Newspaper Page Text
Sports: IB
Leopards clinch spot
in state tournament
Tour de Georgia: 6B
Crowd turns
out for race
April 30,2008
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. 38
Qualifying
begins Mon.
BY CHRIS BRIDGES
Qualifying for candidates in Banks
County began Monday and will con
tinue through Friday.
Several candidates had qualified
locally as of press time including:
Democrats:
•Ron Gardiner, Board of Education,
Post 2.
•John David Kennedy, Board of
Education, Post 1.
•Margaret Ausburn, tax commis
sioner.
•Tim Harper, clerk of courts.
Republicans:
•Henry Galloway, coroner.
•Milton Dalton, commission chair
man.
•Charles Chapman, sheriff.
•Becky Taylor, tax commissioner.
•John Williams, Board of Education,
post 4.
Qualifying to represent Banks
County at the state and national level
include:
U.S. Congress, District 10:
•Paul Broun, Republican.
•Barry Fleming, Republican.
•Bobby Saxon, Democrat.
State Senate, District 50:
•Nancy Schaefer, Republican.
•Jim Butterworth, Republican.
•Terry Rogers, Republican.
State Representative, District 28:
•Jeanette Jamieson, Democrat.
•Michael Harden, Republican.
— Community —
Alto Spring
Fling ahead
this weekend
The Town of Alto will hold its annual
Spring Fling Parade and Festival from
11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, May 3.
The parade will begin at 11 a.m.
Danny O’ Day will be the master of
ceremonies for the program which will
get underway at noon. Live entertain
ment featuring the LeFevre Quartet
will be featured. Those who plan to
attend are asked to bring their lounge
chairs for the afternoon entertainment.
Food, crafts, a tractor contest, antique
car competition and activities for the
kids are among the activities planned.
For more information, contact city
hall at 706-778-8035.
News
•Baldwin, Alto hold
clean-up day
— page 8B
Op/Ed — 4A
• ‘What caused Tim
Madison’s downfall?’
— page 4A
Other news
•Social News — page 9A
•Schooll News — page 7B
•Public Safety — page 6A
• Legals — pages 7-8A
•Church — page 5B
• Obituaries — page 5A
Banks to get $5 million for water work
Late Congressman's work helps county secure grant
BY CHRIS BRIDGES
One of the final acts of the
late Congressman Charlie
Norwood was to help secure
a grant for Banks County to
assist with future water needs.
Now three years later, it
appears that wish is about to
happen. Banks County chair
man Gene Hart said the county
has received confirmation it
will receive a $5 million feder-
NORWOOD
al grant to help with future
water and waste water proj
ects. All the paperwork is
not complete on the grant
yet, but the wheels are in
motion, the chairman said.
“This grant is going to be
a big help for us,” Hart said
Tuesday. “We will have to
match 25 percent of it, but
we were going to have to
do that anyway.”
The chairman said the grant process
actually began back in 2005 when he
and a group of Banks County officials
and other community leaders made
an annual trip to Washington, D.C. At
that time, county leaders spoke with
Norwood about help with securing
funds for a future reservoir project.
Norwood pledged his support in
2005 when the Banks County group
went back to the nation’s capital the
following year, Norwood said he had
put in for assistance to Banks County
for water issues.
“He told me then he had been
approved to help Banks County with
$1.5 million,” Hart said. “He became
sick not long after that although his
staff told us the assistance was still part
of the bill and that, in fact, it had been
increased to $5 million.”
When county officials went back to
Washington this year they were ini
tially told the grant was gone, but after
leaders spoke with Congressman Paul
Broun, the funds were re-established.
“Congressman Broun had some
problems with it to begin with but
everything was worked out,” Hart said.
“In fact, we have started the paper
work on this. We don’t know if we
are going to get this in one lump sum
or not. I figure it will be in two pay
ments. All of this is possible because of
what Congressman Charlie Norwood
started.”
Reward offered in bank robbery
— Lula City Council —
Lula denies request for
commercial rezoning
BY CHRIS BRIDGES
A $1,000 reward is now being offered
for information leading to the arrest and
conviction of the man responsible for
last Thursday afternoon’s robbery of the
Northeast Georgia Bank on Hwy. 441.
The Banks County Sheriff’s Office
received the call just before 1 p.m.
Thursday and officers were on the
scene within minutes. A black male,
wearing a New York Yankees baseball
cap and black shirt and pants, entered
the bank and told a teller he wanted $50
and $100 dollar bills. He then told the
teller, “I’m serious.”
The suspect made off with less than
$6,000, Banks County sheriff Charles
Chapman said. He reportedly folded
the money into his hands and left the
scene.
The suspect was tracked by a K-9
officer through the bank parking lot
but the trail was lost. Chapman said
he believes the suspect left in a vehicle
and that a cream colored Honda Civic
was seen going around the bank twice
around the time of the robbery.
Officers immediately processed the
scene and recovered one “good” print,
Chapman said, as well as a thumbprint
and a shoe print. The Georgia Bureau of
Investigation is assisting with the case.
“We were fortunate there was nobody
(customers) in the bank at that time,”
said Rick Massey, senior vice-president
ROBBERY SUSPECT
Bank cameras captured these
images of the man who robbed
the Northeast Georgia Bank on
Hwy. 441 Thursday. The bank is
offering a reward for informa
tion leading to the arrest and
conviction of the man shown.
and manager of North Georgia Bank.
“We had a couple of people in the drive-
through, but none inside. He was in
here a minute, maybe a little longer.”
After the suspect left, employees
quickly locked the doors and called 911
and cordoned off the door and area of
the teller line to help preserve the crime
scene. Staff members filled out “robber
incident forms” trying to preserve all
details.
The bank stayed closed the remain
der of the afternoon as the BCSO and
GBI processed the crime scene.
Council offers an
alternative to CBD
BY SHARON HOGAN
A rezoning request for property on
Belton Bridge Road was denied by the
Lula City Council last week.
Joe D. and Hilda J. Means asked for
the rezoning of 12.68 acres located at
6727 Belton Bridge Road. Their son,
Mike Means, represented the couple at
the hearing. The property is currently
zoned R-3 residential. The Means are
seeking to have the property rezoned
to central business district (CBD) com
mercial.
The vote to deny the request was 3-1
with Lamb Griffin voting against the
motion to deny. Those voting to deny
the request were: Vicky Chambers,
Larry Shuler and Judah Echols. Council
member Lamb Griffin voted against
the denial. Council member Mordecai
Wilson was absent from the meeting.
During the public hearing, Means
said the main reason for the request
was financial-based.
“Unless the property is rezoned to
commercial or sold, my parents stand
to loose around $200,000,” he said.
“There are no plans at this time to do
anything with the property other than
what it is currently used for.”
Currently, the property has two com
mercial-type buildings located on it.
The buildings have been there since
1986 and were used until 2002.
“I don’t know what is going to hap
pen in the future, “ Means said.
Means said most of the people don’t
even know the buildings are back
there.
Mayor Milton Turner said some
one who is interested in the property
contacted him. This individual owns
a business that erects metal buildings.
Means confirmed this person has
shown an interest in the site.
Turner told Means that CBD zon
ing would not work at this site. He
asked Means if he had anything against
a Highway Business District zoning
classification.
Means said after looking at the high
way business zoning it was determined
this would probably be a better fit for
the property.
continued on page 3A
BOC denies request to
abandon English Road
FASTEST HOT ROD IN TOWN
Cory McClenathan had the fastest hot rod in Commerce over the weekend. He launched down
the quarter-mile at the Atlanta Dragway with a speed of 327.03 miles an hour in 4.562 seconds.
McClenathan lost in the second round of eliminations on Sunday to eventual winner Antron Brown.
Sheriff: No major incidents during race weekend
BY SHARON HOGAN
The Banks County Board of
Commissioners unanimously denied
a request to abandon a portion of CR
176/English Road when it met on
Tuesday, April 22.
Judith Hill and Mary Hill Towns
submitted a request to the com
missioners to have the portion of
the road that runs from the Old
Highway 441 to the Highway 441
Bypass abandoned. They stated that
there is a problem with excessive
dumping of garbage on this sec
tion of the road. The request stated
the sisters own the property that is
located on both sides of the road
and there are no other houses on this
section of the road.
The commissioners held a public
hearing on this request on April 8.
Several residents turned out at the
hearing to speak in opposition to the
request.
At the meeting on Tuesday, com
missioner Rickey Cain said he had
gone out to the road and this was
one of the better dirt roads in Banks
County. Commissioner Joe Barefoot
said there were a lot of people who
use this road as a through road and
he didn’t think it should be aban
doned.
OTHER BUSINESS
In other business at Tuesday’s
meeting, the commissioners:
•received a letter of resignation
from Tal Martin as a member of
the Banks County Development
Authority. Commission chairman
Gene Hart said he presented the
commissioners with the names of
Scott Ledford, Stan Stewart and
Steve Shi as candidates to serve on
the authority. Any action to name a
replacement for Martin was tabled
until the commissioners meeting on
May 13.
•unanimously approved Scott
Ledford to fill the expired term of
Terrance Dale on the development
authority. This is a three-year term.
•approved the annual Youth Deer
Hunt to be held on the county farm
on Friday and Saturday, Nov. 28 and
29. Adam Loudermilk, Department
continued on page 3A
BY CHRIS BRIDGES
The Banks County Sheriff’s Office
was at full strength this past week as
Atlanta Dragway hosted the annual
NHRA Southern National.
All deputies were on duty at some
point during the event, which actually
began Thursday and continued through
late Sunday. While thousands attended
this year’s event, Banks County sheriff
Charles Chapman said Monday morn-
ing things “went well.”
Only 12 arrests were reported, most
due to marijuana possession.
“For several years we have worked
this event hard,” the sheriff said. “Things
have gotten much better through the
years. The Atlanta Dragway staff pro
vides security inside the event which
helps a great deal.”
Chapman said it appears more people
are coming to the Southern Nationals to
attend the race rather than simply con
gregate in the parking areas.
“We heard several comments that
people know if they use marijuana or
other drugs they are going to get caught,”
the sheriff said.
The Georgia State Patrol assisted with
traffic for the event. Chapman said there
was traffic congestion but that was to be
expected with so many people attend-
mg.