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Forsyth J Your "Hometown Count Paper" Since 1908 XI ^WTK -'ROJECl j-n t Vol. 95, No. 73 m Much ado about Drew __ _— am . : : % yvv •1 ' I M Wl T&lM it ' .*% 11 m M . M2 fi'i - m It .'VJl mm 7 k '/ ' & gP : -v> 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 Mjssad paptr policy: For a replacement paper, call INDEX Thursday 8 a m. Sunday - and 5:30 Friday, p.m. Wednesday, and 9 a.m, -1 Abby Government! Sports Sunny LAKE LANIER LEVELS p.m. on - (770) 887*3126 5B Date Level Copyright 0 2004 Fonyth County Now* Classifieds 3B Deaths....... 2A Forsyth County Senior Region 6-AAAA May May 2 I 1070.40 1070.44 ft ft Government '**•*••••** 3A Center schedules baseball teams on the May 3 1070.52 ft Horoscope..., .58 Alzheimer’s workshop. home stretch. May 4 1070.53 ft Kids Page...... 6A Full 1071.00 ft Opinion Sports ..........7A 9A Page 3 A Page 7 A High Low in In the the mid-5()s. low 80s. item i 90994 "O'40'O IHHtMHMHMI THURSDAY May 6,2004 mmmm f 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. 5 If % * mm l < fca 1 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