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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.