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Possible Rain Highs in the high 70s. Lows in the high 60s. THIS ISSUE Copyright © 2000 Forsyth County News Tournament to benefit wildlife facility. Page IB - *>< RBBfcMßßEwwiMSwwww Get on top of local racing. Page3B 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 nIN^K^ — sits liggj 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. 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)M7-3126. W] 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