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Students gaining real-world skills | 1B Lady Raiders post win | 5B
Plan includes apartments
. .
Mixed use site
near greenway
By Alyssa Laßenzie
alarenzie@forsythnews.com
Forsyth County’s planning board on
Tuesday reviewed rezoning applica
tions for a proposed mixed-use devel
opment in south Forsyth.
The two rezoning requests by Walton
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Smith retires,
Neville sworn
in as city judge
By Crystal Ledford
cledford@forsythnews.com
A changing of the guard took place
this week for Cumming’s municipal
court.
Judge Charles Smith, who had served
the court for nearly 22 years, was hon
ored Tuesday night by the city council in
light of his retirement from the post.
The next morning, Smith’s replace
ment, Richard Neville, was sworn into
the post.
Congressman to address groups
Event scheduled
Saturday morning
By Jennifer Sami
jsami@forsythnews.com
District 7 U.S. Rep. Rob
Woodall won’t be difficult to find
in the next few weeks.
The congressman will be in
Forsyth County twice this month
and will also hold a telephone
Volume 104, Number 10
© 2013, Forsyth County News
Cumming, Georgia
(AR
Statistics show library ‘relevant’ | 3A
Bluegrass would allow for apartments
and commercial development on 73.5
acres on McFarland Road near Shiloh
Road.
The plan includes 300 residential
units on about 51 acres at the north end
of the site and commercial develop
ment near the Big Creek Greenway,
where the developer wants to install a
trailhead for public use, said attorney
Ethan Underwood.
“The intention is to have people that
live in apartments that can walk down
and get a cup of coffee or ice cream
Jim Dean Forsyth County News
Retiring Municipal Judge Charles Smith, center, talks with Cyndi
Pruitt, right, and his son, Chuck Smith, a captain with the Forsyth
County Sheriff’s Office, during a ceremony Tuesday at city hall.
Municipal judges handle cases cov
ering offenses committed within city
limits.
During Tuesday night’s council
meeting, Mayor H. Ford Gravitt pre
sented Smith with a proclamation.
“Judge Smith has served the city
well for many, many years,” Gravitt
said. “He’s been a friend to all of us.
“He has been a tremendous asset to
our judicial system to Cumming and
Forsyth County and the state of
Georgia for that matter.”
The 84-year-old Smith, who also
spent 35 years as a defense attorney
before becoming a judge, said serving
the city had been an honor.
Y‘* g
A J
Woodall
town hall meet
ing on Tuesday
night.
“Maximum
accessibility is
the norm for my
office,” said
Woodall, a
Republican from
Lawrenceville
whose district includes the bottom
half of Forsyth.
“With a [newly realigned] dis
trict, which now includes most of
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Sports 5B
and then get on the greenway,”
Underwood said during the board’s
work session.
Chairwoman Pam Livesay asked the
developer to consider putting a public
restroom at the trailhead, a suggestion
that will be revisited during the public
hearings.
The rezoning applications are sched
uled to be heard during the Jan. 22
meeting of the planning board, which
begins at 6:30 p.m.
See PROPOSAL | 4A
“Almost 22 years have gone by in a
hurry,” he said. “Thank you [Mayor
Gravitt] and the council for giving me
a job to do and leaving me alone to let
me do it.
*“Not only that, but first thing I was
told was, ‘We're not a revenue-raising
city, dispense justice.” You don’t know
how much that has meant to me
through the years.
“Every time I took that bench, I
could look at people ... when they
came before me, [and] they were pre
sumed innocent ... and all I had to do
was think about being fair.”
See BENCH | 4A
Forsyth County, I'm making every
effort to connect with my new
constituents early so they can be
as involved as possible in the criti
cal decisions facing our nation.”
First up for Woodall, who was
recently tapped to chair the
Republican Study Committee’s
Budget and Spending Task Force,
will be addressing a joint meeting
Saturday morning of the Forsyth
County Republican Party and
See EVENT | 3A
4A Demo work
downtown
likely to start
next week.
w
-
Kickoff draws
large crowd
By Crystal Ledford
cledford@forsythnews.com
About 200 people turned out Tuesday
night as the American Cancer Society
launched its annual Forsyth Relay for
Life at the Lanier Technical College
Forsyth Conference Center.
Relay, the society’s largest fundraiser
of the year, features communities across
the country raising money and aware
ness for the organization’s efforts to bat
tle cancer.
The local event, which asks partici
pants to walk all night in honor of those
who have battled cancer, is set for 6
p-m. May 3 to 6 am. May 4 at the
Cumming Fairgrounds
| Amanda Ryan, volunteer co-chair of
| the local organizing cominitiee, said the
| kickoff event Tuesday “was wonderful.”
} “We had a huge crowd, a record
’ crowd for kickoff for Forsyth,” Ryan
said. “We had to bring in extra tables
and chairs, so we were excited ... that’s
a great problem to have.”
See RELAY | 4A
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Autumn Vetter Forsyth County News
Terrie Hudson, left, and daughter
Kiersten decorate tributes Tuesday
during the Relay for Life kickoff.
If you go
District 7 U.S. Rep. Rob Woodall will be avail
able at the following dates and locations this
month:
¢ Forsyth County Republican Party and
Republican Women of Forsyth County joint meet
ing at 8:30 a.m. Saturday in Golden Corral restau
rant on Market Place Boulevard in Cumming.
sTelephone town hall meeting set for 7 p.m.
Tuesday. Call (877) 229-8493 and enter passcode
17849.
* Forsyth County town hall meeting at 7 p.m.
Jan. 31 in the Commissioners Meeting Room at
the Forsyth County Administration Building, 110
East Main St. in Cumming.
1B Economic
outlook
breakfast
coming up.
44 /28
Forecast | 2A