Entries by CommerceNewsTODAY

SAT scores fall again at CHS

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Friday, September 23. 2011

Only two local high schools surpassed the state average — 1,431 — on the Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) administered in the 2010-11 school year, according to the Georgia Department of Education. Commerce High School posted an average score of 1,345, 86 points below the state average and 51 points lower than the previous year. East Jackson ... [Full Story »]

EPD OKs outdoor water use restrictions

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CommerceNewsTODAY

Friday, September 23. 2011

Jackson County residents whose water comes from the Bear Creek Reservoir are now subject to restrictions on the use of outdoor water, including an odd-even schedule. The Environmental Protection Division late last week finally gave the Upper Oconee Basin Water Authority — and its four member counties (Jackson, Barrow, Clarke and Oconee) ... [Full Story »]

Man avoids extradition, but not towing bill

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CommerceNewsTODAY

Friday, September 23. 2011

A man picked up by the Georgia State Patrol on a North Carolina warrant managed to avoid extradition, but he didn’t get off completely. According to a Commerce Police Department incident report, the GSP asked an officer to transport the subject, a 23-year-old black male, from a location on Interstate 85 to the Jackson County Jail, from where ... [Full Story »]

Photos from the Sept. 17 Bill Anderson concert

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CommerceNewsTODAY

Friday, September 23. 2011

Photos from the Sept. 17 Bill Anderson Concert

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CommerceNewsTODAY

Friday, September 23. 2011

Photos from Art in the Park

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CommerceNewsTODAY

Thursday, September 22. 2011

School board holds tax rate at 17.75 mills

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CommerceNewsTODAY

Wednesday, September 21. 2011

The Commerce Board of Education officially set its 2011 property tax rate at 17.75 mills in a brief called meeting Monday night. That’s the same rate the board levied the past six years, noted Mac McCoy, superintendent. That rate is expected to bring in about $3.1 million in taxes, although the board can’t put an exact dollar amount on the ... [Full Story »]

Drug dealer quickly back in jail

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CommerceNewsTODAY

Wednesday, September 21. 2011

It didn’t take long for a well-known local drug dealer to get back in business after he got out of jail, and it took even less time for the Commerce Police Department to set up a couple of buys and send him back to jail. Commerce detectives got word early this month that Chad Oneal Maddox, 30, “was out of jail and selling crack cocaine,” ... [Full Story »]

Community Bank & Trust closing 2 branches in Commerce

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CommerceNewsTODAY

Tuesday, September 20. 2011

Community Bank & Trust will close all three of its Jackson County supermarket branches over the next four months. The branch at Ingles in Commerce will close Oct. 11, according to Bill Lloyd, director of public relations. All of the employees at that branch will move to other positions within the company. The branch at Quality Foods in ... [Full Story »]

Cash flow woes may force BOE to borrow

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CommerceNewsTODAY

Friday, September 16. 2011

The Commerce Board of Education is closer to adopting a final budget for 2011-2012 that will keep the same tax rate. But there is some concern that the fund equity balance will drop so low by the end of the calendar year that the school system will need to acquire what’s known as a “tax anticipation note” (TAN) to cover its expenses until ... [Full Story »]