WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2016
THE COMMERCE NEWS • THE BANKS COUNTY NEWS
PAGE 3A
Election ••• Cont. from Page 1A
Proposed Amendment 1 would create
“opportunity school districts,” (OSD) that would
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 accountabil
ity system for three consecutive years, which
makes them eligible for the state takeover. 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 governor 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 rates—which opponents of the measure say
removes all local control over schools. Schools
would remain under OSD control for a mini
mum of five years and a maximum of 10 years.
Amendment 2 deals with new penalties for
the sexual exploitation and levies taxes on adult
entertainment to fund child victims’ services.
Amendment 3 would reestablish the Judicial
Qualifications Commission, and Amendment 4
would dedicate taxes on fireworks to fund trau
ma care, fire services and public safety.
Polling places on Nov. 8
North Minish: Commerce Parks and
Recreation Department office, 204 Carson
Street, Commerce
South Minish: J. Nolan Spear Jr. Public
Safety Complex, 1491 South Elm Street,
Commerce
Newtown: Nicholson Community Cen
ter, 129 Lakeview Drive, Nicholson,
Harrisburg: Harrisburg Fire Depart
ment. 52 Thyatira Community Church
Road, Jefferson
Wilson: Maysville United Methodist
Church, 8482 Maysville Road, Maysville
Center: Center Baptist Church, 9368
Commerce Road, Athens
Miller: Plainview Fire Department, 4346
Plainview Road, Maysville
Randolph: Center United Methodist
Church, 7641 Jackson Trail Road, Hoschton
North Jefferson: Faith Baptist
Church, 2081 U.S. Highway 129 N., Jeffer
son,
South Jefferson: Jefferson Civic Cen
ter, 65 Kissam Street, Jefferson
Hoschton: Hoschton Depot, 4272
Highway 53, Hoschton
North Jefferson: Faith Baptist
Church, 2081 U.S. Hwy. 129, Jefferson
Cunningham: Pendergrass Depot, 22
Smith Bridges Road, Pendergrass
Porter: Police and Municipal Court
Building, 5040 Highway 53, Braselton
Attica: South Jackson Fire Department
#2,1136 Highway 330, Athens,
Talmo: Talmo City Hall, 45 AJ Irvin
Road, Talmo
Redstone: The Church at Southside,
8144 Jefferson Road, Athens
Brent Call ... Cont. from Page 1A
food and hotel expenses the Calls will incur.
Friends and other well-wishers can make a
contribution at www.gofundme.com/brent-
call.
Call grew up in Charlotte, but moved to
Commerce after he and Valerie married in
2005, attracted by its quaint downtown. They
bought an old house and restored it to its orig
inal condition.
Call worked in a variety of capacities from
construction to warehouse jobs to making
deliveries. Now he’s in the process of trying to
get on disability through Social Security thanks
in part to the ravages of cancer and the treat
ments to check it.
“I’ve got one kidney working and it’s at 26
percent,” Call said, attributing that to the “che
motherapy, the radiation, all the surgeries and
the cancer” he’s experienced.
Call says he is able to keep in good spirits,
most of the time.
“So far,” he noted. “It gets to me now and
then. I’m pretty sure it’s got a positive outcome
— I hope. I just don’t know how chemo and
radiation will affect me long-term. There is a
lot of hope in this.”
LOST ... Cont. from Page 1A
year SPLOST 5 collection,” Wood wrote.
“SPLOST 5 collections will end on June 30,
2017. Overall, SPLOST 5 revenues are trending
approximately 17 percent above budget.”
The difference in the reported amounts of
the two one-percent local sales tax (LOST and
SPLOST) checks is because for LOST, Jackson
County and each of its nine municipalities get
individual checks from DOR, whereas with
SPLOST, DOR remits the entire amount to the
county which apportions it out to the municipal
ities on a population-based formula.
Since both taxes are one-percent sales taxes,
SPLOST’s better performance relative to budget
is likely related to more conservative expecta
tions when Jackson County and its municipal
ities drafted plans for SPLOST 5.
In addition to LOST and SPLOST, the three
school systems in Jackson County share in the
proceeds of an education local option sales
tax (ELOST) according to an enrollment-based
formula.
Delivering the grant funds
Jackson EMC district manager Bill Sanders (far left) and Jackson EMC
Foundation board member Phillippa Lewis-Moss (far right) present a $15,000
foundation grant check to (from left) Elachee Nature Science Center presi
dent/CEO Andrea Timpone, director of education Peter Gordon and director
of development Kim Marks that will provide students in Title 1 schools in
Banks, Barrow, Clarke, Gwinnett, Hall, Jackson, Lumpkin and Madison coun
ties with discounts for environmental science/nature field trips.
Foundation awards S66.5K in grants
The Jackson EMC Foundation board of direc
tors awarded a total $66,500 in grants to organi
zations during its September meeting, including
$25,000 to agencies serving area residents.
The grants include:
• $15,000 to Elachee Nature Science Center
in Gainesville to help offer discounts for students
in Title 1 schools in Banks, Barrow, Clarke,
Gwinnett, Hall, Jackson, Lumpkin and Madison
counties to encourage environmental science/
nature field trips that provide students with
STEM-based educational experiences which
cannot be duplicated in the classroom.
• $10,000 to the Rainbow Children’s Home,
a Dahlonega shelter for abused and neglected
girls, to help fund pregrams that go beyond the
basics of food, clothing and shelter to provide
services such as substance abuse treatment,
independence and wellness training, and family
reunification services.
Jackson EMC Foundation grants are made
possible by the more than 183,200 participating
cooperative members who have their monthly
electric bills rounded to the next dollar amount
through the Operation Round Up program.
Their “spare change” has funded 1,123 grants
to organizations and 336 grants to individuals,
putting nearly $11.4 million back into local com
munities since the program began in 2005.
Any individual or charitable organization in
the 10 counties served by Jackson EMC (Clarke,
Banks, Barrow, Franklin, Gwinnett, Hall, Jack-
son, Lumpkin, Madison and Oglethorpe) may
apply for a Foundation grant by completing an
application, available online at http://www.jack-
sonemc.com/foundationguidelines or at local
Jackson EMC offices. Applicants do not need to
be members of Jackson EMC.
Presenting the Gold Medal of Valor
Jim Shaw, president of the Jackson County Area Chamber of Commerce,
presents the Gold Medal of Valor to Jackson County Sheriff’s Officer Tom
Trudnak.
Heroes ••• Cont. from Page 1A
driver to put the gun down
and continued to talk to
the driver for the entire two
hours.”
Silver Medal Of Valor
The Silver Medal of Valor
was presented to Georgia
State Patrol Trooper First
Class Major Patterson with
the Athens office of the state
patrol, which serves Jack-
son County.
The Silver Medal of Valor
recognizes acts of bravery
involving great personal risk
above and beyond the call
of duty.
Patterson was honored
for his role in the same inci
dent for which Trudenak
was honored.
In presenting the award,
Valentine stated: “TFC Pat
terson attempted to stop the
vehicle. A pursuit ensued.
When the subject refused
to stop, TFC Patterson uti
lized his training and ter
minated the pursuit before
the suspect was allowed to
endanger any citizens. Even
knowing the suspect had
previously displayed violent
behavior, TFC Patterson
put himself in harm’s way
to prevent the suspect’s
escape.”
Patterson approached
the vehicle and saw the sus
pect raise a handgun. He
immediately communicat
ed the threat to the Jackson
County deputy. At gunpoint,
commands were given for
the suspect to put the weap
on down. He refused and
a standoff ensued. After
several hours, the suspect
surrendered and was taken
into custody.
“Through his actions,
TFC Patterson was able
to safely remove a violent
criminal from the roadways
of Georgia,” Valentine said.
“This incident further docu
ments TFC Patterson’s daily
commitment to duty, his
level of skill and his ability to
perform under high stress
situations.”
Bronze Medal Of Valor
The Bronze Medal of
Valor was presented to Jef
ferson police officer Tyler
Grizzle for his role in rescu
ing a wreck victim.
The Bronze Medal of
Valor recognizes acts of
bravery involving unusual
personal risk beyond expec
tation while performing the
usual responsibility.
“On the morning of March
14, Officer Grizzle was dis
patched to a motor vehi
cle accident in Jefferson,”
Valentine stated. “When
he arrived, he noticed an
overturned vehicle with an
unconscious victim trapped
inside. The victim was lying
beneath the steering col
umn and dashboard. The
vehicle was teetering per
ilously on its side. Officer
Grizzle, putting his person
al safety aside, entered the
vehicle through a shattered
window and provided com
fort and first aid to the victim
as others stabilized the vehi
cle so it wouldn’t roll over
and cause further injury.
The fire department arrived
and was able to extricate
the victim from the vehicle,
whereby he was transport
ed to the hospital in critical
condition. Due to Officer
Grizzle putting himself in
unusual personal risk, his
quick response and profes
sional initiative, the victim
was able to recover from his
critical injuries.”
Medal Of Merit
The Medal of Merit was
presented for “dedication
and initiative above and
beyond the call of duty over
a period of time that has
affected and benefited the
citizens and or community
of Jackson County through
personal time both on and
off the job and or through
a public safety community
program.” The award was
presented to firefighter Will
Davis of the West Jackson
Fire Department.
Davis is a volunteer for
the department who began
by repairing the depart
ment’s website last year, but
who wanted to volunteer
in a larger capacity. Due
to health issues he could
not be a firefighter at the
time, however he started
an auxiliary for the depart
ment and started a fund
raising campaign to better
outfit the volunteers. Due
to his efforts, the depart
ment raised over $5,200 for
equipment.
Once that project was
complete Davis assisted
with the next program — the
honor guard. He took the
Introduction to Public Safety
Honor Guard course taught
by Georgia Public Safety
Training Center, where he
excelled. He started a fund
raising campaign for the
honor guard an effort that
brought over $5,000 to the
program and enabled the
honor guard to purchase
uniforms for the members,
who all volunteer their ser
vice for events.
Will Davis provided
over 2,136 hours of service
between June 1, 2015, and
Feb. 29 of this year, when
he was medically cleared
to pursue his firefighter
training. He has since vol
unteered an additional 975
hours.
“Will’s dedication to the
department and communi
ty has provided an honor
guard that has been used in
parades, funerals, and civic
events,” Valentine said in
presenting the award. “The
equipment purchased for
the West Jackson volun
teer staff has allowed three
volunteers to have pagers
to alert them to calls for
service, and two volunteers
received new turnout gear.
Firefighter Will Davis’ initia
tive, perseverance, and total
dedication to duty reflect
great credit upon himself in
keeping with the highest tra
ditions of the department,
and the fire service.”
Public Safety
Professional Of The
Year
The Public Safety Pro
fessional of the Year award
went to Cindy O’Barr of
the Jackson County Sher
iff’s Office. The award goes
to a public safety individ
ual who has “performed
with exceptional skill and
expertise, also taking into
account innovation in the
workplace.” This individual
sets an example for fellow
employees, shows a high
level of devotion and is
exceptionally supportive to
the department.
O’Barr has over 22
years of experience in law
enforcement. She came to
the Jackson County Sheriff’s
Office in December 2006.
O’Barr was promoted
to sergeant in the Special
Operations Division. She
also supervises the six
school resource officers.
O’Barr directs all com
munity-related events at
the sheriff’s office. This
includes gun safety class
es, church safety classes,
Red Ribbon Week in the
schools, active shooter
classes, the CHAMPS Pro
gram, the Christmas Toy
Drive, Night of Lights, the
Choices Program, all of the
Neighborhood Watch pro
grams and Explorers.
“Sergeant O’Barr goes
above and beyond what
is required of her, puts in
many hours after her regu
lar work hours to coordinate
all of these events,” Valen
tine said in presenting the
award.
O’Barr is key to planning
the two fundraisers the sher
iff’s office has annually for
the Georgia Sheriff’s Youth
Homes, the annual golf
tournament, and the annual
Jeep ride.
“Sergeant O’Barr puts in
countless hours organizing
all these programs for the
citizens of Jackson County,”
Valentine said. “She demon
strates hard work, dedica
tion to her job, and loyalty to
not only the Jackson Coun
ty Sheriff’s Office but to the
citizens of Jackson County.
Sergeant Cindy O’Barr tmly
has a servant’s heart.”
Nominees
Nominations were open
to all fire, police and EMS
departments. The other
nominees were: Lieutenant
Mike Adams, Arcade Police
Department; Officer Steven
Folkers, Braselton Police
Department; firefighter John
Freeman, Commerce Fire
Department; J.C. Crocker,
Commerce Rescue; Cap
tain Larry Stevens, Jackson
County Dive Team; and
Chief Joe Wirthman, Jeffer
son Police Department.
The deadline for submitting news or
photographs to this newspaper is noon on the Monday prior to publition.
