Newspaper Page Text
THE
ACKSON
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H Wednesday, December 9, 2009
ERALD
www.JacksonHeraldTODAY.com
VOL. 135 NO. 25 52 PACES 4 SECTIONS PLUS INSERTS A PUBLICATION OF MainStreet Newspapers, Inc. JEFFERSON, JACKSON COUNTY GEORGIA 30549 75« COPY
Social sites not in school policies
— Inside —
Area news:
•JCCO holds annual
awards banquet
page 2A
BY KATIE HUSTON
SOCIAL networking contin
ues to gain popularity and with
its expansion comes an increased
awareness of what’s appropriate
and what isn't.
Locally, the community
has been riveted by the story
of a teacher at Apalachee High
School in Barrow County. The
school system allegedly received
an email from a concerned par
ent over photos that were taken
of teacher Ashley Payne while
on vacation. The photos were
allegedly accessed through
Payne’s Facebook page and in
them, she was holding alcoholic
beverages.
Payne resigned on Aug. 27
after being confronted about
the matter, but has since filed
suit against the Barrow County
School System.
In Jackson County school sys
tems, the focus has been less on
teachers and more about student
access to sites, officials said.
There are concerns about
regulating what employees can
post on personal websites. Many
view strict control over Internet
use as violations of privacy.
It’s something Jefferson City
Schools Superintendent John
Jackson believes is a fine line.
“There is a balance within this
matter that must be recognized
and maintained,” he said.
In all Jackson County school
systems, users - teachers and
students - are subject to the mon
itoring of their online activities.
It’s aimed at protecting minors
from accessing harmful mate
rial.
None of the policies in the
Jackson County systems men
tion social networking.
Jefferson’s Internet policy was
adopted in 2002 and revised in
2004. Jackson notes the impor
tance of having an existing defin
itive boundary between employ
ees’ personal and professional
lives.
“It can clearly become one
more area where balancing the
Constitutional rights of an educa
tor with appropriate professional
conduct can come into play,” he
said. “This issue has been on the
table for years. When you get
right down to it, it seems to me
continued on page 5A
Op/Ed:
•'BOE silent on fiscal
crisis' page 4A
Sports:
•Lady Panthers win
over EJCHS .... page IB
Features:
•Area churches ready
for Christmas pageants
page 1C
Other News:
•Public Safety
pages 6-7A
•Legals
pages 9-28C
•Church News
page 8B
•Obituaries
page 9B
•School News
pages 9-11A, 5B, 70-7 76
Q -R
LIVE NATIVITY IN NICHOLSON
Several members from Nicholson Baptist Church took part in the annual live nativity presented
in Nicholson Saturday night at the Nicholson Community Center despite the chilly tempera
tures. Shown are: Christopher Fouche, Rebekah Lang and Randi Slizewski, wise men; Andrew
Donaldson, Joseph; Courtney Mull, angel; Charlotte Bryan, Mary; Chris Gregory and Susan
Gregory, shepherds. Photo by Sharon Hogan
GBI continues
Pendergrass
investigation
THE GEORGIA Bureau of
Investigation is continuing its probe of
reports of wrong-doing by city officials
in Pendergrass.
Jim Fullington, director of the GBI
office in Athens, said Tuesday that he
hopes to have the investigation com
pleted by early January.
“We are still in the middle of it,”
Fullington said. “It is active. We had
something this week that we made prog
ress on.”
The investigation stems from alle
gations three former employees made
against city officials, including misuse of
city funds.
Chamber seeks annual funds
BOC to consider $100,000 allocation
BYANGELA GARY
CHAMBER president
Shane Short appeared before
the Jackson County Board of
Commissioners Monday night
to speak on the accomplish
ments of the organization. The
BOC is considering approval
of the annual $100,000 alloca
tion to the chamber. Action on
this matter will be taken when
the BOC meets at 6 p.m. on
Monday, Dec. 21, at the court
house.
The county contracts with
the chamber to provide eco
nomic development services.
The $100,000 is included in the
2010 budget.
“We’ve had a good year
despite the economy,” Short
said. “We have one of the best
structures for economic devel
opment anywhere. A lot of my
colleagues throughout the state
are envious of what we have.
We are very strong as far as
economic development.”
Short said the chamber has 23
projects that “are open” and two
projects that have been com
pleted this year, including a new
Aldi Foods distribution center
that is a $45 million project and
will bring 50 jobs to the county.
The other project is an expan
sion at Roper Pump Company
that added 60 more jobs to the
Commerce business.
As for the Roper project,
Short said: “I want to com
mend the county for working
with them on some issues they
had with a turn lane and getting
the trucks in and out.”
Short said an effort of the
chamber is to promote the
county as more than a place for
distribution centers.
“For a long time, Jackson
County was seen as a place for
distribution centers,” he said.
“We are not only distribution,
but we want manufacturing
here. We are starting to see
some of that come through. I
have another company coming
in Wednesday that is a bio com
pany and looking to relocate out
of Atlanta.”
Short also said that the
chamber has started advertis
ing nation-wide to promote the
county.
“The more we can advertise
and get our name out there, the
better we will be,” he said.
TO VOTE DEC. 21
In other business Monday
night, the BOC discussed sev
eral items that will be voted on
at the Dec. 21 meeting, includ
ing the following:
•a request from John Tolbert
continued on page 5A
O’Clare officially hired
as Nicholson librarian
BY SHARON HOGAN
AFTER MEETING briefly in
closed session at Monday’s coun
cil meeting, the Nicholson City
Council unanimously agreed to
officially hire Kelli O’Clare as
the librarian for the Harold S.
Swindle Public Library.
Mayor Ronnie Maxwell report
ed that O’Clare’s probationary
period has been completed.
In a second motion, the coun
cil unanimously approved raising
O’Clare’s pay from $11.50 per
hour to $12 per hour.
In other business:
•in a 3-1 split vote, the coun
cil approved paying an estimated
$700 to Walter Barnett to have
several mailboxes on Quail
Ridge Drive re-located. Council
member Paul Cartledge, a resi
dent of Quail Ridge subdivision,
made the motion to approve the
project. The motion was second
ed by council member Howard
Wilbanks and council member
Faye Seagraves voted in favor
of the motion. Council member
Lamar Watkins voted in opposi
tion to the motion.
•the council unanimously
approved having the bell out
side the Nicholson Community
Center sandblasted and painted.
•the council approved paying
each city employee a Christmas
bonus equal to one week’s sal
ary. Maxwell advised this is the
same amount that has been done
in the past.
•Maxwell reported that gravel
has been spread to the end of
James Maxwell Road. “The right
of way letter (for James Maxwell
Road) for residents is still in the
process,” Maxwell said.
The next regularly sched
uled meeting of the Nicholson
City Council is set for 7 p.m.
on Thursday, Dec. 17, at the
Nicholson Community Center.
Swine flu vaccine available
BY MARK BEARDSLEY
WITH MORE than 2,000
doses of H1N1 vaccine in hand,
the Jackson County Health
Department will hold a free
swine flu clinic Saturday from
9 a.m. to noon at the Commerce
clinic.
For the first time, the vaccine
will be available to anyone who
wants it.
“We still want the people who
are high risk to get it, but any
one can get it,” said Beth Heath,
county nurse manager. “Now
we can vaccinate anyone.”
Anticipating a crowd, the
clinic will have extra staff on
hand. There will be six nurses,
additional clerks will be present
to help ease the flow of people
and paperwork, and there will
even be people to help manage
parking and crowd control.
The clinic is located next to
Lanier Technical College in the
county owned shopping center
on South Elm Street.
“I’d really like to see a big
response,” Heath said.
Both the H1N1 nasal spray
and the H1N1 shots will be
available.
Prior to this week, Heath said
the state had limited the vaccine
to people deemed to be “at high
risk.” Those groups include:
•caregivers of children 6
months old or younger
•people ages 6 months to 25
years
•pregnant women
•people ages 25-64 with
chronic health conditions
•healthcare or emergency
workers
Now that anyone can get pro
tection, the department changed
its strategy for Saturday from
a focus on children to a focus
on getting as many people pro
tected as possible.
“We’re hoping to get lots of
children in to be vaccinated,”
Heath said. “We’ll see anybody,
but we would love to see a lot
of children come in and be vac
cinated.”
The department expects to
be able to process each patient
in from 10 to 20 minutes
Saturday.
continued on page 5A
BUBBLES, CANDY AND FROSTY
Children flocked toward the Bright Beginnings float at the Jefferson Christmas
parade Saturday as the float included bubbles, candy and Frosty the Snowman.
For more photos from the parade, see page 12A. Photo by Jana Mitcham