Newspaper Page Text
Forsyth CountvNews
J Your "Hometown Paper 1 ' Since 1908 • lo^*^wswr\rsject t 306
Vol. 95, No. 60
Is it spring yet?
jfc w I 1
f
wk
1 w-' x ■ /
x" z' / A
<a—J' ’£>, —•••—• s' ' ,r f> f
Photo/David McGregor
Emily Trong and Lily Vo battle the cold weather Monday afternoon in front of the county courthouse in downtown
Cumming. With overcast skies, gusty winds and temperatures in the 50s, Forsythians had to bundle up once again.
Owens named to Lanier Islands board
By Harris Blackwood
Community Editor
Joni Owens of Cumming has been
named to the Lake Lanier Islands
Development Authority. The nine-member
board has administrative oversight for the
1,200-acre islands park north of Buford.
The appointment, which will not affect
her job as president of the Cumming-
Forsyth County Chamber of Commerce,
was announced Monday by Gov. Sonny
Perdue.
“I'm looking forward to serving as
Cumming and Forsyth County ’s represen
tative and working with fellow authority
members,” Owens said.
The Lake Lanier Islands Authority was
created in 1962 by the General Assembly
to develop the site. The park first opened
CRCT testing to begin
for Forsyth students
By Nancy Smallwood
Associate Editor
Principals and teachers are asking
parents to give their children a head
start on being prepared for the
Criterion Reference Competency
Tests (CRCT) this week by making
sure they eat a good breakfast and get
plenty of rest.
Students in grades one through
eight will be sharpening their No. 2
pencils to take the tests beginning on
Wednesday and ending on April 23.
Georgia law requires that schools
administer the testing in the areas of
reading, language arts and mathemat
ics. Students in grades three through
eight also will be tested in science
and social studies. The governor's
education bill which was recently
approved requires all third-graders
pass the CRCT reading assessment
before they can be promoted to the
fourth grade.
The CRCT is designed to measure
how well students acquire, learn and
accomplish the knowledge and skills
set forth in a specific curriculum. The
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 0 2004 Forsyth County N»wt
90994"0400
WEDNESDAY April 14, 2004
Owens
changed from operating to administrative
oversight. “ said Lee Smith, executive
director of the authority. "All major con
struction has to be approved by the author
ity and after that by the U.S. Army Corps
of Engineers."
KSL. a California-based company has
been the lease holder since 1996 and has
tests give educators and parents infor
mation on academic achievement at
the student, class, school system and
state level. The information is used to
diagnose individual student strengths
and weaknesses as related to instruc
tion.
The mandated test consists of only
multiple choice questions currently,
but officials say it could contain a
small number of constructed response
questions in future years. Ninety
four percent of all first-graders in
2002 passed the reading CRCT exam,
according to the Forsyth County
School System's Web site. Ninety
one percent of the third-graders in
2002 passed the reading exam. The
state’s results were lower and only 84
percent of third-graders passed the
reading exam.
The bill requiring third-graders to
pass the reading exam also authorizes
local school systems to place students
that fail the exam in a transition class
or provide extended learning for such
students. The state also requires a
performance study on each student
who fails the test.
INDEX
Ab by
■•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• MO 3B
Classifieds 138
t3eaths ~
Events 6A
Horoscope 3B
Legals 4B
Opinion 8A
Sports IB
in 1974 and now includes
a number of major attrac
tions including two golf
courses, two hotels, and a
beach and waterpark.
The authority operated
the facilities until 1996,
when the operation was
leased to a private compa
ny under a plan by then-
Gov. Zell Miller.
“At that time, our role
r WEIL ■
Photo/Audra Perry
Sixth-graders at Liberty Middle School practice for the Criterion Reference Competency Test.
Advice
Dear Abby
dishes out
good advice.
Page3B
made a number of improvements, includ
ing the construction of a convention center
at the Emerald Pointe resort. The authority
oversees the company’s operation of the
park under terms of the lease.
Owens. 44, succeeds Catherine Amos,
who served two four-year terms on the
authority’s board. The board is made up of
representatives from Forsyth. Hall, and
Gwinnett counties, along with five at-large
members. The commissioner of the
Department of Natural Resources is also a
member of the authority.
Owens has served as head of the
Forsyth chamber since 1999. She has
served as a director of the Georgia
Economic Developers Association and the
Georgia Chambers of Commerce Exec
utives Association. She and her husband.
Randy, have three children.
Opinion
Columnist Bill Shipp
shares his perspective
of Georgia politics.
PageßA
Chief takes
responsibility
Wants an ‘inspector general’
By Nicole Green and Todd Truelove
Staff Writers
Fire Chief Danny Bowman publicly took responsibil
ity before the Forsyth County Board of Commissioners
Monday for the April 4 fires that destroyed five Forsyth
homes.
“As your fire chief, I am ultimately
responsible for all actions taken by the
entire fire service in our county,”
Bowman said.
Bowman said he is determined that
such a disaster will not happen again
at least not on his watch.
Two fire hydrants were inoperable
in Manchester Court subdivision on
Hutchinson Road where the fire took
place. The fire department reported the
problem to the Cumming Department
of Utilities, Bowman has said. However, there is no doc
umentation to prove that the water department received
the maintenance request, and firefighters did not follow
up on the service.
“Although it is not my job to repair the water system,
it is nonetheless my responsibility to assure that staff
submits such reports in a timely manner, and then com
pletes the process by rechecking the hydrants in a timely
manner,” Bowman said.
High winds on April 4 propagated the flames fire
investigators say began with a charcoal grill underneath a
screened porch. Seven fire engines later, five houses on
Deerbome Drive were left a smoldering pile of memories.
“Although 1 cannot turn back the hands of time and
bring back the homes and contents of the residents who
so tragically lost all of their possessions. I have begun
the process of assuring that such a chain of events never
occurs again.” Bowman said.
Bowman would like to hire another set of eyes to
oversee fire department operations, he told the board of
commissioners. The proposed “inspector general" would
inspect station operations in the fire department. Holding
the rank and authority of a captain, the inspector general
would report directly to the fire chief.
"[The inspector general] would inspect everything
mandated by the fire chief." Bowman said.
For example, if the fire chief instructed the inspector
general to review the map books. Bowman said he would
expect a report on the condition of the fire department's
map books on his desk at the beginning of the next busi
ness day.
The fire department budget would fund the position,
if approved by the board of commissioners. Bowman
plans to formally submit his proposal to the board at the
May 3 commission meeting.
In an effort to correct any loopholes in hydrant
inspection procedure, the three department battalion
chiefs will create an “airtight process” for reporting dys
functional hydrants to the city or county water depart
ments.
See FIRE, Page 2A
Partly Cloudy
High in the low 60s.
Low in the high 30s.
TTrW
JnwLJLBHI
SPORTS, 1B
K Fighting. Southern style
IH
Bowman
LAKE LANIER LEVELS
Date Level
April 9 1069.94 ft
April 10 1069.95 ft
April 11 1069.95 ft
April 12 1069.99 ft
Full 1071.00 ft
, ***“ ** ’ -7?.<