Newspaper Page Text
THE
ACKSON
(Mm
M TH
&
tflt jw.
H Wednesday, September 1, 2010
ERALD
www.JacksonHeraldTODAY.com
VOL. 136 NO. 12 46 PACES 5 SECTIONS PLUS INSERTS A PUBLICATION OF MainStreet Newspapers, Inc. JEFFERSON, JACKSON COUNTY GEORGIA 30549 75« COPY
— Inside —
Area news:
•School system dis
cusses oil clean up costs
with EPA
page 2A
• Mini-golf may re
open in Commerce
page 2A
Op/Ed:
•'Beck gives voice to
frustrations'
page 4A
Sports:
•Senior running back,
0-Line ignite JCCHS
offense
page 1B
Features:
•Movie being filmed
in Jefferson... page 7 C
Other News:
•Public Safety
pages 3&6A
•Legals
pages 1-26D
•Church News
pages 4-5C
•Obituaries
page 7B
•School News
page 7A
O -S
JHS, CHS students above average on ACT
JCCHS, EJCHS lag state rates on college test 2010 ACT Graduate Scores
School
Enalish
Math
Readina
Science
Composite
JHS
20.6
21.7
21.8
21.5
21.5
CHS
20.8
21.1
22.2
21.8
21.5
EJCHS
17.1
19.0
19.1
18.9
18.7
JCCHS
19.6
19.9
20.0
19.0
19.7
State
20.1
20.7
20.9
20.5
20.7
The following number of students took the ACT at each school
in 2010: CHS, 19; EJCHS, 32; JCCHS, 22; and JHS, 52.
*The ACT has established benchmark scores for designated col
lege courses. Those scores are: 18 on ACT English test for English
composition; 22 on ACT math test for algebra; 21 on ACT reading
test for social science; and 24 on ACT science test for biology.
BY KERRI TESTEMENT
STUDENTS AT Jefferson
and Commerce high schools
outperformed their peers in
Georgia on the 2010 ACT and
have improved their composite
scores over the past five years.
At both schools, the com
posite ACT score was 21.5 this
year — compared to 20.7 for
the state.
Fifty-two students at Jefferson
High School took the ACT in
2010, compared to 27 in 2006.
Nineteen students at
Commerce High School com
pleted the test this year — up
from 11 in 2006.
The ACT composite scores
from students in the Jackson
County School System, how
ever, have mostly lagged behind
their peers in Georgia for the
past five years. The exceptions
came in 2008 and 2009 when
students at Jackson County
Comprehensive High School did
better than statewide results.
In 2010, the composite score
at JCCHS was 19.7, while it
was 18.7 at EJCHS.
Statewide, 44 percent of
graduating seniors took the
ACT with an average composite
score of 20.7 compared to 20.6
last year.
The ACT includes exams in
English, Math, reading and sci
ence that projects how well a
high school student might do in
their first year of college course-
work. The test also includes an
overall composite score of the
section tests.
For most local schools, the
number of students taking the
ACT — a national college
entrance exam — has been
slowly growing in recent years.
In 2006, 76 students in
Jackson County’s three school
systems took the curriculum-
based achievement test that
measures a student’s readiness
and preparation for college-level
courses. This year, 125 students
in the county took the test.
While the ACT may be slow
ly gaining popularity, another
college entrance exam — the
SAT — remains the preferred
choice among students.
According to the latest fig
ures available, 226 students in
Jackson County took the SAT
in 2009.
Sixty-five students at JCCHS
took the SAT in 2009, 47 at
EJCHS, 48 at CHS and 66 at
JHS. according to the Georgia
Department of Education.
Rise Hawley, assistant
superintendent for teaching
and learning for the Jackson
County School System, said
district officials typically look
at more detailed data from other
tests — such as End of Course
Tests (EOCT) and the Georgia
High School Graduation Test
(GHSGT) — to determine how
well their students are mastering
the state’s curriculum.
Those tests, along with the
PSAT — a prep test for the SAT
— provide more data on indi
vidual students’ performance
than the ACT, Hawley said.
DRAGONS FANS WELCOME TEAM TO THE FIELD
Jefferson High School students react after the Dragons take the field Friday for the
football game against the Commerce High School Tigers.
Photo by Ben Munro
Roofer arrested on scam charges
BY SUSAN NORMAN
THE OWNER of a
defunct roofing company
was arrested last week at
a Gainesville bankruptcy
court in front of 15-20
irate homeowners and
has seen the inside of
four jails since then.
“He seemed to think
that nothing would happen to
him,” said a Ball Ground home-
owner who witnessed the sur
prise arrest at the federal court
house Aug. 25.
“I don’t quite know why. As
soon as he showed up, these
people who had been trying to
get him. they were on the phone,
and they picked him up.”
The courthouse call was
made to the Auburn Police
Department, which then asked
the Hall County Sheriff’s Office
to arrest 42-year-old John Steven
Ervin, formerly of Gainesville.
Hall County deputies arrested
him at the end of the bankruptcy
proceeding and held him in the
Hall County Detention Center
for one night on outstanding
warrants from Auburn, Barrow
County and Roswell.
Ervin was transferred to
the Barrow County Detention
Center on Aug. 26, and then
to the Roswell Jail on Aug.
28 and six hours later to the
Fulton County Jail, where he
remained in custody as
of Monday.
11 FELONY
COUNTS - SO FAR
He was charged
with nine felonies:
Eight counts of theft
by conversion of pay
ments for real prop
erty improvements in
Barrow County and one count
of theft by taking in Roswell.
Those charges are on top of
two earlier counts of Theft by
Conversion in Forsyth County,
where Ervin turned himself in
on June 23.
“Both are felonies,” said Capt.
Frank Huggins of the Forsyth
County Sheriff’s Office. “He
bonded out the same day.
The amount of his bond was
$11,220.”
Two other local police depart
ments in Gwinnett County and
Lawrenceville said they too are
investigating outstanding com
plaints against Ervin.
And the Governor’s Office of
Consumer Affairs is investigat
ing similar complaints against
the company, with further civil
or criminal sanctions possible,
according to a spokesman.
“I can confirm that the
Office of Consumer Affairs has
an open investigation involv
ing Southeastern Roofing
& Restoration,” said Shawn
Conroy. “That means that
our investigators are actively
reviewing complaints from citi
zens regarding allegations that
they paid deposits for work, and
that work has not taken place.”
ALLEGED VICTIMS IN
18 COMMUNITIES
Documents filed in the U.S.
Bankruptcy Court for the
Northern District of Georgia list
29 North Georgia homeowners
and a Roswell neighborhood
association as creditors of the
company.
The homeowners’ mailing
addresses are in 18 communi
ties: Alpharetta, Athens, Auburn
(3 creditors), Ball Ground,
Bethlehem. Bogart, Buford
(2), Cumming (3), Dacula
(2) . Dawsonville, Gainesville,
Jefferson, Lawrenceville (4),
Milton, Powder Springs, Sugar
Hill, Suwanee (3), and Winder
(3) .
All together, the homeowners
are out $124,000, with individu
al amounts ranging from $1,000
to more than $8,500.
The Roswell HOA lost
$13,420, but the homeowner
with the largest single loss has
a house on Woodmont Lane in
Jefferson. She paid the com
pany $8,534.
The Barrow community was
hit the hardest, with more than
continued on page 5A
ERVIN
Jackson unemployment
up to 11.1 percent in July
JACKSON COUNTY continued to have one of the highest
unemployment rates in Northeast Georgia in July at 11.1 percent.
That is up from 11 percent in June and is .1 percent higher than
July 2009.
Only Franklin County in the immediate area is higher at 11.7
percent in July. All other counties around Jackson are at 10.2
percent or below.
Jackson sales taxes
up first six months
WHILE ECONOMISTS debate whether or not there will be a
“double-dip” recession this fall, for Jackson County the first six
months of 2010 appears to have seen some recovery.
Sales tax revenues to the Jackson County government were up
for the first half of 2010 by 9.2 percent over 2009.
For the year, Jackson County has seen revenues of $2.6 million
in sales tax. The county budgeted $5.2 million in sales tax income
for ah of 2010.
Those results indicate that retail sales rebounded during the first
half of the year, but many economists believe the overall economy
is slowing and that another recessionary dip will happen this fall.
JPD officer arrested
JEFFERSON Police
Department officer
Stephen Taylor who
got into a bar fight
while off duty, was
charged Tuesday in
connection with the
incident. Taylor was
charged with one
count of misdemeanor bat
tery. He turned himself in
to the Jackson County Jail
Tuesday and bonded out on a
$2,000 bond.
Taylor remains on adminis
trative leave with pay from the
JPD after being involved in an
altercation at Mike’s Down
Under bar. JPD Chief Joe
Wirthman said Wednesday
that Taylor will remain on
paid leave while the depart
ment does an internal inves
tigation of the incident. JPD
Major Dave Hill is doing the
internal probe, he said.
Taylor and James Tyler
Beck, 22, reportedly got into
a shoving contest at the bar
around midnight on Aug. 24
over comments about
the color of Taylor’s
shirt.
In Beck’s version of
events to JPD officers
who responded to the
incident, he said he
had made a comment
to a third party in
the bar about Taylor’s pink
shirt. The comment was not
made in Taylor’s presence, he
said, but someone told Taylor
about it.
Beck said he stood up to
leave the bar when Taylor
confronted him about the pink
shirt comments. Beck said
he put his hand on Taylor’s
shoulder and told him he
didn’t want any problems,
but that Taylor responded by
pushing him in the chest and
then hitting him with a closed
fist on the left side of the
face.
A blood alcohol test of both
men taken by the JPD report
edly showed Taylor at .183
while Beck was .00.
DFCS officers elected
BY SHARON HOGAN
THE JACKSON County Department of Family and
Children Services board of directors elected new officers for
2010-2011 at the monthly meeting on Wednesday, Aug. 25.
The board unanimously approved the current vice chair
man, Jennie Parham, to serve as chairman and board mem
ber, James Deaton, was selected to serve as vice chairman.
continued on page 5A