Newspaper Page Text
Forsyth County News
J Your "Hometown Paper" Since 1908 J
Vol. 95, No. 65
Search hatted for
missing woman
By Nicole Green and Nancy Smallwood
Staff Writers
The Forsyth County Sheriff's Office paused
the ground search Wednesday for Patrice Tamber
Endres, a missing Forsyth County beautician.
“We basically searched everywhere on the
ground that we can search." Sheriff Ted Paxton
said.
The 15 full-time investigators on the case met
Wednesday morning to determine the direction of
future efforts. So far deputies have searched the
rural areas of Dawson. Cherokee and Forsyth
counties for Endres.
A Federal Bureau of Investigation laboratory
in Washington. D.C., should complete on
Wednesday or Thursday identification of finger
prints left on Endres’ vehicle. Chief Deputy
Fire department releases
report on Manchester fire
Details quick spread, struggle to find water source
By Nicole Green
Staff Writer
On Tuesday Forsyth County Fire Chief Danny
Bowman released a detailed report of the April 4
fire that destroyed five homes and damaged at
least 14 others off Hutchinson Road in Cumming.
The 86-page "After Action Report" assembled
by Battalion Chief Tommy Coleman includes
individual accounts of the Manchester Court sub
division fire storm from career and volunteer fire
fighters. Coleman also reviewed the E-91 1
Communication Center’s radio tapes to construct
a transcript of the incident.
Coleman acted as commander during the fire.
His summary listed, in order of importance, the
major factors affecting the operation: weather
conditions, design of the subdivision, dysfunc
tional fire hydrants, short fire department staffing,
construction and landscape materials:
MHL .
Hunting for bargains
Customers check the offerings in the Earth Day Expo Saturday at
Cumming Fairgrounds. The event featured a yard sale, poster con
test and other activities. Organizer The Pro Earth Group also used
the occasion to promote other Earth Day activities. See story, page
2A.
County gets $ 1 million to develop multi-use nature trail
By Todd Truelove
Staff Writer
State Rep. Jack Murphy (R-
Cumming) says the federal govern
ment has granted $1 million to
Forsyth County to develop a multi
use trail in south Forsyth.
“We needed a grant of that type,
and a trail that would be a multi-use
bike and walking trail for families
in the southern area of the county,"
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ran
Robbie Hamrick said. Endres’ suspected abductor
left behind little physical evidence of,the crime,
investigators have said.
Community volunteers distributed 20,000
fliers as far west as the Tennessee border and east
to Gwinnett County, according to the Emergency
Management Agency.
Every EMA director in the United States has
received information about Endres, 38, who dis
appeared from Tamber’s Trim-N-Tan in north
Forsyth on April 15, EMA Deputy Director
Laurie Wood said Wednesday. Wood is coordinat
ing the efforts of civilian volunteers, who num
bered 75 over the weekend. If investigators find a
lead, volunteers w ill be prepared to join the
ground search.
"We don't want to tap those resources without
a substantial lead,” Wood said.
• Weather conditions Winds gusted up to
24 miles per hour during the height of the fire
around 4:30 p in., according to National Weather
Service statistics reported by Laurie L. Wood,
deputy director of the Forsyth County Emergency
Management Agency. The humidity level hovered
around 30 percent.
"Without a doubt weather conditions were the
main contributing factor. Low humidity and high
gusting winds are always a Fire Commander’s
worst enemy." Coleman wrote in the report.
• Subdivision design The fire storm that
reached temperatures of 2,(XX) degrees Fahrenheit
reportedly began when a charcoal grill ignited a
gasoline can at 3914 Deerborne Drive. Within
nine minutes of the first emergency call, the sec
ond home was fully involved in flames, according
to the report. The houses in Manchester Court are
See FIRE, Page 2A
said Murphy.
Plans between the county and
the city of Alpharetta call for the
trail to connect to the Big Creek
Greenway out of Alpharetta.
Department of Transportation
Board Member Mike Evans credit
ed Murphy, Rep. Tom Knox (R-
Cumming) and Senate Majority
Leader Bill Stephens (R-Canton)
for their instrumental roles in secur
ing the money.
INDEX
Ab lOA
Deaths 2A
Government. 3A
Horoscope 10A
Kids Page 8A
Opinion 11A
Sports 5A
THURSDAY April 22,2004
Photo/David McGregor
Forsyth County Public
Library celebrates
National Library Week
Rage 3A
‘Bubba’ McDonald announces
bid for Senate District 27 seat
By Harris Blackwood
Community Editor
Lauren "Bubba” McDonald Jr., a
major player in Georgia politics for
three decades, has announced he
will be a Republican candidate for
the seat representing the new state
Senate District 27.
The district, which is comprised
of most of Forsyth and a portion of
Cherokee County, was drawn by a
three-judge federal panel following
a lawsuit targeting the state’s reap
portionment plan after the 2000
federal census.
State Sen. Bill Stephens. (R-
Canton), currently holds a Senate
seat from Cherokee County and is
seeking re-election from the newly
drawn district.
The race marks a party switch for
“They were the ones lobbying
for it,” Evans said.
Stephens' district recently was
drawn to include most of Forsyth
County by the courts.
The Big Creek Greenway
includes six miles in Alpharetta. It
will parallel Big Creek in south
Forsyth.
Forsyth County Engineering
Director John Cunard said Monday
the trail when completed will tra-
. ire consumes Forest Drive home
bC* 4 jR •.
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IBiii
Photo/Nicole Green
Firefighters battle a fire of undetermined cause at 2180 Forest Drive east
of Cumming Tuesday afternoon. No one was home when the fire began,
neighbors said. Aaron Coe, who lives next door to the burning home, saved
a jet ski and two propane tanks off the house’s back deck. He was the first
to dial 911. Investigators were working to determine the cause of the blaze
Wednesday.
McDonald
Young, and Roy Barnes in the race
for the Democratic nomination for
governor.
He mended his political fences
with Miller, who went on to serve
two terms as governor. Miller
appointed McDonald in 1998 to a
vacancy on the Georgia Public
Service Commission. McDonald was
elected to serve the remainder of the
verse about five miles in Forsyth
County from the Forsyth/Fulton
county line at McGinnis Ferry Road
to the Polo Fields subdivision on
Majors Road.
The estimated cost to construct
phase one, which will take the trail
from McGinnis Ferry Road to
Fowler Park on Hwy. 9, totals about
$4.2 million, Cunard said.
At the earliest, construction may
begin on that phase in the spring of
Deßoache’s walkoff
grand slam finishes off
TUcker 16-4.
RagesA
I McDonald, a well
known figure in
Georgia’s
Democratic circles
for more than 30
years. McDonald
served in the
Georgia House
from 1970 to 1990.
I In 1990, he fin
ished behind Zell
Miller, Andrew
Partly Cloudy
LAKE LANIER LEVELS
Date Level
April 16 1070.26 ft
Jr April 17 1070.28 ft
? April 18 1070.29 ft
April 19 1070.30 ft
Full 1071.00 H
High in the high 70s.
Low in the mid-50s.
BUBINKBS, IB
Gas thefts affecting retailers
term in 1998 in a non-partisan spe
cial election. He had broad support
in that race from both key
Republicans and Democrats. In
2002, he sought re-election to the
PSC as a Democrat and lost to
Republican Angelia Speir in the clos
est statewide race that year. Speir
spent less than $20,000 while
McDonald spent $189,000.
Stephens also has longstanding
ties to Miller serving on Miller's
staff during his tenure as lieutenant
governor and governor.
University of Georgia political
science professor Charles Bullock
said that the McDonald-Stephens
matchup could be one of the sum
mer’s most interesting political races
pitting two Democrats turned
See MCDONALD, Page 2A
2005.
However, design work has not
yet begun on the project.
“Once we see how much funding
is available from the department of
transportation, and how much fund
ing will be available from the coun
ty, then we’ll start designing [phase
one],” said Cunard.
“We'll obviously have to acquire
right of way and easements once
the design is developed."