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Forsyth CountvNewc
J Your "Hometown Paver" Since 1908 • ********^MaoSEß*PßOJECT T
Vol. 95, No. 15
Man charged
with murder
after shooting
Gunshot wound
kills salesman,
suspect jailed
without bond
By Steven H. Pollak
Staff Writer
A 64-year-old Kennesaw man
who made his living going from
place to place selling aerial photo
graphs of real estate may have
knocked on the wrong door Thursday
morning and paid for the mistake
with his life.
Terry Thrasher, who owned an
aerial photography company called
Lofty Prints, died of a single gunshot
wound to the chest following a vio
lent confrontation at a home on Elmo
Road in northwest Forsyth County.
Morris Cecil Chadwick, 66, of
6165 Elmo Road, has been charged
with murder in connection with
Thrasher's death.
“What we suspect at this point is
that Mr. Thrasher went to Mr.
Chadwick's residence and some sort
of confrontation ensued," said Sheriff
Ted Paxton. “It appears that con
frontation escalated into the shooting
of Mr. Thrasher."
According to Paxton, a passing
Water, air
OK after fire,
cause is still
undetermined
By Todd Truelove
Staff Writer
Though preliminary reports indicated a
faulty thermostat caused a fire at a south
Forsyth fertilizer company, an official ruling
by from investigators had not been issued by
Friday afternoon.
“From the beginning a faulty thermostat
was considered as the reason the fire started,”
said Forsyth County Fire Chief Danny
Bowman. “However, we have not been able
to gain entry into the building due to the
unstable manner in which the building cur
rently exists. Therefore, the fire remains
under investigation as to the cause and ori
gin.”
Friday afternoon. Regal Chemical Co.
staff prepared for cleanup of the site as the
last dying embers of the blaze that lasted
more than 24 hours continued burning. Regal
Appeals court OKs Gwinnett discharge into Lanier
By Colby Jones
Staff Writer
A Lake Lanier watchdog group plans to
appeal to the state's highest court after the
Georgia Court of Appeals ruled Gwinnett
County can discharge up to 40 million gal
lons of highly treated waste a day into the
lake under its current environmental permit.
The ruling is the latest in a longstanding
dispute between Gwinnett and environmen
tal groups over expansion of the massive F.
Wayne Hill Water Resources Center in the
heavily populated county.
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motorist called 911 at 10:43 a.m.
after seeing Thrasher’s body lying in
a ditch about 15 yards away from
Chadwick’s driveway on Elmo Road.
When deputies and EMS person
nel arrived at the scene, they per
formed CPR on Thrasher’s body and
transported him to Northside
Hospital Forsyth where he was sub
sequently pronounced dead.
Thrasher’s GMC Sonoma pickup
was parked in Chadwick's driveway
facing out toward the road.
Deputies were hanging yellow
crime scene tape around the area
when Chadwick emerged from the
house in a "highly agitated state,” the
sheriff’s office reported.
At that point, Chadwick was
taken into custody for questioning.
He was later transported to the
Forsyth County Adult Detention
Center where he was charged with
murder following interviews by
detectives.
He was being held without bond
Friday night.
Investigators with the Sheriff’s
Office worked late into the night exe
cuting a search warrant at the Elmo
Road address.
“Thus far, we have recovered 18
various firearms during our search,”
Paxton said. “It is too early to deter
mine if one of the weapons we've
found is the murder weapon.”
Thrasher’s wife, Judy, said Friday
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Photo/David McGregor
Instability of the Regal Chemical Co. building prevented inspectors from working
at the fire scene on Friday.
Operations Manager Stan Norris waited out
side of the melted structure for an investigator
to arrive.
“We want to put this behind us as soon as
we can," Norris said as smoke rose from the
facility in the background.
He said 12 to 15 company employees who
worked in the facility had been given the day
off.
“We plan on everybody continuing work.
We have no intention of laying anyone off,”
Norris said.
The fire drew the attention of numerous
A three-judge panel from the appeals
court on Jan. 16 ruled Hall County Superior
Court Judge John E. Girardeau erred when
he overturned an earlier administrative deci
sion in favor of Gwinnett and the state
Environmental Protection Division.
The Lake Lanier Association, which
includes a number of Forsyth County resi
dents, is one of the environmental groups
embroiled in the litigation.
It plans to appeal to the Georgia Supreme
Court, said group president Jackie Joseph.
“It’s been a long haul, but the end result
is really four years down the road,” she said,
INDEX
Abby 6B
Births 4B
Classifieds 3C
Deaths 2A
Forsyth Life IB
Horoscope 6B
Opinion 10A
Sports 1C
SUNDAY January 25, 2004
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Top photo/Audra Perry; Photo at right/Submitted
Deputies lead Morris Cecil Chadwick to a patrol car after the fatal
shooting of Terry Thrasher, right. Thrasher sold aerial photographs
of property to customers at their homes.
that her husband never had any prob
lems when he approached property
owners in the past. He had been sell
ing aerial photographs for 33 years
throughout Florida, Michigan, North
Carolina, Kentucky and Georgia, she
said.
"He never had any problems with
people,” she Said. “People were glad
to see him because he had such a per-
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their contributions.
Atlanta-area media crews as initial reports
claimed the building contained ammonium
nitrate —a highly explosive chemical com
pound. But those reports were incorrect,
according to Norris and Kevin Chambers,
spokesman for the state's Environmental
Protection Division.
“They did not have nitrogen or nitrogen
based fertilizer,” Chambers said.
Forsyth County firefighters contained the
fire, originally hosing it down with water.
See FIRE, Page 2A
referring to when the expansion is expected
to begin operations.
In its decision, the appeals court held that
EPD allowed for sufficient public comment
on the plant’s expansion and the environ
mental groups did not sufficiently prove the
county’s plan violated environmental rules.
The LLA argued the comment process
was flawed because EPD changed the loca
tion of the discharge point after the com
ment process ended.
The original plan called for an under-
See LAKE, Page 2A
sonal product. ... He liked people and
they liked him. He just happened to
run into this one sidewinder missile.”
No funeral information was avail
able on Friday. In addition to his wife
of 33 years, Terry Thrasher leaves
behind a daughter and son-in-law,
Claudia and Nick Primiano, as well
as two grandchildren, Nicholas and
Katie.
> * .-I
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' 4 ■ B
Scientific-Games
plans expansion,
will add 100 jobs
From staff reports
Scientific Games Corp, has announced it will
expand its online lottery business by adding 100
new jobs and building a 90,000-square-foot addi
tion to its south Forsyth County facility.
Lome Weil, chairman and CEO of Scientific
Games said "the significant growth of our online
lottery business" prompted the company to increase
its facilities and workforce. "When we acquired
IGT OnLine Entertainment Systems in November,
Scientific Games gained some exceptional talent.
We spoke repeatedly
about the terrific syn
ergies available to us
and the opportunities
for growth that the
acquisition would
deliver but we must
make this move to
take full advantage of them," Weil said. "By inte
grating field operations and customer service, we
will maximize our effectiveness in the online mar
ket.”
Gov. Sonny Perdue applauded the move.
“The state is excited to hear that Scientific
Games will expand its gaming technology opera
tions in Georgia," Perdue said in a prepared release.
"During these recovering economic times, we
appreciate their investment and commitment to the
communities and people of our great state.”
Joni Owens, president and CEO of the
Cumming-Forsyth County Chamber of Commerce,
said Forsyth County "is elated that one of our
largest corporate citizens. Scientific Games, is
expanding again."
"The new job opportunities will have a very
positive impact on our economic vitality," she said.
"The new jobs and opportunities come at a time
when so many communities are losing jobs and
income base and these conditions truly make this
See EXPAND, Page 2A
Rain
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High in the low 50s.
Low in the mid-40s.
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SCIENTIFIC GAMES
LAKE LANIER LEVELS
Date Level
Jan. 19 1067.91 ft
Jan. 20 1067.82 ft
Jan. 21 1067.82 ft
Jan. 23 1067.74 ft
Full 1071.00 ft