Newspaper Page Text
Highs in the low 80s.
Lows in the high 60s.
THIS ISSUE
Copyright C KMX) Korsyth County Newt
Central picks up
softball wins.
Page IB
South drops the ball.
Page IB
LAKE LANIER LEVELS
Date Level
Sept 3 1059.76 ft
1059.76 ft
Sept 5 1059.75 ft
| WL6* 1659.70 ft'
Normal 1071.00 ft '
See what’s happening
in local churches.
Page9A
INDEX
Abby 8A
Community 6A
Deaths— 2A
1 Education 7A
Health 4A
Opinion 11A
Horoscope 8A
Sports IB
COMING
SUNDAY
Commentary Galore
Bill Shipp offers his opinion
about politics and government
on the editorial page.
Missed policy:
For a replacement paper call
8 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. Wednesday,
Thursday and Friday, and 9 a.m. -1
. pm- on Sunday - (770) 887-3126.
W]
Forsyth Count vNews
J Your "Hometown Paper" Since
HAIN LIBRARY-UGA
Vc - N' 142 '
County plans fight with GRTA
Commissioners react to agency’s
proposal to invoke jurisdiction
By Bill Johnson
Staff Writer
Georgia’s transportation superagency
has notified 13 counties including
Forsyth it will begin flexing its muscles
next week by invoking legislatively
Police authority in question
Cumming
couple take
their case to
High Court
By Colby Jones
Staff Writer
Cumming residents James and
Barbara Smith, who sued local
police for allegedly attempting to
run them and their television
repair shop out of town, have
asked the U.S. Supreme Court to
hear their case.
It is the latest wrangling in a
longstanding legal battle between
the Smiths, owners of Decuff
Electronics, and the Cumming
Police Department.
The dispute began when Cum
ming Police Chief Buck Jones and
Fbrsyth County Chief Deputy Earl
Singletary were co-chiefs of the
police department in 1995 .
In the Aug. 25 petition filed by
the Smiths’ attorney, Cliff Hard
wick of Roswell, Jones “intention
ally injected” himself into business
dealings between the Smiths and
their customers, though the couple
was not under criminal investiga
tion.
“As part of his effort, he tried
to get as many complaints against
the Smiths as possible, feeling
that, if he could get enough com
plaints, he could could then go
before the mayor and city council
and get their business license
pulled...” states the petition.
The petition to the Supreme
Court follows a May 31 ruling by
the U.S. Court of Appeals, which
sided with the city of Cumming
and upheld the trial court’s
January 1999 decision to dismiss
the Smiths’ case. The appeals
panel found the First Amendment
rights of the couple were violated,
but their business did not suffer as
a result.
Police ran a criminal back-
Drunk driver skids into
multiple traffic charges
By Colby Jones
Staff Writer
A drunk driver skidded in cir
cles on Ga. 400 at 150 mph and
later mowed down trees in front of
a Johns Creek business during a
wild weekend chase.
Timothy Blankenship, 36, of
Cumming is charged with more
than half a dozen traffic offenses
in connection with the Sept. 2 run
from police.
Deputies said the chase began
when an officer, who was in the
process of stopping another
motorist for speeding, clocked a
1999 Jaguar going 150 mph near
the Shiloh Road overpass. The
blue lights from the patrol car
apparently caused Blankenship to
slam on his brakes, turning the car
completely around shortly after
midnight.
“He skidded 1,400 feet down
approved authority to assume jurisdiction
over certain decisions made by county gov
ernments.
At this point no one seems exactly sure
how GRTA will “activate jurisdiction” as it
has said it will do over Forsyth and 12 other
counties that are considered within the
MWBK JF < , V
Z ' ■
>fZ *
1 WlSr inn
s W 3HB til
; —I
xTM; r*** *** ' subject tec
\ *cco«otrti
w ffs, • CUSTOMS
■ CW JByJk arriruo
ground check on the couple, con
tacted a private investigator to get
information about them and spread
rumors they were drug dealers,
Hardwick stated in the petition.
The bad blood increased when
Cumming police charged Barbara
400” and
continued to
drive north
toward Cum
ming, said
department
spokeswom
an Karleen
Chalker.
Blanken
ship exited
onto Hwy.
141 and then
drove south
Blankenship
for six miles with two wailing
patrol cars behind his white luxu
ry sedan. The chase ended when
Blankenship lost control of his car
and ran over trees and shrubs in
front of a Lowe’s Home Improve
ment Warehouse.
After wrecking the car, Blan-
See DUI, Page 2A
FRIDAY SEPTEMBERS
Smith with weaving on the road
way. She contended the action was
part of an ongoing practice by the
department to increase revenue
through bogus tickets. The citation
prompted her husband to video
tape officers during traffic stops in
Photo/Tom Brooks
Time to check the furnace?
It seems like only a few days ago temperatures were in the
high 90s and the heat and humidity were making life slight
ly unbearable. Mother Nature provided Forsyth Countians
with a respite from the warm wave of high heat indexes
through a forecast for cooler weather this weekend.
nonattainment area in
terms of air quality
standards, but it seems
likely the regional
transportation agency
will become involved
in local development
issues such as zoning
and road projects.
And county offi
cials aren’t happy with
the prospect of a gov
ernment superagency
Jenkins
an attempt to gather evidence of
the alleged ticket scam.
Singletary, in turn, accused
James Smith of obstructing justice,
resulting in Smith’s appearance
See COURT, Page 2A
Photos/Tom Brooks
Cumming residents
James and Barbara
Smith, who sued local
police for allegedly
attempting to run them
and their television
repair shop out of town,
have asked the U.S.
Supreme Court to hear
their case. It is the latest
wrangling in a long
standing legal battle
between the Smiths,
owners of Decuff
Electronics, and the
Cumming Police
Department.
poised to become involved in local decision
making.
Commission Chairman Bill Jenkins said
he asked attorney Frank Jenkins to draft a
letter to Georgia Regional Transportation
Agency Executive Director Catherine Ross
notifying her of Forsyth County’s objection
to the agency’s planned course of action.
Jenkins said Wednesday, “We’re going
to resist it even into court. Some of the
authority being granted the GRTA board
See GRTA, Page 2A
Local
buses
affected
by recall
By Laura Lavezzo Carrico
Lifestyle Editor
Forty-two local school buses
will, after all, be affected by a
nationwide movement to replace
an anti-lock brake system that
could be defective.
School transportation officials
were on alert earlier this week
when Thomas Built Buses Inc.,
one of the nation’s largest manu
facturers of school buses, con
ducted a safety recall of a specific
brand of anti-lock brake systems.
This was not the first recall of
the Ohio-based Bendix Corpor
ation’s anti-lock brake system.
Local school buses were inspected
in August after International
Truck and Engine Corporation
required their customers to check
the system for chafed wires.
Anti-lock brakes have been
required since March 1998. Since
then, the local school system has
purchased 56 buses with anti-lock
brakes..
“Forty-two of the 56 buses
have the International chassis and
the Bendix braking system, which
is a part of the current concern,”
said Carlton Allen, director of
transportation with Forsyth
County Schools.
In a letter dated Sept. 6 from
Nalley Motor Trucks, the area
dealer for International Truck and
Engine Corporation, the Forsyth
County School System was
informed that an electronic ele
ment of the anti-lock brake system
would be replaced as soon as parts
become available.
“Basically what it says is that
the [recall] we received in July
should take care of the concerns
we have now,” Allen said.
“However, the electronic control
See BUSES, Page 2A
Tax officials
clarify school
exemptions
By Laura Lavezzo Carrico
Lifestyle Editor
Forsyth County seniors ages
62-64 can still qualify for an
income-eligible homestead
exemption despite provisions of
the new total exemption from
school taxes for seniors over age
65.
Legal jargon is being blamed
for the way the new local home
stead exemption law was mistak
enly interpreted, according to •
Forsyth County Chief Appraiser
Mary Kirkpatrick.
In July, when Forsyth County
voters approved a total homestead
exemption from school taxes for
local property owners over age 65,
See TAXES, Page 2A
50 Cents