Newspaper Page Text
6-A
— The Summerville News, Thursday, February 24, 2000
Huggins Wants Schools To
Review Education Measure
Rep. Reece, Senator Favor Using Lethal Injections
Chattooga County Rep. Bar
bara Massey Reece, D-Menlo,
and Sen. Waymond “Sonny”
Huggins said they have been
busy with a heavy schedule this
week in the state Legislature.
Sen. Huggins said Wednes
day he planned to invite his
district’s school superintendents
to review the conference com
mittee regort on Governor Roy
Barnes’ education bill before de
ciding how to vote on the issue.
TAXES
“If it raises local taxes, that'’s
a problem with me,” Huggins
said. The full Senate was ex
pected to vote on the measure
this week. Since the Senate Edu
cation Committee made some 40
changes to the bill it received
from the state House, a Senate-
House conference committee
will have to resolve the differ
ences.
Rep. Reece said some of the
40 changes made by the Senate
committee were insubstantial
word substitutions, although the
panel appears to have given lo
cal school systems more leeway
on spending state funds and
more time to implement the re
duced teacher-student ratio
called for in the bill. She voted
against the original version of the
bill, the only Democrat in the
House to do so.
Much attention was focused
on “teacher tenure” while some
other aspects of the bill were not
widely publicized, she said.
“I want to let the local super
intendents to let me know if the
bill from the conference commit
tee would raise local taxes,” Sen.
Huggins said.
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INJECTION
In other matters, Rep. Reece
voted to change Georgia's
method of execution from the
electric chair to lethal injection
for those sentenced to die on or
after May 1 for this year. It also
stipulated that for all individu
als who receive a death penalty
sentence before May 1, lethal in
jection would be the “fallback”
method of execution if the use of
the electric chair is ruled
unConstitutional. The measure
passed, 162-10.
Sen. Hugfiins said he had no
problem wit supporting the
change, too, but wondered if it
would be better for those on
death row to die b{lthe same
method they used in killing their
victims.
Sionsors of the injection bill
said they feared the U.S. Su
preme Court would outlaw the
electric chair as a means of capi
tal punishment.
AUTHORITY
Huggins said he also voted
for Gov. Barnes proposal to cre
ate a Georgia One Authority, to
promote economic development
in the state’s rural counties.
“It’s a good bill,” the sena
tor said. “The next thing is fund
ingit.”
She voted for making more
children whose parents can't af
ford insurance eligible for the
state’s Peach Care program. The
bill raised the annual income
limit to $40,000 an increase of
$6,000 from $34,000 yearly.
Those families of four would be
eligible for the program, which
is Fargel_v paid for by federal tax
dollars.
It provides insurance for
$7.50 monthly per child with a
maximum of sls a month for all
children in the family.
Re‘). Reece said she has
been called by numerous upset
low-paid state employees who
aren’'t covered by the measure
because they are state employ
ees.
“I can see their point,” she
said. “It’s tough for a single 'par
ent to try to work and raise a fam
ily without child support, too.”
MEDICINE
Sen. Huggins said the Sen
ate defeategga proposal that
would have virtually run generic
pharmaceutical drug makers out
of business. Huggins said he
voted against the iill, too.
The large brand-name drug
companies were for the bill as
were many physicians, he said.
At present, a doctor can mark on
a prescription whether a generic
drug can be used instead of a
brand-name drug. The generic
drugs generally are much less
expensive than %rand—name pre
scription drugs.
The senator said he also was
for a bill that limits city and
county governments from issu
in§ “certificates of participation”
valued at more than $5-million.
The measure closed a loophole
that allowed local governments
to increase their indebtedness
without a vote by taxpayers, he
said.
LIMIT
The certificates are sold to
private investors who are repaid
annually under renewable lease
arrangements.
“I think that’s ($5-million)
high enough . . . “ Sen. Huggins
said. Governments in his 53rd
Senate District haven't been ac
cumulating high certificate debt,
he said, but many metro govern
ments have done so. Atlanta, for
example, has a certificate debt of
almost S9O-million.
Huggins said he also fa
vored a bill that would allow a
doctor to take immediate cus
tody of a child the doctor sus
pected of being abused. The doc
tor would then call law enforce
ment authorities and turn the
child and any investigation over
to them, according to the mea
sure.
Six motorists were arrested
in Chattooga County during the
past week on charges of driving
under the influence (DUI) of in
toxicants, according to jail re
ports.
They were:
Donald Coley, 26, of 414
North Commerce St., Summer
ville, also arrested for speeding
and driving without proof of in
surance; Ramirls DeYeon, 29, of
104 Leon St., Rome, also arrested
for driving without a license and
driving without proof of insur
ance; Steve Johnson, 32, of 181
Powell St., Summerville, also ar
rested for disorderly conduct and
failure to maintain a single lane;
Pam Pickle, 24, of 25 Mountain
Side Drive, Summerville, also
arrested for failure to dim head
lights, failure to maintain a single
lane and driving on a suspended
or revoked license; Claude
Treadaway, 43, of 355 Reservoir
Road, Summerville, also arrested
for driving on a suspended or
revoked license and driving with
out proof of insurance; ans Rob
ert Walker, 18, Summerville Rte.
2, Box 562-B, also arrested for
failure to maintain a single lane,
under?e of possession of alco
hol and driving on a suspended
or revoked license.
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Eagle Gets Optimist Award
New Eagle Scout Tom Snow, left, son of Mr. and Mrs. David
Snow, Summerville, has received the Summerville-Trion
Optimist Club’s top Eagle Scout award for his accomplish
ments in attaining that goal. Chris Corbin, president of the
club, presented the plaque. (Staff Photo).
Judge Westbrook
For Juvenile Plan
Judge Jerry Westbrook of
Chattooga County Juvenile
Court said he favors a bill that
would establish a full-time Ju
venile Court judgeship for each
judicial district in Georgia.
However, he said a Ezll-time
Juvenile Court judge isn’t
needed in Chattooga County.
GOOD IDEA
“I think it’s a good idea to
have one full-time judge and as
sociate judges in each county,”
Judge Westbrook said. He had
already discussed the idea with
the Lookout circuit’s Superior
Court judges, the judge added.
Governor Roy Barnes has
placed $6.4-million in his 2000-
2001 state budget to pay for 48
judges in each of Georgia’s cir
cuits. The bill has passed the
state House already and is pend
ing in the state Senate.
Chief Justice Robert
Benham, Cartersville, of the
Georgia Supreme Court en
dorsefi the measure after a study
in 1996 indicated that the com
plexity of some juvenile cases
were beyond the capacity of
some judicial circuits to handle.
PART-TIME
Judge Westbrook serves as
apart-time judge and he also has
a full-time private law practice.
In Georfiia, attorneys such
as Westbrook have been serving’
as Juvenile Court judges. In
some counties, law cletfi(s and
lawyers who have just passed the
State Bar examination are serv
ing as judges, research indi
cated. Some of those judges have
said they feel unqua{ified to de
cide juvenile cases.
In other counties that can’t
afford even a part-time Juvenile
Court judge, the Superior Court
judges ano handfe Juvenile
Court matters. One Middle
Georgia Superior Court judge
has said it is difficult for Supe
rior Court jurists to find the time
necessary to devote to juvenile
cases.
47 FULL-TIME
Forty-seven full-time Juve
nile Court judges are listed in
Georgia while 61, including
Judge Westbrook, serve on a
part-time basis.
Westbrook noted that Bry
ant Henry is the full-time Juve
nile Court judge in both Walker
and Dade counties within the
Lookout Mountain Judicial Cir
cuit. Judge Henry also has an as
sociate judge who helps him
handle the volume of cases in
those two counties, Westbrook
said.
If a full-time Juvenile Court
judgeship were to be established
andg funcs’ed by the state, Judge
Westbrook said, JudFe Henry
might be the overall circuit
judge and name part-time asso
ciate judges in Chattooga and
Catoosa counties, the other two
counties within the Lookout cir
cuit.
CATOOSA
Attorney and former legis
lator Ken Poston is the part-time
Juvenile Court judge in Catoosa
County, Judge Westbrook said.
If allowed by the governor’s
proposal, Westbrook said,
Judge Henry might become the
overall Lookout circuit Juvenile
Court judge and perhaps would
name Westbrook and Poston as
associate part-time judges in
their respective counties.
“One man couldn’t do it in
all our counties,” Judge
Westbrook said.
“I think you need someone
local who knows the people in
volved with the juvenile,” the
judge said.
Background checks and
former records can be checked
where adults are concerned, he
said, but the background and
circumstances involving juve
niles are more difficult to ascer
tain than for adults.
FAMILY
“With juveniles, you need to
look at the family to see if it is
going to help, then fi'our job is
going to be easy. If the family is
not goinfito help it makes your
job a lot harder.
The proposal to create the
office of a full-time Juvenile
Court judgeship “has been
knocking around for about 10
years,” Westbrook said. “It
gassed one time but the state
idn’t fund it.”
He handled between 250
and 300 Juvenile Court cases
in 1999, Judge Westbrook said,
and the volume of cases in
creases each year. However, the
load is not yet great enough to
demand a full-time judge, he
said.
The metro counties in
Georgia have full-time judges,
as wefil as some medium-sized
counties such as Floyd County.
SALARY
If the proposed bill passes,
the state woulg pay the salary of
the full-time judges. However,
the county or jointly the coun
ties in each circuit would have
to pay for the office space, a law
clerk and a secretary of a full
time circuit- Juvenile Court
judge, according to the mea
sure.
BENHAM
Justice Benham recently
told the Legislature that Gov.
Barnes’ bill “would allow us to
remove dangerous juveniles
from society and provide treat
ment and rehabilitation for
thousands of salvageable young
“‘people. The courts must be able
to safeguard children when par
ents cannot or will not.”
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Chattooga Assessors Offer
Internet Information Site
The Chattooga County
Board of Tax Assessors now has
a website on the Internet that’s
chock full of information on lo
cal property tax-related matters.
Its Internet address is http:/
/www.angelfire.com/ga2/
chattoogataxoffice/
The office’s email address is
chetypa@roman.net
FEATURES
The home page features a
photo of the Chattooga County
Courthouse, plus the street and
mailing address of the board of
assessors, its email address, tele
phone number and hours of op
eration.
As a convenience, the first
page also has available the
Angelfire/Lycos Internet search
engine, an overweight calculator,
free email access, an OnHealth
site and access to music, games
and news.
However, the main asses
sors’ web pages include data de
scribing an assessment notice,
how to appeal a notice, definition
of the homestead exemption, lo
cal school tax exemptions and
agricultural assessments, includ
ing conservation/land use.
OPTIONS
Advanced options include a
depiction of the tax digest, sales/
transactions, the tax history of
the county and the county
schools, 1999 assessments and
appeals, a method to look at sales
transactions via email, consoli
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dation reports — which feature
different property categories and
details — for 1997, 1998 and 1999
and local property tax rates.
The office also is making tax
information available to the pub
lic on a (for now) free CD-ROM
disc, officials stated on one of the
web f:ges.
. Leonard Barrett is the chief
agpraiser and office manager of
the Chattooga Property Asses-
Sors.
BROCHURE
Meanwhile, Hugh Don Hall,
countg tax commissioner, has
available to the public at his of
fice a detailed brochure that has
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details on some, but not all, of the
data contained on the assessors’
Internet site.
. Hall ls)aid he didn’t have an
adequate budget to cover e
to mail thedgrochure bmt
they are available free at his of
fice on West Washington Street
in the Courthouse Annex.
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