Sports: IB
Community: 6A
Horse assn.
Leopards aim for
two in a row
group goes to
state show
— www.BanksNewsTODAY.com —
5(K • Homer, Banks County, GA 30547 • A Publication of MainStreet Newspapers, Inc. • 24 Pages, 3 Sections Plus Supplements • Vol. 40 No. 6
Mike Kelley
wins Baldwin
mayor's race
BY ANGELA GARY
Mike Kelley won the mayor’s
race in Baldwin Tuesday with
122 votes.
Jerry Neace had 57 votes;
former mayor
Mark Reed
had 14 votes;
and Thomas
Loudermilk had
11 votes. Some
204 of the town's
1,023 voters
cast a ballot in
the called election.
“I want to be mayor of
Baldwin because I care enough
about our community and our
quality of life to be a leader in
protecting the interests of the cit
izens of Baldwin,” Kelley said.
Kelley said finances will be
one of the key issues he address
es as mayor.
“We first need to stop spend
ing more than the income gener
ated by the city,” he said.
“We need to carefully con
sider all current expenditures and
make cuts where needed.
“All expenditures, currently
being funded, need to be put
under scrutiny. Cuts should be
continued on page 3A
KELLEY
BCHS plans
Homecoming
festival Sept. 25
Banks County High School
will continue Homecoming
week activities with its annual
festival Thursday, Sept. 25,
from 5:30-7:30 p.m.
The festival will be held at
the high school and will feature
a cake walk, car bash, bobbing
for apples and Gladiator Wars.
Those attending will also be
able to throw a pie in the face of
their favorite Leopard football
coach.
The most “spirited individu
al” will win a $25 gift certificate
from Tangles Totes & Tan.
There will be a special rec
ognition of the BCHS football
players, cheerleaders, coaches.
Homecoming court, band and
Helmet Club.
This year’s Homecoming
game is Sept. 26 against North
Oconee High School at 7:30
p.m. It will also be the second
annual Shawn Smith Bowl.
News -2, 3, 6A
• Art in the Park ahead
— page 2A
• Alto buys building
— page 2A
• ‘Hello: No, the
celebrity you are call
ing isn’t in’ — page 4A
Other news
• Social News — 7&10A
• School News — 4B
• Public Safety — 5A
•Legals — 6-9 B
•Church — 8A
•Obituaries — 9A
: . . :
DRAG RACING ON HWY. 59
A Banks County woman took photographs of teenagers drag racing down Sims
Bridge Road Friday following the funeral of a local teen, Tyler Bush. The crowd of 50
or so people were gathered in tribute to Bush. The woman called 911.
A large crowd of teenag
ers and some adults gathered
in front of the home of Tyler
Bush just hours after his funeral
Friday to cheer on cars drag
racing down Sims Bridge Road.
The drag racing was apparently
a “tribute” to the Banks County
teen, who died on Sept. 9 when
he fell while trying to ran along
side a jeep.
Jennifer Schmid reported
that she was driving down Sims
Bridge Road when she saw the
event and stopped to confront
the crowd of around 50 people,
most of whom were parked in
a pasture along the road. In the
crowd was Bush’s mother who
told Schmid to leave the scene.
Schmid refused to leave and
called 911 for a deputy.
Schmid said a deputy passed
by the scene, but didn’t stop
until after she made two calls to
911 asking for help.
Sheriff Charles Chapman said
Monday a deputy did go the
scene, but most of the people
had left by the time the deputy
arrived.
“There is nothing else that
can be done since it would be
impossible to make an indict
ment in a situation of this
nature,” the sheriff said.
The following is Schmid’s
statement about the incident:
“At 4:07 p.m. Friday,
September 12, as I drove down
Sims Bridge Road toward Hwy.
59 from my Banks County
home, I witnessed the following
event. I saw significant smoke
as I rounded a curve. A car was
peeling away about 300 feet in
front of me, swerving badly,
barely in control, leaving rub
ber streaks on the road. Another
car closer to me then peeled
away as well, leaving two piles
of rubber dust where the back
wheels had been.
“Fifty or more teenagers were
standing to my right in a pasture,
along the fence, looking on and
cheering the drivers. More teen
agers were in vehicles to my
left. I stopped immediately and
asked the crowd of kids stand
ing in front of a long line of
their vehicles whether anyone
was 18 or older. About eight
hands went up, with many of
the kids cheering and yelling. I
then asked whether anyone was
21 or over. About three hands
went up, with more cheers and
yelling. I asked whether any
adults were around, and at that
point, with jeering and cheering
continuing, a couple of the kids
came toward me.
“Some of the crowd were
yelling things like ‘It’s none
of your business, go away.’ I
yelled back that if they wanted
to risk their lives drag racing,
they should do it in the pasture
behind them, and not endanger
other drivers on a public road.
One young man stood in front
of me and told me to get in my
car. When I didn’t move, he said
‘I’m serious - get in your car.’ I
said ‘So am I,’ and remained
standing in the ditch.
“He told me that they were
gathered after a funeral for a
17-year-old (who I believe was
Robert Tyler Bush). The mother
of the dead child was pointed
out to me behind the fence. She
yelled at me to leave, and said
that her son had died. I asked
her how he died, and she said it
was none of my business - that
I was on private property (I was
in the ditch by the road), and
again demanded that I leave.
The crowd was slowly sim
mering down - no one else was
racing away at any rate. At
this point, it was about 4:15, a
minute or two after I stopped,
a police car went by slowly,
but didn’t stop - I would have
flagged it down, but I thought it
continued on page 3A
Going airborne
School system's fuel
supply in good shape
BY CHRIS BRIDGES
The fuel supply for the Banks
County School System was in
full supply at the beginning of
the week, superintendent Chris
Erwin told members of the Board
of Education.
Erwin said a new shipment was
received Monday and that the
system would be in “good shape”
for at least the next two weeks.
“I know fuel is getting to be a
tough commodity to have right
now,” the superintendent said.
“We should be fine for all our
trips and for getting our students
to and from school. We will con
tinue to monitor our fuel supply
and to conserve in all possible
ways. However, right now our
status is a full supply.”
The recent hurricane which
moved into Texas caused damage
to some refineries causing many
area stations to temporarily run
out of fuel late last week.
In other items during Monday
night’s September meeting, the
BOE:
•was informed the Banks
County High School FFA Chapter
was named the 2007-08 North
Region Area II Chapter of the
Year. The award was announced
at the North Region Rally in
Covington Sept. 6. More than 45
chapters competed for the award.
The award is determined by the
number of Gold Emblem win
ners, total student participation
in CDEs (Career Development
Events) and the number of dif
ferent number of students partici
pating in CDEs. The FFA mem
bers will be recognized at next
month’s BOE meeting.
Electronic recycling planned
The North Georgia Resource
Management Authority and
Atlanta Recycling Solutions will
be collecting electronics for recy
cling Tuesday, Sept. 16, through
Saturday, Sept. 20.
Electronics may be dropped
off at the Banks County
Recycling Center located at
the Waste Management Landfill
from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m.
They will be collecting the fol
lowing items at no charge:
Personal computers, lap
tops, modems, floppy/disk
drives, printers, UPS batteries,
CD-roms, fax machines, cell
phones, circuit boards, copiers,
phones, PC power supplies, ste
reos/VCR/CD players, scanners,
keyboards, typewriters, micro-
waves, mouse/mice, test equip
ment, cabling, PC monitors and
networking equipment.
They will not be accept
ing console/projection televi
sions, car batteries, dryers, wash
er/dryers, toaster ovens, freezers,
vacuum cleanser, de-humidifi-
ers, blenders, humidifiers, gas
powered tools, household trash,
refrigerators, tires, mixers,
washers, battery powered tools
or ovens.
“This is a once a year event so
please collect your old electron
ics and recycle them at no charge
the week of September 15,” said
Leslie George, executive director
of the NGRMA/KOMB.
VICTORY CELEBRATION
Banks County High School football players Demetric Dempson (3) and
Justin Beasley react after one of the Leopard touchdowns last week
against Dawson County. BCHS recorded its first win of the 2008 season
against the visiting Tigers. Coach Blair Armstrong’s team travels to Rabun
County this week. Photo by Randy Crump
