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BOATS ON BEAR CREEK? It Could Happen: Contract May Be Let On Long-Awaited Construction Of Boat Ramp On Bear Creek Reservoir: Page 5A SWEET SUCCESS Tiger Wrestlers Win Vidalia Sweet Onion Classic: Page IB Vol. 133 No. 51 16 Pages 2 Sections 50 Cents COVERING THE COMMERCE AREA SINCE 1875 Nicholson Sends New Charter To Legislature By Sharon Hogan The Nicholson City Council unanimously approved the final read ing and adoption of the new city charter night. Before it becomes official, it must be approved by the General Assembly. The document was to have been delivered to Sen. Tom McCall Tuesday city attorney Rob Russell said. The big change in the new charter is the move to staggered council terms, Mayor Ronnie Maxwell said. The other major change is the old charter had some contradictions in the wording. “In one place the old charter would say one thing and in another place it would say something else," Maxwell said. Other Matters In other business at Monday’s meeting: • The council unani- Please Turn to Page 3A cmm THURSDAY, FEB. 5 Sunny: Low, 26; high, 46; 0% chance rain FRIDAY, FEB. 6 Sunny: Low, 31; high, 60; 0% chance rain SATURDAY, FEB. 7 Mostly sunny, 39; high, 62; 10% chance rain SUNDAY, FEB. 8 Partly cloudy: Low, 42; high, 65; 10% chance rain Percipitation this month .10 inches Percipitation This Year 3.89 Inches INDEX Births 8 A Church News 3B Classified Ads 6-8B Calendar 3A Crime News 7A Obituaries 4-5B Opinions 4A School News 2A Sports 1-2B Social News 8A Proposed Electric Rate Schedule Contains Small Residential Hike Vote Monday Night On Move Expected To Generate fust $21,000 More Annually For City By Mark Beardsley The Commerce City Council expects to approve a new schedule of electric rates Monday night. The council meets at 6:30 in the Commerce Room of the Commerce Civic Center. The new rates would increase the city’s net income from electricity sales by about $21,000 a year, said John Lansing, of the Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia (MEAG), which buys and generates electricity on behalf of Commerce and other member cities. The overall increase is less than one percent. Residential customers will pay 1.9 percent more for electricity if the rates are adopted, but most of that will come on the bills of high-end users of more than 2,000 kilowatt hours a month, noted city manager Clarence Bryant. “Those using 600 to 700 kwh a month, and we have a lot, we leave a lot (of money) on the table to pro tect our residential custom ers,’’ Bryant said. The largest change in res idential rates occurs with customers who use 3,000 kwh a month. They could see their bills increase by $45, Lansing explained. Overall, the rate change would increase the profit from residential electric sales by $54,000 a year. Residential Rate Comparison Winter Summer KWH Use Current Proposed Current Proposed 500 $49 49 49 49 750 $69 68.50 72.25 74.50 1,000 $89 88 96.50 100 2,000 $163 162 202.50 210 3,000 $239 236 308.50 320 Profits off demand bill ing customers will fall by $26,000 and those from large customers would go down $34,000. The structure also moves the city’s dual-season struc ture from five months of “summer’’ rates and seven of slightly lower “winter’’ rates to six months of each. Under the proposed sched ule, someone using 750 kwh during the winter months would pay $68.50, com pared to $69 under the cur- Please Turn to Page 3A Layoffs Pushing More People To Lanier Tech Trend Expected To Continue; Workers Try To Improve Their SkillsTook To Other Careers Displays At library To Be Curtailed By Mark Beardsley The collection bins for the Banks-Jackson Emergency Hospital are out. So is the box for collecting used eye glasses for the Commerce Lions Club. Under a new policy being forced upon it by the state, the Commerce Public Library will no longer dis play materials associated with charities or service organizations — except those tied to city county, state and federal governments. “That’s awful,’’ said Anne Rogers, vice chairman of the Commerce Library Board when members learned of the new policy Jan. 26. Other members echoed her sentiments. The new policy is a result Please Turn to Page 3A By Mark Beardsley Ashley Hulsey deals with diabetics, asthmat ics and children with epilepsy She administers medications, from shots to controlled substances, and teaches courses for teachers on CPR and dia betes. Hulsey is one of two school nurses in the Commerce City School System. She and Sandy Davis are the first line of health care defense for Commerce’s 1,500-plus students. Hulsey covers the primary and elemen tary schools, Davis the middle and high schools. Gov. Sonny Perdue pro poses to cut state funding for school nurses from the budget, a $30 mil lion savings in a quest to trip $1.9 billion in state spending. That leaves local school systems like Commerce, Jefferson and Jackson County with a dilemma; do without nurses or fund them with local tax dollars that are already stretched thin. The state currently funds a little more than half of the cost of school nurses. Until earlier this year, BJC Medical Center paid for the other half in all local schools, but the financially troubled insti tution had to drop its sup port, leaving the school systems to take it on. Perdue has asked the General Assembly to do the same. Commerce Super intendent Mac McCoy Please Turn to Page 5A By Mark Beardsley Lanier Tech expects to play an expanded role in the local economy by help ing laid-off employees find new jobs. While the growth in enroll ment at the Commerce campus is minimal, as more businesses and industries shed workers in a faltering economy that is expected to rise. “We’re looking to con tinue to grow,’’ said Howard Ledford, coor dinator of instruction for the Commerce campus of Lanier Tech. “We’re seeing 10, 12, 14-percent increases in enrollment. As we see The Common Road Bakery will reopen in less than three weeks. Abbie Lawler will reopen the business she sold almost a year ago at the same Central Avenue loca tion Monday, Leb. 23. It’s a move she thought would never happen after she sold the business to Amy Sims. Sims closed the bakery in September. “Lor the first nine months, I thought 'no way,”' Lawler said. “Then my heart changed. I’m very excited.’’ The bakery will offer all of the products formerly avail able, including sandwiches, homemade soups, muffins, doughnuts, cakes, pies, cookies and brownies. “I’ve hired a baker and I’ve got two ladies up front, so more layoffs in our area, we’ll see our enrollment increase.’’ Winter quarter enrollment is up 1.5 percent at both the Commerce campus and overall for Lanier Tech, Ledford says. Ledford believes that lay offs have been slower to come to Northeast Georgia than in other areas, but they are taking place here too. “What I’m seeing is a lot of people out of work com ing back and needing to be trained,’’ he said. “I don’t think we’ve been as fast to catch it as other counties. Please Turn to Page 3A Original owner Abbie Lawler will reopen the Common Road Bakery Feb. 23. I’ve got a full staff and won’t kill myself as much,’’ Lawler said, laughing. Hours will be 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays, and the bak ery will be open for pick-up orders Saturdays from 10 a.m. to noon. Extreme Remodeling The sign at the (former location of) McDonald’s Restaurant at Banks Crossing announces that the restaurant is temporarily closed for “remod eling.” Call it a 100 percent renovation, as the restaurant has been razed to make way for a completely new facility. Schools Fear Loss Of Nurses' Funding Common Road Bakery To Reopen On Feb. 23