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State of the Program | 1B :
Hate crime investigation continues
By Kayla Robins
krobins@forsythnews.com
The north Forsyth resident
whose home was targeted earli
er this week in an apparent
anti-gay hate crime told author
ities she has had problems with
neighborhood teenagers in the
FOURTH OF JULY
Fireworks sales soar
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Photos by Jim Dean Forsyth County News
Patti Pinkus and her children, from left, Julia, Austin and Christoper look on as TNT Fireworks clerk
Ashley Mayabb rings up their purchase Wednesday at the store on Keith Bridge Road.
Residents welcome
change in state law
By Jim Dean
jdean@forsythnews.com
If the lines at local stores are any indica
tion, Georgia's new fireworks law is a boom
ing success.
Ashley Mayabb, a clerk at the TNT fire
works store on Browns Bridge Road in
northern Forsyth County, said she’s seen a
steady stream of customers through her
store.
“Everybody’s excited that we can finally
sell these, I'm pumped about it,” she said.
The sale of large fireworks became legal
Wednesday for the first time in Georgia.
Sparklers and fireworks that didn’t lift far off
the ground were previously allowed.
Mayabb did say that some customers are
finding one part of the new law confusing.
See FIREWORKS | 6A
Fire department urges safety
By Kayla Robins
krobins@forsythnews.com
As most people are off work today
for the July Fourth holiday weekend,
shopping lists may include fireworks.
Big fireworks. Not just sparklers and
noise-makers. i
With a new law that went into effect
Wednesday that allows aerial fire
Volume 106, Number 78
© 2015, Forsyth County News
Cumming, Georgia
9099404001
Literacy group has new leader | 6A
past.
But the incident overnight
Monday — which included the
burning of her rainbow flag on
a vehicle and damage to a tree
and the front yard — crossed
the line, she told Forsyth
County Sheriff’s deputies.
The investigation is ongoing.
i : #
e
works in Georgia, local emergency
personnel are encouraging additional
safety measures.
“Fireworks are unpredictable, and
accidents and injuries can occur quick
ly even if a person is careful,” said
Forsyth County Fire Chief Danny
Bowman. “The best way to avoid inju
ry is to not use fireworks and leave the
fireworks displays to trained proses
Abby 4B
Classifieds 5B
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Deaths 2A
Opinion 5A
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e B R — g
e : .
i ,
Grill out for the holiday | 4A
As of Thursday, no one had
been arrested or charged and
authorities hadn’t released any
details about possible suspects.
According to the FBI, a hate
crime is a traditional one, like
vandalism, whose motivation is
based on beliefs against a race,
religion, sexual orientation, dis
sionals.” .
According to the U.S. Consumer
Product Safety Commission, 240 peo
ple on average go to the emergency
room every day with fireworks-related
injuries around Independence Day.
Children 19 and younger represent
about 51 percent of those.
See SAFETY |6A
3A Man charged
with false
report of
a crime.
ability or ethnicity.
Georgia is one of five states
that don’t have a hate crime
law, so any suspects charged
would not face that specific
count.
However, committing a hate
crime can change the classifica
tion of a traditional crime, said
tax hik
detailed
Concerns from
residents heard
By Kayla Robins
krobins@forsythnews.com
The Forsyth County Board of
Education fielded questions from resi
dents Wednesday during the first of .
three public hearings on a proposed
school tax increase, pending the
approval of a higher millage rate.
About five people showed up for the
hearing, asking about the recently
approved fiscal year 2016 budget that
includes a 2 percent increase in teacher
salaries and 124 new positions, among
other expenditures.
“Our budget is 90 percent people,”
said- School Superintendent Jeff
Bearden.
He said school taxes had not been
raised in four years due to the recession
but that the increase is necessary to stay
competitive with school systems in
metro Atlanta.
During that time, the district had been
dipping into its reserves, causing inter
est rates for bonds — which are used to
fund construction projects — to
increase.
A mill, the rate used to calculate
taxes, is equal to $1 for each SI,OOO in
assessed property value. Assessed value
is 40 percent of actual market value, *
The board tentatively agreed to a rate
of 17.3 mills, which would result in a
tax increase of $177 for a home with a
fair market value of $250,000.
For a non-homestead exempted prop
erty with a fair market value of
$250,000, the increase likely will be
about slßl.
Ann Crow, school board member for
District 1, noted the school system lost
about sl9 million in taxes last year due
to senior citizens being exgmpt.
She also pointed out the district is
about to begin paying health insurance
and retirement benefits for non-certified
employees such as bus drivers and cafe
teria workers, who had been previously
supported by the state.
‘Residents’ concerns included why
impact fees levied on new development
could not be used and why the school
board doesn’t have more say in what
the county commission approves for
rezoning.
Impact fees, according to the board,
cannot be used by the school system.
Altering that would require a change
to the Georgia Constitution, where it
likely would not receive support from
counties that need to encourage growth.
Bearden noted that even with the
increase in mills, Forsyth would remain
See SCHOOL | 3A :
5A Yarbrough:
Former UGA
~ president heads
back to Malibu.
Robin Regan, a spokesman for
the sheriff’s office, resulting in
“stiffer penalties during sen
téncing.”
Regan has previously said the
agency was treating the case as
“an obvious hate crime.”
See CRIME | 3A
81/66
Forecast | 2A