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Gas prices to rise slightly beginning Dec. 1
ByToddTruelove
Staff Writer
Though gasoline prices have
steadily declined since the begin¬
ning of November, on Dec. 1, the
cost of gas is expected to rise by
about 2 cents per gallon due to a tax
hike on the fossil fuel by the
Georgia Department of Revenue.
Revenue Department Director of
Public Information Charles Willey
on Monday said that the state had to
increase gas taxes due to higher
pump costs after hurricanes hit the
Gulf in September.
Though revenue department
staff regularly change the rate of
prepaid gasoline taxes twice a year
to reflect 4 percent of the gas index
cost, Willey said state law dictates
Agency representatives gather
to learn about meth treatments
Lunch and Learn meeting focused on helping addicts
By Crystal Ledford
Staff Writer
At last Thursday’s Lunch
and Learn meeting hosted by
the Forsyth County Child
Prevent Child Abuse
Committee, a room full of
representatives from various
human service agencies
learned about several local
treatment programs for
methamphetamine addicts.
Representatives from
Forsyth County’s Drug
Court, No Longer Bound and
Abba House made presenta¬
tions about their programs. A
spokesman from Jefferson
based Potter’s House also
presented information on
that program.
Jennifer Johnston of the
Forsyth County Drug Court
explained that drug court is a
concept that was first begun
in Miami in the late 1980s.
“It was started by an
innovative judge who wanted
to do more than just throw
drug addicts into jail,” said
Johnston. “He wanted to put
drug users back on the
streets — but as productive
citizens.”
Johnston said the concept
bloomed in Forsyth County
under the direction of the
late Superior Court Judge
Stan Gault. After Gault
passed away, current
Superior Court Judge Jeffrey
S. Bagley took the project,
which officially began in
January of 2004.
Johnston said through the
program, drug offenders first
must plead guilty to their
charges.
They then complete a rig¬
orous program that includes
four phases of various levels
of counseling and meeting
with Drug Court attorneys
and judges on a weekly
basis.
The participants also are
required to secure full-time
jobs or attend school full¬
time. If a participant does
not have his or her high
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FORSYTH COUNTY NEWS —Thursday, November 24,2005
that prepaid gasoline taxes must be
reset more frequently if the cost of
gas changes by 25 percent, upward
or downward.
However, the added two cents is
not expected to last more than a
month due to the recent drop in gas
prices.
“We’ll be calculating probably
in the next seven days what the new
rate will be,” said Willey, adding
the newer rate will be implemented
on Jan. 1.
In addition to whatever local
sales taxes ranging from 1-3 per
cent — are applied on gasoline,
federal and state gas taxes in
Georgia before the Dec. 1 increase
comprise 33.4 cents on every gal¬
lon. Georgia’s prepaid tax of 7.5
cents per gallon will increase to
it
I had done drugs for 18 years, so I
knew it was going to take more
than a few days in detox to help
me. No Longer Bound really saved
my life. It's a great. Cod-bound pro¬
gram. The peace of mind I've
gained since being here, I know will
keep me sober.
- John Alexander,
recovering opiate addict 99
school diploma, he or she
must obtain their GED in
order to successfully gradu¬
ate from the Drug Court pro¬
gram.
“It’s important that they
have something to occupy
their time,” said Johnston.
“The educational aspect of
the program was very impor¬
tant to Judge Gault. We’ve
continued that part of it.”
Johnston said the pro¬
gram held its first graduation
in September, with four peo¬
ple successfully completing
the program. A second group
of four is scheduled to grad¬
uate on Dec. 19.
When participates suc¬
cessfully complete the pro¬
gram, all the charges against
them are dropped.
Forsyth is one of only 27
judicial districts in Georgia
to offer a Drug Court.
John Alexander, a recov¬
ering opiate addict, presented
information on Forsyth
County’s No Longer Bound
home.
Alexander said the
Christian-based treatment
facility for men provides a
residential treatment for one
year.
Alexander, who is cur¬
rently in his 11th month at
No Longer Bound, said the
program was founded in
1985 by Mike Hardin.
9.67 cents on Dec. 1, Willey said.
The federal government charges
18.4 cents which Georgia
Department of Transportation
(DOT) spokesman David Spear
said accrues more than $1.2 billion
nationwide. Spear said that money
is then distributed among the
states.
Spear said the state legislature
also sets an excise tax of 7.5 cents
per gallon for the DOT.
“It [the excise tax] has to be
used strictly on the highway sys¬
tem,” said Spear.
Juan Palomo, spokesperson for
the American Petroleum Institute
(API), said the drop in gas prices is
directly related to an increase in the
supply.
Palomo said imported fuel ship-
The facility is located on
13 acres. In addition to the
home where up to 30 men
reside during their treatment,
No Longer Bound also has
three working businesses that
provide jobs for the men — a
greenhouse, a car repair busi¬
ness and a print shop.
Revenues from the three also
help fund the facility.
The men participate in
morning classes and after¬
noon job activities.
Alexander said program
saved his life.
“I had done drugs for 18
years, so I knew it was going
to take more than a few days
in detox to help me,” he said.
“No Longer Bound really
saved my life. It’s a great,
God-bound program. The
peace of mind I’ve gained
since being here, I know will
keep me sober.”
Alexander also said No
Longer Bound has a high
success rate.
“Sixty-five percent of the
graduates are still sober after
12 months,” he said.
Abba House is a similar
program also located in
Forsyth County. Abba House
offers a similar program for
women.
Abba House was founded
in 1992 by Mr. and Mrs. Jim
Sharp.
Sharp said the home has a
merits increased after the hurricanes
because of a concern of fuel short¬
ages. He said that the imports cou¬
pled with refineries and off-shore
facilities coming back on-line has
increased gasoline supplies.
Palomo also said that the
demand on gasoline has slightly
fallen.
Demand didn’t drop a lot,” he
said.
“History has shown us that when
demand has gone down and when
supplies increase that causes a drop
in prices and vice-versa,” said
Palomo.
He said policy prevents API staff
from forecasting future fuel prices.
However, Palomo speculated that
demand may increase with the
oncoming holiday weekend.
capacity for 15 women and
their children and is funded
largely by private donations
and revenues from a thrift
store.
“We teach women to love
God, other people and them¬
selves,” said Sharp. “Women
stay with us for a minimum
of 10 months. Sometimes
they stay 12 months; some¬
times they’re so traumatized
they stay up to two years.”
George Wright, senior
counselor at The Potter’s
House in Jefferson, also pre¬
sented information on his
program.
The Potter’s House —
one of six ministries organ¬
ized and run through the
Atlanta Union Mission - is
similar to No Longer Bound
in that it is a Christian-based
residential facility for men.
Wright said The Potter’s
House, located on a 270-acre
site, is 35 years old and has
beds for up to 180 men.
The Potter’s House also
has a high success rate,
according to Wright.
“Two-thirds of our gradu¬
ates are sobered and
employed six months after
graduation,” he said.
Thursday’s meeting is the
third Lunch and Learn to be
hosted by the group that
seeks to support the wellness
of Forsyth County children
and families. All three of the
meetings have focused on
the growing problem of
methamphetamine use.
“We were thrilled with
the turnout Thursday,” said
Pat Plant of the Forsyth
County Prevent Child Abuse
Committee. “This was our
best turnout yet. We’re really
pleased that our churches
and faith-based organizations
are starting to attend more
regularly.”
The Lunch and Learn ses¬
sions were originally started
or the purpose of providing a
venue for faith-based groups
to learn more about family
issues.
State and
Federal Gas
Taxes per gallon
State Excise
— 7.5 cents
State Prepaid
— 7.5 cents
Federal Tax
—18.4 cents
Total
— 33.4 cents
Forsyth County
libraries ranked
best in
ByToddTruelove
Staff Writer
,, For the third consecutive
year, Forsyth County’s Public
Library System has scored
better than any other public
library in Georgia, according
to the Hennen’s American
Public Library Index which
ranks more than 9,000 library
systems in the United States.
“Our overall score was the
highest in the state of
Georgia,” said Carla Beasley,
the assistant director for
Forsyth County’s library mate¬
rial services.
Beasley said the local
library system received a score
of 673 out of a possible 1.000
points in the rating system that
is conducted annually by
Thomas J. Hennen a
library director in Waucheka
County, Wis.
Hennen has been ranking
public systems for seven years
using various data and formu¬
las to tally a score, Beasley
said.
“Most [public libraries]
score between 260-730,” she
said.
In addition to having the
best score in the state, Beasley
said Forsyth libraries also
ranked high in the Southeast
region.
“In the southeast, ... we
placed eleventh out of 109
libraries,” she said, clarifying
that the ranking was among
similar library systems serving
about the same population.
Beasley said that nationally,
Forsyth’s libraries were in the
top 21 percent among such
library systems.
While Hennen’s ranking
does not officially make
libraries any more or less eli¬
gible for grants or other fund¬
ing opportunities, Beasley said
it provides a mechanism for
library and governmental
executives to determine how
effectively they are operating.
“I think [the ranking] cer¬
tainly strengthens our standing
in the community,” she said.
“We think we’ve been using
the funding we’ve been given
very efficiently.”
Beasley said Hennen’s for¬
mula uses 15 criteria to deter¬
mine whether libraries are
using their resources wisely
and effectively. Those criteria
include items such as how
many people visit the facilities
and how much inventory visi¬
tors check-out.
“We were very high in cir¬
culation per capita, which was
10,” said Beasley.
Per capita measurements
are determined by dividing a
set criteria into the total popu¬
lation. Put simply, the circula¬
tion per capita in Forsyth
County means that every per¬
son in the county checked out
at least 10 items in 2004 —
the year from which the data
was provided — though of
course some library visitors
checked out more items while
others did not utilize the
resource.
“We had a lot of people
checking out more materials
than other libraries our size,”
said Beasley.
Hennen’s ranking also pro¬
vides data comparisons to let
library staff know areas in
which to improve. In Forsyth
County’s public system, one
of the low scoring areas was
inventory.
“The size of [Forsyth’s]
collection is a little low com¬
pared nationally,” said
Beasley.
“I do think we offer a very
wide range of formats,” she
said. “We keep [computer]
learning and educational
games. Very few libraries keep
those.”
Forsyth County has two
libraries — one in Cumming,
the other at Sharon Forks —
and Beasley said inventory
will continue to grow with two
new libraries planned in west
and north Forsyth.