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Forsyth CountvNews
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Vol. 95, No. 038
Hot situation
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Photo/Audra Perry
Forayth firefighter Mark Davis motions for water as he and other firefighters fight a fire in a field and abandoned
house Wednesday afternoon off Hwy. 306. The county forestry department was called in to dig a trench around the
structure to let the fire burn out. Fire investigators believe the blaze to be caused by arson.
Forsyth dedicates new Sharon School
By Nicole Green
Staff Writer
Old and new students of Sharon
Elementary School on James Burgess Road
gathered for a dedication ceremony on
Sunday.
The new building, the first two-story
school in Forsyth County, is named after the
old Sharon School that still stands across
Old Atlanta Road. Forsyth County residents
who attended the original Sharon brought
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Photo/David McGregor
Trapped
Firefighters work to free the driver of a Honda Civic after it crashed
Wednesday after swerving to avoid another vehicle that appeared
to be in its lane, sheriff’s deputies said. Emergency workers trans
ported three patients to North Fulton Regional Hospital after the
vehicle left the roadway at Old Alpharetta and McGinnis Ferry
roads. No one in the vehicle was wearing a seatbelt, and speed
was definitely a factor, deputies reported. See additional photos,
page 2A.
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Copyright C 2004 Forsyth County Nsws
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pictures and stories to share with the new
students and faculty on Sunday.
New Sharon opened Oct. 27, 2003, and
was built with funding from the 1999 voter
approved bond referendum. The $125-mil
lion bond paid for one new middle school,
two elementary schools, 205 classroom
additions, land acquisitions, school safety
enhancements and technology improve
ments.
Old Sharon was originally built by the
Georgia School Authority. The Forsyth
INDEX
Ab by 118
Church events 8A
Classifieds
Deaths 2A
Food 10A
Horoscope 118
Opinion 11A
Sports 1B
FRIDAY March 5,2004
County could begin $600,000
mountain project by summer
By Todd Truelove
Staff Writer
The Forsyth County Parks and Recreation
Department has targeted construction on the first phase
of new outdoor recreation facilities on Sawnee Mountain
to begin this summer.
Though 5600.000 has been allocated for the project,
the actual cost depends on bids that will be received later
this spring.
Matt Pate, the department’s outdoor recreation super
visor, said the department will utilize around 350 to 400
acres of county owned property around the Indian Seats
to offer activities such as rock climbing and repelling.
“We will not know how much [construction] will be
until after bids are put out at the end of April," Pate said.
The funds for the project are expected to come from
the county’s I percent, voter-approved sales tax.
Most of the area will remain in its present natural
state. Guests will be able to access the park off Bettis-
Tribble Gap Road.
Features at the new park are to include hiking trails, a
playground area, picnic pavilion and an amphitheater
that will seat between 109 and 150 people. Events such
as Shakespeare performances, jazz and bluegrass con
certs may be conducted at the amphitheater.
“We’re trying to be as environmentally friendly as
possible with the designs," Pate said. “We want to have
the facilities blend with nature.”
"This is going to provide recreation activities that
[county residents] would have to travel more than an
hour to get,” Pate said. “We’re going to start having a lot
of outdoor programs for the county."
Though the hiking tails will eventually lead guests to
the Indian Seats, Pate said when the park first opens hik
ers will be able to see, but not access, the historical mon
uments so the area can “re-vegetate.”
See COUNTY, Page 2A
Food
Recipe ideas to help
make your brunch
a success
PagelOA
County Board of Education purchased the
school in September, 1931, for $5. In
March, 1969, the building was sold.
Superintendent Paula Gault presented
Sharon’s principal, Janet Reid, with a print
of the old Sharon community school.
“We are not dedicating only a school
building today, we are dedicating the future
of our children. With an appreciation for our
See NEW, Page 2A
Religion
See what’s
happening in
local churches.
PageSA
Judge gives
warning to
meth dealers
Man gets 15-year sentence
By Nicole Green
Staff Writer
Chief Judge Jeffrey S. Bagley broadcast a warning to
methamphetamine dealers Wednesday with the sentencing
of a convicted drug trafficker.
Arthur Stephen Bowden Jr., 40, of Roswell was sen-
tenced to 15 years in prison, 15 years
of probation and a $200,000 fine for
possession and trafficking of metham
phetamine. Bowden’s attorney, Jeffrey
Purvis, had requested a lighter sen
tence, but Bagley said he wanted to
make an example of this felon.
“There’s been an explosion of this
kind of drug in our society. It’s easy to
make, easy to distribute.
“What comes to mind obviously are
the people who come before me on a
regular basis who wear the scars of
meth...What comes to mind is a man sobbing in my
chambers because he was married to a woman for 16
years and he doesn’t know that person anymore. He’s
afraid of that person, and his children are afraid of that
person,” Bagley said.
“In those cases, someone did the trafficking. I think a
message needs to be sent by this community that this
E9ll director resigns
By Nicole Green
Staff Writer
The director of the Forsyth County E9ll
Communications Center resigned Tuesday.
Miles Butler was placed on administrative leave
last week by the Sheriff’s Office pending a personnel
investigation of an undisclosed nature. He would not
comment on his resignation.
“What more is there to say? I resigned,” Butler said
See E9ll, Page 2A
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File photo
County officials have targeted construction on the
first phase of recreation facilities on Sawnee
Mountain to begin this summer.
Thunderstorms
iff
High in the low 70s,
Low in the mid-50s.
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SPORTS, IB
Rough night in region play
Bagley
See METH, Page 2A
LAKE LANIER LEVELS
Date Level
Feb. 29 1069.61 ft
March 1 1069.62 ft
March 2 1069.63 ft
March 3 1069.68 ft
Full 1071.00 ft