The Forsyth County news. (Cumming, Ga.) 19??-current, March 12, 2004, Page PAGE 2A, Image 2

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PAGE 2A - FORSYTH COUNTY NEWS Fridty, March 12,2004 Deaths Seth Abrahams Mr. Seth Abrahams, 32, of Alpharetta, formerly of New York, died Sunday. March 7, 2004. Seth was a partner of Partners in Precision Diagnostics in Alpharetta. A memorial service will be Monday. March 15. at 7:30 p.m. from the Johns Creek Baptist Church in Alpharetta. Survivors include his mother, Sandy Abrahams of New York. In lieu of flowers, contribu tions may be made to your favorite charity in the name of Seth Abrahams. Byars Funeral Home was in charge of the arrangements. Forsyth County News March 12, 2004 Jennifer Kuznitz Ms. Jennifer Jarriel "Jen" Kuznitz. 34. of Alpharetta, for merly of Milledgeville, died Sunday, March 7.2004. Jennifer was the owner of Jen's Graphics in Alpharetta. Survivors include her son, Justin Kuznitz of Alpharetta; parents. Billy and Bobbie Jarriel of Milledgeville. A memorial service will be Monday. March 15. at 7:30 p.m. from the Johns Creek Baptist Church in Alpharetta. In lieu of flowers, contribu tions may be made to your favorite charity in Jennifer’s name. Byars Funeral Home was in charge of the arrangements. Forsyth Counts News March 12. 2004 Paul Short Mr. Paul Short. 67, of Dawsonville died Tuesday, w _ March 9. 2004. He was retired _ from the con struction busi- VETERAXI ness and a veter an of the U.S. Army and a member of the V.F.W. Survivors include his wife. Pat Short of Forsyth County; son and daughter-in-law. John and Valerie Short of Forsyth County; daughter. Michelle Short of Forsyth County; grand children. Stacy Short of California, Aerial Hardie, Logan Hardie, both of Forsy th County; and a number of other relatives also survive. Private memorial services will be at a later date. Ingram Funeral Home was in charge of the arrangements. Forssth Counts' News March 12. 2004 Tommy McMillen Mr. Tommy McMillen. 54, of Canton, died Tuesday, March 9, 2004. He was an electrician and of the Baptist faith. Survivors include wife, Brenda Reece McMillen of Canton; daughter, Jodie Bentley of Canton; step-daughters. Andria Blanton and Jennifer Turner of Ball Ground; brother. Charles McMillen of Canton; sisters. Jane Robinson of Jasper and Judy Lively of Ball Ground; five grandchildren, nieces and nephews. Funeral services will be held Friday. March 12. 2004. at 11 am., at the Chapel of South Canton Funeral Home with Rev. Billy Edmondson officiating. Interment will follow in Cherokee Memorial Park. South Canton Funeral Home & Chapel of Canton is in charge of the arrangements. Forsyth Counts' News March 12. 2004 VETERAX □ MOVIES 400 C ! ■■■ i In Cumming > ■ : — : Presents The Hometown Premier Os : : ila UH ! : r & ' ' 1 OBBSWH 1 % / / I i ■■HM 1 : .Aash wHMI i i —: RHF ; ■■■ i ; Starring Forsyth County's Own —; Skyler Day —i 1“ Come and Meet Skyler on : mm«| Friday, March 12th 6-8 PM or Saturday, March 13th 1-5 PM C DOWNTOWN CUMMING TICKETS ON SALE UP TO 7 DAYS IN ADVANCE ADULTS 57.50 CHILD/SR $5.50 ALL SEATS BEFORE 6:00 PM $5.00 Seethemovles.com 678-513-4400 or 770-844-1101, #llOB Leßoy Ross Mr. Leßoy Ross, 90, of Dahlonega died Monday, March 8. 2004. Bom Feb. 26. 1914, in Oconee County, he was the son of the late Charlie and Fannie Prather Ross. Mr. Ross had resided in Lumpkin County for the past 71 years. He was man ager of Gold City Case and Pool Room, loved the outdoors and fishing and was of the Baptist faith. He was preceded in death by his wife, Adelaide Ross; and son, Robert Ross. Survivors include his daugh ters, Hazel Tyson of Gainesville. Mary Hall, Fannie Weidner and Brenda Young, all of Dahlonega, Ruth Piper of Marietta; sons, Frank Ross and Howard Ross, both of Dahlonega, Tommy Ross of Dawsonville; brother, Weldon Ross of Athens; sisters, Rachael Ragland and Hazel Ross, both of Athens; 18 grand children; 27 great-grandchildren; several great-great-grandchil dren; several nieces and nephews also survive. Funeral services were Thursday, March 11, at the Dahlonega Baptist Church with the Revs. Robert D. Green, Lyman Caldwell and Junior Evans officiating. Interment fol lowed in the Mount Hope Cemetery. McKinney Funeral Home of Dahlonega was in charge of the arrangements. Forss th County News March 12. 2004 Rex Sexton Mr. Rex Sexton, 56. of Cumming died Tuesday. March 9. 2004. Survivors include his wife. Deborah Sexton of Cumming; stepchildren. Danny and Sherri Jennings. Brandi Samples, all of Cumming; grandchildren, Danae. Dylan, Dalton and Drake Jennings, all of Cumming; father and mother, Rade and Nettie Mae Sexton of Cumming: sister and brother-in-law, Connie and Jim Berlin of Norcross; nephew s, Brian Berlin of Viera. Fla.. Chris Berlin of Norcross; niece. Stephanie Viscarra of Snellville; grandnieces. Kayla Viscarra of Snellville. Annie Kathryn Berlin of Viera. Fla.; several aunts, uncles, cousins and other relatives also survive. Funeral services will be Friday, March 12, at 2 p.m. at the Ingram Funeral Home Chapel with the Revs. Gary Coffey and Ruel Martin officiat ing. Interment will follow in the Zion Hill Baptist Church Cemetery. Ingram Funeral Home was in charge of the arrangements. Forss th Counts News March 12. 2004 Forsyth County Nows Obituaries LEGAL from 1A partner in the firm with Angie Davis, said the comments did not surprise him as much as they disappointed him. “He has not been assessed a bill,” Jarrard said in an inter view Wednesday, adding his firm has tried to provide the activist with the requested information which includes reimbursement payments to County Administrator Stevie Mills, County Solicitor Leslie Abernathy and all five county commissioners, and records from all meetings of the coun ty’s Board of Ethics. “We’ve had these docu ments produced for weeks,” Jarrard said. Anderson is working on behalf of a local group, the Citizens Oversight Comm ittee, that seeks to find and remove corruption from gov ernmental entities. Local polit ical activist and frequent gov ernment critic David Milum is an organizer of that group. Milum and Anderson both recently had ethics charges against the county solicitor dismissed by the ethics board due to lack of evidence. In a Feb. 19 letter respond ing to Anderson’s request, the law firm requested 5179.50 for 318 copies at 25 cents each and retrieval fees to access the records from an off-site stor age facility. “That (the off-site retrieval fee] is a direct cost that 1 have to pass on to him.” Jarrard said, adding it costs SSO to retrieve the documents and SSO to replace them. “I can’t see assessing for those unless he says he wants them." However. Jarrard said that the money is only due if Anderson wants the copies. “He doesn’t owe it to me right now,” Jarrard said. “He only owes me that money if he wants those copies.” County Public Infor-mation Officer Bill Johnson said the retrieval fees are the responsi bility of the person who requests the records, not coun ty residents. “He's [Anderson] supposed to pay those fees, not the tax payers," Johnson said. While Georgia law allows DRUGS from 1A The stop was made in connec tion with a narcotics investiga tion ongoing for the past month, according to local law enforce ment officials. Officers with the Dawson County Sheriff’s Office assisted in the investigation. During a press conference on Wednesday. Sheriff Ted Paxton described the arrest as “instru mental” to infiltrating and impeding local supply of the drug. "The bottom line is this is our continuing and ongoing effort to impact the meth trade in Forsyth County." Paxton said Wednesday. Maj. Gene Moss said Hernandez-Lopez was a major supplier of "ice" in the north Forsyth County area. "This is ice. methampheta mine in its purest form.” Moss said. An investigation is continu ing into Hernandez-Lopez, he added. Local narcotics investigators say they have noticed a recent local governments to assess fees for copies, retrieval costs and the time it takes employ ees to gather the information, Jarrard said the work-related fees were waived. “We waived a fee (the time cost for county employees to get the documents] that we were absolutely entitled to obtain,” Jarrard said. “The bot tom line is I want to get him the documents he wants.” The letter from the law firm also requested an addi tional $220 in unpaid debt for open records request informa tion the county compiled for Anderson last year. Jarrard said Anderson did not respond to the letter until Monday night’s public com ment period before the board of commissioners saying he’s being charged for docu ments he hasn’t seen and that he shouldn’t be charged if he’s only going to inspect the records. The activist’s letter asks the county to “provide” the records and does not include inspecting them. “The way his open records request was couched, he didn’t want to simply inspect these records," Jarrard said. “He wanted them provided. He wanted copies.” “If he just comes by to look at the copies that have been made there’s no charge,” Jarrard said. Davis said if Anderson wants the documents, he should have contacted the law firm. "If there was a sincere interest, then he would have responded to our correspon dence,” Davis said. The law firm wrote another letter to Anderson Tuesday to address his concerns and inform him there is no cost to inspect the copies. Johnson called Anderson’s accusations “ridiculous" and said Jarrard and Davis have "bent over backward" to avoid unnecessary fees. "The problem I have with these guys is they want to do these so-called ‘investiga tions.’ but they want the tax payers to pick up the tab." Johnson said. increase in the amount of “ice” in the county, noting users prefer it to traditional methampheta mine because its high lasts con siderably longer, allowing them to stay awake for days at a time without sleep. Ice is similar in appearance to rock candy. According to the federal Drug Enforcement Agency, ice contains the same active chemi cal compound as powder methamphetamine, but under goes a recrystallization process that removes impurities. When smoked, highly con centrated doses of the drug are delivered instantaneously into the user’s system and may cause more compulsive use and more severe delusions than traditional methamphetamine. Hl a” 7 J 1 Happy Birthday Luann... Cowgirl Up!! MILUM from 1A the governor’s office.” Milum believes the GBI action was a retaliatory action by the governor’s office and GBI. In his complaint against Perdue, Milum criticized the governor’s use of a state heli copter to drop off his adult son, Jim Perdue, at a state patrol post in Cumming following a day of official business Perdue and his son conducted in mid dle and south Georgia. Jim Perdue was dropped off in Cumming so he could attend a local high school football game with his wife, a teacher at North Forsyth High School. The heli copter then returned the gover nor to Atlanta. The Lamar County woman’s custody battle is unre lated to the ethics complaint filed against the governor. In that case, the woman’s children were taken away from her by case workers with the Department of Family and Children's Services. Milum, who owns an orna mental gate company, is a member of the Forsyth County Citizen’s Oversight Committee and has lambasted the state’s treatment of the woman on his political Web site about forsyth.com. The Web site has a link on it to another Citizen’s Oversight Committee in Lamar County, where the woman’s child custody case is the main topic of discussion. Following the phone con versations between Milum and the governor’s staff member, the governor’s office requested advice from the GBI and attor ney general’s office. “It was quite clear to us what the statements were,” Bankhead said of Milum's proposal. Under Georgia law, bribery is defined as giving or offering any public official 'any benefit, reward, or consideration to which he or she is not entitled" for the purpose of influencing The Longstreet Preschool a Ministry of Longstreet Baptist Church located at 6468 Campground Road, Cumming, GA. Openings are available for all ages (2 years - 5 years) for the upcoming fall session. 4 Registration is Saturday, March 13th from 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 pm at the church. For information, call 770-781-9100 Forsyth CountvNews •/ Your "Hometown Paper " Since 1908 J USPS 205-540 Veterans Memorial Blvd., Cumming, Georgia 30040 Phone: 770-887 3126 Fax: 770-889-6017 Internet Address: www.forsythnews.com e Publisher DENNIS STOCKTON General Manager NORMAN BAGGS Editor TOM SPIGOLON Advertising Director MARTI BARNES Circulation Director PHIL JONES MEMBER Published Sunday. Wednesday. Thursday and Friday by the Forsyth County News Company, Veterans Memorial Blvd.. Cumming. Ga. Second Class Postage paid at Cumming. Ga. and additional offices. Subscription rate for Forsyth County. $52 per year, $35 for six months; other Georgia and out of state subscriptions are SBS per year. Any unused portion of a subscription balance will be gladly refunded However, all refunds due the subscriber are subject to a processing fee. which will be automatically deducted from the subscription balance refund. Advertising rates and deadlines available upon request Postmaster: Send address change to Forsyth County News/P.O. Box 210, Cumming. Ga. 30028. A Swartz-Morris Media Inc. publication Miss your paper? Call 887-3126 We deliver replacement papers within Forsyth County. If your newspaper is not delivered by 6:30 a.m., please call the circulation department at 770-887-3126. Service calls will be taken from 8:00 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, and on Sunday from 9:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m. If your call is received during these times, a replacement copy will be delivered to your home. Calls received after busi ness hours will be checked the following business day. and credit will be extended to your account. Any changes in publication will be announced in preceding issues. Advertising Deadlines For Sunday’s paper retail and classified display ads are due by noon Thursday For Wednesday’s paper retail and classified display ads are due by 5 p.m Friday For Thursday’s paper retail and classified display ads are due by noon Monday. For Friday’s paper retail and classified display ads are due by noon Tuesday. Classified Line Advertising Deadlines (Help wanted, garage sales, rentals, etc.) For Sunday’s paper classified line ads are due by noon Friday. For Wednesday’s paper classified line ads are due by noon Monday. For Thursday's paper classified line ads are due by noon Tuesday. For Friday’s paper classified line ads are due by noon Wednesday. Legal advertising is due by Friday noon and runs only in Wednesday's paper. the official in his or her official capacity. The crime carries a fine of up to $5,000 and a prison sentence of between one and 20 years. The search warrant was exe cuted less than two days after Milum and fellow political activist George Anderson lashed out at the county government for what they considered a pattern of corruption by local officials. Milum has faced court pro ceedings related to his interac tion with public officials in the past, including an accusation he intimidated County Commissioner Marcie Kreager. Following the search of his home, Milum called the warrant a “fraud warrant” because he considered it legally deficient. “They were looking for a recording where I talked to Harold Melton, the governor’s chief counsel and John Watson, the governor’s chief of staff,” said Milum, who said that he had an audio cassette tape of the conversation Milum said that he believes that the investigation was trig gered by two events the ethics complaint he filed against the governor and an unflattering report he published about a retired GBI agent who spearheaded an investigation into former Forsyth County Sheriff Denny Hendrix. Among the items seized by the GBI agents was a computer Milum uses to update his Web site and another computer belonging to his wife. He said the agents also removed disks and recorded media from his home. Milum said the removal of his computer would not stop him from continuing to oper ate his Web site. “This won’t slow me down. I'll do double time now.” A spokeswoman for the governor, Loretta Lepore, declined to comment.