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Jw w-J I Forsyth County News J Your "Hometown Paper" Since 1908 J Vol. 95, No. 51 March rainfall at record lows By Todd Truelove Staff Writer State climatologist David Stooksbury says rainfall in Forsyth County and across Georgia this month is at record lows —a condi tion which, if it continues, will cause problems for farmers and firefighters, and could result in stringent watering restrictions. "Many [counties] are reaching near all-time record low rainfalls for March," Stooksbury said. He said reports indicate rainfall in Cumming has averaged 0.67 of an inch. "Most stations in north Georgia experience 5 to 6 inches of rainfall in March." he said. The reason, he said, is because winds have been blowing from the wrong directions. “We have not had large, low pressure systems coming out of the Gulf which are quite common dur ing the winter months and on into March." said Stooksbury, a profes sor of engineering at the University of Georgia. “We’ve had extremely consistent winds out of the west and out of the northwest,” he said, adding there are not any large bodies of water to the state's west and northwest to generate the needed rainfall. In Forsyth County, the number of fires has increased because of the Boy, 9, dead in accident By Nicole Green Staff Writer A 9-year-old boy in Cumming died Wednesday night after acci dentally hanging himself in his par- ent's garage, ac cording to the county coroner. Zachary Lacy, a fourth-grade stu dent at Chattahoo chee Elementary School, was play ing with some wires he had at tached to a beam in the garage ceiling. ■ Lacy Apparently the toy he was standing on slipped out from under him, and Zach got hung in the wires, coroner Lauren McDonald 111 said. Zachary’s 13-year-old brother, Thomas Lacy, found him in the garage. CPR was already in progress when sheriff's deputies arrived about 8 p.m. at the Pilgrim Mill Road address, said Capt. Frank Huggins with the Forsyth County Sheriff's Office. The boy was rushed by ambulance to Northside Hospital Forsyth where he was pro nounced dead. Autopsy results are pending. Family members described Zach as a "stunt man” who loved to use his imagination, taking an interest in creative building. Legos, art and stories. Zach loved playing soccer, four wheeling and camping with his father, Tom Lacy, family members said. See ACCIDENT, Page 2A 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) M 7-3126 Copyrtgtti2o® Forsyth ?oun*yM»w» o ' Your "Hometown Paper" Since 1908 J Photo/David McGregor Brian Adams cuts the base of a tree that caught fire after embers from a nearby yard debris fire spread off Gravitt Road Friday. dry conditions, according to Capt David McWhorter of the Forsyth County Fire Department. “We’ve been averaging for the t-H Photo/David McGregor First Lady Mary Perdue was the “Mystery Reader” at Big Creek Elementary Friday See story on 4A. Forsyth Sheriff says traffic fatalities double in 2003 By Nicole Green Staff Writer The death of Sgt. David P. Land a year ago on March 26 was one of 28 traffic fatalities in 2003, according to the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office annual report. The number of traffic fatalities in unincor porated Forsyth more than doubled the num ber from 2002. Investigator Phil Alexander of the sheriff's traffic specialist's unit said the death toll fluctuates from year to year, but he named a few possible reasons why the num bers increased in 2003. Because speeding is the No. I cause of death on the roads, a lack of speed limit enforcement could have contributed to traffic fatalities. Alexander said. Traffic-clogged roads in south Forsyth actually may deter traffic fatalities. Most traf fic deaths occurred in the north part of the county where traffic congestion is minimal. Drivers hit the open road at high rates of speed, losing control, he said. About four of every 10 fatal accidents involved a single car or motorcycle, most of which involved a driver losing control of the vehicle and hitting a tree or utility pole. INDEX Abby 68 Births 48 Classifieds 4C Deaths 2A Forsyth Life ™IB Horoscope 68 Opinion ..ISA Sports 1C SUNDAY March 28,2004 last three weeks nine to 10 fires a week ranging from very small areas to 3 to 4 acres,” McWhorter said. "It’s probably a 50 percent increase, if not more." He warned that residents in wooded, high density communities should pay attention to neighboring properties when burning. “Urban residences are being placed inside the woods, which is nice, but it can create an unusual fire hazard," McWhorter said. "It is a definite problem. People need to pay attention to their surroundings.” The weather may only be a prel ude of worse conditions to come this summer. State Agriculture Commissioner Tommy Irvin said farmers have struggled readying crops for pro duction. “Farmers like to get in the field and start plowing," Irvin said, adding some farmers particularly in south Georgia have said the soil is not breaking to plant their crops. “We’ve been getting reports they had to quit planting." said Irvin. However, the agriculture com missioner said a good rain could quickly change conditions. "We can’t write [2004] off yet. but we need rain," he said. "A good See RAIN, Page 2A Man on parole allegedly caught with meth. Pagel2A Excessive rain in 2003 made for unsafe driving conditions, Alexander said. Thunderstorms were blamed for three fatal wrecks. Guadalupe Prado, 22, died when he hydroplaned into a pickup truck on Hwy. 306 in May. Eugene Boron, 65. and Prashanth Phalakshan, 33, were killed in separate acci dents caused by the same two-day storm sys tem that stuck in June. Also, rising traffic volume in Forsyth County translates into more traffic deaths. “There is more traffic than what the roads are designed to handle safely," Alexander said. In 2002, the deadliest road in the county proved to be Hwy. 20. The state highway claimed four lives again in 2003. The fatalities on Hwy. 20 occurred in the west part of the county, according to the report. Hwy. 369 and Hwy. 20 form an east-west corridor that car ries traffic from 1-75 to 1-85, traveled fre quently by drivers who want to avoid metro Atlanta congestion. Four crashes also occurred on Hwy. 9, three being in the north part of the county. The See FATALITIES, Page 3A South Forsyth baseball wins two straight as AAAA playoffs loom, RagelC I D - Arts & Community E- Education F - Government New districts now final ... "S'v hfrw i. - a —LJjAaE. JHL. Photo/David McGregor Gary Smith and John Kilgore look over the new voting precinct maplines at the county administration building Thursday. Election officials adjust precincts By Harris Blackwood Community Editor It's official and it's confusing. A three-judge federal panel has given final approval to new legisla tive districts clearing the way for election officials to begin adjusting their precincts in time for the July primaries. While signing off on the new maps, the judges agreed to allow the districts to be sequentially number. The new system places northeast Forsyth in House District 9, which is currently represented by Rep. Amos Amerson, (R-Dahlonega). The mid dle district, which has been identified on earlier maps as 14A, will now be House District 23 and is currently Partly Cloudy High in the high 70s. Low in the high 40s. held by Rep. Jack Murphy. R- Cumming. The southern portion of the county would fall into House District 24. where Rep Tom Knox, (R-Cumming), is the incumbent. For Forsyth County Election Superintendent Gary Smith, prelimi nary work began earlier this week when maps separating Knox and Murphy were issued by the court. The revised districts result in split ting some precincts between the two House districts. The first map, which brought Amerson's district into Forsyth, already split portions of the Concord precinct, near the Forsyth/Dawson line. See DISTRICT, Page 2A /A / .-JtwW r- k r' / > fatalities In / Vt //7 ‘X/* / unincorporated / X /S1 yx / Forsyth by year ( 12®/ 1994 -13 /"\ AJ 1995-14 \ /II 1 A I 1996 19 ) y 1 B ij fl 1997- 17 y r ’ A ///? 1998 -29 X 140® 7 A S/tl 1999 -24 X. Jr (fit) k *J /• 2000 -9 • T XZ / 2001 ■ 2O / I Yf 2002-12 I xxx \j 2003 ■ 2B w ’'x. 1 Source: Forsyth ▼ x County Sheriff s * Office ‘Blue dots indicate accident locations G - Business & Industry H - Health & Safety I - Sports & Leisure ' ‘"".I in n«d i aatE a Aim i nm c LMRE LAPHEK LEVEUI Date Level March 25 1069.91 ft March 24 106938 ft *rfhrch2s 4069.88 ft March 26 1069.87 ft «