Newspaper Page Text
THURSDAY, MAY 31,2012
Links for lodge
A golf tourna
ment benefiting
the Bald Ridge
Boys Lodge was
heldTuesday at
the Polo Golf &
Country Club,
The event fea
tured a number
of celebrities,
including
NASCAR driver
David Ragan,
right.
1
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J a
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Motorsports park appeal dismissed
By Michel* Hester
FCN regional staff
DAWSONVILLE — Georgia’s highest
court has dismissed appeals filed by a local
couple against the city of Dawsonville over
a motorsports park in western Dawson
County.
According to Tuesday’s unanimous opin¬
ion written by Supreme Court Justice
David Nahmias. West and Helen Hamryka
failed to follow the correct procedure w hen
filing their appeals.
Attorney Richard Wingate said his cli¬
ents, whose home and horse farm sit adja¬
cent to the Atlanta Motorsports Park on
Duck Thurmond Road, are disappointed m
the high court's decision.
“We believe that we followed the proper
appellate procedure because the Supenor
Court had previously ruled that this lawsuit
was not filed as a review of an administra¬
tive decision.” he said.
Billed as a country club for car enthusi¬
asts that features two miles of track
designed for four- and two-wheel vehicles.
FROM 1A
Candidacy
e
All qualifying documents
— including the birth certif¬
icates and diplomas —
were delivered to the elec¬
tions office before the noon
Tuesday deadline.
“It doesn't matter that we
didn't get the paperwork
because it wasn’t required
that we got the paperwork
until today before noon."
said Donald Glover, elec¬
tions board member "(The
Republican Party) admit¬
ting it wasn't submitted on
time really closes that issue,
I think ”
While the elections board
decided not to challenge the
qualifying. Forsyth County
Attorney Ken Jarrard said
any registered voter has until
June 8. or two weeks after
qualifying closed, to do so.
If a voter were to mount a
challenge. Jarrard said. “We
have to have a little bit of an
evidentiary hearing to make
a determination as to
whether the qualifications
have not been satisfied.”
The elections board
would make the decision
following the hearing
However, if one candidate
is challenged, the same
contention could be made
against all three, since they
failed to submit the same
documentation
“If that’s the case, you'd
literally be without a quali¬
fied candidate at all,”
Jarrard said “We may have
to open up the qualification
period again ”
In either scenario, said
Elections Supervisor
Barbara Iatth. it’s likely all
three candidates' names
would appear on the ballot
“I'm getting ready right
now to send all the names
to (Kennesaw State
University) to be put on the
ballot so that we can move
forward," she said after the
meeting “June 15th is the
first day wc have to do the
mail-out balloting "
No Democrats qualified
to seek the post, so the July
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Before the event,
several of the
celebrities,
including wres¬
tler Rich Steiner,
Confederate
Railroad bassist
Wayne Secrest
and former major
league baseball
player Kris
Benson joined
Ragan at the
Station House
restaurant for
breakfast.
Atlanta Motorsports Park has seen steady
business since opening May 6. according to
founder and CEO Jeremy Porter.
"This weekend, we were packed,
slammed," Porter said Tuesday "All of the
locals seem to be very receptive and posi¬
tive about AMP"
The Hamrykas filed suit in 2009 alleging
the city violated zoning law when the
mayor and city council approved the proj¬
ect without a regional impact study
In March 2011, Northeastern Judicial
Circuit Senior Supenor Court Judge John
Girardeau sided with the defendants and
released the city from the law suit, sparking
the appeal
The suit against the city and Atlanta
Motorsports Park in 2009 also claims the
development would create a nuisance by
disturbing their wav of life
"The underlying nuisance lawsuit against
AMP continues," Wingate said "The
Supenor Court issued a temporary stay on
that case until AMP is fully operational’’
Wingate said he w ill move to lift the stay
and try the case for damages to the
31 primary most likely will
decide the contest
The birth certificate issue
surfaced Friday afternoon,
when Piper’s eligibility was
called into question by
Paxton, who had heard
Piper didn’t submit one
Further investigation
revealed none of the three
candidates had.
A spokesman for the
Georgia Secretary of State’s
elections division said not
all races require a birth cer¬
tificate. but county sheriff
candidates must submit one
to the local party by the end
of qualifying.
According to Tim
Fleming, if that requirement
isn’t met, "that’s going to
be a call for die local elec¬
tions (office), and there
could be a challenge to the
candidacy"
Prior to the election
board meeting Tuesday,
Paxton noted he had "pro¬
vided all necessary and
required documents by the
statute" when he first ran
for sheriff in 2000
Paxton, who won that
contest, added that he was
not asked to produce the
documents for his success¬
ful 2004 and 2008 rc-clec
tkm bids
After the meeling. Paxton
said he respected the
board’s decision and had no
plans to challenge it.
"We're moving forward,"
he said
McDonald agreed, say¬
ing the candidates have
"got a lot of time invested
in this campaign and finan¬
cially a lot of money invest¬
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Photo* bv Jim Data Forsyth County News
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ed in this campaign and
they should let the voters
decide"
Whatever mistakes were
made in this qualifying pro¬
cess, wc need to let the
votes decide." he said "A
voter has the right to chal¬
lenge that decision because
the law allows them to do
that, just like a voter has the
decision to vote for or
against a candidate "
Pnor to the board meet
ing. Piper said he thought
there had been "some con¬
fusion over what was nec ¬
essary and w hat w as not "
"When I was there on
[May 23J. I submitted
everything they said 1 need¬
ed I was sure we had
everything," he said
"Apparently, some differ¬
ences come up later "
After the meeting. Piper
said he thought Underwood
and the he al party had ban
died the situation well
"I think it’s a settled issue
and that the voters will now
get to dec ide who their next
sheriff is," he said
Piper added that he didn't
think anyone would chal¬
lenge the election board's
determination, but it so he
"would be very confident
their decision would stand "
Richard Ward, vice chair¬
man of the Republican
Party thanked the elections
hoard for accepting the
qualified candidates and
said he was "terribly sorry
this happened "
’The voters arc the ones
that should decide, not
some technicality issue," he
said
forsythnws.com
Blake Palmer,
above, putts at
one of the holes.
Left, Judge Charlie
Smith talks about
the beginning of
the boys lodge,
which he and the
late Buddy Lang
were instrumental
in forming.
Hamrykas once the track is operating at full
capacity.
City Attorney Dana Miles said city coun¬
cil members are pleased the nearly four
year battle is coming to an end,
"The process has been a long one and
were glad to bring it to a conclusion," he
said.
Acting Mayor James Grogan, who was
not on the city council when the initial law¬
suit was filed, said he is proud of the
ground work late Mayor Joe lane Cox and
the former council laid to bring the motors
pints park to Dawsonv ille
The Supreme Court's decision is verifi¬
cation of what the mayor and city council
did several y ears ago and we’re pleased that
all of this has been substantiated." he said.
While it’s still too early to determine the
facility's long-term economic impact.
Grogan said he is confident the track will
be good for Dawsonv ille.
"Wc’rc seeing a lot of cars at our restau¬
rants that you can definitely tell arc headed
to the motorsports park to drtve on the
track," he said.
• * (is
WANTED:
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February 2005. is Terrier mix, born
a sweet, cuddly- * January 2012.
black and while He is a sweet
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f I wants to play
who is de -clawed with
He lives at the adoption center with everyone
lots of kitty Plato loves 'gg , and everything He's mostly house
roommates. . trained Accord is very smart and
being petted and along a
gets great *. * quick learner. He loves children and
with other cats. He would love to other dogs. He wants a family to call
have a home of his own again He W own.
was turned into Animal Control by *
his owners because they took in a JtfjK Timber is a male
dog that did not like cats. * 1 ■M Husky/Shepherd mix, born
* * November 2010,
Catbert, bom «*>
February I * . who loves to play.
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beautiful *• with a fenced-in
black hair female short j I » yard would be ideal for him because
that * if he's left outside for too long, he'll
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de-dawed. She currently lives with M He's good with kids and other dogs
a learning loving foster family where she is w and seems to be okay with cats too.
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FORSYTH COUNTY NEWS
HOROSCOPES
by Holiday
ARIES (March 21-April 19).
Dwelling on the past would
only prevent you from seizing
the glorious opportunities of
the here and now.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20).
If your duties feel exhausting,
consider taking a break from
them altogether.
GEMINI (May 21-June21).
Even if your current situation
isn't ideal (and whose is?), you
wouldn't want to go back to
where you were. Remind your¬
self of all you're grateful for.
CANCER (June 22-July 22).
A curtain closing doesn't have
to mean the end of the play,
so don't let it be a disappoint¬
ing experience.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22). Your
ideas are stellar, but they may
not be quite ready to present
to the world. Keep honing
them.Test them out on your
core group of trusted cohorts.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22).
A task no longer brings you
joy, and you'd just as soon
not do it — but your high
level of responsibility won't
allow you to bail, so you're
stuck.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23).
The consummate egalitarian,
you may not be extremely
comfortable with favoritism,
but you'd do well to take
advantage of it.This doesn’t
happen every day.
SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21).
When you're happy, you'll be
productive, effective and
smart. When you're not happy,
nothing will go quite right.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec.
21). If you ask questions that
challenge your own funda¬
mental assumptions, what
you learn will rock your world.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan
19). Challenges will be solved
by drawing on diverse ideas
and knowledge. Cast your net
wide.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb.
18). You might be in a position
to give criticism, and if it's not
all good, try to do it in person.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20).
You are a compassionate
teacher. This is a gift you'll get
the opportunity to share with
others today.
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