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Forsyth CountvNews J Your "Hometown Paper" Since 1908 w 306 Vol. 94, No. 205 Medical evidence allowed vs. Turner By Steven H. Pollak Staff Writer MARIETTA A Cobb County judge on Saturday ruled in favor of allowing medical evidence from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation crime lab to be used at Lynn Turner’s February murder trial. In a rare weekend court session. Turner’s attorneys had asked the judge to toss out the GBl’s test results for ethylene glycol, calling it “unreliable pseudo-scientific evidence of question able reliability.” Removing the GBl’s toxicology tests from the case would essentially remove any proof either alleged victim Buford Dam, officials at airport taking precautions By Colby Jones Staff Writer As the nation’s terror alert remains at the high, orange level, officials both at Buford Dam and Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport are taking extra precautions to pro tect Atlanta-area residents. Airport officials are asking holiday passengers to arrive at least 90 minutes early for their flights. SEVERE w ELEVATED LOW Following a weekend announce ment by Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge that intelligence sources suggest an increased chance of a ter rorist attack this holiday season, Atlanta Police Department officers and private security began conducting ran dom searches of vans, trucks and cars on access roads leading to the airport. While each inspection is not expected to last more than a few min utes, traffic leading to the airport likely will be heavy, especially during the peak holiday travel before Christmas, said airport officials. The federal Transportation Security Administration also is requiring pas sengers to unlock bags they plan to check so security screeners do not have to break the lock if an inspection is necessary. Security measures at the air port stem from the national terror alert being raised from yellow to orange, meaning the risk of terrorist activity has increased from elevated to high. “The U.S. intelligence community has received a substantial increase in the volume of threat related intelli gence reports. These credible sources suggest the possibility of attacks against the homeland around the holi- See TERROR, Page 2A THE NEW LOOK OF JUSTICE? ———————— ——————I ‘ Viti i imi»ll ■ ■■« i. i ■ |TatTl4.XiiAil mitl •ITiHXUXILmdT—] |l WR RIP mt kb Graphic/Submitted ! Artist renderings of the proposed judicial center, left, and parking deck depict rectangular buildings with brick facades in a tribute to late 19th century architecture as con ceived by consultants with Heery International and members of a grand jury-appointed task force. Voters will decide whether to assume $65 million in debt for construc tion of the two buildings, plus a detention center and other public facilities on March 2. 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 © 2003 Forsyth County News 90994 04001 WEDNESDAY December 24,2003 Turner Ethylene glycol is a sweet, odorless chemical found in antifreeze as well as other automotive and cleaning prod ucts. Turner, 35, has pleaded not guilty to a single count of murder in Cobb THE CLAUSES VISIT CUMMING f 'CTM ■w w » Iwi t If MF \ > iMQF *> H. fl *SSI -w "TnSHKak jifl V JI Photo/David McGregor Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus stopped by the home of Carol and Dan Thalmer, just prior to returning home to the North Pole. The Thalmers’ home is a wonderland of Christmas trees and Christmas decor. The couples became acquainted after mutual friends noticed the striking resemblance between the Clauses and the Thalmers. INDEX Abby 4A Classifieds 8B Deaths 2A Events 5A Horoscope 4A Legals 3B Opinion..... 6A Sports lß ever ingested the poisonous sub stance, a move that would further hin der a prosecution which already hinges on circum stantial evidence linking the same woman to two men who died under similar conditions. | Inside Alleged bribery lands Duluth woman in jail. Page 3A County, a charge stemming from the 1995 death of her police officer hus band, Glenn Turner. She also has been called a suspect in the 2001 death of Randy Thompson, a Forsyth firefighter and the father of her two children. Following the death of Thompson, the GBI reportedly found evidence of ethylene glycol in the bodies of both men. On Saturday, Dr. Mark Koponen, deputy chief medical examiner at the GBI, said the law enforcement agency considers the presence of ethylene gly col during an autopsy to be an indica tion of poisoning. “It’s an ethylene glycol poisoning case unless proven otherwise,” Koponen said Saturday from the wit ness stand. A vast majority of people will not have any ethylene glycol in their body when they die, the doctor said, adding that only in “extraordinary cases” will a deceased body produce the chemical naturally. Otherwise, there should not be any amount of the poisonous chemical in the body unless the deceased had some exposure to ethylene glycol in their job, Koponen said. Turner’s attorney, Jimmy Berry, took the GBI medical examiner to task for calling the mere presence of ethyl ene glycol an indication of a poisoning County, city to meet on water, sewer needs By Nicole Green Staff Writer The historic square in downtown Cumming has become a poker table. On opposing comers sit the city and county governments with cards drawn. Instead of kings, queens, and knaves, they play with SPLOST dollars, raw water intake facilities and sewer capac ity. The ace is still in the cards. As requested by Mayor H. Ford Gravitt, the Forsyth County Com mission agreed to meet with the Cumming City Council this week. At the regular city council meeting on Dec. 16, the council tabled the issues of county water and sewer allocations until the two governments discuss the validity of all intergovernmental agree ments. The county discounted the need for a meeting between the two govern ments. County OKs resolution for $65 million bond vote By Todd Truelove Staff Writer The Forsyth County Board of Commissioners in a 4-1 vote Monday approved a resolution to conduct a bond referendum March 2, 2004. County residents will decide whether to approve a $65 million bond issue to fund costs associated with building a new courthouse and jail. Commissioners last month direct ed legal counsel to draft the resolu tion for the bond referendum. While similar proposals have failed twice since 2000, commission ers followed the advice of a grand jury committee that studied why those previous bond votes failed and recommended the county conduct Opinion Robert Novak: Billionaire supporter going soft on candidacy of Dean Page GA Partly Cloudy LAKE LANIER LEVELS Date Level . Bee 19 T069.38.ft r TX Dec. 20 106932 ft *>K.2l 108933 ft Dec High in the lower 50s Low in the mid-20s |R SPORTS, 1. pplers home for holidays death. Berry pointed out that there’s been no research into how much ethyl ene glycol is necessary to kill some one. Koponen told the attorney that, for several reasons, determining what amount of ethylene glycol is fatal would be difficult. First, many instances of ethylene glycol poisoning are the result of a sui cide and, since those people tend to “over-ingest” the lethal substance, ana lyzing their cases would yield little information on the minimal levels nec essary to kill, he said. On the other hand, researchers can- See TURNER, Page 2A “I’m willing to talk to the mayor, I just don’t know why [he wants to meet],” Commission Chairman Jack Conway said. “I don’t know what he wants from the county,” he said. After the county withheld the city’s 15 percent share of special purpose local option sales tax [SPLOST] rev enue for September and October with out explanation, the mayor threatened to file a lawsuit against the county unless funds were remitted. Conway and Gravitt met on Oct. 20 to discuss the county’s new interpretation of the SPLOST Intergovernmental Agree ment. That interpretation calls for increased accountability for the city’s portion of SPLOST revenue. The county also instructed its attor neys to ask a judge to rule on the valid ity of the intergovernmental agreement signed by the city and county to estab- See SEWER, Page 2A Artist’s rendering of courthouse, parking deck, shown below. another election. According to committee chairman Roger Crow, two of the main reasons those bonds were turned down were because the new courthouse site was located outside of downtown Cumming and because there was a lack of information available for the public to review. If voters approve the proposed bond, the courthouse would be built on the square in downtown Cumming on land where Goodson Drug and Regions Bank is now locat ed. See BOND, Page 3A