Newspaper Page Text
THE
ACKSON
(Mm
M TH
&
MW.
H Wednesday, November 3, 2010
ERALD
www.JacksonHeraldTODAY.com
VOL. 136 NO. 21 36 PACES 3 SECTIONS PLUS INSERTS A PUBLICATION OF MainStreet Newspapers, Inc. JEFFERSON, JACKSON COUNTY GEORGIA 30549 75<t COPY
^ V
Tall Back’ this weekend
The time will change Sunday,
Nov. 7. Set your clock back
one hour Saturday night.
— Inside —
•Hazelgreen, Pethel
win Pendergrass seats
page 5 A
Voters say ‘yes’ to SPLOST
BY KERRI TESTEMENT
JACKSON COUNTY voters approved
another round of Special Purpose Local
Option Sales Tax (SPLOST). according to
Tuesday's election results.
The final unofficial tally — with more
than 10,600 votes cast—showed that 56.9
percent of voters said "yes” to SPLOST
and 43.0 percent said “no.”
Over a six-period, the penny sales tax
is expected to generate $47.5 million with
the county receiving an estimated $33.7
million and its nine cities splitting a total
of $13.7 million.
The Jackson County Area of Chamber
of Commerce was advocating for voters
to approve SPLOST saying out-of-county
visitors would make a major contribution
to the fund. If the sales tax vote didn’t
pass, the chamber warned that property
taxes could be increased to pay off the
county’s debt.
“We're just appreciative of the voters
who helped keep the debt off the backs
solely of the property owners in Jackson
County and allowed as much as 40 per
cent of that debt to be paid by people who
don’t live in this community,” said cham
ber president Shane Short.
Along with Short, county manager
Darrell Hampton and Keith Ariail — who
chairs the Citizens for a Better Jackson
— awaited election results late Tuesday
night at the Jackson County Courthouse.
Ariail said he was impressed with the
total number of voters — those for and
against the SPLOST proposal.
Short said regardless of how people
voted on the SPLOST referendum, its
approval will make Jackson County bet
ter.
“I think the majority of people under
stood what SPLOST was about,” Short
said. “It was about paying down debt the
county had on the jail.”
Jackson County plans to use $23.7 mil
lion of its estimated $33.7 million share of
SPLOST funds to pay for debt service on
the new jail; $6.8 million for roads, streets
and bridges; $2 million for recreation; and
continued on page 5A
Op/Ed:
•'Vandalism uncalled
for in sports'
page 4 A
Sports:
•Lady Panther runners
win region, headed to
state this weekend
page 1B
Features:
Vtilk re catrr
Allure
90
DiaWU
GA
•A Walk for a Cure
page 1C
•Revisiting the old
(new) calaboose
page 1C
Other News:
•Public Safety
pages 6-8A
•Legals
pages 8-9C
•Church News
pages 6-7C
•Obituaries
pages 10-11B
•School News
pages 9-11 A, 9B
WREATH HONORS FALLEN SOLIDERS
East Jackson Comprehensive High School JROTC cadets, Captain Andrew Dorsey
and CPL Austin Alvis, placed a wreath at a monument in Nicholson to honor fallen
veterans. The ceremony was part of a Veterans Day program sponsored by the city.
See more photos on page 12A. Photo by Angela Gary
200 attend salute
to area veterans
Patriotic music,
speeches part of
celebration Sat.
BYANGELA GARY
COL. TED STODDARD of
the United States Marine Corps
thanked veterans at a special
salute in Nicholson Saturday
night and added thanks to the
families of those serving, who
he referred to as the “unsung
heroes.”
“You never know where we
are or what we are doing but you
rally behind us,” Col. Studdard
said. “You are always there.
Thank you.”
More than 200 people attend
ed the annual Veterans Day pro
gram held in Nicholson Saturday
evening. Patriotic speeches and
music were featured at the pro
gram.
“Isn’t it great to be in America,”
Col. Studdard said. “We are for
tunate to live in the greatest coun
try on the face of the earth...
Tuesday we will go the polls
and on Wednesday, we will get
up and go to work. We won’t
have riots. We won’t have may
hem. That is what we do because
America is safe and free.”
Studdard said veterans are the
“patriots of today.”
SPEAKS AT PROGRAM
Col. Ted Studdard, with
the U.S. Marine Corps,
was the guest speaker at
the Veterans Day program
in Nicholson.
“They volunteer during time
of war to sacrifice with only the
promise of uncertainty,” he said.
“...You can sleep well tonight
because the veterans who have
gone before us have provided
the freedom we enjoy today and
your veterans of today continue
to provide the freedoms that we
have today.”
PATRIOTIC MUSIC
The salute to veterans also
included patriotic music present
ed by Freddie Smith, a United
States Army veteran who sang
“Freedom;” Todd Chandler,
who sang “The Battle Hymn of
the Republic” and “The Ballad
of the Green Berets;” and East
continued on page 12A
Early deadlines
set next week
THE NEWS and ad deadlines
for next week’s issue will be
early due to the Veteran's Day
observation on Nov. 11.
The deadline for news and ads
will be at noon Friday, Nov. 5.
The newspapers will be pub-
fished one day early in order
to be mailed before the holi
day. The publication date will be
Tuesday, Nov. 9, and papers will
be on the news stands that night
and in the mail the next day.
Five seeking
State Court
judge position
FIVE PEOPLE have
applied for the State Court
judge position in Jackson
County so far and the dead
line to apply is coming up on
Monday.
Those who have applied or
been nominated so far are:
Scott Tolbert, Donna Golden
Sikes, Ronnie Hopkins, Jeff
Perry and Nick Primm.
Applications and nomina
tions are being taken for the
State Court judge position
following the death of Judge
Jerry Gray.
The Judicial Nominating
Commission for the State of
continued on page 2A
EJCHS football team
probed over vandalism
Damage reported at JHS stadium
BYANGELA GARY
A LOCKER room
used by the East Jackson
Comprehensive High School
football team Friday night at
rival Jefferson High School
Memorial Stadium was found
trashed after the game.
Thirty-five name plates of
JHS football players were
damaged in the locker room
after having been ripped off
locker doors. Several of the
tags were used to form the
letters “EJ.” Several lock
ers had an unknown gel or
lotion on the inside, several
toilets had been intention
ally stopped up and the water
fountain had what appeared
to be urine in it, according to
police reports.
JHS principal Kevin Smith
said Tuesday that the dam
age is being repaired and an
investigation is under way to
identify those responsible for
the vandalism.
“There has been a police
report submitted and they
are in the process of inves
tigating.” he said. “I have
been in contact with Pat
Stueck, East Jackson princi
pal, and her administration
is also in the process of
investigating as well. There
is no place for this type of
damage in high school ath
letics. Our message is that
this will not be tolerated
and I want this message to
be received by our students
as well in case there are
thoughts of retaliation in the
future. If this type of thing
is not stopped and contin
ues to escalate, it can result
in serious property damage
and even violence.”
Stueck said Tuesday that
she is conducting an inter
nal investigation and coop
erating with the Jefferson
Police Department in iden
tifying any possible students
involved.
“Based on the outcome of
the investigation, appropri
ate measures will be taken,”
she said. “Vandalism of any
kind is not acceptable and
will not be tolerated. I hope
that we can move forward
and have this evolve into
a healthy rivalry with good
sportsmanship prevalent on
both sides.”
Also during the game,
damage was reported to the
visitor’s bathrooms where a
sink was pulled from the wall
and pipes were broken. The
police report also said that it
appeared as if someone had
urinated in the broken sink.
The Jackson County
Sheriff's Office deputy who
filled out the report noted
that an EJCHS player had
received a foul call during
the game and “words were
exchanged” between the
players and referees.
Last year, the JHS and
EJCHS matchup determined
who would win the region
title. This year, the game
wasn’t as critical in region
play, but did determine which
team would have bragging
rights as the “county cham
pion.”
JHS won the game 49-15.
Pendergrass resident asks
about credit card expenses
BY SHARON HOGAN
A PENDERGRASS resi
dent appeared before the
city council in a meeting last
week asking for answers on
reported credit card expenses
made by city manager Rob
Russell.
William Ellis, a city coun
cil candidate in the Nov. 2
election, asked for a response
from the council on the credit
card expenses reported in The
Jackson Herald that includ
ed restaurants and hotels in
Georgia, Tennessee and other
areas.
“I know the citizens of
Pendergrass would like to
have an accounting of when,
where and why,” Ellis said.
“We know that there are
legitimate expenses that are
incurred in the daily run
ning of this community that
we don’t question, but there
seems to be a pattern of steady
and unnecessary expense
increases over the year. This
is what we want explained.
If an expense account is part
of Mr. Russell's compensa
tion package, that is fine, but
please explain what is per
mitted. Or if Mr. Russell is
doing research for a book
he is writing on dining and
lodging in the Southeast. We,
the citizens, deserve an auto
graphed copy free of charge.
Your response could be in
the form of either an editorial
response or in the newslet
ter which you publish every
so often. Your citizens would
like to have an answer.”
Mayor Monk Tolbert said
the council will respond to
the issue.
“We are willing to give you
a response to this in the form
of a newsletter or we will
bring it to the next council
meeting,” he said.
The next council meeting
will be held at 6:30 p.m.
on Tuesday, Nov. 30, at the
depot.