Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 4A
High schoolers read proclamation
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Area high school students read a Geographic Information Systems Day proclamation at the Nov. 7 Board of
Commissioners meeting. The students contributed to a display on GIS in the county administration building.
Southern Catholic campus, chapel receive blessings
By Michele Hester
For the Forsyth County News
DAWSONVILLE Since stu¬
dents began classes at Southern
Catholic College in August, there
has been one intricate component
missing from the overall experi¬
ence. On Nov. 22, the problem was
resolved in an elaborate ceremony
when Atlanta’s Archbishop Wilton
D. Gregory arrived at the campus to
bless the newly constructed chapel.
As the guests of honor entered
the small chapel, tears of joy filled
the eyes of the overflowing congre¬
gation awaiting the historic event
for the college.
“This is such a historic event for
us. We’re very proud to have
Archbishop Gregory here with us,”
said Southern Catholic College
president Jeremiah Ashcroft.
New three-state Web site available for
farmers for weather
By Sharon Omahen
University of Georgia
Mother Nature appears to
be cutting Georgia farmers
some slack so far this year.
And a new, three-state Web
site can help them prepare for
whatever the weather offers.
“Now’s the time to pre¬
pare for rough weather,” said
Joel Paz, an Extension
agrometeorologist with the
University of Georgia
College of Agricultural and
Environmental Sciences.
“We’re having a normal
weather year this year. When
you’re experiencing an El
Nino, you have to have your
contingency plans ready.”
Paz is on a multi-university
team of researchers who have
developed the Web resource to
help farmers stay ahead of the
weather. The site can help
them prepare for many weath¬
er conditions driven by the El
Nino-Southern Oscillation
(ENSO) phenomenon.
Forecasts
The Southeast Climate
Consortium issues quarterly
forecasts to help farmers in
Alabama, Florida and Georgia
manage their crops. The fore¬
casts are on-line at www.agcli
mate.org.
The SECC Web site uses
data collected from university
resources and the National
Climate Data Center. It’s based
on more than 50 years of
weather data. And it provides
monthly rainfall and tempera¬
ture forecasts for Alabama,
Florida and Georgia counties.
It offers advice, too, for
neutral, El Nino and La Nina
ENSO phases. Florida State
University’s Center for Ocean
Atmospheric Prediction
Studies produces the SECC
climate forecasts.
At the Tallahassee center,
researchers monitor surface
temperatures in the Pacific
Ocean near the equator to pre¬
FORSYTH COUNTY NEWS — Friday, December 2,2005
“We’re very excited. For the
first time in the Archdiocese of
Atlanta there is a Catholic college,
and that is a historic event for them
as well.”
Students from the college par¬
ticipated in the event by singing in
the choir and reciting readings dur¬
ing the Blessing Mass.
“The students played a very
important role,” said Ashcroft,
“which I think was very appropri¬
ate for our students.”
After Mass, a celebratory dinner
took place, with more than 160 in
attendance, including Archbishop
emeritus John F. Donoghue who
then blessed the campus,
The whole community,
Dawsonville and the metropolitan
Atlanta area came together, cele¬
brating this historic day with us,”
Ashcroft said.
diet potential weather effects
in the southeastern United
States.
Periodic warming or cool¬
ing of those ocean surfaces,
known as El Nino or La Nina,
can affect U.S. weather pat¬
terns. El Ninos bring increased
winter rainfall. La Ninas have
the opposite effect.
Neutral phase
Pacific Ocean surface tem¬
peratures are near normal now,
or in a neutral phase.
Farmers make many busi¬
ness decisions based on
unknown weather conditions,
Paz said. They decide whether
to buy crop insurance or grow
a particular crop.
The AgClimate Web site
allows them to select their
county, soil type, irrigation
method and past yields. The
site creates a personalized
prediction of the farmer’s
yields based on his fields, the
climate forecast and planting
dates.
The site has data for
peanuts, potatoes and toma¬
toes. The team plans to add
cotton and other Southeastern
vegetable crops soon.
The site covers cold weath¬
er factors, too. Farmers who
grow peaches, blueberries,
strawberries and other fruits
will benefit from the chilling
hours data.
“There’s a big difference
between climate data and
weather data,” Paz said.
“Weather information is used
day-to-day. Climate informa¬
tion affects farmers’ future
decisions, including variety
selection and management
regimens.”
More than
farmers
The Web site was designed
for farmers. But Paz says
many other groups will
the climate information useful.
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We're having a
normal-weather
year this year.
When you're expe¬
riencing an El Nino,
you have to have
your contingency
plans ready.
- Joel Paz, UCA extension
agrometeorologist
“We’re starting to target
the information to government
agencies like the emergency
management agencies,” he
said. “And we’ve found that
water-resource managers also
find the data quite useful.”
The Web site data predicts
the likelihood of wildfires,
too. It forecasts little chance
of wildfires this summer, due
to recent heavy rains, the like-
ADVERT1SEMENT
Executive home to sell for below
CUMMING/ALPHARETTA - "Unconventional" describes
the sales strategy of an anxious Woodland Park home owner.
Having recently purchased this home, this investor (Scott)
finds himself in urgent need of selling before the end of the
year... and at an asking price well below what he recently paid
for it. His unique approach is to sell to the highest bidder on
Sunday evening, December 4th.
In order to attract potential buyers and investors, Scott is
asking $58,000 below market and the recent appraised value.
How did he calculate the discount? "I am not using a broker of
paying a 7% commission," says Scott. "Usually the savings, or
about $33,000 in this case, would go into the seller’s pocket.
Instead, to sell quickly, I’m cutting my price the entire
$33,000."
Scott says he needs to sell the home before year end for
financial and tax reason?. "If I listed the home with a broker,
it would take months. And then the final selling price would
traditionally, be 5% below the listed price. Therefore, I’ve
reduced my price by the 5%, or another $25,000."
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Sawnee celebrates book week
Photo/Submitted
Children’s Book Week was a week full of reading at Sawnee
Primary School. Second-graders prepared book reports,
made posters and dressed like characters in books. After
practicing and planning they presented book reports in the
media center to kindergarten and first-grade students.
Students had lots of fun with ‘Guess the Book’ as students
were given clues to guess a book they had heard in the
media center. As the grand finale, principal Ginny Smiley gave
a reading party on Thursday night.
Winter fire
From Staff Reports
Autumn is winding down,
the nights are getting frosty,
and many homeowners are
pulling out rakes and blowers
to clean up leaves and yard
debris. At this same time of
year, the Georgia Forestry
Commission is preparing for
the beginning of wildfire sea¬
son. Unlike the summer fire
season in the western U.S.,
wildfires in the Southeast are
most common after frost
until spring green up. The
major cause of wildfires in
Georgia is escaped fire from
debris piles.
As more people move
into forested areas it becomes
extremely important to con¬
sider the impact your outside
fire and smoke may have on
people and traffic nearby.
Georgia has an average 8,500
wildfires per year, with the
typical fire consuming 4.5
acres. To burn safely, resi¬
dents are required to get a
bum permit and should plan
ahead for the safety of their
fire.
The Georgia Forestry
lihood of a wet summer and
the end of the Southeast’s tra¬
ditional wildfire season, which
runs from January through
early June.
The SECC’s fall outlook,
due in early September, will
indicate whether the neutral
phase is continuing, Paz said.
As with most weather and
climate projects, there’s
always a margin of error.
“We look at probabilities
based on history,” he said.
“Our Web site is accurate. But
you’ve always got to give
yourself some wiggle room.”
SECC member universi¬
ties, besides UGA, are
Auburn, Alabama-Huntsville,
Florida, Florida State and
Miami.
The SECC is funded by the
National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration’s
Office of Global Programs,
the U.S. Department of
Agriculture’s Cooperative
State Research, Education and
Extension Service and the
USDA’s Risk Management
Agency.
In fact, Scott is prepared to take less than the $437,000 he’s
asking but admits he hopes to get more. "I know the home is
worth far more than I’m asking. I believe the free market will
dictate the true value. The only homes I found more attractive
or more appealing in the South Forsyth area are listed for
$619,000 and up."
The bright and spacious 5 bedroom, 5 bath executive home
on a large, wooded, cul-de-sac lot in much sought after
Woodland Park (swim, tennis) subdivision features 3 sides
brick, 2 story family, hardwoods, large master suite, finished
basement, walk-in closets, front porch, back deck, profession¬
al landscaping and many more extras.
Inspection is December 3rd and 4th, from 10:00 AM to 5:00
PM each day. The home will be sold Sunday night for the
highest reasonable offer.
For full details, call Scott at (678) 528-7702 or visit the
property located at 1790 Hawk View Court, Cumming,
Georgia 30041 for a descriptive flyer, which includes bidding
instructions.
A processional
of Knights of
Columbus
joined in the
celebration wel¬
coming the
Archbishop.
Photo/Michele
Hester
Commission has developed
an automated permitting sys¬
tem at (877) OK2BURN
(877) 652-2876 that makes
getting burn permits easier.
There is also an “online” per¬
mit system on the GFC Web
site at www.gatrees.org. A
permit to burn has been a
statewide law since 1988.
The Georgia Forestry
Commission works with
homeowners to make their
property safer from wildfires.
Relatively simple measures
can make homes less suscep¬
tible to the damage of fire,
such as landscaping tech¬
niques near the home, the use
of fire resistant building
materials and removal of
nearby brush.
More ideas on how to
protect your home from fire
can be found through the
nationwide fire prevention
program, “Firewise,” and on
its Web site at www.fire
wise.org. The Georgia
Forestry Commission also
offers fire prevention guid¬
ance at www.gatrees.org and
through your local Georgia
Forestry Commission Office.