitchen sink sandwich is back. Each Wednesday and Saturday at the Cumming fairgrounds, beginning today at 7 a.m., local farmers and gardeners will be backing up their pickups filled with homegrown, backyard fare and sharing the wealth, It is an annual tradition that will continue through the early fall and one that vendors and cus tomers alike eagerly await. “I’m 77 and I grew up on the farm around here,” said Waymon Tate, a longtime vendor of vegeta bles at the Forsyth County Farmers’ Market. “I like to grow tomatoes the best because I just like them. You take them toma toes and some mayonnaise and loaf bread and you’ve got yourself a good meal.” Tate piles armloads of his offerings even he has a tough time naming them all, but rattles See MARKET, Page 2A self at the hearing, denied making any threatening remarks about his boss. The county lawyers argued Johnson was bitter because he had not worked for the county long enough to be considered for the position of chief building inspec tor when it became available in March 1998. It was not the first disciplinary action taken against Johnson. He received a written reprimand in August 1999 for taking a second job with an electrical company. Testimony showed the work was performed across county lines, but the company handled many Forsyth County projects. Pierce said the extra work caused a potential conflict of interest. “I wouldn’t want to see an inspector inspect his own work,” Pierce said. County attorney Angela Davis told the three-member board the suspension was more than fair because Johnson was informed at the time of his reprimand that he would not be given another chance. “It was a conservative position for the county to take,” Davis said.