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Business | IB m ' v I
Measure
targets
subsidies
Phone funding
would phase out
By Jennifer Sami
jsami@forsythnews.com
In just three years, phone bills could drop
a few bucks.
While that may seem like a long time, if
House Bill 855 doesn’t pass, that wait could
be closer to 20 years.
The legislation, authored by District 23
state Rep. Mark Hamilton
essentially shortens the
length of time small tele¬
communications companies
would receive subsidies
funded by consumers of
larger ones.
Several Tier 2 local
exchange companies, or Hamilton
smaller telecommunications
firms, currently receive a
disbursement from the Universal Access
Fund, an account overseen by the Georgia
Public Service Commission.
The fund is supported through fees paid
by customers of larger companies such as
Comcast, Charter and AT&T, explained
Hamilton, a Republican from Cumming.
“Last year that fund paid out about $16
million," he said. “This year they’re request¬
ing $20 million.”
The issue dates back to mid-1990s federal
and state legislation designed to replace reg¬
ulated monopoly services with a competi¬
tive market. The subsidies were designed to
offset money lost when the intrastate access
rates were lowered.
The fund was supposed to be phased out
in 2000, but continued in order to provide
support for universal service, a federal man¬
date that requires phone access be provided
to all Georgians.
Serving less populous areas is cost pro¬
hibitive, so the continued subsidy offered
assistance.
In 2001, five companies participated,
receiving less than $3 million in subsidies,
Hamilton said.
Rash forward to 2012, and 17 of the 20
companies in the state that are eligible to
participate do so.
None of the companies operate in Forsyth
County. Among the areas Hamilton said the
measure could apply include Blue Ridge, in
north Georgia, and Brantley and Bulloch
counties in southeast Georgia.
A law passed in 2010 will eliminate the
distributions within the next 20 years.
Hamilton said the House wants to end it
immediately.
His bill, which caps both the dollar
amount and the duration, is a fair compro¬
mise.
See MEASURE 1 3A
Two hurt when science project goes awry
Accident burns
teens at lodge
By Julie Arrington
jarrington@f orsythnews com
Two teenagers suffered bums
Tuesday after what officials
called a freak accident during a
science experiment.
Inside Abby Business Classifieds 4A 4B IB V r |A Wolf’returns ‘Brother ^ \ Barone: Romney
Deaths 2A to North faces tough P
Volume 103, Number 19 Horoscopes 2A 67/41
90994 040 Cumming, O 2012, Forsyth Georgia County News Opinion 5A Forsyth. opponents. Forecast 12A
Sports 1B
Rec centers on track
By AJyssa LaRenzie
alaren2ie@forsyth news.com
Forsyth County’s two new recreation
centers will open this month as sched¬
uled
The center at the future Old Atlanta
Park will debut Feb. 15, while the Fowler
Park center is set for Feb. 20.
EDUCATION
Math and LC I
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Photos by Autumn Vetter Forsyth County News
Marin Wijma, right, teaches a lesson on fractions to Mashburn Elementary students Jack Gooding,
far left, and Kyle Donaldson in the culinary arts kitchen at South Forsyth High. The effort illustrates
for younger students concepts such as fractions, ratios and measurements.
Students whip lessons for visitors
By Crystal Ledford
ciedford@forsythnews.com
S everal around nary station. fourth-graders a stainless steel stood culi¬
They watched, big-eyed, as
one of their peers used a pizza cut¬
ter to slice an oversized chocolate
chip cookie in half.
“Now, if we cut it again into
four pieces, what fraction would
one slice equal?” asked South
Forsyth High student Marin
Wijma.
The boys, ages 15 and 16, are
residents of the Bald Ridge
Lodge.
The nonprofit organization
temporarily houses at-risk boys
ages 12 to 17 who often are
brought to the facility through
the Georgia Division of Family
and Children Services or
Forsyth County Juvenile Court.
Forsyth County Fire Capt.
Jason Shivers said the incident
3A
occurred about 6 p.m.
The younger teen was flown
to Grady Memorial Hospital in
Atlanta for what appeared to be
first- and second-degree bums
to his upper body, face, hands
and arms.
The 16-year-old was taken by
ambulance to Northside
Hospital-Forsyth for minor
first-degree bums. Shivers said.
Fire Division Chief Kevin
Construction will finish “on time” and
“under budget,” said Jerry Kinsey, the
county’s director of parks and recreation.
"It’s about 98 percent done, just a little
cleaning and touch-up work and it’ll be
ready,” Kinsey said. “1 think people are
going to enjoy them. They're two great
centers.
Both facilities are in south Forsyth.
At a second station, Joshua
Andrews helped another group of
young students pour water from
large measuring containers into
smaller ones.
‘There are four quarts in a gal¬
lon, so how do we get a gallon into
four parts?” he asked them.
The visitors were among a group
of 60 from Mashburn Elementary
who took a field trip Wednesday to
the culinary arts department at
South.
The outing featured more than a
dozen different math lessons, all
Wallace said both boys had
returned to the lodge by
Wednesday.
He explained that the teens
were outside working on a sci¬
ence project with a tutor, who
is also a teacher, when a chemi¬
cal flashed.
"It was just a freak thing,”
Wallace said. “The two kids
had minor injuries, both of
them were stable.”
Each will be about 42,(XX) square feet
and feature two gymnasiums, a walking
track, exercise rooms and office space.
Winter Construction was awarded the
contract for the facilities, estimated to cost
about $9.9 million, though the total
should be less, Kinsey said.
See CENTERS 12A
taught by high school students.
Next week, their remaining 60
Mashburn classmates will have (he
same opportunity.
The idea to have younger stu¬
dents learn from older ones came
from the school’s fourth-grade
teachers, who wanted to find a
way to help them learn about con¬
cepts like fractions, ratios and
measurements.
“We wanted to make cookies
with them,” said teacher Heidi
See LESSONS 12A
Wallace said that the 16-year
old was treated and released.
The 15-year-old returned to the
lodge Wednesday after being
kept overnight at the hospital
for observation.
He went on to say that the
younger teen was taken to
Grady because he had wounds
in so many places on his body.
He likened the boy’s injuries to
a bad sunburn.