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Forsyth J Your "Hometown County Paper" Since 1908 J News Vol. 96, No. 185 i. .ii. ii nit ii,.n 111 Hands-on demonstration at NFHS HI m | : i \ m / J m.A $■ I 'f' m M V . - J I I i . m 4». iVY"- .-•' :vj| 3Bb ■ i f-j 1 :■< i | ■ 4 I t I : ■ Photo/Ron Logan Leonice Shinneman, left, and Sandip Burman play tabla drums for a North Forsyth High School instructional ensemble class last week. Road work on hold for Thanksgiving By Jennifer Sami Staff Writer Gas prices and annoying relatives aside, AAA is predicting a 1 percent increase in Thanksgiving traffic over last year. The increase, however, is only account¬ ing for those traveling more than 50 miles during the holiday. “When it comes to Thanksgiving, people are creatures of habit,” said Gregg Laskoski, AAA Auto Club South Managing Director of Public and Government Relations. “People have their family tradi¬ tions and it’s a very strong family tradition. • I don’t think you’re going to see a great deal of changes from one year to another.” Thanksgiving is among the highest vol ume traffic days per year, yielding 1.25 mil lion Georgians traveling by car, air, train or bus this year. According to Terri Pope, communica tions officer for the Georgia Department of Transportation, Hurricane Katrina victims troubled teens alternative to time in By Jennifer Sami l Staff Writer Rebecca Carey believes that people can change. For teenagers in trouble with the law, Carey just might be their last shot. I In 2000, Carey created the Crossroads Foundation, a nonprofit organization designed to teach life skills to at risk teenagers. Since then, the foundation has started I several programs, including Forgotten Teens, to collect I Christmas gifts for teenagers and Discovery Tracks, a I week-long summer camp for children between 14 and 18 . It was in June of 2004, when the Forsyth County Juvenile Court and the Crossroads Foundation were awarded a grant to fund Real Life, an alternative to detention program. Funding for the program also comes from Hall and Dawson counties and the Department of Juvenile Justice. The program is a six-part series of weekends offered as an alternative to a 30 to 60 day detention program for repeat offenders charged with anything from being Missed paper policy: For a replacement paper, call 8:30 a.m. -1:00 p.m. Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Sunday ( 770 ) 887 - 3126 . Copyright © 2005 Forsyth County News WEDNESDAY November 23, 2005 f mmmmsm maw It's very decisions unlikely people mak¬ ing to travel to family are going to allow gas prices to be a significant defies logic. cri¬ teria. It just - Teri Pope, Georgia DOT communications officer 99 who relocated to Georgia will also be con tributing to the increase in traffic. The AAA travel projections estimate that 1,037,408 cars will occupy Georgia roads, while only 155,739 Georgians plan on trav eling by plane. Gas prices are somewhere around 30 to 40 cents higher than last year, but at the same time, because we’ve seen a tremen dous decrease over the last 30 days, I don’t under the influence of alcohol, stealing, breaking and entering, probation violations and other misdemeanors. Saturdays are spent working on community service type projects on a 10-acre farm. In addition to horses, goats, roosters, pigs and rabbits, the farm also serves as an animal shelter, housing anywhere from 10 to 20 dogs at a time. The teens learn how to paint, build fences, mix and pour concrete and are responsible for tending after and building homes for the animals. “It’s a natural therapeutic intervention when you couple at risk teens with adopted animals,” said Carey. “Many of the kids aren’t familiar with the tpols — rakes, hoes, shovels — they're not familiar because they’ve never had to do the work before.” Sundays involve school work as well as leadership and team-building and activities. The teens also go through Trail Blazers, the foundation’s rope course to help build trust and communication. All teens who go through the program are given a See CROSSROADS, Page 2A INDEX Local Opinion Abby 6A Classifieds 13B Dawson commissioners Columnist Bill Shipp Deaths....... 2A Events 7A reject plan for marina shares his perspective Horoscope 6A at War Hill Park. of Georgia politics. legals.... Opinion 3B Page 3A Page8A 8A } ! iF pFnpftTfi think consumers are as concerned over gas prices as media would have people believe,” said Laskoski. “It’s, very unlikely people making decisions to travel to family are going to allow gas prices to be a significant criteria. It just defies logic.” While mope cars will be on the road this year, at least there will be less construction. In efforts to reduce jams, the Georgia Department of Transportation has suspend¬ ed all construction during the holiday. The cease in construction began Tuesday at mid¬ night and will run through Monday at 9 a.m. “f t s safer for us to be working when there aren’t as many cars out, but also, we don't want to add to traffic on this high traf lie holiday,’ said Pope. “Plus, we have families, too, and we want to see our fami lies as well.” For traffic conditions and up-to-date accident reports, visit the Georgia Department of Transportation at www.dot.state.ga.us. — ■; r ■ III wMMt ■ jr ; KSSIS IN® : -v 1 ' i mm ^ ; a i/n I . ■ A ■ 4 dj 1 J 1 JS.I 1 || §3 « Sunny LAKE LANIER LEVELS Date Level Nov. 18- 1069.06 ft Nov. 19 1069.06 ft Nov. 20 ft 1069.14ft SSP^'1071 High in the low 50s. . tBrniijr Low in the mid 40s. fl® 10 PORTS, 1B ins Shootout with wins Murder defendant committed to facility Shot salesman in 2004, deputies say By Stephen Gurr Staff Writer A mentally disturbed man who authorities say a knocked on the door of his Elmo Road home, likely will spend the rest of his life in a state men tal health hospital rather than stand trial for murder. Forsyth County Superior Court Judge David Dickinson on Monday ordered the civil com mitment of 68-year-old Morris Cecil Chadwick to the custody of the state Department of evidence that Chadwick was not mentally compe¬ tent to. stand trial. The commitment was not chal¬ lenged by either District Attorney Penny Penn or defense attorneys Christopher Willis and Les Aiken. Chadwick was charged with murder in the Jan. 22, 2004, shooting death of 64-year-old Terry See MURDER, Page 2A Armed men charged with prowling By Stephen Gurr Staff Writer Authorities can’t say for certain what two men were doing late at night in a residential subdivi¬ sion with a car loaded with guns, knives, utility rope and a notebook containing car descriptions and tag numbers. But they're pretty sure they were up to no good. Last Thursday Charles Tatum, 61, and Bryan James Bearden, 31, were arrested on prowling and weapons charges after deputies investigating a See ARMED, Page 2A Crossroads Foundation vice presi¬ dent Clair Coley pre pares a Belgian draft horse named Elwood recently for someafter noon exer cise at the foundation located off of Edwards Mill Road. Photo/Sam Freeman Chadwick