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Visit WWW.MYMCR.NET on Nov. 4th for
LIVE ELECTION RESULTS
Inside
A Veterans
Day salute
See page 13A
Sports
Bulldogs get
‘Chazzed’ up
See Page 1B
Deaths
Albert L. Brown
Obituaries Page 6A
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Would
Obama
bankrupt
Scherer?
BY WILL DAVIS
Monroe County voters
are still casting ballots as
this newspaper hits the
streets, but new comments
have surfaced from presi
dential candidate Barack
Obama raising questions
about what his election
would mean for Monroe
County’s No. 1 industry.
An audio tape emerged
on Monday from an inter
view in which Obama told
the San Francisco
Chronicle that his plan to
impose cap-and-trade fees
on coal power plants
would bankrupt compa
nies.
“If somebody wants to
build a coal power plant
they can, it’s just that it
will bankrupt them
because they are going to
be charged a huge sum for
If somebody wants to build a coal power plant they can,
it’s just that it will bankrupt them because they are
going to be charged a huge sum for all
that greenhouse gas that’s being emitted.
- Barack Obama
-"’1*4 Jfc-l ’ . ^
L
Plant Scherer in Juliette
all that greenhouse gas
that’s being emitted,”
Obama said to the San
Francisco Chronicle in
January.
The cap and trade taxes
would target coal plants,
allegedly to combat global
warming by curbing car
bon emissions, Obama has
said.
With about 500 employ
ees, the coal-fired power
facility Plant Scherer is by
far the county’s No. 1 pri
vate employer. Currently,
there are also about 1,000
contract workers on site as
plant owner Georgia
Power/The Southern Co.
spends billions of dollars
to comply with federal reg
ulations for the reduction
of mercury and nitrogen
emissions. The costs of
such projects have already
contributed to higher
power rates, Georgia
Power has said. And in
that same interview,
Obama acknowledged his
plan would necessarily
cause further skyrocketing
electricity prices.
Environmental groups
have blasted Scherer as
being the biggest carbon
See SCHERER page 4A
6,400+ voted before
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Lines for early voting stretched into the parking lot at the registrar's office last week as voters cast
their ballots early. More than 6,400 voters, 40 percent of those registered, cast ballots early.
Election Day
BY GINA HERRING
Over 40 percent of
Monroe County voters cast
their ballots before election
day. This year, Georgia vot
ers were allowed to vote for
a period of 45 days prior to
Nov. 4.
According to Monroe
County’s chief registrar
Elaine Johnston, over
6,400 of the county’s
16,000 registered voters
opted to vote early. For the
most part, said Johnston,
the early voting period
went smoothly.
“We have an excellent
group of workers,” said
Johnston. “They are the
reason everything has gone
so well.”
Johnston said that the
turnout was steady
throughout the early vot
ing period, but not over
whelming. She said the
longest wait time was
around an hour, but most
folks got in and out in
around 30 minutes.
Even though a large
number of voters took
advantage of early voting,
there are still many who
decided to wait until elec
tion day. Johnston said
there is no way of knowing
how many waited to vote
on Tuesday, but says she
expects turnout to exceed
the 80 percent of the 2004
presidential election. In
2004 there were 9,850 bal
lots cast of 12,601 regis
tered voters.
Live election results will
be available on the
Reporter’s website at
www.mymcr.net. We will
post the results in all local
races as soon as the num
bers are available.
Chambliss, Goddard
stump in Monroe Co.
BY WILL DAVIS
Campaigning to the furious
end, Sen. Saxby Chambliss
brought his state-wide bus tour
to Forsyth last Wednesday and
told about 100 Monroe County
residents that if Democrats con
trol all three branches of govern
ment the first thing they prom
ise to do is cut military spending
by 25 percent.
"Over my dead body," said
Chambliss, who's fighting for re-
election against Democrat chal
lenger Jim Martin.
Chambliss and congressional
challenger Rick Goddard rallied
local Republicans packed inside
Alderman Hall at the new
See RALLY page 5A
Sen. Saxby
Chambliss,
right, signs
autographs
for Adam
Maynard,
middle,
during his
stop in
Forsyth on
Wednes
day. (Pho
to/Will
Davis)
The
princess
and the
witch
Sisters Jalynn Grace
Sykes, left, and
Makenzi Sykes pause
from their frenzied
trick or treating on
Friday evening on the
Forsyth Square.
Some 600 kids de
scended on the
downtown area to
seek candy from 45
participating local
businesses. Better
Hometown director
Laurie Pippin
thanked Forsyth po
lice and Monroe
County sheriff’s
deputies for directing
traffic. See page 11A
for a full page of Hal
loween pictures.
(Photo/Will Davis)
