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HEADING FOR 8-AA SHOWDOWN
Only Dawson County this Friday stands between East Jackson and
Jefferson for Region 8-AA title game. Page 1B
FALL BACK 1 HOUR
Daylight Saving Time ends
Sunday morning at 2:00. It's time to set
clocks back one hour and regain the hour
of sleep you lost last March.
Vol. 134
No. 37
20 Pages
2 Sections
50 Cents COVERING THE COMMERCE AREA SINCE 1875
Trick-Or-Treat
Friday Night
In Commerce
Thousands of young
ghosts, goblins and other
characters are expect
ed to hit downtown
Commerce Friday night,
Oct. 30, as the Downtown
Development Authority
and Commerce Area
Business Association
present the Downtown
Trick-or-Treat.
The event takes place
from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.
There will be a costume
contest in Spencer Park
with prizes awarded for
the scariest, most origi
nal, cutest and best char
acter costumes. Judging
will take place at 4:30 in
the park, with winners
announced at 5:45.
Trick-or-treaters should
be 12 or under, accompa
nied by an adult and in
costume.
The Commerce Police
Department will give child
ID kits out at the gazebo
in Spencer Park and will
fingerprint children for the
kits at the request of their
parents.
Officers will also provide
traffic control and secu
rity downtown during the
duration of the event.
msm
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 29
Partly cloudy: Low, 58; high,
76; 10% chance rain
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 30
Few showers: Low, 62; high,
69; 30% chance rain
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 31
Showers: Low, 46; high, 68;
60% chance rain
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1
Sunny: Low, 43; high, 69; 0%
chance rain
Precipitation this month
9.62 inches
Precipitation This Year
48.37 Inches
INDEX
Church News 1 OA
Classified Ads 6-8B
Calendar 3A
Crime News 6A
News Roundup 2A
Obituaries 1 1A
Opinions 4A
School News 1 2A
Sports 1-3B
Social News 9A
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Burchett Thomason
Mayor Pro Tem
Chaney
Ward 1
Owensby Wilson
Ward 2
Pattman Rucker
District 1
Barnett Seabolt
District 2
4 Contested Races In City Election
Early Voting Continues Through Friday
Early voting for the Nov. 3 General Election con
tinues through Friday.
Hours in Commerce are from 8:30 to 4:00 daily
at City Hall.
Early voting also continues at City Hall in
Nicholson.
Voting can take place from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.
through Friday.
The election is Tuesday, Nov. 3. Polls will be open
from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. All Commerce voting will
take place at the Public Safety Complex.
Commerce voters will
elect a mayor pro tem, two
city councilmen and two
school board members
Tuesday
Four of the five positions
on the ballot are contested.
All voting will take place
at the J. Nolan Spear Jr.
Public Safety Complex on
South Elm Street between 7
a.m. and 7 p.m.
Municipal elections will
also be held in Nicholson,
Jefferson and Arcade at the
same time.
Advance voting is under
way. As of Monday morn
ing, some 50 votes had
been cast.
Council Candidates
Mayor pro tem
Keith Burchett, 53, is
owner of Commerce
Janitorial Services. He
attended Commerce High
School through 11th grade
then got his GED. He said
his goal is “to hold expenses
down as much as possible
so those don’t get passed
on to citizens through tax
and utility increases."
Sammy Thomason, 59,
has operated a dental prac
tice for 36 years in down
town Commerce. He’s a
graduate of the Medical
College of Georgia’s School
of Dentistry a former coun
ty commissioner, former
member of the Industrial
Development Authority,
member and former presi
dent of the Commerce
Kiwanis Club, graduate of
Leadership Jackson County
and a member of the steer
ing committee for the
Commerce Comprehensive
Plan. His stated goals
include reducing or elimi
nating the city’s (not the
city school system’s) prop
erty tax levy and keeping
utility rates low
Ward 1
Archie D. Chaney Jr., 70,
is unopposed for re-elec
tion. A graduate of Bryan
High School, Jefferson,
he is retired from General
Motors and works part-time
at the Commerce Civic
Center. He chairs the Men’s
Day program at Mt. Calvary
Baptist Church and is on
the board of directors of
the Jackson County Senior
Center and the Commerce
Housing Authority. His stat
ed goals include keeping
taxes and utility rates low
and attracting more jobs.
Ward 2
Darren Owensby, 40, is a
customer service technician
for Windstream. He is a
1987 graduate of Commerce
High School. Among his pri
orities, short-term and long
term, is the expansion of
the Commerce Recreation
Department.
Donald Wilson, 66, is the
incumbent. He is finishing
his 28th year on the city
council. Wilson says he has
a B.A degree. He’s pastor of
Calvary Baptist Church and
is a painting contractor. He
listed his goals as promot
ing jobs and growth and
seeking “budget billing" for
city utilities.
Board of Education
District 1
Arthur Lee Pattman, 63,
seeks re-election to a fourth
Candidates
Talk At Forum
Eight of the nine can
didates running for
office in Commerce
attended a political
forum last Tuesday
night sponsored by
the Commerce Area
Business Association
and Jackson County
Farm Bureau. Page 7 A
four-year term. He holds
a GED and says he will
focus on the completion of
the new Commerce High
School. He is the school
board’s liaison with the
Georgia legislature.
Keelan Cashanna Rucker,
32, is a medical office assis
tant at Athens Women’s
Clinic. She is a CHS gradu
ate and has a diploma from
Athens Technical College in
medical assisting. The moth
er of a special needs sixth
grader, Rucker said she
wants to see special educa
tion programs improved and
minority teachers hired.
District 2
Robbie Barnett, 40, is one
of the owners of Vaughn’s
Wingslingers restaurant. He
attended Commerce High
School and received his
GED. Barnett said he would
like to see the city school
system grow “because I feel
like we’re losing a lot of kids
and if we lose students, we
lose funding and lose teach
ers."
Mary Seabolt, 63, seeks
re-election to a fifth term.
She holds a degree in prac
tical nursing from Athens
Technical College. She is
retired and is a volunteer
for the American Heart
Association and American
Cancer Society.
All Positions
Up For Grabs
In Nicholson
Voters in Nicholson will
select a mayor and four city
councilmen next Tuesday.
Polls will be open from 7
a.m. to 7 p.m. at the Harold
Swindle Public Library, locat
ed across the school parking
lot from Benton Elementary
School.
Voters will select either
Jimmy Ford, challenger, or
incumbent Ronnie Maxwell
as mayor.
The candidates for city
council — all at-large posi
tions — are incumbents
Faye Seagraves, Howard
Wilbanks, Paul Cartledge
and Lamar Watkins,
plus challengers Edward
Dempsey, Bobby Crawford
and Chuck Wheeler.
H1N1 Flu Mist Still
Available At Health Dept.
LTC Tom Taylor, retired, of the United States Army was the keynote speaker
at the veterans’ monument and dedication Sunday in Nicholson. He is pic
tured just after the monument was unveiled. Photo by Katie Huston
Nicholson Honors Its Veterans
Immunizations for
H1N1 swine flu are avail
able in limited quantities
at the Jackson County
Health Department. The
vaccine is the nasal spray
with virus that has been
weakened so it will create
immunity and prevent flu
that is now widespread in
Georgia and the U.S.
The nasal mist vaccine
is approved by the FDA
for healthy people ages
2-49. Top priority recipi
ents are health care pro
viders and their office
staff, emergency first
responders, and children
and young adults 2-24
years old. The H1N1 vac
cine is specifically formu
lated for the strain of flu
circulating in the commu
nity this year.
More deaths have
occurred in children so
far this year than all last
year. The vaccine pre
vents disease or reduces
its severity because it
stimulates the immune
system to make protec
tive antibodies that this
year are highly specific
to the circulating strain
of type A flu called 2009
novel H1N1 or swine flu.
Supplies are limited
and vary by county. Call
the Health Department
in advance to make sure
vaccine is still available.
Additional shipments
of H1N1 vaccine are
expected over the next
several weeks.
The number for the
Commerce Clinic is 706-
335-3895; the Jefferson
Clinic is 706-367-5204.
Out Of Seasonal
Flu Vaccine
While the health depart
ment’s clinics have the
swine flu immunizations,
they’re out of the immuni
zations for the seasonal
flu.
“We’re expecting to get
some more, hopefully in
a couple of weeks," said
a department spokesper
son last Friday.
The Commerce Clinic
has given “several hun
dred" of the inoculations
for the seasonal flu and
about 50 of the H1N1,
the spokesperson said.
By Katie Huston
It was standing room
only Sunday in Nicholson
at the unveiling and dedi
cation of a new Veterans’
monument at the Nicholson
Community Center next to
City Hall.
The monument is a sculp
ture of an eagle landing on
a branch. It is dedicated
“to the glory of Almighty
God in memory and honor
of the men and women of
the United States Armed
Forces."
The keynote speaker
for the event was Lt. Col.
(retired) Tom Taylor, U.S.
Army. He spoke on what
inspired him to enter the
armed forces and what con-
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