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Forsyth Cour"’ s •/ Your "Hometown Paper" Since UM Vol. 95, No. 68 Feds investigate fatal trench collapse By Nancy Smallwood Associate Editor The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investi gating the circumstances surrounding the death of a man who was buried while working in a trench Saturday in northeast Forsyth County. "It’s early in the investigation,” said William Cochran, assistant area director of OSHA. "We look at the conditions and circumstances to deter mine what happened. We interview anybody and everybody who can help us." He declined to release any prelimi- Attorneys at odds on first day of the Lynn Turner trial By Nicole Green Staff Water PERRY Defense attorneys and Cobb County prosecutors butted heads on the first day of the murder trial of Julia Lynn Turner of Forsyth County Monday despite the judge's pre emptive pleas for the two sides to get along while guests in Houston County- Superior Court. Turner is accused of poisoning her police officer husband. Maurice Glenn Turner, while the cou ple lived in Cobb in 1995. In February of this year. Cobb Superior Court Judge James G. Bodiford moved the trial to the year old justice complex on the outskirts of Perry. The jury pool in Cobb was deemed to be contaminated by intense media coverage of the murder case. The state’s planned witnesses num ber upwards of 2(X). Defense attorney Jimmy Berry asked the judge Monday Police check over 700 tips in disappearance By Nancy Smallwood Associate Editor Investigators are not discouraged when tips phoned into the Forsyth County Sheriff's Office concerning the search for Patrice Tamber Endres do not give results. The four investiga tors assigned to the case just look at the situation as one item that can be excluded from the list of possible leads. More than 700 tips are currently being investigated by detectives in connection with the disappearance of the 38-year-old beautician and owner of Tambcr’s Trim-N-Tan on Matt Photo/David McGregor Anna McManus and Gray Smith look over paperwork with Sheriff Ted Paxton during the first day candidates could qualify to run for office at the County Administration Building Monday. Numerous other candidates filed for county offices. See story, page 3A. 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 C 2004 Forsyth County Ntwt ■III 90994 11 0400 WEDNESDAY April 28,2004 nary findings. Under federal law, the agency has six months to complete its investiga tion. Tire agency has the power to levy hefty fines against companies found to be in violation of federal safety regula tions. An employee of Pro-Septic and Plumbing identified by local authori ties as Joseph "Jody" Domingue. 18. of Commerce, died Saturday after noon when the trench he was working in collapsed and spilled five feet of dirt upon him. Domingue was pronounced dead at the scene by compression asphyxia tion, said Forsyth County Deputy Turner list of witnesses they plan to call the next day." Berry said. Special prosecutor Jack Mallard, a prosecutor in Fulton and Cobb coun ties from 1967 to 2001. said this pro cedure did not work well in the Tokars case. The state can provide only a ten tative list of witnesses. Cobb District Attorney Pat Head added that Berry See TURNER, Page 2A Endres interview friends and patrons of Endres' business, surrounding home- See ENDRES, Page 3A INDEX Abby BA Classifieds 1 IB Deaths .2A Events 7A Horoscope 8A Legals .3B Opinion 10A Sports IB for a daily list of witnesses the state plans to question. The Cobb prosecu tion provided such a list to Berry during the eight-week Fred Tokars murder trial in 1997. “Hist orically in these kinds of cases, the state will give us a Highway in north western Forsyth County. Endres was reported missing the afternoon of April 15 after a customer found the front door of the business open and cash register emptied. While investiga tors continue to Advice Dear Abby dishes out good advice. PageßA Coroner Ted Scarbrough. Forsyth County firefighters received the emergency call at 4:30 p.m. and arrived at the construction site at 7245 Shadbum Ferry Road to find workers trying to dig the man out by hand. Upon arriving at the scene, firefighters quickly realized their mis sion had changed from rescue to recovery. “The trench was on the side of a hill with dirt piled very high on the side," said Scarbrough, who also is a volunteer firefighter. “It was a very dangerous situation.” It took emergency crews five and a half hours to recover Domingue's body. Tour de Georgia races through Forsyth * T/JFF Tilda ■he,/ ■ W Photo/David McGregor Above, Tour de Georgia competitors curve around the intersection of Kelly Mill and Castleberry roads near the Cumming Square Sunday during their run through Forsyth County. Below, Stuart McMinn show his allegiance to racer Lance Armstrong on the race route. See story, page 3A. st -***■- -■ ' .„. r ,„ Activist to challenge Rep. Tom Knox; Democrat qualifies for new House seat By Harris Blackwood Community Editor An official of the Federation of Forsyth County Homeowners has qualified to run in the Republican primary against state Rep. Tom Knox, (R-Cumming). John Pickering, 40, a resident of the Grand Cascades subdivision, paid his S4OO qualifying fee at the State Capitol in Atlanta on Monday. Knox, a two-term incumbent, also qualified Monday for re-election to the House. Pickering is the current presi- Forsyth Fire Department officials called for a Technical Rescue Team (TRT) specializing in trench rescue from Gwinnett County. Members of the TRT team placed boards allowing access across the trench to prevent injuries to firefighters, said Capt. David Dusik with the Gwinnett County Fire Department. "It was a T style trench which made it a very unstable situation,” said Dusik. “Firefighters had to shore up the sides of the trench with wooden panels." The Forsyth County Fire Department will soon have its own TRT and will use the team for trench rescues and high angle rescue, said Pickering Pickering said that he became interested in the seat after the first court-drawn maps cre ated an open seat. Opinion Columnist Bill Shipp shares his perspective of Georgia politics. ItogelOA dent of the home owners group and announced that he would be stepping down from the post to run for the House. He had suc ceeded the late Prescott Eaton, who was one of the founding members of the federation. Sunny High in the low 70s. Low in the low 50s. I SPORTS, IB Eagles, l.ady Dawgs slalcbound Fire Chief Danny Bowman. Gwinnett and Forsyth work together often when the need arises for specially trained personnel, said Bowman. Trench accidents are “all too com mon" in fast-growing counties north of Atlanta, according to OSHA offi cials. In May 2(X)3, the agency levied a $45,750 fine against a pipeline compa ny after inspectors found employees at an Acworth construction site working 12 feet below ground with no trench box in place to protect the workers from a cave-in. Staff Writer Colby Jones con tributed to this story’. “It was an uncontested seat and I was going to run." said Pickering. “Then they went up and picked up Tom’s residence and put him into a district that he has never represent ed before. I've been fighting for this district for 10 years.” Knox. 60. said he was surprised to have opposition from within his own party. “I'm surprised with my voting record and what I’ve done for the county that someone would oppose See ELECTION, Page 2A LAKE LANIER LEVELS Date Level April 23 1070.35 ft April 24 1070.35 ft April 25 1070.35 ft April 26 1070.36 ft Full 1071.00 ft