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SPECIAL LAKE PRIVILEGES People living adjacent to the Bear Creek Reservoir will get more than double the boating access allowed to other citizens: Page 11A 3 STATE FIRSTS The Tiger Shark Swim Team came home from state with three first places: Page 1B Vol. 134 No. 24 24 Pages 2 Sections www.CommerceNewsTODAY.com Commerce Slews Wednesday JULY 29, 2009 50 Cents COVERING THE COMMERCE AREA SINCE 1875 Where There's Smoke, There's A Leak In A Sewer Line By Mark Beardsley If you’ve got 'em, smoke 'em — leaking sanitary sewer lines, that is. Trying to find the sourc es of stormwater inflow and infiltration into the sanitary sewer system, Commerce water and sewerage officials and the city’s engineering firm will begin several months of “smoke testing’’ next week to pinpoint the sources. As the name suggests, the practice involves fill ing sewer lines with harm less smoke and watch ing to see where smoke appears. It should appear coming out of residential sewer vents, usually on the roofs. It should not appear inside houses and build ings — out of the ground or out of creekbeds. “If smoke appears inside a building, this indicates a problem with your plumbing,’’ notes a city advertisement being Please Turn to Page 3A msm THURSDAY, JULY 30 Scattered T-storms: Low, 69; high, 90; 40% chance rain FRIDAY, JULY 31 Scattered T-storms: Low, 69; high, 83; 40% chance rain SATURDAY, AUGUST 1 Scattered T-storms, Low, 68; high, 87; 40% chance rain SUNDAY, AUGUST 2 Scattered T-storms: Low, 67; high, 86; 40% chance rain Precipitation this month 1.07 inches Precipitation This Year 27.17 Inches INDEX Births 8 A Church News ...3B & 8B Classified Ads 9-1 IB Calendar 3A Crime News 6-7A News Roundup 2A Obituaries 6-7B Opinions 4A School News 1 2A Sports 1-2B Social News 8-9A Hospital Sale Remains On Track By Mark Beardsley Negotiations between BJC Medical Center and a Tennessee company for the purchase of the medical center appear to be progressing. Reporting at Monday’s meeting of the BJC Medical Center Authority chairman Charles Blair said the facility hopes to have “something fairly close to a final draft’’ of the agreement “by the middle of the week.’’ Restoration Healthcare proposes an alliance Inside: •Hospital negotiating with new doctors - Page 5A •Survey finds most would recom mend BJC to others - Page 5A with some local backers to acquire the finan cially troubled hospital and nursing home which last month revealed that it had overstated col lectable accounts receivable by $3.8 million over two years. “There are a few outstanding issues,’’ Blair cautioned, “but none of them seem to be deal killing. They are operational items more than anything.’’ Blair said attorneys for both groups hope to be Please Turn to Page 5A As her 10-month-old son Cliff looks on with won’t be among them — are expected in the interest, Commerce Middle School seventh four Commerce schools when classes begin grade language arts teacher Andrea Pethel Monday. Teachers were due to report for duty gets her room ready for her eighth year in this (Wednesday) morning. the classroom. Some 1,550 students — Cliff Photo by Mark Beardsley It's Back To School For 1,550 In Commerce Monday By Mark Beardsley For approximately 1,550 Commerce stu dents, it’s all over but the shouting. Summer vacation, that is. The 2009-10 school year starts Monday Aug. 3, at Commerce Primary School, Commerce Elementary School, Commerce Middle School and Commerce High School. Teachers were due to start back today (Wednesday). Jackson County will crank up its school sys tem a week later Monday, Aug. 10. The Commerce City School System expects modest growth in enroll ment. “We have 1,550 on paper,’’ said superinten dent James E. “Mac’’ McCoy. By comparison, the school system ended last year with 1,507. Officials won’t have a firm grasp on enrollment until after the first 10 days of school. McCoy says the growth is spread through the three lower schools. “We have larger num bers in third or fourth grade, and I think the pri mary school will have a surge of kindergartners,’’ McCoy said. As a result, staff is “checking residencies a little closer than normal’’ to make sure out-of district enrollments don’t force the school system to hire additional teach ers. Meanwhile, he said, the system has used some of the federal stimu lus funds to keep staffing adequate. “Every time we take a hit (in funding) from the state, we look at where we are and what costs us,’’ McCoy explains. McCoy said the system staff is “truly excited’’ about its results from the 2008-09 school year — particularly achieving AYP (adequate yearly progress under the feder al No Child Left Behind Act) at the middle school and getting it off the Needs Improvement list. “Mr. Bell and the teach ers did a fantastic job in making that happen,’’ McCoy said. “We had great scores with the primary school and elementary school and high school and we hope to continue to make prog ress there.’’ Overshadowing every thing is the ongoing construction of a new Commerce High School right in the “front yard’’ of the existing campus. “Everybody is excited about the construction,’’ McCoy notes. “Every day when you drive by, some thing’s changed.’’ For students and par ents, getting to school will be different this year. A new front driveway has been paved for student drop-off, but those arriv ing by bus will enter the campus from the parking lot below the football field. Buses will navigate the narrow paved road behind the home-side bleachers and drop kids off near the technology lab. Student Parking Students will park in the lot behind the school (near the new “practice’’ gym), in a grass/gravel area near the school entrance and in the parking lot below the football field, across from Commerce Primary School. “Students who were here last year under stand where the parking will be,’’ McCoy said. “We will be diligent in keeping construction separated from school. We met with Charles Black (the general con tractor) and the subs and told them how it’s going to be. I feel confident we won’t intermingle with each other.’’ Returning students will note the erection of steel framing for the main CHS gym and for the performing arts center. Parking lots have been paved, the front submerged stormwater retention pond is being finalized and the new school footprint is tak ing shape. Soon the erection of walls will begin and as the school year unfolds, the new CHS will take shape. It is expected to be occu pied two years from now. Qualifying Coming Up For Special City Election Qualifying for the first of two Commerce elections will begin in early August. The Sept. 15 special elec tion will be held to fill the Ward 4 city council seat. Qualifying will begin at 8:30 a.m. Monday, Aug. 10, and continue through noon Wednesday, Aug. 12. The qualifying fee is $81. The term will expire Dec. 31, 2011. Commerce will also hold its regular city elec tions Tuesday, Nov. 3, to fill three positions on the city council and three on the Commerce Board of Education. The open seats on the council are mayor pro tem, held by Dusty Slater; the Ward 1 seat held by Archie D. Chaney Jr. and the Ward 2 seat occupied by Donald Wilson. The qualifying fees are $81 for the two council seats and $90 for the mayor pro tern’s race. Dr. Clark Hill, who chairs the Commerce Downtown Development Authority, has announced he will qualify for the Ward 4 seat. Mayor pro tem Dusty Slater reports he will not run for re-election. Up for grabs on the board of education are the District 1 and District 2 seats held by Arthur Lee Pattman and Mary Seabolt respectively. The qualifying fee for each will be $88. Jobless Rate Hits 11.2% In Jackson The Jackson County unemployment rate jumped one full percent in June to 11.2 percent. That’s the highest rate in the county so far during the recession. According to the Georgia Department of Labor, 3,110 people are unemployed in Jackson County. That’s nearly twice the number from June 2008 when 1,658 were unemployed. The statewide unemploy ment rate in June was 10.5 percent, a historic high not seen since the Great Depression.