Newspaper Page Text
Forsyth CountvN?—
Vol. 92, No. 132
Accused molester barred from schools
By Colby Jones
Staff Writer
Learning a suspected child molester has
worked on an ongoing construction project at
Otwell Middle School caused school officials
this week to seek a court order barring the man
from all Forsyth County campuses.
Classes at the middle school resumed
Monday the same day a grand jury indict
ed Cumming resident Dennis Scarboro for
child molestation and a host of other sex-
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Upcoming SPLOST
vote draws support,
opposition in county
By John Tooley
Staff Writer
The upcoming vote on a second
Special Purpose Local Option Sales
Tax for the Forsyth County School
System is inspiring some strong
emotions on both sides of the issue,
as this week’s two public forums
suggested.
On Tuesday evening, a coalition
of parents, teachers and school staff
gathered at Forsyth Central High
School to begin pushing for the pas
sage of a second five-year round of
the one-percent local sales tax for the
county school system.
The following night, the mood
was decidedly different at a town hall
meeting hosted by the Forsyth
County Republican Party in the
county’s Administration Building.
Anti-tax sentiments brought forth by
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Scarboro
county residents hinted that the Sept.
18 SPLOST vote could be a close
one.
Citizen group
begins its push
“Is there a risk this might not
pass?” Cindy Mills, co-chairman of
the pro-SPLOST Citizens 4 Kids
group, asked Tuesday night’s crowd
of more than 100 supporters.
“Yes, there is a risk,” she said.
“You're talking about a lot of
money.”
Citizens 4 Kids is a private, grass
roots group of citizens and parents
that “have come together to get out
the vote,” she said.
All five members of the School
Board joined Superintendent Paula
INDEX
Abby 6B
Births 4B
Classifieds 2C
Deaths 2A
Forsyth Life IB
Horoscope 6B
Opinion 12A
Sports 1C
SUNDAY August 19,2001
related crimes.
Scarboro, 32, is the owner
of SCC Southern Paving in
Cumming. The company has
subcontracted to perform
paving work at the new mid
dle school, said school sys
tem spokeswoman Jennifer
Carraciolo.
The school system con
sulted with its attorneys
Thursday after learning
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Photo/John Tooley
Ken Konstanzer and Ann Crow are members of Citizens 4 Kids, a
grassroots organization that hopes to pass a second SPLOST.
Gault at the meeting. However, Ann
Crow, treasurer of Citizens 4 Kids,
reminded the crowd that school offi
cials were not sponsoring the com
mittee.
“This is not a school-driven com
mittee,” she said. “This is a commit
tee driven by people like myself.”
By state law, school officials may
provide information about an issue
but may not lobby for either side.
Forsyth County voters approved
Business
Local businesses
find benefits in
barter system.
Page 6A
about the child molestation charges pending
against Scarboro, prompting talks between
school and court officials.
Forsyth County Superior Court Chief Judge
Stan Gault signed an order Friday that pro
hibits Scarboro from being on Forsyth County
school property or having any contact with
children under 18.
School system officials became aware that
Scarboro and his company were working at the
school and informed the district attorney’s
office of their concerns, said Assistant District
the original SPLOST in March 1997,
which added a one-percent local
sales tax on every dollar spent in the
county. School officials estimate that,
when it expires in June 2002, the
original funding cycle will have con
tributed SBO-SBS million to the
school system budget for school
improvements and construction.
If approved, the second SPLOST
See SPLOST, Page 2A
Lifestyles
Boy Scouts from
around the world join
for annual Jubilee.
Page IB
Back-to-school
courtesy of
The Place
There were plenty of
smiles to go ’round at the
recent back-to-school fes
tival staged by The Place
of Forsyth County for area
families and kids. There
were volleyball matches
and games, and the chil
dren were able to get
school supplies they need
for the coming year.
Mother Nature also coop
erated with plenty of sun
shine and, even more
important, not a drop of
rain.
Photos Tom Brooks
Possible Rain
LAKE LANIER LEVELS
Date Level
Aug. 14 1062.69 ft
Aug. 15 1062.75 ft
Aug. 16 1062.73 ft
Aug. 17 1062.70 ft
Full 1071.00 ft
High in the mid-80s.
Low in the lmid-60s.
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20 By
'ROJECT
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Our annual Pigskin Preview
Attorney Penny Penn.
After students resumed classes Monday at
Otwell Middle School, a grand jury returned an
indictment charging Scarboro with five counts
of child molestation, aggravated child molesta
tion and two counts of solicitation of sodomy.
“It concerned every parent there,” said Lyn
Conlan, president of the school’s Parent
Teacher Organization.
Conlan said she and other parents were
See SCHOOLS, Page 3A
Campaign
donations
raise ethics
questions
By Bill Johnson
Staff Writer
Some members of the Forsyth
County Board of Commissioners are
running afoul of the county's ethics
ordinance over campaign contribu
tions and their public disclosure.
Records on file in the voter regis
trar’s office indicate that, four days
after taking office, District 5
Commissioner Eddie Taylor on Jan.
5 accepted a SI,OOO campaign con
tribution from a consultant to the
county something prohibited by
the Forsyth County Code of Ethics
Ordinance.
The ordinance
states that no com
missioner, “while
either seeking or
serving in office,
shall solicit or
accept or cause to
be solicited or
accepted on his
behalf or for his
benefit, contribu-
tions or anything of value from any
consultant to the county.”
The donation was from Hayes,
James and Associates, which has
two professional services contracts
with the county dating back to April
1999.
See FUNDS, Page 10A
GBI says
Casper won’t
be exhumed
By Colby Jones
Staff Writer
The GBI is backing off its investi
gation into the death of former
Forsyth County Sheriff’s Maj. Ron
Casper.
“It doesn’t look like something
we’re going to pursue,” GBI spokes
man John Bankhead said in an inter
view.
The GBI does not plan to exhume
Casper’s body for an autopsy, he
added.
GBI agents recently began
reviewing the circumstances sur
rounding the officer’s December
1999 death in conjunction with
investigations into the deaths of two
other men Cobb County police
officer Glenn Turner and Forsyth
County firefighter Randy Thompson.
The GBI last month changed the
official cause of Thompson’s Jan. 22
death to be poisoning by a chemical
commonly found in anti-freeze. That
finding led to the re-examination of
See GBI, Page 4A
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Taylor