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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 ladies’ top aHH| ■ Original Price: 49.00 H H j Current Price: 5 24.50 K MBHH I Extra 30% off: - $ 7.35 Final Price: 5 17.15 SHI USE YOUR DILLARD’S CHARGE. WE ALSO WELCOME VISA, MASTERCARD, AMERICAN EXPRESS, DINER’S CLUB 8c DISCOVER CARD. North Point Mali in Alpharetta, (770)410-9020 • Mall of Georgia, (678)482-5241 • Mon.-Sat. 10-9, Sun. 12-6 ' T > 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. PAGE 3A