Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 6A - THE COMMERCE (GA) NEWS, WEDNESDAY. FEBRUARY 27. 2008
Two New Restaurants Slated
For Same Block Of S. Broad Street
By mid-spring, two new restau
rants expect to be offering family
dining and barbecue on the same
block of South Broad Street in
downtown Commerce.
Downtown Development
Director Hasco Craver said prep
arations are in the final stages for
Laura’s Family Restaurant, to be
located in the building that for
merly housed the Opera House
Cafe at 1662 South Broad, and
for Stonewalls BBQ to open at
1622 South Broad, adjacent to
The Commerce News.
Laura’s Family Restaurant
expects to open in early March;
Stonewalls has set a target date
of April 1.
Both sets of entrepreneurs have
track records in the restaurant
business, according to Craver.
“It is a new venture as I under
stand it,’’ he said of Laura’s.
“There’s a group of three or four
who have worked together in
other restaurant endeavors who
decided to branch out on their
own.’’
Stonewalls is set to be the fifth
restaurant — another one also
has an April 1 opening date — of
a family chain in Mississippi.
Laura’s will be a meat-and-
three sort of restaurant that may
have special menus for Friday
or Saturday evenings, Craver
said.
“They made it clear to me that
they intend to be open for break
fast, lunch and dinner six to
seven days a week, although I
am not sure about the hours on
Sunday,’’ said Craver.
Ronnie Jones, operator of
Stonewalls, projects serv
ing lunch and dinner Tuesday,
Thursday and Friday, and lunch
Wednesdays — but the possibility
of opening Saturdays or staying
open later Sundays exists if cus
tomers demand it.
Jones traces his restaurant
lineage back into Texas when
his father worked with Harlan
Sanders in developing the
Kentucky Fried Chicken chain.
In the late 60s, he said, his father
moved to Hattiesburg, MS, and
opened an all-you-can-eat buffet.
When he retired, Jones’ brother
took over. Stonewalls BBQ came
into being in 1995, named for
Confederate General “Stonewall’’
Jackson.
Jones, who lives on Skelton
Road (with a Hoschton address
and a Jefferson phone number),
has lived in Jackson County
for 12 years. He worked for
Overnight Freight, Pendergrass,
until the family’s insistence that
he get into the restaurant busi
ness took effect, he says.
Lots Going On
In The Downtown
The restaurant activity is not all
that’s going on, Craver notes. The
DDA is working with a possible
tenant for the old Harper’s build
ing and a new specialty shop is
about to open at Chris Bray’s
South Broad Street building that
last housed Commerce Jewelry.
The Harper’s building would be
used as a “market’’ under which
several smaller businesses would
operate.
“You might have a framing shop
in one room, an art gallery and
study and antiques in others,’’
Craver said. “The lady (prospec
tive tenant) we know has some
very good connections.
The specialty shop, to be
operated by a woman with a
successful history in the busi
ness, will offer gifts and mono-
gramming.
“It should be very complimen
tary to what exists in the down
town. It’s not going to be com
peting with our existing shops,’’
Craver stated.
Also ongoing are several ren
ovation projects, including the
offices of WJJC Radio and Dr.
Elaine Beck, both on North Elm
Street, the old Wood-Johnson
building on North Broad Street
and the Logo Express building
on State Street.
BJC Hospital Authority Hopes New
Foundation Means New Revenue Sources
BJC Medical Center plans to
use its newly created foundation
to tap revenue sources that were
previously unavailable.
CEO Jim Yarborough report
ed to the BJC Medical Center
Authority Monday afternoon
that BJC Healthcare Foundation
is going after grants that could
fund digital mammography, help
convert paper records to digi
tal and provide vehicles for the
nursing home.
“There is a federal agency that
has funds to help rural hospitals
to convert to electronic records,’’
Yarborough said.
“This is something that without
the foundation, we wouldn’t be
able to take advantage of,’’ point
ed out chairman Charles Blair.
The medical center faces con
tinued financial challenges as
Medicaid reimbursements are
again cut, uncompensated care
increases and there is uncertain
ty about the future of Medicare
reimbursements.
The nursing home will seek
local support for an initiative
to create “front porch type
areas’’ outdoors for its residents,
Yarborough added. That could
come in the form of donations
of cash or materials from sup
portive businesses.
The most supportive local enti
ty, however, is the BJC Medical
Center Auxiliary, a group of vol
unteers who raises money for
both the hospital and the nursing
home.
Member Edna Hix reported
that the group’s recent carnation
sale yielded a profit of $1,835,
half of which the auxiliary gave
to the nursing home’s activities
committee and the other half of
which it gave to the hospital’s
employee fund.
In addition, Hix said she just
wrote a check to purchase a
$6,000 stretcher needed for the
nursing facility.
In a related matter, member
Jimmy Hooper suggested — and
the board agreed — that the
board create a plaque or other
means of honoring longtime aux
iliary member Clair Griffin, who
recently died. The memorial will
be placed in The Wishing Well,
the authority’s gift shop.
Also at the authority’s meeting:
• The board voted to grant con
sulting staff privileges to Steven
T. Strickler, for the radiology
department; and Sarveswar I.
Naiudu, in orthopedics; and
approved Dr. N.S. Shetty’s
request to go from active staff to
courtesy staff.
• Yarborough told the board he
will bring to it recommendations
for improving the Emergency
Department’s space, which he
said is about half the size it
should be, given the patient
load. That need is one of the
factors previously cited as the
authority pressed to have a new
hospital built. Referring to that,
Yarborough commented that the
facility could not wait three years
for improvements. He called the
Emergency Department “the
front door of the back of the
hospital,’’ which often forms a
patient’s first impression of the
entire facility.
•The authority approved
a $7,998 purchase of a scope
required for a gynecological sur
geon now on staff.
• Chief Financial Officer Bill
Williams reported that the facility’s
new Specialty Clinic is now paying
its way through the ancillary servic
es it offers and the surgical cases
that come through it. Williams
said he has told both orthopedic
surgeons that BJC needs full-time
orthopedic coverage.
•Yarborough reported that a
new company EmCare has taken
over operation of the Emergency
Room effective March 15 and
is scrambling to locate enough
physicians for a 24-hour-per-day
operation. The current emer
gency room doctors are prohib
ited from switching to the new
company by a do-not-compete
contract that would penalize the
hospital if any of those physi
cians join the new provider.
Commerce Man Dies In Sanford Road Wreck
A Commerce man was killed in
a two-vehicle accident on Sanford
Road in Madison County Sunday.
Douglas Dwayne Purdy, 56, a
passenger in a 1999 Ford Taurus,
died after his son, Christopher
Ryan Purdy, 21, Commerce,
pulled out in front of a 2007 Ford
Explorer driven by Gary Nash Jr„
Carnesville.
The accident occurred at the
three-way intersection of Sanford
Road, Dillard Road and Martin
Griffeth Road around 6:30 p.m.
Sunday. Six people were injured in
the accident and taken to Athens
Regional Medical Center, a state
patrolman said, adding that none
s
N
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V,
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Due to insurance regulations, Medicare and some
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of the injuries were life threaten
ing.
According to the patrolman, the
driver of the Taurus attempted
to turn left off of Dillard Road
onto Sanford Road, but pulled
into the wrong lane and into the
path of the Explorer, which was
traveling on Martin Griffeth Road.
According to the patrolman, the
driver stated he was confused
about the intersection.
FOR ONLY $5 PER MONTH,
YOU CAN LIST YOUR GROUP'S MEETINGS!
Let your members know when your group is meeting!
JEFFERSON
IIP AMERICAN LEGION
Albert Gordon Post 56
Each 3rd Tuesday, 7:30 p.m.
Harvie Lance, Commander
Phone (706) 654-1274 3io
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
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.os/os
BANKS COUNTY
i|I AMERICAN LEGION
Post 215
Meets each 3rd Thursday, 7 p.m.
In Homer, GA at the
American Legion Building on
Historic Highway 441 Pd.o6/os
rpfe VETERANS OF
FOREIGN WARS
Post 4872, Hurricane Shoals Convention Ctr.
Each 4th Monday, 7:00 p.m.
Mike Buffington, Commander
Phone 706-335-6532 263
JEFFERSON FIONS CLUB
Meets 2nd & 4th Monday
Jefferson City Clubhouse
6:30 p.m. *(706) 367-1400
Mark Bradley, President
260
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
WAMERICAN 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.-2/20os
Counties Mull
$1.2 Million Offer
For Dam And Pond
114 Million Gallons Could Supplement
Bear Creek Regional Reservoir
The Upper Oconee Basin
Water Authority is expected to
get a recommendation in March
about whether to spend $1.2
million to buy a 35-acre pond
near its Bear Creek Reservoir.
Lawrenceville-based Fall Line
Hydro Company wants to
unload the property and sees
the basin authority — compris
ing officials of Jackson, Barrow,
Oconee and Clarke counties —
as potential buyers.
The company owns a dam
spanning the Middle Oconee
River, which creates the pond.
“It backs up enough water
where we can take more water
out of the river,’’ stated Pat Bell,
chairman of the Jackson County
Board of Commissioners and a
member of the basin authority.
The pond could provide 114
million gallons of water, an
attractive possibility after offi
cials watched warily last fall
as the level of the Bear Creek
Reservoir fell dangerously
low. Although that 505-acre
impoundment is again full, there
is widespread concern that if
the drought continues into the
summer, Bear Creek may go
dry.
The basin authority’s
Engineering Committee is due
to meet March 10, at which
time it will attempt to gain more
information about the dam
and its potential benefit to the
authority. Presumably, it would
make a recommendation to the
full authority at the March 26
meeting.
The asking price is $1.2 mil
lion, according to Bell. The pond
is partly in Jackson County and
partly in Clarke.
Fall Line operated a small
hydroelectric plant on the river.
It is downstream of the author
ity’s reservoir, but upstream
of the Athens-Clarke water
intake, which means water
could be released from the
pond to Athens-Clarke, reduc
ing demand on the Bear Creek
Reservoir.
Also at the March 10 meeting,
the Engineering Committee will
discuss pricing for the sale of
water among member counties,
according to Bell.
“As far as I’m concerned, the
precedent for that has been
set by the sale of water from
Barrow County to Oconee,’’ she
said. “Also, I want somebody
to tell me what triggers when
someone else is into our water.
How do we know?’’
Jackson County officials have
long maintained that Oconee
County has taken Jackson
County water without reim
bursement.
Benton's Bill Would
Cut School Taxes
For Senior Citizens
State Rep. Tommy Benton’s
legislation to increase the
school tax exemption for senior
citizens will be introduced this
week.
Benton said Tuesday that the
bill should go before the House
this week for consideration. He
doesn’t anticipate any problem
with the legislating passing.
Rep. Benton proposes to dou
ble the homestead school tax
exemption for those over the age
of 62 from $10,000 to $20,000.
For homeowners over age 65,
Benton proposes to increase
the exemption from $30,000 to
$50,000. The latter exemption
has an earned income limit of
$18,000 per year.
The proposed increase in
exemptions only affects school
taxes and would not affect gen
eral county property taxes. It
will impact all three school sys
tems.
NEED
PRINTING?
CALL
706-367-5233
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