Newspaper Page Text
THE
ACKSON
MW.
H Thursday, January 13, 2011
ERALD
www.JacksonHeraldTODAY.com
VOL. 136 NO. 31 40 PACES 4 SECTIONS PLUS INSERTS A PUBLICATION OF MainStreet Newspapers, Inc. JEFFERSON, JACKSON COUNTY GEORGIA 30549 75c COPY
— Inside —
Area news:
•Museum dedicates
Wall of Fame
page 2A
•Benton says HOPE
changes ahead
page 2A
Op/Ed:
•'Time to rebalance
Jefferson city-school
taxing equity'
page 4 A
Sports:
•Mat Dragons win at
area, move on to state
page 1B
Features:
•Jackson County 100
years ago .... page 7 C
Other News:
•Public Safety
page 6A
•Legals
pages 7-24C
•Church News
page 4C
•Obituaries
page 5B
•School News
page 7A
O -S
When will schools make up snow days?
BY KERRI TESTEMENT
THE BIG question for schools when
classes resume after the winter storm:
When will those missed snow days be
made up?
“This could be a winter that we get
even more (snow) than we've already
got.” said John Jackson, superintendent of
the Jefferson City School System. “And if
that’s the case, we’ll have to factor all of
that in, as well.”
Given that snow fell on Christmas — a
rare event in Georgia — and a winter
storm dumped up to five inches of the
white stuff in the area last week, it’s not
a stretch to anticipate more snow this
season. The “Blizzard of 1993” — which
occurred in March — left six to eight
inches of snow in the state.
Shannon Adams, superintendent of
the Jackson County School System, said
Wednesday that he was still unable to
get out of his driveway in South Jackson
because of the icy road conditions.
While school officials will evaluate
weather conditions one day at time, he
believes classes will resume next Tuesday,
Jan. 18 — a day after Monday’s holiday
for Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
“Unless there’s just some significant
improvements, I don't think we'll be
back until next Tuesday,” Adams said on
Wednesday. Jan. 12. “It’s staying too cold
and all of the back roads are too tough to
travel right now — it's dangerous.”
On Wednesday — the third day when
schools were closed because of heavy
snow and ice — superintendent Jackson
said it was a “definite possibility” that
classes would be cancelled the remainder
of the week.
“Our district is smaller,” he said. “And
if a minor miracle were to happen and the
sun were to shine all day and the wind was
blowing — and it started to dry things out
as soon as it melted — but it doesn’t look
good. I’ll just have to say that — it does
not look good.” .
continued on page 3A
SLIDING ON A NEIGHBORHOOD STREET
Kids in the Bailey Farms subdivision in Jefferson slide down a large hill on Monday, after an estimated
five to six inches of snow fell in the area. Photo by Kerri Testement
Snow shuts down govt., schools, businesses
A WINTER storm that covered Jackson County with snow
Sunday night and into Monday morning has shut down
the county with government offices, schools and businesses
closed.
While no decision has been made on the rest of the week,
Jackson County School System officials say it will likely be
next week before classes resume (see separate story). There
has also been no decision on when Jefferson City Schools will
resume. The decision will be made daily and information will
be released through the local media and on the school system
website.
At press time, roads remained in bad condition in some parts
of the county.
“The roads are still very dangerous,” EMS director Steve
Nichols said Wednesday. “Some of the major roads are wet and
clear somewhat. Side streets are still impassable without 4x4 or
chains. We are recommending no travel, if at all possible.”
Nichols said conditions on 1-85 remain iced over Wednesday
with traffic moving slowly.
There have been 47 wrecks reported, as of Wednesday after
noon. The 911 department has received a total of 319 weather-
related calls since Sunday night.
“There have also been reports of folks stranded and sliding
off the road incidents,” he said. “There are about 8-10 of these
calls per hour.”
Conditions are expected to improve some as the forecast calls
for temperatures to be warmer later this week with a high near
43 on Friday.
Meetings rescheduled due to weather
THE FOLLOWING is a list
of government meetings that
have been rescheduled, due
to this week's severe winter
weather.
•The Jackson County
Board of Education meet
ing, which was scheduled on
Monday, was cancelled. It
will be rescheduled later in
the month.
• The Jefferson Board of
Education cancelled its meet
ing on Thursday and will
reschedule it later.
•The Jackson County Board
of Commissioners was sched
uled to meet on Monday.
Instead, the BOC will meet
on Thursday, Jan. 13, at 6
p.m., at the Jackson County
courthouse.
•The Jefferson, Arcade and
Nicholson city council meet
ings scheduled for Monday
were cancelled. They have
not yet been rescheduled.
•The Braselton Town
Council meeting, which was
scheduled on Monday, will
instead be held on Monday,
Jan. 17, at 7 p.m.
•The Braselton Downtown
Development Authority
(DDA) meeting for Thursday,
Jan. 13, was cancelled.
•The kickoff for the new
Braselton-Hoschton Relay for
Life, which was scheduled for
Tuesday night, has been can
celed. A rescheduled date and
time hasn't been announced.
•The Jackson County Area
Chamber of Commerce said
all committee meetings are
cancelled with the cham
ber office being closed. The
chamber's policy is to close its
office if the Jackson County
School System closes due to
weather.
County offices to
be closed Jan. 17
THE JACKSON County
government offices and court
house will be closed Monday,
Jan. 17, due to a furlough day.
27th annual Martin Luther King Jr.
celebration planned Sun. at JEMC
Son of the Rev. Hosea Williams to be keynote speaker
THE 27TH ANNUAL Martin
Luther King Jr. Birthday
Celebration will be held
Sunday at the Jackson Electric
Membership Corporation audito
rium on the Commerce Hwy. in
Jefferson.
The featured speaker will be
Aundre Williams of Atlanta, son
of the late Civil Rights fighter,
the Rev. Hosea Williams.
The celebration will begin at
3:30 p.m. with a 30-minute mini
gospel music concert presented
by the youth choir of Mt. Calvary
Baptist Church, Commerce.
The ecumenical service will
begin at 4 p.m.
Those to be honored at the cel
ebration will be the Rev. Lodgin
Williamson, age 100, as the oldest minister
in Jackson County. Others to be recognized
will be: Charlotte Johnson. Commerce,
Citizen of the Year; Walter Allen Jr., Athens,
owner and publisher of Zebra Magazine,
Entrepreneur of the Year; and
Jackson County Community
Outreach, Community Service
Award. Awards will also be pre
sented to citizens from through
out Northeast Georgia in various
categories.
Elizabeth Easley, Athens,
will give the “I Have A Dream”
speech.
The program will also include
welcoming three new ministers
and a new doctor to the com
munity, as well as recognizing
Greg Cochran. Athlete of the
Year, world champion weight
lifter, who lifted a 555-pound
tire 203 times.
Government officials and citi
zens from throughout Northeast
Georgia will also be present for the pro
gram.
The event is sponsored by the 10-mem
ber MLK board of directors. The Rev. R.E.
Cooper is the president.
TO BE
HONORED
The Rev. Lodgin
Williamson, 100,
will be honored as
the oldest minister
in Jackson County.
Bell to be nominated
for state DOT board
BY MARK BEARDSLEY
JACKSON County
could gain some
clout on the State
Transportation Board
in the next couple of
weeks.
Rep. Tommy Benton
intends to nominate
former board of com
missioners chairman
(and former state representa
tive) Pat Bell to the District
10 seat made vacant when Bill
Kuhlke resigned Dec. 31.
The election could come as
early as this week. Terms are
for five years.
The 13-member board exer
cises general control and super
vision of the DOT. It names
the transportation commis
sioner. designates which public
roads are in the state highway
system, approves long-range
transportation plans, oversees
the administration of construc
tion contracts and authorizes
lease agreements.
“The lieutenant gover
nor and the Speaker (of the
house) will call for an election
on the DOT board,” Benton
explained. “We will
meet in the Senate
chamber, there will
be short nominating
speeches, then the
candidates will speak
about why they think
they’re the best per
son for the job,”
Benton explained.
Two other people
have expressed interest in
the position. They are Dan
Granthum, Augusta, and Bob
Smith. Oconee County.
It takes 50 percent plus one
of the 26 votes to be cast (each
senator and representative with
a 10th District constituency
gets to vote) to win the posi
tion.
“We will keep voting until
one person gets 50 percent plus
one,” said Benton. He added
that he'll probably get about
two days notice prior to the
election.
“It looks like later (this
week) or a couple of weeks
down the road. I don’t look for
it next week because that's the
continued on page 3A
BELL
Gov. Deal to appoint judge
THE NEW State Court
judge appointment for Jackson
County will be made by Gov.
Nathan Deal instead of out
going Gov. Sonny Perdue.
“We couldn’t get interviews
scheduled in time, and didn’t
feel it was right to name some
one without going through the
interview process,” said Bert
Brantley, director of commu
nications for Gov. Perdue,
Four attorneys applied for
the judgeship — Jeff Perry,
Nick Primm, Donna Sikes and
Scott Tolbert. The Judicial
Nominating Commission
interviewed the four appli
cants and named Perry and
Primm as the top two choices
and sent their names on to
Gov. Perdue to consider.
The State Court duties have
been handled by visiting judg
es since the fall when Judge
Jerry Gray died.