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Vol. 95, No. 73
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Much ado about Drew
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Actress visits
South Forsyth
High School
By Harris Blackwood
Community Editor
In the motion picture, “Never
Been Kissed, actress Drew
Barrymore played a newspaper jour¬
nalist who goes undercover as a high
school student.
On Tuesday, with no journalists
looking on, the screen star might
have been mistaken for a student at
South Forsyth High School.
Clad in blue jeans, a purple T
shirt, and a leather jacket, Bafrymore
and a five-member production crew
arrived at the school to film portions
of a documentary about young peo¬
ple and elections.
“If she had walked down the hall
during class change and nobody
knew she was here, you would have
had a hard time picking her out,”
said Richard Gill, principal at South
Forsyth.
Tuesday was the day that stu¬
dents at the school were voting elec¬
tronically for next year’s class offi¬
cers. Those on hand said that after
stepping out of the nondescript white
cargo van, Barrymore seemed at
ease interacting with the student
body as they conducted the baliot
mg.
Despite her youthful counte¬
nance, Barrymore’s acting debut in
the motion picture, “E.T,” took place
years before members of the South
Forsyth student body were born.
However, her more recent films
made her instantly recognizable to
the students.
“During lunch, there were groups
of student traversing the campus
searching for her,” said Gill.
The actress has embarked on a
self-funded documentary highlight-
Republican primary debates scheduled at Hall
ByToddTruelove
Staff Writer
The Forsyth County Republican
Party (FCRP) will host two separate
debates today at 6 p.m. at Cumming
City Hall featuring candidates for
the U.S. Senate and county sheriff.
The first of the debates is
between the Republican candidates
for the Sheriff’s Office Ted
Paxton and Gary Beebe.
Paxton, the incumbent, took over
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THURSDAY May 6,2004
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Photos/Submitted
Top photo, actress Drew Barrymore checks voter registration
activities at South Forsyth High School Tuesday during shooting
of a documentary she is producing on young voters. Bottom
photo, students Francesca DePalma, left, and Hie Thomas, right,
stand with Barrymore during the event. The two students attend
North Forsyth High School and were assisting in the elections at
South Forsyth High, which the actress was incorporating into the
production.
wave of voter apathy that
engulfed the youngest members of
the electorate. A producer working
with Barrymore’s production compa¬
ny said that he is hopeful the fin¬
ished work will air later this year on
MTV, the cable music channel.
The county program First Vote
uses actual public voting machines
to give students a taste of real life at
the polls. “I thought she was fantas¬
tic,” said Gary Smith, Forsyth
County elections registrar. “I had
some preconceived notions of her
that were untrue. She was genuinely
interested in the program and inter¬
ested in talking to the kids and find¬
ing out what they were all about.”
Smith said that while Barrymore
was a recognizable face, students did
not “act like groupies” around the
actress. “The kids were excited but
were not blown away by the celebri¬
ty,” said Smith.
Barrymore was the interviewer of
Gill, Smith and a number of stu-
the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office
at the beginning of 2001. His oppo¬
nent, Beebe, has 15 years of experi¬
ence in law enforcement, according
to Beebe’s Web site.
The second debate is between the
three Republican candidates who are
vying for Georgia’s (J.S. Senate seat
that’s being vacated by Sen. Zell
Miller. Miller is retiring when his
term ends this year.
Republicans competing for his
scat arc U.S. representatives Mac
Ub r
dents. She also spent time behind the
camera as well, capturing visual
images at the school.
During her five-hour stay,
Barrymore also visited instructor
John Allen's American government
class for about a half-hour watching
the interaction between students and
their teacher. “She came out of the
classroom just raving,” said Gill.
“She was so pleased to see a teacher
who was allowing kids to talk and
debate.”
Allen seemed to take all of the
attention in stride, according to the
principal.
The actress and her crew had
lunch in the school cafeteria, choos¬
ing from the day’s fare that included
double cheeseburgers, pizza, barbe¬
cue, French fries, and salad.
During her interview with Smith,
Barrymore quizzed the elections
See DREW, Page 2A
Collins and Johnny Isakson, and for¬
mer Godfather's Pizza chairman
Herman Cain.
County Republican Party member
R. Gray Smith said he will host the
debates.
Questions will be posed to the
candidates by radio talk show host Al
Gainey, Smith said.
“These will be formal debates,”
Smith said.
He said questions will be accept¬
ed from members of the audience.
ER doctor: Glenn
Turner possibly
poisoned slowly
Large ingestion of antifreeze not likely
By Nicole Green
Staff Writer
PERRY — A Marietta emergency
room physician testified Tuesday that
Lynn Turner’s alleged murder victim
may have been poisoned with small
amounts of ethylene glycol over sev¬
eral days.
Dr. Donald Freeman treated and
released Glenn Turner, 31, from
WellStar Kennestone Hospital in
Marietta the evening before his
death in March 1995.
Hospital records indicate that
Glenn Turner, a Cobb County
police officer, suffered from dehy¬
dration, nausea, vomiting, stomach
cramps, diarrhea, lightheadedness,
upper respiratory and nasal conges¬
tion. His symptoms were consistent
with influenza, the doctor said.
Glenn Turner’s pulse rate was quite
fast, compatible with dehydration.
After two bags of fluids and gas¬
trointestinal medications were
administered intravenously to
Glenn Turner, the patient still com¬
plained of “gas pains,” weakness
and lightheadedness, according to
the testimony of registered nurse
Becky Russell. The nurse reported¬
ly informed Freeman that Glenn
Turner did not find the usual relief
on
victim’s suicide tries
By Nicole Green
Staff Writer
PERRY — Testimony last week
in the Lynn Turner murder trial char¬
acterized her first alleged victim as
“happy-go-lucky." The jury this week
heard about the suicide attempts of
Turner’s second alleged victim, a
Forsyth County firefighter.
Turner, 35, stands trial for the
1995 poisoning death of her Cobb
County police officer husband Glenn
Turner. Though Turner is the lead
suspect in the similar death in 2001
of Forsyth County firefighter Randy
Thompson, the father of her two chil¬
dren, she has not been charged for
his murder.
The Houston County Superior
Court jury may find it difficult to
believe that Thompson did not inten¬
tionally ingest the antifreeze that
killed him, following testimony
Tuesday from Thompson’s family.
Twice Thompson reportedly tried
to commit suicide by taking pills.
“1 don’t think Randy’s intention
was to hurt himself. I think his inten¬
tion was to get Lynn’s attention,"
Nita Thompson, Randy’s mother,
said of his 1997 suicide attempt.
Gainey and two members of the
FCRP will select from those which
questions will be asked.
“The candidates will have the
opportunity to question one another
and be able to rebut their answers."
said Smith.
“We expect a large turnout as
public safety and issues being
addressed by the U.S. Senate arc so
very important to us all,” he said.
The candidates also will he issu¬
ing opening and closing statements.
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BUSINESS, 1B
Urbina is Forsyth’s female farrier
Turner
learn of Glenn Turner’s death the
day following his visit to
Kennestone. Fie was further sur¬
prised when the state medical
examiner in 2001 ruled Glenn
Turner’s death to be caused by eth¬
ylene glycol poisoning. The origi¬
nal autopsy performed by the Cobb
medical examiner documented a
slightly enlarged heart and attrib¬
uted the death to an irregular heart¬
beat natural causes.
“[Turner’s] condition was not
classic for a large ingestion of eth¬
ylene glycol,” Freeman said.
Ethylene glycol, a poison found
in antifreeze, causes nausea and
vomiting as soon as 30 minutes
after ingestion. Glenn Turner exhib¬
ited these flu-like symptoms.
See TURNER, Page 10A
i*
/ don't think Randy's
intention was to hurt
himself[
- Nita Thompson
ff
In that instance, Thompson and
Turner were still living together in
Gumming with their 1-year-old
daughter. Paramedics came to the
residence but did not take Thompson
to the hospital. Nita Thompson said.
Thompson called his father in
Warner Robins at 3 a.m. on March
23, 1999, shortly after Thompson
separated from Turner and moved
into an apartment on Tolbert Street.
“He said. Daddy. I've done some¬
thing stupid.'” Perry Thompson testi¬
fied Tuesday.
Perry Thompson told his son to
wake up his roommate. Terry Pruitt,
and go to the hospital.
“He said, Terry’s got to go to
work tomorrow and 1 don't want to
wake him up." Perry Thompson testi¬
fied.
Perry Thompson gave Randy
See PARENTS, Page 2A
Beebe
in the “cocktail”
of medications.
About 30 minutes
later, Freeman pre¬
scribed a nausea
relieving medica¬
tion and sent
Glenn Turner
home with his
wife, Lynn Turner.
Freeman said
he was shocked to
Paxton