Newspaper Page Text
Forsyth J Your "Hometown Count' Since t1 ^ws
Vol. 99, No. 81
Man shoots self after teen
Ju lie Arrington
Staff Writer
A 21 -year-old man is dead
after authorities say he shot
himself in the head following
a confrontation I uesday
morning with his ex-girlfriend
near a bus stop in southern
Forsyth County.
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Veterans banner from to
By Lara Moore
Staff Writer
Comforts are few and far
between when bringing home
comrades in caskets.
“I buried a lot of good
friends,” said Darcy Blow, an
infantry medic, hanging his
head slightly.
The hulking Blow, so large
he looked as though he wore a
Kevlar vest underneath his uni¬
form, was the senior to other
nearby soldiers in experience
but didn't hide any emotions
Tuesday morning at
Chattahoochee Elementary
School.
Blow and his fellow mem
bers in the 1st Battalion of the
121st Infantry Georgia Army
National Guard presented an
American flag to the school to
show their gratitude to students
and staff, who supported the
unit during its previous serv¬
ice. The flag had flown in Iraq.
Soldiers remember warm
receptions such as the one at
Chattahoochee because little
else reconciles military deaths,
said Blow, who has served two
tours in Iraq and one in
Afghanistan.
As he spoke, students dart¬
ed by, asking the men to sign
their notebook paper, T-shirts
and arms.
Lt. Col. Andy Hall, a
Cumming resident, said the
presentation was twofold: to
give children something to
think about on Memorial Day
and to use the event as a train¬
ing exercise.
The soldiers from the local
unit are due back in Iraq in
See FLAG, Page 2A
Sales tax accord could come soon
By Jennifer Sami
Staff Writer
Forsyth County has what the city
of Cumming considers its final offer
in the ongoing effort to resolve the
future of the 1-cent sales tax.
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For a replacement paper, call
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(770)887-3126.
Copyright © 2007 Forsyth County News
THURSDAY May 22, 2008
21-year-old dies after incident at bus stop
Capt. Frank Huggins of the
Forsyth County Sheriff’s
Office said Chad Michael
Cornutt first attempted to
shoot Stephanie Guevara, an
18-year-old senior at South
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County has what may be city’s final offer
• « i thini n.i R the Clt .y s rnade a lot of
concessions in trying to resolve this
issue, Cumming Mayor H. Ford
Gravitt said Tuesday night. “And I
INDEX
Abby............ 4A
Classifieds. 3B
Deaths........ 2A
Kids Horoscope 4A
Opinion....... Page... 6A
5A
Sports.......... 5B
Forsyth High School. When
the gun misfired, he then
turned it on himself
Guevara was not injured,
Huggins said.
Cornutt was taken to
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recommend to the board we send it
back to the county as our final offer
to the county to resolve the issue
because we’d like to keep the sales
Local
Family safe
after north Forsyth
house fire.
Page2A
Northside Hospital-Forsyth
before being transferred to
North Fulton Regional
Hospital, where Forsyth
County Coroner Lauren
McDonald III said he died
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Left, Jeremiah Bailey stands as Darcy Blow
signs his shirt. Treating the soldiers like rock
stars, the students asked for autographs on
T-shirts, napkins and arms.
tax coming in.
The agreement, which has the
blessing of the city council, essen
tially would give the city an addi
tional $12.5 million cut of the sales
See TAX, Page 2A
Sports
South’s Whatley
takes first at equestrian
nationals.
Page5B
Tuesday night.
Huggins said there were no
witnesses to the incident,
which occurred about 7:30
a.m. on Beaver Ridge Drive,
off Bethelview Road.
The street is in the Big
Creek Township community, a
new subdivision where large
homes with well-manicured
Above, students
Hannah Goeckel,
left, and Kaleigh
Lawson join
Calvin C. Wilcox,
right, as they
show their
respect Tuesday
for a new flag as
it’s raised at
Chattahoochee
Elementary
School. The flag
was delivered by
members of the
National Guard
in a UH-60 Army
helicopter, left.
Below, as student
Ethan Hall waits
in a Humvee, sol¬
diers march the
flag from the heli¬
copter to the
waiting vehicle
for the short ride
to the school.
Photos/Jim Dean
Possible Storms
LAKE LANIER LEVELS
Date Level
May 17 1057.79 ft
llh'1,11 May 18 1057.80 ft
May 19 1057.79 ft
May 20 1057.76 ft
Full 1071.00 ft
High in the low 80s.
Low in the low 60s.
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lawns are nestled close togeth
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Polo Golf & Country Club,
“She was walking from her
residence to the bus stop and
was confronted in the street ■
Huggins said.
Huggins said Cornutt was
See SHOOTS, Page 2A
Cumming
to honor
military
service
Annual Memorial Day
ceremony set for Friday
By Frank Reddy
Staff Writer
The city of Cumming will honor
men and women who served their
country during the 14th annual
Veterans War Memorial and Avenue
of Hags Dedication on Friday morn
ing.
"It means a lot to the people of
this city to support those who served
and to honor their service in the mili¬
tary,” said Cumming Mayor H. Ford
Gravitt, who will give the introduc¬
tion. “It’s a very moving program.
Gravitt said the event, which
begins at l l a.m. at 301 Veterans
Memorial Blvd., usually draws sever¬
al hundred people.
“It shows community spirit,” he
said, adding that the city has been
holding its Avenue of Flags since the
memorial was built.
In total, 12 names will be recog¬
nized at the event and I0 flags will be
raised and added to about 150 others.
Forsyth County resident Jo Ann
Leifeste dedicated one flag for two
members of her family who served in
the U.S. military: her father and her
second cousin.
Her second cousin. Jack Lafayette
McBride of the U.S. Navy, survived
the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor,
but was killed in the Battle of Savo
Island on Nov. 13, 1942. He was 19.
“He was helping to man a large
gun on the USS San Francisco at the
time of his death,” Leifeste said, not¬
ing that 34 other men also died in the
attack.
See HONOR, Page 2A
4
File photo
An F-16 fighter jet soars above
the crowd at the 2007 Memorial
Day ceremony in Cumming.