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Your "Hometown Paper " Since 19 0001646 12/31/2020 306
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Vol. 99, No. 135
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Federal juiy indicts Pruitt on child
Ex-deputy finished second in campaign to unseat sheriff
By Julie Arrington
Staff Writer
A former Forsyth County
Sheriff’s deputy and unsuccess
ful candidate for sheriff was
indicted Wednesday by a federal
grand jury on child pornography
Lake claims another life
Divers find
body in water
at West Bank
By Julie Arrington
Staff Writer
Authorities have identified a
man who drowned Wednesday
morning in Lake Lanier.
Forsyth County Sheriff’s Capt.
Frank Huggins said 30-year-old
Jose Jimenez was wading in the
water about 11:45 a.m. with a
friend when he disappeared.
Huggins was not sure where
Jimenez lived.
The Forsyth County Fire
Department’s dive team found
Jimenez’s body about 12:20 p.m.
some 20 feet from shore at West
Bank Park.
The park is off Buford Dam
Road, not far from the dam, in
eastern Forsyth County.
Capt. Jason Shivers,
spokesman for the fire department,
said divers located the body about
60 seconds after they entered the
water.
The divers used sonar to
make the discovery in about 7
feet of water.
Citing the ongoing drought and
near record low water level,
Shivers said Lanier is “not the lake
it used to be.” Visitors can reach
areas that were previously far off-
Forsyth County
Sheriff’s CpI. Kris Hall
peers into the water
while Forsyth County
Fire Department divers
Doug Staley and Jason
Keyman emerge from
the water and Sheriff’s
Sgt. Hydie Lamm yells
to other emergency
personnel Wednesday
afternoon at West Bank
Park. Authorities said
Jose Jimenez drowned
in the lake about 20
feet from shore.
MBA program opens its doors
Event on Sunday will give residents a peek at offering
By Jennifer Sami
Staff Writer
It was a toss-up when
Amy Davidson was narrow¬
ing her graduate school
options.
Davidson was weighing
the long haul south to
Georgia State University in
Atlanta or a drive north to
North Georgia College &
State University’s main
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Copyright © 2007 Forsyth County News
FRIDAY August 22,2008
charges.
In a three-count indictment,
Milton Scott Pruitt, 40, of 5510
Apache Trail in northeastern
Forsyth County was charged
with possession of and receiving
child pornography,
Pruitt, formerly a sergeant
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Photos/Emily Saunders
The belongings of a man who drowned Wednesday afternoon sit on the shore while Forsyth
County emergency personnel work to pull his body from Lake Lanier at West Bank Park.
Divers found the body of 30-year-old Jose Jimenez in about 7 feet of water.
shore and where the terrain is
unpredictable.
4. Fire officials urge boaters,
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campus.
Then she learned that
the NGCSU Mike Cottrell
School of Business would
be offering a master’s of
business administration
program minutes from her
Cumming home.
“I’m really excited,” the
27-year-old said. “It’s won
derful because it’s so close.”
The commute to and from
the school makes it easier
INDEX
Abby ...7B
Church events... 6A
Classifieds... 4B
Deaths__________ — 2A
Food_____________ 4A
Horoscope 7B
Opinion_____ 9A
Sports__________ IB
with the sheriff’s office, was
fired May 17, 2007, after he
reportedly used his county
issued computer to access illegal
images of child pornography
that were part of a sheriff’s
office investigation to which he
was not assigned.
swimmers and fishermen to
always wear life preservers and be
cognizant of the changing Lake
to get to classes on time.
And even though the class
es are from 6:30 p.m. to
9:30 p.m., you can still get
home just after class ends.”
The Mike Cottrell
School of Business Grad¬
uate Center will operate
from the third floor of
Cumming City Hall. The
city and college are holding
See MBA, Page 2A
Coming Sunday
Your guide to the upcoming
local high school football season
The release goes on to note
that the indictment also con¬
tends that “continuing through
on or about May 16, 2007, Pruitt
knowingly received graphic
images on his home computer,
the production of which
involved the use of minor chil
See PRUITT, Page 2A
In a statement released by
the U.S. Attorney’s Office
Northern District of Georgia,
U.S. Attorney David E. Nahmias
said it is “disturbing when
someone entrusted with public
safety exploits his position to
commit crimes.
Lanier,” Shivers said. “Lake levels
are still dangerously low and
severe drop-offs are prevalent near
the shores.”
Summer may be winding
down, but the Labor Day holiday
is a little more than a week away.
Shivers said visitors to the lake
and the Chattahoochee River
should be cautious.
“This is an important time for
visitors to remember basic aquatic
safety tips,” he said, “First and
very importantly, if you’re a non¬
swimmer, do not go into the water.
Enjoy the scenery from the shore. »»
Shivers said those who do get
in the water should abide by all
posted boating and swimming
signs.
See DROWNING, Page 2A
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Possible Rain LAKE LANIER LEVELS
Tl Date Level
Aug. 17 1053.88 ft
Aug. 18 1053.81 ft
lNliilli Aug. Aug. Full V 20 19 1071.00 1053.73 1053.61 ft ft ft
High in the low 80s.
Low in the high 60s.
fjL*M I —
SPORTS, IB
West passes first test on the field
Pruitt
Plan seeks
more fiber
in schools
Technology pitch
centers on control,
appeal to businesses
By Jennifer Sami
Staff Writer
The Forsyth County Development
Authority learned Wednesday that the future
is going dark.
During a meeting Wednesday, the panel
heard how dark fiber made of glass has
replaced copper cable as the best way to max
imize capacity, flexibility and speed in
telecommunications infrastructure.
The authority was not familiar with the
technology. But Bailey Mitchell, chief tech¬
nology officer for Forsyth County Schools,
has been using it for a dozen years.
Mitchell told the authority about a plan
the school system has been considering to
provide networking and Internet services.
He’s also gotten feedback from officials with
county government, the local chamber of
commerce and Lanier Technical College.
The system’s dark fiber needs are current¬
ly filled by Comcast, which plans to discon¬
tinue the_ service in about three years.
Mitchell said the school system must then
either pay more for less or take “control of
our owif destiny.
In his search for a company offering dark
cable networking, Mitchell found Atlanta Gas
Light Networks, a subsidiary of Atlanta Gas
Light that deals only with fiber and conduit.
For $13.6 million, AGL Networks would
establish an 83-mile underground fiber net¬
work to serve at least 40 board of education
sites throughout the county.
As with the Comcast service, the network
would be closed circuit, meaning only the
school system would have access.
The district would pay the initial $13.6
million to install the dark fiber, with annual
maintenance projections estimated
at$ 166,000.
Mitchell is pitching the dark fiber idea
beyond the school system in an effort to max¬
imize the project’s potential.
See FIBER, Page 2A
Fred Jenkins, left,
talks with John
Douglas, director of
the MBA marketing
and development at
North Georgia
College & State
University, about
the Masters in
Business during a
recent open house
at Northside
Hospital-Forsyth.
File photo