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THE "M'SLANDER Published by Permar Publications www.theislanderonline.com ssislander@bellsouth.net May 3, 2010 Chief Judge's gavel 'passes' to Wood By Matthew J. Permar For 20 years the Southern District federal court's Chief Justice gavel has been wielded by Judge William T. Moore, Jr. from his seat on the bench in Savannah. And now that Judge Moore has turned 70, federal law requires that the gavel and mantle of the Chief Justice be passed to the next in line. The next in line is United States District Judge Lisa God- bey Wood of Brunswick, the first woman to be appointed to District Judge for the South ern District of Georgia. Judge Wood will have the gavel passed to her when she is named Chief Judge for the Southern District this week on Wednesday, May 5. It’s appropriate that Judge Wood receive this honor on Turn to Page 6 Judge Wood County to toughen Bed Tax Ordinance By Matthew J. Permar As St. Simons Island has grown, a rather unique situa tion has evolved with regard to rental property. Over the years, many property owners have turned garage apartments, mother- in-law apartments and condo miniums into vacation rentals. The problem with many of these vacation rental proper ties is the owners aren't pay ing the Accommodation Excise Tax, commonly referred to as the 'Bed Tax' on them. Perhaps as long as 20 years ago, the local hotel-motel industry agreed to impose the Bed Tax on themselves and split it with the county com mission. In 2001 the split was frozen Turn to Page 6 Bed Tax Established 1972 Vol 38 Issue 18 North Glynn Skateboard park The proposed design of the North Glynn Park skateboard facility by American Ramp Co. The facility is substantially larger than the skateboard pad on St. Simons Island. Along with size, two of the main differences are the inclusion of the two half pipe structures on the right and the covered seating area on the left. Graphic by American Ramp Co, Courtesy of Glynn County Recreation Contract awarded for North Glynn skateboard park Autistic student finds success with art By Pamela P. Sheirling It’s trite but true. Good comes from all things, even things that appear devastat ing. Justin Riddle was bom in 1990 and seemed to be devel oping verbally at a normal rate until 18 months of age. By the age of two years, he was com pletely non verbal. According to Justin’s mom, Della Harri son, autism was not recognized at that time and, ‘We were told to wait,” she said. Lucky for Justin that his mom did not wait much lon ger. She took him to Nemours Children's Clinic in Jackson ville at age three where he was evaluated and diagnosed with autism. ‘He was very low func tioning at that point,” Della said. “But he underwent exten sive speech and occupational therapy.” “It’s extremely important for an autistic child to be able to communicate,” she contin ued. “The earlier they enter Skateboarders on St. Simons Island got their SPLOST 4 funded (Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax) skateboard park more than a year ago and the popular Demere Park facility has seen regular use since then. Mainland skateboarders Correction Due to a reporting error there was incorrect information in the article titled “Epworth says “No’ to gym” in the April 26 edition of The Islander. According to the article, the Glynn County Recreation Dept, proposed to build a 60,500 sq. ft. gymnasium in Epworth Park. According to Assistant County Administrator Paul Christian, the size of the pro posed gym was 16,000 sq. ft. We apologize for this error. □ By Matthew J. Permar were also promised a facility, to be built at the North Glynn Recreation Complex, with the same SPLOST 4 referendum and that skateboard park is about to become a reality. Last week the Glynn Coun ty Commission’s Finance Com mittee voted unanimously to recommend that the contract for construction of the North Glynn Skateboard Park be awarded to American Ramp Co. of Joplin, Missouri for an amount not to exceed $379,192. The money will come from the $2.5 million of SPLOST 4 funds that were earmarked for “completion of the North Glynn Park facilities.” Glynn County Recre ation Director Wesley Davis explained to the finance com- Turn to Page 7 Skateboard park Turn to Page 7 Autism and art n i ■ » ; i Autistic artist Justin Riddle Islander Staff Photo - Sheirling Surfin’ the News Candidate Announcements Community News - Pg 2 County-Wide News - Read County-Wide First Friday Feature Section - Pg 8 & 9 The Losers Movie Review -Pg 12 Back Talk Editorial Column " Pg 20 0 9A92? 29970