Newspaper Page Text
SEE PAGE 4A
Thompson-Hardy
Adds Interest To
Upcoming Elections
SEE PAGE IB
Forces Collide For
Historic Finish At
Southern Nationals
Vol. 133
No. 11
24 Pages
3 Sections
Wednesday
APRIL 30, 2008
mainstreetnews.com
50 Cents COVERING THE COMMERCE AREA SINCE 1875
Daisy Festival
Coming Up
In Nicholson
Friday-Sunday
The Nicholson Daisy
Festival will be held Friday
May 2, through Sunday May
4, at the Nicholson City Hall.
The weekend event will fea
ture arts, crafts, food booths,
contests, a parade and more.
The schedule for the week
end follows:
Friday
• 6-7 p.m. - Cakewalk
•7-9 p.m. - Cheryl
Andrews
Saturday
• 10 a.m. - Parade
• 11:30 a.m. - Opening cer
emonies, political speaker,
prayer
• 1-2 p.m. - Commerce
School of Dance
•2-2:30 p.m. - Jazz band,
high school band
•2:30-3 p.m. - Pie eating
contest
• 3-4 p.m. - Cakewalk
•4-4:30 p.m. - Hula Hoop
Contest
•4:30-5:30 p.m. - Bucky S.
Band
•5:30-7 p.m. - Karaoke, win
ner of Ugly Truck contest
•7-10 p.m. - Time Travelers
Band, picnic table give-away
Sunday
• 1-5 p.m. - Clarke Kesler,
all-day gospel singing
W
THURSDAY FRIDAY
Mostly sunny: Partly cloudy:
Low, 58; high, 81; Low, 61; high, 81;
10% chance rain 20% chance rain
SATURDAY
SUNDAY
/
'*‘K
Scattered T-storms: Partly cloudy:
Low, 59; high, 76; Low, 54; high, 82;
50% chance rain 20% chance rain
Reservoir Levels
Commerce: 698.5 (.9 feet above full)
Bear Creek: 695 (full)
Rainfall this month
3.75 inches
Rainfall This Year
18.65 Inches
Births
. . . 10A
Church News . .
. . . . 5B
Classified Ads . .
. . 1-4C
Calendar
. . . 3A
Crime News . . .
. . . 7A
News Roundup .
. . . 2A
Obituaries
. . . 8A
Opinions
. . . 4A
School News. . .
. . 6-7B
Sports
. . 1-4B
Social News . . .
. 9-10A
CONTACT US
Phone: 706-335-2927
FAX: 706387-5435
E-mail:
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ma rk@ma i n streetnews. com
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teresa@mainstreetnews.com
Mail: P.O. Box 459,
Commerce, GA, 30529
Iraq War Claims Local Soldier
Former CHS Student Shaun Whitehead
Killed Thursday By Roadside Bomb
The war in Iraq claimed its first
Jackson County resident last week
when Sgt. Shaun J. Whitehead of
Commerce was killed by a road
side bomb.
According to the Army,
Whitehead, 24, was on foot patrol
in Iskandariyah Thursday when
an improvised explosive device
exploded. He was an infantry
man assigned to A Company,
2nd Battalion, 502nd Infantry
Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat
Team.
He is survived by his widow,
Janie Moore Whitehead, son
Gabriel “Gabe" Whitehead, 7, and
daughter Janna Moore, 12, all of
Fort Campbell, KY; his mother,
Rebecca Whitehead, Maysville;
a sister, Amber Whitehead; and
his grandfather, Coy O’Shield,
Maysville.
Funeral arrangements will be
announced by Evans Funeral
Home. For futher information as
it becomes available, visit www.
mainstreetnews.com.
Assistant superintendent of
schools Dr. Joy Tolbert remem
bers Whitehead as quiet, polite
and respectful.
“He transferred from Gwinnett
County to our middle school and
continued here until tenth grade,"
she said. “He was a very reserved
young man who sort of kept to
himself. He was very likeable and
had a lot of friends and had good
relationships with his teachers. He
was not very outspoken, but when
he did speak, he was very respect
ful with his remarks."
One of his best friends was
Michael Collins, a CHS standout
in football and basketball who,
after playing football at Clemson
University, is a deputy sheriff in
South Carolina.
“We basically had everything
Sgt. Shaun Whitehead died
from injuries suffered by an
improvised explosive device.
in common," Collins recalled in
a telephone interview. “We both
enjoyed video games, a big bowl
of cereal in the morning, even
our handwriting was the same.
Check The Web
For updates on funeral
arrangements see www.
mainstreetnews.com
We both enjoyed weapons and
knives and playing ninja and stuff.
I spent a lot of time at his house
with his mom and sister."
Ironically, the first encounter
between the two was not pleas
ant. They were playing basketball
in sixth grade.
“It started with us almost getting
into a fight," Collins said. “I went
for a rebound and he undercut
me. It’s like two enemies became
best friends," he laughed.
Like Collins, Whitehead played
football, but he injured a knee on
his first carry in the ninth grade.
He left CHS in the tenth grade, but
he and Collins remained friends.
“We spent most of the time at his
house after we met," said Collins.
“I lived with him a little bit."
They remained friends after
Collins went to college and
Whitehead got his GED and
joined the Army. Collins visited
Whitehead in Kentucky a couple
of times.
Collins learned of Whitehead’s
death last Thursday when a mutu
al friend called.
“I just knew by the sound of his
voice something was wrong," he
said.
Whitehead joined the Army in
2003. He was due to return to the
U.S. at the end of May.
His awards include the Army
Commendation Medal; Army
Good Conduct Medal; National
Defense Service Medal; Iraqi
Campaign Medal; Global War on
Terrorism Service Medal; Army
Service Ribbon and Combat
Infantry Badge. He was qualified
as “expert" with the M4.
Commerce Police Chief John
Gaissert ordered the flags at the
J. Nolan Spear Jr. Public Safety
Complex flown at half-mast in
honor of Whitehead.
The project includes two 48,000-square-foot dering, plus a building housing a hospice, and
medical buildings similar to this architect’s ren- a pharmacy and other retail space.
Medical Complex Proposed For
Maysville Road Near Interstate 85
Dr. James Bouchard plans to
break ground in “six to eight
weeks" on a medical complex of
more than 100,000 square feet on
the Maysville Road at Interstate
85.
Bouchard, a podiatrist whose
offer of donated land for a new
BJC Hospital was rejected last
year, got a thumbs-up Monday
night from the Commerce
Planning Commission on the
rezoning he needs to start the
project.
The project comprises two three-
story 48,000-square-foot medical
buildings adjacent to Georgia
98, an 8,416-square foot hospice,
a 13,912-square foot pharmacy
“and maybe some shopping,"
said Bouchard. His plan calls for
11,580 square feet of retail.
Approximately 25 people were
in the audience in support of
Bouchard’s request to rezone 17.9
acres from AF (Agriculture-Farm)
to C-2 (Commercial).
“Be brief, because you’ve got no
opposition," advised Chairman
Greg Perry after he took the
unusual step of asking prior to the
discussion if anyone in the room
opposed the rezoning.
Bouchard owns some 520 acres
including the old Nunn dairy
farm, and his long-range plan is
to develop a full medical complex
Please Turn to Page 5A
BJC Authority Seeks 'Partner'
To Build A New Hospital
Having been rebuffed in its
attempts to get Jackson County to
build a new hospital, BJC Medical
Center is looking for a new part
ner.
In all likelihood, that would be
another hospital, either non-profit
like itself or a for-profit hospital.
“We’re excited about the pos
sibilities," said authority chairman
Charles Blair. “We’ve got to move
forward. We can’t wait any longer.
Our job is to provide health care
for citizens of Banks and Jackson
counties and that’s what we’re
committed to do."
The BJC Medical Center
Authority, the nine-member gov
erning board, has contracted with
DECOSIMO, a Tennessee-based
accounting and consulting firm,
to find “options" for what has pre
viously been described as a $37
million project.
“The ultimate intent of the author
ity board is to seek a mechanism
to obtain financial support," said a
news release issued Tuesday.
According to the news release,
DECOSIMO has contacted “a
sample number of potential enti
ties," which led the authority to let
the consultants develop a request
for proposals to be submitted to
those groups.
The board maintains the follow
ing conditions:
• continuance of acute inpatient
care
• construction of a new hospital
within a mutually agreeable time
period not to exceed 48 months
• agreeable financial terms
• commitments to maintain and
invest capital into the current hos
pital and nursing home facilities
•continued provision and sup
port of charity care in the com
munity.
The deadline for written propos
als will be May 29. The author
ity expects to require six to eight
Please Turn to Page 5A
Tackson County Elections
Local Races Take
Shape As
Qualifying Starts
Two races had been estab
lished as of press time Tuesday
and three more days of quali
fying for the Republican and
Democratic primaries remain.
Incumbent Sheriff Stan
Evans and incumbent District
Attorney Rick Bridgeman both
face opposition.
Two other contested races
appear certain. Chas Hardy
qualified for the District 2 posi
tion on Jackson County Board
of Commissioners. Incumbent
Jody Thompson has not quali
fied but he announced earlier
that he plans to seek re-elec
tion. And, Hunter Bicknell has
qualified for the chairmanship
of the Jackson County Board
of Commissioners, while Ron
Johnson has announced his
intentions to seek that post.
Eleven Republicans have qual
ified so far, but no one seeking
office has qualified to run on
the Democratic side.
In the sheriff’s race, Evans
will face challenger Jim Keinard.
Evans has served as sheriff
since 1985. Keinard is a former
member of the Hoschton City
Council.
In the district attorney race,
incumbent Rick Bridgeman will
face Donna Golden Sikes and
Brad Smith.
Other Republicans who had
qualified as of Tuesday were:
•Lynn Wheeler, incumbent,
Jackson County Board of
Education, Post 4.
Please Turn to Page 3A
County To Others: Keep
Hands Off Our Water
Jackson County has served
notice on the other three own
ers of the Bear Creek Reservoir:
Don’t touch Jackson County’s
25 percent of the water in the
reservoir.
Former Georgia attorney
general Michael Bowers sent
a letter on the county’s behalf
to Melvin Davis, chairman of
the Upper Oconee Basin Water
Authority, staking a claim on
Jackson’s water rights.
Under the intergovernmen
tal agreement with the Upper
Oconee River Basin Authority,
Jackson County paid 25 percent
of the cost of building the Bear
Creek Reservoir and is entitled
to 25 percent of its water.
“Accordingly, Jackson County
hereby demands that the author
ity comply with its obligation
and at all times deliver or make
available for delivery to Jackson
County its entitlement share of
the project’s outcome and ser
vices," Bowers wrote.
The strategy is to treat the
water in the reservoir as a prop
erty rights issue — that since the
county is entitled to 25 percent
of the water, none of that water
may be used by other members
of the basin authority without
Jackson’s permission.
That argument has repercus
sions on daily management of
the reservoir, but could be of
particular importance if drought
Please Turn to Page 3A