Newspaper Page Text
o
o
24 PAGES 2 SECTIONS PLUS INSERTS
The Commerce News
JEFFERSON, JACKSON COUNTY GEORGIA 30549 $1.00 COPY
Elections
Hoschton
qualifying
now set for
Aug. 23-25
The City of
Hoschton will not
hold qualifying this
week for its regular
and special elections
set for Nov. 7.
After an error in the
city’s public notice
listed qualifying dates
as Aug. 7-9, Hoschton
has now announced
Aug. 23-25 as its
qualifying dates.
Qualifying will be
held from 8:30 a.m.
to noon and 1-4 p.m.
daily at Hoschton
City Hall, located at
61 City Square.
Hoschton will have
five open seats be
tween its regular and
special elections.
The city is holding
regular elections for
three council seats
whose terms expire
in 2024. Up for grabs
in those races are the
seats of Tracy Car-
swell, who said he
won’t seek re-elec
tion; Debbie Martin,
who won a council
seat in 2022 to fill
the unexpired term
of Shantwon Astin;
and the former seat of
Adam Ledbetter, who
stepped down in Feb
ruary.
Meanwhile, the
town’s special elec
tions will fill the
seats of former may
or Lauren O’Leary,
who resigned on July
5, along with former
councilman Scott
Mims, who stepped
down in March. Those
terms don’t expire un
til 2026.
The qualifying fees
are $360 for may
or and $180 for the
council seats.
Education
Photo by Jackson County School System
West Jackson Elementary School principal walks a youngster to class on the
first day of the school year, Thursday, Aug. 3. See more on page 10A.
First day enrollment increases across
Jackson County School System
All schools in the Jackson County School System saw an increase in first day enroll
ment numbers this year. District-wide, enrollment totaled 10,628 students on the first day
of the 2023-24 school year, up from 10,003 last year.
While on paper, it looks like West Jackson Middle School saw a dip in enrollment,
that’s only due to the opening of a new west side middle school, Legacy Knoll Middle
School. The total between those two schools was 1,549 students on the first day of the
2023-24 school year, an increase over the 2022-23 first day enrollment at WJMS, when
enrollment totaled 1,540. First day enrollment numbers by school include:
• East Jackson Elementary — 670 (up from 579)
• Gum Springs Elementary — 1,196 (up from 1,125)
• Maysville Elementary — 474 (up from 456)
• North Jackson Elementary — 727 (up from 667)
• South Jackson Elementary — 719 (up from 669)
• West Jackson Elementary — 1,255 (up from 1,207)
• East Jackson Middle (6th-7th) — 557 (up from 542)
• Legacy Knoll Middle — 691
• West Jackson Middle — 858 (down from 1,540 due to the opening of Legacy Knoll)
• East Jackson Comp. High (8th-12th) — 1,394 (up from 1,379)
• Jackson County High — 2,044 (up from 1,814)
• Pre-K at Empower — 43
Public safety
Intraders who entered JCHS arrested
Two of three intruders who entered both
Jackson County and Winder-Barrow high
schools Thursday (Aug. 3) have been appre
hended.
According to a press release from the Gwin
nett County Sheriff’s Office, Christian Lebron
Williams, 20, and Lamonte Dianell Smith, 21,
were arrested in Gwinnett County on Aug. 4.
The third suspect, Jaywan Edwards, remains
at large, according to a Facebook post by the
Barrow County Sheriff’s Office.
Williams and Smith, both of Gwinnett
County, have been charged with disruption of
public schools and loitering on school proper
ty-
The investigation of the incident revealed
that Williams had outstanding warrants related
to firearms charges in May.
The Gwinnett County Sheriff’s Office, Jack-
son County Sheriff’s Office, Gwinnett County
Two male intruders reported
ly entered Jackson County High
School on Thursday (Aug. 3). They
were arrested by Gwinnett Coun
ty authorities on Friday (Aug. 4).
Police Department and Barrow County Sher
iff’s Office have worked in conjunction during
the investigation.
On Thursday, the Jackson County Sheriff’s
Office investigated a report of two young male
See Intruders, page 2A
Happy birthday, Mrs. Betty
Betty Small who processes public notices for
Mainstreet Newspapers celebrated her 90th
birthday this week.
‘Mrs. Betty’ still workin:
at 90, and going strong
It wasn’t too many
years ago that Betty Small
loved to roller-skate, es
pecially with her kids at
all-night skating parties.
These days, “Mrs. Bet
ty,” as she is affectionally
called, has given up roll
er-skating, but she contin
ues to move around a lot,
working part-time and
staying very active with
her family and commu
nity.
Oh, did we mention she
turned 90-years-old this
week?
In an era when many
people seek to retire
from their jobs as early
as possible, Betty Small
of Jefferson has no plans
to retire from her job
at Mainstreet Newspa
pers where she handles
a voluminous number
of public notices for the
firm’s newspapers. Pub
lic notices are required
publications from local
governments and courts
that deal with everything
from home foreclosures
to rezoning notices and
much, much more. They
are tedious and require a
deep attention to details,
along with working with
attorneys and court offi
cials on a weekly basis.
“I’d like to work as
long as my health will let
See Birthday, page 2A
Public safety
VICTIM’S VEHICLE
JCSO called for
Pendergrass shooting
Jackson County author
ities were recently called
for a shooting in Pender
grass.
Jackson County Sher
iffs Office deputies were
called for the Aug. 3
shooting around 3:30 p.m.
near Allen Bridge Road in
Pendergrass.
An altercation occurred
between two individuals,
at which time a shot was
fired into a vehicle. Nei
ther the victim nor the
shooter were on the scene
when deputies arrived.
“A short time later, the
shooter was located in the
subdivision and taken into
custody,” Sheriff Janis
Mangum said. “He was
See Shooting, page 2A
MAILING LABEL
Education
Clarification: Jefferson’s first day enrollment not down as much as reported
Jefferson’s first day enroll
ment didn’t drop as much as
originally reported.
In last week’s issue of The
Jackson Herald, the enroll
ment story indicated that
the Jefferson City School
System had 3,968 students
on the first day of the 2023-
24 school year, down from
4,198 students on the first
day of last year. That 4,198
number was what was re
ported by the district last
year, but was incorrect and
may have been based on pro-
jected enrollment instead of
actual enrollment.
Actual enrollment on the
first day of last year (2022-
23 school year) was 4,003
students, still above what it
was this year, but not nearly
as large of a difference.
As of the 7 th day of school,
Jefferson had a total enroll
ment of 4,138 students. The
breakdown includes:
•Jefferson Elementary:
964
•Jefferson Academy: 930
•Jefferson Middle: 974
•Jefferson High: 1,270
The Jackson Herald will
report 10th day enrollment
numbers for all three school
systems in an upcoming
issue. The 10th day enroll
ment is traditionally consid
ered a more accurate picture
of enrollment, given the
number of new registrations
and withdrawals that occur
during the first days of the
school year.
piggly wiggly
14 14 0