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Sports: IB Leopards host scrimmage Friday Features: 6B A visit to cowboy actor’ museum 2008 50<t • Homer, Banks County, GA 30547 • A Publication of MainStreet Newspapers, Inc. • 20 Pages, 3 Sections Plus Supplements • Vol. 40 No. 1 Man dies in early morning Banks wreck BY CHRIS BRIDGES A Banks County man died as a result of injuries suffered in an early morning accident Monday at the intersection of Hwy. 59/Industrial Park. The victim, who was later identi fied as Daniel Aaron Wood, 56, of Mt. Bethel Road, Commerce, was riding on a 1997 Harley Davidson when he was struck from behind and thrown approximately 150 feet. Wood was reportedly waiting to make a left turn onto Industrial Park when he was struck by a 2003 Ford Taurus. When the first Banks County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded some of the passengers from the vehi cle which shuck Wood had fled the scene. Those still on the scene said the driver had fled into the woods, but it was later learned the driver was in fact still at the scene. The driver was identified as Francisco Victoria, 28, of an unknown address. He was charged with follow ing too close, vehicular homicide in the second degree, driving without a license and giving false informa tion to officers. He is currently in the Banks County Jail. The Georgia State Patrol is han dling the accident investigation. BCN delivery day changed Subscribers to The Banks County News will receive their newspaper in the mail on Fridays instead of Thursdays starting with this week’s issue, Aug. 13. Newsstand copies of The Banks County News will be available on Thursday nights. The change is being made to accommodate press upgrades at the newspaper’s printing plant. •Numbers up for food bank aid — page 2A • ‘Democrats not let ting Georgia go without a fight’ — page 4A Other news • Social News — page 5B • School News — pages 4&6B • Public Safety — page 6A • Legals — page 7B • Church — page 7A • Obituaries — page 8A Lula man shot in standoff with SWAT team A Lula man died Monday morning after being shot during a standoff with the Hall County SWAT team. Hubert Stanley Tate, 65, was taken to Northeast Georgia Medical Center in Atlanta after a shootout with law enforcement officers. He died shortly after wards. On Monday, August 11, at approximately 8:30 a.m. an off- duty Gainesville police officer heard several gunshots and spot ted Tate walking through down town Lula holding a large caliber handgun. Tate reportedly pointed the firearm at the off-duty officer and then walked into a heavily wooded area to his residence, which was later identified as a camper. A warrant for aggra vated assault on a police officer was obtained for Tate. The Hall County Sheriff’s Office responded to the location and set up a perimeter around the camper. Due to the seri ous nature of the call, the Hall County Sheriff’s Office SWAT Team responded and attempted negotiations with Tate. As nego tiators attempted to make contact with the man, he fired at the SWAT team. A member of the SWAT team was struck by gun fire. The deputy, 35-year-old, Joe Groover, a three-year veteran officer underwent over four hours of surgery on his arm at Grady Hospital in Atlanta and is now resting in the ICU unit. During this incident the Lula Elementary School was placed on lockdown and a number of Hall County deputies were sta tioned around the perimeter of the school for the protection of the students. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation has been called in to conduct an investigation into the incident. SHOOTING IN LULA Crime scene tape surrounded the residence of Stanley Tate Monday morning after the Lula man was in a shootout with the Hall County SWAT team. Tate reportedly lived in a camper behind the bush on the left in the photo.The vehicle shown in the road is the Hall County Sheriff’s Office’s command and communication center used at crime scenes. Photo by Justin Poole WELCOME BACK Banks County Primary School students are shown arriving by bus for the first day of school last week. Faculty and administrators were on-hand to welcome the children as they arrived. See more photos on pages 5B and 8B. Photo by Justin Poole Banks schools welcome back students BY CHRIS BRIDGES Students returned to their respec tive classrooms after the summer break Aug. 8 as the Banks County School System continues to grow. Banks County Superintendent Chris Erwin said earlier this week the system already has approxi mately 100 additional students as the 2008-09 school year begins. That number could still increase in coming days. The Banks County Board of Education has been dealing with a steady growth in the number of students in the system in recent years. “We anticipate our numbers continuing to climb for the next few weeks,” Erwin said. “Our pro jected enrollment is 2,900 stu dents.” That number would be an increase from approximately 2,770 from a year ago. “We are lucky to have the best group of students anywhere in Georgia,” Erwin said. In an effort to keep up with the ongoing growth, school offi cials are working to obtain grants for additional programs for the 2008-09 school year. Banks County courts relocating next week BY SHARON HOGAN All Banks County court offices, including Superior Court, clerk of court, Magistrate Court, Probate Court and the District Attorney’s office, are relocating their offices to 335 Evans Street, Homer, beginning Tuesday, Aug. 19. All court offices will be closed on Friday, Aug. 15, and Monday, Aug. 18. The courts will resume normal oper ations on Tuesday, Aug. 19, at the new location. The courts will be accepting critical court filings NEW ANNEX NEARING a j" “cuLTlanb COMPLETION County courthouse Angela Sheppard, Banks County location on Yonah- Administrative Assistant, and Gib White, Homer Road and on Project Manager, Turner Construction, are Monday, Aug. 18, at shown looking over the commissioners’meet- the new location on ing room in the new Banks County Annex Evans Street. Building. The county offices are slated to This is the first move into the new annex building beginning ste p j n ^ move f or on Friday, Aug. 22. the court offices. Photo by Sharon Hogan Qme the current courthouse location has been remodeled the offices will move back into the courthouse on Yonah-Homer Road. All the county offices will be relocating to the new annex building one week later. This move is scheduled for August 22. More details will be released on this next week. 36th annual Banks County Holiday Festival planned for Aug. 29-31 Holiday pageant planned Saturday The 36th annual Banks County Holiday Festival will be held Friday-Sunday, Aug. 29-31, in downtown Homer. The theme of the festival will be “Celebrating Banks County’s 150 years.” Booths will open at various times on Friday, Aug. 29. The Holman Autry Band will perform at 7:30 p.m. On Saturday, booths will be open all day. A parade will be held at 10 a.m. Former board of commission chairman Milton Patterson, who served from 1986-1997, will be the chairman. Entertainment on Saturday after noon will be provided by the Banks County Band and Majorettes, 11 a.m.; the Banks County Twirlers, noon; doggers, 1 p.m.; square dancers, 1:30 p.m., Redemption Outreach Dance Team, 2 p.m.; karaoke, hula hoop, limbo and other activities, 3 p.m.; cakewalk, 4 p.m.; Marcus Dobbs, 5 p.m. and Peggie Hoskins and Vertigo, 7:30 p.m. On Sunday, Aug. 31, gospel music will be provided by The Browns, Georgia and The Reggie Saddler Family. The 2008 Holiday Festival Pageant and Baby Contest will be held at 4 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 16, at the Banks County High School auditorium in Homer. All winners will receive a crown, trophy, savings bond and banner, as well as ride in the Banks County Holiday Festival parade. The pageant and baby contest are both open to Banks County residents only. For more information, call 706-677-3510 or 706-335-4189.