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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.