Newspaper Page Text
Thunderstorms
w
Highs in the mid-80s.
Lows in the low 70s.
THIS ISSUE
Copy right O 2000 Forsyth County News
Mashbum kids take
a ride in a limo.
Page 5A
k it t
1
l .‘-fl
Cheerleaders get their
kicks at fitness class.
Page IB
LAKE LANIER LEVELS
Date Level
July 30 1062.54 ft
July 31 1062.48 ft
Aug. I 1062.47 ft
Aug. 2 1062.51 ft
Normal 1071.00 ft
* *■ • V&.'
tiro
See what’s happening
in local churches.
Page6A
INDEX
Abby 3B
Business 4A
Church directory 6A
Classifieds — .48
Community 8A
Deaths 2A
Events 3 A
Opinion 9A
Horoscope 3B
Sports IB
COMING
SUNDAY
Commentary Galore
Bill Shipp offers his opinion
about politics and government
on the editorial page.
Missed paper policy:
For a replacement paper call
8 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. Wednesday,
• Thursday and Friday, and 9 a.m. -1
p.m. on Sunday - (770) 887-3126.
W]
roiwTn (loi intv ~
> > I i 1 %/ II I W jl >lll 11 % GEORGIA NEWSPAPER PROJECT
k-F y VJL X. K-'S-JL JLW' ▼ • university of Georgia
7 / MAIN LIBRARY-UGA
J Your "Hometown Paper" Since 1908 J ,THENS “ 30602
Vol. 91, No. 122.
Kmart parking lot is scene
of county’s latest fuel spill
By Phillip Hermann
News Editor
Forsyth County residents are probably getting a
little tired of the smell of diesel fuel in the air after
two incidents earlier this week.
On Tuesday morning, a tanker truck toppled
oVcr on southbound Ga. 400 at rush hour, snarling
traffic and requiring a cleanup that lasted nearly
six hours. The truck driver was taken to the hospi
tal. treated and released after suffering minor
injuries. There were no other injuries reported.
Crews from a private waste disposal company
cleaned the scene until late Wednesday evening.
Later that day. Forsyth County firefighters
received a call at 5:30 p.m. about spilled diesel
Bridge spans area history
Poole’s Mill
dedication
draws crowd
A Historical Marker Dedi
cation was conducted at “Poole's
Mill Covered Bridge” on Aug. I.
Dignitaries, descendants of
the property owners and local cit
izens attended the dedication cer
emony.
As a light rain fell. Kenneth H.
Thomas Jr.. Board of Curators of
The Georgia Historical Society;
Annette Bramblett. president of
the Historical Society of Forsyth
County; Michael Bennett, a mem
ber of the Forsyth County Board
of Commissioners and Ford
Gravitt, mayor of the City of
Cumming unveiled the marker.
The plaque reads: “Cherokee
Chief George Welch constructed a
grist mill here on his extensive
homeplace c. 1820. An uncovered
bridge was later added. With the
IK3X removal of the Cherokees,
the land was sold to Jacob Scud
der Dr. M L. Pool purchased it
from Scudder’s family in 1880.
Abandoned in 1947, the mill
burned in 1959. The original
bridge washed away in 1899 and
was replaced with the present 96-
foot structure tn 1901. Construc
ted in the Town Lattice design by
Bud Gentry, the bridge's web of
planks crisscrossing in 45- to 60-
degree angles are fastened with
wooden pegs, or trunnels, at each
intersection."
The grist mill, built on the
banks of Settendown Creek in
Northwest Forsyth County, was
the center of a major farming and
trading center.
The bridge, which stands
today, has suffered through fires,
graffiti and vandalism through the
years.
Forsyth County had the fore
sight to commit to the restoration
Sheriff’s office seizes cache of drugs, property
By Colby Jones
Staff Writer
In what has become almost a
routine bust for the Forsyth
County Sheriff's Office this
year, undercover drug investiga
tors this week announced the
seizure of 3.5 pounds of “speed"
with a street value of $157,000.
The six-monlh investigation
netted a ,22-caliber rifle, hand
gun. 1974 Corvette, 1987
Chevrolet Cavalier and $13,000
cash.
The cache of drugs and prop
erty was seized at a home in the
2300 block of Stoney Point
Road in south Forsyth County
on July 25.
Juan Jose Ojeda, 28, of
Norcross remains in the county
jail on drug trafficking charges
in connection with the investiga
tion.
He is being held without
fuel in the parking lot of the Kmart in Lakeland
Plaza in Cumming.
Firefighters responded from Station 1 and
immediately blocked off the affected area of the
lot. the portion closest to the right side of the
store. Officials estimated the spill was between 15
and 20 gallons.
Firefighters diluted the smelly liquid with
water and helped store officials spread sand and
kitty litter to absorb the fuel. They blocked off the
area to prevent any possibility of a fire.
The store's Manager Barbara Duran said she
first became aware of the problem late Tuesday
See SPILL, Page 2A
■ ■ ■ ■■'' . 1
.//’i kJT
I - .1 _ BRttnHMli
Photos/Tom Brooks
Dignitaries descendants of the I"' T * *
property owners and local citizens MR
attended the dedication ceremony ™ R
At right. Kenneth H. Thomas Jr.. I fl • Jfl
Board of Curators of The Georgia / **
Historical Society; Annette i jjf ■
Bramblett, president of the B ■ * '
Historical Society of Forsyth <■■■
County; Michael Bennett, a mem- /■
ber of the Forsyth County Board of fl • | W1
Commissioners and Ford Gravitt, ® I
mayor of the City of Cumming _ fl E
unveiled the marker I fl
and preservation of Poole's Mill
Bridge.
The Board of Commissioners
in 1996 designated $200,000 in
Special Local Option Sales Tax
funds to develop the park and a
grant from the Georgia Depart
ment of Transportation was used
to refurbish the old bridge.
Photo/Colby Jones
Sheriff's office undercover drug investigators this week
announced the seizure of 3.5 pounds of “speed” with a street
value of $157,000.
bond, awaiting an Aug. 8 hear
ing in magistrate court.
FRIDAY AUGUSI 4, 2000
For generations, the area has
been used by the people of
Cherokee. Pickens and Forsyth
counties for picnics, reunions and
family outings,
Poole’s Mill is a part of the
Forsyth County Parks and Rec
reation Department. Director
Jerry Kinsey also participated in
Ojeda acted as a “mid-level
dealer" in an organization that
‘'•'■Mr .
'ifet Jj
p 'll
LT H i I
L J " 1.1
r ■"'. f ' i ■
Photo/Tom Brooks
A member of a cleanup crew works to remove the fuel
soaked sand and kitty litter spread to soak up the spill from
the parking lot asphalt.
the program.
The "Poole’s Mill Covered
Bridge” historical marker is part
of the Georgia Historical
Society's new Georgia Historical
Marker Program. The marker has
been sponsored locally by the
Historical Society of Forsyth
County.
distributes large quantities of
methamphetamine in the county,
according to sheriff's office
investigators who requested
anonymity. They expect to make
additional arrests as the investi
gation continues.
Methamphetamine over
whelmingly appears to be the
drug of choice for some county
residents.
Users, investigators said, cut
across all demographic and
racial lines, and include preteens
searching for a buzz, poultry
plant employees working grave
yard shifts and middle-class
housewives trying to lose
weight.
Its popularity makes it the
most aggressively targeted drug
by local law enforcement.
The sheriff’s office has
seized 331 pounds of metham-
See DRUGS, Page 2A
50 Cents
Race for
sheriff
heats up
for runoff
By Colby Jones
Staff Writer
hotly
contested W' J
race for V
sheriff will K
be decided ■ _ 4 3L
when Lot I KK
syth County ’■
re- ' -fl
turn to the flfl
polls I ues Kfl| J*
Sheriff Paxton
Denny Hen-
drix barely |
escaped be I fe.
mg removed E
from office K Jg;
b y cha 1 1 en - Kam <4
get Ted Pax-
ton in the I . JlPwl
primary el- I Bk JR
two JR
candidates,
who each Hendrix
raised in
excess of $40,000 to finance
their campaigns, became the
See SHERIFF, Page 2A
Candidates for
magistrate to
intensify their
campaigning
By Colby Jones
Staff Writer
The two
remaining
ndid a t e s
chief »
magistrate
hope last- WK
minute cam- V*
paig n i n g \
will P us h .... .Jf
them over
the top. EL_ JI
... J ob" Adams
Jerry Ad-
ams and
square off
in the Aug. V
8 runoff for I
the position. T“jj|
Adams
said an anti Um ’
incumbent L'p&i
fever and HHHLLqE
low voter Cole
turnout hurt
him in the three-way primary
See COURT, Page 2A