The Commerce news. (Commerce, Ga.) 1???-current, February 24, 2016, Image 1

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The Commerce news., February 24, 2016, Image 1

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Newspaper Page TextVol. 140 No. 1 24 Pages 2 Sections Wednesday FEBRUARY 24,2016 www.CommerceNewsTODAY.com 50 Cents COVERING THE COMMERCE AREA SINCE 1875 Decision Time Voters to rule Tuesday on extending sales taxes, presidential preferences Field trimmed for 'Super Tuesday' vote Voters participating in the Democratic and Republican presidential preference pri maries Tuesday will encoun ter some names they hav en’t heard in awhile. That’s because half of the candidates whose names are on the ballot have dropped out of contention since the ballots were pre pared. The candidates have been substantially win nowed since the Georgia ballots were approved, but participants in the Repub lican primary can choose from among Jeb Bush, Ben Carson, Chris Christie, Ted Cmz, Carly Fiorina, Lindsey Graham, Mike Huckabee, John R. Kasich, George Pataki, Rand Paul, Marco Rubio, Rick Santorum and Donald Trump, while Dem ocrats can select from Hil lary Clinton, Martin O’Mal ley, Bernie Sanders and Michael Steinberg. Bush, Christie, Fiorina, Huckabee, Pataki, Paul and Santorum have all bowed out of the GOP contest, while O’Malley and Stein berg have given up on the Democratic side. Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. As of the end of last week, some 654 of Jackson County’s 36,788 registered voters had cast their ballots during the first two weeks of advance vot ing at the administrative building. Advance voting continues through Friday at the Jackson County Admin istrative Building, the Com merce Recreation Depart ment building on Carson Street and at the Braselton municipal complex from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. SPLOST, ELOST pennies add up to big bucks for schools, governments More than $100 million — a penny at a time — is at stake for local governments and schools next Tuesday. Voters will decide wheth er to extend the special pur pose local option sales tax (SPLOST) for an addition al six years. Voter approval would generate an estimated $55 million over the six-year course of the tax, money offi cials say will retire debt and meet needs of Jackson Coun ty its nine municipalities and the county water and sewer age system. The current tax expires June 30,2017. They will also vote on a five-year extension of the edu cation local option sales tax (ELOST) projected to gener ate $44.5 million to be divided among the Commerce, Jack- son County and Jefferson school systems according to an enrollment based formula. Sales tax or property tax? Advocates of SPLOST and ELOST say the alternative to renewing the sales taxes is higher property taxes. The current round of ELOST expires March 2017. SPLOST SPLOST is projected to generate $55 million over the six-year collection peri od. Along with debt reduc tion and major water/sewer See “Vote” on Page 2A Chamber recognizes local schools' STARS BY ALEX PACE The county’s top students and teachers were recog nized this week. The Jack- son County Area Chamber of Commerce recognized its STAR students and teachers in a special reception Mon day evening. STAR students are stu dents with the highest SAT scores and whot are in the top 10 percent of their class. STAR students choose their STAR teachers. Those recog nized included: Ashley Harold, CHS Ashley Harold is the Com merce High School STAR student. She is a member of Key Club and is the president of Beta Club. She also rep resents CHS in the literary competition. Harold received several honors and awards includ ing Woodmen of the World Award in American Histo ry and Governor’s Honors Program finalist. She was voted most likely to suc ceed by the senior class and is a UGA Certificate of Merit recipient. She was a member of the “All Star Cast” at the one-act play competition and was a member of the 2015 state CHS STARS Ashley Harold was named the STAR student for Commerce High School. She chose Julia Gamble as her STAR teacher. They are shown with Jackson County Area Chamber Chair Bill Cornell, president/CEO Jim Shaw and superin tendent of schools Joy Tolbert. swim team. Harold has been accept ed to and plans to attend West Virginia University. She intends to double-ma jor in international studies and sociology/anthropol ogy and double minor in Russian studies and history. She later plans to pursue a law degree and enter into a career in diplomacy. She selected Julia Ann Gamble as her STAR teacher. EJCHS STAR Courtney Lynn Holcombe was named the STAR student for East Jackson Comprehensive High School. She chose Jeanne Herriman as her STAR teacher. Holcombe is shown with Jackson County Area Chamber Chair Bill Cornell, president/CEO Jim Shaw and superintendent April Howard. Courtney Holcomb, EJCHS Courtney Holcombe, East Jackson Comprehensive High School STAR student, attributed much of her suc cess to her parents. She was homeschooled through second grade and said her mother made a pos itive impact on her. She said her parents encouraged her to grow as a student and person. She hopes to attend Duke University pursuing a career in marine biology, focusing on conservation. She hopes to work in a research university or inde pendently develop techno logically-advanced equip ment to observe marine ani mals in their natural habitats. She chose Jeanne Herri man as her STAR teacher. Jared Brown, JHS Jared Brown is the Jeffer son High School STAR stu dent. His awards/honors include multiple High Five Club awards, AP Scholar with Distinction, Universi ty of Georgia Certificate of Merit, membership to the National Beta Club, member ship to the National Spanish Honor Society, fifth place on the National Spanish Exam, gold and silver awards for distinguished participation in the National Spanish Exam, See “STARs” on 9A GBI probing fatal shooting by city police Ronnie Maxwell Maxwell indicted by grand jury A Jackson County grand jury has indicted former Nicholson mayor Ronnie Maxwell on one count of theft by taking and two counts of violation of his oath of office. The indictments are the result of a probe that began in June 2015 by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation at the request of Piedmont Judicial Circuit district attorney Brad Smith. Smith’s request came after MainStreet Newspa pers reported that Maxwell used $10,607 in special pur pose local option sales tax (SPLOST) funds to pave a pri vate “road” that he contend ed was city property and that served only property owned by his family. The paving included a small parking area at a business on the property. The Jackson County Board of Commissioners and the mayors of the other eight municipalities in the county all signed a letter asking the GBI to look into the matter. The GBI raided Nicholson City Hall Aug. 12 to collect evidence and subsequently charged Maxwell with one count of theft by taking. Max well turned himself into Jack- son County authorities on Aug. 19. His arraignment is sched uled for March 8. The Nicholson City Coun cil has reimbursed the city’s SPLOST account for the money used on the paving project. The city government has not indicated whether it will seek reimbursement from Maxwell for the $10,607 expenditure. INDEX Church News 5B Classified Ads 6-7B Crime News 6-7A Obituaries 1 1 B Opinion 4A School 8-9A Sports 1-4B Social News. 10-11A MAILING LABEL BELOW The Georgia Bureau of Investigation will investigate the fatal shooting of a Commerce man early Thursday morn ing by a Commerce police officer. Three police officers responded at about 1 a.m. to a report of a domestic incident at 125 Ashford Lane where, according to a GBI news release, Joseph Noel, 25, was reportedly beat ing his wife. “Officers David Jackels, Kimberly McCulloch-Grant, and Sergeant Kay Denton arrived at the residence and were met by Brian Noel, father of the deceased, who instructed the officers to enter the property to detain Joseph Noel,” the GBI release said. “Officers entered the residence to search for Noel and located him hidden in the attic of the residence.” The officers issued verbal com mands, “at which time Noel held up an object that officers believed to be a firearm and refused to com ply with the officers’ instructions,” the news release said. “During the verbal exchange, Noel charged the officers and the officers deployed a taser and fired shots, striking him. Noel was shot in the leg and was transported to the Athens Regional Medical Center where he later died.” Police chief Brandon Sellers said Noel was shot twice in the leg, with one of the bullets apparently hitting an artery. “Our officers responded immediate ly with first aid,” Sellers said. He also said the Commerce Rescue Unit was on the scene within five minutes and Jackson County EMS shortly thereafter. Sellers said the two shots that struck Noel were fired by one officer, who he declined to name. He said he could not comment on whether the object officers thought was a gun turned out to be a firearm. The police chief said he requested the GBI to look into the matter. He also noted the GBI’s release of the names of the responding officers. “We don’t have anything to hide and they’re (the GBI) trying to be transpar ent, and we’re on board with that,” he said. All three officers were put on admin istrative leave, but the two who did not use their firearms were returned to duty Monday night. Sellers said the officer who fired the two shots will remain on administrative leave “at least until we have a preliminary finding from the GBI.” Noel’s body was transported to the GBI’s medical lab where an autopsy will be conducted. The results will be forwarded to the office of District Attor ney Brad Smith.