The Commerce news. (Commerce, Ga.) 1???-current, March 02, 2016, Image 1

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The Commerce news., March 02, 2016, Image 1

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Newspaper Page TextVol. 140 No. 2 24 Pages 2 Sections Wednesday MARCH 2,2016 www.CommerceNewsTODAY.com 50 Cents COVERING THE COMMERCE AREA SINCE 1875 Election results SPLOST, ELOST pass; Trump and Clinton win Tuesday’s referendums on two local sales taxes and the vote in the presidential pref erence primaries offered no surprises. Voters chose to extend both the special purpose local option sales tax (SPLOST) and the education local option sales tax (ELOST) by wide margins, while Donald Trump and Hil lary Clinton won the Republi can and Democratic primaries respectively both statewide and in Jackson County. By a 10,693-3,997 margin, voters chose to extend SPLOST another six years after it expires in mid-2017. They also voted to extend ELOST five years by a margin of 10,0664,568. If the taxes live up to expec tations, SPLOST will generate $55 million over six years for the county and municipal gov ernments, plus the Jackson County Water and Sewerage Authority. With ELOST, the Com merce, Jackson County and Jefferson school systems will split up an estimated $44.5 mil lion based on a formula tied to enrollment. County and school lead ers had warned that failure of those referendums would result in property tax increas es, since substantial portions of the revenue are earmarked to pay debt, which absent sales tax revenue would be funded with property taxes. Primary Results As expected, Trump and Clinton were overwhelming winners locally and statewide. The Jackson County results include: Republicans • Trump, 5,484 • Cruz, 3,551 • Rubio, 2,397 • Kasich, 404 Democrats •Clinton, 1,193 • Sanders, 729 Numbers for candidates who have dropped out of the presidential races are not included. INDEX Church News 7B Classified Ads... 9-10B Crime News...9-10A Obituaries 8B Opinion 4A School 9-10A Sports 1-5B Social News. 11-12A MAILING LABEL BELOW Qualifying for local elections is next week Now that the presidential prefer ence primaries and the referendums on SPLOST and ELOST are over, it’s time for the next round of elections. Qualifying will be held next week — Monday March 7, through Friday March 11 — for all county elected offic es plus offices in the Georgia House and Senate. The general primary elec tions are set for Tuesday May 4, with the general election taking place on Tuesday Nov. 8. Offices on the ballot will include sheriff, probate judge, judge of the state court, clerk of courts, tax com missioner, surveyor, coroner, magis trate judge, state court solicitor, the District 1, 2 and chairman of the Jack- son County Board of Commissioners, Post 1 and Post 2 on the Jackson County Board of Education and a seat on the Soil and Water Conservation District. Seats on a number of local fire boards will also be on the ballot. They include: •Arcade - Posts 1 and 2 • East Jackson - Posts 2 and 4 • Harrisburg - Posts 6, 7,8 and 9 • West Jackson - Posts 3,4 and 5 • Plainview - Posts 2 and 3 • Maysville - Post 3 • Jackson Trail - Posts 1,2 and 3 • Nicholson - Posts 4 and 5 • North Jackson - Posts 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11 • South Jackson - Posts 3,4 and 5 Where To Qualify Where candidates go to qualify for office depends on party affilia tion. Candidates running as Republi cans can qualify 8-5 Monday through Thursday and 8-noon on Friday at 56 Henry Street, Braselton (at Lizzie’s Pantry next to Joe’s Barber Shop). For further information, contact Ron Johnson at 7703104515 or chairman@ windstream.net. Democrat and non-partisan candi dates for local offices will qualify at the Jackson County Board of Elections and Voters Registration Office, 441 Gordon Street, Jefferson. Candidates qualifying for House or Senate districts will qualify at the state headquarters of the political party under whose ban ner they are running. Non-Partisan Elections Candidates for Magistrate Court judge, State Court judge and three judges of the Superior Court in the Piedmont Judicial Circuit (posts held by Joe Booth, Currie Mingledorff and David Motes) will also be filled this year, but the candidates are nonpar tisan, so the names of candidates for those positions will appear on both the Democratic and Republican ballots. The last day to register to vote in the primary election is Tuesday April 26. Advance voting begins on Monday May 2. Federal Offices Jackson County voters will also vote for a U.S. senator (Johnny Isakson’s seat), a U.S. representative (Doug Collins’ seat), a public service com missioner, a Georgia Supreme court justice and two judges of the Court of Appeals. Closing soon Jay’s Department Store, in business since 1933, will close, owner Terry Minish has announced. Jay's to close The end is coming for one of Commerce’s historic businesses. Jay’s Department store is closing. “The target date is around July 1, according to how fast it (his inventory) moves out,” said owner Terry Minish. Established in 1933, by the late Harry Jay Jay’s thrived for decades, but competition from the outlets, online shop ping, regional malls and big- box stores and suppliers that kept increasing the amount of merchandise stores had to buy have taken their toll. Minish, who started working at Jay’s while in high school, bought the business in 2004. “Really and truly, the world’s passed these kinds of businesses by” Minish said. “The millennial are all shopping at Amazon online. They’re not shopping with me. The companies are gearing everything toward big businesses. They keep mak ing bigger and bigger mini mum orders, which makes it very hard for me to buy the right kind of merchandise. I pride myself in buying the right kind of merchandise.” Minish said Jay’s has not been profitable “in probably 7-8 years.” Jay’s customer base has always been on the older side. “I say my customers are ages 35 to 105,” Minish joked. “I’ve never had the young customers. They’re (the older customers) going by the wayside.” “It’s a sad situation. I hate it. When you’ve been doing something for 44 years, say ing bye is hard to do.” Minish said he has “no idea” what he will do once he closes the store. “I’ve got See “Jay’s” on Page 2A DDA mulls new ideas to boost downtown BY MARK BEARDSLEY From a summer concert series to apps providing informa tion about historic downtown buildings, the Commerce Down town Development Authority is abuzz over potential new ways to bring people — particularly millennial — downtown. Add murals on blank walls or dilapidated buildings, placing artwork around the downtown and replacing the Halloween trick-or-treat with a fall festival, and the DDA has a litany of potential projects designed to give people — again, particularly millennial — new reasons to go downtown. Millennial is someone born after 1980. According to interim DDA executive director Natalie Thomas, “they have a whole different attitude... They’ve got ideas for what they want, what they’re looking for. They know what they want and they told us.” In addition to WIFI (free wireless Internet), Thomas said millennial want to be able to walk to the downtown, they enjoy eating in downtown restaurants, and they want to bring their pets with them. They like art along their sidewalks and alleys — and safe, well-lit pedestrian areas. If last Tuesday afternoon’s DDA meeting brimmed with enthusiasm, the details on all of the ideas have yet to be fleshed out. Member Susan Stephenson, whose Organization Commit tee came up with the ideas during a brainstorming session, said her newly-revamped and “very diverse” committee is “so excited about” transforming the downtown, which members suggested had nothing at present to cause visitors to want to explore the downtown. She also expressed optimism that when it comes to working to improve the downtown, there will be plenty of volunteers. “There are a lot of people in our city willing and wanting to help,” she explained. “They just never knew how to get involved and they’ve never been asked.” So, the committee held a “volunteers meeting” on Feb. 16, which 12 people attended and eight others indicated they would have attended but could not make it. “We had teens, middle ages, all types,” she said. See “Downtown” on Page 2A Arts festival on tap Friday, Saturday Festival Commerce will have a higher density of artists than perhaps any other Georgia community this weekend. The fifth annual Folk to Fine Arts Festival & Expo will feature the work of as many as 80 artists — many of whom will be present — Friday and Saturday at the Commerce Civic Center. It’s the biggest turnout in the short history of the art show. “We are out of vendor space,” said Claudine Smith, organizer of the annual event. “I’ve got them packed in. We have 49 booths this year, but the important thing is, there are probably around 80 artists represented.” Those artists, from Geor gia and five other states, cover virtually all media from watercolors to metal, fabric to wood, jewelry to pottery. For a roster of ven dors, go to www.folk-fin- earts.com. The event begins with a meet-the-artist reception on Friday, March 4, from 5 to 9 p.m. Admission is $15, which also covers readmis sion on Saturday plus tickets good for two beverages. Sat urday hours will be 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., with admission at $7 (children under 10 admit ted for free). According to Smith, there will be several new vendors and artists at the event, including The Wren’s Nest from Anniston, AL, which represents Larry K. Martin, known for his “Goat Man” artwork.” Wildlife photogra pher Pam Smith, also from Alabama, will have a booth. There will be an artist who works largely with nails and one who works with bones. And while artists from around the state and Southeast will be there, a lot of local artists will show off their talents as well. Local portrait artist Abner Cope will demonstrate his craft, painting an oil portrait at the festival. There will also be a series of raffles, proceeds of which will benefit the art programs at Commerce High School and East Jackson Com prehensive High School. A number of pieces of art donated by Folk to Fine ven dors will be given away in individual raffles.