Newspaper Page Text
-v;
News
Vol. 96, No. 101
Officials meet
to discuss
meth problem
By Stephen Gurr
Staff Writer
While a new state law should help
stem the homemade manufacture of
methamphetamine, the supply of the
illegal drug will never be completely
cut off, leading public health officials
to advocate treatment and prevention
as tools in the battle against meth.
About 150 people from social
service, law enforcement and health
care agencies across north Georgia
came to Cumming Friday for the sec¬
ond annual Methamphetamine
Community Action Summit at the
Sawnee Cultural Arts Center. The
symposium offered state employees a
chance to network and exchange
ideas for combating a drug problem
that has reached epidemic propor¬
tions in some areas of the state,
including Forsyth.
Chuck Wade, a former undercov¬
er narcotics officer who now serves
as CEO of the Council on Alcohol
South Precinct
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Jan 1 - Mar 31, 2005 Burglary
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This map shows reported locations of burglaries, as mapped by a
sheriff’s office crime analyst.
Map courtesy of the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office.
Teen driver not drinking, taking any
before wreck, test results show
By Stephen Gurr
Staff Writer
A 16-year-old Duluth boy who
died in a May 25 wreck on Hwy. 141
was not under the influence of drugs
or alcohol at the time of the accident,
Forsyth Sheriff’s officials said last
week.
Authorities received blood toxi¬
cology test results for Kasey
Flanagan from the Georgia Bureau of
Investigation on Thursday.
“They were negative for any kind
of alcohol or drugs,” sheriff’s Capt.
Frank Huggins said.
Missed paper policy:
For a replacement paper, call
8:30 Thursday, a.m. -1:00 Friday, p.m. and Wednesday,
( 770 ) Sunday
887 - 3126 .
.....Copyright © 2006 Forsyth County News
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Your "Hometown Paper" Since 1908
SUNDAY June JU w 26,2005 <
and Drugs, was one of many pushing
for broad-reaching community coali¬
tions to address the problem.
“By working together, we can
create a targeted, organized attack for
this problem,” Wade said. “Schools,
government officials, the medical
community and the business commu¬
nity all need to come together to
combat this threat.”
Georgia lawmakers acted in the
last legislative session to limit the
amount of pseudophedrine people
can buy in a single store visit. The
over-the-counter medication is a
common ingredient in homemade
meth. The new law, which calls for
stores to keep pseudoephedrine in
secure locations and limits purchases
to nine grams or less, goes into effect
July 1.
Becky Vaughn, president of the
Georgia Council on Substance
See SUMMIT, Page 2A
Flanagan and 16-year-old Zachary
Shadrick of Alpharetta wire killed •
when Flanagan’s 1999 Range Rover
left the road near Bagley Drive, sliding
300 feet across a field and colliding
with a power pole. Three other passen¬
gers were hospitalized.
The wreckage was littered with
beer cans and authorities continue to
investigate who furnished the alcohol
to the teens.
Huggins noted that authorities
never claimed that Flanagan was
drinking.
We said alcohol was involved,
and there was evidence at the scene
INDEX
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Births .4B
Classifieds. ,5C
Deaths—.. 2A
Forsyth Life IB
Horoscope 4C
Opinion— 20A
Sports 1C
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No one was hurt when a mobile home fire broke out about 1:30 p.m. Thursday at the Lynwood
Mobile Home Park off Hwy. 9. About 15 firefighters spent about 35 minutes battling the blaze, the
cause of which remains under investigation, fire officials said. No one was home at the time of the
fire.
Computers can help sheriff’s
office crackdown on crime
Software package analyzes data, notes similarities
ByToddTruelove
Staff Writer
The Forsyth County Sheriff’s
Office has begun utilizing a new
computer software program that has
the potential of increasing the effi¬
ciency of the local government’s law
enforcement capabilities by compil¬
ing information, identifying similari¬
ties between crimes and noting prob¬
lematic areas.
Already, the software package
from Crimewatch has resulted in the
arrest of four suspects in April who
stand accused of more than 20 counts
of burglary in the county — one of
which involved the theft of comput¬
ers from Midway Elementary School
in south Forsyth, according to sher¬
iff’s Lt. Matt Allen.
“This [software] will tell us when
there is a certain crime pattern,” said
Allen.
“Several individuals that we sus¬
pected of some burglaries in [south
Forsyth], we were able to break
down [incident reports] and arrest
four individuals,” he said, adding
another burglary the suspects stand
accused of includes stealing a safe
that alcohol was involved,” Huggins
said.
Authorities have said Flanagan
picked up some friends at a house
party on Lanier Drive off Shady Grove
Road near Lake Lanier shortly before
the 4:55 a.m wreck.
The crash was one of four fatal
wrecks involving teens in Forsyth
Country within a month’s time that
brought a renewed focus on young
drivers. Sheriff Ted Paxton subse¬
quently announced a “Crash-Free
Teens” initiative cracking down on
driving curfew violations, young
speeders and underage drinking.
ca
Big box
retail ordinance
to get first hearing.
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the software — which was acquired
through a $28,285 grant — the sher¬
iff’s office hired Karen DeLany at a
salary of $38,000. DeLany formerly
worked with the Gwinnett County
police to analyze crime patterns.
“Crime mapping is the wave of
the future,” said DeLany, who trained
for the position and in March begin
plugging in crime data to the soft¬
ware from incident reports dated
from 2004 to present.
Capt. Ron Freeman, who com¬
mands the south precinct, said the
data compilation will allow the sher¬
iff’s office to adjust staff as needed
to reduce crime.
“As we progress through this ...
we’re able to see what’s happening
Holiday celebration
begins next Sunday
By Nancy Smallwood
Associate Editor
Bring out the earplugs, hang out
the flag and bring your candy loot
bag for Cumming’s annual Fourth
of July celebration next weekend.
First-timers should be ready for
plenty of bang and whistle blowing
in celebration of Independence
Day on the square.
Cumming’s holiday celebration
will begin on Sunday, July 3. The
annual fireworks show will be
Sports
New region means
less miles for
Forsyth sports teams.
Rage 1C
from an auto deal¬
ership.
We were actu
ally able to recover
that safe,” said
Allen. “(With the
software], we were
able to pick out the
rest of the burgla¬
ries that [were sim¬
ilar].”
In addition to
launched at 9:30 p.m. on Sunday
and the famous steam engine
parade will begin at 10 a.m. on
Monday, July 4.
The fairgrounds will open at 6
p.m. for the start of the activities
on Sunday. Plenty of hot dogs,
hamburgers, pizza and barbecue
will be available for purchase. A
live band will begin playing about
an hour later for the city’s annual
See FOURTH, Page 2A
Storms
V LAKE LANIER LEVELS
\ Date Level
June 21 1071.61 ft
June 22 1071.46 ft
v;Vi June 23 1071.31 ft
77/ June 24 1071.22 ft
1071.00*
High in the mid-80s.
Low in the mid-60s.
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plains of Industry
throughout the whole county,” said
Freeman. “We’re looking at times
[crimes happen] ... we’re looking at
general locations.”
Lt. Col. Gene Moss said the data
can be plugged into a map of the
county and “hot spots” can be identi¬
fied.
“We’re looking at hot spots where
we’ve got a cluster of problems,”
said Moss. “That’s what we’re trying
to target.”
So far, reports on burglaries, rob¬
beries, motor vehicle thefts, arson,
larceny, aggravated assault and mur¬
der are being plugged into the soft¬
ware — but other items such as
accident reports which could identify
dangerous intersections — could be
added as the program is updated.
However, the benefits of the pro¬
gram extend to the community at
large and neighborhood watch pro¬
grams, according to sheriff’s Deputy
Woody Woodward.
Woodward said if a particular
area or subdivision is identified as
susceptible to burglary or other crime
See CRIME, Page 2A