Newspaper Page Text
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 17, 2016
THE COMMERCE NEWS • THE BANKS COUNTY NEWS
PAGE 3A
Chief... Cont. from 1A
narrow down the candidates to a few finalists, then have the
finalists meet with the mayor and city council.
The job will pay from $58,000 to the $70,000 range, Wascher
said, depending on qualifications and experiences.
“I think it will probably be a 60 to 90-day process,” he said.
The Commerce City Council went into a closed session at its
Monday night meeting to discuss the situation.
Under the city charter, the city manager has the responsibil
ity for hiring and firing, but Wascher has indicated that he will
seek input from the mayor and council during the process of
finding a new police chief.
Benton ••• Cont. from 1A
the schools at base size through rezoning alone.
Haggess also questioned the ethics of the BOE after it called
for a vote before public hearings were held. And she questioned
whether Howard and BOE member Celinda Wilson had a “con
flict of interest” in the decision, since they both have a role with
Foothills Charter Education High School.
Benton is being repurposed as a flexible education site for
Jackson County students. It will also be used by Foothills, a
dropout recovery program attended by many former Jackson
County School System students.
Having Foothills students enrolled in the building would also
allow the district to reopen the site as an elementary school if
needed in the future for East Jackson growth.
But the district is faced with immediate growth in West Jack-
son and limited space and is straggling to find funding for the
project.
The BOE previously approved moving forward with building
a $25 million middle-high school in West Jackson once Educa
tion Local Option Sales Tax reserves total at $12 million.
Community member and retired teacher Don Watkins noted
closing Benton is not a “fix-all.” Closing the school will save the
district approximately $500,000 a year in operational costs, but
that alone won’t cover the cost of construction on a new West
Jackson high school.
Howard assured Watkins the district is doing a comprehensive
look at other cost-cutting, including administrative cutbacks.
Cost Of Tax Collections
Jackson County commissioner Dwain Smith also revisited the
BOE at its second hearing. BOE chairman Michael Cronic ques
tioned Smith at the Aug. 8 meeting on why the county school
system was charged $750,000 a year for tax collections while
the two city school systems are charged around $6,000.
Smith arrived late at the hearing after Monday’s Board of
Commissioners meeting where West Jackson Middle School
principal Joe Cobb urged the BOC to look at the numbers (see
related story).
Smith told Cronic the BOC plans to make the fee uniform.
Tax... Cont. from 1A
some of the county’s fire districts are still charged a five-per
cent fee.
West Jackson Middle School principal Joe Cobb came
before the BOC Monday night to ask that the fees be looked
at, saying he was opposed to “economic gifts,” an apparent
reference to the special deal the county has with the two city
school systems. Cobb also asked that the process of fixing the
issue be “transparent.”
Commissioner Ralph Richardson said he had received a
number of phone calls about the issue, but said that despite
public perception, the BOC had not been “silent” in dealing
with the matter. He admitted that it had not been discussed in
a public meeting, but that other behind-the-scenes discussions
had taken place.
Challenge ... Corn, from ia
nance to be in conflict with the first amendment to the U.S. Con
stitution, which protects freedom of speech and freedom of the
press.
Redmond cites three specific issues. First, he objects to having
to get a permit from the city clerk to distribute information. Sec
ondly he opposes the requirement that all such matters bear the
name and address of the person responsible for the printing and
distribution of the materials, and thirdly he objects to provisions
limiting where and how such materials are distributed.
Redmond cites U.S. Supreme Court decisions knocking down
similar ordinances, decisions he says should be applied to the
Commerce ordinance.
In addition, in his submission to the court, Redmond points
out that the city’s “begging and soliciting ordinance,” also a First
Amendment fre&speech issue, does not require a permit, nor
restrict time or place.
“Plaintiff wishes to distribute literature, including anonymous
literature, in the traditional public forums in Commerce, Georgia,
without license, censorship and any threat of immediate arrest,
prosecution, imprisonment and/or fines by the defendants, for
exercising any of plaintiff’s protected and guaranteed freedoms of
speech and of the press,” his motion concludes.
Redmond first broached the subject with the city council in
a Dec. 30, 2015, letter to his city councilman, Archie Chaney
which drew a response Jan. 4,2016, from then-city manager Pete
Pyrzenski affirming the city’s right to “reasonably regulate the
time, place and manner of speech.” The letter also advised that
“requiring a permit has been upheld by the courts.”
Redmond made a direct appeal for a repeal of the distribution
ordinance at the city council’s Jan. 19,2016, meeting. The council
took no action.
Terry Minish recognized
The Commerce City Council recognized Terry
Minish, fourth from left, during Monday night’s
meeting at which time the city officially accepted
a 1934 newspaper ad for Jay’s Department Store,
which closed July 31 after 81 years in business.
“This has been one of a handful of anchor stores
in Commerce for the last eight decades,” declared
Mayor Clark Hill, right. “It’s been a good ride,”
Minish commented. “I’ve been on that corner 44
years and seen a lot come and go.” Also pictured
Jeff and Abby Rogers (son-in-law and daughter)
with grandson Harrison; and Minish’s wife, Janice.
Kiwanis Club briefed on the
importance of being a donor
A spokesman for LifeLink
of Georgia urged members
of the Commerce Kiwanis
Club to “give the ultimate
gift” when they die by
becoming organ and tissue
donors.
“Over 700 people in Geor
gia are alive today because
someone gave the ultimate
gift,” advised Jimmy Swift,
the funeral home/coroner/
medical examiner liaison
for LifeLink.
Last year alone, some 290
donors donated almost 800
organs through the nonprof
it foundation. The problem
is that over 5,000 Georgians
are on the waiting list just for
kidneys, the most common
ly needed organs.
According to Swift, some
60,000 Georgians die every
year, but fewer than three
percent of them die under
circumstances that allow for
organ or tissue donations.
Organs that can be trans
planted include hearts,
lungs, liver, pancreas, kid
neys, and small intestines.
Tissues include corneas,
skin, tendons, bones, veins,
cartilage and heart valves.
“Seven million people in
Georgia are registered to be
donors, but more are need
ed,” Swift said.
LifeLink is the organ
procurement organization
(OPO) for Georgia and
part of Florida. Federal law
requires each state to have
an OPO, and there are 58 in
the country.
Potential organ donors
are people diagnosed in a
hospital as brain dead. Tis
sue donation is not depen
dent upon brain death.
Swift works with hospi
tals, nurses, emergency
medical technicians, funer
al directors and coroners to
turn tragic deaths into saved
or improved lives for others.
A transplanted heart,
lung(s), liver, kidney or
pancreas might save a life,
but recipients of corneas,
skin, tendons, bones, veins,
cartilage and heart valves
are equally important for
the lives they enhance.
Swift told about receiv-
LongHorn manager Greg Roy is recognized
Greg Ray, managing part
ner of the LongHorn Steak-
house at Banks Crossing, has
achieved parent company
Darden Restaurants’ Diamond
Club status.
He joins a group of top-per
forming managing partners
recognized this year for their
commitment to delivering
guest experiences at the high
est level, while making a dif
ference in the lives of guests,
team members and in their
community. This is the second
time Ray received this recog
nition.
“Greg is committed to his
restaurant team members, and
to creating a superior dining
experience for all our guests,”
said Todd Burrowes, president
of LongHorn Steakhouse.
Ray is one of 23 manag
ing partners selected from
the more than 480 LongHorn
Steakhouse restaurants in
North America.
For Information
About Donations
And Transplants
• www.lifelinkfound.
org
•www.unos.org
•www.aopo.org
• www.donatelife-
georgia.org
ing a letter from the grand
mother of a child who
received a new heart valve
that allowed the child to
“run and play at recess
every day like the other
children.”
“That child is just as
important as a heart trans
plant,” Swift remarked.
“Death brings life.”
Swift showed an ESPN
video report about for
mer Cincinnati Bengals
wide receiver Chris Henry,
whose mother made
the decision to allow his
organs to be harvested
after his 2009 death in an
auto accident. His pan
creas, liver, two lungs and
kidney were donated. The
video featured an emotion
al reunion of Henry’s fami
ly with the donor recipients
and their families.
Sign Up With
License Renewal
Georgians can volunteer
to be donors when they get
or renew driver’s licenses
or they can go to LifeLink’s
website and sign up. But
Henry said it is cmcial that
donors make their plans
known to their loved ones.
The organization also
secures donations by
approaching the families of
those who die — alerted
by coroners, funeral direc
tors and others when such
a death happens and the
body is in a condition con
ducive to organ and tissue
donation.
Swift said Jackson Coun
ty coroner Keith Whitfield
alerted him when two Jef
ferson brothers were killed
in an automobile accident
in November 2015, leaving
one capable of organ/tis-
sue donation. The parents
gave their approval.
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“Their child had to be
buried, but they can say
that there are at least 50
people with better lives”
because of organs and tis
sues from the boy.
LifeLink harvests the
organs and tissues. They
have 48 hours after a death
to remove organs, 24 hours
to recover tissue (providing
the body has been refriger
ated) and 18 hours to take
eyes (the Georgia Eye Bank
collects the eyes).
Swift expressed gratitude
to local funeral homes for
working with LifeLink, not
ing that the harvesting of
organs “makes more work
for the funeral home,”
but he insisted that when
organs are donated, funeral
homes are as much “in the
business of life” as much as
that of death.
LifeLink does not decide
who gets organs and tis
sues. Once an organ is
deemed adequate for
donation, it is offered to the
waiting list in Georgia. If it
cannot be used in Geor
gia, it is offered to other
states — which eventually
repay Georgia with a simi
lar organ.
Tissue stays in Georgia
and Florida.
Swift pointed out that
University of Georgia foot
ball standouts Todd Gurley
and Nick Chubb still play
football, thanks to donat
ed tendons. Bone tissue is
used in a lot of oral surgery.
Asked about upper age
limits for donors, Swift said
there is none, telling the
group that a 73-year-old
lung and a 93-year old liver
have been transplanted.
“There is no age limit to
organ donors from birth
to 100,” he said. “If you’re
living to 100, something is
working.”
Organ and tissue recov
ery takes place in an
operating room under the
direction of a surgeon. Peo
ple waiting for transplants
are listed at the hospital
where the surgery is to be
conducted. Under contract
with the Health Resourc
es and Services Admin
istration, a national list is
maintained by the United
Network for Organ Sharing,
which maintains a 24-hour
hotline to match donor
organs with patients on the
waiting list.
All costs related to dona
tion are paid for by the
organ recovery organiza
tion.
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of Commerce
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La Hacienda Commerce
173 Steven B. Tanger Blvd.
706-335-7458
La Hacienda Braselton
5391 Highway 53
706-654-0070
The Original Mexican Restaurant! Not affiliated with any other restaurant.
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