Newspaper Page Text
Sports: IB
BCHS heals up
during off week
Community: 7 A
Maysville holds
41st fall festival
— www.BanksNewsTODAY.com —
5(K • Homer, Banks County, GA 30547 • A Publication of MainStreet Newspapers, Inc. • 22 Pages, 2 Sections Plus Supplements • Vol. 40 No. 8
N.C. men
get 25 years
for drug
trafficking
A Banks County jury
deliberated for five hours
Thursday afternoon before
finding two North Carolina
men guilty on charges of
cocaine trafficking.
Judge David Motes sen
tenced Armando Rovira
Feliciano, 30, and Daniel
Hernandez Delaucga, 29,
to each serve 25 years in
prison. The men were also
both given a $1 million fine.
They were also found guilty
of operating a vehicle with a
false compartment.
Feliciano and Hernandez
were both arrested in
November 2007 after a
traffic stop on 1-85. Banks
County Sheriff’s Office dep
uties, with the assistance of
a canine officer, found one
kilo of cocaine in a false
compartment under the rear
seat of the vehicle, along
with $128,195 in cash.
Adult learning
center plans
open house
The Banks County Adult
Learning Center will be hold
ing its second annual open
house on Tuesday, October
21, from 2 to 6 p.m.
“Everyone is invited to tour
our facility and learn about
the programs we offer at the
Banks ALC: GED prepara
tion, English to speakers
of other languages, reading
skills, work readiness, basic
computer skills, and devel
opmental studies for college
credit,” said director Sharon
Clark.
Refreshments will be
served.
Features
•Vacationing at a sea
port town — page 12A
• ‘Who were the
real losers in the first
debates?’ — page 4A
Other news
• Social News — 6A
• Public Safety — 3A
• Legals — 4-6B
•Church — 11A
•Obituaries — 10A
Racer killed in dragway crash
Bobby Martindale
of Virginia fatally
injured Saturday
BY BRANDON REED
A 65-year-old Virginia man was
fatally injured in a high-speed rac
ing accident Saturday at the Atlanta
Dragway during an NHRA Southeast
Division event.
According to a release on the
National Hot Rod Association’s web
site, Bobby Martindale, age 65 of
Glen Allen, Va., was racing his Top
Alcohol Funny Car when he experi
enced engine failure at the finish line,
according to preliminary reports.
VIRGINIA RACER COMPETES AT DRAGWAY
Bobby Martindale, pictured here doing a burnout during competition
at Atlanta Dragway in April, lost his life in a racing accident at the
Commerce racing facility Saturday afternoon following an engine
failure. Photo courtesy Auto lmagery.com
The car continued down the track at
a high rate of speed, reportedly over
shooting the end of the drag strip.
An independent account posted
from the track on DragRaceCentral.
com said Martindale’s car was loose
off the starting line, causing him to
engage and back off the throttle sev
eral times. After the apparent engine
failure, Martindale’s chutes reported
ly failed to deploy, and his car made
contact with the left side retaining
wall. The car then traveled through
the sand trap, through the catch fence,
and came to rest in the forest behind
it, sparking a fire.
Martindale was estimated to be
continued on page 2A
VICTORIOUS JV LEOPARDS
The Banks County High School junior varsity football team posted another win last week by blanking
Oglethorpe County 30-0 at home. Leopard quarterback Alex Banks carries for the team during the contest.
Photo by Randy Crump
Planners OK
Chatham Rd.
subdivision
BY SHARON HOGAN
The Banks County
Planning Commission gave
approval Tuesday night for a
subdivision to be located on
Chatham Road in Homer.
Scottie Mathis spoke to the
commission about the pro
posed subdivision. Mathis
said property owner Ruth
Vaughn wants to get her will
in order and give some of
the property to her kids and
grandkids.
The subdivision will have
no more than four lots. The
lots will contain five acres,
10 acres on two different lots
and 10.36 acres in the fourth
lot. Most of the lots have road
frontage, Keith Covington,
planning director said.
The proposed subdivision
is located at the comer of
Bennett Road off Georgia
Highway 51 North.
continued on page 2A
Countians
BY SHARON HOGAN
A group of Banks Countians
continue to plan how the
county would handle a pan
demic flu outbreak.
Several Banks County busi
ness owners attended a meet
ing on Monday to discuss how
their business would deal with
a flu pandemic outbreak. The
meeting was hosted by the
Banks County Chamber of
Commerce. Chamber director
Tara Fulcher said this is the
first of many meetings to help
the Banks County business
community prepare for a flu
pandemic outbreak.
The Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention
(CDC) estimates that among
working adults, an average
of 20 percent will become ill
during an outbreak, although
illness rates will be highest
among school-aged children
and decline with age.
Mark Palen, District 2
Public Health, said the things
that make a flu pandemic dif
ferent is this is something
that could last six to eight
weeks, possibly followed by
a lull and then another wave
coming in.
When a pandemic occurs,
many people will become
continue to plan for pandemic flu outbreak
Flu clinic ahead Friday
PALEN SPEAKS ON FLU OUTBREAK
Mark Palen, District 2 Public Health, spoke to Banks
County business owners on Monday about plans to
deal with a pandemic flu outbreak.
Photo by Sharon Hogan
sick at the same time and
will be unable to go to work.
Many others will stay at
home to care for sick family
members.
Schools and business might
close down to try to prevent
the disease from spreading
further. Public transportation
might be shut down. This is
an example of some of the
challenges that local commu
nities, schools, organizations
and businesses will have to
work together to plan for a
pandemic response.
Banks County has been
working for the past two years
to put together a county plan,
Deidra Moore, Banks County
EMA and 911 Director, said.
Palen said, “We tried to
break the community up into
different segments, like busi-
continued on page 2A
A flu shot clinic will be held
at Banks County Middle School
from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Friday,
Oct. 10.
After the clinic at the middle
school, the Banks County Health
Department will be open for flu
shots on Mondays, Tuesdays,
Thursdays and Fridays, from
8-11 a.m. and 1-4 p.m.
As always, public health
workers expect the clinics to
be busy, so allow plenty of time
to receive service. Visitors are
asked to be considerate and
patient with others.
The cost for the vaccine is
$25. Medicare and Medicaid
are accepted at all health depart
ments.
It is recommended that peo
ple in the following groups get
the flu shot:
•all persons, including
school-aged children, who want
to reduce the risk of becoming
ill with influenza or of transmit
ting influenza to others
•all children aged 6-59
months (i.e., 6 months to 4
years):
•all persons older than 50;
•children and adolescents
(aged 6 months to 18 years)
who are receiving long-term
aspirin therapy and who there
fore might be at risk for expe
riencing Reye syndrome after
influenza virus infection;
•women who will be preg
nant during the influenza sea
son;
•adults and children who have
chronic pulmonary (including
asthma), cardiovascular (except
hypertension), renal, hepatic,
hematological or metabolic
disorders (including diabetes
mellitus);
•adults and children who have
immunosuppression (including
immunosuppression caused by
medications or by HTV);
•adults and children who
have any condition (e.g., cog
nitive dysfunction, spinal cord
injuries, seizure disorders, or
other neuromuscular disorders )
that can compromise respira
tory function or the handling
of respiratory secretions or that
can increase the risk for aspira
tion; and
•residents of nursing homes
and other chronic-care facili
ties.
•persons who live with or
care for persons at high risk
for influenza-related complica
tions.