Newspaper Page Text
BANKS UNDER FDIC SCRUTINY
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation is cracking down on two
local financial institutions. Page 5A
ORGANIC VEGGIES
Dr. James Bouchard starts 'Simply Fresh
Veggies' farm operation. Page 12A
Vol. 134
No. 20
20 Pages
2 Sections
www.CommerceNewsTODAY.com
Commerce Slews
Wednesday
JULY 1, 2009
50 Cents COVERING THE COMMERCE AREA SINCE 1875
McKown A
Finalist For
Florida Job
Commerce’s assistant
city manager is one of two
finalists for the city man
ager’s job in Clewiston,
FL.
Steve McKown, who is
also the chief financial
officer, said the opportu
nity was too good to just
pass up.
“There are a lot of vari
ables that would have
to work themselves out
before I would go down
there,’’ said McKown.
“Nothing is settled, and
even if the job is offered,
I’m not 100 percent sure I
would take it.’’
Clewiston, located
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msm
THURSDAY, JULY 2
Partly cloudy: Low, 68; high,
92; 0% chance rain
FRIDAY, JULY 3
Partly cloudy: Low, 69; high,
92; 10% chance rain
SATURDAY, JULY 4
Isolated T-storms, Low, 71;
high, 91; 30% chance rain
SUNDAY, JULY 5
Scattered T-storms: Low, 68;
high, 85; 40% chance rain
Precipitation this month
0 inches
Precipitation This Year
26.1 Inches
INDEX
Births 1OA
Church News 4B
Classified Ads 6-8B
Calendar 3A
Crime News 6A
News Roundup 2A
Obituaries 5B
Opinions 4A
School News 7A
Sports 1-2B
Social News .... 10-1 1A
Audit 'Adjusts' BJC's Financial
Figures By Almost $3.8 Million
Auditors Sharply Critical Of
Lack Of Financial Oversight
By Mark Beardsley
It’s hard to tell what was
worse about the audit report
from BJC Medical Center,
the year-end figures for
2008 or the criticisms of the
facility’s financial reporting.
The audit, which is sev
eral months overdue, deter
mined that the medical
center — which is seeking
a buyer because of its finan
cial condition — ended the
year $2.9 million in the red.
What makes that figure
stand out is that shortly
after the fiscal year ended,
then chief financial officer
Bill Williams projected a
much smaller loss for the
year of $190,000.
The difference, accord
ing to current CFO Ray
Leadbetter, was an overen-
thusiastic estimation of how
much of the medical cen
ter’s accounts receivables
would actually be received.
The chairman of the
finance committee thinks
some of the 2008 losses
should have been attributed
to prior years.
“We were a little disap
pointed that some of the
adjustments could not go
to previous years,’’ noted
Rick Massey, who pointed
Please Turn to Page 3A
A Refreshing Splash
Patti Knick watches as a Lanier Running Club member douses himself
with the cup of water she offered during the Star Chase 5K Road Race
Saturday morning as the City Lights Downtown Festival began. She,
Dawson Knick, Russell Knick and Danny Dean managed the water sta
tion at Madison Street. Photo by Mark Beardsley
Spencer Park Going Wi-Fi
Windstream, DDA
Bring Free Internet
Service To Park
By Mark Beardsley
Spencer Park — and much
of the area around it — will
soon be a wireless free
Internet (Wi-Fi) zone, thanks
to Windstream and the
Downtown Development
Authority (DDA).
“We have Wi-Fi in the park
now,’’ reported DDA chair
man Clark Hill at the DDA’s
June 24 meeting.
Unfortunately, the system
is now security enabled
because the telephone line
providing the service also
provides access to the com
puter in the DDA office —
and therefore to the city’s
network.
To resolve that, the DDA
will either install a separate
dedicated telephone line or
have the DSL moved to the
line that is currently dedi
cated to the office’s FAX
machine.
Hasco Craver, executive
director of the DDA, said
the “Wi-Fi cloud’’ reaches
at least as far as Gift Works
at the Joy Shoppe on South
Broad Street.
For his part, Hill would
like to see the entire down
town a Wi-Fi zone.
“If we could find a host
business to partner with us
on the north end of town,
maybe in the Hood building,
for very little cost we could
have the whole downtown
Wi-Fi,’’ he commented.
The Wi-Fi zone will also
include the Commerce
Business Information
Center, the name for the for
mer Collins Cleaners build
ing being renovated under a
United States Department
of Agriculture grant.
Craver told the DDA
June 24 that the USDA has
Please Turn to Page 3A
Commerce City Council
Richard Massey
Back On The Job
By Mark Beardsley
A familiar face took his
seat in City Hall Monday
night for the first time in
months.
Ward 5 councilman
Richard Massey made his
first appearance at a coun
cil meeting since suffering
a stroke in January. When
city manager Clarence
Bryant welcomed Massey
back, the council broke
into applause.
Massey sat in a wheel
chair, his left arm in a
sling. During the meeting,
he took notes with his
right hand.
“It’s been a while since
I’ve been here,’’ Massey
pointed out. “I feel a little
like I did when I was first
elected. I’ll get back in the
groove.
I’m tak
ing it one
day at a
time.’’
He was
accom
panied
to the meeting by his wife,
Charlotte.
Massey has been recov
ering at BJC Nursing
Facility. He’d planned to
attend the June regular
meeting, but suffered an
infection and was unable
to attend. He plans to be
at the city council’s July
meeting, which has been
moved up a week to next
Monday, July 6, at 6:30
p.m. in the Commerce
Room of the Commerce
Civic Center.
Work To Begin On
Comprehensive Plan
By Mark Beardsley
Can it really have been
almost a decade since
Jackson County and
its municipalities last
approved their compre
hensive plans?
Just about. The
Commerce City Council
learned this past Monday
night that the city faces
an Oct. 10, 2010, deadline
for completing its compre
hensive plan. The process
is just now beginning.
At its work session
Monday, the council gave
city manager Clarence
Bryant the authority to let
Jerry Weitz & Associates
start work on the docu
ment. The council will
approve the $25,000
consulting contract this
Monday at 6:30 p.m. in the
Commerce Room of the
Commerce Civic Center.
Weitz & Associates is
already contracting with
Jackson County on its
comprehensive plan,
Bryant pointed out.
“We can piggyback off
Jackson County and save
30 to 40 percent,’’ he told
the council.
The process also requires
a citizens’ steering com
mittee, and Bryant asked
each councilman to “be
thinking of a person
apiece’’ to appoint to the
committee, which will also
have a representative of
city government and of
the Commerce Planning
Commission.
Other items on the
agenda for Monday night
include:
•a recommendation
from the Commerce
Planning Commission to
deny the appeal of Roger
Pressly, 119 Pine Street, of
a ruling that he cannot
rehabilitate a “cabin’’ in his
back yard to serve as a
second residence on the
lot.
• a resolution supported
by the Commerce Planning
Commission to seek Tree
City USA status.
•possible discussion of
the new sign ordinance
as recommended by the
planning commission.
However, Bryant indicat
ed that the council will
Cont. on Page 3A