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Region Roundup Grand Jury No-Bills All Glenn Charges JEFFERSON - A list of 30 pro posed indictments against former Jefferson Police Chief Darren Glenn were no-billed by a Jackson County grand jury Tuesday after noon. The grand jury’s action effectively ends two-and-one- half-years of investigation and attempts to prosecute Glenn. Tuesday’s grand jury session was the third time prosecutors from the Prosecuting Attorney’s Council in Atlanta had attempted to indict Glenn. In October, a Jackson County Superior Court judge threw out 30 indictments against Glenn because prosecu tors had failed to allow him to make a statement to the grand jury. This week, Glenn did sit through the grand jury proceedings and he made a statement at the end to explain his actions. Glenn said that during the lengthy investiga tion, no one with the prosecu tion had ever interviewed him or asked his side of the story. “I’m thrilled,” said attorney Michael Bowers, who represented Glenn in the matter. The Glenn matter began in 2005 when former District Attorney Tim Madison asked for a state probe into the JPD. Two weeks ago, a federal court judge dismissed a civil case against Glenn over the demotion of a JPD officer in 2005 that was entangled with the state investigation. Newspaper Web Site Gets 1 Million Hits A Month MainStreetNews.com, the news and information web site for news papers in Jackson, Banks and Madison counties, announced this week that the site is now aver aging over one million hits per month. That translates to 324,000 page views and 107,000 unique visitors each month. “Through October of this year, we averaged 1,012,925 total hits each month,” said co-publisher Scott Buffington. “This is a goal we’ve been working toward for the past couple of years but we didn’t expect to get here this soon. “The interest in MainStreetNews. com has surpassed our expec tations and continues to grow, complementing the growth of our printed newspapers. The site is updated on a regular basis, depending on local happenings. When we started this site nearly 12 years ago, we had no idea that the interest and readership would ever reach these levels.” The site is currently undergoing a major overhaul. Beginning in January, an enhanced classified viewing and placement system will be implemented. Later in 2008, a redesign will take place that will encourage more reader participation as well as expanded advertising opportunities. Eventually, Buffington wants full online subscriptions of the entire newspapers available for readers who prefer an electronic edition. “Most of our readers still want a printed newspaper, but we are increasingly being asked to pro vide the entire paper electronical ly,” he said. “And some want both. We are working toward accom modating those requests.” The Braselton News already has a full electronic edition available at braseltonnews.com. Readers can access the entire newspaper in PDF format. Meeting Set To Form Local UGA Alumni Group A “Dutch treat” information meeting on the establishment of the Jackson County chapter of the University of Georgia Alumni Association will be held Tuesday, Jan. 15, at 6 p.m. The event will be held at Jeffrey’s Sports Bar and Grill, located off Ga. Hwy. 211, at 6332 Grand Hickory Drive, Braselton. For more information, e-mail daniellegriceaustin@yahoo.com or audraredwards@hotmail.com. Jackson EMS To Hold Toy Drive Saturday At Tanger The Jackson County Fire and EMS will collect toys for children in Jackson County. A empty med unit will be set up in front of K-B Toys at Tanger 2 at Banks Crossing from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 8. Two prior toy drives were held but enough toys were not collected to serve all of the needy children in the county. Medical Center Alzheimer's Class To Meet Dec. 13 BJC Medical Center and Nursing Facility will hold its monthly Alzheimer’s Education and Support Program Thursday, Dec. 13, at 6:30 p.m. The meeting is free and is open to all interested individuals. This month’s topic will be “Dealing With Grief During the Holidays.” The meeting will be held in the main conference room located next to the BJCMC cafeteria. No RSVP is needed. For more infor- mation, call Monica McGinnis, Social Work Director, at 706-335 1314. Flu Shots Still Available Through Local Health Clinics Flu vaccines are still available at the Jackson County Health Department now for only $20. Because many persons recom mended for vaccination remain unvaccinated at the end of November, public health clinics continue to conduct vaccination clinics and other activities that promote influenza vaccination. The time to receive influenza vaccination starts when the vac cine becomes available in the local community and continues into January or later, when the influenza season typically peaks. Annual vaccination is particular ly important for the following groups: Persons at high risk for influ enza-related complications and severe disease, including: •children aged six to 59 months. •pregnant women. •persons aged greater than or equal to 50 years. •persons of any age with cer tain chronic medical conditions. Persons who live or care for per sons at high risks including: •household contacts and care givers of persons in the above groups. •household contacts and care givers of children less than six months (these children also are at risk for influenza-related com plications but are too young to receive influenza vaccination.) •Health care workers. Each year, on average, approxi mately 15-60 million persons in the United States are infected with influenza virus; an estimated 200,000 persons are hospitalized from influenza complications, and an estimated 36,000 persons die from those complications. Influenza vaccination is the best way to prevent influenza and potentially severe complications. CDC recommends that any who wants to reduce their risk for influenza infection should be vaccinated every influenza sea son. Influenza (flu) is a contagious disease. It is caused by the influ enza virus, which spreads from infected persons to the nose or throat of others. Influenza can lead to pneumonia and can be dangerous for people with heart or breathing conditions. It can cause high fever and seizures in children. For more information, con tact Jackson County Health Department, Commerce Clinic, 706-335-3895, or Jefferson Clinic, 706-367-5204. Braselton Wins $500,000 Grant For Streetscape Braselton has been awarded a $500,000 transportation grant for a streetscape project on Ga. Hwy. 53 in downtown. The project will include installa tion of sidewalks, trees, pedestrian lights and the burial of overhead utility lines along the state highway in downtown Braselton. Braselton officials estimate the first phase of the streetscape proj ect will cost $1.2 million, with $761,697 coming from local funds. The local funds will include money from the town’s general fund bud get and tourism budget, since the streetscape project will improve an area of Braselton named on the National Register of Historic Places. Winder also received a $500,000 transportation grant for streetscape project improvements to Broad Street (Hwy. 53), begin ning at Porter Street and ending at Stephens Street. Barrow County is in the 7th Congressional District. The Georgia Department of Transportation announced this week that Braselton was one of several jurisdictions in the 10th Congressional District awarded with a Transportation Enhancement (TE) program grant. The TE program is federally- funded and was originally estab lished in 1991 by the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA). The program was con tinued by the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act - A Legacy For Users (SAFETEA-LU) in 2005. The Georgia DOT’s Planning Office manages the TE program in Georgia. This year, the Georgia DOT received a total of 285 eligible applications representing com bined requests for more than $176 in federal funds from all 13 con gressional districts. In this selec tion round, $54.6 million in federal funds are available for fiscal years 2008 and 2009 for distribution statewide. The TE program’s goal is to enrich the transportation experi ence of Georgians through specif ic types of enhancement projects. The kinds of projects funded by the TE program include multi-use facilities such as walking and bik ing trails and paths; streetscaping and landscaping projects in cities and towns; historic preservation of transportation-related facilities like railroad depots; and scenic preservation of views and scenic byways. Braselton’s project was nominat ed by State Sen. Ralph Hudgens (R-Hull), State Sen. Lee Hawkins (R-Gainesville), State Rep. Tommy Benton (R-Jefferson) and State Rep. Tom McCall (R-Elberton). Weekly Health Tip From Kim Bost Pharmacist - Owner Psoriasis Psoriasis is a non-contagious, lifelong skin disease. Ten to thirty percent of patients with psoriasis will develop psoriatic arthritis. Psoriatic arthritis causes pain, stiffness and swelling around the joints. The itch caused by psoriasis can often be controlled with a cold pack or a cool shower. If this does not work there are many OTC products available. OTC products for itch include antihistamines, steroids, capsaicin, topical anesthetics, and aspirin. Many people find that their psoriasis is triggered by emotional stress, injury to the skin . (sunburns and scratches), some types of infection and reactions to certain drugs. Pain from psoriatic arthritis can often be controlled with OTC products such as aspirin and ibuprofen. For more information on products to treat your psoriasis contact our pharmacists at Tiger Town Pharmacy or Homer Drug. Co. 706-335-0099 1939 Homer Rd., Commerce, GA Intersection of 441 By-Pass and Homer Rd. In Commerce Professional Park Monday-Friday 9 - 6; Saturday 9 - 12 Noon; tigertownpharmacy@alltel.net Help Us Make A Child’s Chistmas! New Patients 1st Visit Free For The Entire Month of December (with your toy donation)* Existing Patients Free Adjustments December 19, 2007 10 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. (with your toy donation)* A Minimum of one or more unwrapped toys equal to or greater than $15 in value • All Treatments Will Be Given At No Charge! • All Case Histories Will Be Given At • All Exams Will Be Given At • All X-rays (If Needed) Will Be Given At A Value Of $250.00 Make Your Appointment While They Last! *Due to insurance regulations, Medicare and some other insurance's may be excluded from this offer. For Your Health For Your Future Dr. Kevin L. Strohman 30346 Hwy. 441 S. Commerce, GA 30530 Phone: 706-335-2225 Fax: 706-335-2231 www.bulldoghealthcenter.com Colbert May Create Its Own Development Auth. Colbert might soon join the list of Madison County municipali ties using a development author ity to foster economic growth in its business district. The city will decide in January whether it wants to form a down town development authority (DDA) or not. Several area towns have a DDA, including both Comer and Danielsville. Starting a development author ity could mean more low-interest loans and grants for those hop ing to developing the downtown area. Colbert mayor John Waggoner, who said the Northeast Georgia Regional Development Center suggested Colbert start a DDA, noted a special loan program that’s available if the city opts to do this. Through a DDA, a citizen can lure government loan money for projects that would enhance downtown Colbert and then pay the borrowed sum back to the city. For instance, an $100,000 loan would be paid back to Colbert, not the government lender, and that money would enter a city fund to be used again. “The $100,000 we don’t have to pay back,” Waggoner explained. “It stays in this fund and we can turn around and loan it to some body else to do something in the downtown area.” The whole idea is economic development, Waggoner said, The board would be made up of 5-7 members and report to the city council. Waggoner noted that a devel opment authority, as long as no debt is involved, can dissolve at anytime. In a matter related to town improvement, Waggoner suggest ed forming a five-member task force to look at design standards in the city. Colbert leaders have reviewed Winterville ordinances that were handed to them several months ago by council meeting frequent ers Carl and Ellyn Trinrud who suggested that Colbert formulate its own guidelines to regulate any thing new that might come into the city. While no one on the council wanted to use the document ver batim, councilman Jeff Roberts suggested taking ideas from it. “We can use this as a building as a building tool couldn’t we?” Roberts asked. “We can make changes we can add or delete whatever we wanted ... If we set our mind to doing something like this, we could use this as a tool to make our ordinances the way we want it to read.” Ellyn Trinrud said that’s what she had in mind when submit ting the Winterville model to the council. “It’s a place to start,” she said. “And I could see maybe develop ing a task force or committee or a group of people to sit down and talk about some of these things and develop our own document.” Waggoner has asked for the council to nominate community members “who are interested enough in Colbert to meet and give us guidance.” City leaders will name that committee in January. In a more light-hearted matter, Waggoner said (perhaps jokingly or not) that he was also going to form an additional committee in January — one that would handle Christmas decorations downtown. The council has heard reports that some citizens are clamoring for better ones. Commerce Police DRUG HOTLINE To report suspected illegal drug activity 24 HOURS A DAY, call the Commerce Police Department's DRUG HOTLINE at 335-2255 Callers may choose to give their names or may choose not to, but all source information will be kept confidential. Information about other crimes is also welcome. NEED PRINTING? CALL 706-367-5233 Legal Notice DDS Management LLC has applied for a beer and wine license to sell malt and vinous beverages by the package at 9195 Jefferson Street, Commerce, GA 30529 with an opening date of 01/01/2008. All history checks have been completed and there are no negative responses. The owner of the property is DDS Properties LLC. FOR ONLY $5 PER MONTH, YOU CAN LIST YOUR GROUP'S MEETINGS! Let your members know when your group is meeting! Call (706) 367-5233 to advertise your meeting time, place and date in... • The Jackson Herald • The Commerce News • The Braselton News • The Banks County News • The Madison County Journal & UNITY LODGE F & A.M. No. 36, Jefferson, GA 1st Tuesday of each month, 7:30 p.m. A. Ben Wurtz • 706-367-1400 Borders St. behind Tabo's 260 JEFFERSON ROTARY CLUB Meets Tuesdays Jefferson City Clubhouse 12:30 p.m. • (706) 654-2237 Clay Eubanks, President 260 COMMERCE ^AMERICAN LEGION Commerce Rec. Dept. Post 93 Carson Street - 1st Mon. night Each Month, 7:30 p.m. 335-6400 BANKS COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY, INC. meets first Monday each month 7:00 p.m. in the Banks Co. Historial Courthouse at 105 U.S. Hwy. 441 North in Homer Pd.-2/2008 JEFFERSON ^AMERICAN LEGION Albert Gordon Post 56 Each 3rd Tuesday, 7:30 p.m. Harvie Lance, Commander Phone (706) 654-1274 310 T* Georgia Real Estate Investors Association, Inc. - Athens Meets the third Thursday each month 7:00 pm at the Holiday Inn 197 East Broad St, Athens, GA 30601 Tom Hewlett - Chapter President mailto:thewlett1@charter.net website: www.gareia.org Pd 10/07 The Jackson Co. Republican Party Would like you to meet us for breakfast the second Sat. of each month, 8:00 at The Jefferson House. For more information, call 706-652-2967 or email fishyglass@yahoo.com Pd.05/08 ififc BANKS COUNTY Mi AMERICAN LEGION Post 215 Meets each 3rd Thursday, 7 p.m. In Homer, GA at the American Legion Building on Historic Highway 441 Pd.06/08 A&jfe, VETERANS OF W ! FOREIGN WARS Post 4872, Hurricane Shoals Convention Ctr. Each 4th Monday, 7:00 p.m. Mike Buffington, Commander Phone 706-335-6532 263 JEFFERSON LIONS CLUB Meets 2nd & 4th Monday Jefferson City Clubhouse 6:30 p.m. • (706) 367-1400 Mark Bradley, President 260