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Forsvth Count vNews Vol. 95, No. 16 Icy weather closes schools; By Todd Truelove and Steven H. Pollak Staff Writers The cold weather that hit north Georgia Sunday evening spared Forsyth County and most of metro Atlanta from the hazards associated with its icy touch. Though county schools closed and the Forsyth Couny Board of Commissioners canceled their sched uled meeting and public hearings, officials on Monday afternoon said Forsyth’s roads were clear and reported no major power outages. “We had a few ice patches on some of the bridges,” said Engineering Department Director John Cunard, “but those were taken care of.” Spokespeople for Georgia Power and Sawnee Electrical Membership Corp, said there were no outages in the county. Lynn Wallace, a public represen tative from Georgia Power, said most of the power outages were located in northeast Georgia. “Cumming is not showing up in our system at all as having outages,” Wallace said. "We don’t have any outages to speak of in the metro- Atlanta region.” Perhaps there were no electrical outages, but the Monday morning weather possibly caused a minor a,' -g v 2HI 7 A V J®. 7 nul •’£.«• SBfc it Kl| 1 ■-' M W Iw Ww Photo/Audra Perry Forsyth County firemen battle a blaze that destroyed a garbage truck on Ga. 400 in south Forsyth. Truck fire briefly closes Ga. 400 By Steven H. Pollak Staff Writer For the second time in less than a week, authorities had to shut down all lanes of traffic on Ga. 400 due to a fire. On Monday, a garbage truck caught on fire at about 2 p.m. while traveling north on Ga. 400 just south of the McFarland Road exit in south Forsyth. As Forsyth firefighters battled the blaze, deputies from the Forsyth County Sheriff's Office worked with officers from the Alpharetta Police Department to shut down Ga. 400 between McFarland Road and Windward Parkway in north Fulton. Capt. Frank Huggins, the public information officer with the Sheriff’s Office, said both sides of Ga. 400 remained closed for just a few minutes Monday before deputies were able to open one lane of southbound traffic. All lanes of traffic were reopened on the highway at about 5 p.m., Huggins added. Deputy Fire Chief Dwight Clark said no one was injured in the incident. The cause of the fire appeared to be some sort of elec- 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 mn 90994 0400 ■■■■■■■■■■i■■■ BHaßßßßaaaaHMHaaa •/ Your "Hometown Paper" Since 1908 commission meeting, hearings rescheduled Students lose Feb. 17 day off By Nicole Green Staff Writer Forsyth County students and teachers enjoyed an unexpected hol iday on Monday due to the icy weather. Superintendent Paula Gault decided at 5:20 a.m. to close schools for teachers and students. “We probably could have gone, but I’d rather err on the side of cau tion,” Gault said. Year-round employees reported two hours late. At 11 p.m. Sunday, Gault intended to continue Monday morn ing as usual. However, Director of Transportation Garry Puetz began testing the condition of bus routes at 3 a.m. Monday. He reported that glitch in Fire Department communi cations. Fire Chief Danny D. Bowman said ice on the Sawnee Mountain antenna site “might” have been the culprit behind firefighters’ hand-held radios not working properly. Despite the problem, firefighters were able to better send and receive radio transmissions by using the radio units on the fire trucks. Bowman emphasized that the Fire INDEX Abby 118 Classifieds 8B Deaths 2A, Events 5 A Horoscope 118 Legals 3B Opinion 10A Sports IB WEDNESDAY January 28, 2004 trical problem in the cab area which spread to the rest of the truck and left it almost “totally destroyed," Clark said. Two fire engines and a tanker truck responded to the scene to help put down the flames, Clark added. It was the second time since Thursday that authorities had to shut down both sides of Ga. 400. As rush hour began in earnest on Thursday morning, deputies were forced to shut down the highway between McFarland Road and Hwy. 141 when fire broke out at a fertilizer manufacturing company. The first employee to arrive for work at the Regal Chemical Co. building on Branch Drive just off McFarland Road walked inside, smelled smoke and called 911, according to a company official. The company manufactures and blends fertilizers at the Branch Drive facility and company officials believe the fire started at an oven which warms chemicals used in the fertilizer blending process. A column of black smoke rose from the 75,000- to 100,000-square foot building and arched over Ga. 400, hindering driver visibility on the highway. The roadway remained closed for almost an hour-and a-half on Thursday. Advice bridges and overpasses were lay ered with ice, making it unsafe for travelers on the way to school. After a weather forecast predi cated hazardous roadways and more bad weather for the entire day, Gault decided to close schools. “That’s when I said I’m afraid we can’t do this... and right after that they closed Ga. 400,” Gault said. In addition to the dangerous driving conditions, Gault said she was also concerned about slippery steps leading into mobile class rooms at several schools. The inclement weather day will be made up on Feb. 17, the Tuesday after President’s Day weekend. Students will keep the Feb. 13 and Feb. 16 holidays. Department was never without radio capabilities. “We have experienced absolutely no loss of communications as a result of this morning’s ice,” he said Monday. “The system is functioning normally.” The National Weather Service forecasted a 50-percent chance of freezing rain for Monday night, and See WEATHER, Page 2A Dear Abby dishes out good advice. Pagellß ..I'l OliiM Photos/Audra Perry The top of Sawnee Mountain saw the most ice accumulation in Forsyth County during the overnight and early morning freezing rain that fell over much of North Georgia. Tree branches bowed beneath the weight of the half-inch ice. Murder suspect’s wife is stunned by his arrest By Steven H. Pollak Staff Writer The wife of the man accused of murdering a door-to-door salesman says her husband seemed fine when she left their north Forsyth home Thursday morning. Grace Chadwick, 63, and her husband. 66-year-old Morris Cecil Chadwick, both lifelong residents of Forsyth County, started the day at their Elmo Road home with a tele phone call from Morris’ younger brother, Cleveland, who was in Germany. Grace Chadwick said she answered the phone and spoke with Cleveland for close to a half-hour while her husband washed and brushed his teeth. She handed the phone to Moms and then got ready to leave the house. A cousin took her out to run some errands at about 8:40 a.m., but before she stepped out the door, her husband paused his phone conversa tion in order to say, “You be care ful.” Grace Chadwick said she wished her husband the same thing and then left the house. The next time she’d see her hus band of 47 years, he would be inside the Forsyth County Adult Detention Center charged with murder. The couple has experienced much tragedy in their time together. They met at a church service in the Shakerag community near Suwanee. Grace Chadwick became pregnant with their first child in 1959 but the unborn baby girl died in the womb after just six months. Ten years later, the Chadwicks had their first and only child, a boy See WIFE, Page 2A Opinion Columnist Bill Shipp points out how quickly political tides can change. RagelOA Photo/Audra Perry Officers prepare to place Morris Cecil Chadwick in a patrol car at his home last week. Sunny LAKE LANIER LEVELS Date Level Jan. 19 1067.91 ft Jan. 20 1067.82 ft Jan. 21 1067.82 ft Jan. 26 1068.01 ft Full 1071.00 ft High in the mid-40s. Low in the mid-20s. SPORTS, 1B \ir;> tournament next on the mat