About The Monroe County reporter. (Forsyth, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 9, 2009)
J&l X? ‘A- -,-i! ■"' * ■ . e County HistnnwlBook MomoeLOumv • ■ — ^ * f- ^ <^ift Certificate Tots. .—-——- Kqxrter * v iBit'rf' S«-' 1 F(VrtV_ ■—” Give A Christmas Gift They'll Treasure FuM color gift certificates for the Monroe County Historical Book are now available. You or your loved ones can use it to redeem your %-page hard-bound book when it arrives in March, Call 994-2358 for more information. Inside Parades of Christmases past, dude See Winners, Pages 6-7A Sports Dogs meet old rivals in new region See Page 1B Deaths Hugh H. “Buddy” Andrews, Jr. Diane Gray Annie Lee Scarborough See Page 8A No really: Streetscape to begin soon You’ve heard it before: Work on Forsyth's long- awaited, $1 million down town Streetscape project should begin soon. But this time, city officials say it’s for real. Really, really real. City administrator Greg Popham said the city has finally executed the DOT documents approving the project and the city should be able to put it out to bid this week or next. After the project is advertised, Popham said the city council could name a contractor around Jan. 15. Work could begin immediately. The long-discussed proj ect has become something of a legend in Forsyth because no work has com menced more than five years after the city was awarded the $1 million DOT grant. After being hired earlier this year, Popham met with Tom Queen, the DOT's District 3 planning and program ming manager, and appar ently helped spur some momentum for the proj ect. Forsyth public works director Alvin Randall said after planning the project for five years he’s not getting too excited yet. “When I see the bids in the mail I'll pull the trig ger,” said Randall. Plans call for putting utilities underground and installating new side walks and curbs on the square, with bumpout curbs designed to create bet ter walkways and slow down traffic. Plans also call for new benches, trashcans and antique lamps around the square. Better Hometown’s Laurie Pippin has said the project would take 6-8 months, which means the Forsythia Festival in March will The city put out sandbags to simu late bumpout curbs planned in the Streetscape project. have to work around the downtown construction. Robert Williams Jr., co-owner of the Monroe County Reporter, interviews George Berry for the BBC as, from left, foreground, producer Susanna Capelouto, Mercer Bush and Michell Herring look on at Ann’s Deli. (Photo/Will Davis) International audience hears locals’ views on surge BY WILL DAVIS A ll of Great Britain heard from Forsyth and Monroe County on Sunday. That's because the BBC, the famed British Broadcasting Company, aired a program on its nationwide radio network over the weekend that includ ed interviews with several Monroe Countians at Ann's Deli. The weekly "Americana" programme, which purports to tell the Brits about life across America, was taped in part in Forsyth on Wednesday. The BBC sent a radio correspondent to town to tape interviews with locals, mostly at Ann's. The question on the table: What do you think of President Obama's See BBC page 5A Report: Cole as Speaker of House? State Rep. Jim Cole (R- Forsyth) is being float ed as a possible candidate for 2 COLE dates for Speaker or other leader ship posi tions. The column runs in Speaker of the House in the aftermath of last week's resigna tion of outgoing Speaker Glenn Richardson. In his weekly Capitol Impact column, long-time political reporter Tom Baxter names Cole as one of five House members being talked about as possible candi- newspa- pers around the state and is at www.capi- tolimpact.com. Cole is current ly the floor leader for Gov. Sonny Perdue. He told the Reporter Monday he he’d be talking with colleagues and family and decide in about a week whether to run. See COLE page 5A I'd be proud to have Jim Cole as Speaker of the House. - Rep. Tony Sellier, represents southern Monroe County Funnel cloud wreaks havoc at Smarr CM “ 0) O * -S' 2 3 > Z o “> » (/) CA O l </HA i « 2 * 4 Brandi Lyles and her family inspect the damage on Wednesday afternoon, in cluding a storage shed that was picked up and wrapped around a tree. BY WILL DAVIS A violent storm damaged sever al homes near Smarr last Wednesday and heavy rains closed roads around the county. A funnel cloud was reported near Smarr and homes on Calloway Road, Music Row, Nature’s Trail and Gose Road reported minor damage, said Monroe County EMA director Matt Perry. The National Weather Service at first deemed the Wednesday morning storm a tornado, but later classified it as a funnel cloud moving at 55 mph, said Perry. The storm turned into a tornado after it crossed into Jones County, he said. Brandi Lyles of 214 Calloway Road was at a friend’s house and returned home to find a storage shed in her back yard had been picked up and moved about 30 yards before wrapping around a tree. She said it could have been worse. “God blessed us .. He didn’t touch the house,” said Lyles. “Nobody was hurt.. and the material things can be replaced.” She said she’s thankful for some very good friends, including one who came to help after her car got stuck in the mud while look ing at the damage. Connie Presley of Nature’s Trail said the winds sent her back porch flying over the house and to her front yard, while tak ing out her chimney. She said her 85 year old father was home and said the house shook so much he thought it was an earthquake. She said she and her husband Clay also lost some shingles on their home. Meanwhile, heavy rains closed several roads but only Joe Chambers Road remained closed at presstime. Six-foot drain pipes that had just been installed underneath the road after flood ing in March came loose, and workers will have to dig them out and re-do the road, said county public works director Sid Banks. The county had been reimbursed by the feds for the $52,928 repair to Joe Chambers Road in the spring. Quality Custom Services did most of the work at a cost of $34,000, said county administrator Anita Buice. Banks said the firm can’t be blamed for the latest damage because the pipes hadn’t had time to settle. After working storms last week and the water main break on Sunday, part-time county emer gency management director Matt Perry said he’s ready for a break. But weather forecasters were calling for more rain Tuesday and Wednesday.
