Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page.

Vol. 140 No. 34 24 Pages 2 Sections rpl WED 1/16 0CT0BI Commerce News Wednesday OCTOBER 12,2016 www.CommerceNewsTODAY.com 50 Cents COVERING THE COMMERCE AREA SINCE 1875 Locals provide help for storm victims — Page 2A Tigers on the road again Friday night — Page IB Election 2016 Early voting begins Monday Next week is annual cleanup week Commerce will hold its annual fall cleanup week Monday, Oct. 17, through Fri day Oct. 21, for residential customers. That is the one week a year when the city’s Public Works Department personnel will provide free curbside pick up for items other than yard wastes — such as appliances, furniture, bedding, etc. However, the following items will not be picked up: electronics, batteries, paint, building supplies and tires. Additionally all leaves and grass must be placed in paper biodegradable bags, and res idents are asked to not put the items out at the curb until Oct. 17. For information, call 706- 335-1200. Land bank, police cars on council agenda Mon. Commerce’s city council is expected to take action Monday night to create a land bank to help rehabilitate dis tressed properties and to buy seven police vehicles. The council meets at 6 p.m. in the Commerce Room of the Commerce Civic Cen ter. Among the items on the agenda is a proposed inter governmental agreement with Jackson County regard ing the creation of the Com- merce-Jackson Land Bank. It is the first step toward creat ing a vehicle that could allow owners of vacant, run-down or abandoned buildings or See “Council” on 3A Contact Us •News: news@mainstreet- news.com, call 706-621-7238 Online O Follow us on Facebook by liking The Commerce News www.CommerceNewsTODAY.com INDEX Church News 6B Classified Ads 8-9B Crime News 6-7A Obituaries 7B Opinion 4A School 8-9A Sports 1-5B Social News. 10-12A MAILING LABEL BELOW Early voting for the Nov. 8 General Election begins Mon day at the Jackson County Board of Elections and Voter Registration Office, located at 44 Gordon Street in Jef ferson. The only local races on the ballot will be the sher iff’s race where incumbent Janis Mangum faces chal lenger Randy Moore, and several fire board seats. There will also be a spe cial election on changes to the Freeport Exemption for property taxes, and voters will also cast ballots in the hotly-contested presidential race and on other state races and constitutional amend ments. Early voting in Jefferson will take place during the follow ing hours. •8 am. to 5 p.m. Mon- day-Friday, Oct. 17-Oct. 21 •8 am. to 5 pm. Mon- day-Friday, Oct. 24-28 The Commerce School System presented its 2016-17 teachers of the year during Monday night’s board of education meeting, and the winners took home more than praise and thanks. Jessica Outz, Commerce Primary School; Rashada Wood, Commerce Elemen tary School; Brad Puckett, Commerce Middle School; and Mark Hale, Commerce High School, each went home with a plaque, a $50 gift card and a check for $500. And Wood, named the system teacher of the year, •9 am. to 4 pm. Saturday, Oct. 29 •7 am. to 7 pm. Mon- day-Friday, Oct. 31-Nov. 4 Commerce Early voting will be held at the Commerce Parks and Recreation Center, 204 Carson Street, 7 am. to 7 pm. Monday-Friday, Oct. 31-Nov. 4 Braselton Early voting will be held at the Braselton Police and Municipal Court Build ing, located at 5040 Hwy. 53, Braselton, 7 am. to 7 pm. Monday-Friday, Oct. 31-Nov. 4 “We have extended the voting hours for the last week of early voting in Jef ferson, which will include Braselton and Commerce,” said elections supervisor Fori Wurtz. “The Board of Elections and Voter Registra tion approved the extended hours in an effort to reduce got a second plaque, a sec ond $50 gift card and anoth er check for $400. The monetary gifts were made possible by the gen erosity of a number of spon sors, Superintendent Joy Tolbert pointed out. Outz, a kindergarten teacher, started her educa tion career as a paraprofes- sional in 2004. She came back after working in Ste phens County and took a job as a Pre-K teacher, only to be transferred a month into the year to kindergar ten. “She accepted that chal- VOTE congestion at polling places on Election Day.” Contested Races Other contested races on the ballot include: •President of the United States — pitting Donald Trump (R) against Hillary Clinton (D). Voters will have the option of voting for Gary Johnson, who is running on the Fibertarian ballot. •U.S. Senate — featuring incumbent Johnny Isakson (R), Jim Barksdale (D) and Allen Buckley (F) •Public service com missioner — Tim Echols, incumbent (R) vs. Eric Husking (F) lenge, moved right across the hall, learned a new group of students and a new group of parents,” observed principal Lisa Maddox. “She made that transition seam less.” Wood, a Commerce High School graduate (and vale dictorian) graduated magna cum laud from Georgia State University and followed that with a master’s of education degree in reading language and literacy. She got her gift ed endorsement and, after teaching in Hall County came to CES last year. Principal Cara Lindsey Constitutional Amendments The most controversial matter on the ballot in Geor gia will be the proposed amendment to the Georgia constitution creating “oppor tunity school districts,” (OSD) that will allow the state to take over schools deemed to be underperforming. Currently 127 schools in Georgia have achieved an “F” rank on the state’s account ability system for three con secutive years, which makes them eligible for the state take over. The amendment would allow up to 20 schools a year to be included, with a limit of 100 schools under OSD governance at any given time. If that happens, the gov ernor will appoint a school “superintendent” who will report to the governor. That individual will be able to close or merge schools, hire and fire staff and determine tax said 94 percent of Wood’s students are reading at grade level and two of her students read enough to be named to the “Million Word Club.” Puckett, also a CHS grad uate, got his degree in mid dle grades education from Piedmont College, earned his gifted endorsement and began teaching in Jefferson in 1999. Puckett came to CMS to teach sixth grade and was switched mid-year to eighth grade. He also coaches the Lady Tigers See “Teachers” on 3A rates — which opponents of the measure say removes all local control over schools. Schools would remain under OSD control for a minimum of five years and a maximum of 10 years. The Jackson County and Jefferson boards of educa tion have passed resolutions opposing the amendment, and Commerce superinten dent of schools Joy Tolbert has urged her school board members to advise people to vote against the amendment. There are three other amendments. Amendment 2 deals with new penalties for sexual exploitation and levies taxes on adult enter tainment to fund child vic tims’ services. Amendment 3 would re-establish the Judicial Qualifications Commission and Amendment 4 would dedicate taxes on fireworks to fund trauma care, fire ser vices and public safety. School system ends year with $2M in cash The Commerce Board of Education got the year- end financial report for the 2015-16 fiscal year, and the news was all good. Finance director Ann Stokey pointed out that rev enues for the year were 4.84 percent over budget while expenditures were 1.5 percent over budget. “That’s why the next page (in the financial report) looks the way it does,” she said, noting that the year-end fund balance was $2,276 million. “That put us in pretty good shape with not ever having to get a TAN (tax anticipation note — a loan) to carry us over the hard times,” Stokey added. “Hard times” are the first few months of the fiscal year when there is no income from proper ty taxes. During those months, the school system uses its fund balance to supplement state funds. By the end of the first month of the new school year, the fund equity had slipped to $2,062 million, which Stokey said is typ ical. Opposition To Amendment 1 During Thursday’s “work session” meeting, superintendent Joy Tol bert encouraged board of education members to push for a “no vote” on proposed Amendment 1, which will be on the Nov. 8 ballot. The proposed amend ment on “Opportunity See “Schools” on 3A Commerce schools Commerce teachers of the year The 2016-17 teachers of the year for the elementary school and system winner; Brad Commerce School System are, left to right, Puckett, middle school; and Mark Hale, high Jessica Outz, primary school; Rashada Wood, school. Commerce schools name their 2016-17 'teachers of the year'