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About The Commerce news. (Commerce, Ga.) 1???-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 3, 2008)
Vol. 133 No. 29 14 Pages 2 Sections 50 Cents COVERING THE COMMERCE AREA SINCE 1875 Still A Lot Of Interest In Starting New Businesses In The Downtown BOE Ready To Award Bid On New Gym 'Practice Gym' Is First Step In Construction Of New Commerce High School Red Cross Blood Drive Set For Tuesday The American Red Cross will hold a blood drive Tuesday, Sept. 9, from noon to 6:00 p.m„ at the First Baptist Church of Com merce Family Life Center, 1345 S. Elm Street. The American Red Cross provides blood services to all area hospitals, including BJC Hospital, Athens Re gional Medical Center and the Gainesville and Atlanta hospitals. Potential donors must be 17, weigh at least 110 pounds and be in good health. All donors will receive a Chick-fil-A coupon. The American Red Cross has issued an urgent appeal for blood donations of all types, citing shortages it at tributed in part to the inter ruption in blood donations caused when the remnants of Hurricane Fay caused stormy weather across much of Georgia last week and partly from interruptions in donations over the Labor Day weekend. As of last Friday, the Southeast District of the Red Cross reported less than a one-day supply of all types of blood. THURSDAY, SEPT. 4 FRIDAY, SEPT. 5 | ‘ ^ y \i vh Showers: Low, 67; high, 84; 40% chance rain SATURDAY, SEPT. 6 Partly cloudy: Low, 66; high, 90; 20% chance rain SUNDAY, SEPT. 7 Partly cloudy: Low, 67; high, 89; 20% chance rain Reservoir Levels Commerce: 698.1 (.5 feet above full) Bear Creek: 691.15 (5.85 feet below full) Rainfall this month 0.00 inches Rainfall This Year 34.15 Inches INDEX Births 8 A Church News 6A Classified Ads 4-6B Calendar 3A Crime News 7A News Roundup 2A Obituaries 3B Opinions 4-5A School News 7-8 B Sports 1-2B Social News 8A 4 8 7 9 1 4 1 4 1 " 9 By Mark Beardsley In spite of a poor econo my, entrepreneurs continue to express interest in locat ing businesses in downtown Commerce. That was evident from the report Hasco Craver gave to the Commerce Downtown Development Authority (DDA) last Wednesday. Craver, the executive direc tor, includes a “downtown property report" as part of each meeting to apprise DDA members of what’s happening with local busi nesses and buildings. The owner of the Hood Building on North Elm Street has a signed lease and a check for the first and last month’s rent for a client who plans to locate a By Mark Beardsley The cleanup and recov ery in the aftermath of last week’s tornado continues, but most of the heavy work has been done. Volunteers, residents, city and county employees, fire men, utility workers and rescue personnel swarmed Commerce neighborhoods hit by the Aug. 26 torna do immediately after the storm. They cleared fallen trees with chain saws and heavy equipment, installed tar paulins over holes in roofs, replaced utility lines and hauled off debris — the aftermath of a tornado that stayed on the ground less than 10 seconds. While the visual impact of the storm was extensive, there were no significant restaurant, Craver said. “They have a 90-day win dow. We’re a third of the way through that," said Craver. The “For Lease" sign in the window of the section being leased has been removed. Craver also reported that Billy Allen has a poten tial client looking at his South Elm Street building. Allen reportedly rejected the terms offered by the U.S. Army, which wanted to lease the building for a recruiting office. Meanwhile, Paul Kinetra is meeting with a prospec tive tenant for the North Broad Street building that once housed Wood-Johnson Furniture, but Craver said the tenant was “extremely worried about parking at injuries and only one private residence was destroyed. In fact, property damage was relatively light, all things considered. that end of the town." “That’s something we did fear in that part of town that we are now realizing," Craver commented. Craver also reported that the owner of State Street Boutique, which just opened, is considering opening another business across the street. Also on State Street, Kinetra is in the midst of renovating another build ing, Craver said. In the same neighborhood, the Edward Jones office of Mark McCannon has been renovated inside and paint and an awning added out side. Craver also said he talked Please Turn to Page 3A “It could have been a lot worse," noted Mayor Charles L. Hardy Jr. last Wednesday morning. Indeed, in countless yards By Mark Beardsley The Commerce Board of Education could kick off the beginning of the con struction of a new high school Monday. The board meets at 7:00 p.m„ and Superintendent James E. “Mac" McCoy hopes to have the contract ready for the construc tion of the “practice gym" behind the current school. That facility must be fin ished before the school board can begin construc tion of the new high school — a part of which will be on the site now occupied by the gym. The problem is that the parallel to mobile homes or away from houses where a few feet to one side or Please Turn to Page 3A gym bid total came in about a half million higher than hoped. “Honestly, I was hoping it would be in the $1.3-mil lion, $1.4-million range," said McCoy. The full bid, including the brick veneer, came in at about $1.8 million. It was a compilation of about 18 bids on every aspect from the concrete to masonry, to door frames and instal lation of door frames. Each component attracted four to eight bids, according to the superintendent. McCoy said the bid Cont. on Page 3A 2 Churches Want To Help In Aftermath Two local churches hope to continue serving people affected by the Aug. 26 torna do that struck Commerce. The First Baptist Church of Commerce will match volunteers with work to be done, such as roof repairs or removal of debris. Those needing help should call the church at 706-335-4083. Volunteers who can help are also asked to call the church, which will identify the skills, equipment and materials available and match them to the work to be done, said Dr. Carlton Please Turn to Page 3A CHS SAT Scores Up By 32 Points Commerce High School surpassed the state average for the 2008 Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) and improved by 32 points over the previous year. The 45 CHS students averaged 1,457, four points above the state average, but 54 points below the national average. Their verbal score was 491, up 12 over last year. In math, they averaged 481, an increase of six points, while in writing CHS students scored 485, up 14 points from last year. However, their total was still 41 points lower than in 2006, when CHS students averaged 1,498. East Jackson Comprehensive High School students averaged 1,307 on the test, while Jackson County Comprehensive High School averaged 1,471. Jefferson, as usual, led local scores with an average of 1,532. Statewide, Georgia students scored 486 in the verbal portion, 490 in math and 477 in writing, for a 1,453 aver age. That ranks it 47th highest among the 50 states. The national average is 1,511 — 506 in the verbal por tion, 529 in math and 496 in writing. The composite score was unchanged over 2007. School Verbal Math Writing Total Banks Co. 476 472 462 1,410 Commerce 491 481 485 1,457 EJCHS 431 431 445 1,307 JCCHS 498 494 479 1,471 Jefferson 503 524 505 1,532 Madison Co. 502 489 491 1,482 Georgia 486 490 477 1,453 U.S. 506 529 496 1,511 —► Commerce High School ACT scores improve slightly. PACE 5A Cleanup, Repairs Continue After Tornado Near misses, like these trees that fell beside a trailer in Ashworth Mobile Home Park, kept property damage from the Aug. 26 tornado to a minimum. and streets, huge trees fell
