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Possible Rain
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THIS ISSUE
Copyright © 2000 Forsyth County News
Tournament to benefit
wildlife facility.
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Get on top of
local racing.
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LAKE LANIER LEVELS
Date Level
Sept 2 1059.76 ft
Sept 3 1059.76 ft
Sept 4 1059.76 ft
Sept 5 1059.75 ft"
g Normal 1071.00 ft
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A special page of news
for young readers.
PageßA
INDEX
Abby 5A
Classifieds 4B
Community 6A
Deaths 2A
Events 6A
Opinion 7A
Outdoors IB
Horoscope .. 5A
Sports 3B
COMING
FRIDAY
Commentary Galore
Columnist Linda Bowles shares
her perspective of events
on the editorial page.
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Forsyth Count'd&ws
J Your "Hometown Paper" Since 1908
Vol c i No 141
Local officials cautious about bus recall
By Laura Lavezzo Carrico
Lifestyle Editor
Forsyth County school transportation
officials were waiting to hear earlier this
week whether 42 local school buses will be
subjected to a safety recall again.
The local buses are among 46,(XX) transit
vehicles nationwide containing an anti-lock
brake system that could be defective.
Forsyth County Schools Transportation
Director Carlton Allen said that, of the 56
local school buses containing anti-lock
brake systems, 42 were built using the
Rodeo proclaimed a success
Rain doesn’t
dampen
attendance
By Mary Pitman
Staff Writer
“We don’t get rained out in
rodeos,” said rodeo announcer
Alan Moorehead. “We’ve gone on
in weather like they had Sunday
but, since Monday was a holiday,
they decided to postpone it.”
The weekend’s rain hampered
attendance Friday night when the
weather turned the arena into a
mud bowl.
The event on Saturday was a
different story.
“We had almost 3,500 people
Saturday,” said David Horton,
fairgrounds manager.
“We’re tickled to death with
the turnout. It was excellent based
on the weather,” said city adminis
trator Gerald Blackbum. “We’re
especially proud of our staff,
which has continued to work with
enthusiasm throughout.”
The second annual rodeo
brought out first-timers and rodeo
regulars.
Terrell and Ruby Higgins were
seeing the rodeo for the first time.
“We came out just for the fun
of it. It’s great,” said Terrell
Higgins of Cumming.
Tom and Sandy Thompson
came last year and attended all
three days this year.
“We came to see it all, but
especially the bull riding,” Tom
Thompson said.
Blackbum promised rain won’t
be a problem at next year’s event.
“We expect to break ground
for the new arena toward the end
Drivers urged to assure
safety after tire recall
By Mary Pitman
Staff Writer
The National Highway and
Traffic Safety Administration has
recommended that owners of
vehicles with certain models and
sizes of Firestone tires not already
being recalled by Firestone take a
number of actions to assure their
safety, based on NHTSA’s analy
sis of Firestone’s data.
On Aug. 9, Firestone announ
ced it was voluntarily recalling
14.4 million tires size P235/Rls
of their ATX, ATXII and
Wilderness AT tires manufactured
at the company’s plant in Decatur,
IL.
NHTSA has continued its
investigation into other tires man
ufactured by Firestone, reviewing
data provided by the company on
property damage claims, personal
injury claims and lawsuits regard
ing the tires under investigation.
Although its investigation is
not complete, NHTSA officials
said the review indicates the rate
of tread separations for certain
other tire models and sizes
exceeds those of the recalled
tires, sometimes by a large mar
gin. NHTSA has expressed con-
THURSDAY :
Bendix Air Anti-lock Brake System recent
ly isolated as the cause for a handful of
minor accidents.
The local buses containing the Bendix
product were purchased from International
Truck and Engine Corporation, which con
ducted a safety recall in July regarding the
chafing of wires that lead to the electronic
control unit of the braking system.
“The problem is chafing of the ABS
sensor wires on rotating parts, which can
lead to a false signal being sent to the
Bendix ABS ECU. This condition may
cause the air ABS ECU to exhaust the air at
—■
of the year. It will take about 120
days to complete and will be all
inclusive, with the restrooms and
concessions all inside,” Blackbum
said.
The arena is expected to be
multi-purpose and will accommo
date events like the rodeo, horse
shows and even trade shows,
according to Blackbum.
Although none of the Forsyth
County contestants came home
with the big prizes, the county
was well represented with seven
hometown riders participating in
four events.
In bull riding, contestants were
tossed to the ground like peanut
shells at a Braves game.
The winning ride came on the
last ride of the last day and went
See RODEO, Page 2A
cem about the possible safety risk
associated with those tires.
NHTSA recommended to
Firestone that the company recall
the additional models, but
Firestone declined.
The NHTSA investigation is
continuing and may result in a
direct order for Firestone to recall
the additional tires in question.
Many of the tires the NHTSA
is concerned about were manufac
tured many years ago and are less
likely to still be on the road today.,
Most were sold as replacement
equipment and were not installed
as original tires on new cars, offi
cials said.
The tires included in the advi
sory by the NHTSA, listed by
model, size and plant code, are:
• ATX, P205/75/Rls, VD
• ATX, P225/75R15, HY
• ATX, 30X9.50R15LT, VD
• ATX, 31X10.50R15LT, VD
• ATX, 32X11.50R15LT, VD
• ATX, 31X10.50R16.5LT, VD
• ATX, 33X12.50R16.5LT, VD
• Firehawk ATX, 27X8.50R14LT,
VD '
•Firehawk ATX, 235/75R15
(Firestone listed this model as a
See TIRES, Page 2A
the air brake modulators for one or more of
the wheels," said the July letter from
International.
“We inspected our buses and the state
patrol also looked at the brakes as part of
their regular inspection,” Allen said, adding
none of the local buses were affected by the
chafing problem.
“In fact, one of our mechanics, Bo
Castleberry, had noted the potential problem
prior to the recall,” Allen said. ”On some of
the new buses, the wires were not routed [to
prevent chafing] and he tied them up.”
In 16 incidents, the Bendix ABS has
HPhotos/Tom Brooks
Although none
of the Forsyth
County contes
tants came
home with the
big prizes, the
county was well
represented with
seven home
town riders par
ticipating in four
events.
1 > ** l t
Photo/Tom Brooks
Caring company offers gift of comfort
Chuck Lauinger, owner of Cedar Mountain Rustic
Furniture, has donated two new rocking chairs to the emer
gency room of Baptist Medical Center to provide comfort
for families and staff during traumatic situations. Testing out
the chair is Cindy Reid, manager of ER Services, with
Ryan Wilkins in her lap as Ryan’s father, Erick, looks on.
caused vehicles to lose their ability to brake
for up to a few seconds while decelerating
from eight to four miles per hour.
“In all 16 [accidents], the buses came
from a different [company] and were of a
different type and style of bus than what
we’re using,” Allen said.
This week. Thomas Built Buses Inc., the
largest school bus manufacturer in the
United States, recalled 6,0(M) buses from
around the country because of a suspected
defect in the electronic control element of
See BUSES, Page 2A
Lanier
.sees no
holiday
fatalities
By Mary Pitman
Staff Writer
Forsyth County has reported
no fatalities on Lake Lanier for
the year through the Labor Day
weekend. In 1999, there were 11
deaths on the entire lake. This
year the total is three, all in other
counties.
The lake usage was about half
| of the expected crowd for the holi
| day weekend. The weather was
the factor most frequently cited by
park officials. Overall, visitors to
the park were up eight percent
I over the same period last year.
“It’s a combination of several
factors,” said Chief Park Ranger
5 Mark Williams, explaining the
improved safety record. “We
have an increase in the presence
of park rangers during peak use
times. We’ve also increased our
water safety education efforts and
have worked closely with the
media all year. The Water Safety
Task Force has also already met
to plan for next year.”
Williams cited language barri
ers due to an increasing diversity
i of visitors to the lake’s parks as a
particular challenge.
“Over the past two years,
we’ve seen a tremendous increase
in Hispanic, Asian and Soviet
Bloc visitors. There are pockets
in various parks where it’s like
walking through the United
Nations,” Williams remarked.
“You’re dealing with individ-
See LANIER, Page 2A
Meeting
to discuss
discharge
into lake
By Phillip Hermann
News Editor
Residents of Forsyth County
who still have a thing or two to
say about Gwinnett County’s
plan to discharge 40 million gal
lons per day of treated waste
water into Lake Lanier will get
the chance in the near future.
The Georgia Environmental
Protection Division has announ
ced it will conduct a public hear
ing about its draft permit to that
county to allow the discharge
from its North Advanced Water
Reclamation Facility.
The informational meeting is *
set for Tuesday, Sept. 12, at 7
p.m. at the Gwinnett County
Civic and Cultural Center, 6400
Sugarloaf Pkwy., Duluth.
A public comment session
will follow the meeting at 8
See DISCHARGE, Page 2A