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About The Commerce news. (Commerce, Ga.) 1???-current | View Entire Issue (May 18, 2016)
Vol. 140 No. 13 44 Pages 3 Sections Wednesday MAY 18,2016 www.CommerceNewsTODAY.com 50 Cents COVERING THE COMMERCE AREA SINCE 1875 Decision time Tuesday Few contested races to be on primary election ballots Water fight Nicholson authority, Tom Crow spar over water sales The Nicholson Water Authority and the Jackson County government — or at least board of commissioners chairman Tom Crow — are embroiled in an argument started with a newspaper ad last week targeting NWA cus tomers. Crow placed the ad in The Commerce News and The Jackson Herald, to “share information with the citizens/ customers of the Nicholson Water Authority.” The “information,” stated that the Jackson County Water and Sewerage Authority “has offered to sell water to the NWA” for $1.90/thousand gal lons, a price it said “would allow the NWA to lower the bills to customers of NWA.” It further states that the county group “has offered to” pay for and install an interconnec tion between the two water systems on Old Kings Bridge Road at New Kings Bridge Road, absorbing the $50,000- $100,000 expense.” The ad appears to be a response to allegations made by Crow’s May 24 election rival Ben Stephens and repeated at a political forum in Hoschton May 5, that Crow is “not com municating” with the NWA. “They accused me of not communicating, so I commu nicated,” Crow said, regarding the ad, which does not men tion Crow but which Crow is paying for. For its part, the NWA says the ad contained misinforma tion. NWA secretary/treasurer Ginger Dempsey said that the ad misstated the NWA water rates and said that JCW&SA has never officially offered to pay for and install the inter connection. See “Water” on 13A INDEX Church News 4B Classified Ads 6-7B Crime News 6-8A Obituaries 5B Opinion 4A School... 12A & 16A Sports 1-3B &12B Social News. 12-14A MAILING LABEL BELOW More than 30,000 Jackson Coun ty voters are eligible to go to the polls next Tuesday, May 24, for the General Primary elections that, for the most part, will determine local leadership for the next four years. Most of the action will take place in the Republican primary, where there are contested races for two board of commissioner seats and the District 31 seat in the Georgia House of Representatives, but both Democratic and Republican ballots feature contested races for the U.S. House and Senate seats. Early voting continues through Friday at the Jackson County Board of Elections and Registration Office, 441 Gordon Street Jefferson; the Commerce Recreation Department office on Carson Street and at the Braselton Police and Municipal Court. Hours will be 8 am. to 5 p.m. As of the end of last week, some 583 people had cast ballots in the early voting. On Tuesday, voters will vote in their usual county precincts from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. For Commerce area voters, that means the North Minish precinct at the recreation department office and the South Minish precinct at the J. Nolan Spear Jr. Public Safety Complex on South Elm Street. A mnoff election, if necessary, will be held on Tuesday, July 26. The General Election will be held Tuesday, Nov. 8. Both Democratic and Republican ballots include nonpartisan elec tions for judicial positions, none of which are contested. Among those are the four superior court judges in the Piedmont Judicial Circuit, pro bate judge, state court and magis trate court judges, court of appeals judges and a Supreme Court of Georgia seat. Both ballots also have questions for voters, but the results of those are for party purposes and are non binding. Democratic voters will be asked four questions. The party seeks voter views on guaranteed paid fam ily leave for pregnancy and seri ous illness, the protection of rivers See “Vote” on Page 3A SrA ftmnfx: ■ ■ - * < r *\\ . oiSJ*• . - O, . ... , . ' . • • • Ay. • V *• • 7• - v * ■ :•>**.. . -‘ ••• - ’ , . /* y v *"■>**: a 1 'Vf •** Field day fun Fourth graders Yulissa Ponce and Jade Moon make the turn in the three-legged race last Friday when more than 600 students from Commerce Primary School and Commerce Elementary School held their annual field day, a celebration of the ending of the school year. The all-day activity took place on the Commerce High School practice field. See more photos on page 16A. Graduations coming up CHS graduates Friday; EJCHS next Wednesday The 2016 school year is coming to an end, and approxi mately 700 local high school seniors will get their diplomas in graduation ceremonies over the next eight days. Some 104 Commerce seniors will turn the tassel Friday night, May 20, at 8 p.m. on Ray Lamb Field at Tiger Stadium. In the event of rain, the ceremony will be held in the CHS gym. Speakers for the event will be Gabe Barber, Ashlynn Harbin, Ashley Harold and Ansley Romans. Others on the program will be class officers Parker Hughes, Drew Hulsey and Ricki Orozco. East Jackson Comprehensive High School will hold grad uation ceremonies Wednesday May 25, at 8 p.m. at Eagle Stadium where up to 209 seniors will pick up their diplomas. Some 176 seniors are poised to graduate at Jackson Coun ty Comprehensive High School at 8 p.m. Thursday, May 26, at Panther Stadium. Jefferson High School will hold its ceremony Friday, May 20, in an 8 p.m. ceremony at Jefferson Memorial Stadium, and 216 seniors plan to turn their tassels. The number of graduates in each school is subject to change pending the outcome of final exams taking place this week. Foothills Education Charter High School will hold its first-ever graduation ceremony at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday May 24, at East Jackson Comprehensive High School. In addition, a number of Jackson County students will graduate from Class Of 2016 Commerce • East Jackson • Jackson County ‘Jefferson Graduation section inside MainStreet Newspapers’ annual Graduation Section can be found on pages 1-16C, featuring graduates from all four Jackson County high schools and area private high schools. private high schools, such as Athens Christian School and Prince Avenue Christian School. Budget time City spending plan a lot like last year From a dollar standpoint, the proposed Commerce 2016- 17 budget looks a lot like the current budget. The city council got its first look at the $26.2 million spend ing plan Monday night when interim city manager James Wascher went over the high lights. The new budget proj ects an increase in spending of $131,228—an increase of about half a percent. Wascher said the goal is to approve the budget at the council’s June 20 meeting, with a public hearing sched uled for its June 6 work session meeting at 6 p.m. at the Com merce Civic Center. And while the dollar amount is similar to last year, there are major differences in the various line items. The budget does not include any pay raises or bonuses, although Wascher said the council could approve pay increases as the budget year ends if there is sufficient revenue. Highlights of the document include: • a new pumper for the fire department, projected to cost See “Budget” on 3A Two items on agenda for planners The Commerce Planning Commission will have two items on its agenda when it meets Monday May 23, at 6 p.m. in the Peach Room of the Commerce Civic Center. Bryan Wood seeks a condi tional use permit on 1.65 acres on B Wilson Road, where he plans to relocate Wood’s Garage. The CUP would allow him to operate a tow lot on the site. The other business item is a request by Stacey and Gina Denton, 4473 Mt. Olive Road, for a variance that would allow them to install a swimming pool in front of the rear building line of their house. The Commerce City Coun cil will have the final say on both matters. It will act on the recommendations of the plan ning commission at its June 20 meeting.
