Newspaper Page Text
Graduation 2008
Special section honors graduates of
Commerce, East Jackson, Jackson
County, Jefferson, Banks County high
schools.
CHS Students Win Honors
After 180 days of hard work,
Commerce High School stu
dents won recognition, hon
ors and even scholarships for
their accomplishments.
Page 6B
Vol. 133
No. 14
36 Pages
4 Sections
Wednesday
MAY 21, 2008
mainstreetnews.com
50 Cents COVERING THE COMMERCE AREA SINCE 1875
First Class
Of Eagles
To Graduate
One hundred nine seniors
will step into history Friday
night, May 23, at East Jackson
Comprehensive High School.
The Class of 2008 will be the
first class to graduate from the
new school, located on Hoods
Mill Road near Commerce.
The graduation ceremony will
begin at 6:00 at Eagle Stadium.
In the event of rain, it will be
moved into the gym.
Briana Jill Griffin and Brittany
Nicole Robinett, valedictorian
and salutatorian respectively,
will speak. Former superinten
dent of schools Andy Byers, cur
rent superintendent Shannon
Adams and school board chair
man Kathy Wilbanks will all
address the senior class.
Honor graduates are Joshua
Trey Barnett, Taylor Mark
Boswell, Amelia Jewell Paige
Dicks, Rodney Robert Fancil,
Kayla Theresa Green, Briana Jill
Griffin, Briana Dee Halstead,
Haley Danielle Leissner,
Katelyn Marie McCannon,
Jordan Alesia Ramsey, Brittany
Nicole Robinett, Dustin
Michael Savage, Matthew Dale
Smith and Zoua Xiong.
JCCHS will graduate 253
Friday night. Michelle Renee
Cornelison is the valedictorian
and Elijah Knowles Gaultney is
the salutatorian.
In the event of rain, JCCHS
will hold its graduation at 10
a.m„ Saturday, May 24.
WEATHER
THURSDAY
FRIDAY
Isolated T-storms: Isolated T-storms:
Low, 59; high, 82; Low, 57; high, 75;
30% chance rain 40% chance rain
SATURDAY
SUNDAY
Few showers: Sunny:
Low, 57; high, 74; Low, 59; high, 81;
30% chance rain 10% chance rain
Reservoir Levels
Commerce: 698.2 (.6 feet above full)
Bear Creek: 695 (full)
Rainfall This Month
2.75 inches
Rainfall this year: 20.8 inches
Il N D E X
Births
. . . 5B
Church News . . .
. . . 4B
Classified Ads . . .
. . 1-4C
Calendar
. . . 3A
Crime News . . . .
. . 7-8A
News Roundup . .
. . . 2A
Obituaries
. . . 9A
Opinions
. . . 4A
School News. . . .
. . 6-8 B
Sports
. . 1-3B
Social News . . . .
. . . 5B
CONTACT US
Phone: 706-335-2927
FAX: 706387-5435
E-mail:
news@mainstreetnews.com
ma rk@ma i n streetnews. com
brandon@mainstreetnews.com
teresa@mainstreetnews.com
Mail: P.O. Box 459,
Commerce, GA, 30529
Something To Celebrate
Sixty-seven members of the Commerce ment exercises at Tiger Stadium. For more
High School Class of 2008 celebrate their photos, see Page 8B.
graduation Friday night after commence- Photo by Mark Beardsley
EPD Likely To Grant LP's
Request For Emissions Hike
Short of finding LP is breaking the law or
its proposed level of emissions would break
the law, the EPD cannot deny LP's request
Emissions from the Louisiana
Pacific oriented strandboard
plant on U.S. 441 in Center
are responsible for every illness
from sinus infections to cancer
to breeding problems in cattle,
according to participants in a
public hearing last week.
Those who chose to speak
on the record asked, encour
aged and begged the Georgia
Environmental Protection
Division (EPD) to decline LP’s
request to quadruple the emis
sions of formaldehyde. They
also expressed suspicions —
denied by the company — that
LP seeks the permit change to
ramp up production.
And in spite of repeated
assertions by James Capp, man
ager of the EPD’s Stationary
Source Permitting Program,
that the EPD would consider
all of the comments made in
the Nicholson Civic Center on
a rainy Wednesday night, the
consensus appeared to be that
granting the permit “is a done
deal,’’ as more than one partici
pant suggested.
In fact, Capp acknowledged
that short of a legal reason com
ing out of the public hearing, LP
will get its permit.
“Both the Georgia Air Quality
Act (Act) and the Georgia Rules
for Air Quality Control (Rules)
require EPD to issue a permit
upon a determination that
the facility can reasonably be
expected to comply with the
Act and the Rules,’’ he said in
an e-mail response to an e-mail
inquiry question. “So, it would
take comments that were per
suasive that the proposal does
not comply with the Act or the
Rules.’’
LP, because it on one occa-
Numerous citizens alleg
ed that emissions from
Louisiana Pacific’s Center
plant are causing health
problems.
sion released more formalde
hyde than its current permit
allows, wants increased limits
“to take out any fluctuations’’
in emissions that might cause
further violations, said Mike
Anderson, LP’s environmental
manager, who added that the
plant does not actually plan to
increase emissions.
Formaldehyde occurs natu
rally in nature and is emitted
from heated or burned wood
in LP’s production process. It
is also a carcinogen. LP’s emis
sions control system eliminates
95 percent of the formaldehyde,
according to Anderson.
It’s the other five percent at issue.
The permit request would
change allowable emissions of
formaldehyde from LP’s dryer
-► LP experimenting with
low-formaldehyde resin.
PACE BA
to go from .438 pounds per hour
to 2.45 pounds per hour, and an
increase from its board press
from the current allowable rate
of .51 pounds per hour to 1.02
pounds per hour.
At the maximum, Capp said,
those emissions would generate
a ground level concentration of
formaldehyde in the air amount
ing to only 14.3 percent of what
is known as the “acceptable
ambient concentration.’’
Assertions of acceptable
levels of formaldehyde didn’t
impress the audience, many
of whom spoke of issues with
dust, noise — even water pollu
tion, and some exhibited a deep
suspicion of LP’s intent and that
of the EPD.
A number of speakers sug
gested that emissions from LP
are linked to illness in the com
munity.
One was Madison County
Commissioner Stanley Thomas,
who complained that “Madison
County seems to be getting all
of the bad air and health issues.’’
He also expressed frustration
with companies who come into
the area with one level of per
mit, then get it amended to
allow greater levels of pollu
tion — making it more difficult
for county commissioners to
believe what incoming plants
say about their potential effect
on the environment. He asked
the EPD to deny LP’s request
“for the health and safety of the
people of our county.’’
Farmer Kenneth Bridges, who
lives between LP and Huber
Engineered Woods, another
Jackson County OSB plant,
attributed his kidney cancer to
emissions from the two plants
and blamed the death of aquatic
Please Turn to Page 3A
Explaining The Plan
A panel of architects, builders and attorneys brought to
the meeting by the Commerce Board of Education listens as
architect Doug Breaux explains aspects of the plans for the
new high school.
BOE Votes
To Move On
With New CHS
Work on the new Commerce
High School has resumed. The
first visible signs, the erection of
a freestanding “practice gymna
sium’’ behind the current facility
should take place this fall.
Feeling that it had responded
to concerns about the school’s
design raised by a citizens’
group, following a two-and-
a-half-hour presentation last
Wednesday night, the board
voted unanimously to move
ahead with the project.
A month ago, the school board
ordered its architect to cease
work on the project, which was
to have gone to bid about now,
said Superintendent James E.
“Mac’’ McCoy.
“The architects have to finish
the design. They’re still looking
at some modifications for the
second gym,’’ he said Thursday
morning.
McCoy said he expects to get
a new timeline for the project
this week. The board will have to
advertise for bids, after which it
will hold a public bid opening.
According to McCoy, there
is a three-month process for
ordering and receiving the steel
for the new gym, which must
be completed before the cur
rent gym can be demolished to
begin construction of the school
— which will include a new and
larger gymnasium.
The $18 million undertaking
is expected to take 24 months
to build, according to Clark
McDonald of Charles Black
Construction, the general con-
PEACE — the citizens’
group opposing the plan
for the new high school
— will take some time
to think over the latest
developments.
PAGE 5A
tractor for the new school.
The school board’s action
enraged members of People
Excited About Commerce
Education (PEACE), a group
formed over concerns and
questions about the design of
the new school. While about
60 people attended the called
board meeting in the cafete
ria of the middle school, the
board did not allow questions
or comments from the audi
ence. Once the presentations —
which included comments from
more than a dozen individuals,
several of them more than once
— were completed, board mem
ber Bill Davis read a prepared
statement making a motion to
resume work on the project.
It passed unanimously without
discussion.
Last week’s meeting was called
to respond to PEACE’S con
cerns, which it had submitted
in writing to the board. School
staff, including McCoy, assis
tant superintendent Joy Tolbert,
principal Donnie Drew, science
teacher Matthew Dahlke, busi
ness education teacher Johnnie
Blair (by letter) board chairman
Please Turn to Page 5A
Meeting To Organize Farmer's Market
An organization meeting will be held Thursday at 7 p.m. in the
Commerce Civic Center for local farmers and gardeners interested
in selling produce in the 2008 City To City Farmers’ Market.
Sponsored by the Commerce Downtown Development Authority
and the Jefferson Better Hometown Program, the markets will
offer local gardeners and farmers a chance to sell their produce
downtown. The markets will operate Saturday mornings, alternating
between Commerce and Jefferson.
“This meeting is intended for previous and prospective growers
interested in participating in this year’s Farmers Market to stop by
and discuss the market schedule and market guidelines,’’ explained
Hasco Craver, executive director of the Commerce DDA
Deadlines Advanced For The News
The Commerce News office, located at 1672 South Broad Street,
will be closed Monday, May 26, for the Memorial Day Holiday.
As a result, all deadlines are moved forward to Friday.
The deadlines for news items, classified ads and display ads are
all at noon Friday.
Publication will be on the normal schedule. Newspapers will be
available Wednesday evening at area stores and will arrive with
Thursday’s mail to local subscribers.