Newspaper Page Text
SEE PAGE IB
SEE PAGE 5A
It's Two Titles
In A Row
For Lady Eagles
Lee Ellis To Speak At McCain Rally
SEE PAGE 5A
City Schools End 07-08 In Black
Vol. 133
No. 35
20 Pages
2 Sections
50 Cents COVERING THE COMMERCE AREA SINCE 1875
It's Time To
Take Out
The Trash
City's Annual
Cleanup Week
Is Oct. 20-24
Commerce’s annual resi
dential fall cleanup will
take place next week.
It’s the city-sponsored
event during which resi
dents can put furniture,
appliances and other
materials at the curb for
free city pickup and dis
posal.
The service is limited to
city residents. No mate
rials from businesses or
industry will be picked
up.
Citizens are asked to
segregate the special items
from typical yard wastes.
Putting them together may
result in the city not pick
ing up any of the materials.
Likewise, any hazardous
materials in the mix may
result in the city bypassing
Please Turn to Page 3A
THURSDAY, OCT. 16
Partly cloudy; Low, 62; high,
85; 10% chance rain
FRIDAY, OCT 17
Scattered t-storms: Low, 53;
high, 73; 40% chance rain
SATURDAY, OCT. 18
Partly Cloudy: Low, 44; high,
66; 20% chance rain
SUNDAY, OCT. 19
Sunny: Low, 43; high, 71;
0% chance rain
Reservoir Levels
Commerce: 697.1 (.1 feet above
full)
Bear Creek: 687.16 (7.84 feet
below full)
Rainfall this month
2.5 inches
Rainfall This Year
39.65 Inches
INDEX
Births 8A
Church News 7A
Classified Ads 6-9B
Calendar 3 A
Crime News 6A
News Roundup 2A
Obituaries 9A
Opinions 4A
School News 1OA & 1 OB
Sports 1-3B
Social News 8A
Cross-Country Walker To Deliver
Citizens' Messages To Next President
By Justin Poole
What would you tell the
next president of the United
States?
While most people prob
ably think they will never
get the chance, BJ Hill of
Boston, MA, thinks he has
found a way.
Hill is literally walking
across the country gather
ing handwritten messages
in notebooks and hopes to
present the notebooks to
the next president of the
United States.
His route brought Hill
through Winder, Jefferson,
Commerce, Ila, Franklin
Springs, Royston and
Hartwell before entering
BJ Hill, of Boston, MA, stops in Jefferson to col
lect messages for the next president of the United
States. He also visited Commerce.
Photo by Justin Poole
into South Carolina and Boston.
working his way back to Hill’s trek began March
1 in San Francisco and
has brought him across 11
states thus far.
Along the way, Hill has
encountered people from
all lifestyles and has a range
of comments in his note
book that he hopes will
bring attention to issues
“that matter to real people.’’
Hill, an independent, is not
trying to persuade people
to pick a candidate, but
rather try and find out what
matters the most to average
people.
“The number one topic
seems to be gas prices,’’
said Hill. “Fuel prices affect
everyone not just blue state
or red state.’’
Hill said that he has
had messages as simple
as “peace’’ and has a few
messages that take several
pages.
“Looking through these
messages, you find out
there are a lot more that
unites us as Americans
than separates us,’’ Hill said.
“Very few things are region-
specific.’’
Hill’s journey was origi
nally planned to end before
the election, but he decided
to slow his pace. He aver
ages 100 miles a week, push
ing his return to Boston to
right before Christmas.
Please Turn to Page 3A
CHS Homecoming Court
Alex Pace, second from left, was crowned Miss Homecoming last Friday
night during the Commerce-Athens Christian School football game. Left to
right are Miss Freshman, Olivia Howington; Pace; Miss Sophomore, Haiden
Nunn; and Miss Junior, Bree Haggard. Photo by Carol Streetman
Water Rights Skirmish
Jackson Files Suit Over
Water In Regional Reservoir
The Jackson County
Board of Commissioners
met behind closed doors
with the county water
authority for an hour
Monday morning before
voting to file a lawsuit
against the Upper Oconee
Basin Water Authority over
the county’s share of the
Bear Creek reservoir.
The BOC voted for the
law firm of Balch and
Bingham to file the suit to
“verify and establish the
county’s share of the res
ervoir.’’ Bruce Yates made
the motion and Dwain
Smith and chairman Pat
Bell voted in favor of it.
Jody Thompson and Tom
Crow were not at the called
meeting.
Former Attorney General
Mike Bowers represents
the county and its water
authority in the action.
Jackson County officials
have been at odds with the
Upper Oconee Basin Water
Authority over how much
water each of the four
county partners can use.
Local officials believe
that the yield of the 505-
acre lake is actually less
than half what officials
have long assumed, and
they have data supporting
their claim. If that is the
case, some of the other
members, particularly
Athens-Clarke, are using
more than their fair share
and part of Jackson’s allo
cation. The county is suing
to stop that practice.
According to local offi
cials, the intergovernmental
agreement among the four
member counties calls for
the yield of the reservoir to
be recalculated after every
drought, but there has been
no such re-calculation. The
basin authority’s official
yield is 58 million gallons a
day (mgd). The consultant
hired by Jackson County
puts the yield at 24 mgd.
Jackson County asked
that the regional authority
hire a third party accept
able to it to conduct an
independent analysis to
confirm its finding, but the
basin authority voted to
deny that request.
A finding on behalf of
Jackson County would
have a huge impact on
Athens-Clarke, which
has a 44-percent stake in
the reservoir. If Jackson’s
figures are right, Athens-
Clarke would be entitled
to about 10.5 mgd from the
reservoir. At times, Athens-
Clarke has drawn 18 mgd
or more.
Jackson County’s posi
tion is that when other
members more than their
entitlement, they should
have to pay the counties
from whom they take it for
the water.
City To Enact
'Budget Freeze'
By Mark Beardsley
Facing declining revenues
due to the season and the
lagging economy, the City
of Commerce has enacted
a “budget freeze’’ through
Dec. 31.
After Finance Director
Steve McKown updated the
city council Monday night,
City Manager Clarence
Bryant announced the
move.
Revenue for the first quar
ter is already $220,000 off
of last year, Bryant noted,
largely due to slow utility
sales. In addition, the clos
ing of the Louisiana-Pacific
plant will cost the city
another $135,000 over the
rest of the fiscal year, Bryant
pointed out.
“So, you’re looking at
about $355,000 of revenue
we know we’re not going
to get this budget year,’’ he
said.
McKown had pointed out
that after the first quarter of
the fiscal year, the city had
already used $450,000 of
reserves, much of it in the
Gas Department.
He noted that sales tax
revenues are down, along
with fine revenue, and the
cost of replacing the roof at
City Hall adversely affected
the cash flow.
“The city is in healthy
shape, but we are at the
point where we are begin
ning to feel the economic
woes, just as all the busi
nesses have,’’ McKown told
the council.
Fall is typically a time of
Please Turn to Page 3A
Downtown Borrows
An Idea From Hoschton
DDA Wants Merchants
To Decorate With Scarecrows
The Commerce
Downtown Development
Authority is borrowing the
City of Hoschton’s idea.
The DDA is urging down
town businesses to join
its “scarecrow scenes pro
gram,’’ explains Hasco
Craver, executive director
of the DDA.
Hoschton, supported by
its residents, merchants
and people all over the
county, displayed 5,411
scarecrows to set a record
for the most scarecrows
in one zip code. The DDA
just wants merchants to uti
lize scarecrows to enhance
the fall decor of the down
town.
Craver asks that busi
nesses display scarecrows
in front of their businesses,
preferably in attire relating
to the business.
For information, call 706-
335-2954.
Borrowing from
Hoschton, the DDA
hopes merchants will
enhance the fall decora
tions with scarecrows.