Newspaper Page Text
20 PAGES 2 SECTIONS PLUS INSERTS
The Commerce News
JEFFERSON, JACKSON COUNTY GEORGIA 30549 $1.00 COPY
— Election previews —
Early voting opens Feb. 19
for Presidential Preference
Primary, BOC special election
Early voting opens Feb.
19 for the Presidential Pref
erence Primary and a spe
cial election for the Jackson
County Board of Commis
sioners District 5 race. Cole
Elrod and Joshua Sheppard
qualified for the special
election to fill the BOC Dis
trict 5 seat vacated by Marty
Clark, who resigned to run
for BOC Chairman.
Early voting will be held
at the Jackson County elec
tions center at 441 Gordon
St., Jefferson on the follow
ing dates:
•Monday, Feb. 19,
through Saturday, Feb. 24,
from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
•Monday, Feb. 26,
through Saturday, March 2,
from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
•Monday, March 4,
through Friday, March 8,
from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
SATELLITE
LOCATIONS
Braselton and Commerce
satellites will only be avail
able starting the last week of
early voting. Satellite loca
tions will be open Monday,
March 4, through March 8
from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Satel
lite locations include:
Braselton: Police & Muni
Building (Community
Room) 5040 Hwy. 53, Bra
selton
Commerce: First Bap
tist Church (Youth Annex)
1345 S. Elm St., Commerce
All early voting will end
See Voting,page 2A
Qualifying set for county elections
Qualifying will be held in March for a number of
county office seats coming up for election.
Qualifying is planned March 4-8. Homs include
Monday-Thursday from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and Fri
day, from 9 a.m. to noon.
Those wishing to qualify should bring identifica
tion and other required documents. Visit the Jackson
County Elections Office website for a list of required
documents.
Qualifying will be held at the Jackson County Elec
tions Office, located at 441 Gordon St., Jefferson.
Fees for qualifying include:
• Sheriff, $2,799.43
•Probate Judge, $2,425.67
•State Court Judge, $4,383.73
•Clerk of Court, $2,425.67
•Tax Commissioner, $2,425.67
•Coroner, $347.89
•Magistrate Judge, $2,474.27
•Solicitor, $3,615.44
•Board of Commissioners (BOC) Chairman, $450
•BOC Commissioner District 1, $300
•BOC Commissioner District 2, $300
• Jackson County Schools Board of Education (BOE)
Post 1, $36
•Jackson County Schools BOE Post 4, $36
There is no qualifying fee for fire board districts.
Fire board districts up for election include:
•Arcade 1, 2
•East Jackson 2, 4
•Harrisburg 6, 7, 8, 9
•West Jackson 3, 4, 5
•Plainview 2, 3
• Maysville 3
•Jackson Trail 1, 2, 3
•Nicholson 4, 5
•North Jackson 5, 6, 7, 8
• South Jackson 3, 4, 5
Braselton
EJCHS spotlight
Commerce PD
Animal
neglect
situation
being
probed in
Jackson
Comity
Charges may be forth
coming in a case of ani
mal neglect in Jackson
County.
Jackson County An
imal Control officials
along with the Jackson
County Sheriff’s Office
are investigating a case
near Braselton involving
over 35 cats and dogs at a
person’s home.
“It’s a very bad situa
tion,” said Jackson Coun
ty Animal Control direc
tor Brad Richards.
Richards said there’s
“a lot to the case” but
that officials were getting
close to filing charges.
He said the animals
had been taken in and dis
tributed to various rescue
organizations which are
getting veterinary evalua
tions done on the animals.
MAILING LABEL
EJCHS student Drew Saucier dropping off the sock donation at the
Athens Area Homeless Shelter.
EJCHS class completes
capstone project
The East Jack-
son Comprehensive
High School Service
Learning Class, in its
inaugural year, donat
ed 154 pairs of socks
to an area homeless
shelter, more than
400 books to a local
after-school program
for underprivileged
youth and filled stock
ing for all students
at East Jackson who
participated in the Ea
gles Helping Eagles
Christmas. The dona
tions were part of the
class capstone project
at the end of the first
semester.
The Service
EJCHS student Keely Crow accepting books
See EJCHS,page 2A for Book Drjve
Commerce PD
officer’s DUI arrests
under GBI review
A Commerce police of
ficer has come under scru
tiny for reportedly having
arrested some people for
DUI who may not have
really been driving under
the influence.
CPD Officer Jacob
Wood’s DUI cases are
currently be reviewed by
the GBI following a series
of complaints about sev
eral questionable arrests.
Wood is currently on ad
ministrative leave with
pay pending the review,
city officials said.
City leaders said this
week the GBI would be
“very thorough, very
transparent” in the review
of Wood’s cases.
The issue came to the
forefront two weeks ago
when local law enforce
ment officials notified
multiple media organi
zations, including The
Jackson Herald, that drug
charges filed against a
See CPD, page 2A
Merritt update
3 arrested in ‘revenge
pom’ action against
Commerce council
member Merritt
Three people have been
arrested by the Jackson
County Sheriff’s Office in
a reported “revenge pom”
episode that had Commerce
City Council member Rosh-
uanda Merritt as the victim.
Frank Lee Sewell, of
Nicholson, was charged
with electronic transmis
sion/post of video or photo
depicting nudity or sexual-
ly-explicit content.
Caquea Evans and Aisha
Pelzer, both of Jefferson,
were charged with party
to the crime of electronic
transmission/post of video
or photo depicting nudity.
Merritt attempted to get a
temporary protection order
(TPO) against Pelzer and
Evans last year, but the re
quests were not granted.
ISSUE LED
TO DRUG ARREST
Merritt called the Jackson
County Sheriff’s Office in
December about the online
photo postings done with
out her permission. Accord
ing to a JCSO police report,
the photo was taken 7 years
ago dining Merritt’s rela
tionship with Pelzer.
During the initial investi-
See Merritt, page 2A
Inside
News
.. 1A-3A
Calendar
9A
Opinion
4A
Obituaries...
...10A-11A
State news
5A
School
,. 12A, 12B
Public safety....
...6A-7A
Sports
1B-3B
Social news....
8A
Classifieds..
4B
Church news..
9A
Legals
5B-7B
Page 3A
Ga. DOT to
meet with
Hoschton
residents
Feb. 22
about traffic
o
