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Forsyth Countv xu ”s J Your "Hometown Paper" Since 1908 J : A J r. in n. * l-H Ai'i •'? Vol. 95, No. 45 County playing a 'game’ on receipts? Slow to respond on city SPLOST audit: mayor By Nicole Green Staff Writer There has been no word on the status of an audit since the Forsyth County Board of Commissioners received five years worth of sales tax spending receipts from the city of Cumming in December, city officials say. Mayor H. Ford Gravitt thinks three months is long enough, he said Tuesday. Gravitt publicly reprimanded the Forsyth County Board of Commissioners at the Tuesday city council meeting. The county gave the city limited time to prepare the docu mentation. but the county has not responded with an audit in a timely manner, the mayor said. "The city took its help, its audit people and attorneys to get all the information to the county commis sioners on a timely schedule.” Gravitt said. "This is March 16. and we’ve heard nothing from the Forsyth County Commissioners." "It appears to me they’re playing a game," Gravitt said. At the council meeting, the city reported special purpose local option sales tax expenditures through the end of February 2004. So far this year, the city has spent just over $1 million. About $670,000 went toward ren ovation of the Cumming Historic School on School Street in down town Cumming. The school will serve as a theater, offices for the Historical Society of Forsyth County and the Sons of Confederate Veterans, a gathering place for local organizations and a museum for the old school. The theater is 90 percent complet ed. City Administrator Gerald Blackburn said. Most of the work remains downstairs and on the school’s exterior. Seats for the theater, sold as memorials to former students, have sold out. the mayor said. There are a See COUNTY, Page 2A Staff Writer Tuesdav Local officials argue that school recess time is adequate for students By Nancy Smallwood Staff Writer Local school officials say they feel adequate outdoor playing time and physical edu cation classes are provided to students in Forsyth County. Having heard the recent proposal for a bill by state Rep Sally Harrell. D-Atlanta. to require public schools to provide at least 15 minutes of recess every day. Associate Superintendent Ellen Cohan said she thought the school system already provided ade quate recess time. “Currently we have 300 hours of instructional time in the middle school day that does not include connections classes such as art, physical education and music,” said Cohan. “With current state mandates we are locked into a rigorous schedule." The school system believes in recess for elementary school 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) 007-3126 Copyright ® 2004 Forsyth County Nows ■in 90994 0400 11 Spring is here! r * Photo/David McGregor Natalie Brown, 3, peaks out from hiding during a beautiful spring day in the play area at Central Park Tuesday. Forecasters see more of the same type of weath er in coming days as spring rapidly approaches.. r — age children die [ l| C'''Ure tn B complx with stale education | guidelines. " wBL according to |W Cohan. \ Teachers >— 1 are encour- Cohan aged to give students a break during the day at all school levels. Sometimes scheduling during the school day only permits for 15 min utes of recess for the elemen tary school children. However, Cohan said phys ical activity is also seen in many of the schools connec tions classes that are funded locally by the school system. Connections classes such as music, art and physical educa tion encourages dance, indoor and outdoor games and coor- INDEX Abby 5B Classifieds 2B Deaths 2A Government MttNMMMMI ...4A Horoscope 5B Kids Page 10A Opinion 9A Sports 6A THURSDAY March 18, 2004 dination. Adding recess to the cur riculum at the local middle schools would be a challenge, according to Cohan. The middle school schedule is one of the most difficult to adjust since they already have the longest day out of the three levels of education. “When the state mandates an issue out of context, it impacts the local school sys tem in ways that they do not intend." said Cohan. “In this case, for example, providing recess at the middle school as has been suggested, would necessitate extending the mid dle school day because of other restrictions already in place.” Forsyth middle school stu dents are required to take 30 hours of physical education each year. Students do get a See RECESS, Page 2A Buiglarsgoonspree through construction sites, Polo Fields. Page 3 A ft d K s Photo/David McGregor Rapid transit The Rescue Air One ambulance helicopter takes off Tuesday to transport an injured Forsyth County concrete company worker to North Fulton Regional Hospital. Fire department officials said Manuel Martinez, 29, an employee at Creative Concrete Solutions on Matt Highway, got his arm stuck in a cement mixer Tuesday afternoon. His arm was crushed between the wall and the paddle of the mixer. Jim Groover, operations manager for Rescue Air One, said that air transportation is necessary for trauma victims with the extent of Martinez's injuries. "You don't want to go to the closest hospital and then not have an appro priate surgeon there," Groover said. Forsyth Central < baseball falls in extra innings. Rage6A Ull JUD Vl~ jv veins Commission denies revised gun ordinance Plan was less severe than state law By Todd Truelove Staff Writer The Forsyth County Board of Commissioners Monday unanimously voted against adopting a new gun ordinance after residents concerned about the county tak ing away their constitutional right to bear firearms spoke against the new law that would have lessened penalties for violators. Attorney Ken Jarrard, whose partnership law firm Jarrard and Davis is under contract with the county, pre sented the board with the ordinance which was revised to conform to state law after comments from opponents during a public hearing last month. “It is a lot less severe than a state court solicitor’s office prosecution,” Jarrard said, adding that violators would be subject to trial before the magistrate court rather than a state court jury trial. In addition. Jarrard said violators of the state law could be subject to a maximum of a year in jail while, if the county ordinance was approved, those violators would be subject to a maximum of 60 days. The county law would have imposed a maximum SI,OOO fine; the state law also imposes a maximum SI,OOO fine. Sheriff Ted Paxton said without a county ordinance his deputies have no alternative but to arrest those charged with violating the state law and take them to jail. He said the county ordinance would allow deputies to issue citations rather than arrest violators. Opponents said the county does not need to impose the law because the state has already imposed such restrictions. Steve Burch, the publisher of Georgia Outdoor News Magazine, questioned why the county needs to supple ment the state law. “The concern we have is the confusion on the benefit to the county," Burch said. "It seems apparent that, since we are mirroring state law. a law already exists." Herb Dalton, a competitive shooter, suggested if the county imposes a gun ordinance, it needs to be amended to include items such a defining the beginning point of a 50-yard requirement not to discharge firearms from county roadways. Dalton said that measurement needs to begin at the center of roads. However, he said the best alternative would be for commissioners to kill the proposed gun law. "The ideal situation would be for this ordinance to be completely removed from the table." Dalton said. None of the eight people who spoke about the ordi nance were in favor of it. Several times, attendees in the auditorium erupted into applause as speakers announced their concerns. Chairman Jack Conway tried to understand why resi dents opposed the ordinance. “We’re offering an easier route, and nobody wants that?" Conway said. Paxton referred to the failure of a recent bond refer- See CUNS, Page 2A Partly Cloudy LAKE LANIER LEVELS Date Level March 15 1069.85 ft March 14 1069.86 ft a March 15 1069.86 ft s’ March 16 1069.87 ft Rill 1071.00 ft High in the mid-60s. Low in the mid-40s. • ' 4 <O», IB Unemployment u recovering