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SEE PAGE IB SEE PAGE 10A Tigers Now 2-0 Atop Region 8-A Immigrant's Hard Work Pays Off With Citizenship Vol. 133 No. 44 18 Pages 2 Sections 50 Cents COVERING THE COMMERCE AREA SINCE 1875 Shop Commerce By Candlelight On Friday Night Downtown Commerce will offer a rare nighttime shopping experience with “Commerce by Candlelight" this Friday. Approximately 20 stores will stay open until 9:00, and shoppers will be able to stroll from store to store on luminary-lit sidewalks, hear Christmas carols performed by the coun ty’s top vocal ensemble, see Santa, enjoy refresh ments and maybe even win a door prize. All participating busi nesses will have light refreshments. Some will have door prizes, and there will also be draw ings for more than $500 in gift certificates given to people who sign in at all 20 businesses. The Jackson County Comprehensive High School Advanced Choral Ensemble will sing Christmas carols at vari ous locations during the evening. THURSDAY, DEC 18 Cloudy: Low, 56; high, 73; 10% chance rain FRIDAY, DEC 19 Few showers: Low, 52; high, 69; 30% chance rain SATURDAY, DEC 20 Few showers: Low, 51; high, 66; 30% chance rain SUNDAY, DEC 21 Showers: Low, 30; high, 62; 50% chance rain Reservoir Levels Commerce: 699 (1.4 feet above full) Bear Creek: 690.53 (4.47 feet below full) Rainfall this month 3.7 inches Rainfall This Year 46.22 Inches INDEX Births 8A Church News 7B Classified Ads 4-8 B Calendar 3 A Crime News 7A News Roundup 2A Obituaries 9A Opinions 4A School News 8B Sports 1-3B Social News 8A The Hurricane Shoals Conference Center was named in honor of Pat Bell Monday. Bell is shown at the conference center with her husband, John; son, Greg; and granddaughter, Hannah. County Names Conference Center After BOC's Bat Bell By Angela Gary Pat Bell has been devoted to improving and expanding Hurricane Shoals Park. She has been an integral part of every addition and enhancement made at the park over the past three decades. Her work at the park, as well as her years of service to Jackson County, was recog nized Monday as the Hurricane Shoals Conference Center was renamed in her honor. A sign in front of the building now reads “Pat Bell Conference Center" and a plaque honoring Bell is located at the entrance of the conference center. The announcement was made Monday at a surprise reception for Bell, who is retiring as chairman of the Jackson County Board of Commissioners. Bell previously served as a commissioner, as well as a state rep resentative and as the county extension agent. County officials, former 4-H’ers and others gathered at the conference cen ter Monday morning for the retirement reception. Jackson County Chamber of Commerce president Shane Short, former 4-H’ers Penny Gaultney and Wayne Reese and MainStreet Newspapers publisher Mike Buffington spoke on Bell’s service. Short pointed out that Bell was integral in forming the chamber 30 years ago. “She has personally been involved in a lot of economic development in the county," Short said. Gaultney congratulated Bell on her retire ment and pointed out that she has already been to one retirement event for her — as a county extension agent. “I don’t think this will be the last retire ment," she added. Reese spoke on Bell’s drive and dedica tion: “She’s not going to say no if something needs to be done ... Hurricane Shoals is a testimony to that." Buffington said Bell has “cultivated lead ership among young people" through her county extension service and has been the “driving force" behind many improvements during her term as BOC chairman. “Few people have impacted as many issues as Pat Bell has," he said. BOC Meeting At the last BOC meeting of the year Monday night, Commissioner Jody Thompson read a resolution honoring Bell. She was also presented with several gifts, including a shadow box containing the scissors she used at ribbon cuttings dur ing her term and a framed map of the South Apple Valley Road project, which she pushed through due to safety con cerns. Rick Sanders and Cathy Robinson of the recreation department presented the shadow box and Don Clerici and Darrell Hampton presented the framed map. Bell also spoke on her term in office and encouraged the new commission board to continue addressing water issues. The BOC recently filed a lawsuit against the Upper Oconee Basin Authority to challenge the assumed capacity of the reservoir. “I want the new board to be very careful and very attuned and very resourceful with our water," she said. “Protect our future water. We have to find out how much water is in that reservoir. Don’t back down on our water." Bell also spoke on the work the commis sioners did during her term. “I can truthfully say we have sat here for four years and we’ve had our differences but when we needed to come together, we came together. I am proud of every com missioner I served with. Even though we had our differences — that keeps you on your toes." Group Hopes To Spur Action On Rate Of Births To Teens By Mark Beardsley Every year, Jackson County teenagers ages 15-19 give birth to 100 children — the highest rate of births to teens in the 10-county Northeast Georgia Health District. That’s the equivalent of six classrooms per year of school children whose odds of growing up in poverty are extremely high; and 100 young women also destined for poverty. Yet, those stunning figures — which are worse per capi ta than Mexico, the Ukraine and Romania among a host of other countries — have yet to spur public officials and policymakers into any serious attempts to confront the issue. Last Thursday night, at the invitation of the Jackson County Teen Pregnancy Coalition, approximately 25 parents and grandparents gathered at the First Baptist Church of Commerce to brainstorm ways by which the tide of babies born to children might be stemmed. They produced a host of suggestions, ranging from more recreation and men toring programs to better sex education curricula Please Turn to Page 3A Reservoirs Get Boost From Last Week's Rain Last week’s rainfall was good for the Bear Creek Reservoir. Following the 3-plus inches of rain that fell Thursday and Friday, the 505-acre lake rose by more than two feet. Operators had been able to pump a little water out of the Middle Oconee River into the southwest Jackson County reservoir as early as Dec. 5, but began pumping full-time Thursday, Dec. 11. As of Tuesday morning, all three pumps continued to run full-time. “I would say we’ll get to pump full force today and maybe tomorrow," said Wayne Wilson, lead opera tor. Wilson said the lake level was at 690.53 feet Tuesday morning. That’s 4.47 feet below full, but just more than two feet above where the lake’s level was just a week earlier. The forecast for the rest of the week offers some hope of rain to keep the river level high enough that the pumps can keep running. In addition to a 30 percent chance of rain today (Wednesday), the forecast calls for 30 percent chance of rain Friday and Saturday and a 50 percent chance Sunday. The Bear Creek Reser voir, which provides water for Jackson, Barrow, Oconee and Clarke coun ties, is filled by pumping water from the nearby Middle Oconee River. When river levels are suffi cient, operators can pump 60 million gallons per day. During the drought, how ever, the stream flow has often fallen to the point where no water can be pumped to the reservoir. City Reservoir Full The Commerce Reser voir is not just full, but over full after 3.8 inches of rain last Thursday and Friday. Brian Harbin, director of water and sewer opera tions, said the reservoir level Tuesday morning was at 699 feet, 1.4 feet above full. Holiday Cheer A Christmas scene welcomes visitors to the Commerce Police Department. Newspaper Deadlines Advanced Because of the upcoming holidays and the change in production schedules, deadlines for The Commerce News will be advanced for the next two issues. The papers will be printed both Tuesdays, will be avail able Tuesday nights at local stores and will arrive in local subscribers’ mailboxes in Wednesday’s mail. Deadlines, for both classified and display ads, will be moved to noon Friday, Dec. 19, for the Dec. 24 issue and Friday, Dec. 26, for the Dec. 31 publication. The news deadline for both issues of The Commerce News will be Friday at 4 p.m. Just 2 Building Permits Issued The Commerce Department of Building Inspection issued two permits during November. One is for a new house, valued at $60,000; the other was for an addition or alteration to a house and was val ued at $30,000. The “values" are not used to determine taxation. The Jackson County Tax Assessor’s office will set that figure. The low number of permits reflects the economic slow down, which is also seen in the number of inspections the department makes. During November, officials averaged 3.35 inspections per work day.