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Forsyth J Your "Hometown CountyNews Paper" Since 1908 J
Vol. 96, No. 001
Forsyth traffic deaths drop 65 percent
By Stephen Gurr
Staff Writer
New traffic enforcement initia¬
tives, more officers on the road and
plain old good fortune contributed to
a 65 percent drop in traffic fatalities
for Forsyth County in 2004, authori¬
ties said.
In 2003, 34 people died on
Forsyth County roads — including
29 in the county and five in the city
limits — an increase of 25 deaths
from the previous year. In 2004, 12
people were killed in Forsyth County
traffic accidents, with the city of
Cumming seeing no fatalities.
have
tough evaluation system
Improvements slow in
coming, but some say
■full picture not shown
By Stephen Gurr
Staff Writer
More than two years after voluntary and
federally mandated reforms were established
in the nursing home industry, many Georgia
facilities continue to perform below average
in quality of care, according to federal data.
But state nursing home officials and even
the government ombudsman charged with
looking into complaints in Georgia say the
current evaluation system can be complex,
inconsistent and often misleading when it
cites nursing homes for health deficiencies
and posts the results of its inspections on pub¬
lic Web sites.
In a recent news release from the U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services,
federal officials trumpeted the gains made
since the department’s Nursing Home Quality
Inititiative began in 2002. But a glance at the
information available on the government’s
Medicare Web site, www.medicare.gov,
reveals a plethora of nursing homes with mul¬
tiple deficiencies and subpar performance.
According to the federal government, the
national average for health deficiencies in
nursing homes in a given year is seven, while
the Georgia average is eight. The Medicare
Web site lists Cumming’s Chestnut Ridge
Nursing and Rehabilitation Center as having
10 health deficiencies in the past year, while
the smaller Cumming Nursing Center is listed
as having none.
Chestnut Ridge Administrator Bobbe
Phillips disputes that data, saying her 150-bed
facilility had four “tags,” or deficiencies, in its
last inspection in November, and six the year
resolutions and wishes for the New Year
By Antonia Hertwig-Benson
Staff Writer
Aside from the usual desires to
exercise more and eat less, Forsyth
Countians surveyed prior to the new
year cited a desire for the end of the
conflict in Iraq as one of their top
wishes for 2005.
“One thing I’d like to see is the
war ending,” said Barbara Harris, a
Forsyth County resident.
Larry Smallwood, also a Forsyth
County resident, said, “If I had to
say...The situation in Iraq settles
down and our soldiers get to come
home.”
In addition, children took time
out from playing at Central Park to
voice their wishes for the troops.
“I hope everybody in the Army
gets back home.” said Nick Sanders,
7.
Debra Coco took the generic
approach, “I’d like to see peace in
the new year.”
While the war in Iraq was on the
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CopyriBW 6 Forsyth County News'
0 7
SUNDAY January 2,2005
The formation of the Forsyth
County Sheriff’s HEAT (Highway
Enforcement of Aggressive Traffic)
unit near the beginning of 2004 was
an important step toward decreasing
major accidents, Sheriff Ted Paxton
said.
The unit consists of a sergeant
and two deputies who patrol state
highways and interstates with eyes
out for drivers changing lanes too
quickly, following too closely, or dis¬
playing other aggressive driving ten¬
dencies.
“One of their goals was to aggres¬
sively patrol the roads in the county
where we saw such a high number of
How area nursing homes scored
Name • Location • Beds • Cited
Deficiencies
Cumming Nursing Center • Cumming • 87 • 0
Chestnut Ridge Nursing and Rehabilitation
Center • Cumming • 150 • 10
Canton Nursing Center • Canton • 100 • 6
Brian Center Nursing Care • Canton • 100 • 2
Limestone Heritage • Gainesville • 104 • 1
The Bell Minor Home • Gainesville • 104 • 11
Source: Medicere.gov Nursing Home Compare
before.
“A lot of that information is not accurate,”
said Phillips, a 37-year veteran of the indus¬
try.
According to Georgia’s Long Term Care
Ombudsman, 10 health deficiencies isn’t nec¬
essarily cause for alarm.
“Ten is not that bad if you’re talking about
minor things that don’t cause harm to resi¬
dents,” said Becky Kurtz, the state ombuds¬
man. At the same time, she said, “every facili¬
ty is required to comply with the law, so fail¬
ure to meet the requirements of the law
should be taken very seriously. I don’t think
any facility should be flippant about 10 defi¬
ciencies.”
Fred Watson, president of the Georgia
Nursing Home Association, won’t go so far as
to call the state and federal evaluations unfair,
but does note that only the nuclear energy
industry is more regulated than nursing
homes.
See NURSING, Page 2A
minds of many, others continued to
make the usual resolutions of good
health and weight loss.
Julie Williams said, “Mine actu¬
ally is to lose a little weight and to
be more successful than ‘04.”
Gaye and Gene Bottorff of North
Forsyth both agreed that health and
exercise were top goals of 2005.
“I want to get organized and eat
healthy food,” Gaye said.
Gene agreed.
“I’m going to do more exercise
— running and walking — and fish
more,” he said.
Kevin Taylor, who claimed he
has never made a New Year’s reso¬
lution, said, “It’s the first time I
have had one and it’s to quit smok
mg.
Kathy Brink had a health wish
all Forsyth County residents would
benefit from.
“For the community, I would like
to see an indoor pool facility,” she
said.
INDEX
Abby______ Classifieds.. ...6B
________3C
Deaths_______ 2A
Forsyth Life IB
Horoscope. 6B
Opinion 10A
Sports.. ic
fatalities in 2003” — mainly high¬
ways 369 and 20, Paxton said. “We
started a high visibility effort in tar¬
geting those areas.”
Indeed, law enforcement presence
on the roads increased across the
board in 2004 when the sheriff’s
office added approximately four
deputies per shift and bought 24 new
radar units for clocking speeders.
“Most people become aware of
how they’re driving when they see
that (patrol) car pulled over with its
lights on, even if we’re just helping a
motorist,” said Cpl. Chris Shelton,
the department’s senior officer in its
traffic specialist unit. “It’s that deter-
County to hire two new
aides for commissioners
Need some members
ByToddTruelove
Staff Writer
The Forsyth County government plans to hire
two aides before the end of the month to assist
District 2 Commissioner Brian Tam and District 5
Commissioner Dr. Linda Ledbetter in their county
job duties.
However, District 1 Commissioner Charles
Laughinghouse questions the viability of the posi¬
tions which potentially could consume more than
$100,000 annually from county coffers.
Laughinghouse in a telephone interview
Thursday said the idea for each commissioner to
have a personal aide originated from Chairman
Jack Conway and former commissioners Marcie
Kreager and Eddie Taylor.
“The citizens elected commissioners, not
aides,” said Laughinghouse, adding commissioners
can obtain such services through Cindy Henderson
and Sonya Bush, assistants to the county manager
and assistant administrator.
“We have two young ladies who work in our
office who have done this work for years,” said
Laughinghouse. “I will continue to utilize them.
“J can t send an aide to make my decisions for
me. 1 essentially answer my own phone calls and
answer my own e-mails.
“Why not pay [the aide’s salaries] to commis¬
sioners and let commissioners come on full-time or
at least on a basis for them [commissioners] to
function for the position for which they were elect¬
ed?’
Though commissioners approved two such
positions in 2003, Laughinghouse and former
Commissioner A.J. Pritchett opposed the concept.
Laughinghouse said discussions were conduct¬
ed within the last six weeks in legally closed meet¬
ings concerning giving each commissioner an aide.
Though all of the 2005 commissioners were asked
if they wanted an aide Laughinghouse and District
Jk
MackFanit, 9, "Make
the people in Iraq to
come home."
Local
Murder suspect still
mentally unfit
to stand trial. t
Page 4A
Traffic fatalities
Forsyth County City of Cumming
2001:22 2003: 5
2002:9 2004:0
2003:29
2004:12
rence factor.”
Cumming Police Department
Maj. Gene Sams said he attributed
the city’s drop from five fatalities to
none to “a good, active road patrol.”
A
■m
Jennifer White, "I want
to have a better walk
with Christ - to have a
better spiritual walk
with him."
Sports
Forsyth coaches select the
2004All-County
Football Team.
“We really concentrated on hav¬
ing our people visible and cutting
down on speeding,” particularly in
See FATALITIES, Page 2A
*
X
Laughinghouse
hired last year. The 2004
budget allowed one aide for the chairman and an
additional aide to serve the county’s four other
commissioners.
Though the second aide wasn't hired before the
end of 2004, the county did advertise for the posi¬
tion. Carson said aides for Tam and Ledbetter will
be chosen from applications received for that posi¬
tion.
She said commissioners will be requested to
approve the additional commissioners aide on the
board's Jan. 10 consent agenda. Items on the con¬
sent agenda are not typically discussed during the
board’s regular meeting unless moved into the new
business section of the agenda.
Tam and Ledbetter said in interviews last week
that the county government asked if they wanted a
personal aide to assist their services to the county.
The two commissioners hold full-time jobs, and
each said the aides will be useful in assisting their
service to the county.
Ledbetter teaches American government at
Forsyth Central High School.
“[The county] offered us all an aide apiece,”
said Ledbetter. “That was not a request from me,
or Brian or anyone else. The old board decided we
See AIDES, Page 2A
wi
Hannah Harris, 5, "For
all children to have a
good Christmas like I
had."
Partly Cloudy
1
High in the mid-60s.
Low in the mid-40s.
ii
LIFE, 1B
n be a princess for a day
4 Commissioner David Richard
rejected the offer.
Tam. Ledbetter and Richard
each officially began serving the
county government in commis¬
sioner capacities yesterday.
Human Resources Director
Pat Carson said the two new
aides will have a salary range
between $35,888 and $53,832.
They will join commission
chairman aide Carol Haag
LAKE LANIER LEVELS
Date Level
Dec. 27 1070.06 ft
Dec. 28 1069.87 ft
Dec. 29 1069.69 ft
Dec 30 1069.54 ft
Full am 1071.00 ft