Newspaper Page Text
Forsyth County News
J Your "Hometown Paper" Since 1908 J
Vol. 94, No. 209
New laws to affect drivers, gaior eggs
By Colby Jones
Staff Writer
Police will be able to check a
motorist’s insurance information via
a state database, colleges will begin
distributing information about
meningitis to freshmen students and
it will be illegal to gather alligator
eggs under new Georgia laws taking
effect on Jan. 1, 2004.
The state’s switch from insurance
cards to an electronic database actu
ally went into effect at the start of
2003.
However, lawmakers agreed to
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Photo/David McGregor
Builder Jack Leathers, sheriff’s Deputy Shane Jenkins, Sheriff Ted Paxton, sheriff’s Cpl.
Richard Thompson, Deputy Sam Boone and Jim McConnell of the Forsyth County Historical
Society meet after deputies were called to a historical gravesite in the Legends subdivision
in west Forsyth County on a report construction workers were about to dig up the grave. The
report proved unfounded.
Grave concern for developers
By Todd Truelove
Staff Writer
More than 140 years ago, settlers in western
Forsyth County buried a blacksmith on land located
in an area that is now being developed as an upscale
subdivision.
According to a tombstone in the Legends subdi
vision in which new homes cost upward of
$500,000 Andrew J. Edwards died on Oct. 21,
1861.
“Apparently, for that period in time, [Edwards]
was reasonably well off,’’ said Annette Bramblett,
the president of the Forsyth County Historical
Society which has taken on the challenge of pro
tecting the burial ground.
As recently as 1999, Bramblett said the lot on
which Edwards was buried was “still in the bram
bles.”
But the county’s virgin landscape, including the
Mysterious
fire
Engines 3 and 4
of the Forsyth
County Fire
Department were
called out to 00-
LA-LA
Landscape off of
Hurts Bridge
Road when this'
front end loader
mysteriously
caught fire. No
injuries were
reported and the
cause of the fire
was being inves
tigated.
Photo/David McGregor
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Copyright © 2003 Forsyth County News
iH MO* '
put the system on hold until the
begining of the new year because of
difficulties experienced by the
Georgia Department of Motor
Vehicle Safety in compiling the
information and implementing the
system.
The electronic system will allow
police to access a computer data
base containing insurance informa
tion on all the state’s registered
vehicles.
During a traffic stop, a police
officer will be able to check a
motorist’s “proof of insurance”
through the vehicle identification
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INDEX
Abby 8A
Classifieds 8B
Deaths 2A
Events „ ...4A
Horoscope 8A
Legals 3B
Opinion 10A
Sports IB
WEDNESDAY December 31,2003
area around the grave site, is changing as property
owners make plans to build new, mostly residential,
developments here.
“That lot has been cleared off,” Bramblett said,
“The grave is sitting out by itself in plain view of
the road.”
The plat for Legends subdivision was recorded
in 1997, county officials said. The lot containing
the burial plot is owned by Cobb County resident
Frank Simpson, who is not one of the subdivision’s
developers.
It’s against state law in Georgia to knowingly
disturb any grave site without obtaining permission
from a governing authority. The penalty for doing
so is a $5,000 fine for each grave disturbed and up
to six months in jail.
“By law, that grave should be preserved,”
Bramblett said. “It’s not right to destroy a grave
See CRAVE, Page 3A
Education
Debate over teacher
pay raise continues in
state Legislature
Page6A
number (VIN), instead of relying on
the traditional paper cards issued by
insurance companies.
The new system is designed to
prevent people from using canceled
or forged insurance cards.
Motorists should contact the
DMVS or their insurance agent to
make sure their vehicle’s VIN is in
the state system, according to state
officials.
While most state laws become
effective after the legislative session
in July, some changes do not take
place until January. The new laws
taking effect this Jan. 1 include:
• Some educational loans and
scholarships will not be denied to a
student who has failed to register for
the draft if the failure was not know
ing and willful;
• Additional restrictions will be
placed on the hunting of alligators,
plus it will be illegal to gather or pos
sess alligator eggs. The same law
repeals all restrictions on killing of
capturing diamondback terrapins;
• All public and private post-sec
ondary institutions will be required
to provide meningitis safety informa
tion to freshmen living on campus.
The institutions are not required to
Mad Cow scare may
send beef prices south
By Kim Ash
Staff Writer
Georgians and local residents may
be paying less for beef now after the
first Mad Cow Disease case in the
United States was confirmed last week
in Washington state, according to a
spokesman for the Georgia
Department of Agriculture and local
beef sellers.
According to local beef merchants
and state officials, beef in Georgia and
in the U.S. is safe, but recent reports of
the disease have caused demand to fall
and prices for beef to drop dramatical
ly. About 10,000 pounds of beef were
recalled following the discovery of the
one infected animal in Washinton.
Most of the distribution was in the
western United States.
According to Commissioner
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Photo/David McGregor
Cows like this one on a Keith Bridge Road farm have not been
infected by Mad Cow Disease, but prices for beef may soon tumble.
Today’s final day for write-offs
for 2003 income tax returns
By Colby Jones ___
Staff Writer
Those thinking about making a large
donation and writing it off on their taxes
better hurry.
Charitable gifts must be made by
today to be counted on this year’s tax
return.
While a donation postmarked before
Jan. 1 may not draw an IRS audit, the
safest bet for taxpayers is to make sure
their donations are in the hands of a
charity before the end of the calendar
year, say local accountants.
“Be ahead of the curve at least,
have the check clear the bank,” said
John Weaver, senior vice president and
investment officer at Wachovia
Opinion
Bill Shipp:
Dean may be disaster
for Democrats
RagelOA
provide and pay for vaccinations
against the infection;
• Those who tamper with an igni
tion interlocking device, an anti-DUI
measure which prevents starting a
car if the machine detects alcohol on
a motorist’s breath, will be subject to
having their driving privileges
revoked;
• Farm equipment held in invento
ry for resale will be exempt from ad
valorem taxes;
• A hearing process will be insti
tuted for fire departments whose cer
tificate of compliance is suspended
or revoked by the state.
Tommy Irvin of the Georgia
Department of Agriculture, beef prices
have remained strong all year but have
now decreased after the one cow Was
found infected with the disease.
“I hope the drop will be temporary.
It’s tragic this happened at the end of
the year,” Irvin said, adding the drop
will negatively impact cattle farmers’
sales for 2004.
Mad Cow Disease, or bovine
spongiform encephalitis, is a chronic
degenerative disease that affects the
central nervous system. The disease
can be fatal to humans but only if the
affected systems are consumed. The
government has banned any usage of
the components of the nervous system
in meat processing.
Because of the scare, local cattle
See BEEF, Page 2A
Weaver
to deduct the current value of the stock
and the charity will not have to pay any
taxes when it sells the stock, Weaver
said.
An individual who paid SIOO for a
See TAX, Page 2A
SUnny LAKE LANIER LEVELS
Date Level
Dec. 26 1069.23 ft
Dec. 27 1069.23 ft
Dec 28 1069.22 ft
Dec 29 1069.20 ft
Full ,1071. QOft
High in the upper 50s , ... •-
Low in the mid-30s
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Securities in Cum
ming.
Stockholders may
want to consider do
nating stocks that
have appreciated to
their favorite cause
instead of giving
cash. The move helps
both the taxpayer and
charity because the
taxpayer will be able