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June 29,
2001
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OPINION
Angela
Gary
I
'braduated'
Now that I've finally become more adept at looking things up
on the Internet, I check in at least once a week to see what's
new on the Brad Paisley web site. It's a great resource for fans.
Todd
Simons
College
sports need a clean up
I am pretty sure that the Knight Foundation Commission means
little to most people reading this. Except to the conscience
of a few academic bigwigs who have been caught in the middle
of their university's greed, it probably means little to anyone.
SPORTS
Directions to Area Schools
Lula
driver wins Pro Truck race
Lula's Mike Davidson pushed his Chevrolet past polesitter Chet
Chester on lap 50 of 100 to score his first win of the year in
the PARTS Pro Truck Series.
Neighborhood News...
JACKSON COUNTY
County
to pitch animal control plan to towns
The Jackson County Board of Commissioners took the first step
Monday night toward bringing animal control to the county. The
BOC unanimously agreed to approach the nine municipalities in
the county with a proposed animal ordinance presented by commissioner
Emil Beshara.
Rogers
seeking earnest funds in home sale effort
Country music star Kenny Rogers believes he should get the $634,250
in "earnest money" for the purchase of his Oglethorpe
County home, Beaver Dam Farms.
News from
MADISON COUNTY
Ila
considers legal action to collect license fee
The city of Ila may soon be forced to take a business to court
for refusing to purchase a business license.
Danielsville
to try speed 'humps' for Madison St.
In an ongoing effort to remedy school traffic problems on Madison
Street, the Danielsville City Council voted unanimously Monday
to equip the road with speed humps (not bumps), if they can receive
approval from property owners on the street.
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mainstreetnews.com
The Banks County News
Homer, Georgia
Telephone: (706) 367-5233
Fax: (706) 367-8056
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® Copyright 2001
MainStreet Newspapers, Inc.
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MEN AT WORK
Zane Hill, Homer, and Tim Banks, Gillsville, have begun construction
on the handicap-access ramp for the Banks County Adult Education
building. Fund-raisers planned by Patti Reed, adult education
director, and Robin Trotter, director of Banks County Family
Connections, will help pay for the $4,000 project. One of the
fund-raisers, the sale of hamburgers, is to be held Wednesday
evening at the 4th of July celebration in Homer.
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Photos Now Available to Order Online
MainStreet Newspapers Inc. announces that photos
from its four newspapers available for the ordering of prints
on-line at its website, mainstreetnews.com. Based in Jefferson,
MSN owns The Banks County News, The Commerce News, The Madison
County Journal and The Jackson Herald.
"We get a lot of demand from readers
in all three counties to have prints made," said Mike Buffington,
editor of The Jackson Herald and one of the owners of MSN. "This
service allows readers to access an on-line catalogue that shows
thumbnails of each photo. From that, prints of various sizes
can be ordered."
In addition to photos that run in the four
newspapers, companion photos from events that are not published
are also available on-line.
"For example, we may not have printed a photo of your daughter
at a basketball game, but she may be in another photo that was
taken, but not published," Buffington said.
Access to the photos catalogue will be available
from a button on the mainstreetnews.com web site. The photos
are hosted by DotPhotos Inc., a firm which specializes in making
prints from digital photographs and which manages photos for
a number of newspapers across the country.
There will be around a one week delay between
the time photos are published and their availability at the on-line
site. Click HERE
to view photo albums.
Wetland site planned
by DOT for 85 acres in Banks County
Banks County is the location of one of the Georgia Department
of Transportation's re-created wetland sites.
According to Susan Knudson, of the DOT ecology and permits department,
a wetlands site is being designed for 85 acres south of Homer.
The site has already undergone some wetland planting of willows
and green ash, she said.
"We plan to do more construction and planting in 2002,"
she added.
The DOT is required to replace any wetlands that road construction
eliminates, said Knudson.
"We have to build back more than what is lost," she
explained.
In order to obtain the Banks County site, the DOT had to receive
permits from the Army Corps of Engineers, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Department, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the
Department of Natural Resources. The purchase and design also
had to be approved by the state mitigation banking review team.
"They have to know what we're doing and what sites we're
mitigating for," she said.
The Banks County site is actually a small one, she added.
"We have one site that is 3,000 acres that we're mitigating
for due to the impact of roadway construction."
The News wins nine
GPA awards
The Banks County News won nine awards in the Georgia Press Association
2001 Better Newspaper Contest.
The awards included a third place in general excellence. The
BCN has placed in the general excellence category for the past
six years.
Other awards include first place in sports section and lifestyle
coverage; second place in humorous column, religion coverage
and editorial page; and third place in serious column, news photograph
and editorial writing.
Editor Angela Gary and other staff members accepted the awards
at the annual GPA convention Friday in Savannah.
FIRST PLACE
The sports section award was for three sections written, photographed
and compiled by staff member Adam Fouche. The judges wrote: "Excellent
variety of coverage and probably reflects reader interest in
your market. Good writing goes with very good photo usage."
The lifestyle coverage award was for the series of pages with
features, local correspondence and society news. The judges wrote:
"Each entry showed an interesting snapshot of the community.
Nice variety helped with reader appeal."
SECOND PLACE
The humorous column award was for the following articles written
by Miss Gary: "Time to stop the self-diagnosis," "What
politicians really mean" and "Pedaling full speed ahead."
The judges wrote: "Wry observations about topics we all
deal with. Good original ideas."
The religion award was for three articles written by reporter
Shar Porier: "Radical rally in Lula," "Banks County
Sunday School Celebration to feature area gospel music groups"
and "Sunday School Celebration 2000." The judges wrote:
"Well-written features and different events bolstered overall
coverage."
The judges wrote the following about the editorial page: "Newspaper
does a good job explaining and opinionizing issues. Strong writing,
strong positions. Good job taking on secret meetings."
THIRD PLACE
The news photograph award was for an Aug. 16, 2000, photograph
taken by Fouche at the new bridge being constructed off of McCoy
Road. The judges wrote: "Good angle and composition."
The serious column award was for the following columns by Porier:
"Heart to Heart" and "Christmas conversation with
Dad." The judge wrote: "Nice people stories. People
love to read about each other."
The editorial writing award was for these editorials written
by Miss Gary: "Openness in government good for all,"
"Jamieson solves annexation worries over Banks Crossing"
and "A vision for Banks County." The judge wrote: "The
open government piece was an excellent primeran equally
good reminder about what government needs to be in our society.
The agenda for the year was clearly stated."
OTHER WINNERS
Other newspapers owned by MainStreet Newspapers of Jefferson
won a total of 27 awards in the annual contest.
The Jackson Herald, Jefferson, won 15 awards, including the following:
first place in sports section, editorial writing, hard news writing
and spot news photograph - Travis Hatfield; second place in spot
news photograph - Fouche; and third place in general excellence,
lifestyle coverage, web site, feature writing - Rochelle Beckstine,
local news coverage, headline writing, page one, sports photograph
- Hatfield, humorous column - Fouche and editorial page.
The Commerce News, Commerce won eight awards, as follows: first
place in editorial page, headline writing, photo essay-Hatfield
and religion coverage; second place in general excellence, sports
section and special issues; and third place in sports writing.
The Madison County Journal, Danielsville, won four awards, including:
second place in sports photograph-Hatfield, and business coverage;
and third place in sports section and feature photograph-Hatfield.
Planning commission
to meet July 9
The Banks County Planning Commission will meet at 7 p.m. on Monday,
July 9, in the courtroom of the courthouse in Homer.
Items on the agenda include:
·James McClure for a conditional use permit to move a
1986 manufactured home to Dodd Road. This property is zoned ARR,
Agricultural, Rural-Residential.
·Thomas Whitworth for a conditional use permit to operate
a machine shop as a home occupation at 3633 Hwy. 198. This property
is zoned ARR, Agricultural, Rural-Residential.
·Marty Robinson for a conditional use permit to move a
1993 manufactured home to Borders Road. This property is zoned
ARR, Agricultural, Rural-Residential.
·a Class I subdivision of property located on Barefoot
Road and Barefoot Circle. The property is the estate of Millard
Mulkey.
·a resolution to amend Article IX of the Zoning Resolution
of Banks County, Georgia entitled "C-2, General Commercial
District" so as to provide for theaters, indoor and outdoor,
as permitted uses; to provide for an effective date; to repeal
conflicting ordinances and resolutions, and for other purposes.
·an ordinance to provide for the posting of a bond by
any individual or entity engaged in pulpwood, logging, or timber
operations in Banks County; to provide for the repair of roadways,
ditches, and bridges damaged by pulpwood, logging, or timber
operations; to provide for the forfeiture of bonds for failure
to repair roadways, ditches, and bridges damaged by pulpwood,
logging, or timber operations; to provide for an administrative
fee; to provide that tracts of land of two acres or less are
exempt from the requirements of a bond; to provide that cash
bonds are non-transferable; to provide that each pulpwood, logging,
or timber operation must have a separate cash bond; to provide
penalties for violations; to provide for an effective date; and
to repeal conflicting ordinances and resolutions and for other
purposes.
The Banks County Board of Commissioners will consider the planning
recommendations on the above requests when it meets at 7 p.m.
on Tuesday, July 10, in the courtroom at the courthouse in Homer.
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BOC approves new
position for 911 department
The Banks County Board of Commissioners agreed Friday to spend
$1,730 for a computer server to back up files and a new employee
to cut down on overtime at the 911 dispatch center in Banks County.
The BOC met with 911 director Deidre Moore, who said that she
fears that information may be lost without a backup system.
"Fire and EMS cannot function when the computer system needs
to be backed up,"she said. "The backup server will
cost $2,225, and some of this amount comes from money already
budgeted to 911."
The commissioners also met with engineer Ben Turnipseed to discuss
the expansion of the sewer system at I-85 and property which
the county needs to purchase to locate spray fields.
Turnipseed answered questions the commissioners had concerning
water treatment and the best way to plan for industrial growth
in the county over the next decade. The commissioners agreed
to continue with the expansion of the water system and will accept
bids for the project until August 2. The money for the project
will come from a $500,000 community block grant.
For the rest of this story, see this week's Banks County News.
Moss Mill
Rd. project to be finished
Residents living on Moss Mill Road in Baldwin will soon be getting
the water pressure they need.
Council member Mitchell Gailey, who oversees the water department,
said at Thurday's meeting that the contractor installed a new
two-inch line 2,900 feet down Moss Mill Road, at a cost of $3,200,
prior to determining the junction at the main.
Now, the city has to run another 3,000 feet to get to a four-inch
main. He said he estimated the cost to be around $3,300. The
project was approved at Thursday's regular meeting by the city
council.
Last summer, Reece Simmons, a resident on Moss Mill Road, complained
of inadequate water pressure to his home at the end of the road.
Simmons said he had installed a one-inch line, but it was some
years ago. He told the council that it connected on to a larger
main.
At Thursday's meeting, Gailey said new homes are being built
and he thinks another seven or eight customers would be asking
for water service.
Mayor Mark Reed said: "I hope we've learned something from
this. As much as we'd like to trust people's judgment, we need
to do more investigation before we jump in to do something."
For the rest of this story, see this week's Banks County News.
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