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Copyright O MOO Forsyth County News
Schools
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Sports
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Rage IB
LAKE LANIER LEVELS
Date Level
June 16 1066.59 ft
r June 17 1066.49 ft
June 18 1066.49 ft
Juhg W 5 * 1066.46 ft
* Normal 1071.08 ft 5
Advice
S'-
Dear Abby dishes
out good advice.
Page GA
INDEX
Abby BA
Business 9A
Community 7A
Deaths 2A
Events 7A
Horoscope 6A
Legals .3B
Opinion 12A
Sports IB
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Business & Industry
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Forsyth
Vol 91, No, 96
Stop for speeding results in arrest for cocaine
By Colby Jones
Staff Writer
A DeKalb County man gave deputies an
unusual excuse for speeding in Cumming
over the weekend: He told them he needed
to hurry back to a local hotel where he was
running an escort service.
Officials said 46-year-old Maurice
Hambrick of Decatur was stopped for
speeding in a silver 2000 Mercedes con
vertible before dawn Sunday. Four grams of
cocaine and $2,900 cash were seized as a
result of the traffic stop.
Hambrick told deputies he and his wife
June singing returns to Cumming
I- r— i
A large crowd turned out
Saturday at the Cumming
Fairgrounds for the return of
the traditional June Singing
led by area groups and
churches. Organizers say
they hope to make this
songfest an annual event. At
right, Boyd Parks, Jimmy
Fagen, Jeff Bagley and his
son Jeffrey lead the singers.
Photos/Tom Brooks
Tax relief for seniors heads for ballot
By Jonathan Hamilton
Staff Writer
Leading up to an election there is usually plenty
of talk about plans from various candidates to lower
taxes.
When Forsyth voters cast their ballots in the July
18 primary, they will have the opportunity to lower
property taxes for senior citizens through approval of
The Forsyth Senior Citizen’s Tax Fairness Act.
The Tax Fairness Act would eliminate school
property taxes for home owners age 65 and older.
The American Association of Retired Persons
2000 public policy agenda cites property taxes as the
single most burdensome tax for low-income and
Seven to compete for
Forsyth County judgeship
By Colby Jone*
Staff Writer ~
Seven members of the Forsyth
County legal community will
compete this week to become the
new superior court judge.
State Court Judge Jeff Bagley,
Solicitor Leslie Abernathy,
District Attorney Phil Smith, and
local attorneys David Dickenson,
Russell McClelland, Walker
Bramblett and Carl Edward
Martin will interview Wednesday
with the state judicial nominating
committee, according to the office
of nominating chairman Buddy
Darden.
The committee will narrow
down the candidates and submit a
"short list” to Gov. Roy Barnes,
probably by the end of next week.
Barnes then will interview the
final candidates and make his
J Your "Hometown Paper" Since 1908
run an escort service and planned to return
to the Holiday Inn Express on Hwy. 20 to
share the cocaine with some people in his
room, according to officials.
Hambrick said he bought the cocaine
immediately before being pulled over by
the deputies.
GBI Agent Robert Carbelo said the
cocaine would be worth about S4OO if sold
by the gram.
A manager at the Holiday Inn Express
said Hambrick stayed for the first time at
the hotel Friday and Saturday nights. He
was accompanied by a woman, but the pair
did not cause any problems or arouse the
*
older persons.
“This legislation is different from other senior
based tax relief for two reasons,” said David Baer,
spokesman for the AARP. “Usually, tax relief is
based on an income threshold so that the people
needing the break get it. The second difference is
that the proposed referendum calls for a total elimi
nation of school taxes instead of just waiving a cer
tain dollar amount.”
The proposed tax break was authored by
Republican state Reps. Mike Evans and Bobby
Reese.
appointment by July 1.
If Bagley were to receive the
nod, the governor could immedi
ately select a new state court
judge from the remaining candi
dates or begin the nominating
process again.
The Georgia General
Assembly passed legislation
granting Forsyth County a new
judgeship during its most recent
session, earmarking money for the
salaries of a new judge and assis
tant district attorney.
The new judge’s term will
begin July 1 and run through
December 2002. A general elec
tion will decide who fills the posi
tion for a subsequent four-year
term.
The Bell-Forsyth Judicial
See JUDGES, Page 2A
WEDNESDAY JUNI. 21/2090
See TAXES, Page 2A
H Round the
barrel
Harmonie Hudgins and her
horse, Joe, round the bar
rels Saturday night at an
event sponsored at Coal
Mountain Ranch by
Andean Motor Company-
Chevrolet and Billy Howell
Ford Lincoln Mercury.
Photo/Tom Brooks
suspicions of the hotel
staff, she added.
Assistant District
Attorney Rand Csehy
said prosecutors will
seek forfeiture of the
cash and new car
seized from Ham
brick.
Hambrick is
charged by the For
syth County Sheriff’s
Office with possession
of cocaine with the
intent to distribute, DUI/drugs, speeding,
Wastewater
dumping fuels
Post 4 forum
By Gary Tanner
Editor
Candidates for Post 4 on the
Forsyth County Commission are
all against dumping treated waste
water into Lake Lanier, and most
were unsure about whether the
county should adopt impact fees
to manage growth.
But they all except incum
bent Andy Anderson, who was
absent answered questions
about major issues facing the
county during a candidate forum
conducted Monday night at the
county’s administration building.
The forum was the first in a series
of four this week sponsored by the
Forsyth County News and
Prestige Vision 4.
The candidates participating
were Garland Barron, Marcie
Kreager, Jerry Lee Heard, John W.
Tanner and J.D. Wright.
All were against a state recom
mendation to allow increased
dumping of treated wastewater
into Lake Lanier.
"If [EPD officials] go and get a
cup and drink it, sure,” Wright
said, drawing a laugh from the
audience. All the candidates were
against more dumping of waste
water into the lake.
“I disagree with dumping it in
our drinking water source,” Heard
said.
Kreager said she is concerned
about the possibility that untreated
sewage could be dumped into the
lake. She said spraying treated
wastewater over fields is the way
to go, “until technology catches
up.”
Tanner and Heard both
expressed support for recycling
treated wastewater for irrigation
and other uses.
In rapidly growing Forsyth
County, Wright was the only can
didate who said he supports
impact fees to pay for services
needed to accommodate the influx
Hambrick
See POST 4, Page 2A
reckless driving and having no proof of
insurance.
He remained in the county jail without
bond late Monday afternoon.
It was the second traffic stop over the
weekend by the sheriff’s office resulting in
a felony drug arrest.
Anthony Kimbral, 35, of Dawsonsville
also is in the jail without bond in connec
tion with a June 18 traffic stop. Kimbral
was charged with possession of metham
phetamine, possession of a firearm during
the commission of a crime, driving with an
expired tag and two counts of obstruction,
according to the jail’s log.
Candidates
for Post 2
address
impact fees
By Jonathan Hamilton
Staff Writer
As debates go, Monday night’s
candidate forum between the con
tenders for County Commission
Post 2 was fairly tame.
The main issue of contention
between the candidates was the
use of impact fees.
Incumbent Bill Jenkins has
been a strong supporter of impact
fees since his 1996 campaign.
“This could be our last chance
to implement impact fees,” said
Jenkins. “I consider them a valu
able tool. They can be used to
support parks and recreation, pub
lic safety and fire protection.”
Challenger David Pritchett
said he wasn’t fully decided on
the issue but felt they have been
used in other counties as a politi
cal stunt.
“A down side to imposing
impact fees is that we could shut
out business development,” said
Pritchett. “The people who would
pay the price in that instance
would be the home owners in the
county. The price would be paid
in higher taxes.”
The most direct exchange of
the forum came when Jenkins said
he was part of the team that
helped lower property taxes in the
county.
“I think Mr. Jenkins has just
lucked out in regard to low prop
erty taxes,” said Pritchett. “Money
has been squandered on building
See POST 2, Page 2A
50 CENTS