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Forsyth CountvNews
J Your "Hometown Paper" Since 1908 • 306
Vol. 95, No. 62
Tech on
display
National school
board group here
By Nancy Smallwood
Associate Editor
Hotels have been booked, meals
arranged and speakers confirmed for
the upcoming National School Board
Association's Technology Site visit to
Forsyth County Sunday through
Tuesday. More than 100 educators
from all over the United States will
attend the conference to learn how to
use technology to improve student
achievement in their own school sys
tems.
Forsyth County School
Superintendent Paula Gault and the
technology department of the school
system will showcase online reporting,
automating food services, designing
school and teacher Web sites, instruc
tion on interactive whiteboards and
several other technology advance
ments made in the Forsyth County
Schools.
Cumming-Forsyth County
Chamber of Commerce President and
CEO Joni Owens will help the school
system play host to the visiting educa
tors.
“We are so elated that Forsyth
County was selected." said Owens. “It
comes as no surprise knowing how
phenomenal our school system
achievements have been in technology.
We are honored and excited to have
the opportunity for others to see our
technology improvements and hope
they can bring them home so others
can benefit from them."
Visitors w ill first hear from a world
renowned futurist in education tech
nology. David Thornburg, and then be
able to choose between visiting Otwell
Middle School or Settles Bridge
Elementary School the first day of
the visit. Sessions at Otwell Middle
will include technology planning,
See SCHOOLS, Page 2A
$15.5 billion plan could accelerate Ga. 400 widening
By Todd Truelove
Staff Writer
Gov. Sonny Perdue's announce
ment at the Capitol Wednesday of
revenue bonds totaling 515.5 billion
to improve Georgia's roadways is
the latest in a string of transporta
tion related discussions around
metro Atlanta.
About half of the bonds. $7.92
billion, will be used for metro
Atlanta road projects. The remain
ing 57.65 million would be used
throughout the rest of the state.
Recently, representatives from
Burned houses may rebuild at cost
By Nicole Green
Staff Writer
Pulte Homes has agreed to
rebuild houses at cost for residents of
Manchester Court who lost their
homes in an April 4 fire.
Pulte originally built the Forsyth
County subdivision off Hutchinson
Road two and a half years ago.
“As far as rebuilding, we are will
ing to rebuild at our costs plus over
heads, supervisions and any miscel
laneous fees that may be associated
with the county,” said Damon Rose,
general manager of Georgia Division
Customer Relations, via e-mail to
Manchester Court homeowners asso
ciation president Nancy Blankenship.
“We are just thrilled to pieces,”
Blankenship said Tuesday.
Not all five homeowners have
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Copyright C 2004 Forsyth County News
<’ II 0400
rr
Fun at the park
S A 4
■ * wi
Photo/David McGregor
Nine-year-old Ashley Miller holds on to her 5-year-old brother, Chase, while
going down the slide at Central Park on Wednesday. Temperatures warmed from
earlier this week, but were still chilly compared to normal and gusty winds made
it feel like autumn.
Georgia Regional Transportation
Authority (GRTA) and the Atlanta
Regional Commission (ARC) con
ducted separate meetings with the
Forsyth County Board of
Commissioners to present updates of
GRTA's express bus system and addi
tional road improvement projects and
plans.
Each of those meetings contained
funding concerns such as continuing
express bus services after operational
funds are exhausted in about three or
four years, and funding the construc
tion high priority transportation proj
ects in a plan the ARC is developing.
As far as rebuilding,
we are willing to
rebuild at our cost plus
overheads, supervi
sions and any miscel
laneous tees...
- Damon Rose, Pulte Homes
decided to rebuild at this point. Pulte
is configuring a cost estimate for
each individual.
Pulte also is saving the fire vic
tims thousands of dollars by cleaning
up their properties free of charge.
Cleanup of the fire debris was sched
uled to begin Wednesday, Rose said.
INDEX
Abby 118
Church events 8A
Classifieds ...4B
Deaths 2A
Horoscope 118
0pini0ri....«..........................9A
Spot Is . 1B
FRIDAY April 16, 2004
Perdue's bond announcement may
solve some of those funding issues.
However, while Perdue’s "fast
forward" plan accelerates the con
struction time of some transportation
projects by as much as 12 years
exactly which projects the bonds will
fund remains sketchy.
Bert Brantley, with the state
Department of Transportation (DOT)
media relations, explains.
“What we’ve got is funding that
is being dedicated toward categories
of projects," Brantley said. “There
are certainly candidates in Forsyth
County for projects to be funded.”
The fire that reportedly began at
3914 Deerbome Drive with a barbe
cue grill destroyed five houses and
damaged at least 14 others. No
charges have been filed.
An investigation continues into
the reason why two fire hydrants did
not function correctly on Deerborne
Drive. Cumming Department of
Utilities officials confirmed they did
not receive a hydrant repair request
for the two hydrants from the fire
department.
“The Forsyth County Fire
Department did submit to the city of
Cumming 19 fire hydrant repair
requests from September 2003 [to
present],” director Jon Heard said.
None of the requests were for
hydrants in Manchester Court, Heard
See FIRE, Page 2A
Spring is the best time
for fresh asparagus
recipes.
Page 7A
Brantley said all of the governor’s
bonds will be used toward state high
way and interstate improvements. He
said the funding may apply to a num
ber of projects in Forsyth County,
including a planned widening of Ga.
400.
“I don’t think there’s any question
that at Ga. 400, those [new] HOV
[High Occupancy Vehicle] lanes are
candidates for inclusion in this pro
gram," said Brantley. “We feel like
we'll be able to have the Ga. 400
HOV lanes into right-of-way [acqui
sition] by 2010."
The improvement of Ga. 400 was
Z 1
r / ■ ’WMCTMPu
Y V
■
•'4 . I
Photo/Submitted
Two houses in Manchester Court subdivision frame a burning
house facing them April 4.
Taste of Forsyth
to feature raffle, two
dozen eateries’ offerings
RagelA
Grand jury
indicts man
for murder
Allegedly killed salesman
By Nicole Green
Staff Writer
A Forsyth County Grand Jury found probable cause April
12 to indict a Cumming man on charges he murdered a door-
to-door salesman in January.
Morris Cecil Chadwick, 66, was indict
ed in the shooting death of Wayland Terry
Thrasher on Jan. 22, 2004. The charges
against Chadwick include malice murder,
felony murder and aggravated assault.
Thrasher, 64, of Kennesaw, attempted to
sell Chadwick aerial photographs of his
property the morning of the shooting.
Though the details of their conversation
have not been revealed. Sheriff Ted Paxton
has said the confrontation resulted in the
shooting of Thrasher.
The Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office later collected 18
firearms from Chadwick's residence, according to Paxton.
Chadwick's brother, Cleve Chadwick, has said that
Chadwick suffered from paranoia and posted "Keep Out”
signs on his property.
A mental competency hearing scheduled for Monday was
postponed because Chadwick was transported to Northside
Forsyth Hospital Friday for treatment of an undisclosed con
dition, according to District Attorney Penny Penn. Chadwick
returned to the Forsyth County Detention Center Monday
evening where he is being held without bond. The hearing
has not been rescheduled.
The return of an indictment does not prove guilt and
means only that grand jurors found sufficient evidence for
the felony cases to continue through the court system.
Other indictments returned by the grand jury this month
include the following:
• Christopher David Chester, 24, was indicted on charges
connected with a crash that killed 21-year-old Samuel Scott
Tribble on Nov. 2. 2003. The other occupant of Tribble’s
vehicle, George A. Walters 111, sustained serious injuries in
the wreck that occurred on Jot-Em-Down road near Mathis
Road.
See INDICTMENTS, Page 6A
Sunny
High in the mid-70s.
Low in the high 40s.
uilers edge Eagles in thriller
Chadwick
a primary concern of DOT Board
Member Mike Evans, who lives in
Cumming. Evans was enthusiastic
about the governor’s announcement.
“Like everyone on the transporta
tion board. I’m excited about the
possibilities,” Evans said. “Sonny
had told me a long time ago he really
wanted to be the transportation gov
ernor. He's on the right track.”
According to a statement issued
by the governor’s office, it should
take a third of the time to construct
transportation projects with access to
See BONDS, Page 2A
LAKE LANIER LEVELS
Date Level
April 11 1069.95 ft
April 12 1069.99 ft
April 13 1070.05 ft
April 14 1070.18 ft
Full 1071.00 ft