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SEE PAGE IB
Baseball Tigers
Hold Onto 2nd
In Region 8-A
SEE PAGE 12B
Stormy Friday
But More
Damage Monday
Vol. 134
No. 9
24 Pages
3 Sections
The
www.CommerceNewsTODAY.com
ine AP
Commerce News
50 Cents COVERING THE COMMERCE AREA SINCE 1875
Wednesday
APRIL 15, 2009
Few Leads In Robbery
At United Community Bank
By Mark Beardsley
Officials investigating the
April 9 armed robbery at
United Community Bank’s
Homer Road office don’t
have many leads.
A black male entered the
bank at about 9:30, pro
duced a small silver hand
gun, demanded money
from a teller and made a
clean getaway.
The suspect is described
as five feet, 10 inches to
6 feet tall, and 200 to 240
pounds.
Police Chief John Gaissert
said the robber’s face was
obscured by a white gauze
mask. The robber made a
customer service represen
tative get off the phone,
handed a teller a plastic
bag, pointed a silver hand
gun at her and told her to
“hurry up.’’
Police immediately put
out a lookout for a “small,
older model red car,’’ but
“nobody can confirm that
they saw him get in,’’ noted
Detective Chad Knight
of the police department.
“They saw a red car leav
ing the parking lot of
Tiger Town Pharmacy and
Century 21 next door and
coming in toward town
fast, but we have no con
firmation.’’
The bank’s security sys
tem did not get good pho
tos, said Knight.
“The best picture we have
is of the gun,’’ Knight report
ed, indicating that the lack
of pictures may indicate the
robber is experienced. “He
kept his head down, told
them not to look at him
and had gloves on. There
was nothing we could get
physical evidence from.’’
Bank personnel saw the
suspect run toward the
office complex next door,
Knight said. A tracking dog
lost the scent behind the
building, leading officers
to conclude that the rob
ber made his getaway by
vehicle.
The robbery was the
third area bank robbery
this year. Robbers struck
Northeast Georgia Bank at
Banks Crossing in April
2008 and in October. The
second suspect was cap
tured in the south end of
the county following a
chase. He was from the
Greenville area, and Knight
said his “first instinct’’ after
last week’s robbery made
him think that the suspect
might also be from South
Carolina — and have expe
rience robbing banks.
“There was something he
did that we’re not releasing
that led us to believe either
he’d done it before or stud
ied the bank, something as
far as how the money was
dealt with,’’ Knight said.
Maxwell To Be Elected
GMA District 5 President
Nicholson Mayor
Ronnie Maxwell will
be the president of
District 5 of the Georgia
Municipal Association and
Commerce councilman
Mark Fitzpatrick will be
his second vice president.
Their names are on the
ballot for GMA elections
that will take place before
June 1.
The slate of candidates
issued by GMA includes
only one candidate for
each position, assuring that
Maxwell and Fitzpatrick
are elected. Maxwell serves
as first vice president cur
rently, while Fitzpatrick is
third vice president.
Terms are for a year.
District 5 covers 10-12
counties from Elbert
County west to Rockdale
County.
Steep Water, Sewer Rate
Hikes OK'd In Maysville
By Justin Poole
Maysville residents may
see large increases in their
water and sewerage bills in
the near future.
The city is applying for a
$750,000 loan for sewer line
and manhole rehabilitation.
If it gets the loan, the city
will raise water rates by 24
percent and sewerage rates
by 36 percent to cover the
debt service and to counter
act a $89,000 water budget
shortfall.
The council discussed the
situation at a work session
last Thursday and approved
the rates — contingent
upon receiving a Georgia
Environmental Facilities
Authority loan for $750,000
— at a called meeting after
the work session.
While the sewer increase
is required to repay the
loan, the water rate increase
would be put in place to
cover an $89,000 shortfall in
the water budget. The short-
Please Turn to Page 3A
Cha-Ching! City Adds $8 To
Cost Of Every Police Citation
'Technology Fee' Increase To Fund
Computer Upgrade For Police Department
By Mark Beardsley
The cost of being bad just
got worse.
The Commerce City
Council voted Monday
night to increase the “tech
nology surcharge’’ added
to every citation issued
by the Commerce Police
Department from $12 to
$20.
The move will help
replace computers at the
police department.
That is not the only add
on to citations. In fact,
it’s getting to the point
where the add-on costs are
approaching the level of
the original fine.
Here’s how it works.
A motorist too busy talk
ing on her cell phone to
notice the light changing,
runs the red light by Ingles
and gets pulled over by a
Commerce police officer.
Assuming there are no
other offenses, the driver
can look forward to a $143
fine, according to Joyce
Cooper, who has been
Commerce’s clerk of court
for 20 years.
But $143 is just the begin
ning.
Add $20 for that technol
ogy fee, which goes to the
Cont. on Page 3A
Easter In Downtown Commerce
Community Bank & Trust vice president Jud Trapnell starts the city’s annual Easter egg
hunt. Photos by Mark Beardsley
Bryanna Sanders, 6, gets attention from her mom, Layla Sanders,
AKA the Easter Bunny.
Bayleigh Barham, 4,
found a basketful of
Easter treats.
Matthew Simpson, 4, enjoys
a Varsity hot dog after the Competition was fierce in the area set aside for kids 5 and
egg hunt. under.
Church News .
6B
Classified Ads .
7-9 B
Calendar
3A
Crime News ...
7-8 A
News Roundup
2 A
Obituaries
..101 1A
Opinions
4A
School News 1
2A. 10B
Sports
1-3B
Social News ...
9 A
Rainfall this month
4.35 inches
Rainfall This Year
18.66 Inches
o
THURSDAY, APRIL 16
/
Partly cloudy: Low, 44; high,
69; 10% chance rain
FRIDAY, APRIL 17
Mostly sunny: Low, 46; high,
72; 10% chance rain
SATURDAY, APRIL 18
Mostly cloudy: Low, 53; high,
74; 20% chance rain
SUNDAY, APRIL 19
Scattered T-storms: Low, 54;
high, 73; 40% chance rain
4 8 7 9
O