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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. 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 Newa o 90994 04000 r Your "Hometown Paper" Since 1908 • 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 — ■a iw —■■■. ■ i.-. . ■■■■ i.. ■ i—i. , ■ 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 ism k ■ h i i' 11 k KI fl! * s 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- Our annual Women MX# of Forsyth section /SS ' ■ St 4? spotlights local “mU residentsand SH SS 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 or ' 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 Os High in the low 50s. Low in the mid-40s. __, 1 - Life, lb Helping addicts start over. an ■■■■» □kJ ss:: 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