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Forsyth County News J Your "Hometown Paper" Since 1908 J gSK*********** mn Vol. 94, No. 199 Holiday parade ready to roll By Nicole Green Staff Writer Here comes Santa Claus, right down Tribble Gap Road... Always the grand finale of the annual Cumming Holiday Parade, Santa Claus will trade in his sleigh and eight reindeer for a stage coach and horses at Saturday’s 10 a.m. parade. The 45-minute parade this year will forego its usual wind ing route around the Cumming Square. It will instead begin at Forsyth Central High School, head down Tribble Gap Road past the west end of the square, onto Castleberry Road and end at the Cumming Fairgrounds. The Flash of Crimson, Forsyth Central High School’s award winning band, will lead the parade, band director John Mashburn said. Several local organizations will display floats in the parade. Boy and Girl Scouts, veterans groups, the Fire Department Honor Guard, the Forsyth County Humane Society and Keep Forsyth County Beautiful are just a few of the scheduled floats. “People really get into decorating [the floats],” said Alison Smith who helped coordinate the parade along with Parks and Flu bug biting hard, often CDC recommends saving vaccine for most at risk By Harris Blackwood Community Editor The flu season has fully arrived in Forsyth County with doctor’s offices and hospital emergency facilities reporting a steady stream of patients complaining about body aches, fever, chills and headaches. For those who postponed seek ing vaccination to ward off the virus, the prospects for being immunized are not good. “We are seeing an increase in the number of patients presenting with flu symptoms,” said Russ Davis of Northside Hospital. “We are seeing a patient who is a little sicker than in the past.” Davis said the situation is the same at both the Sandy Springs and Cumming hospitals of the Northside Group. “It isn’t a deluge, but we are definitely seeing an increase.” Davis said the Cumming hospi tal had a “very limited” supply of vaccine that is being reserved for those who are most at risk. He encouraged persons to check with their primary care physician before coming to the hospital for a flu shot. The Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control is encouraging physicians to save any remaining vaccine for persons over 65, chil dren 6 months to 23 months old and anyone with chronic health problems. The agency also is working to redirect vaccine from other areas of the country to loca tions with the most severe short ages. Dr. Jeevana K. Krishna of Cumming Family Medicine said her office ran out of vaccine on Tuesday and is awaiting word on a possible shipment of vaccine. She said the vaccine only offers limited protection. ' “The strain they have in the Magistrate says slap on wrist doesn’t justify warrant By Steven H. Pollak Staff Writer Chief Magistrate Barbara A. Cole on Wednesday declined to issue a warrant for the arrest of an administrative supervisor in the Forsyth County Tax Assessor’s Office who had been accused of slap ping and manhandling one of her employees. In an order dated Dec. 10, Cole said the county employee who brought the complaint, Betty Tinsley, “failed to meet her probable cause burden.” The chief magistrate went on to write that 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. Copyright 0 2003 Forsyth County News I 111 111 R 9 I i I ■ * x E ■fete A ’\ _ J ; nL w-' ■ IF <fIRL.. -w Kr S fj/F . tau.- w'B vaccine is not covering the actual strain of the illness,” said Krishna. The most prominent strain of influenza circulating, A-Fujian- H3N2, surfaced too late to be included as one of the three strains in the vaccine. “The vaccine still gives them some immunity, at least 50 per cent,” she said. , The physician said her office had a limited supply of vaccine for patients under the Peach Care pro gram, which provides coverage for children in lower income families. An alternative to an immuniza tion, a nasal spray vaccine, is being offered by Krishna and other providers. See FLU, Page 2A Tinsley did not, “demonstrate that the act com plained of was either insulting or provoking in nature to the degree required by statute.” Tinsley, an administrative technician in the Tax Assessor’s Office, represented herself at the war rant hearing conducted Tuesday in Magistrate Court. She said she was “disappointed” after read ing Cole’s order. “It was an uphill battle,” she said. “I had my work cut out for me being a lay person.” She went on to say that she felt like she had a large disadvantage in trying to prove her case INDEX Abby..„ .9B Church events 8A Classifieds 4B Deaths .2A Food 4A Horoscope 9B Opinion 11A Sports IB FRIDAY December 12,2003 Recreation director Greg Little. “They do all kind of interest ing things.” One of last year’s favorites was a large boat from a local marina strung with holiday decorations by Big Brothers-Big Sisters. The boat will float again this year in the parade, Smith said. Most people will not finish their floats until the last minute. “They’re still putting finishing touches on them as they line up,” Smith said. Three steam engines will ride in the parade this year: Kip Blackburn’s steam engine, Buddy Lang’s 20- horsepower steam engine and Lang’s 50-horsepower engine which he will drive himself. The steam engines will join the parade midway at Woodland Drive, Smith said, because they cannot negotiate the hills on Tribble Gap Road. For short periods of time between 10 and 11 a.m. Saturday, highways 20 and 9, Elm and Church streets, Woodland and Mountainview drives will be closed to traffic. “We shouldn’t have the traffic problems we had last year,” See PARADE, Page 2A Holidays Check out our Christmas Gift Guide. Inside Above, Dr. Jeevana Krishna administers the influenza vaccine to a patient at Cumming Family Medicine. The vaccine is now in short supply throughout the nation. Right, a vial of the vaccine is pictured along with Flu Mist, a live virus nasal inhaler. More than 5,000 injected vac cines have been given by the Forsyth County Health Department this year. Photos/Audra Perry a S VACCINC ■ jK Fiu>irk> , Jjl because she was relying on coworkers who were being asked to testify against a supervisor. “People are afraid they’re going to lose their jobs,” said Tinsley, who underwent open heart surgery five months before the incident in her supervisor’s pffice. Cumming attorney Marc N. Cunat represented the accused supervisor, Trassa Quarles, at Tuesday’s hearing in Magistrate Court. “Obviously my client’s pleased with the deci- Religion See what’s happening in local churches. PageßA Parade Info • • Holiday parade, 10 X a.m., Saturday. JmjJ • Route: Tribble Gap BBBF /< Road, west end of court house square, *i Castleberry Road (at fairgrounds). • Roads closed: | > Tribble Gap, Castleberry ’» A? ■ roads between 10 and 11 a.m. Saturday; highways 20 and 9, Elm and Church streets, Woodland and Mountainview drives each for short periods of time during the parade. Veterans Invited The Cumming Forsyth County Veterans Alliances has invited all area veterans to participate in the Cumming holiday parade. Veterans interested in participating in the parade should meet at Forsyth Central High School no later than 9 a.m. on Saturday. See SLAP, Page 2A Sunny High in the low-50s Low in the mid-30s. IQ ORTS, 1B omentum building. County: Election Board exceeded authority By Steven H. Pollak Staff Writer The Forsyth County Board of Commissioners shot back at the Board of Elections on Wednesday, telling them state and local laws do not per mit their questioning of the “substance of a ballot.” Two days earlier, the Board of Elections had sent a ballot request back to the Board of Commissioners, asking them to reconsider the way vot ers will be asked to decide on a new judicial center complex in the March 2 election. A Cumming attorney who repre sents the county government, Angela E. Davis, wrote a letter to the Board of Elections after researching the legality of the request for “reconsideration.” She concluded that the Board of Commissioners does not need to reconsider the ballot question because See BOND, Page 2A Woman killed in Ga. 400 wreck From staff reports A Forsyth motorist was killed Thursday morning after the vehicle she was driving struck a tractor-trail er parked on the side of Ga. 400, just north of Browns Bridge Road (Hwy. 369), authorities say. Kathy Mae Hamby, 44, of Forest Circle, was killed instantly in the 6:10 a.m. wreck, said Capt. Frank Huggins of the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office. Hugg’ins said the tractor-trailer, driven by Homer Lee Swain Jr. of Childersboro, Ala., was stopped on the shoulder of northbound Ga. 400, just north of the Hwy. 369 intersec tion, to assist another motorist. Hamby’s 1990 Olds Cutlass “for unknown reasons” veered right off the roadway and struck the 18- wheeler from behind sending the car under the back of the trailer. The driver suffered massive head injuries and was killed instantly, Huggins said. See WRECK, Page 2A LAKE LANIER LEVELS • Date Level Dec 6 1069.31 ft Dec 7 1069.28 ft Dec 8 4 069.20 ft Dec 9 1069.23 ft t Full 1071.00-ft-*