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The New
turns 40
— Page 5A
— www.BanksNewsTODAY.com —
504 • Homer, Banks County, GA 30547 • A Publication of MainStreet Newspapers, Inc. • 20 Pages, 2 Sections Plus Supplements • Vol. 40 No. 1
BOC suspends alcohol license for MVP Cafe
BY SHARON HOGAN
In a hearing on Monday, the Banks
County Board of Commissioners
unanimously approved the suspension
of the alcohol license through Dec. 31
of this year for MVP Cafe, located on
Highway 441, Commerce.
The violation involves the business
being open after midnight, allowing
people to bring their own alcohol, serv
ing alcohol after midnight and being
open on Sunday, which are violations
of the county ordinance.
Commissioner Joe Barefoot made
the motion to revoke the alcohol license
until Dec. 31,2008, for MVP Cafe and
place the business on probation until
June 30, 2009. Commissioner Rickey
Cain seconded the motion. BOC
Chairman Gene Hart was absent from
the meeting. The probation begins on
Dec. 1,2008.
Cain told Jeewoo Jun, manager,
MVP Cafe, he would keep his busi
ness license and he could re-apply for
a beer license in January.
“But you can either have pool tables
or beer in the cafe, you cannot have
both,” Cain said.
Banks County Sheriff's Office Chief
Investigator Kyle Bryant said Jun was
served notice that the license was being
pulled on November 20.
The violations to the alcohol ordi
nance came to the attention of the
sheriff’s office on November 17 when
a fight was reported in the parking lot.
Bryant said, “It came to our attention
continued on page 2A
Holiday season arrives
in Banks this weekend
Visits with Santa, musical
presentations among plans
The Christmas season will
arrive in full force over the
weekend with holiday events
planned in Homer, Maysville
and Baldwin.
The first annual Christmas
Bazaar planned by the Banks
County Chamber of Commerce
will be held on Friday,
December 5, from 3 p.m. to 6
p.m. and Saturday, December
6, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. A
Christmas parade starts at noon
on Saturday.
“We anticipate the town
square to be lined with children
and adults who have come out
in the chilly weather to celebrate
the holiday season,” said cham
ber director Tara Fulcher. “We
look forward to many local busi
nesses, clubs, marching units
and organizations to participate
in the parade. We are also ask
ing parade participants to collect
canned goods for the local food
bank, Generous Hearts, which
will enable them to feed people
who are in need over the holi
day season. Shoppers can enjoy
the many arts and crafts booths
available along with holiday
music and carols.”
The lighting of the Christmas
tree will also take place at dark
in front of the historical court
house.
“This is an evening to bundle
up the kids and come celebrate
the holiday season with the entire
community,” Fulcher said. ‘This
event is planned so the com
munity can gather together for
visiting old friends, making new
friends, drinking hot chocolate,
watching the parade, enjoying
the lights, singing carols, stroll
ing from booth to booth doing
your Christmas shopping. This
is to be an exciting holiday event
filled with community spirit for
all ages.”
Chamber leaders are seek
ing volunteers to assist with the
parade. Contact the Chamber
office at 706-677-2108 for more
information or for vendor appli
cations.
TOWN OF HOMER
The Town of Homer will
hold its 9th annual Christmas
Celebration on Sunday,
December 7, at the Historic
Courthouse at 6 p.m. Choirs
from area churches will perform
holiday music.
MAYSVILLE
The Maysville Community
Club will hold Christmas in the
Park Saturday evening at dusk,
with Santa on hand for photos
from 4 to 8 p.m.
The annual event includes
booths, entertainment, Santa on
his sleigh, a hayride and refresh
ments. Keith Davis will play
Christmas carols on his Native
American flute.
A Christmas Tour of Homes
will be held in Maysville from
4 to 7 p.m. Saturday, Dec.
13. Organizers hope the tour
will again include six or seven
homes. The tour will start at the
public library, and $15 tickets
will be available there the day of
the tour, as well as at local busi
nesses in advance.
BALDWIN
The Town of Baldwin’s tree
continued on page 2A
FROM THE LINE
Basketball season is underway for Banks County High School. The varsity teams face
Rabun County this Friday on the road before hosting Jackson County on Saturday.
See page 1B for more on Leopard basketball. Photo by Justin Poole
News -2-3A
•DOT seeks input on
Lula bridge — page 2A
•Auction house gets
OK for Banks Crossing
— page 2A
•School board plans
tax increase — page 3A
Final deadline set Friday for Christmas kids photos
THE deadline for accept
ing photos for MainStreet
Newspapers’ annual chil
dren’s Christmas section
has been extended to Friday,
Dec. 5, at 5 p.m. No photos
will be accepted or published
after that time.
\
No photos will be taken
after 5 p.m. Friday
The special section will be in
the news stands of The Jackson
Herald, The Commerce News
and The Banks County News on
Wednesday, Dec. 24.
The newspapers will be accept
ing photographs of children age
8 years and younger. The child
must live in Jackson or Banks counties.
Photos of grandchildren will be taken only
if the child resides with the grandparents
(which must be stated when submitting
the photo).
Please submit the following informa
tion along with the child’s photo: The
continued on page 2A
Krispy Kreme
burglarized
Banks County Sheriff
Charles Chapman said on
Monday deputies were called
out in the early morning hours
to the new Krispy Kreme
Doughnut Shop located in the
business section of Interstate
85 to a reported burglary.
Chapman said someone
entered the building by pry
ing open the back door. “The
stores security camera did pick
up what appears to be a stocky-
built Caucasian male entering
the building,” Chapman said.
But the person is unidentifiable
as he pulled what appears to be
a stocking cap over his head
and face, Chapman added.
Once inside the building the
subject, with the use of a prying
continued on page 2A
Chambliss
wins runoff
Saxby Chambliss was re
elected to the United States
Senate in a runoff election
Tuesday.
State-wide, incumbent
Chambliss (R) had 1.2 mil
lion, or 57 percent of the votes.
Challenger Jim Martin (D) had
905,637 votes.
In Banks County, Chambliss
was also the winner with 2,964
votes, while Martin had 598
voters.
Voter turnout for Banks
County was 41 percent.
In the Public Service
Commission, Lauren “Bubba”
McDonald (R) won state-wide
with 1.1 million, or 56 percent
of the vote. Jim Powell had
870,195 votes.
In Banks County, McDonald
had 2,791 votes, while Powell
had 623.
In the Court of Appeals Judge
race, Sara Doyle was the state
wide winner with 883,707, or
52 percent of the votes. Mike
Sheffield had 823,462 votes.
In Banks County, Doyle had
1,305 votes and Sheffield had
1,801 votes.
• ‘Long campaign
season comes to an
end’ — page 4A
Other news
• Social News — 7A
• School News — 4&10B
• Public Safety — 6A
•Legals — 5B
•Church — 9A
•Obituaries — 8A
Unemployment numbers continue to climb in NEGA
Banks County’s rate up to 5.1%
Banks County had the low
est unemployment in the area
at 5.1 percent, although that
was higher than the county’s
3 percent in October 2007.
Barrow County had the
highest unemployment rate in
the heart of Northeast Georgia
in October with a rate of 7.4
percent. That was higher than
the state average of 7 per
cent and higher than all of
the Northeastern Georgia area
which was at 7.3 percent.
In addition, Barrow saw its
unemployment insurance
claims jump in October
from 230 in 2007 to 526 in
October 2008, a 129 percent
increase.
Jackson County was
also hard hit in October’s
employment rates with an
unemployment rate of 7 per
cent compared to 4.1 percent
the year before. While lower
in raw numbers, Jackson’s
initial unemployment insur
ance claims rose faster than
Barrow’s in October with
Unemployment Rates
Area
Oct. 2008
Oct. 2007
State
7.0%
4.5%
NEGa.
7.3
4.4
Barrow County
7.4
4.2
Jackson County
7.0
4.1
Madison County
5.9
3.7
Banks County
5.1
3.0
Clarke County
6.7
3.6
Hall County
6.3
3.5
Gwinnett County
6.3
3.9
Unemployment Insurance Claims
Area
Oct. 2008
Oct. 2007
Change%
State
72,627
41,506
75%
Barrow County
526
230
129%
Jackson County
382
165
131%
Madison County
227
132
72%
Banks County
81
46
76%
Clarke County
680
282
141%
Hall County
1,141
550
107%
Gwinnett County
3,639
1,994
82%
a 131 percent climb over Madison County was a compared to 3.7 percent the
October 2007. little higher at 5.9 percent year before.