Newspaper Page Text
VOL. 132 NO. 32 50 PAGES 5 SECTIONS PLUS INSERTS A PUBLICATION OF MainStreet Newspapers, Inc. JEFFERSON, JACKSON COUNTY GEORGIA 30549 50« COPY
Icy weather
headed to NEGA
JACKSON COUNTY and other
areas of Northeast Georgia were slat
ed to see some icy winter weather
Wednesday night and early Thursday
morning, according to forecasts.
Rain mixed with sleet and snow
were in the forecast for late Wednesday
afternoon and evening with the chance
of freezing rain after midnight through
early Thursday morning.
Conditions were not expected to be
very serious, however, with little accu
mulation of snow or sleet.
— Inside —
Area news:
•$15 milllion in rec. bonds
proposed page 3A
•Reservoir to be full by
week's end page 3A
Op/Ed:
•'Fingerpointing: It's the
Jefferson way' page 4A
Sports:
•Jefferson set to defend
Class A state duals crown this
weekend page 1B
Features:
•J.H. Kinney & Sons, a
Jefferson institution
page 1C
Other News:
•School News
pages 8-12B
•Public Safety
pages 8-9A
•Legals
pages 7-2 OC
•Church News
pages 11-12A
•Obituaries
pages 13-14A
BOE hears complaints about JCCHS
But lack of funds hamper efforts to upgrade facilities, officials say
BY BRANDON REED
COMPLAINTS ABOUT the need
to upgrade facilities at Jackson County
Comprehensive High School brought a
large crowd to Monday night’s board
of education meeting, but school offi
cials said there isn’t enough money to
do some of the things on the group’s
wish list.
Speaking on behalf of some JCCHS
patrons, Steve Crawford told the
Jackson County Board of Education
that the high school needs better main
tenance, new facilities and a better
attendance policy for students currently
being forced to attend East Jackson
Comprehensive High School.
“You’ve got a lot of cheerleaders for
this school,” Crawford said. “We’re
fans of the school system. But today,
we’re not fans of what we’re getting
as far as maintenance and facility at
Jackson County High School.”
The facilities issue arose after the
opening of the new EJCHS last fall.
In several letters to the editor, JCCHS
patrons have complained that the new
school’s facilities are far superior to
JCCHS’ buildings. Monday night,
REPRESENTS PARENTS
Steve Crawford spoke on behalf of Jackson County Comprehensive High School parents at the
Jackson County Board of Education meeting Monday, saying the facility needs upgrades.
Photo by Brandon Reed
Crawford read a prepared statement
that expressed concerns about class
room trailers being used for storage,
water leaks in the high school gym,
the transportation of students to the
Gordon Street facility, and the need for
a new gym facility. Crawford’s state
ments also touched on a desire by par
ents in the Hwy. 11/ Hwy. 82 “triangle”
area to have a choice in what school
their students would attend.
But school officials were not optimis
tic that state funding would be available
to do many of the items mentioned.
“I’m going to be real truthful and
upfront,” said superintendent Shannon
Adams. “My anticipation is that we
will not qualify for very much high
school money, or for very much ele
mentary school money. The facilities
section does not make a distinction by
attendance zone at all.”
Adams said the board would receive
a report from its consultants on Jan.
17, which will help start an update of
the board’s seven-year facility plan.
Adams said that the process would let
the board know to some degree how
continued on page 6A
Dillard: Time to sell city radio station
Blames local newspaper for project’s failure
BY ANGELA GARY
JEFFERSON IS trying to
sell its low-power radio station
after ad sales have not been
what recreation director Ben
Dillard promised when he pre
sented the proposal to the city
council last spring.
Dillard suggested at
Monday night’s city council
meeting that the radio station
be sold. He also blamed the
lack of success of the city-operated
station on negative coverage in The
Jackson Herald.
“The negative publicity in the local
newspaper has made it impossible to
sell ads because businesses do not want
their names to be published along with
these demeaning articles,” Dillard said.
“We’ve had plenty of support, but the
negative angle hurts tremendously.”
From July through December, Radio
Jefferson only generated $9,190 in
income, but had expenses of $151,400.
In December, the station had no income
and expenses of $6,050.
Dillard said he still believes a radio
station is needed in Jefferson.
“We started Radio Jefferson to pro
vide a valuable community service and
to raise money for the recreation
department,” he said. “After six
months of broadcasting, we have
not been able to generate enough
ad sales to create a profit. Any
business takes time and this idea
is still a great one for the com
munity. But because of the cir
cumstances... I’ve talked with
(city manager) John (Ward) about
implementing an exit strategy. I
don’t want the station to continue
to be a distraction as it has for the past
six months.”
Dillard also addressed coverage in
the local paper about his role with the
radio station.
“I’ve been called a liar and a dummy
and a con man, a crook and an idiot by
the local newspaper,” he said. “I’m not
going to address any of that slander. I
will say that as far as the radio station,
every ‘T’ was dotted and every “T”
was crossed. We operate with the same
professionalism and stewardship that
was expected of us... I still believe it is
something the community needs and we
will find someone. I am going to con
tinue to work 80-hours a week with the
same diligence you hired me to do.”
continued on page 6A
City finances
stronger in ‘07
BY ANGELA GARY
THE CITY of Jefferson ended 2007
without having to borrow any money,
which is an improvement over 2006
when the city council had an emer
gency meeting to borrow more than $1
million to finish out the year.
‘That is a very big accomplish
ment,” finance director Amie Vaughan
reported at the city council meeting
Monday night. “We accomplished a
lot this year. Going forward now into
2008, we have to continue with our
awareness and strive to find cost saving
measures.”
The city did use $21,800 of 2008
tax funds in 2007, but Vaughan said
after all the adjustments are posted, she
believes the city will be in the black
rather than the red.
Long-time councilman C.D. Kidd
said he had seen the council borrow
funds many times during his more than
three decades in office.
continued on page 6A
DILLARD
Mildred J. Mullinax, 62, Braselton, was charged with DUI, fleeing and attempting to elude a law
enforcement officer, reckless driving, speeding, following too closely and failure to maintain a lane
after being involved in this two-vehicle wreck Monday afternoon on the bypass in Arcade. She struck
a vehicle driven by Cindy Alexander of Athens. Alexander, who donated a kidney to her mother-in-law
two weeks ago, was not injured in the wreck. She did lose her miniature white poodle, named “Minnie,”
who ran from her van after it flipped and landed upside down. The Arcade Police Department officers
found the dog on Tuesday. See page 6A.
Local Economy
Jefferson sees drastic
housing permit decline
New home permits off 65% in ‘07
BY ANGELA GARY
JEFFERSON SAW A 65 percent
decrease in the number of housing
permits issued in the past year.
In 2007, the Quad Cities Planning
Commission reported only 154 single
family residential home permits issued
in the City of Jefferson. In 2006,
431 permits were issued in the town.
The QCPC also includes Arcade and
Talmo, but the majority of the permits
are for Jefferson.
Jefferson city manager John Ward
gave an update on the situation and
other zoning and housing related
issues at the Jefferson City Council
meeting Monday night.
New home permits were especially
low in the fourth quarter of 2007 with
only 10 being issued.
Ward said the town’s 2007 impact
fee collection was 220 fees paid com
pared to 341 in 2006.
continued on page 6A
Foreclosures skyrocket in ‘07
YOU KNEW there was a mortgage
crisis. The depth of the problem in
Jackson County becomes very appar
ent in the number of foreclosures
advertised during last year compared
to 2006.
Foreclosures in Jackson County
were up 44 percent in 2007, topping
548 compared to 380 during 2006.
The foreclosures were up each
quarter of 2007 with the fourth quar
ter having the most at 162. The two
largest months were September and
October, which had 76 foreclosures
each.
The foreclosures include both
individual homes and lots owned by
developers. The housing slowdown
and sub-prime mortgage crisis has
fueled a rash of bank repossession
across the country. According to some
reports, exurban or fringe areas of
major metro markets have been hurt
the worst by the crisis.
A recent report in an Atlanta
newspaper said foreclosures in the
13-county metro Atlanta area were
up 45 percent in January over last
year. Last January, Jackson County
recorded 46 foreclosures. This month,
that has jumped to 77 foreclosures, a
67 percent increase.
Jackson County Foreclosures
2006 vs. 2007
Quarter
2006
2007
Change
First
109
114
+5%
Second
79
124
+57%
Third
88
148
+68%
Fourth
104
162
+56%
Total
380
548
+44%
January 2007: 46 foreclosures
January 2008: 77 foreclosures
MLK Birthday Celebration
planned Sun. in Jefferson
THE 24TH annual Martin Luther King Jr. Birthday
Celebration in Jackson County will be held Sunday, Jan. 20, at
St. Paul First Baptist Church, 573 Gordon Street in Jefferson.
“One Accord” of Commerce will present a gospel concert
at 3:30 p.m. The ecumenical service will begin at 4 p.m. The
featured speaker will be Steve Jones, Superior Court judge
continued on page 6A JONES