Newspaper Page Text
SUNDAY
APRIL 212012
Forsyth County News
More than a century of covering our community | Get updates at forsythnews.com | $1.00
ip^
5^!
'
m.
snn i mmssm
Jim Oean Forsyth County News
While the screen shows a photo of the late Everett
Bennett and wife Teresa, Judge J. Russell Jackson
talks about Bennett's work on the CASA board.
EDUCATION
‘A day of smiles’
Young athletes
shine during
Spring Games
By Crystal Ledford
cledford®<orsYtfinews com
Lesa Barnett has seen a lot
of changes to the loc al Special
Olympics Spring Games
"It used to he Forsyth,
Dawson and Lumpkin coun¬
ties all together." said Barnett,
a special education teacher at
Matt Elementary. "There
would only he 50 or 60 ath¬
letes for all three counties ’’
That definitely wasn’t the
case during the 2012 Spring
Games, held Fridas at Forsyth
Central High School.
More than 300 athletes
all from Forsyth's public ele¬
mentary, middle and high
schools — participated in
competitive events such as
races, softball throws, soccer
hall kicks and the long jump
“It’s amazing to sec how
much it’s grown over the
years,' Barnett satd.
The day began with an
opening ceremony, featuring a
parade of all the athletes and
the more than 400 “buddies,"
or regular education high
school students, paired with
the athletes for the competi¬
tion.
Forsyth Superintendent
Buster Evans welcomed them
and their supporter*, who
filled the home stands at
Central’s stadium.
‘This is a day of smiles, this
is a day of victories." he said
Smiles in particular were
abundant.
“It makes me so happy," said
Ayala Nogucira, a buddy Irom
See GAMES 1 3A
Resident commissioner's link to
Tam disputes conflict of interest claim
By Alyssa LaRenzie
alarenrie-«lorsythnews com
A Forsyth resident asked a county
commissioner to step down from voting
on intergovernmental agreements with
the city of Gumming during a meeting
Thursday.
Bob Rorkc cited a lease agreement
o vtmJ'Ocooo r
Third judgeship made official | 3A
m
*
J*.
HU i
Pbotoi by County News
Ross Hicks celebrates as he crosses the finish line during the
Special Olympics Spring Games Below, the games begin as
the athletes, accompanied by teachers and buddies parade into
the stadium. The annual event was held Friday at Forsyth
Central High School.
Ur®
r fi
ir m h?
i I
between the city and School House
Holdings, which is registered to
Commissioner Brian Tam's wife. Kelly
In following the commission's public
comments rules, Rorkc did not name
Tam during the meeting, but confirmed
afterward that he was asking the District
2 commissioner to recuse himself
During his comments. Rorkc listed
Inside
Vflfume 101, Number 6S
*5 20)2. h»r*yth County News
< .iimmtna. (^<irgu
CASA honors chairman
Volunteers’ work also recognized
By Crystal Ledford
cledford#<orsythnews com
A longtime community leader
was honored during the Court
Appointed Special Advocates, or
CASA, Light of Hope event.
Thc annual gathering honors
C’ASAs. volunteers who advocate
Abby 4C
Classifieds 6B
Deaths 2A
Forsyth Fife 1C
Opinion 6A
Sports 1B
Hi
*
«
on behalf of children in abuse and
neglect cases, and others who serve
children in need in the community,
It’s always held during April,
which is National Child Abuse
Prevention and Awareness Month.
The organization this year pre
sented its first W. Everett Bennett
Community Partner Award.
! Assessor:
Value of
properties
unmoved
Few changes likely;
slight dip in digest
By Atysu LaRerrae
aiarenasiltorsytfinevvs com
Most Forsyth County properly owners will see no
change or a reduction in value for 2012.
Tax Assessor Mary Kirkpatrick presented the board
of assessors on Thursday with a CD of nearly 80,000
assessment notices, which arc scheduled to be sent out
in early May.
"We continue to go down on value," Kirkpatrick
said "We ended up actually, with all the reductions
we did, the digest is only decreased .62 percent. It
hasn't even gone down a whole percent."
Kezomngs, new construction and an increase in
building permits likely hel|vd minimize the loss from
the previous year, she said.
The digest, however, is not final until all the exemp¬
tion requests have been rev iewed and the appeals con
sideaxL she said.
Stall used nearly 3.600 valid sales to analyze property
values, sud Kirkpatrick, adding that the number of fore¬
closures and short sales have complicated the process.
Last year, the office focused on subdivisions and just
updated die ones that needed adjusting this year, she’ said.
“We didn’t have quite enough rural sales to make
adjustments [last year), but we did this year,” she said
‘Thai is going to be a good lielp in that area."
Subdivisions have stayed fairly constant in value, but
commercial has been “a mixed hag." Knkpatnck said
"I think we've done as good as we can possibly do
with die sales that are out there right now." she said
“I’m just looking forward to the day all these banks
dump these houses out and we get back to normal mar
ket value."
Other business
Also at its meeting Thursday, the board
• Named previous vice chairman Charles
Cantrell chairman after Charles Meagher resigned
from the post, but not the board
Meagher said he relinquished the position
because he’s running for District 4 county com¬
missioner.
— Atyssa LaRenne
what he said were several reasons the
lease with Gumming lor the Tam's
Backstage restaurant is “not typical
Those included: the I I-year lease
does not include any increases m the
$2,500 monthly rent; no late penalties
are charged; and all utilities are tnclud
ed.
Ills observations were based on Ins
nearly 10 years’ experience executing
hundreds of retail leases lot corpora
lions, he said.
I I Festival
of Arts
begins
today.
“We lost a true light of hope not
too long ago." said Juvenile Court
Judge J. Russell Jackson, referring
to Bennett's passing in March.
Addressing the crowd Thursday
night. Jackson recalled how
Forsyth County CASA didn’t exist
in 2003, hut was part of an
“umbrella organization" that also
included Cherokee County.
See HONORS13A
Terms of the lease aside. Rorkc said a
commissioner shouldn’t vote on an
agreement that involves the landlord
“The person < an t be objective because
thev 11 lx- aflei ted.' he said, pointing s|V
cifu ally to the county and city water
agreements as relating to the lease's co\ -
erage ol utilities
Roike said though the business ts teg
istered to Tam * wite, the married v ouplc
See LINK 14A
r>B organizes Student
fundraiser.
66/43
forecast ?A