Newspaper Page Text
CountvNews
Your "Hometown Since 190'
Vol. 99, No. 86
Deal struck to tax
reached at marathon
By Jennifer Sami
Staff Writer
It’s over. The long-simmering feud between
Cumming and Forsyth County over how to
fairly split the 1-cent sales tax came to a close
Thursday.
If a judge accepts their agreement, ironed
out during an hours-long, closed-door meeting
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garden yields
produce for
food banks
By Ben Holcombe
Associate Editor
Evie Norton knows what hunger
can do to folks, whether it’s hunger for
food or hunger for the Word.
Norton and other volunteers at
First Christian Church’s Care and
Share food ministry provide a box of
food for 15 to 18 local households per
week.
“A lot of these people need all the
food they can get. It's hard to make a
box of cereal last all month,” she said.
Still others, “just come for the bread
and Bible study.”
Norton was one of about two dozen
people who gathered Wednesday after¬
noon for the official dedication of the
Forsyth County Extension Service
Care and Share Garden at First
Christian Church.
Planted earlier this spring, the
1,400-square-foot community garden
is just about ready to start yielding fat
red radishes, tender yellow squash,
beans, okra, melons and more.
See CARDEN, Page 7A
At a glance
The Forsyth County Extension
Service Care and Share
Garden is located at
First Christian Church,
1320 Sawnee Drive.
For more information contact
the extension service,
(770) 887-2418.
Summer library programs give
Forsyth kids the reading bug
By Lara Moore
Staff Writer
Summer workouts aren’t limit
ed to physique.
Like bodies, inactive minds
can turn sluggish, too.
The Forsyth County Public
Library system is offering a reme¬
dy for students through literary
initiatives called “Catch the
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 © 2007 Forsyth County News
FRIDAY May 30,2008
MU • 111 I,,,
earlier in the week, the tax will take effect as
scheduled on July 1.
The deal, which the city signed Wednesday
and the county on Thursday morning, was nec
essary to avoid a costly gap in tax collections,
In total the city will receive more than $24
million, with the majority of the additional $12.5
million coming from the county’s recently
approved $100 million bond for parks, recre-
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Reading Bug,” for children, and
“Metamorphosis at Your Library,”
for teenagers.
“A number of studies over the
years have suggested that children
hang on to their academic skills if
they exercise them in the sum
nier,” said Vanessa Cowie, the
library system’s programming
coordinator. “So even reading for
just a few minutes out of the day
INDEX
Abby.................... 4B
Church events. 8A
Classifieds......... 7B
Deaths................ 2A
Food.................... 5B
Horoscope..______ 4B
Opinion______________ 11A
Sports_________________ IB
ation and green space.
After the county’s special called meeting,
Cumming Mayor H. Ford Gravitt said he hopes
the governments can continue to set aside their
differences and work for “what’s best for
Cumming and Forsyth County.”
“I think the citizens of Cumming and
Forsyth County will be happy with the negotiat¬
ed settlement,” Gravitt said.
See TAX, Page 2A
can help exercise those skills.
The Center for Summer
Learning, based at Johns Hopkins
University in Baltimore, is an
organization that creates educa
tional opportunities for disadvan
taged children,
Cowie said center research
shows the volume of summer
See KIDS, Page 3A
Food
Keep cool with a
store-bought
rotisserie chicken.
Page 5B
Above, David Vorbeck, 9, sits
and looks at the different
crops in the Forsyth County
Extension Service Care and
Share Garden on Wed¬
nesday afternoon. Left,
Master Gardener Jackie
Grote looks at tomato plants.
Photos/Emily Saunders
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Local
Teens sought in
south Forsyth
burglaries.
Page2A
,1
Paladins reload SPORTS, after successful 1B
season
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Photo/Jennifer Sami
Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle, right, talks
Wednesday with John Rasper, presi¬
dent and CEO of DeKalb Office
Environments and District 27 state
Sen. Jack Murphy, center.
Cagle
lunches,
listens
State official’s visit
includes tour of office
resources company
By Jennifer Sami
Staff Writer
Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle spent part of the day
Wednesday touring a southern Forsyth
County business and reflecting on the past
state legislative session.
‘All in all, it was a good session,” Cagle
told a small group of Forsyth County offi¬
cials, business leaders and legislators during
the Community Lunch and Listening
Session, which followed his tour of DeKalb
Office Environments.
“It’s always great to be back in Forsyth
County, to be back home,” said Cagle, who
previously represented part of Forsyth via his
state Senate seat.
Cagle touched on a variety of issues state
legislators faced during the session, which
ended in April, including water, tax cuts, edu¬
cation, health care and transportation.
“Transportation is a big concern, and I
know it is here in Forsyth County with Ga.
400,” he said. “But we’ve got to get a plan in
place and I’m committed to working to make
that happen.”
District 27 state Sen. Jack Murphy, R
Cumming, invited the lieutenant governor to
speak at DeKalb Office Environments,
because of company President and Chief
Executive Officer John Rasper’s community
involvement.
“John has just done a fantastic job in this
county,” he said. "John is the type of guy who
doesn't know how to say no. When the com¬
munity comes to him and wants something,
See CACLE, Page 7A
Mason James, 4,
Makenzie 4
James, 8, and
their mom, Paige
James, listen to
a story
Wednesday dur¬
ing the "Buggy
Tales AM" pro¬
gram at the
Sharon Forks
library branch.
Photo/Emily Saunders
Sunny LAKE LANIER LEVELS
Date Level
May 24 1057.80 ft
May 25 1057.79 ft
May 26 1057.78 ft
May 27 1057.77 ft
Full 1071.00 ft
High in the mid-80s.
Low in the high 60s.