Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page.

Forsyth CountvNews J Your "Hometown Paper" Since 19(i Vd1.95.N0.53 THURSDAY April 1,2004 , I Driver killed •W"i® EJMI W PsPß®**** m'W*® I " au B • EEI jHfIMKMHT . gwig- a : . iBfWMy .. ob> jggg Photo/Audra Perry Firefighters work to free a woman from a silver Toyota Wednesday morning after her car reportedly crossed the center line of Hwy. 141 near Vaughn Road and struck another vehicle head-on. The 47-year-old driver, a Cumming woman whose name was not released by press time, died at 7:45 a.m. The vehicle was northbound when it struck a south bound red Toyota, according to a spokesperson for the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office. It was the fifth traffic fatality of the year in unincorporated Forsyth County and the third on Hwy. 141. The 20-year-old female driver of the southbound vehicle was transported to North Fulton Regional Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Both drivers were wearing their seat belts and air bags were deployed, Capt. Frank Huggins said. There were no passengers in either vehicle. An investigation continues into the cause of the wreck. Commission aide job questioned By Todd Truelove Staff Writer The Forsyth County government is adver tising for a new administrative aide to the board of commissioners whose duties include researching, constituent relations and meeting preparation assistance though not all com missioners believe the position is needed. Director of Human Resources Pat Carson said that as of Tuesday nine applications had been submitted for the position which will pay a salary of between $35,000 and $52,500. County Administrator Stevie Mills said it would be the commissioners' choice who is hired for the job. However. Commissioner A.J. Pritchett, who represents most of south Forsyth, opposed adding the staff position initially when the 2004 budget was drafted and still holds that opinion. “We've got so many staff ... who more than fulfill the roles that these new people will fulfill,” Pritchett said Tuesday in a phone interview. “I'm not really sure how it's going to be possible to keep these people employed full time. I don’t think we need them." Cold day at the track Photo/David McGregor Forsyth Central sophomores Neva Pruitt and Britney Nisic try to warm up during the county track meet at North Forsyth High School on Tuesday. 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 € 2004 Forryth County N»w» rain Mr I Conway you can add up a lot of hours real quick.” “1 don’t have the time to correspond with people, nor do I have a staff that I can get help to correspond with.” he said. Conway said constituents still will be abie to contact commissioners if they so desire, but that the aide will free up time and handle some of the easier questions. “It’ll be like anybody else that has some body that answers the phone for them,” he said. “If a constituent wants to talk to a com missioner, they'll still be able to talk to a com missioner. “It probably won’t free me up from any time. What it’ll do is make me more efficient,” INDEX Abby 5B Classifieds 2B Deaths 2A Government 3A Horoscope 5B Kids Page 5A Opinion ,9A Sports 8A Conway disagreed, say ing his county duties require him to work an average of 60 hours a week for a job that is supposed to be “part time.” “As far as I’m con cerned, this job needs some help,” Conway said. “When you can look at one particular day and know that I put in 20 hours .... Hundreds volunteer for day of service By Nancy Smallwood Associate Editor Many of us would like to volun teer in the community but often do not know where to begin. The idea behind Cumming First United Methodist’s Great Day of Service is to let people know what opportuni ties are out there, said lay volunteer services coordinator Janet Walden. More than 550 volunteers donat ed their entire Saturday to shovel, paint, sew, landscape, build and even clean in the community. More than 35 sites were selected by the church for the volunteers to complete work last weekend. All ages and religions are invited to participate, according to Walden. Team leaders are appointed and vol unteers are assigned according to their talents. Volunteers can either complete work inside the church or venture as far away as Eagle Ranch or the Interfaith AIDS Network in Atlanta. This is the third year the church has held the volunteer day which serves a variety of organiza tions from transitional housing facili- See SERVICE, Page 2A Woman accused of drunk driving, hitting sheriff’s deputy. Page2A Conway said. “It’s like any other business you hire people to make yourself more effi cient.” Pritchett said that having an additional per son to screen correspondence for the board places another wall between the local govern ment and the public. He compared the new positions to the commissioners' action last year prohibiting public groups from using the commissioner’s meeting room facilities at the County Administration Building. Os the five commissioners. Pritchett and Commissioner Charles Laughinghouse, who represents portions of west and central Forsyth County, opposed closing the facility to group functions. “At least three of the commissioners have decided that they’d rather have an admin respond to these e-mails as opposed to addressing these e-mails themselves," Pritchett said. “I don’t think someone who writes us an e-mail is looking at hearing back from an admin person.” The 2004 budget allows the board to hire two aides. However, Carson said only one of the positions is currently being sought. Forsyth county teams open Region 6-AAAA baseball schedule. PageßA fl w x TIMM i 1 i l l ■ .B C - fry... k j Photo/David McGregoi Morgan Williams puts the finishing touches on a blanket she was sewing during the "Great Day of Service" event last weekend. Partly Cloudy LAKE LANIER LEVELS Date Level vU— March 27 1069.87 ft 1 March 28 1069.88 ft d . March 29 1069.89 ft March 30 1069.89 ft Full 1071.00 ft High in the low 60s. Low in the low 40s. II I II ———Hl ■HUI. Hl .■■■■<! | Men charged with cocaine possession Distribution also alleged By Nicole Green Staff Writer Four men were arrested for possession of cocaine with intent to distribute in separate traffic stops on Sunday and Monday, the Forsyth County Sheriff's Office reported. Jose Luis Baca, 22; Gustavo Mendoza, 30; and Juan Villazana. 22, all of Norcross, were arrested Sunday and charged with possession of cocaine with intent to distribute, according to incident reports. A U.S. Army Corps of Engineers ranger stopped the 1985 Ford Crown Victoria at 4 p.m. in West Bank Park on Lake Lanier because of loud music. The ranger noticed the smell of alcohol emanating from the vehicle and alerted the sheriff’s office, the report stated. When the officers arrived and inspected the car, they found two grams of cocaine and an electronic scale. None of the men claimed ownership of the drugs. All three persons in the vehicle were charged with possession because they were within reach of the cocaine, said Capt. Ron Freeman, commander of the criminal investigations division. In addition to the cocaine, the officers also seized $2,000 in cash from the vehicle. Baca also was charged with giving a false name to a police officer and driving with a suspended license, according to a report. All three men remain in jail on the felony charges. Bond has not been set. Billy Wayne Hailey, 53, of Oxford was arrested on Monday around 5 a.m. for possession of cocaine with intent to distribute, a misdemeanor charge of posses sion of marijuana, driving under the influence, open container, disregard of traffic control devices and driv ing with a suspended license. A sheriff’s deputy pulled over Hailey for turning left out of Sharon Greens Shopping Center onto Hwy. 141, in violation of a “No Left Turn” sign, according to the deputy’s statement. When Hailey told the officer he was lost, the offi cer noticed the smell of alcohol, the report said. The officer then secured permission to search the vehicle and found an open, cold beer under the dri ver’s seat, an unopened beer in the rear passenger seat, a burned marijuana cigarette in the ashtray, two sets of scales, plastic bags and a bag of cocaine hidden between the driver’s seat and the center console. The officer’s report stated that Hailey had bor- See COCAINE, Page 2A M rT^r -. n T lr , - ~lj ri ,n IIJ I I IUIIJ J'. * '' Detecting diseuen before they unite? . Hailey