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SEE PAGE IB Baseball Tigers Win Two, Lose One Game SEE PAGES 10A & 11A Senior Art Contest Winners Are Announced Vol. 131 No. 4 20 Pages 2 Sections 50 Cents COVERING THE COMMERCE AREA SINCE 1875 Freedom Bank custom ers doing business on Monday found their bank had been taken over by Northeast Georgia Bank after regulators closed down Freedom Bank over the week end. Freedom Fails Regulators Pull The Plug On Freedom Bank; Northeast Georgia Bank Buys Assets Freedom died over the weekend. Freedom Bank of Georgia, based in Commerce, became the 17th bank taken over so far in 2009 by the FDIC. It is the second bank in Georgia to be closed. Freedom Bank was taken over Friday evening at 6:00 by state and federal bank ing officials. All deposits of the bank were acquired by Northeast Georgia Bank of Lavonia. Its branches, including those in Jefferson, Homer, Commerce and Winder, reopened Monday morning as Northeast Georgia Bank. “Depositors of Freedom Bank of Georgia will auto matically become deposi tors of Northeast Georgia Bank," said a news release about the closure. “Deposits will continue to be insured by the FDIC, so there is no need for customers to change their banking rela tionship to retain their deposit insurance cover age. Customers of both banks should continue to use their existing branches until Northeast Georgia Bank can fully integrate the deposit records of Freedom Bank of Georgia. Depositors of Freedom Bank of Georgia can access their money by writing checks or using ATM or debit cards. Checks drawn on the bank will continue to be processed. Loan custom ers should continue to make their payments as usual, the news releases explained. Please Turn to Page 3A Commerce City Council Ready, Aim, Get Permit Council Approves Ordinance To Allow Residents To Shoot Animal Pests' In City By Mark Beardsley The Commerce City Council voted Monday night to let city residents — after they get a permit from the police — shoot “animal pests" under cer tain circumstances. What is an “animal pest"? The ordinance was designed with squirrels in mind, but it does not spec ify any particular animal. Is the deer munching your tomato plants a pest? The neighbor’s dog who chases your cat and defecates in your yard? The determination rests with Police Chief John Gaissert — or whomever he designates to handle per mits under the ordinance. “I suspect you’re going to have a difficult time getting a permit to shoot a dog," city manager Clarence Bryant observed wryly. “No dogs, no cats," concurred Gaissert, who Squirrels can now be shot inside the city — providing you have a permit from the Commerce Police Department. explained that “animal pests" will generally be interpreted as “squirrels or rodents." Gaissert said he or one of his command staff will go over permit applications carefully on a case-by-case basis. “The goal is to allow citi zens to take care of some of the complaints we’ve had in a safe manner," the police chief said. “I or my designee is going to have a conversation with whoever is applying for a permit to make sure they under stand. Groundhogs, rats, squirrels, that’s one type of thing. Not dogs, not cats, not deer. We’re not going to have a hunting season in the city." Likewise, the nature of the ordinance will limit the types of guns and ammunition that would be allowed. “No person holding such a permit shall at any time discharge such a firearm in such a way as to encroach on any street, public way, house or property or per son of another." In other words, the pro jectile must stay on the Please Turn to Page 3A msnn THURSDAY, MARCH 12 Cloudy: Low, 45; high, 60; 10% chance rain FRIDAY, MARCH 13 Showers: Low, 44; high, 51; 50% chance rain SATURDAY, MARCH 14 Showers: Low, 48; high, 55; 40% chance rain SUNDAY, MARCH 15 Showers: Low, 51; high, 63; 40% chance rain Precipitation this month 1.52 inches Precipitation This Year 9.04 Inches INDEX Births 1OA Church News 3B Classified Ads 6-8B Calendar 3A Crime News 7A News Roundup 2A Obituaries 8-9A Opinions 4A School News .... 1 1-1 2A Sports 1-2B Social News 1 OA School Board Ponders More CHS Amenities By Ben Munro The Commerce School System appears to have landed a bargain price to build a new high school, which has some school leaders pondering addi tions to the new CHS. The Commerce Board of Education (BOE) is inter ested in adding a track at the new high school, but superintendent James “Mac" McCoy suggested waiting until bids for the school are locked in before going forth. “Let’s wait just a little while to make sure we’re coming in where we need to be with the school — no surprises," superintendent James “Mac" McCoy told the BOE Thursday night. The new high school bid has come in much lower than expected. The bids total $14.6 million. McCoy had hoped the project would cost under $17 mil lion. Still, McCoy wants to make sure that price is final ized and all the needs with in the facility are met first. “I would feel better know ing that we have everything we want and need in the high school and then we can move forward to the track," he said. But the outlook is posi tive, McCoy said. “I think we’ll have plenty of money for the track," he said. McCoy called opening the bids for the new CHS an exciting process since 32 out of 36 projects for the 136,500 square foot building came in under budget. “After the first seven packets, we were $1 mil lion under budget... I got to where I was almost giddy sitting at the table," McCoy said. Had the system tried to build a new high school 2-3 years ago, McCoy said, “we wouldn’t have been able to afford it, because it would have been over $21 million plus." McCoy said Charles Black Construction, the general contractor, is still confirming the low bids. The next step is to sign a contract and set a demoli tion date. The old gym will be destroyed first, followed by the tennis courts. After the school year is over, a por tion of a wing of the high school will come down, according to McCoy. Meanwhile, McCoy will meet to secure the remain ing bonds for the new CHS. He points out, how ever, that the school system still has $8.4 million from the first issuance of bonds. Construction of the new CHS will take two years. School leaders hope to pay off bond loans for the new CHS in 15 years as long as SPLOST money holds up and local SPLOST continues to pass. Commerce Council Warm To Community Garden, Cleanup Day By Mark Beardsley Carson Street resident Forrest Green may just have talked himself into a job as a city volunteer. After getting a warm recep tion from the Commerce City Council Monday night for proposals to start a city community garden and to organize a clean-up cam paign, Mayor Charles L. Hardy Jr. issued the warn ing. “You’ll probably be put in charge of the project as soon as we find space," he said, after thanking Green for his short presentation. The specific project Hardy referenced was the commu nity garden. Under Green’s concept, the city would allo cate space on vacant land that could be leased to resi dents for vegetable gardens. He said he envisioned 10 by 10 spaces divided into quar ters. He even had a loca tion in mind — at Veterans Memorial Park on Carson Street. “There’s an excellent spot just sitting there empty," he said. “With a nice fence and nice identifying markers, it could be a very nice place." Green said he’s been involved with similar proj ects in Virginia and North Carolina. Green pointed out that a community garden would give adults — particularly senior citizens — something to do at the park. “Parks and rec. is primarily dedicated to young people," he pointed out. “I’d like to see something the senior citizens could get involved with, people who have a lot of free times on their hands through the day or in the evening who can then go and be productive that way." He also speculated that the cost would be minimal and that “these kinds of gardens are very suscep tible for state and federal grants." Community Clean-Up Green’s other idea was a city-sponsored clean up day he termed “Walk Around the Block," a one- day-a-year event in which people would be asked to walk around the blocks in their neighborhoods and pick up trash. “It is good for community morale and it gets people involved in different ways than they have in the past," Green told the council. Jackson Jobless Rate Surpasses Georgia's Jackson County’s unemployment rate shot up in January to 9.5 percent, up from 8.1 percent in December. The rate is significantly up from one year ago when it stood at 5.2 percent in January 2008. The statewide unemployment rate was 8.8 percent in January. According to the State Department of Labor, some 2,673 Jackson Countians were unemployed in January. In the immediate Northeast Georgia area, both Barrow and Franklin counties had higher unemployment in January at 10.2 and 11 percent respectively. The highest rates of unemployment in Northeast Georgia are Hart and Elbert counties, both of which exceeded 12 percent in January. Unemployment Rates Jan. Dec. Jan. 08 State 8.8% 7.8% 5.3% Jackson County 9.5% 8.1% 5.2% Barrow County 10.2% 8.6% 5.2% Clarke County 6.6% 5.7% 4.3% Hall County 8.3% 7.0% 4.3% Franklin County 11.0% 8.7% 6.1% Madison County 7.7% 6.5% 4.5% Banks County 6.7% 5.7% 3.7% Oconee County 5.3% 4.5% 3.5%