Newspaper Page Text
FRIDAY. FEBRUARY 18,2011
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Photos by Autumn McBride Forsyth County News
Mock Trial judges, from left, David Savoy, James Dunn and Andrew
Echols, watch as Lambert and North Forsyth high schools mock trial
teams compete during the first round of the Forsyth County Regional
at the courthouse in downtown
Phillip
Dawson, left,
and Ken
Kashin watch
as their chil¬
dren com¬
pete in the
first round of
the mock
trial competi¬
tion.
FROM 1A
Trial
David L. Dickinson and a coordinator
for the event, said 95 to 100 students
took part.
The competition spread from the
county administration building and
Cumming City Hall to the county court¬
house.
About 42 attorneys and judges from
Forsyth and other counties also partici¬
pated.
“Some regions have more than one
county and I think that certainly in the
future if schools from a surrounding
county ask to be in this region that
would probably be approved, but this
year it was the six teams just from
Forsyth County,” White said.
He explained how the students tried a
mock case involving a detective who
had been fired from his job.
Whitt said the detective’s employer
held that the termination was the result
of poor work performance. The detec¬
tive felt it was because of something he
had posted on a social networking site.
Although the case wasn’t real. White
said it was meaningful to the students
North student
Wade Miller,
left, and
Lambert's
Allison
Dawson greet
each other
after the first
round of the
mock trial
competition.
/
FROM 1A
Road: Could take four months
“We’ll have one-lane
traffic and flagmen
leading cars, those
types of things, but that
part of the road won’t
ever be completely
closed,” he said.
The total project is
slated to be finished by
the end of September.
In some ways. Berry
said, serving as a
detour could help
Discovery Point
because it could give
the facility more expo¬
sure.
“It might be nice
because a lot of people
don’t even know we’re
>
here,” she said.
On the other hand,
the project could cause
some headaches.
“The parents will
probably have to come
a little earlier,” she
said, noting staff likely
will send home notices
about the closure. “The
parents who live in the
city of Cumming, more
out that way, it’ll prob¬
ably affect them more
IT
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because of the cutting edge legal issues
involved.
The students played various roles,
such as witnesses and attorneys, in the
proceedings.
Ann Reid, social studies coordinator
for the Forsyth County school system,
said having a local region had been a
goal of late Superior Court Judge
Richard “Stan” Gault.
She said Gault was involved in the
mock trial competitions and coached a
team from Forsyth Central High School.
"He had always talked about it, but it
was just something that took many
years to happen,” Reid said. “A number
of attorneys and judges were involved
with getting the approval from the state
bar to actually have a region here. It was
a wonderful thing.”
Reid, who helped coordinate the
event, said the competition was well
supported by community groups,
including local Rotary' clubs, businesses
and the county bar association.
“It was just a great experience for the
kids to be in their community and to be
able to participate,” Reid said.
“It allowed a lot of people to be able
to watch the competition that might not
have been able to go with them some¬
where else.”
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than anyone.”
Berry said the clo
sure will also likely
impact some of the
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center’s bus routes,
particularly with
Cumming Elementary
School.
FROM 1A
Workers: Essay winners chosen
received the law enforcement officer of
the year commendation.
“It’s an honor and a privilege to
receive this award from the veterans,"
Yeaton said. “1 appreciate everything
y’all do. It’s just an honor to serve this
community.”
The men also thanked their co-work¬
ers and families for their support.
Presenter John Kepler said
Wednesday night’s honorees, like
those in the military, also put their
lives on the line for others.
“You go away one morning and you
never know if you may come home,”
Kepler said. “We pray to God that
y’all come home at the end of your
shift every day ... this is your night,
so congratulations."
FROM 1A
Bethel
Eastwood, an attorney
representing YMCA.
“The YMCA is grati¬
fied that the Court of
Appeals, like the District
Court, agreed with our
position and the position
of the Corps of
Engineers that the lease
of Bethel Park to the
YMCA was in the public
interest.”
The proposal upset
neighbors, who urged the
Forsyth County commis¬
sion to appeal U.S.
District Judge Richard
W. Story’s ruling that
allowed the lease to
move forward.
They and county offi¬
cials have contended that
Story incorrectly inter¬
preted the corps’ statutes.
The Flood Control Act
of 1944 gives local gov¬
ernment the right to first
refusal, which has
sparked debate over
whether the county
received an adequate
opportunity to acquire
the park.
Beyond an opportuni¬
ty, corps’ laws allow the
land to be leased to
whichever entity better
serves the public interest.
The recent ruling may
spell the end of the coun¬
ty’s involvement.
Commissioner Patrick
Bell, whose district
includes the park proper¬
ty, said it has “pretty
well been laid in front of
us that it’s a battle we’re
not going to win.”
Bell said he was reluc¬
tant to even pursue the
appeal, calling the previ¬
ous commission’s deci¬
sion a delay tactic and a
waste of taxpayer
money.
Given the most recent
decision, he said\ it’s in
the best interest of coun¬
ty residents to throw in
the towel.
“The way 1 see it,
we’ve been told what’s
going to happen and we
need to just do the best
we can for the taxpayers
1
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forsythnews.com | FORSYTH COUNTY NEWS
A few other honors were also
awarded Wednesday night.
Girl Scouts from Troop 14207 pre¬
sented disabled veteran Joshua
Lindsey with a quilt. Squares of the
blanket were made by the girls. They
also presented him with a journal they
had each written in.
“Thank you very much for taking
the time to do this,” Lindsey said. “It
means a lot. Thank you.”
The post also honored local stu¬
dents who had won the Patriots Pen
and Voice of Democracy essay con- *
tests.
Those who win at the county level
advance to the district competition.
Those who succeed there may go on
to the state and national levels.
in the county, make the
right decision,” he said.
"It’s a hard decision but
the right decision to
move on.”
Commissioners were
slated to discuss the
issue during an executive
decision Thursday.
The YMCA has
worked since 2003 to
develop the park, which
court documents say will
serve inner city youth
and “other camping
youths.”
The corps expected to
lease the site to the non¬
profit in 2006. But in
response to residents’
concerns, the county also
sought to lease the prop¬
erty and submitted a
competing plan in 2007.
The move was sup¬
ported by Friends of
Bethel Park, which
formed to preserve the
park and keep it for pub¬
lic use.
Michael Durkin, group
organizer, said he’s dis¬
appointed with the
appeals decision, but
hopes to move on and
work closely with the
YMCA to build a rela¬
tionship.
"They’re going to be
neighbors within our
community,” he said.
“Basically, it’s about
preserving the lifestyle
of the community and
trying to keep it close to
the natural state it’s in
now.
“At this point going
forward ... we will be
reaching out to the rep¬
resentatives of the Y and
opening up that dialogue
on how we can do this.”
The corps executed
the lease with the
YMCA in September
2009. Despite the law¬
suit, the YMCA has
been hard at work
readying the site.
“In the past few
months, we’ve been
developing our master
plan and are in the
process of completing a
land disturbance appli¬
cation that we’ll submit
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3A
to the county in the next
several weeks," said Dan
Pile, vice president of
operations for the Metro
Atlanta YMCA.
Youth programming
could begin as early as
this spring or summer,
he said. However, the
programs would use the
existing setting.
The nonprofit has also
been working on fund¬
ing for construction of
the facility, which could
be at least two years
away from breaking
ground.
Programming would
continue using Bethel
Park’s natural surround¬
ings until the project is
completed, Pile said.
“We would aim for
2014,” he said, noting
the summer program¬
ming would be the first
using a new facility.
Bell said the YMCA
may not be the best use
of the property, but has
merit.
“The county is not in
the position [financially]
to really do anything
with park properties like
that right now,” Bell
said. “It’s a great thing
for the kids of our com¬
munity to be able to uti¬
lize.
“The YMCA and
what they teach is
tremendous — leader¬
ship and Christian val¬
ues and social skills
and all those great
things. I don’t see how
that can harm the com¬
munity.”
Eastwood, the attor¬
ney, said he’s optimistic
that the court decision
will lead to a better
future.
“The YMCA has
always thought we had a
good working relation¬
ship with the county,” he
said. “It’s just unfortu¬
nate that the Bethel Park
situation put us in oppo¬
sition with each other.
“Now that the case is
over, we hope we can
proceed on and work
together.”