Newspaper Page Text
Forsyth J Your "Hometown CountvNews Paper" Since 1908
Vol. 99, No. 89
Fuel tax hike delayed
■
w -jJ-i
:
m
,
Si
'-A * - V,
c i t <!*•(- i '
*
■
, -A
■
■ *
■
■■
|V
A;-v, M
-
I m w : -
* _ m ■ a
m
—
Photos/Jennifer Sami
llisa Ann McDougald fills her Toyota Sequoia with gas. She paid $3.95 a gallon Monday in Cumming, but only put $55
worth in the tank, which can hold more than $100 worth of gas.
Governor’s decision will spare
motorists 2.9 cents per gallon
By Jennifer Sami
Staff Writer
Lisa Ann McDougald thinks
Gov. Sonny Perdue’s decision
Monday to suspend a scheduled
M
.
■
m . i
k,,’ u
■■■
Pf! • .
, = ^ (pi
r
John Charles, of Destin, Fla., fills his tank with gas Monday
in Cumming. He and his wife, Shirley, were on their way to
visit their children, who live in Forsyth County.
Report: City, county water quality remains high
By Jennifer Sami
Staff Writer
For anyone drinking water from
the tap, there’s good news. Water
from both local providers has once
again been deemed safe by the
Environmental Protection Agency.
Cumming Utilities and the
Forsyth County Water & Sewer
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
WEDNESDAY June 4, 2008
gas tax increase until at least the
end of the year will help motorists.
“I think anything will help, "
McDougald said while filling up
her Toyota Sequoia in Cumming.
“It will have to go down about $1
department each completed the
required annual report that analyzes
drinking water quality.
The reports, delivered via mail to
all water users, break down the
amount of various substances like
fluoride, turbidity (cloudiness),
haloacetic acid (chlorination byprod
ucts), copper and lead found in
drinking water.
INDEX
Abby............. 4A
Classifieds.. 15B
Deaths......... 2A
Events.......... 3A
Horoscope 4A
Legals........... 2B
Opinion....... 6A
Sports.......... IB
before it makes a big difference.”
Perdue’s move, which will save
motorists 2.9 cents per gallon,
comes as the price of gas has risen
more than $1 per gallon since
March 1. That’s a larger increase
than in all of 2007.
Under a 2004 law, the state was
scheduled to post a higher tax on
Monday that would have taken
effect on July 1. The increase
would have bumped the current
11-cent tax up to 13.9 cents, about
a 26 percent increase.
McDougald bought her sport
utility vehicle in 2001, when she
said a full tank of gas cost less than
$30. It now costs more than $100
to fill up.
“I only fill my tank up half way
because I just can’t stand to see the
gas that goes into a car I have to
use for work be $100,” she said.
You can’t expect your boss to
account for that, because they’re
suffering as well. It’s just hitting
everybody economically. It’s really
sad.
The tax freeze also translates to
other fuels, including the per-gal
lon increase of 4.2 cents for diesel,
3.6 cents for aviation gasoline, and
.8 cents for propane and other
“The bottom line is we have clean
water and a very high quality drink
ing water,” said Jon Heard, director
of Cumming Utilities.
>> All of the lab testing results
we’ve received indicate that the
water we’ve produced over the past
year falls well below the established
limits of contaminates.
John Marshall, the county’s water
Local
‘Smoke on the Mountain’
returning to the
Cumming Playhouse.
Page2A
Gas pains
Below are Georgia’s
monthly gas prices, accord¬
ing to AAA Auto Club
South’s fuel report. The fig¬
ures were taken from the
first week of each month.
June 2007 -$3.04
July 2007 - $2.87
August 2007 - $2.78
September 2007 - $2.69
October 2007 - $2.72
November 2007 - $2.86
December 2007 - $3.02
January 2008 - $3.06
February 2008 - $2.94
March 2008 -$3.16
April 2008 - $3.27
May 2008 - $3.59
June 2008 - $3.95
fuels.
The sales tax on fuel is adjust¬
ed twice a year based on the aver¬
age price of gas.
When the average price rises
— as it has in recent months the
tax goes up as well.
According to AAA Auto Club
South estimates, the average price
in Georgia is about $3.95 a gallon.
The price of every gallon of
See CAS, Page 2A
and wastewater plant manager, said
the county is “doing an excellent job
of removing organic material. ■
Any organic material that wasn’t
removed in the treatment process
will be chlorinated, which can lead to
potentially harmful substances
known as trihalomethanes or
haloacetic acid.
. Our total organic carbon is .94
Opinion
Columnist Bill Shipp
shares his perspective
of Georgia politics.
Page 6A
Weather
alarms on
the
County to begin
installing 10 more
sirens this summer
By Julie Arrington
Staff Writer
The addition of new outdoor weather
sirens is on schedule in
Lorraine Morris,
coordinator for the
Forsyth County Emer¬
gency Management
Agency, said officials
expect to begin work
at pole locations in the
next two weeks.
Morris said some
of the sites will have to
be adjusted for
phy, but digging should begin in the next
three to four weeks.
“And then we will announce the final
locations,” she said. “We’ll have a map
See ALARM, Page 2A
1 charged
in theft
of drugs
Hundreds of pain pills
taken from pharmacy
By Julie Arrington
Staff Writer
A Sugar Hill man is being held in
connection with a recent armed robbery
at a local pharmacy.
Investigator Don Carr of the Forsyth
County Sheriff’s
Office said 31-year-old
Cory A. McGurrin
320 Ellesmere Way
was arrested Friday
night.
McGurrin, who is
being held without
bond at the Forsyth
County Detention
Center, was charged
with one count
armed robbery,
said.
He said the incident happened about
8:40 a.m. May 28 at the CVS pharmacy
at Old Atlanta Road and Windermere
Parkway. McGurrin allegedly demanded
that a pharmacist there give him the pre¬
scription drugs Percocet and Oxycodone.
He showed him his handgun and
See ROBBERY, Page 2A
parts per million, which is a fairly
low number,” he said.
Heard said the city and county
have both regularly fallen under the
federal limits. The track record, he
said, is part of both departments’
effort to “strive for consistency in our
water treatment. "
E-mail Jennifer Sami at jennifer
sami @ forsythnews. com.
Sunny
•
High in the low 90s.
Low in the high 60s.
i*
♦1
SPORTS, 1B
From gridiron to battlefield
Bowman
§1 *
M
p
L ...........
McGurrin
LAKE LANIER LEVELS
Date Level
May 29 1057.74 ft
May 30 1057.71 ft
May 31 1057.70 ft
June 1 1057.70 ft
Full 1071.00 ft