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Teens Cited
As Reason
For Police Dept.
Teenagers are apparently
a problem in Nicholson.
Problems with teens has
been one of the key rea
sons cited in recent weeks
for the town to consider a
police department.
Deloris Chambers asked
the Nicholson City Council
at a recent meeting to create
a city police department. She
claimed that Nicholson has
a problem with kids being
out at all hours of the night,
girls being out unescorted,
and kids in the streets on
4-wheelers, 2-wheelers and
motorcycles.
In response to Chambers’
comments N icholson Mayor
Ronnie Maxwell asked
the Rev. Mike Stowers and
Bobby Rapper to meet with
Chambers this week on the
issue. Chambers was not at
Monday’s meeting. Maxwell
and council member Faye
Seagraves did attend.
Rapper said he is in favor
of a police department.
“I go to work early in
the morning, 4 a.m„ and I
see teenagers walking the
streets,” Rapper said.
About one year ago, the
city held a couple of meet
ings to discuss a possible
police department, but the
sentiment was overwhelm
ingly against the idea.
Stowers said he did a lot
of investigative work a year
ago when the city was dis
cussing the issue. “A police
department is a losing prop
osition,” Stowers said. The
city looked at some pos
sible grants, but there is no
grant to completely fund a
police department, Stowers
added.
'There is a real problem
with our teenagers,” he
said.
Nicholson resident Donna
Watkins said, “I don’t think
we need a police depart
ment. The city can’t afford
it.”
Maxwell said the city has
problems with big trucks
parking in a residential area
off Jim David Road and
said the city had become
a “dumping ground” for
drugs.
“We have got to be a
dumping ground for drugs
without a police depart
ment,” Maxwell said. He
said that banks and grocery
stores don’t want to locate
in Nicholson because they
feel it would be a threat
coming to the city because
there is no police depart
ment.
But Kay Richardson said
the city couldn’t afford a
department.
“I don’t think any of us
want to pay a tax to fund
a police department,” she
said.
Maxwell did not set
another meeting to discuss
this issue.
Santa To Visit
Nicholson
For Photographs
Santa will be in Nicholson
in a few weeks to pose for
photos with area children.
On Friday, Dec. 5, Santa
will be at the Harold S.
Swindle Public Library in
Nicholson from 6-7:30 p.m.
Those who attend are asked
to bring their own camera
to get a photo of Santa
with their children. There
will be no charge to visit
with Santa.
Residents
Oppose Plans
For Annexation
While the majority of
property owners the City
of Jefferson plans to annex
into the city apparently have
no problem with the move,
five people attended the city
council meeting Monday
night to speak on their con
cerns about the action. Two
of the five threatened legal
action if their property is
annexed.
The Jefferson City
Council is recommending
that a number of “islands”
be annexed. An “island” is
a piece of property that is
surrounded on all sides by
property already in the city
limits.
At Monday’s meeting, a
public hearing was held to
give the property owners
the opportunity to speak on
the annexations. The coun
cil will take action on the
request when it meets at 6
p.m. Monday, Nov. 24, at the
civic center.
Tom Crow, who owns
six acres on Oak Avenue,
said he doesn’t oppose the
annexation, but he is con
cerned that zoning placed
on his property would not
allow a hunting business
that he is in the process of
locating there. Crow said
the city ordinance states
that a property owner must
have at least 50 acres before
a gun can be fired. That rule
would stop hunting on his
property.
Shirley Bond, 22 Longview
Drive, said she doesn’t want
her 0.95 acres to be annexed
and added that she wants a
hearing in Superior Court if
it is annexed. City attorney
Ronnie Hopkins said she
would have 30 days after
the property is annexed to
file an appeal in Superior
Court.
“I don’t want to go into the
city,” Bond said. “You don’t
have anything to offer.”
Roger W. Jackson, 320
Holders Siding Road,
told the planners that he
does not want his 1.0 acre
annexed into the city and
said he would also seek a
hearing in Superior Court
against the city if the action
is taken. Jackson added
that his property is not an
“island” and has other coun
ty property around it. City
officials agreed to look into
his comments and report
back.
Herman Hunt, who owns
1.45 acres on 300 Jett
Roberts Road, said his taxes
would double and ques
tioned whether he would
benefit from having his
property annexed into the
city. City officials pointed
out that he would get fire
and police protection and
would be offered garbage,
water and sewer service.
Funds Missing
From Banks
Co. Tax Office
HOMER - A $14,600
deposit is missing from
the Banks County Tax
Commissioner’s office and
the matter is under inves
tigation by the sheriff’s
office.
Sheriff Charles Chapman
said Monday that Tax
Commissioner Margaret
Ausburn filed a report with
his office Nov. 5 about the
missing deposit. Ausburn
reported the matter was
brought to her attention
when she was contacted
by someone who told her
a check they had written
her office had not cleared
the bank. Ausburn reported
she then began to do an
internal investigation of all
her bank statements for the
past three or four months.
Chapman said Ausburn
stated that a deposit is
made out for each days
work and the one in ques
tion is July 28, for July 25
work. Ausburn reported
that July 28 was a Monday
and, on that particular day,
there were two deposits
made, plus a deposit for
some bad checks that had
been returned. The deposit
in question was written up
in her daily deposit book.
The deposit was not written
up by Ausburn, but by one
of the employees in the tax
office, Chapman said.
Weyerhaeuser
To Close Its
Mill In Colbert
“Temporary” just became
“indefinite” for employees
of a Weyerhaeuser mill in
Colbert.
Less than a month after
calling for a six-week
hiatus from production,
developing
leaders of
COMPETENCE
CONSCIENCE
COMPASSION
CONFIDENCE
and COURAGE
Monsignor Donovan
CATHOLIC HIGH SCHOOL
FALL TOURS
Nov. 5th & 19th
Drop-in from 11:00am - 1:00pm
590 Lavender Road • Athens, GA
706.433.0223 • www.mdchs.org
Monsignor Donovan Catholic High School shall admit students of any race, color, sex. national and ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generallv
accorded or made available to students. Monsignor Donovan Catholic High School shall not discriminate on the basis of race, color, nationality and ethnic origin in the administration
of its educational policies, admissions policies, scholarship and loan programs, and athletic or other school-administered programs. Monsagnor Donovan Catholic High School is an
independent Catholic school serving the families of northeast Georgia. MDCHS is not affiliated with the Archdiocese of Atlanta.
Weyerhaeuser has now
closed the iLevel Veneer
Technologies plant for an
unspecified amount of
time.
The company announced
the move in a press release
last Thursday, citing the con
tinued decline in demand
for engineered wood prod
ucts. This closure will affect
all 105 employees at the
mill.
“The demand for residen
tial wood products con
tinues to erode and this
announcement is a direct
result of the business envi
ronment we face,” Cathy
Slater, vice president of
Veneer Technologies, said
in the press release.
Employees will receive
regular pay and benefits for
60 days.
When it came apparent
during the hiatus that work
wouldn’t start anytime
soon, Weyerhaeuser want
ed to go ahead and layoff
employees so they could
start receiving compensa
tion packages, a company
spokesperson said.
“So when we absolutely
couldn’t see any start-up
in sight, we wanted to go
ahead and make them actu
ally laid off because that
got us into the 60-day paid
notice period,” Nancy
Thompson said.
Slater called closing the
mill “a very difficult deci
sion.”
“Our associates have
done an excellent job of
executing that which has
been asked of them,” she
said. “This announcement
is in no way a reflection
of the performance by our
associates.”
The original intent was
to reassess the economic
situation after that six-week
period, but Weyerhaeuser’s
decision to close indefi
nitely came after just four
weeks of downtime.
“Unfortunately, ongoing
business conditions now
require that we take this
further action,” Slater said.
“We recognize the impact of
this closure on our associ
ates and the Colbert com
munity, and we will do our
best to work with affected
associates through this dif
ficult period.”
Thompson said that some
employees will stay on
through the end of the year
see that the site is closed
down properly.
While it’s not impossible
that work could return to
the Colbert facility one day,
it won’t happen anytime
soon.
“We don’t see any start-up
in sight,” Thompson said.
“That’s not to say it never
will. It’s just indefinite.
That’s just all we can say at
this point.”
The Colbert plant is the
only Weyerhaeuser facility
currently closing.
The company closed a
mill in Valdosta last year.
“It was very difficult... It’s
just a tough economic time
for everybody,” Thompson
said.
Help Available
For Paying
Heating Bills
The Georgia Department
of Human Resources is
helping some households
pay for heating costs.
Households in which
every member is 65 and
older or in which every
member is completely
unable to leave the home
due to health reasons may
apply for assistance with
their home heating bills,
starting Nov. 3.
One-time payments will
be made by checks issued
to the home energy sup
pliers on behalf of eligible
households. Eligibility for
the program is based on the
income of everyone living
in the home. All eligible
households must be respon
sible for their home heating
bill.
When applying for assis
tance, persons will be
required to present verifi
cation of age for everyone
in the home, verification
of all household income
received within the past 30
days (check stubs, public
assistance checks, unem
ployment checks, etc.), veri
fication of Social Security
numbers for everyone in
the home, and the most
recent home heating bill.
Depending on the avail
ability of funds, the regular
program will open to the
general public Dec. 1.
All interested applicants
are asked to contact Christy
Hill at Ninth District
Opportunity Inc. after 8:30
a.m. by calling 706-677-3921
on the date of the program
they qualify for.
No walk-ins please.
Additional information will
be made available online at
www.ndo.org.
'Beat Tech'
And Help
The Food Bank
The Food Bank of
Northeast Georgia is spon
soring a “Beat Tech” food
drive leading up to the
Georgia-Georgia Tech foot
ball game.
The Food Bank of
Northeast Georgia is chal
lenging Georgia Tech and
its respective food bank
— the Atlanta Community
Food Bank — to a “food
fight.”
The local group is seek
ing food donations through
Nov. 26, leading up to the
rivalry football game Nov.
29.
Athens-area businesses
that are drop-off locations
include: Brett’s Casual
American Restaurant,
Mama’s Boy Restaurant,
Buffalo’s Southwest Cafe,
Raising Cane’s, Compass
Church, St. Joseph’sCatholic
Church, Jeannette Rankin
Foundation, Lawson Family
Chiropractic, Aderhold Hall
UGA Campus Room 427,
UGA Alumni Association,
Athens Printing and
Beechwood BP.
For more information,
contact John Becker, presi
dent of the food bank, at
706-354-8191 or president®
foodbanknega.org.
Farm Helping
Get Christmas
Trees To Troops
7 G’s Farm, Nicholson,
will participate in the
Trees for Troops program
this Christmas to pro
vide Christmas trees for
American service person
nel.
The farm, located at 2375
Old Kings Bridge Road,
seeks “sponsorships” of
$35 apiece for trees that
will be harvested, packaged
and sent to military bases
during the second week of
December.
The 2008 Trees for Troops
official weekend is Dec. 5-7,
which is when interested
persons can come by the
farm, personally select a
7-7.5-foot Leyland cypress
tree and apply a Trees
for Troops tag. The farm
staff can also do that for
sponsors. Ornaments and
additional cards can also
be donated and sent with
the trees by Fed Ex. The
Fed Ex/Christmas Spirit
Foundation organizes the
event.
All sponsors will receive
a tax deductible receipt for
a 501c charitable contribu
tion. Checks should be made
out to the 7 G’s Farm, which
will, in turn, make the con
tribution to the Christmas
Spirit Foundations.
The farm will begin accept
ing sponsorships the first
week in November. The 7
G’s Farm will make the con
tribution to the Christmas
Spirit Foundation by the
end of December.
Information on the pro
gram can be found on
www.treesfortroops.org or
www.7gsfarm.com.
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