Newspaper Page Text
SEE PAGE 3A
SEE PAGE 12A
Higher Expectations At CHS
SEE PAGE 5A
County Schools Eye More Cuts
'Gynecologic And
Cosmetic Surgeon'
Joins Hospital Staff
Vol. 134
No. 17
24 Pages
3 Sections
www.CommerceNewsTODAY.com
^ The ' u
Commerce News
Wednesday
JUNE 10, 2009
50 Cents COVERING THE COMMERCE AREA SINCE 1875
Dropped
Watermelon
Precipitated
Child's Death
Grandfather Faces
Murder Charges;
Police End Standoff
By Shooting Assailant
By Mark
Beardsley
Police
believe
Robert L.
Clark shot
and killed
his 6-year-
old grand
son Sunday
in a fit of rage over a dropped
watermelon.
Michael Levigne, a kinder
garten student at Commerce
Primary School, was killed
by a gunshot wound to the
chest in the Troy Street,
Commerce, home of his
grandparents. Police say
Clark shot his wife, Linda
Dale Clark, 58, multiple
times in the chest/stomach
area before he himself was
shot by police officers after
he fired a weapon at them.
Two Commerce officers
are on paid administrative
leave pending a Georgia
Bureau of Investigation
inquiry into the shooting.
Jackson County deputies,
a Pendergrass police offi
cer and an officer with the
Georgia State Patrol all fired
their weapons at Clark.
Both Clark and Mrs. Clark
were transported by heli
copter to Grady Memorial
Hospital. As of Monday
afternoon, neither had recov
ered to the point where the
GBI could interview them
about the incident, Knight
said.
“This is clearly a very trag
ic incident for this commu
nity,’' said police chief John
Gaissert. “It was very trou
bling for everyone who was
involved."
Detective Chad Knight
concurred.
“They’re (local officers)
taking it rough, not so much
of being in the shooting, but
of seeing the child," Knight
said. “Most of them have
children. A lot of these peo
ple don’t realize that for all of
us it’s tough. There were sev
eral of us who broke down
because it was a child
Knight confirmed reports
that police were told the inci-
Please Turn to Page 7A
Michael
Levigne
CONTACT US
Phone: 706-335-2927
FAX: 706-387-5435
E-mail:
news@ma i nstreetnews. com
mark@mainstreetnews.com
Mail: 1672 S. Broad St.,
Commerce, GA 30529
BRAG Makes A Pit Stop
The Bike Ride Across Georgia (BRAG) made a pit stop at Willoughby Park Tuesday. Some
1,400 riders stopped for rest, to use rest rooms and even to make emergency repairs en route
from Mt. Airy (the previous night’s stay) to Athens. A number of the cyclists came downtown for
lunch before heading out Waterworks Road to Athens. The event began June 6 in Hiawassee
and will end June 13 in McCormick, SC. Photo by Mark Beardsley
School Board Extends McCoy's
Contract For Another Year
By Ben Munro
Fourth-year Commerce Schools
Superintendent James “Mac"
McCoy earned a “satisfactory"
approval rating and a one-year
contract extension.
The Commerce Board of
Education (BOE) approved both
moves unanimously Monday.
Prior to that, the school board
conducted much of its one hour,
45-minute meeting behind closed
doors.
It talked for an hour in closed ses
sion with Commerce High School
athletic director and football coach
Steve Savage, who was a late addi
tion to the night’s agenda.
The BOE spent 30 more minutes
in closed session, half of which
was spent on McCoy’s evaluation.
When open session reconvened,
the school board announced
McCoy’s extension and approval
rating (only two ratings, “satisfac
tory" or “unsatisfactory," are avail
able) after approving other person
nel items.
Those moves included approv
ing the resignation of long-time
CHS counselor Elaine Roller, who
is taking a counseling position at
East Jackson Elementary School.
Other moves included hiring
Janda Lance (substitute teacher),
David Nichols (elementary school
special education paraprofession-
al), Laura Vail (middle school spe
cial education paraprofessional),
Linda Westmoreland (primary
Please Turn to Page 3A
City Gov't
'Extreme'
Budget Gets
Council OK
City Manager Warns
Multiple Amendments
May Be Necessary
By Mark Beardsley
Passing a spending plan for the
next fiscal year was easy. Living
up to it will be another thing for
the city of Commerce.
In a 19-minute meeting
Monday night, the Commerce
City Council passed what its
city manger called the “most
extreme" budget in his experi
ence, voted to spend $25,000 to
buy a lot for off-street parking
and reappointed a member of
the Commerce Library Board.
The $23.6 million spending
plan, almost $10 million lower
than the current budget, will
be very difficult to maintain,
explained city manager Clarence
Bryant.
“I’ve been budgeting for local
government almost 33 years,"
Bryant told the council at the
end of the meeting “Most years
we end up with slight surpluses
in almost every fund, but I will
be real surprised if half of our
departments can make their
budgets."
Like everyone else coping
with declining revenues, the city
scaled spending back wherever
it could, Bryant pointed out.
There are virtually no capital
funds in the budget, and the
city manager warned that citi
zens may notice the effects of
reduced maintenance.
“When things break, you have
to fix them," he said, “but we
may not cut the grass."
Bryant praised the city staff
for its professionalism, noting
that the city has so far been able
to avoid layoffs.
“We can’t afford to lay folks
off and 12 months later try to
go back and find them," he said,
reminding the city council that
a lot of workers require various
Please Turn to Page 3A
Vendors Sought
For June 27
City Lights Fest
The Commerce Downtown
Development Authority is still
taking vendor applications
for its June 27 City Lights
Downtown Festival.
The event will be held at
Spencer Park in downtown
Commerce and will feature
music, food, a road race, car
show, arts and crafts booths
and will conclude with a fire
works demonstration.
Vendor booths are available
Please Turn to Page 3A
L..7T\i .vi t: K f i.
New Sign Designates Community Gardens
Forrest Green, director of the Community
Gardens of Commerce, and city manager
Clarence Bryant show off the new sign created
to officially designate the gardens. Thirteen 15
by 20 plots are being cultivated, producing a
variety of vegetables. The gardens are located
behind Mike’s Quick Stop on South Elm Street
and is accessed via the parking lot at Badcock
Furniture.
Photo by Mark Beardsley
Births 9A
Church News ...
8B
Classified Ads ...
...9-1 IB
Calendar
3A
Crime News
7-8 A
News Roundup .
2 A
Obituaries
6-7B
Opinions
4A
School News - 3B & 1 2B
Sports
.... 1-2B
Social News ....
..9-10A
Rainfall this month
2.59 inches
Rainfall This Year
25.25 Inches
8 "04879 14141
THURSDAY, JUNE 11
Isolated T-storms: Low, 69;
high, 90; 30% chance rain
FRIDAY, JUNE 12
Scattered T-storms: Low, 69;
high, 89; 40% chance rain
SATURDAY, JUNE 13
Scattered T-storms: Low, 68;
high, 90; 30% chance rain
SUNDAY, JUNE 14
Scattered T-storms: Low, 68;
high, 89; 40% chance rain