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011 ml -M I™ < B X 9 I k > >/ B I I J % JI B I IB ****************** 3-DIGIT 306 A y WA JL AW GEORGIA NEWSPAPER PROJECT J Your "Hometown Paper" Since 190 2 g unisersity of Georgia main libr r ATHENS GA 30602 Vol. 95, No. 59 Ga. 400 to widen this summer for buses By Todd Truelove Staff Writer A new bus system that will take passengers from Forsyth County to a MARTA station in north Fulton County is setting the stage for the widening of Ga. 400. Contractors will begin expanding shoulder lanes on Ga. 4(X) this sum mer to accommodate the buses, according to Jim Ritchie, the deputy director of Georgia Regional Transportation Authority (GRTA). Homeowners question fire department New policies now in place By Nicole Green Staff Writer County fire department and city water officials say improper proce dures resulted in two fire hydrants not working in the Manchester Court subdivision. Forsyth homeowners in the sub division, which lost five homes to an April 4 fire, questioned officials from the Forsyth County Fire Department and the Cumming Department of Utilities on Thursday at the Sharon Forks Library'. About 100 concerned citizens alternately praised and berated the fire department for its handling of the fire storm that deputy fire chief Dwight Clark said began with a backyard barbecue at 3914 Deerborne Drive. While they applauded firefighters for aggres sively fighting the fire, especially the eight who were injured that night, residents demanded an explanation for the malfunctioning hydrants. "Please don’t expect me to point any fingers tonight," Clark said. "They all point back at us." "Were embarrassed. We’re hurt. And we’re trying to get over it.” he said. It took firefighters eight minutes to find a working hydrant, said Pam Superdock, a Manchester Court resi dent who saw the early stages of the fire from her Delfaire Trace home. The first hydrant firefighters attempted to access on Deerborne Drive was partially closed at the water main. The plug could not pro duce the 150 gallons per minute needed to fill a 1.75-inch diameter fire hose. Clark said. By the time the firefighters realized the line was inoperable, the second house was See FIRE, Page 3A Seven-year-old is heroine to some in her neighborhood Quiet little girl warns of fire before it could spread By Nicole Green Staff Writer The children of Manchester Court subdivision in Cumming had a spring break they are not likely to forget. After a fire storm that left 19 houses destroyed or damaged, some of those children are now homeless. However, one is a hero. Sydney Bacon, 7. first spotted the fire that fire officials say began on the screened porch at 3914 Deerborne Drive last Sunday after noon. Before the fire spread to four other homes, she ran from her house on Somersal Court to warn her neighbors. Sydney roused the neighbor hood by knocking on doors and 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. Ctpyrlght 0 2004 Forsyth CourrtyT&w* ll 0 90994 04000 7 Ritchie updated the Forsyth County Board of Commissioners Thursday on plans for the express buses which also are set to begin operations this summer. "The construction you will see this summer really is the beginning of the widening project of Ga. 400," Ritchie told commissioners Jack Conway. Charles Laughinghouse and A.J. Pritchett. He said construction is expected to begin in July from Haynes Bridge Road to McFarland Road and take a ■ MB >. ■ IHr i V?n ■ Photos/David McGregor Manchester Court resident Larry Kirk criticizes govern- i mental policies for checking on the working condition of fire ; hydrants. Right, Deputy Fire j Chief Dwight Clark speaks to ‘ the homeowners. Below, Dick Sershon sits in disbelief after i hearing that the fire depart- 1 ment did not document a main- 1 tenance request in Manchester r Court during a Thursday home- 1 owners association meeting at | Sharon Forks Library. • >3 will jo She was screaming for help. This was such a big deal for a little girl that never talks! screaming for help, her mother said. “I’m sure that by her doing this it only sped the 911 call up about five minutes. But another house could have burned had she not run for help like she did.” her mother. Sally Bacon, said. INDEX Abby 14A Births 4B Deaths 2A Forsyth Life IB Horoscope 14A Opinion ISA Sports 1C SUNDAY April 11, 2004 year to complete. "The shoulders will actually be reconstructed," said Ritchie, “and will be constructed so they can be future travel lanes." He said two lanes will be added on Ga. 400 North and one lane on Ga. 400 South. "This is in anticipation of the widening of Ga. 400,” he said, adding GRTA and the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) have been working together to accelerate the widening project. — y , H ,wxiyajMUß3lg!x i yajMUß3lg! SBBBtok \ * Bp BL J Sydney is a very mature 7-year old. No adult had to tell her what to do when she saw those flames. But there is something even more special about this little hero ine. She does not usually speak. Sydney suffers from selective mutism, a condition that silences a child outside of her home environ ment. Around her family. Sydney is never quiet, her mother said. But she has not even whispered to friends or teachers at school since her family moved to Cumming in October 2002. Sydney writes her thoughts on notebook paper to communicate with her second- See HEROINE, Page 2A “GDOT expected to take six to nine months to hire consultants to [design the widening project]," he said. “Instead, we developed an intergovernmental agreement ... and GRTA has consultants that we have just secured for a general purposes contract, and we will put them imme diately to work.” "We expect by May 1 to have design work started," said Ritchie. Though buses are scheduled to roll out of Cumming July 6 from the parking lot across from the city fair- Photo/Oavid McGregor Sydney Bacon, age 7, who suf fers from selective mutism, is the first Manchester Court resident who saw the fires begin in her neighborhood. Spring Home Improvement Inside Today SI.UU Possible Storms LAKE LANIER LEVELS ' Date Level X ’ April 6 1069.94 ft ....... ./ April 7 1069.94 ft Aprils 1069.94 ft Illi h II April® 1069.94 ft Full 1071.00 H High in the low 70s. • j I**"'"’ •*" - - - Low in the mid-50s. . .m. ,9 Wednesdays with Belle grounds on Castleberry Road, City Administrator Gerald Blackbum said Friday that the city and GRTA have not yet agreed upon those operations which include paving the Ipt and installing lighting fixtures. However, GRTA was able to reach accord with MARTA Thursday to let bus passengers transfer to rail services free of charge, according to GRTA Communications Director William Mecke. See BUSES, Page 3A Politics dominated Reps say of session By Harris Blackwood Community Editor Two members of the Forsyth legislative delegation say the 2004 regular session of the General Assembly was long on politics and short on accomplishments. State Rep. Jack Murphy and Rep. Tom Knox, both Cumming Republicans, agreed they were dis appointed by the Georgia Legislature’s actions this year “We should have accomplished more than we did," Murphy said. His comments were echoed by Gov. Sonny Per due. "This was a busy session.” said Perdue. “We didn't accomplish all we set out to do. but we have accom plished some good things, especially for children." The major leg islation passed by the House included last-minute approval of the governor’s education bill. The bill includes a plan to create a Department of Early Care and Learning, which will oversee both pre-kindergarten and day care cen ters. The bill also mandates that third-graders must pass a reading test before they can be promoted to the fourth grade. Also on the education front, law makers reached a compromise on the HOPE Scholarship. The changes include tougher standards for HOPE eligibility starting in 2007. The bill also provides a mechanism for ending payments for books and student fees if the lot tery-funded program suffers a drop in collections. On Friday. Perdue signed two other child-related bills into law. The first bill, the governor's Child Protection Legislation, codi fies the definition of “criminal neg ligence” that has been established in Georgia’s case law and amends the current Cruelty to Children statute to add criminally negligent behavior as a new second-degree felony offense. This provides for imprisonment by not less than one year nor more than 10 years. Georgia is no longer the only state in the nation without a child abuse felony statute that includes criminally negligent behavior. The legislation closes a gap in the state's current criminal law and will See SESSION, Page 3A Knox B Murphy