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Sports: IB Mat Leopards excel at area tournament Wintry weather in forecast The weather forecast calls for rain and sleet mixed with snow Wednesday night and Thursday. January 16, 2008 January 16 The Banks County News 504^ Homer, Banks County, Georgia 30547 • A Publication of MainStreet Newspapers, Inc. • mainstreetnews.com • 24 Pages, 3 Sections Plus Supplements • Vol. 39 No. 23 BOC CHAIRMAN SPEAKS Banks County Board of Commissioners chairman Gene Hart spoke at the groundbreaking ceremony Thursday for the new courthouse annex. More than 75 city, county and state officials attended the ceremony held at the site on Eagles Nest Drive, off of Thompson Street. See page 2A for more photos. Photos by Angela Gary GROUNDBREAKING CEREMONY HELD County, city and state leaders gathered at the site of the new courthouse annex in Homer Thursday for a ground-breaking ceremony. Among those shown are: Angela Sheppard, BOC office, sixth from left; Pat Westmoreland, former commis sioner, seventh from left; Gene Hart, BOC chairman, eighth from left; Sen. Nancy Schaeffer, state senator, ninth from left; Rickey Cain, commissioner, 10th from left; and Henry David Banks, former magistrate judge, second from right. Groundbreaking held at courthouse annex BY ANGELA GARY County leaders gathered at the site of the new courthouse annex in Homer Thursday for a ceremonial ground breaking. City and state officials joined the county leaders underneath a white tent at the site for a ceremony sponsored by Turner Construction. More than 75 people attended the ceremony despite the cold temperature and rain. “We’ve been looking forward to this,” board of commissioners chairman Gene Hart said. “It’s a special day for Banks County. I’m really excited about it. It is a beginning for something grand.” Anthony Turpin with Piper O’Brien, the architect, spoke on the building, which will be a 18,000 square foot facil ity located on Eagles Nest Drive, off of Thompson Street in Homer. Turpin said the layout on the site will allow expan sion or the location of other county buildings. The building will include a 100-seat commission meeting room as well as county offices. “We’re very excited to be a part of the process,” he said. Scott Edwards of Turner Construction also spoke: “We’re really proud to be here. I think this will be a facility you can be proud of.” Sen. Nancy Schaeffer also attended the groundbreaking. “We’re real happy for you,” she said. “...We appreciate what this will offer down the road. The population is com ing and its so much better for us to pre pare now.This is a marvelous asset.” The new courthouse annex is being funded through Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax funds. A total of $8 million has been designated for the courthouse annex as well as renovations of the current Banks County courthouse. The current courthouse will continue to house the judicial-related offices and courtrooms. The courthouse annex is expected to be complete by July. News - 2-3A •Cities hold swearing-in — page 12A •Baldwin agrees to lift burn ban — page 3A Op/Ed - 4-5A •‘Banks community shows strength during past year’ — page 4A •‘Thoughts on presiden tial candidates’ — page 5A School - 7-8B •Art contest winners named - page 7B •FFA teams compete - page 8B Other news •Social News — pages 10-12A •Public Safety — page 6A • Legals — pages 7-9A •Church — page 6B •Obituaries — page 5B FLAG MAKES STOP IN BANKS A flag that is traveling through all 159 counties in Georgia made a stop in Banks County last week. The executive directors for the 16 regional development centers in Georgia have been working with the Navy League on a project to take the flag to all of the counties in the state. The USS Georgia submarine will be retrofitted from a ballistic sub to another mission and restationed at Kings Bay in Camden County, Georgia. As part of the relocation to Georgia, the Navy League is planning to honor the return to Georgia by getting a flag taken to every county in Georgia and then placing it permanently in the USS Georgia. After the flag has traveled through all 159 counties, the flag will be presented by Gov. Sonny Perdue to the Commanding Officer of the USS Georgia at the Return to Service Ceremony in Kings Bay on March 28. The flag was in Banks County on January 7. — Election Updates — Galloway to seek second term as county coroner Henry Galloway has announced that he plans to seek re-election as county coroner. Galloway has been serving Banks County for the past four years. “I want to thank the residents of the area for their support,” he said. GALLOWAY Absentee voting under way Absentee ballots for the Feb. 5 presidential preference primary are currently available from the Banks County Registrars Office. Rules regulating absentee bal lots have changed as registered voters no longer have to give a reason for requesting an absentee ballot by mail. Those requesting an absentee ballot must ask for a Democrat or Republican ballot, however. Absentee ballots must be received by the Registrar’s Office by Tuesday, Feb. 5, and no ballots will be mailed after Friday, Feb. 1. Local officials encourage citizens who wish to vote absentee to go ahead and request ballots early to avoid the deadline. Advance voting: Jan. 28-Feb. I Advance voting will be held Monday, Jan. 28, through Friday, Feb. 1. For this type of voting, there is also no reason required to vote — only that the voter wishes to vote early. Advance voting will also be in the Registrar’s Office on the sec ond floor of the Banks County Courthouse in Homer. Hours will be from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The presidential primary will be the only election on the Feb. 5 ballot. For additional information, contact the Registrar’s Office at 706-677-6260. Baldwin hearing on suit against city postponed to Feb. 5 BY SHARON HOGAN A hearing on the suit filed against the City of Baldwin by Baldwin resident Theron Ayers will be held at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 5, at the Habersham County Courthouse. Judge Hugh W. Stone is scheduled to hear the case filed by Ayers against the city and City of Baldwin Election Superintendent Brandy Kyle. Ayers alleges in the suit that Kyle went out to homes in the city and brought back absentee ballots. Ayers ran against incumbent council member Beverly Holcomb for the Post 1 council seat. The count after the Nov. 6 city election showed Holcomb beating Ayers by three votes. Ayers suit states that, according to the two voting machines, Ayers won the elec tion by one vote. With the 18 absentee bal lots in question, Ayers lost by three votes. Ayers states the following reasons for filing the suite: not knowing the conditions that the election superintendent required to be eligible for her to come out to their homes, the inconsistency of her answers as to how many homes she actually went to; his winning on the voting machines; and the closeness of the vote after counting the absentee ballots. Ayers also questioned the training of Kyle to hold this position.