Newspaper Page Text
THE BATTLE FOR BEAR CREEK
Folks living on the regional reservoir don't like plans to control access
to the lake: Page 7A. Regional authority OKs hours of boating
access, sets fee schedule for use of Bear Creek Reservoir: Page 8B
HAMBURGER HILL
40 years later, Bill Wood recalls the
bloody battle that changed U.S. policy in
Vietnam. Page 8B
Vol. 134
No. 16
20 Pages
2 Sections
www.CommerceNewsTODAY.com
Commerce Slews
Wednesday
JUNE 3, 2009
50 Cents COVERING THE COMMERCE AREA SINCE 1875
'Beach Party'
Set Friday At
Spencer Park
The Commerce
Downtown Development
Authority (DDA) will
wind up its Fridays After
Five
series and
celebrate
summer
with a
“beach
party" Friday evening at
Spencer Park.
The 6:30 event is free.
Participants are encour
aged to bring a picnic
dinner or stop by one
of the downtown restau
rants on their way to the
party.
A DJ will play beach
music (and a few
requests), there will be
two inflatables, one of
which is a Moon Walk
and the other a water
slide; and the willing can
try their hand at volleyball
— with a beach ball. There
will be Frisbees and other
beach-type activities.
Last Friday’s event,
the “Hotel for Dogs"
movie, drew an estimated
500 people, said Hasco
Craver, executive director
of the DDA.
Fridays
After
Five
msm
THURSDAY, JUNE 4
Scattered T-storms; Low, 65;
high, 82; 50% chance rain
FRIDAY, JUNE 5
Isolated T-storms: Low, 62;
high, 76; 40% chance rain
SATURDAY, JUNE 6
Partly cloudy: Low, 65; high,
85; 10% chance rain
SUNDAY, JUNE 7
Partly cloudy: Low, 68; high,
89; 10% chance rain
Precipitation this month
0.00 inches
Precipitation This Year
22.66 Inches
INDEX
Births
8 A
Church News ...
3B
Classified Ads ..
....4-6B
Calendar
3A
Crime News ....
6A
News Roundup .
2 A
Obituaries
101 1A
Opinions
4A
School News ...
....3-4B
Sports
.... 1-2B
Social News ....
8A
Pouring The Walls
Workers pour concrete into the forms for the walls of the new gymnasium
at the Commerce High School construction site. In all, they poured more than
200 cubic yards of concrete Tuesday. In addition, the campus entrance by the
former site of the tennis courts is gone, the sedimentation pond in front of
the school is being finalized and the front part of the campus near the former
main entrance is being graded. Photo by Mark Beardsley
BJC Reports April Profit
By Mark Beardsley
Financially troubled BJC Medical Center
finished April $117,000 in the black, its
chief financial officer reported Monday.
Ray Leadbetter told the hospital author
ity board that April was a “very promising
month" financially.
Leadbetter’s current projection is that the
facility will end its fiscal year $875,000 in
the red. That’s about $400,000 better than a
previous projection.
“Since December, accounts payable are
down $500,000," Leadbetter said. “Accounts
receivable are down dramatically as well
since December, from $9 million to $5 mil
lion." Cash flow, once the non-cash item of
depreciation is added back, is also positive,
according to Leadbetter. He also reported
that a $357,801 “upper payment limit" check
from the federal government is in, signifi
cantly boosting the medical center’s April
bottom line. One twelfth of that, Leadbetter
said, was counted in the April revenue.
Caught between inadequate federal reim
bursements and a recession that has brought
more people who can’t or won’t pay, BJC is
trying to convince the Jackson and Banks
boards of commissioners to give it $3.7 mil
lion to cover its short-term debt.
Finance Chairman Rick Massey, reporting
on that subject, said only that the authority
continues to “move forward," and attorneys
Please Turn to Page 3A
County's Reservoir Suit Can Proceed
By Mark Beardsley
Jackson County’s lawsuit over the Bear
Creek Reservoir can proceed.
A spokesperson for the office of Judge
Joe Booth said Booth has ruled against a
motion presented by the Upper Oconee
Basin Water Authority seeking to dismiss
the suit.
Jackson County filed suit to force the
basin group, of which it is a member, to
recalculate the yield of the reservoir, which
is jointly owned by Jackson, Barrow, Athens-
Clarke and Oconee counties. The daily
yield, calculated by the authority’s engi
neers and approved by the Environmental
Protection Division, is the basis for deter
mining how much water each partner can
withdraw from the reservoir every day.
When its own consultants concluded that
the yield of the 505-acre lake is actually less
Should Jackson County prevail
in its suits, other members of the
regional water authority are likely to
have to start paying Jackson County
for water.
than the 58 million gallons per day declared
by the authority, Jackson sought a recalcula-
Please Turn to Page 3A
CHS Tops In
Area On State
Graduation Test
Commerce High School juniors who took the Georgia
High School Graduation Test for the first time this year
had fewer failures than their counterparts both statewide
and locally.
While students are allowed to take the tests several
times before graduation, the first-time GHSGT results
are used as a barometer to see where students stand as
they prepare to enter their senior year of high school.
In the four counties covered by Mainstreet Newspapers
— Banks, Barrow, Jackson and Madison — the variation
between school results was narrow and closely followed
the overall state results.
CHS reported failing percentages of 5-7 percent in
Social Studies, Math, Science and English/Language
Arts. Statewide, those figures ranged from seven to 13
percent.
Only three percent of Jefferson juniors failed math —
the best ranking among local schools — but CHS seniors
had a lower failing rate in all the other subjects than any
of the school systems in Banks, Barrow, Madison and
Jackson counties and its percentage of students failing
was lower than the state in all categories.
Area High Schools GHSGT Results
First Time Test Takers Percent Failing
System
E/LA
Math
Sci
SS
State
10
7
12
13
Commerce
7
6
7
5
Barrow
10
7
11
15
Banks
11
8
13
12
Jackson
12
4
11
14
Madison
13
5
16
17
Jefferson
12
3
8
10
Massey Expected
At City Council
Meeting Monday
Ward 5 Councilman Recovering
From January Stroke
By Mark Beardsley
Ward 5 Commerce coun
cilman Richard Massey is
expected to make his first
appearance at a council
meeting Monday night
since his January stroke.
The council meets at 6:30
p.m. in the Commerce
Room of the Commerce
Civic Center.
Massey will be just in
time to vote on the $23.6
million tentative budget
for the upcoming fiscal
year, a “bare bones" bud
get necessitated by falling
revenues.
Massey, 74, has been
recovering at BJC Nursing
Home. He’s been kept
abreast of city activities,
receiving all of the meet
ing minutes and other
materials routinely sent to
council members, accord
ing to Mayor Charles L.
Hardy Jr.
The meeting shouldn’t
be long enough to tire
Massey. The main action
item will be passage of
the budget, a final version
of which won’t be passed
until July or even August.
At Monday night’s
work session, city man
ager Clarence Bryant and
finance director Steve
McKown asked the coun
cil for comment about
three items.
One was a proposal to elim
inate the annual employee
Christmas bonuses, which
amount to a week’s pay or
to reduce them. It didn’t fly
with the council.
“I hate to do away with
the Christmas bonuses,"
offered councilman Mark
Fitzpatrick.
“I agree with Mark," said
councilman Archie D.
Chaney Jr. Neither mayor
pro tem Dusty Slater
nor councilman Donald
Wilson expressed a view
on that line item.
Likewise, an option of
reducing the property tax
rate by a tenth of a mill
attracted no interest. The
savings would amount to
but $17,500.
The council agreed
to get staff to talk
with Commerce Fire
Department officials
about a $200,000 request
for a new tanker. The
thrust of that discussion
is aimed more at the city
understanding the depart
ment’s long-term capital
plans than affecting the
Please Turn to Page 3A
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