Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page.

Sports: IB Leopards continue subregion play March 19,2008 The Banks County News 504^ Homer, Banks County, Georgia 30547 • A Publication of MainStreet Newspapers, Inc. • mainstreetnews.com • 26 Pages, 3 Sections Plus Supplements • Vol. 39 No. 32 DA theft case hearings set for Tuesday Hearings will be held Tuesday in Banks County Superior Court on charges filed against former Piedmont Judicial Circuit Assistant District Attorney 4 & i a JONES WILLIAMS Brett Williams and former DA employee Linn Jones. The hear ings are set for 10 a.m. Tuesday in Banks County Superior Court. Jones is the wife of for mer DA Tim Madison, who pled guilty to theft charges and was sentenced two weeks ago to six years in prison and to pay restitution of $40,000. Williams is charged with theft by tak ing, theft by receiving and viola tion of oath of office for having allegedly received a double salary, one from the state and one from Banks County, then kicking part of the Banks County salary back to Madison. Jones is charged with four counts of false statements and one count of conspiracy to defraud the state for having allegedly received pay for hours she didn’t actually work. Madison had put his wife on the payroll in both Jackson and Banks Counties in 2005 and 2006. All three were indicted last August and entered not guilty pleas in December. Two weeks ago, Madison changed his plea to guilty and received his sentence. The cases began in March 2007 after a series of investigative news paper articles in The Jackson Herald outlined financial abuse in the DA’s office. Georgia Attorney General Thurbert Baker subsequently asked the GBI to formally investigate the matter. Madison and Jones both resigned their positions in May. Williams had already left the DA’s office and was working for the U.S. Justice Department in Atlanta. He subse quently resigned from that posi tion. News - 2-3A •Maysville to see tax rate changes — page 3A •Counseling program topic for health dept. — page 3A Op/Ed • ‘Expect the unexpect ed with Georgia weather* — page 4A Other news •Social News — pages 6-8B •School News— pages 11-12A •Public Safety — page 6A •Legals — pages 9-10A •Church — page 8A • Obituaries — page 7A 66 We lost six or eight good firefighters. Some of those who resigned have not answered a fire call in four years or more. 9 9 — Banks County Board of Commissioners chairman Gene Hart Hart: volunteers resigning 'has not caused problems' BY ANGELA GARY The majority of Banks County’s volunteer fire fighters resigned last week, but board of commis sion chairman Gene Hart said this has not caused any problems. Hart said the paid EMA/firefighters are in place and have handled all calls since the volunteers stepped down. He added that surrounding coun ties and cities have agreed to assist Banks County, if needed. “No, it has not caused any problems,” Hart said. “We are fully staffed with paid EMA/frefight- ers...We still have fire protection. The ambu lances are ready.” Hart said that 33 firefighters turned in a letter of resignation at last Tuesday’s BOC meeting. “Five on that list weren’t even volunteers,” he added. “.We lost six or eight good firefighters. Some of those who resigned have not answered a fire call in four years or more.. .We did not lose the first paid person.” As of last week’s BOC meeting, only eight of the firefighters had turned in their gear. As of press time, 18 had turned in their gear. When sev- eral firemen attempted to turn in their gear Friday night, a deputy was called to the scene. According to the incident report filed at the Banks County Sheriff’s Office, a dispute arose when a county employee told those present that they could not turn in gear for firefighters who were not present. Since the firefighters resigned, Hart said seven or eight people have called the county offering to serve as volunteer firemen. He added that the county is also advertising to hire additional paid continued on page 2A Allegations against fire chief Gary Pollard, who is shown at right, are not true, according to Board of Commissioners chair man Gene Hart. POLLARD On the lookout for Easter eggs GOING ON AN EGG HUNT Children collected over 7,500 eggs at the annual Maysville United Methodist Church Easter egg hunt Saturday. Photo by April Reese Sorrow Lawsuit filed against county, paramedics Follows woman's jump from ambulance BY CHRIS BRIDGES The family of a Jefferson woman who died as a result of jumping from a moving Banks County ambulance has filed suit against Banks County as well as the two paramedics who were transporting her. According to documents obtained from the Banks County Superior Court, Stephanie Harleigh, Jamie Johnson and Christopher Johnson have filed the suit on behalf of Shannon Chandler, who died in the incident last April. Chandler, who was a 32-year-old Jefferson resident, apparently com mitted suicide by jumping from the ambulance onto Hwy. 441 while she was being transported to Athens for medical attention. A Jackson County Sheriff’s Office incident report indicated she had been picked up at the Comfort Inn at Banks Crossing for a seizure. Banks County medical unit personnel reported she had been in a domestic dispute with her boyfriend when the Banks County Sheriff’s Office was also called to the scene in the Banks Crossing area. Suicide letters were found at the scene at which time an ambulance was called. Copies of the letter were reportedly in possession of the Banks continued on page 2A Little storm damage reported While heavy storms moved in the Banks County area over the weekend, there was little damage reported. Banks County Sheriff Charles Chapman and other emergency personnel said Monday other than a small building on Hwy. 326 there was little reported damage. “We had a lot of rain, hail and a few trees down,” Chapman said. “It was nothing major. It certainly could have been a lot worse.” Five-member commission proposal hits roadblock Garrison egg hunt reaches year 49 THE SIGN POINTS THE WAY The Garrison Easter Egg hunt will enter its 49th consecutive year this Sunday. Organizer Mack Garrison said the event is held for the kids in Homer and surrounding communities. This year’s event begins at 2 p.m. off Hwy. 51 South. Photo by Chris Bridges Two versions of legislation proposed BY CHRIS BRIDGES A proposal to change Banks County’s form of government is in limbo after two state legislators proposed a bill calling for a vote on the matter. Both Rep. Jeanette Jamieson and Sen. Nancy Schaeffer prepared leg islation calling for a referendum to change the county’s form of gov ernment to a five-member board. Jamieson’s bill calls for the vote to be binding, while Schaeffer’s calls for it to be “advisory.” An advisory vote would mean that the BOC could go along with the majority vote or not. A binding vote would mean they had to take the action approved by the major ity of the voters. Rep. Jamieson said Tuesday that she is awaiting word from the Banks County Board of Commissioners on whether they want her to sign off on Sen. Schaeffer’s bill or to introduce the one she proposed. “I advised the chairman I wouldn’t’ do anything until I heard back from them,” she said. If the legislation is approved, the question would go before Banks County voters during the Nov. 4 general election. Banks County chairman Gene Hart said the proposal is for four commissioners to be elected from districts but to be voted on at large by all citizens of Banks County. The chairman would be elected at-large and also voted on by all citizens. Candidates seeking office from one of the four districts must live in the district they run for. Candidates for the chairman’s position can live anywhere in the county. The issue of possibly chang ing from a three-member commis sion to a five-member commission has been discussed for almost a year. First-term commissioner Joe Barefoot has been pushing to allow citizens the opportunity to vote on the issue. Event has received worldwide publicity BY CHRIS BRIDGES A Homer tradition unlike any other will resume for the 49th con secutive year this Easter Sunday. Garrison’s annual Easter Egg Hunt will begin at 2 p.m. Sunday with 100,000 individual wrapped candy eggs. In addition, 175 plastic eggs will be used as prize eggs. Those obtaining these eggs can redeem them for live bunnies, stuffed bun nies or Easter baskets, organizer Mack Garrison said this week. “We do this for the kids in the community and the surrounding community,” Garrison said. “I am seeing as many as three generations attend now.” Depending on the weather, Garrison said crowds have ranged from 2,000 up to 20,000. “I’m not a good politician so I can’t estimate the exact number of people,” Garrison said, laughing. “Weather does have a great deal to do with the turnout.” Organizers do encourage those attending to arrive early for parking reasons. The event is at 323 Hwy. 51 South. The parking at Banks County Elementary School and Banks County Primary School will be open along with spaces at the Banks County Board of Education office and by the old Banks County High School gym. In the mid-1980s, the Garrison Easter Egg hunt was recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as the world’s largest. It was later topped by hunts in Florida as well as some out of the country. In recent years an Easter Egg hunt at Stone Mountain was recognized as being one of the largest. Garrison said he isn’t necessarily interested in trying to set the record again. “Records are made to be broken and that’s not why we have this,” he said. “I wasn’t upset when our record was broken.” continued on page 2A