Vol. 139
No. 45
28 Pages
2 Sections
The
Commerce New
Wednesday
DECEMBER 16, 2015
www.CommerceNewsTODAY.com
50 Cents COVERING THE COMMERCE AREA SINCE 1875
Commerce adds 2 days back
to 2015-16 school calendar
City Gov't
Tougher dog
ordinance on
council agenda
The agenda for the Com
merce City Council’s Decem
ber meeting is very light.
The council will meet at
6 p.m. Monday, Dec. 21, in
the Peach Room of the Com
merce Civic center.
Most of the business on the
agenda is routine housekeep
ing, however, an amendment
to the city’s animal control
ordinance regarding vicious
dogs should be the highlight
of the evening.
The proposal, as discussed
at the council’s Dec. 7 “work
session” meeting, would
require dogs deemed vicious
to be registered with the city
and carefully controlled.
Police chief Brandon Sell
ers told the city council that
a vicious dog is a dog that
has bitten someone or is of a
breed that has been designat
ed as vicious.
“We actually had a dog bit
ing three people before we
were able to do anything with
it, because of our ordinance,”
Sellers said. “We’re trying to
get out in front of that.”
The new ordinance
includes wording from the
Responsible Dog Owner Act
passed by the Georgia Gener
al Assembly in 2012.
It would require such dogs
that are housed outside of
the residence to be inside a
double fence “and a secure
top attached to all sides.”
The sides must be buried two
feet into the ground or sunk
into concrete. When the dog
is outside of the enclosure,
it must be attended by the
owner and restrained by a
leash no longer than 15 feet.
The ordinance would also
require owners of vicious
dogs to have $1 million in
insurance or surety bonding,
and it would give the police
authority to enter private
property to enforce the law.
The ordinance also pro
hibits tethering dogs outside
unless 12 conditions are
met, including a limit of one
hour per day and not at all
between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. It
See “Dogs” on 16A
INDEX
Church News .... 11A
Classified Ads 6-7B
Crime News 6-8A
Obituaries 5B
Opinion 4A
School 9-1OA
Sports 1-4B
Social News. 12-14A
MAILING LABEL BELOW
Students and teachers in the
Commerce School System will go to
school two more days than expected
this winter.
The Commerce Board of Educa
tion voted Monday night to amend
its 2015-16 school calendar to add
instructional days on Monday Feb. 29,
and Tuesday March 1.
The move replaces two more of
the “furlough” days the board used
during the economic downturn to
save money. The 201516 (amended)
calendar has four more days than last
BY BEN MUNRO AND
CAMERON WHITLOCK
Football schedules won’t
become official until January, but
all indications are that longtime
rivals Jefferson and Commerce
won’t play in 2016 or 2017.
The series dates back to 1947.
“As of right now, it doesn’t look
like they’re on our football sched
year’s school year.
Prior to the recession, students
attended school 180 days a year and
the staff worked 190 days. Monday
night’s action moved those numbers
up to 178 and 184 respectively.
In addition to giving students two
more days of instruction, the addition
of two days means more pay for staff
members.
The school board made restoring
the furlough days a top priority and
the four days restored this year can
be attributed to the system’s financial
ule,” Jefferson athletic director Tim
Corbett said.
Football schedules run on a two-
year cycle, with only the home and
away locations flip-flopping, so the
series is on hold for at least two
years, if not longer.
Two major factors played into
this decision, the first being the
disparity in the size of the two
stability. A couple of years ago, the sys
tem had an operating deficit of almost
$250,000. As of Monday night, its fund
balance was over $1 million.
Finance director Ann Stokey
advised the board Monday that as of
the end of September, the fund bal
ance stood at $665,338, but she added
that by the end of the day (Monday),
the balance had passed $1 million,
thanks to revenue coming in from
2015 property taxes.
“It’s coming in,” Stokey said of the
tax money. “It just takes awhile.”
schools.
Jefferson will move up to Class
AAAA in 2016, while Commerce
will remain a Class A school. That
allows the Dragons a much larg
er pool of players from which it
can draw. Jefferson’s roster posted
on Maxpreps.com lists 91 players,
while Commerce’s has only 47.
“The bottom line is that they
Stokey also reminded the board
that the system did not need to use
a $1 million tax anticipation note
(TAN) to finance operations prior to
the influx of tax money. Instead, the
board dipped into its reserves, which
it is replenishing now that property
taxes are being paid.
ELOST Passes $750,000
Also on Monday night, the board
learned that its education local option
sales tax account stands at $750,821
following the deposit of the November
check of $97,745.
are a school that has grown so
much that they have out grown
this game,” said Commerce coach
Michael Brown, who is 0-3 against
the Dragons. “It’s sad, but change
is the only constant. We are at two
very different places in our pro
grams right now.”
See “Rivalry” on Page 8A
An old-fashioned Christmas
Cierra Gaddis, 7, looked at an apple that was The school dates back to 1879. For more pho-
on an old school desk inside the Cross Roads tos of the old-fashioned Christmas celebration,
schoolhouse during Christmas in the Heritage see Page 15A.
Village last Saturday at Hurricane Shoals Park. Photo by Wesleigh Sagon
Deaths
ruled as
murder,
suicide
The deaths of a Mays-
ville couple has been
mled a homicide-suicide
by gunshot wounds, cor
oner Keith Whitfield, said
Monday.
The couple, David
Richard Blackburn, 68,
and Mary Jane Black
burn, 53, both of Mays-
ville, were found lifeless
inside a camper where
the couple had resided
for the past two years.
The Jackson County
Sheriff’s Office respond
ed to the Maysville Road
residence on Dec. 11 in
reference to a deceased
couple found by the land-
owner.
Whitfield said evi
dence shows that David
Blackburn died before
Mary Jane Blackburn,
and that she shot him,
then herself. The inci
dent happened some
time Dec. 10.
“The cause of death
appears to be domes
tic-related,” Sheriff Janis
Mangum said. “Both bod
ies have been transported
to the Georgia Bureau of
Investigation Crime Lab.”
Tiger-Dragon football rivalry put on hold
Attacks spur surge in gun permits
BY KATIE COFER
Applications for gun
permits spiked in Jackson
County following the recent
attacks in Paris and in San
Bernardino, Calif.
The Jackson County Pro
bate Court is averaging near
ly 30 weapons carry permit
applications per day. For the
months of January through
November 2015, however,
the court typically averaged
around seven weapons carry
license (WCL) applications
per day, Jackson County
Probate Court Judge Sherry
Moore, said. As of today the
court has already had more
applicants for 2015 than it had
for all of 2013.
“We saw an increase in
applications right after the
terror attacks in Paris, and
applications have surged
again significantly since the
California terror attack last
week,” Moore wrote in an
email to the newspaper.
By Friday morning, the
probate court had processed
148 applications so far for
December, only four per
mits shy of what the probate
court processed in the entire
month of December of 2014.
By Monday afternoon, that
number was in the 160s.
“We have noticed that any
time there is a mass shoot
ing, or comments are made
by the President or anyone
else regarding gun control,
we see an increase in the
number of citizens applying
for a weapons carry license,”
Moore wrote in the email.
The recent surge doesn’t
compare to the increase fol
lowing the mass shooting
at Sandy Hook Elementary
School in December 2012,
however. In January 2013,
Jackson County Probate
Court had 357 people apply
for a weapons carry license.
“(That) is the most we’ve
had in a single month since
I’ve been in office,” wrote
Moore. “Applications fell off
by 246 for 2014.”
The probate judge reviews
the background checks and
then determines if an appli
cant is eligible for a permit.
Moore said almost all of
them would be issued.
“Typically, people who
aren’t eligible for a permit
do not apply although there
are exceptions,” said Moore.
“Even with those exceptions,
I’d venture to guess that less
than 20 are denied each
year.”
Reasons for denial of gun
permits include being a felon
(unless you are pardoned),
See “Guns” on Page 16A
