The money is in, the canopies are out. After years of planning and a lot of public controversy and debate, Toccoa Mayor Bob Troup announced last night that the City now has over $900,000 in grant money to move forward with taking down the canopies and re-opening Doyle Street.

Planning Commission Director Connie Tabor says the bulk of the money came from the State Department of Community Affairs.

"The City of Toccoa has been awarded a $500,000 grant through the Department of Community Affairs’ Community Redevelopment Block Grant program," Tabor explained. "We were very excited to get the news last week. This will give us a total of $900,000 that we've received through grant funding. We received a $300,000 about three months ago from the Appalachian Regional Commission and the City has set aside $100,000 local match. So now we will have $900,000 that will be available for the canopy removal and the street opening project," she said.

The total cost of the project, which will include installing new parking spaces, trees and other beautification efforts, is about $1.5 million. Tabor says the next step is to decide how to proceed.

"We hope that this will be the beginning of the project with this $900,000. We are moving ahead, and we plan to have a meeting next Monday to set up checking accounts and to get the project rolling as far starting the construction and engineering plans," Tabor said.

The City has also applied for other grants, including a One-Georgia grant in the amount of $500,000. So far, they have not heard whether that grant application was approved.

Citizens of Toccoa and even Stephens County are running about 50-50 when it comes to the question of developing the land around Lake Toccoa – the County’s only watershed.

At last night’s City Commission meeting, citizens were given an opportunity to express their opinions on BenchCraft Development’s proposal to build over 400 homes on 500 acres around the lake. They also want to build an 18-hole golf course and community center. Those in favor of the idea, such as Gerald Turner and Joanne Bower, cited the opportunity to grow Toccoa’s economy.

"I'm for Toccoa-Stephens County moving forward, being progressive. If it creates 10 jobs or 100 jobs, if it brings 200 people in here or 400,000 people in here, I really think we got to look at the growth of the County and City," Turner said.

"I’m very interested in positive growth in Stephens County. I've seen it in the last 15 years regress, which saddens me. When I read that article in the paper that the professional group came in to study about consolidation. When he said lack of population growth -that's what's happened here folks. We need something to bring assets in, development in, taxes in. There's so many positive elements to this project if you just think about it," Bower opined.

Those against the plan expressed concerns such as watershed contamination and future maintenance expenses the City couldn’t afford since the community center and golf course would remain in the City’s possession. Others, like former mayor Ken Davis said it’s another speculative adventure that the City just can’t afford.

"I remind the commission that over the past 10 years we've indulged ourselves in a number of speculative affairs. The northern expansion which, totally apart from anything else, cost us about $1.5 million in lost income that we had to make up somewhere else. The Belk building - the best part of a million dollars there. Restaurants; Captain Billy's and the Cornerstone - several hundred thousand dollars there. The James Neal Training Center - the best part of a half million dollars down that one. This is another speculative adventure and we don't need another speculative adventure. We didn't need the ones we got, but we certainly don't need more," Davis said.

Afterwards, mayor Bob Troup said no decision on the proposal will be made for at least several months while the City studies the proposal.

Concrete versus steel is just one question facing County Commissioners and Stephens County Sheriff Gene Sorrells regarding the new county jail. Yesterday, Commissioners heard from two design teams for the second time.

Making a return visit were the design teams of Clemens, Rutherford Associates and Peter Brown Construction; and Pieper, O’Brien, Herr Architects and Turner Construction. Among other things, commissioners are trying to decide which building material, steel or concrete, is the most cost-effective as well as the best suited to the needs of the County.

Both materials have their plusses and minuses as Commissioners heard yesterday. Representatives from the design team of Clemens, Rutherford, Associates and Peter Brown Construction said steel is easier to keep clean and cuts down on the transmission of bacteria and disease. Another cost plus, is that a major manufacturer of steel jail pods is located in Habersham County.

One concern of Sheriff Sorrells, however, is the noise factor from steel jails, but according to Clemens, Rutherford, the steel is coated. Clemens Rutherford asked Commissioners to come up with more specific design specifications so they could more effectively recommend a building material. Commissioners hope to award the contract for the new jail at their March meeting.

Three people are being held in the Stephens County jail without bond on multiple weapons and drug trafficking charges. It happened yesterday on West Silver Shoals Road.

Sheriff Gene Sorrells says deputies were called to 285 West Silver Shoals on an unrelated matter when they became suspicious of certain activity there. They called in the Piedmont Northern MANS Unit and received permission to search the premises.

Deputies discovered a pound of methamphetamine, three handguns, a sawed-off shotgun, $1,300 in cash and a Dodge Neon. They also seized a quantity of drug paraphernalia, including scales and pipes. Arrested was 45-year old Tony Kellar of West Silver Shoals Road in Toccoa, 25-year old Alecia Fulghaum of Canon, and 22-year old Jeffery D. Ramsey of Currahee Lane in Toccoa.

All three are charged with trafficking in methamphetamine. Ramsey and Kellar are also charged with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Kellar is also charged with possession of an illegal weapon. Sheriff Sorrells says the investigation continues and there could be more arrests.

Stephens County Animal Control officers are riding in style, thanks in part to a donation from the Stephens County Shelter Auxiliary. The Auxiliary recently donated a newer truck to the shelter to replace the old one that was literally on its last legs.

Yesterday, the truck was presented to the City and to Animal Control officers Bobby King and Joe Sherman. Toccoa mayor Bob Troup said the donation by the all-volunteer group is a positive example of citizens working together to improve their community.

"This is a great opportunity for the City to express our appreciation to the Auxiliary," Troup noted. "Our Animal Control officers can now ride down the road in style and not have to worry about making it back to the shelter. We just really appreciate it. This what we'd like to see, a lot more individual participation," Troup said.

Auxiliary spokeswoman Dianne Shalibo said they got the idea to donate a truck when they learned the old one had holes in the floorboards and the had over 200,000 miles on it.

"The truck that the gentleman at the Animal Control was driving was broken down and had holes in the floorboard. It was just time for the Animal Control to have a new truck and we as the auxiliary felt like we could do that for them," Shalibo said.

This newer truck is a Ford F-150 with 70,000 miles. Last year, the County purchased a newer long bed truck to replace the other animal shelter truck.

City commissioners will hear from the public tonight regarding a proposal by an Atlanta developer to build a resort community around Lake Toccoa. BenchCraft Development, LLC wants to build over 400 homes of various sizes, expand the Pines Golf Course to 18 holes, and build a community center.

Tonight, the public has a chance to voice their concerns, ask questions, or come out in favor of the idea.

City commissioner Billy Chism has apparently already made up his mind, however. At the presentation by BenchCraft two weeks ago, Chism said he is against any sort of development around Lake Toccoa because of concerns it could contaminate the watershed.

However, BenchCraft spokesman Sean Harrington pointed out that currently Lake Toccoa is not protected from erosion or pollutants. Harrington says if their project goes through, they plan to adhere to EPA and EPD guidelines as well as make improvements around the lake to protect it from contaminants.

Recently, commissioners agreed to an action plan regarding the development proposal that will ensure both the public and other interested parties are heard. After hearing from the public, the commission will spend March and April looking at various options for developing the 500 acres around Lake Toccoa, as well as the future needs of the City’s water and wastewater treatment plant.

In the spring, commissioners plan to present their findings and conclusions to the public and possibly hold more public hearings. Tonight’s hearing takes place during their regular meeting at 5 p.m. and is last on the agenda.

County commissioners will meet this afternoon with two candidates for the new county jail contract. After hearing from four design teams, commissioners indicated they would like to have the teams of Clemens, Rutherford, Associates, and Peter Brown Construction and Pieper, O’Brien, Herr Architects and Turner Construction back for follow up meetings.

Both design teams are experienced in building correctional and municipal facilities. One of the issues brought up by Commissioner Rex Anderson was the cost of the facility. Only one group, Clemens Rutherford, gave offered any kind of figures for construction. County Administrator Darrell Hampton said another meeting would help answer commissioners questions. "This is a complicated process and there are no doubt questions you have that have not been answered at the first meeting," Hampton noted.

Another important issue in the decision-making process according to County Attorney Rusty Smith is references. "I think it would be a good idea to contact other counties and find out from them if they were happy with the contractors," Smith said. "You need to ask questions like, ‘Did their jail project come in on budget and on time? ‘ Were they happy with the overall quality and would they recommend them to Stephens County,’" he said. Today’s meeting takes place at 1 p.m. in the Courthouse Annex. Commissioners hope to award the contract at their March meeting.

A woman volunteering with Habitat for Humanity found herself the victim of theft. Jennie Dooley told police she had laid her purse down near the dumpster at the Habitat Thrift Store in order to help load some items.

When she turned to pick up her purse it was missing. Four witnesses identified a middle-aged man with gray hair wearing a flannel shirt as the suspect who took the handbag. Officers put a look out for the suspect who was later found on Yearwood Street. He was taken back to Habitat where witnesses positively identified him.

Arrested was 47-year old Johnny Arrendale of Yearwood Street. He is charged with theft by taking.

Police were able to find the purse and some of the items inside scattered along the railroad tracks, but Dooley’s checkbook and car keys were not located.

State lawmakers this week hope a controversial bill that would ban billboards for adult entertainment will pass muster in the courts. The House passed section one of HB1097 this week that would not only ban adult advertisement on billboards, but also electric or neon lighting on billboards.

Motorists heading north on I-85 in Franklin County pass about six of those kinds of billboards that advertise the Café Risqué topless club in Lavonia. Those signs have been able to remain up, despite efforts to remove them or limit them, because of the First Amendment. State Representative Jeanette Jamieson voted in favor of the measure, but says it all depends on what the court decides.

"Nobody will be surprised if it's taken into court," Jamieson opined. "If the court rules in favor of the plaintiff, that is, the people who have purchased the billboards, then of course we will lose this bill. However, better to have tried and failed than not to have tried at all and that was exactly what we were doing," she said.

However, Jamieson did not vote for another controversial bill this week that will add roughly $2 to gas customers’ monthly bill. The House approved a request this week from Atlanta Gas Light to add the surcharge in order to build a new gas pipeline from Elba Island to Atlanta.

Republican leaders who pushed the bill say Atlanta Gas Light's liquid natural gas pipeline would increase market competition and the supply of heating fuel, producing lower rates down the line. However, Jamieson contends consumers are already over burdened.

"They presented that they would add only about $2 a month, but until the actual pipeline is built, you don't know how much money is going to be added to everybody's natural gas bill. As I said yesterday, my constituents are already carrying about as much as they can and I refuse to vote for anything that is going to add any additional amount to their gas bill. I am not going to do that," Jamieson asserted. The bill easily passed in House by a vote of 110-59.

People in the City of Carnesville are once again being asked to consider a beer and wine ordinance.

The Franklin County Citizen reports letters went out to residents this week outlining the proposed ordinance and asking for feedback.

Under this latest ordinance, only grocery or convenience stores would be allowed to sell beer and wine, the ordinance still bans package or liquor stores. Additionally, beer and wine sales would be banned on Sundays and between midnight and 8 a.m. on Mondays. Carnesville City Commissioners expect to vote on the proposal at their March meeting.

Construction of the new water tower for the City of Martin should officially begin today, according to Martin Mayor Don Foster. "The grading and clearing of the land is scheduled to start today," Foster stated. "The concrete will be poured. This is the official day of the start of the new water project in Martin. Everything is working out well and the contractor is meeting his obligation."

With new customers demanding water from the City of Martin each year, Mayor Foster said that the city is trying to meet those needs plus keep its regular customers supplied with a good source of water. "The service will be taking care of the people that we have now." Foster declared. "The tank will hold 150,000 gallons and is about the same height that the old tank was and will guarantee equal pressure throughout the system. We have about 700 water customers in the City of Martin and add about 50 to 60 customers to the system each year and we estimate that to continue."

The project hopefully should be completed by next Spring.

Toccoa’s Planning Commission has approved a request to annex two duplexes on rose lane into the city in order to begin construction on a new senior citizen apartment complex.

Jerry Braden with the Braden Group, Inc., the company building the complex, says the part of the property the duplexes sit on is in the city and part is in the County. Those buildings will serve as part of the entrance to the new apartment complex. Braden says the current plan is to break ground this spring.

"We hope to close our loans within the next 60 days. So, we would hope to get under construction in the springtime. I do not see any reason why we will not be able to do that since we purchased the property already. So we hope to get under construction soon and we look forward to doing that," Braden explained.

Called "Imperial Place," the senior apartment complex will be a two-story, 60-unit building of one and two-bedroom apartments. According to Braden, the community will feature a number of amenities both in the clubhouse and on the grounds.

"A small kitchen, we'll have an equipped exercise room, and equipped Internet room, we will have a fully furnished library. It has an area for a dance floor. On the outside we've got various picnic areas and this one either has shuffle board or a little putting green," Braden said.

Braden, who owns about 30 apartment complexes across Georgia, says they hope to complete Imperial Place in the spring of 2007, but will begin pre-leasing units several months prior.

At last month’s Stephens County Board of Education, board member James Thomas had mentioned that he had visited the high school on occasion and noticed that it wasn’t as clean as it should be in some parts of the school.

School Superintendent Gary Steppe said that the cleanliness of the school is improving each month and he had some reports to illustrate it…

"We actually have a janitorial supply company, Athens Janitorial Supply, to check each of the schools each month." Steppe explained. " One person will actually go around with a school official and the custodians to point out the trouble spots and evaluate each school every month. So we feel real good about that."

Thomas mentioned the fact that he had been back to the schools several times and noticed a great deal of improvement.

The Board of Education voted this week not to make up two days that were missed last September when Governor Sonny Perdue cancelled classes to conserve energy and gasoline following Hurricane Katrina. The Governor said it was up to local school board to determine if the days would be made up.

School Superintendent Gary Steppe had suggested two days in March, the 10^th and the 24^th, to make up for the days so that the students could get some instruction before CRCT testing in April.

But the board feared that there may be some more bad weather and wanted those two days set aside in case they are needed. Members did not want to interfere with Spring Break.

The vote was 4-2 not to make up the missed days.

The state agriculture department is warning that certain cans of Gentlease Powdered Infant Formula could contain metal pieces. Agriculture Commissioner Tommy Irvin is advising consumers who may have purchased 24-ounce cans of the baby formula to check them.

Consumers who have a can of this batch of Gentlease Powdered Infant Formula should not use the product and should contact Mead Johnson at 888-587-7275 immediately.

There is nothing like a hot stack of pancakes smothered in your favorite syrup for breakfast. That is one reason, the Lions Club decided to serve them up tomorrow at their annual pancake breakfast fundraiser.

Dave Stancil, 2^nd vice president of the Lions Club, says their goal this year is $4,500. That money will help many people get the eye care they need, but could not otherwise afford. "The Toccoa Lions Club pancake breakfast is an annual event. We buy glasses for people within the Community. If there's any kind of screening they need and they can't afford to go to the eye clinic, Kay Royal is very generous and allows people to come to her facility," Stancil said. Tickets are $4 per plate and are available at the door or in advance by calling Wayne Braswell at 886-4351.

No sense of community, negativism, apathy, and no strong leadership. Just a few of the problems that could prevent consolidation of governments in Stephens County. At a dinner meeting Tuesday, members of the Consolidation Study Committee presented their findings along with a report done by the University of Georgia’s Carl Vinson Institute. As far as consolidation of services is concerned, UGA representative Dr. Harry Hager told the group it could be done easily.

"It's a good news, bad news situation," Hager pointed out. "The good news is you're not duplicating a lot services so you don't have a lot of city and county employees doing the same thing. So that is good in terms of if you wanted to pursue consolidation, you would not have so much to deal with in terms of duplication. On the other hand, you're not going to realize a great savings immediately because of that," he concluded.

If consolidation was voted in, Hager said it would take several years to work out the details before it was completely in place. However, the negativism and apathy among Stephens County citizens is perhaps the biggest obstacle to consolidation. Member Chad Herron said it was not that way when he was growing up.

"Something changed along the way," Herron noted. "One of the things I feel like it is, is the statistics you see in here that says 35% of the jobs in this community were from the manufacturing sector. With a lot of those jobs shifting to overseas, the jobs are not here anymore," he opined.

Member Daphne Paxton said the county needs strong leadership to help change apathy into a strong sense of community.

"We need some leadership that's going to lead us out of the current malaise or whatever you want to call it that we appear to be in," Paxton exhorted. "We have and we've spoken often in this committee, 'We used to have the best school system in the entire Northeast Georgia area,' and 'We used to have standards that were way high that everybody else around us tried to meet.' Now it appears that we have lost that position. We need to look at why we have lost that position. And we also need to look how we get it back," she said.

Finally, committee member L.J. Harrison said the group worked hard and learned a lot from other counties that have consolidated.

"I told Darrell and Billy and I was going to buy a billboard on each highway in the City of Toccoa that says, '100% of the Citizens in Stephens County Support Consolidation' and leave it up for a year to see if any attitudes change," Harrison joked. "The most significant thing we've learned is that consolidation is very hard. It is very difficult, but those we have spoken to who have succeeded in consolidation, would not go back for anything," he said.

City and county officials who attended the meeting will now take the information and use it to decide whether to pursue consolidation. Most, however, said it would likely be years before the voting public would be wiling to consider it.

A fight between a Toccoa couple ended with one of them allegedly being driven over and another in jail.

Police answered a call to a domestic disturbance on Glen Crest Drive last Friday night. When they arrived, David Pitts of Dicks Hill Parkway told officers that Beverly Turpin Pitts ran over him with her car.

After further investigation, Beverly Pitts was arrested and charged with aggravated assault. Officers say that while driving her to the police department, Turpin allegedly kicked out a rear window in the police cruiser. A second charge of interference with government property was added to her first charge.

No word on the extent of David Pitts’ injuries.

County commissioners continue their search for a new county clerk. Yesterday, they spent several hours in executive session going over the applications of two candidates for the job. Three candidates had originally applied for the post left vacant last summer by long-time clerk Nancy Downs.

Commissioners had offered the job to one of those candidates but she turned it down. According to County Administrator Darrell Hampton, an offer letter is expected to go out by Monday. Hampton tells WNEG they hope to have a new clerk in place within the next two weeks.

A Toccoa man decided to take matters into his own hands after discovering he had been robbed. Victor Nicely of Nassau Street told officers he heard someone out on his front porch late Tuesday evening. When he went out to check, he said he discovered seven fishing poles had gone missing from his porch.

As he looked around, Nicely told officers he saw a car parked nearby with two men inside. He said he walked over to the vehicle, saw his fishing poles in the back seat, and took them back. The men then drove off. Nicely gave officers a description of the suspects and their vehicle’s tag number. Police are looking for a 1984 tan and white Oldsmobile.

If you think it’s tough recruiting high school athletes for a college or university, try recruiting nurses for a hospital. Nation wide, there has been a shortage of nurses and hospitals have been feeling the crunch, offering all kinds of package deals, making it attractive for nurses to work at their facility.

There are several openings at Stephens County Hospital for nurses. Administrator Ed Gambrell said although there are only four openings at present, that’s more than they have had in a while and the competition is very fierce. "Right now, we have four openings and while that doesn’t sound like a whole lot, it’s more than we have had in a while." Gambrell indicated. "Many hospitals would like to be in our situation. As you know we have a scholarship program and five nurses will be graduating soon and hopefully, they will be going to work for us either in May or June. But the competition out there is pretty fierce."

Director of Nursing at Stephens County Hospital, Faye Taylor, reported that one of the reasons of the shortage is that potential nursing students get discouraged when they find out there is a two year waiting list to get into school and they decide to take up another occupation.

Police are investigating a possible case of road rage. Steven Rea of Toccoa told police he was driving down Highway 123 near the Bypass when the driver of the vehicle in front of him started slamming on his brakes, as if trying to get Rea to rear-end him. Rea told officers he swerved and avoided hitting the car, and then tried to pass it. When he did so, Rea said the driver of that vehicle tried to run him off the road.

Rea said he got back behind the vehicle and called police and gave them the tag number. Police are looking for a Dodge Dakota with Stephens County tags. So far, no arrests have been made.

A 44-year old Hall County man is behind bars this morning following an all-day stand off at his home Wednesday.

Around 10:30am Wednesday morning, authorities responded to a house on Sallee Circle off of Stephens Drive in Oakwood. According to Major Jeff Strickland the men were confronted by 44 year old William Harrell, who was in possession of what appeared to be an explosive device. Authorities said that the man refused to give up the device. Some four hours of negotiations followed and the man eventually surrendered.

Nearby homes were evacuated because of the incident. A temporary shelter was set up in conjunction with the Hall County Fire Department. The GBI was called in to assist with explosive devices that were placed inside the residence. Authorities found six suspicious devices inside the house. All were safely removed.

Harrell was taken to the Northeast Georgia Medical Center for an evaluation. He was treated and released from the hospital and taken to the Hall County Detention Center and was being held without bond. He is charged with possession of an explosive device among other charges.

Sirens will be going off in counties all across Georgia today, but not in Stephens County. This is Severe Weather Awareness Week in Georgia and South Carolina and today, the Georgia Emergency Management Agency will be conducting a statewide severe weather drill. For many counties, that means the activation of the county’s tornado warning system, something Stephens County does not have.

Stephens County Emergency Management Agency spokeswoman Becky Wall says such warning systems require e-911. "We hope to address that issue in the future once the new e-911 system is up an running, Wall said. There will be drills, however, in Stephens County today at each school and those will be monitored by the Stephens County EMA.

Meantime, Wall says the final steps to complete the County’s Disaster Mitigation Plan are being taken. The SCEMA has re-submitted the plan to the State after making some requested changes. Wall says once approved, they hope to hold several public hearings to review the plan with the community.

No doubt, you have heard many reports regarding students who fall asleep in class. Most of the time, this occurs in the morning hours because teenagers and even younger students don’t get enough sleep the previous night.

It does bring up the question…should school start later in the morning?

A recent survey has been conducted in the Stephens County School System that may lead to the start of school being pushed back to 8:15am or 8:30am instead of the current 7:45am for middle school and high school students. Elementary school students currently start their classes at 8am.

Board of Education Chairman Jerry Steele said that some studies have shown that many students aren’t ready to start classes at 7:45 in the morning. "Some studies have shown that teenagers don’t sleep particularly well at night," Steele said. "I don’t know where some of those studies come from. But anyway we want to get as much public opinion as we possible can."

To get as much public opinion as possible, Steele said that the board will conduct three public hearings on the issue, starting on March 7^th. "We’ll have the first of three public hearings at the high school March 7^th at 5pm."Steele indicated. "These hearings are open to anyone who would like to come by and offer an opinion. The next hearings will be held on March 14^th at the middle school. And then the final hearing will be held at 5pm prior to the regular scheduled Board of Education meeting here." We won’t be able to please everybody with our decision, but we’ll make a decision after those hearings about what time school will start for the 06-07 season."

Beth McDonald, Transportation Director, said that whatever schedule the board decides upon, the starting times for the Middle School and the High School should be the same because they are on the same bus routes.

Elementary Schools will not be affected at this time.

Georgia House lawmakers backed a plan last week that requires school systems to spend at least 65 per cent of their money in the classroom, joining Senate in approving a central piece of Governor Sonny Perdue’s education agenda. The plan, which says the systems must meet the 65 per cent standard by 2008, will be sent to the Senate to consider some minor changes before it goes to Governor Purdue’s office to be signed into law.

The new legislation is troubling to Stephens County School Superintendent Gary Steppe, who said it was another attempt to take away the decisions of the local school board on how to spend the money on students.

"I found this measure very disturbing," Steppe stated. " Here again is the state first of all telling everyone that they want the local school boards to have more control over education. Then they come up with a measure that forces us to take not only federal money, which already has restrictions, but local tax money and spend it the way the state wants us to. I still think we know better how to spend that money on students than they do at the state level."

Steppe said that the money will not cover media specialist, the instructional specialists, the school nurse, the bus drivers, the principals and a long list of school personnel.

Under the bill, the money would be spent for books, field trips, and tuition paid for special-needs students to attend out-of-state schools or private institutions.

The month of February is "Black History Month".

The annual "Black History Program" at Stephens County High School will be held in the school’s gym Thursday morning.

Telia Rivers is the President of the Stephens County High School Unity Club with some information regarding the program…

"We’re going to reflect back on the history of slavery days." she said. " We’ll also celebrate the Civil Rights Movement, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, Rose Parks and other important Civil Rights people. We’ll have a speaker and a slide show and we hope that everyone will enjoy it."

The public is cordially invited to the program which will begin a little after 9am Thursday morning.

Toccoa’s Historic Preservation Commission will meet this afternoon for the first time ever. The Commission is made up five members and one non-voting member. According to Planning Commission Director Connie Tabor, at this first meeting, the group will hear from several other entities, including the Historic Preservation Committee, the Georgia Mountains Regional Development Center’s Preservation Planner, and Terracon Consulting.

Other business today will include the election of officers and the discussion of bylaws. The main initial task of the Commission, however, will be to come up with an historic preservation ordinance. They will also be the body that decides what parts of Toccoa will be designated historic districts.

Last year, the City Commission voted to create the Historic Preservation Commission in order to have certain parts of Toccoa designated historic areas. The group will also oversee those areas and institute specific design guidelines for those neighborhoods. Today’s meeting takes place in the third floor conference room of City Hall at 4 p.m.

You can now look up property tax records online. The Stephens County Tax Commissioner’s Web site recently went live and already people are finding it extremely helpful. According to Tax Commissioner Vicki Whitworth, one of the most useful features is the page that allows property owners to check on the status of their property tax. "People are already using it to check on their taxes and whether they have been paid," Whitworth noted. "A lot of people have their taxes paid by their mortgage lender or bank and now they can go to the Web site to make sure it’s been paid," she said.

The new site also offers a rather large convenience, according to Whitworth, the ability to pay their property tax online. "You can pay online or you can print out your tax invoice and mail it in," Whitworth explained. "Also, attorneys and real estate agents like it because they no longer have to come down to the tax office. They can just go to the Web site and get their information," she said.

Housing, streets and lighting, drainage, and sidewalks. Those are the four top issues concerning residents of Toccoa’s Avon Street neighborhood. On Monday, citizens from that part of town converged on the Whitman Street Boys and Girls Club Gym to hear from representatives with the Georgia Mountain Regional Development Center.

Since mid-December, City surveyors and members of the RDC have been walking the streets of one of Toccoa’s oldest sections to find out from residents what the issues and needs of the community are. The city is hoping to apply for certain block grants to help renovate and revitalize that part of town.

At the meeting this week, the RDC revealed the results of their surveys and housing was at the top of the list. Residents are concerned with renovation help, tearing down vacant homes, and building new affordable housing. Next month, the RDC will be back at the Boys and Girls Club gym to present a solid plan for making improvements to the area. That meeting takes place Thursday evening, March 9 at 6 p.m.

Longtime local TV personality Billy Dilworth is resting comfortably today after undergoing quadruple bypass surgery. Dilworth underwent open-heart surgery Tuesday morning at the Ronnie Green Heart Center at Northeast Georgia Medical Center in Gainesville.

Dilworth was to have had a stint put in his heart on Monday, but doctors were not able to perform that procedure. According to show co-host David Austin, he is expected to remain in the hospital for about a week. Dilworth is the host of Channel 32’s Billy Dilworth Show, which went back on the air last year after being off the air since the late 1990’s.

Still no official word on the identity of a body found in the rubble of a burned out home on Foxfire Drive.

The body was sent to the GBI Crime Lab in Atlanta for autopsy and positive identification. Yesterday, Stephens County Sheriff Gene Sorrells said they still have not heard from the Crime Lab on the results of the DNA testing and it could be several more weeks before a positive identification can be made.

The blaze happened late February 4. A victim found inside was burned beyond recognition. Several days later, however, the family of the homeowner said they believed the victim to be that of their son, 41-year old Brian Keith Lee.

He has been on the run for some time, but now 40-year old David Paul "Tater" Jones of Martin is behind bars. Jones was wanted in Hall County on outstanding warrants. Sheriff Gene Sorrels says he was arrested Monday after apparently falling for a fake drug deal. "He’s been on the run for some time and we had heard that he was looking for drugs," Sorrell said. "So we set up a sting operation and he fell for it and we got him," he said.

Agents with the Piedmont Northern MANS Unit say they found a small quantity of methamphetamine and an array of narcotic prescription drugs in Jones’ possession. Sorrells said after his arrest, investigators also discovered Jones had several items that turned out to be stolen. "We found a chainsaw in the vehicle and we ran the serial number and didn’t get anything. So we contacted the manufacturer who was able to tell us who bought the saw and it turned out to have been stolen from a home on Broad Creek Road. We also ran the VIN on the car and found that it had also been stolen," Sorrells explained.

The car had reportedly been stolen from the Fred’s parking lot on Big A Road recently. Sorrells said the chainsaw was found in the trunk of the car and had been stolen last December.

The Committee for Quality Growth has received approval from Stephens County officials to move forward with a plan to come up with a solid land use ordinance. On Friday, spokesman Joe Ferguson told commissioners, quote, "Atlanta is coming" and now is the time to plan for future growth.

County commission chair Steve Chitwood agreed, but said the group should contact the Georgia Regional Development Authority for help with the project. It could take some time to put a plan in place. Meantime, commissioners agreed some sort of stop gap ordinance should be put in place to help with growth until a full land use plan can be completed.

County Attorney Rusty Smith said there is now some guidance from the state that is directed towards rural counties. Habersham, Lumpkin, Rabun and other surrouding counties utilitized stop gap ordinances to control land use, according to commissioners.

Ferguson estimated it will take about two years to develop a land use plan.

Last week we told you about one of the largest drug busts along I-85 in Franklin County in recent memory. The bust netted over six kilos of cocaine with a street value of over $600,000.

Last Wednesday, State Troopers stopped a 1997 Ford Explorer with South Carolina tags for a routine traffic violation. Agents with the Piedmont Northern MANS Unit discovered six kilos of cocaine and $16,000 in cash hidden in the rear of the vehicle.

Two Atlanta men were arrested. Those arrests and the discovery of the drugs happened as a result of a new cooperative effort between the Georgia State Patrol’s Toccoa Post and the GBI’s Piedmont Northern MANS Unit, according to GBI Assistant Special Agent in charge Curtis Wade.

Since the program began, wade says they’ve made a number of drug arrests as a result of routine traffic stops on the interstate. Additionally, if a MANS agent is not riding with a trooper, the trooper can call an agent if he believes there is reason for concern with a motorist he has pulled over. Wade says they hope to continue the program indefinitely.

Georgia Senate Republicans have announced budget amendments they will seek for the remainder of fiscal 2006. They include adding back in $3.6 million dollars for the Katie Becket Waiver families who were no longer eligible for services under the federal program.

That program provides funding for families with disabled children. State Senator Nancy Schaefer said the move is vitally important to those families.

Other so-called improvements to this year’s budget include $2 million for books and materials to be equally distributed to each library system, over $5 million for job growth, a new office to strengthen trade relations with China and $500,000 for grants to assist local sheriff’s departments in improving courthouse security.

Schaefer says she’s pleased with the budget amendments. Other additions include a half million dollars for the Paul Coverdell scholarship fund and the money to buy 25 new cars for state troopers.

Last fall’s hurricane season had a devastating effect on the town of Helen in White County.

As one of those hurricanes marched through northeast Georgia in August, it spawned a tornado that literally destroyed hundreds of trees in and around the alpine town.

Now Helen is raising money to replant some of those trees lost on city property, according to City Clerk Kimberly Smith.

Donations in all amounts are being accepted and so far, Helen has managed to replant between 30 and 50 trees along the riverfront. These are not seedlings; they range in height between 15 and 30 feet tall.

Smith says anyone who donates between 100 and 200 dollars will have their name placed on a special plaque. A local sculpture is also creating a bronze tree and Smith says anyone who donates over $200 will have their name placed on a leaf of that tree.

So far, Smith says they’ve raised $10,000 to reforest city property around Helen.

Local veteran and former VFW National Commander R.D. "Bulldog" Smith is preparing for a trip to Washington DC next month for the National Veterans of Foreign Wars Conference. Smith was recently appointed to the veterans of foreign wars national security committee. While in DC the week of March 4, Smith says he and other Committee members will be lobbying Congressmen on Capitol Hill.

"The National Security Committee is one of the top committees. We will be meeting with members of Congress to discuss national security. One of our top goals is security along our borders. We’re very concerned about that," Smith explained.

The national security committee along with the national legislative committee will also be presenting their goals to members of congress. Another highlight, according to smith of the week’s events is the awarding of scholarships to the winners of the voice of democracy competition.

"Our state Voice of Democracy winners will be there. They will receive their awards. The first place winner will receive a scholarship of $2,500. Each state winner will receive a monetary award of not less than $1,500," he said. Smith says the appointment to national security committee is quite an honor and one that he did not expect.

Stephens County Commissioners will meet today to try to select a design and construction team for the new jail. Last week, Commissioners and Stephens County Sheriff Gene Sorrells heard from four candidates chosen by an appointed selection committee. The four groups included:

Each group has experience in building jails and other law enforcement facilities. County Commission chair Steve Chitwood says he is not sure if any decision will be made today.

"Each commissioner has had a week to study it," noted Chitwood. "I don't know any other commissioners’ opinions on this. It's possible we'll make a decision or it's possible one of the Commissioners has a question that wasn't addressed during the presentations, but we'll be looking at it very seriously," he concluded.

The cost of the project has risen considerably since the voters first approved it in 2002. At the time SPLOST IV was passed, the estimated cost of building the new jail was $6.8 million. Today, with increases in materials and building costs, the new price tag is estimated to between $8.2, 8.9 million – depending on the type of jail the county chooses to build, and the materials used.

Commissioners will also be looking at filling the County Clerk position when they meet this afternoon. The County has been without a Clerk since August when former Clerk Nancy Downes resigned. Last month, commissioners interviewed four candidates.

At this month’s regular meeting commissioners indicated they had made an offer to one of the candidates, but that she turned the job down. According to County Commission chair Steve Chitwood, there has been no decision whether to make an officer to one of the remaining three candidates.

Two Atlanta men are behind bars in Franklin County – charged in one of the biggest cocaine busts in that county’s history. It happened Wednesday morning along I-85 in Carnesville. Authorities say State troopers stopped a 1997 Ford Explorer with South Carolina tags for a routine traffic violation.

Drug sniffing dogs with the Piedmont Northern MANS unit discovered six kilos of cocaine and $16,000 in cash hidden in the rear of the vehicle. Both men are being held without bond in the Franklin county jail.

They are identified as 34-year old José Bugiarin-DeJesus and 30-year old Ruben Diaz both of Marietta, Georgia.

The Stephens County Sheriff’s office is investigating the theft of some tools from a location on Gully Road.

Officers were told that a couple of 18 gauge bradnailers and a skill saw were taken. The victim gave names of possible suspects who may have planned to pawn the items in Habersham County and who may have had an accident in White County the same night.

Handling one’s finances and preparing for retirement are challenges we all face. That is why the Toccoa-Stephens County Chamber of Commerce is offering a Lunch and Learn seminar next week to discuss the issue.

The personal finance seminar and lunch takes place on Wednesday at the chamber offices in the depot.

Chamber Director Cynthia Brown says the seminar is open to anyone.

"It's designed for anybody of any age or background who's interested in being more financially aware and is looking towards long range goals and retirement. It's to help people consider how to best utilize financial groups and financial planners and so forth," Brown noted.

Two certified financial planners, Bill Nichols who is originally from Toccoa, and John Carty-Campbell will be the guest speakers, according to Brown.

"They are both certified financial planners. They are not here to sell a product they are here to educate. They both do adjunct work with the University of Georgia. We want to help our citizens become more financially aware and maybe get some further help from local people who are in the financial planning business," Brown said

The lunch & learn seminar is $10 per person. Calling the Chamber office at 886-2132 may make reservations.

The Joint Development Authority of Franklin, Hart, and Stephens Counties will receive a One-Georgia grant in the amount of $12,500 for a feasibility study. The equity grant funds will be used to assist with a study evaluating the economic feasibility of constructing two "mega" boat ramps along lake Hartwell in Franklin and hart counties. 

The proposed ramp locations on Lake Hartwell are in Gum Branch/Hart County and Tugaloo State Park/Franklin County.  Current ramp infrastructure cannot support the large number of boats necessary to host increasingly popular fishing tournaments. The tri-county partnership seeks to market their strongest natural asset, thereby attracting more visitors to the area and strengthening the economic impact of the lake.

The total project cost is  $25,000 with other public investment totaling $12,500. One-Georgia found that given the geography of our region and the abundance of natural resources, enhancing tourism appeared to be an excellent strategy of the tri-county authority. 

The One-Georgia Authority was created utilizing one-third of the State’s tobacco settlement to assist the State’s most economically challenged areas. The one-Georgia authority is expected to receive about $1.6 billion over the 25-year term of the settlement. Since the Authority was created in October 2000, more than $143.2 million in grants and loans has been awarded.

Only a chimney stands this morning where once there was a home and Westminster firefighters are at a loss to explain what caused the small house to burn to the ground. It happened yesterday morning about 4:30 a.m. On U.S. 76 just inside the Westminster city limits. Westminster Fire Chief Chris Smith says luckily, no one was living in the house at the time. "The owners were remodeling the house and fixing it up for sale. It was just a single family one story with a full basement wood-frame house," Smith said.

The house was in the process of being modeled. Smith said the owner was stunned when he arrived later Thursday morning, paint bucket in hand, ready to continue his renovations. The name of the homeowner has not been released.

Yesterday, firefighters reviewed store surveillance video from the convenience store across the street looking for any suspicious activity around the house, but found nothing.

The City of Toccoa will stop the leaf pick-up service using the vacuum truck on February 28^th. The City would like to encourage all city residents to utilize this service before the end of February. All leaves collected after February 28^th must be bagged.

The runs on a unique schedule and may not run on the same day as garbage pick-up in some areas.

The vacuum on the truck is designed to pick up leaves only. Other items such as sticks, branches, garbage and other foreign material should be placed in a different location because they may damage the vacuum machine. There items will be picked up during regular garbage service days.

Leaves must be piled by the side of the road, within reach of the vacuum hose.

In order to minimize the impact of the waste on landfills, the City recycles leaves and lawn clippings. The mulch made from these items is available at no cost at the mulch yard near Alewine Park on West Doyle Street.

For more information contact Public Works staff assistant Janet Dye at 282-3297.

It will be mid summer before the e-911 system is up and running. That is according to e-911 director Paige Crocker. Originally, the system was supposed to be up and running by January 1, but changes in venue and vendors, has resulted in the seven-month delay. Crocker, who recently moved her offices into the new e-911 dispatch center in Eastanollee, said there is still a lot left to do.

"We still have a whole lot of equipment that has to be installed," Crocker said. ‘The tower will be here Friday and should be erected by the end of next week. We still have our CAD system that has not come in yet. They still have to install the data information before it can be put in. We still have the 911 trunk lines that have to be installed. We still have a lot of equipment that hasn't made it here yet," she said.

Meantime, work on the street mapping system continues. Crocker says there are still people in the county who have had received their new addresses, but she says her office is taking care of each one personally.

"We actually are making really good progress. We have someone who is out knocking on doors getting the information from people who did not return their questionnaires or for whatever reason never got a new address. Hopefully, we will have all the addresses assigned by the end of March," Crocker said.

Right now, anyone with a question or concern regarding his or her new address can go down to the lower level of the courthouse annex to the e-911 office there. However, that office will close for good march first.

Just before that, Crocker says they will issue a release telling citizens how to contact the mapping office after March 1.

A Toccoa firefighter, plead not guilty at his arraignment this morning in Stephens County Superior Court to sexual exploitation of children. Palmer was indicted last month on 24 counts.

Special prosecutor for the GBI, Steve Blackwell told the Stephens County Grand Jury that in January, 2004, authorities discovered nine digital images of children engaged in various sex acts in palmer’s possession. Blackwell also claimed that in April and July 2005, GBI investigators found 15 computer videos depicting child pornography in Palmer’s possession.

Details of the GBI investigation and what lead to the discovery of the photos and videos have not been released. However, this is not the first time Palmer has been in trouble with the law.

In March 2003, palmer plead guilty to one count of aggravated child molestation. He received 12 months probation and a $1,300 fine. In that case, Palmer was accused of luring a teenage girl he met on the Internet to a meeting place to have sex with her. Palmer claimed he did not know the girl was a juvenile.

Also pleading not guilty to one count of first-degree arson was ABC Package store owner Kenneth Black.

This morning, prosecutors agreed to drop the second charge of criminal solicitation. Authorities say last year, Black allegedly paid a man identified in the indictment as Christopher Garver, to burn down his liquor store on West Currahee Street.

After months of meetings and research, the Consolidation Study Committee is ready to present its findings to all of the municipal governments in Stephens County. That presentation will take place at a special dinner meeting at Gate Cottage on Tuesday, February 21 at 7 p.m.

In attendance will be County and Toccoa City Commissioners, the Martin City Council and the Avalon City Council. Consolidation Study Committee chair Jim Shurley says each committee member will speak to the group.

"We received the report from the University of Georgia Institute of Government. We have reviewed it and we concur with what is in the report," noted Shurley. "It does not recommend consolidation or anything else, it is just presenting facts, and we will present that report to the City and County Commissioners. It will be up to them to take the report and do whatever they deem necessary. We think the report has enough information in it that they will be able to make whatever decision they want to make," he concluded.

Unlike the first Consolidation Committee a few years ago, this committee got right down to business, and according to Shurley, they were able to accomplish all they had set out to do.

"The Committee worked very hard. We met about 13 times. We had guests from different city/counties that had consolidated. We heard their problems and what they went through. We think we have an excellent report that outlines the pros and cons for consolidation," noted Shurley.

The consolidation study was resurrected last spring after State Representative Jeanette Jamieson admonished the County Commission for voting to return $15,000 in grant money for the project to the State.

A forty-seven year old resident of Madison County was found dead after his home, located on Highway 184 near the Jackson County line, exploded about 7:30AM Wednesday morning.

Madison County Coroner Michelle Cleveland indicated that 47 year old Leonard Patrick was not killed in the explosion itself, but was overcome by smoke and died prior to the house burning and exploding. No-one else was injured in the blaze.

Ms. Cleveland said that the fire was believed to have started in the kitchen and has been ruled an accident. The house was located on Mathis Road in Madison County.

The State House decided Wednesday that students should have to notify their parents before joining school clubs, a measure opposed by gay rights advocates who fear it will discourage students from joining gay-friendly clubs.

The legislation also would allow parents to block their children from joining clubs they do not approve.

Passing by a 143-to-25 vote, the measure will now go to the Senate, where committee has already approved a similar bill. The house education committee diluted the bill's original language, which forced schools to get written permission from parents for children to join clubs.

However, opponents still questioned the bill's motive, arguing that individual school districts -- not the state -- should set school policy. The bill's potential impact on gay clubs, however, was never mentioned during debate Wednesday. The issue of parents knowing what clubs their children belonged to at school was brought to light with the attempt to establish a gay club in White County.

A memorial service will be held on Saturday for Elberton High School Principal Dr. Elliott Poss. Poss died this week at Athens Regional Medical Center after a long battle with cancer. Acting principal, Rick Higginbotham said upon hearing the news of Poss’s passing Tuesday, the student body decided they wanted to do something for his family.

Higgenbotham said the students plan to raise money for the family by holding a special fun day next Tuesday.

"On Tuesday, we will let the students out early. We will have a general assembly about 1:30 - 2p.m. Everybody can give $2, they get to go to the gym, and we will have basketball games. We will have a 3-point contest and a dunking contest. Kids will pay $2 to be in the contests and all the money will go to his family," Higgenbotham explained.

Additionally, the school and community plan to raise money for a scholarship fund according to Higginbotham. "We're also going to ask local businesses and individuals who want to make donations to the academic boosters. We're going to try to establish and academic scholarship in his name," he said. The service for Dr. Poss will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday at First Baptist Church in Elberton. Dr. Poss was 57.

Registration for pre-kindergarten programs for next fall will take place March 1 through March 15. Those programs include Head Start, Peanut Patch, Charlie's Angels, 'Lil Chiefs, and all four Stephens County School pre-k programs.

Registration will take place from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. at each site and all four elementary schools. For a child to be eligible for pre-k class they must turn four years old by September 1, 2006. Parents should bring the child’s birth certificate, immunization record, Social Security card, and proof of residency.

A Martin woman was surprised to get an E-mail from someone who said that they had purchased a laptop computer from her on E-Bay, had already sent the payment for it and wanted to know where the computer was.

Rebecca Kennemer told the Stephens County Sheriff’s office she didn’t sell any computer on E-Bay.

She has notified E-Bay about the incident and has not received any more messages

Another traffic stop…another drug arrest. It happens frequently. This time Toccoa Police stopped a vehicle for not having a tag. The driver, identified as 28 year old Steven Terrell Hodges was arrested and charged with DUI and possession of cocaine.

And a Toccoa woman told police that while she was shopping at the new Super Wal-Mart someone entered her car and took some medication and $15 .The medications were Oxycodone and Zanaflex.

A man who was acting strangely around the emergency room of Stephens County Hospital was eventually arrested on drug charges.

The Stephens County Sheriff’s office reported that an officer went out to the hospital and a man asked the officer for a ride .The officer refused and the man had been told before he could not get a ride. According to the report, the suspect then went down to the EMS facility and apparently got into an argument there.

Thirty-nine year old Richard Mark Wall was then arrested. When he was searched, An orange cigar tube with rolled cigarette ingredients and a green leafy substance was found.

Wall was taken to the Stephens County Jail without incident.

Borrowing from Peter to pay Paul. Toccoa’s bottom line looked better in January than December with some help from the gas authority. In his monthly report, Toccoa City Finance Director Emory Stephens told Commissioners Monday the City had just over $457,000 in the bank.

Stephens said the City had to borrow money from the Gas Fund twice in the last two months to make ends meet while waiting for property tax revenue to come in. That left the Gas Fund some $400,000 dollars in the red as of January 31. Stephens told commissioners certain times of the year are more difficult to get through.

"Money is tight, gentlemen, and continues to be," Stephens asserted. "Although I do have some optimism to temper that with. I think we do not have any surplus funds until we get to that period of time when we always have enough money on hand to pay all of our obligations when they are due. Our cash flow is such that there are times of the year when we have more money than at others. We need to have enough money on hand to cover ourselves in the lean times as well during those times when we are flush," he concluded.

The Utilities account receivables for January 31 came to $2.7 million dollars. There was $511,000 in Property Tax receivables. Stephens said had everyone paid their property taxes by the February 2 due date, the City would not have had to borrow from the Gas Fund. As of Monday, some $200,000 in property taxes were still outstanding. Despite that, Stephens says he still expects the City finish the fiscal year in the black.

"I do believe and continue to believe that you will have a positive cash flow, not only for the remainder of the fiscal year, but for the whole seven-month period as a whole," Stephens said. "I believe the City will produce some surplus by year end, and that we will have more money on June 30 than we had last July 1 when our fiscal year began. We started with almost a million dollars and I think we will have somewhere in the neighborhood of a million, $1.4 million or $1.5 million by June 30," he concluded.

Stephens again stressed to Commissioners the need to have a solid cash reserve to avoid having to borrow from other funds.

Students and parents in Elberton are mourning the loss of Elberton High School principal Dr. Elliott Poss.

Dr. Poss passed away yesterday after a long illness. According to Elberton reporter Shawn Gibson, Poss was known in Northeast Georgia for his years of work with high school athletics. "Dr. Poss formally coached at Presbyterian College. He also coached the Elbert County Blue Devils back in 1995. He was very well respected and was heavily involved, on the administrative side, in Region8-AAA sports,"
Gibson reflected. Funeral arrangements are incomplete and will be announced later.

A local church youth group will be spending the week-end in New Orleans, Louisiana, helping out victims of Hurricane Katrina.

Stephanie Maley is heading up the group from St. Matthias Episcopal Church. She said the group will be serving meals and helping Habitat for Humanity. "We have about 26 people going on the trip,16 of which are in the youth group, the rest are adults." Ms. Maley explained. " Part of us will be helping out at a distribution center where they are still feeding about 3000 people a day. The rest of the group will be gutting homes that have been damaged and we’ll be working with Habitat for Humanity."

Some of the young people will not have very much time to spend in New Orleans, but Mrs. Maley said that there is still a great need for volunteer help in the area. "We had originally planned the weekend so that the kids wouldn’t miss school, but that has changed," she said. "We’ll have one group leaving on Friday, the other group will leave the church about 4:30 in the morning Saturday and drive to New Orleans, work all day Sunday and come back on Monday. According to what we hear, there haven’t been many groups down there like this in several weeks. And they feel that this type of work will be going on for another ten years, it’s that bad."

The youth group from St.Matthias has been very active in community projects over the last several years, helping out local organizations as well as groups in Atlanta.

The Stephens County Historical Society is planning for a bigger and better Camp Toccoa Reunion this year. This will be the third annual reunion and re-enactment that brings together World War II veterans made famous in the book and movie, "Band of Brothers," "The Dirty Dozen," and "Saving Private Ryan."

According to Historical Society president, Bucky Simmons, the reunion has expanded its focus to not only members of the 501^st, 506^th, 511^th and 517^th Paratrooper regiments who trained on Currahee Mountain, but also all World War II units, Allied and Axis.

Simmons says so far, they have received a great response from veterans in the U.S. and in Europe. The reunion will once again take place at the Toccoa Letourneau Airport the first weekend in October. Among the activities planned, include onsite camping and display areas for re-enactment groups and military vehicle associations. Battle re-enactments and displays of military aircraft from today will also be part of the attractions that weekend.

In addition, the new military and history museums will be open for tours, which will include the restored stables used by the 506^th paratroopers during their stay in Aldbourne, England prior to jumping into Normandy on D Day. The stable was donated by an estate owner in Aldbourne, disassembled and flown to Toccoa last year where it was reconstructed inside the new military museum by a group of military history buffs from the U.K.

Visitors to Toccoa will soon be able to take back a souvenir of their trip made by a local artist. On Monday, City Commissioners approved a request by local artist David Duerr to use the Toccoa logo on pendants and bracelet charms he plans to make.

Under conditions of the approval, the only places where the jewelry may be sold would be at the Historical Society museum, the Chamber of Commerce office, and at City Hall. Duerr told Commissioners he had no problem with that arrangement. The pendant will be a silver medallion with the City logo on one side. The bracelet charm will be a smaller version. Duerr will now work with City staff to determine exactly what Toccoa’s compensation will be from the sale of the jewelry.

Authorities have posted a lookout for a stolen vehicle taken during an auction over the weekend. It happened sometime Saturday on Eastanollee Livestock Road. The victim, who is from South Carolina, told Stephens County deputies when he came out of the auction his truck was gone.

Missing is a yellow 2004 Dodge 1500 pick up with black striping and South Carolina tags.

Toccoa police are looking into a theft from a City of Toccoa panel truck. It happened sometime over the weekend. A City employee told police he discovered two chainsaws and one all-purpose saw missing from the Ford F250 panel truck.

Missing is a Husquevarna chainsaw Model 55, a Husquevarna chainsaw Model 350, and an AK-All Purpose saw Model 3711c.

Another gas drive off in Toccoa. This time at the RK Foods on West Currahee Street. The storeowner told police a white 1998 GMC Sierra with Georgia tag APB8439 pumped $35 worth of gas and left without paying. The driver is only described as a white male with brown hair.

Authorities are investigating a theft at a home on Skyline Drive. It happened Sunday. The homeowner told police she came home to discover numerous items missing from her backyard. Items missing included a garden trellis, a flag with a yellow bow, a recycle bin, Christmas tree, box of flowers, an airplane windmill, and a 6-ft ladder. Some of the items were later found at the corner of Skyline and Rose Lane. The recycle bin was found on White Pines Road.

A watch was reportedly taken from a display case at Maypole Chevrolet sometime over the weekend. The watch had been in a case in the Parts department. Stephens County Sheriff’s deputies noticed the back of the display case had been forced open. A dealership employee gave deputies the name of a possible suspect. So far, no arrests have been made.

It will be some time before Toccoa City Commissioners officially decide whether to allow a development to be built around Lake Toccoa, even though one Commissioner says he has already made up his mind. Four former mayors including, Ken Davis, Roy Gaines, Sam Fowler, and Wayne Payne joined Cynthia Brown, Director of the Toccoa-Stephens County Chamber of Commerce and a host of business owners and residents last night to hear BenchCraft Development, LLC’s proposal for a Lake Toccoa subdivision.

Before BenchCraft spokesman Sean Harrington began his presentation, City Mayor Bob Troup instructed the audience to save their comments for a future public hearing. "This is only to give BenchCraft a chance to present their proposal. Afterwards, we will take questions, but we will not take comments at this time," he said. His exhortation fell on deaf ears, however, as all during the presentation comments from the audience and the two new City commissioners flew fast and furious – most thinly veiled behind general and impossible-to-answer at this time scientific questions.

At the start of his presentation, Harrington told the crowd there is a growing desire among big city dwellers to move to small quaint communities such as Toccoa.

"What we have here is a planned community designed to embrace what to me, Toccoa is all about," Harrington explained. "And that is a quaint, charming, quiet community that has a lot of character. And that is very, very desirable for a large portion of the marketplace right now. We are not looking to come in and mass plow and mass bulldoze and tear up all these beautiful trees. We want to build a community that is part of Toccoa, that is set into this beautiful piece of land," he concluded.

BenchCraft is hoping to build about 400 homes of various sizes including 145 estate homes, 152 town homes, and 105 garden homes with prices ranging from $200,000 to $600,000 or less.

If built, Harrington noted the City would retain ownership of some 300 acres of the 500-acre community and would realize immediate income from the water taps alone.

Addressing the major concern of protecting the City’s water supply, Harrington said development around Lake Toccoa would be set back at least 500 feet from the water and would be protected like other larger reservoir developments in accordance with EPA and EPD standards.

"You can look at a lot of different communities that are built around water supplies, such as Lake Lanier," Harrington pointed out. "There are ways to help eliminate sedimentation. What we have done is we have contacted Rochester and Associates to assist us in this. They are professionals. They have looked at the property and they said there is not any problem whatsoever in setting up a Best Management Practices to keep sedimentation and contaminants out of the water supply," he said.

City Commissioner Ferrell Morgan agreed. "These types of communities around reservoirs are done all the time, all over the country," Morgan noted. "There are steps that are taken to ensure the quality of the water," he said.

Commenting on an earlier statement by Harrington that their Company would make improvements around the lake to protect the watershed, City Commissioner Billy Chism said he did not see how they could accomplish that.

"I don't have anything against the development, but I do have a problem with where it's being put. This is very serious and just to say that some engineers have looked at it and said, ‘Oh we can manage this.’ We only have one chance to get it right, and it really concerns me. I don't have any problem with the development itself, but what I have a problem with is the location of it," Chism asserted.

BenchCraft owner Alan Nix said the development process would involve building a complete sewer and run-off system that they would pay for.

"Our plan is when you have storm water run-off is to have sewer systems, berms, and control of what goes onto the golf course," Nix said. "Currently, I don't know what the controls are for run-off of your golf greens, of your fairways, right into the lake - fertilizers and so on. We are going to have a plan. We're going to have storm water run-off drains for a whole new cycle that's going to take your run-off and put it into your lake," he said.

However, Chism said later it does not matter to him what the developers say they will do, he is against the idea. Commissioners and City staff will now conduct a fact-finding study to research the effects of such a development on the City water supply. A public hearing is planned for later in the spring.

Plans to begin repair and restoration work on the old County Courthouse are on hold. At Monday’s Courthouse Restoration Authority meeting, members decided to find out first what kinds of materials can be used in order to maintain the courthouse’s National Historic Registry status.

The group also wants to get the courthouse put on the Georgia Historic Preservation Registry. Both titles would help the Authority obtain grants to continue with the renovation. Last week, County Commissioners voted to give the Authority $300,000 in SPLOST IV funds for immediate repairs. The Authority wants to use that money to repair the dome and replace windows. However, the National Registry and the State Historic Preservation Registry could demand the Authority use original materials and that could inflate the cost of renovations and repairs.

Meanwhile, Authority member Bob Stovall noted that no local builder is willing to take on the Courthouse Renovation project. Stovall said he had received two bids so far for work on the dome. The first bid was for $43,540 dollars, the second for $50,110. Neither bid will be awarded until the Authority finds out what kinds of materials they can use.

If you missed the opportunity to have get a free blood pressure check last week, you have another chance on Friday. This is national heart month and nurses from Stephens County Hospital will be offering the free checks at Ace Hardware, The Java Station, and the Video Warehouse Friday afternoon.

Nurse Sherry Gragg, Clinical Education Coordinator at the hospital says new studies have shown that the current normal blood pressure numbers, 120 over 80, may not mean you’re heart is healthy.

"More of what cardiologists are looking at is in the 1-teens, 60 and 70 ranges as a healthy blood pressure," Gragg noted. "Certainly if you're medicated you want to be in that range. I tell a lot of patients if you are coming in and you are medicated, you certainly do not want to be borderline or in the pre-hypertensive state. If you're on medications for your blood pressure you should be controlling it at a rate below 120 and then the diastolic below 80," she said.

Gragg says they had a good turnout last week when they offered the free screenings, and those who found their blood pressure was high are encouraged to come back for a recheck.

"We did have several people who were diagnosed in the hypertensive or pre-hypertensive state that were already medicated but maybe need to make some changes in their medicine. We discussed that with those and we look forward to seeing them again on the 17^th," she said. For more information, you can contact grog at Stephens County Hospital.

Valentine’s Day is the traditional starting day for the Toccoa Nursing Center’s "Rock and Roll" a thon for the benefit of the American Heart Association.

Pat Edge is the activities Director for the Nursing Center. She said the Toccoa residents have been collecting a lot of money for the Heart Association over the years…

"I think five years ago we raised about $5000,"she noted. "That’s the most we’ve raised since I’ve been doing this event. Over the years however the center has raised thousands of dollars for the Heart Association."

Ms. Edge said that the residents take part in a number of activities throughout the week…

"We usually kick off the week with the Hug-A-Resident contest. That’s where each resident wears a heart with a hug me written on it and hugs cost a quarter. At the end of the week, the residents who comes up with the most money is declared the winner of the contest."

She said there are other activities that the public may take part in as well…

"We have a bake sale and a yard sale starting Thursday morning at 10AM."she said. "The baked good are brought in by the families and by the community. Most of it is homemade and all of the proceeds go to the American Heart Association, also."

Friday afternoon at 2;30PM the Nursing Center will announce how much money they have raised and announced the residents who have been chosen as the "King and Queen of Hearts".

A passenger in a vehicle pulled over for a routine traffic violation, ended up in the Stephens County jail.

It happened last Thursday on Big A Road. Officers noticed the driver of a tan Chevy Impala was not wearing his seatbelt.

After pulling the car over and issuing a citation to the driver, the officer discovered the passenger was hiding a gun. Arrested was 18-year old Tony Lamar Dicara of Carnesville. Dicara is charged with carrying a concealed weapon.

A Cornelia man faces multiple charges in Toccoa after a routine traffic stop. It happened last Friday afternoon on Savannah Street. Police stopped a 1989 Buick Regal for an expired tag.

During the stop, officers discovered the driver, identified as 26-year old Jason William Burrell allegedly had a quantity of methamphetamine and a weapon in possession.

Burrell was arrested and was charged with possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute, carrying a concealed weapon, and driving on a suspended license.

Tired of the rash of gas drive-offs, the manager of the Raceway on Big A Road decided to take matters into his own hands. It happened Friday afternoon.

Police say the driver of a black truck pumped $20 worth of gas then sped off without paying. Store manager Sanjeen Koushar told officers he got in his vehicle and followed the man down Big A Road until he stopped. Koushar confronted the driver of the truck, who returned to the raceway and paid for his gasoline. The suspect, who is from Tiger, Georgia, has been barred from the Toccoa Raceway.

Toccoa City Commissioners will hear from BenchCraft Development tonight, the group interested in building a resort community around Lake Toccoa. The group wants to build over 400 homes of various sizes, expand the Pines Golf Course to 18 holes, and build a community center.

Among the top concerns voiced at a public hearing on the matter in December was contamination of the City’s only watershed. BenchCraft spokesman Sean Harrington pointed out last week that currently, Lake Toccoa is not protected from erosion or pollutants. Harrington says if the project goes through, they plan to adhere to EPA and EPD guidelines as well as make improvements around the lake to protect it from contaminants.

Recently, Commissioners agreed to an action plan regarding the development proposal that will ensure both the public and other interested parties are heard. After tonight’s presentation, the City Commission will launch a fact-finding study to determine the best use of the land around the lake.

They will then spend March and April looking at those various options as well as the future needs of the City’s water and wastewater treatment plant. Finally, in the spring, Commissioners will present their findings and conclusions to the public and hold another public hearing in June.

If the City decides to go through with development, they will take proposals from all interested parties and hire its own consulting team.

Governor Sonny Perdue is calling on Georgia school superintendents to implement a personal leave plan for school employees whose spouses are on active duty in the military. Joined by State School Superintendent Cathy Cox Friday, Perdue said, "The least we can do when military personnel come home is to help their loved ones spend quality time with them before they return to active duty."

Perdue suggests superintendents allow school system staff to contribute personal leave days to the spouses of active duty military personnel who may lack personal leave days. State law and rules regulate the use of sick leave. All other leave policies are left to the discretion of the local school system.