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SEE PAGE IB SEE PAGE 11A Last Games Played In Commerce Gym Go To EJCHS For Cheese, Chocolate SEE PAGE 8A Meet Three Authors In Nicholson Vol. 134 No. 1 20 Pages 2 Sections The www.CommerceNewsTODAY.com i ne htBKi Commerce News 50 Cents COVERING THE COMMERCE AREA SINCE 1875 Wednesday FEBRUARY 18, 2009 Fourteen fire departments and more than 100 fire The blaze apparently started when strong winds fighters responded to last Thursday’s fire at Lanier blew an ember from the company’s incinerator Pallet Recycling on Hwy. 334 below Commerce, onto nearby pallets.Photo by Mark Beardsley Ember From Incinerator Believed To Have Caused Lanier Pallet Fire By Mark Beardsley Thousands of pallets burned up and a stor age shed was destroyed Wednesday afternoon mmm THURSDAY, FEB. 19 0* . Partly cloudy, windy, Low, 25; high, 48; 0% chance rain FRIDAY, FEB. 20 Sunny: Low, 31; high, 50; 0% chance rain SATURDAY, FEB. 21 Partly cloudy: Low, 26; high, 51; 10% chance rain SUNDAY, FEB. 22 Sunny: Low, 27; high, 45; 0% chance rain Rainfall this month 0.40 inches Rainfall This Year 4.19 Inches INDEX Births 8 A Church News 3B Classified Ads 6-8B Calendar 3A Crime News 6A News Roundup 2A Obituaries 9-10A Opinions 4A School News .... 1 1-1 2A Sports 1-2B Social News 7-8A in a fire at Lanier Pallet Recycling, located on Hwy. 334 south of Commerce. Officials believe strong winds blew an ember from the business’ incinerator onto the pallets, starting the fire. The wind quickly spread the fire across the company’s lot. Fire departments from all over the county responded, with tanker trucks shuttling between the fire and fire hydrants — and to a fire res ervoir at Huber Engineered Woods — to bring water to the scene. “We lost 25,000 pallets, two buildings, a tractor, a trailer, several pieces of equipment, but no lives,’’ commented Michelle Lewis, who with her hus band owns the business, which employs 17. She said local fire personnel “did an excellent job’’ in bringing the fire under control and limiting damage. The Department of Transportation closed Hwy. 334 and detoured traffic around the scene. “Units from all fire departments in Jackson County, Jackson County Rescue, Jackson County EMS, Banks County Fire and Madison County Fire responded,’’ wrote Steve Nichols, director of the county’s Department of Emergency Services, in a memo to county man ager Darrell Hampton. “Approximately 30 units responded with approxi mately 100 persons on the scene for assistance.’’ The fire started at about 12:30 and was brought under control at about 4 p.m., according to Nichols, although fire personnel were on the scene until 7:30 p.m. The blaze rekin dled early Thursday morn ing and fire crews were sent back. The flare-up damaged the back of one of the two remaining build ings, Mrs. Lewis said. The fire also knocked out power for some 363 Jackson EMC customers. Crews worked into the night to restore power. Using an “incident com mand system’’ on which all county emergency person nel are trained, Commerce Fire Chief Keith Whitfield served as incident com mander, with fireman Kevin Dean as commander of operations. Upon arrival, Commerce firemen realized they lacked resources to put out the blaze, and began work ing to contain it, Whitfield said. “We cut it off. They lost a building but we pretty much saved most of the machinery in it and cut it off before it got to the other building,’’ he said. One of the other build ings contained quantities of Xylene and paint, so Whitfield dedicated one of the four pumpers to keeping that building cooled. Fourteen fire depart ments responded, sending more than 30 pieces of fire equipment to help out. Every Jackson County fire department except Jefferson participated in one form or another. Whitfield explained that he did not summon Jefferson for fear of leaving the rest of the county at risk should another fire occur. As it Please Turn to Page 6A Advice For Those Laid Off: Don't Waste Time, Do Something By Mark Beardsley Dr. Howard Ledford, coordinator of instruction at the Commerce campus of Lanier Technical College, has advice for those who lose their jobs. Speaking to the Commerce Area Business Association last Wednesday, Ledford said those laid off during the ongoing recession should make the Department of Labor their first stop. There they can sign up for unemployment benefits, but the jobless should not stop there. “Contact the Regional Devel opment Center’s Office of Workforce Development,’’ Ledford urged. That group runs the Workforce Investment Board which, though cur rently out of money, is putting names on a list for funding for retrain ing of the jobless. “Don’t wait to get on the list,’’ Ledford urged. “When money is available, then you’ll be on the top of the Dr. Howard Ledford he list for retraining’’ Ledford also urged the newly jobless not to sit at home and wait for the tele phone to ring. “Do something. Get a certificate (at Lanier Tech), be pro ductive. Volunteer. The schools all need volunteer mentors,’’ said, adding that such activities will only enhance the applicant’s resume. He also recommended Please Turn to Page 3A Town Hall Meeting Wanted: Public Input On Future Of Downtown Downtown Development Authority Solicits Ideas From ResidentsTaxpayers By Mark Beardsley Do you have a sugges tion for improving down town Commerce? Are their too few parking places, are the trucks rip ping through town getting on your nerves or do all those garbage containers on the sidewalk turn you off? The Downtown Develop ment Authority wants to hear your gripes and your suggestions as it tries to figure out what the public would like to see down town. It will host a “town hall meeting’’ Thursday night at 6:00 in the Commerce Room at the Commerce Civic Center so the public can have its say. It’ll be a repeat of a similar meeting held three years ago, from which the DDA created a program of work based on public comments. “Downtown restrooms and parking were the top priorities,’’ recalled Hasco Craver, executive director of the DDA. The DDA will have the restrooms done by July 1. It formed an ad hoc park ing committee and has worked to improve park ing lots. The lot behind the Commerce Civic Center was re-striped and patched, and the lot across from Hasco Craver Craver noted. “Since then downtown has added more than 4,000 square feet of upper floor space. People wanted more res taurants. We’ve seen two new restaurants opened, Common Road Bakery is coming back, Little Italy is doing well and Subway just obtained a building permit.’’ The participants three years ago wanted more downtown activities; the DDA added the Fridays after 5 series. They asked for a farmer’s market — and the City to City Farmers Market shared with Jefferson started (this year Commerce will have its own market every Saturday starting in late spring). After everyone has an opportunity to suggest projects, the group will vote to determine an order of priority. Please Turn to Page 3A County Lays Off 6 In Planning Department By Angela Gary Six positions in the Jackson County Planning and Building Department were cut last week due to the slowdown in the build ing industry In addition, two other department employees, senior planning manager Frank Etheridge and planner Toni Smith, are on paid leave pending the outcome of an internal investigation. On Monday night, the Jackson County Board of Commissioners contract ed with consultant Don Clerici of BM&K to man age the county’s planning office. Six people were laid off in the planning depart ment Friday — two inspec tors, two clerks and two employees in the engineer ing division of the public development department. “Over the last several months, Jackson County, like many parts of the state and nation, has experi enced a significant decline in the construction indus try; specifically in housing construction,’’ said county manager Darrell Hampton. “The result of this has been a decline in the number of housing starts, resto rations, renovations and additions. The result is a larger staff of building inspectors and related staff than the demand of the market dictates. There is never a good time for a reduction in force, but this change is the appropriate action in the tough eco nomic times. It will hope fully position these depart ments to weather this hard time, while still delivering service as needed.’’ Monday night, the BOC agreed to pay BM&K, which is owned by former planning director Clerici, to manage the county plan- Please Turn to Page 3A