Newspaper Page Text
Child Abuse Council?
--See Page 18-A
VOLUME CIII - NUMBER XXXIX
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TIP OF PEN POINTS OUT TINY PINE BEETLE JUST UNDER BARK
Destructive Pest Has Exploded In Georgia This Year
Gas Line Relocation
Could Cost $500,000
Summerville To Contact Trion, LaFayette, DOT
It may cost around
$500,000 to relocate a natural
gas line along U. S. Highway
. 27 in Floyd and Chattooga
Counties to make way for tfie
widening of the roadway, the
Summerville City Council was
told Monday night.
The eight-inch line is own
ed by Summerville, Trion and
Lower Millage Rate Set By
Chattooga County BOE
By RICH JEFFERSON
Staff Writer
The tax rate for the Chat
tooga County schools was
reduced from 7.52 to 7.25 mills
Monday night by the county
Board of Egucation. The bond
rate was reduced from .56 of a
mill to .52 of a mill.
Board members said the
millage rate might be rolled
back if the county’s tax digest
DA Candidates Debate Over Experience, Planning
Van Pelt Outlines Proposals For Offices
Democrat Ralfi)h Van Pelt
says he has a well-though-out
plan to implement should he
win the Nov. 8 ieneral election
and become the district at
torney for the Lookout Moun
tain }udicial Circuit.
Van Pelt is originally from
Chattooga County and now
lives in gatoosa County. He is
running against Republican
Roland Enfoe for the district
attorney’s job in the Lookout
Mountain Judicial Circuit. The
circuit includes Dade, Walker,
Catoosa and Chattooga
counties.
CHANGES
Van Pelt’s list of changes he
plans for the DA’s office in
cludes putting a full-time assis
tant DA in C%lattooga County
The “'ummerville News
LaFayette
The Georgia Department of
Transportation 1D8T) wanted
the city to sign an agreement
immediately that it would
relocate the line. But Summer
ville Mayor Sewell Cash sug
gested that a decision be
postponed pending contact
with Trion, LaFayette and the
is factored by the state. A mill
is $1 tax on each SI,OOO of
assessed property.
The county's tax digest will
be sent to the Georgia Depart
ment of Revenue in Atlanta on
ly after Chattooga Commis
sioner Harry Powell sets the
countywide levy. As of
Wednesday afternoon Powell
had given no indication when
he planned to set the rate.
The board set the tax rate
on the basis of the current tax
digest. If the state factors the
digest, it would cause the
board’s new maintenance and
so local pending case files can
be kept up-to-date. He also
wants to upgrade the stafi
director's position for_ the
victim-witness assistant
problem. :
David “‘Red"” Lomenick, the
current district attorney, was
defeated by Van Pelt in the
Aug. 9 Democratic primary.
According to Van Pelt, the dif
ferences between him and
Lomenick included such Bro
ig)ram changes, as well as Van
elt’'s determination to be
more active in trying cases.
The differences between
Van Pelt's plans for the DA's
office and those of Roland
Enloe may or not be great, but
Van Pelt said he can’t tell what
those differences might be
because his opponent has fail
ed to say what his plans are.
SUMMERVILLE, CHATTOOGA COUNTY, GEORGIA — THURSDAY, OCTOBER 13, 1988
DOT. The Council agreed
AGREEMENT
Grady McCalmon, Sum
merville city manager, said the
DOT also wanted the city to
sign a similar agreement that
it would relocate gas and water
lines on U.S. 27 between
Maple Drive and the Chat-
operation 7.25-mill rate to
bring in more money than
necessary for running the
Chattooga school system.
If this happens, the board
should be able to reduce the tax
rate again. Joel Cook, chairman
of the board, pointed out that
not all school boards reduce the
millage rate after factoring.
“Floyd County didn’t roll
its back after factoring,”’ he
said. Floyd County's millage
rate is close to the legal limit
of 20 mills or S2O for every
SI,OOO of taxable property.
see LOWER, page 15-A
NO PROGRAM
“I haven't seen any pro
gram of his. I've been ta]km%
rom the outset about what
want to do with the office, and
I haven't seen any new ideas
from him. I've been telling peo
%le what I want to do with the
A's office, but I've seen
nothing from him.”
A fulltime assistant in
Chattooga County would mean
better prefiaration for tough
cases, which likely lead to more
convictions and stiffer
sentences, Van Pelt said.
“The complaints I've heard
from the investigators is that
they aren’t able to talk to an
assistant DA until just before
the Grand Jury. My plan is to
have someone check cases on a
see VAN PELT, page 16-A
Lady Deer Hunter
| --See Page 1-B
© Copyright 1988 By Espy Publishing Co., Inc. — All Rights Reserved
Chattooga Hit By Pine Beetle
Devastating Attack Seen As Epidemic In North Georgia
The omnipresent southern
pine beetle has ‘‘exploded” this
year in Chattooga County and
throughout North Georgia. It
has (festroyed thousands of
acres of timberland and
devastated the pine-shaded
lots of numerous homeowners.
No let-up is in sight. ;
“This county is one of the
hardest hit counties in North
Georgia,” said Fred Hall with
the %lhattooga unit of the
Georgia Forestry Commission.
Steve Ayers, a timber buyer
with J. ly Smith Lumber go..
Menlo, also recentlfy pointed
out dead patches o fiines hit
by the beetle throughout one
large section of the county. Ted
Clark, Chattooga Extension
Service afient, agreed that the
pine beetle has attacked trees
throughout the county.
tooga River bridge to allow the
roafi to be widened from two to
three lanes. The city also
postponed a decision on that
issue until it could obtain more
information from the DOT.
Although the gas main
generally parallels U.S. 27
thrm(ligh the northern part of
Floyd County and in Chat
tooga County, there are
numerous locations where its
present location won't interfere
with the proposed highwa
widening, Mayor Cash sai(i
McCalmon estimated that
about ei%ht miles of line will
have to be relocated between
Gore and the city's gas office
on U. S. 27 at the Old Summer
ville Road in Floyd County.
COSTS
It usually costs between
$50,000 and $60,000 to relocate
a mile of gas lime and by the
time engineerin fi and other fees
are figured in, the project could
cost around $500,000, the city
manager told the Council. At
some places, new rights-of-way
for the line may have to be ac
quired, he said‘.,
Mayor Cash su%gest.ed that
Summerville, rion and
%‘?Fayetts, glong wifih Sen.
aymond ‘‘Sonny’’ Huggins
ancf' Rep. John Crgwford,g%:)n
tact the DOT to seek state
see GAS LINE, page 17-A
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MR. VAN PELT
EPIDEMIC
The beetle attack has reach
ed epidemic proportions in
many North Georgia counties,
including Chattooga, Cherokee,
Walker, Forsyth, Hall,
Jackson, Lumpkin, Union and
Gwinnett. Hafi said Cherokee
appears to be the worst hit
county in Northwest Georgia.
‘Between 100 and 150 acres
in one 400-acre pine forest in
Chattooga has been destroyed
by the southern pine beetle,
Ayers said. It isn't unusual to
find tracts in the county as
large as 40 to 80 acres wiped
out by the beetle, Hall noted.
At first, he thought that
the beetle attacks ranged only
in the Taylors Ridge area of the
county, Hall said %‘:}xesda , but
he has since determinecf' that
the destruction isn't isolated.
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&%! T T R s O S
The first Chattooga County firefighter competition will
be held at 1:30 p.m. Sunday at Triangle Shopping
Center, sponsorecF by the Trion Fire Department. At
least five area fire units will participate. 'll)‘rion firemen
Steve Duncan, Ricky Jones and Don Glass are shown
Tough Hospital Decisions Now Due
The Chattooga County
Hospital Authority must make
some tough decisions before
the end og this year on what
direction the facility is to take,
the executive director of the
hosßital said Monday.
an Sweitzer, in a plain
spoken address to the
Summerville-Trion Rotary
Club, said he had ‘“‘a little bit
Enloe Pushes Circuitwide Drug Task Force
A drug and child abuse
hotline will be established,
along with a circuit-wide joint
task force against drugs, if, he's
elected district attorney of the
Lookout Mountain Judicial
Circuit, according to
Rei)ublican candidate Roland
He will face Democratic
nominee Ralph Van Pelt in the
Nov. 8 general election.
HOTLINE
‘T will establish a drug and
child abuse hotline so people
can talk to me and still remain
anonymous,’’ Enloe said. Peo
ple sometimes don't want to
set involved where drug traf
icking is concerned and a
hotline direct to the district at
torney would mean that they
could report violations without
*“lt’s all over the county.”
This f'ear's drought and the
extremely dry weather of the
past few years has proven to be
a double-edged sword. Dry
weather helps beetles multiply
and it also weakens trees,
Ayers and Hall agreed.
EXPLOSION
The Georgia Extension Ser
vice has determined that “ex
plosions’’ of beetles occur
about every five to seven years
and are usually trig%fred by
rolonged droughts. *‘Pine bee
gle populations have been
growing for the past two years
and now just seem to be ex
ploding, said Kim Coder, an
Extension Service forester.
Beetles are always in the
forest, Ayers and Hall noted,
and they usually wipe out
First Firefighter Contest Sunday
of doom and gloom to talk with
you about today.” But, he add
ed, some positive steps are also
being take so that the hospital
and Oak View Nursing Home
will better serve the
community.
PROBLEMS
The hospital must solve
two serious problems, Sweitzer
ever being identified, he
continued.
Enloe said he would also
have a protocol printed of
symfitoms or things to look for
in child and drug abuse and
have it distributed to all
teachers in the circuit.
His proposed joint task
force against drugs would in
clude a representative of each
sheriff's office in the four
county circuit, Enloe said, as
well as members of the State
Patrol, Georgia Bureau of In
vestigation and Federal
Bureau of Investigation. *‘l
believe we could have an im
pact on drugs,” he said.
EARLY
In addition, the in
vestigator in the sheriff’s office
woulg be a certified officer and
Stewart Pleads Innocent
--See Page 3-A
isolated trees that have been
damaged, hit by lightning or
stressed. With normal, low
numbers of beetles during non
drought years, they usually
ction't pick on healthy groves of
rees.
Healthy pines are usually
able to “fight off”’ a beetle at
tack, Ayers said. The tiny
beetles — which are less than
a quarter-inch long — bore in
to a tree and lay eggs, which
then hatch, tunnel and cause
even more damage. A healthy
tree can produce enough sap to
force the beetles and Farva out
and plug up the hole, Ayers
said. But tfiat's not the case
with drought-stricken stands
of pine. Lgven healthy pines
have difficulty fightintg of?con
centrated numbers of beetles.
getting ready for the drills. The five competitive events
will include rapid dress, nozzle sweep, barrel roll, burst
hose and bucket brigade. Trophies will be awarded. The
Trion 50-Yard Club will sell refreshments to spectators.
told the Rotarians.
First, it must obtain im
mediate financial relief from its
current obligations, whether
through a loan, community
fund d%ive or a reduction in ser
vices, he said. :
Second, the Authority will
have to make those decisions
next month or in December
because prospective new physi
would become involved early in
the preparation of cases ang' ac
tuafiy assist officers rather
than being “‘a desk person,”
Enloe continued.
The district attorney's of
fice would also go into schools
throughout the circuit and give
“‘visible support’’ to ;l)rograms
such as Kuf; on the Block, Just
Say No! and Students Stayin
Straight. He complimenteg
Chattooga County Sheriff
Gary Mc%onnell for his Junior
Deputy program.
The Republican hopeful
said the main issue in the cam
paign is that he has more ex
gerience than Van Pelt. “I have
een in practice for nearly 15
years and most of it has geen
in criminal work, one way or
the other.” Enloe pointed out
see ENLOE PUSHES, page 16-A
PRICE 25°¢
BLUE STAIN
1f the beetles and larva
weren't enough, they also in
troduce a ‘‘blue stain” fungus
that disrupts the flow of water
and food in the wood and inner
bark, killing the trees, Hall
said.
Trees receive their
nutrients through the cam
bium or inner bari, Ayers said,
and the tunnels maJ; by the
southern pine beetle plus the
fungus can kill a tree in only
seven to 10 days. Ayers said he
has seen some trees killed so
quickl{ that needles start drop
ping e?l f before they turn brown
or red.
By the time the pine
needles turn red and begin fall
ing off the tree, it is dead and
the beetles have moved on to
see CHATTOOGA, page 14-A
cians — seen as the facility’s
long-term salvation — will
decide then where they will
begin practice next summer.
A community cannot lure
doctors if they aren't certain
that the hospital in that com
munity will remain open during
the next several years, at least
he said. That’s why the facili
see TOUGH, page 17-A
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