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Adelphia to explore possible sale of company as part of Chapter 11
By Harris Blackwood
Community Editor
Adelphia Communications
Corp, has announced that the
company is exploring options
to sell the company as part of
its plan of reorganization.
Adelphia. which operates
the cable system in most of
Forsyth County, made the
announcement in a news
release issued in New York.
The company intends to
determine if a sale process
would deliver greater value
than a proposed plan of reor
ganization filed in February.
The company had planned to
emerge from Chapter 11 as an
independent entity.
Adelphia. once headquar
tered in Coudersport. Pa.,
began as a family owned busi
ness founded by John Rigas.
Rigas. two of his sons and a
former company executive are
currently on trial in U.S.
Map project receives overwhelming support
By Nancy Smallwood
Associate Editor
If the size of visual aids are
limited in schools. Big Creek
Elementary School might have
a problem when authorities
inspect their new 60-foot by
45-foot map of the world.
The school unveiled the
concrete stained world map
with a ribbon cutting ceremo
ny Wednesday, complete with
the singing of a popular song
modified to fit the occasion
titled. "We have the whole
world on our land."
The project is the brainchild
of Principal Dr. Tom Davis and
members of the school's par
ent-teacher association.
"Dr. Davis bought the sten
cils years ago with the inten
tion of having someone from
the PTA paint them in the
parking lot." said Shannon
Terrell of the school's PTA.
After receiving results of a
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District Court in New York on
charges that they allegedly
schemed to “loot” the cable
company and mislead the pub-
lic on its
finances and
operations.
The com
pany filed
for bankrupt
cy after the
financial
irregularities
were made
public.
The deci
sion to ex-
66
IVe were pursuing a plan of reor
ganization that called for an inde
pendent Adelphia because we believed
it was in the best interests of our
bankruptcy constituents.
-Bill Schleyer
plore the possible sale of the
company was made last week
by Adelphia's Board of
Directors.
"We were pursuing a plan
of reorganization that called
for an independent Adelphia
because we believed it was in
the best interests of our bank
ruptcy constituents," said Bill
Schleyer, chairman and CEO
school survey asking parents
how they would like to spend
money earned by the PTA. the
overwhelming response from
parents was on outdoor activi
ties, said Terrell.
The parking lot placement
of the map was excluded from
the plan when organizers
determined it would not last
very long with vehicles driv
ing over it all the time. A con
crete slab was determined to
be the best method of con
structing the world map.
Community businesses
were approached with the map
plan and Dave McKemey of
LaFarge Construction and
Alfrey Construction worked
together to give a discount to
the PTA for the construction
of the concrete slab.
The local Sherwin-
Williams paint store also
worked with volunteers to
make sure the school had
of Adelphia. "Increasingly, in
our continuing dialogue with
constituents after filing the
plan, it became clear that a
broad range of constituents
preferred to allow the market
to determine the appropriate
value for Adelphia. We have
from the start worked in the
best interest of the bankruptcy
constituents and will continue
to do so."
He said that over the past
weeks, the sentiment in favor
of market testing the compa-
Photo/David McGregor
Big Creek students unveil world map.
quart sizes of concrete stain so
that each state in the United
States of America would have
a unique color on the map.
"The stain and sealer only
came in gallon sizes but they
were willing to help us out
and break them down," said
Terrell. In addition to the map.
volunteers were able to add
several hopscotch game
boards and a tic-tac-toe board
ny’s value crystallized to the
point where it became appro
priate to explore a possible
sale of the company.
“While we
will explore the
possible sale
with full vigor,
we also intend
to continue to
pursue a plan
for an inde
pendent compa
ny upon emer
gency. We will
compare the
value created in
both approaches and do what
is in the best interests of our
constituents.”
Among the issues still to
be resolved by the company
are the status of the Rigas
family cable properties man
aged by Adelphia, which
includes the Forsyth system.
Rigas purchased the former
Prestige Cable TV of Georgia
for the children at the school
to use during recess.
Teachers plan to research
the history of both games and
put together a booklet of
instruction on various lesson
plans for utilization of the map
and games. "We hope the map
will be used by the entire
school from kindergarten
through fifth grade." said
Terrell.
FORSYTH COUNTY NEWS - Friday, April 30,2004
in 2000 and merged the com
pany into an entity controlled
by the Rigas family.
Other unresolved issues
include action against the
company by the Securities and
Exchange Commission.
Prior to announcing the
possible sale. Adelphia was
working to pursue approval of
an SB.B billion exit financing
plan for the company to
emerge from bankruptcy.
Meanwhile, a number of
news services reported on
Wednesday that Comcast and
Time-Warner may come
together in a joint venture to
acquire Adelphia. Such a
move would let the two com
panies pick the most compat
ible individual cable sys
tems.
Comcast Chief Executive
Brian Roberts told analysts on
a Wednesday morning confer
ence call the company would
begin examining new proper-
Bum ban to begin May 1
By Antonia Hertwig-Benson
Staff Writer
Forsyth County will be
under a ban on open burning
Saturday, May 1, through
September.
According to Fire Marshal
Steve Anderson, "It's (the ban]
mandated by the state."
The Georgia Department
of Natural Resources En
vironmental Protection Div
ision's Web site says the 45-
county ban. which includes
Forsyth, began in 1996 to
lower the level of ozone,
which is a major contributor
to smog.
During the months of May
through September metro
Atlanta’s air quality is at its
worst.
Anderson said commercial
businesses and Forsyth County
residents must purchase per
mits to burn outdoors to get rid
of yard debris and to clear
ties to acquire, among them
Adelphia.
“I suspect we’ll look at
those,” Roberts said, refer
ring to Adelphia’s cable sys
tems. “They have a number
of systems that fit our foot
print.”
If the joint venture takes
place, the Forsyth system
would be a likely choice for
Comcast, which operates the
largest system in metro
Atlanta.
Time-Warner presently
has no cable properties in
north Georgia. The company
previous had systems in sev
eral Atlanta suburbs, includ
ing portions of south
Cherokee County, but sold
the systems after the merger
of Turner Broadcasting and
Time-Warner because of
FCC regulations prohibiting
operation of an over-the-air
station. WTBS. in the same
market.
land for development.
However, even those per
mitted to burn may not do so .
during the May-Septemher
period. "Most [people] burn
to get rid of debris." he said.
However, during these five
months, the state requires a
ban on all open burning
which include leaves and tree
limbs.
"There are very few burns
during the ban that are
allowed." Anderson said.
Agricultural burns are
allowed as are burns for recre
ational use. such as cooking
food.
"It's just a few because of
the demographics of the
county." he said. Anderson
said fire ordinance 79 states
that if anyone is caught open
ly burning in Forsyth County
in the May-September period,
residents and businesses can
face up to a SI,OOO fine or 60
days in jail.
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