It’s now a waiting game for the companies who bid on various projects for the new County jail construction project. Bids were opened yesterday by Peter Brown Construction, Inc. for every project except electrical.

Construction project manager for Peter Brown Construction, Inc., Will Sumner, told those in attendance it would be about five days before the winner in each category would be notified. It’s also a waiting game for County commissioners.

Total cost of the new jail is about $4-million dollars more than originally expected. County administrator Darrell Hampton said commissioners are waiting for the bottom line numbers before determining how to finance the balance.

"Peter Brown will take these back and evaluate them, negotiate and determine from the bids received what is in the best interest of the project. Then, they will come back with a guaranteed maximum price. That will incorporate the bids, some work that Peter Brown Construction will do, and they will bring that to the Commissioners," Hampton said.

Commissioners will look at that price and decide whether to agree to move forward with the project and additional financing. However, they could conclude that the amount is more than what they want to finance. If that happens, construction will likely be delayed while Peter Brown revises their numbers.

Now that the old courthouse has been gutted, it’s time to begin working on restoring and rebuilding the original interior. This week, Courthouse Restoration Authority members met again with architect Gene Barrington to begin discussing the details of what needs to be done to put the courthouse back to as close to its original interior as possible.

Since the building will once again house county offices, the challenge is how to allow modern day equipment and office needs to co-exist with historic accuracy. Barrington outlined the four kinds of historic restorations. They include, restoring for another use, faithful restoration, conservation restoration, and preservationist restoration. Barrington said the Stephens County courthouse falls into the second category.

"Where I feel like we are at this point is we're a faithful restoration," noted Barrington. "We're restoring the building to its original purpose and use and we're doing so maintaining as much of the building as we can that's there and that's useable. If something is damaged, if something is unusable then we're going to replace it with a material that matches what they would have done when they originally built the building," he said.

Among the items Authority members decided on this week include what to do with the concrete floor discovered under the old linoleum on the first floor. It replaced the original pine wood floor that had worn away over time.

"One of the biggest examples of doing a faithful restoration as a opposed to a preservationist restoration is the floor slab. That floor slab was probably poured in the early '50s. So, it's been there for half the life of the building, and it's been there long enough to consider it part of the fabric of the history of that building," Barrington said.

Members decided to level the concrete floor and put period tiling over it. Other items decided upon include how to install modern telephone and computer systems. Members decided to go with both a wireless phone system and a wireless computer network. Still to be determined, however, is where to put the new heating and air conditioning system, and where to install electrical outlets.

The Authority meets the last Wednesday of every month at 10 a.m. in the Courthouse Annex. The public is welcome.

Stephens County will work with the Carnes Creek Volunteer Fire Department to help them secure a truck retired from EMS service.

This week, assistant fire chief for Carnes Creek, Jody Marcus, came before commissioners to request they be allowed to use the truck that has been sitting in the county maintenance yard for months.

Marcus said the department needs an extra support vehicle to move extra personnel, equipment, and air packs to fire scenes and also to training sites.

"Basically, this would become a support vehicle and would not be used for every call. We've been bombarded here lately with a number of calls where it would have been very beneficial to have that equipment on the scene. This would be an asset that would be available to all the county stations to use as needed, " Marcus explained.

Money to repair and repaint the truck would come from the Carnes Creek budget, Marcus told the commission. Afterwards, Commissioners directed staff to have the County mechanic go over the vehicle to make sure it’s in useable condition. They plan to vote on the request at their next meeting in April.

The Toccoa-Stephens County Chamber of Commerce will focus on marketing the area to tourists in the coming months. That’s according to Chamber president Wendy Bailey who outlined that and other goals to County commissioners this week.

Bailey told commissioners the Chamber is focusing on eight of 17 strategies to spur growth and tourism here. However, marketing strategies are the primary focus.

Bailey said a marketing study done for the County in 1998 by Randall Marketing is serving as the basis for current and future strategies. She said the Chamber is in a unique position to encourage tourists to stay a little while longer, just by virtue of their close proximity to the Historical Society’s museum.

"We are very unique in that we're situated with the (military) museum and that's our biggest strategy right now. We will promote the heck out of the museum and then when tourists come in, SaraJo our Welcome Center director keep them her. She'll ask, 'Are you spending the night? Where would you like to have dinner tonight?’ So, what we're doing is creating itineraries so that we can try to encourage them to spend the night, have breakfast here, go see the falls, have lunch here, go to the lake, and then have dinner here. So, we're trying to get them here and then keep them here for as long as possible and have them stay and play awhile," Bailey said.

A new Chamber marketing committee has also formed this past year, according to bailey. It’s made up of local professional marketers from various businesses. Bailey said the committee this week held a training session for local tourist-attractions, restaurant owners, and hoteliers to teach them about www.Georgia.org, a state-sponsored Web site.

"It's a Web site that all tourists go to, and they can create profiles for their businesses. So the representative is teaching our tourist business owners, restaurant owners, and hoteliers how to create profiles online," she said.

Bailey said other marketing strategies the committee is working on that are designed to attract tourists and businesses here include new gateway signs, billboards, and ads in national magazines.

Just a reminder for Franklin County pet owners. On Saturday, local veterinarians will be conducting their annual rabies clinic at ten locations.

Vaccinations are being offered at $5 each. In addition, cats can be vaccinated anytime for $5 at Tugaloo Animal Hospital through April 4.

Georgia law requires that a licensed veterinarian using approved vaccines vaccinate all owned dogs, cats, and ferrets against rabies. A complete list of locations and times is available by calling the Franklin County Health Department at 706-384-5575 or by checking with your local veterinarian.

Unemployment drops slightly in Stephens County. The unemployment rate for February stood at 5.4% - that’s down from 5.8% in January, but up from 5.1% a year ago.

Stephens County’s labor force last month was 13,796. Of that, 13,049 were employed while 747 were without jobs. Meantime, the Georgia Mountains unemployment rate also decreased to 3.8% in February from 4.1% in January.

Georgia’s overall unemployment rate also dropped slightly last month to 4.4% from 4.7% in January. However, all that positive news isn’t because of a jump in the number of new industries moving into the state creating new jobs.

The State Department of Labor said Georgia’s jobless rate went down in February because the State had 16,596 fewer people on the unemployment rolls in February, and an additional 6,759 dropped out of the labor force during the month.

Work to build the new county jail has resulted in a valuable discovery for members of the Stephens County Restoration Authority. As two buildings on the site of the new facility were being emptied of their contents so they could be torn down, County Clerk of Court Aubre Grafton ran across the original blue prints for the old county courthouse.

It was a find Restoration Authority members had hoped for but did not really think was possible, until, says member Jack Stovall, they got the call from Grafton. Stovall and fellow Authority member Dale Mosely immediately rushed to the building on County Farm Road to retrieve the historic documents.

What they found were several large rolled up blueprints, over 100 years old, now yellowed and very brittle, but Stovall said they were able to carefully get a glimpse at their contents.

"We opened them just very carefully. They are awfully fragile and we don’t want to open them and examine them really like we’d like to until we can get some copies made. But there’s an awful a lot of information in there…an awful lot of information," he noted.

According to architect Gene Barrington who is working on the restoration design, the blue prints are very primitive by today’s standards. Still, Mosely said they were able to get a good idea of what the original building looked like.

"Well we saw the balcony on this side of the courthouse and how it was built and that was exciting. Also, we saw the actual picture of the original courthouse as far as the plans go," explained Mosely.

The blueprints will be taken back to Atlanta where Barrington will try to make copies for his firm and the Authority to work from. Authority members hope to preserve and then frame the original plans to hang in some area of the restored courthouse.

However, Barrington said the old paper and the ink process used to create the blue prints is very fragile and cannot be exposed to light, but he hopes to find a way to preserve them for posterity.

Local contractors will find out today if they’ve won jobs on the new county jail project. This afternoon, Peter Brown Construction, Inc. will open the bids for various aspects of the construction. Afterwards, the contracts will be awarded.

A pre-bid meeting was held earlier this month so local contractors could pick up bid packages and meet with the construction project manager. Under the agreement the County has with Peter Brown, most of the work will be subcontracted to local companies.

Project manager Will Sumner tells WNEG News that once the bids are awarded this afternoon, they expect to begin grading the site by mid April. The target date for completion of the new jail is mid-2008.

You might have seen workers along the side of county roads yesterday and today picking up trash. The County is responding to complaints from citizens regarding the amount of garbage littering just about every road in Stephens County.

At this week’s County Commission work session and meeting, one concerned citizen, Sue Fletcher, called the trash-lined roads a disgrace.

"I know you’ve got Keep Toccoa-Stephens County Beautiful, but that’s not enough. If you ride around the County, you’ll see it everywhere. Everywhere you turn. It’s a disgrace. I’m just here to beg you guys to try and get some prison detail out here. They’re sitting on their butts in prison when they could be out here helping with this problem," complained Sue Fletcher.

County administrator Darrell Hampton said he had several talks with the warden at the state prison in Hart County about securing a prison detail, but said it’s expensive and they will not come on a regular basis. Right now, the County only has one person picking up litter and then only part-time.

Commissioner Rex Anderson said with the 2008 budget now being put together, the County should look into hiring a two-man staff.

"The only the way that I see to face this problem is that it’s going to cost money. The only thing that I can see that would benefit us is that if we can’t get people from the jail to do this, then the only alternative as far as I’m concerned is to look into hiring two people to do this, and put ‘em out there in a pick up truck to clean up the roads on a daily basis," observed Anderson.

Commissioner Harold Andrews brought up the idea of using people sentenced to community service, but Alan Smith said such workers are unreliable. Andrews promised Fletcher the County would act to solve the trash problem.

Two U.S. Senators are promising to do what they can to help fund a new countywide sewer system. Members of the Stephens County Development Authority’s infrastructure committee spent a couple of days in Washington, D.C. last week, visiting with Senators Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson.

For the past two years, the committee has been working on developing a long-term infrastructure improvement plan necessary to attract new industry. That plan includes a preliminary design for the backbone of a wastewater collection system in the southeastern part of the County.

Development Authority director Mitch Griggs says the group took that plan to Washington to lobby for federal funding.

"What we did last week was go up to D.C. and seek their support for our plan and see if we can identify some funding sources to help us pay for it. We’ve estimated that most of the backbone of the system would cost about $10-million," noted Griggs.

Both the City of Toccoa and the County government have agreed to contribute about $2-million to the plan, but that leaves the committee with the task of finding another $8-million.

Griggs said both Senators offered their support for the plan and promised to help find some federal monies. Funding could come from a number of federal sources such as traditional grant and loan programs to direct appropriations. Griggs said whatever monies are received would come in increments over a period of several years.

The City of Toccoa is meeting its debt service obligations and slowly climbing out of the red – but it will be many years before the City is back in the black.

At this week’s City Commission meeting, commissioner Billy Chism asked about the debt service schedule. City Finance director Emory Stephens said the debt is decreasing at a rate of just over $3-million a year in principle and interest. Over $2-million of that is principal.

"Our balance of all outstanding debt as of July 1, 2008 will be $36,756,049.04," Stephens said. "Now that compares with where we were a few years ago when we issued all these revenue bonds for gas debt and so forth. We had a total outstanding debt at that time of $49,416,287.52," he said.

That original amount includes obligations such as gas, water, and two new fire stations and fire trucks. Despite the increased tax revenue coming from new businesses like the Super Wal-Mart, the proposed Home Depot and other developments, Stephens says he doesn’t see the debt being paid down any faster.

"Here’s why: our operating costs increase every year, so you’ve got to have some additional revenue. The City has really held back for several years, has not maintained its systems, and not maintained its equipment. So, we’ve got a lot of old stuff that’s demanding attention and I think if additional money should become available, that the City really needs to address some of the things that we’ve not been dealing with," Stephens pointed out.

Stephens said the debt will continue to be paid down at a rate of about $3.9 million a year, which is right on schedule. At that rate, the City of Toccoa, he said should be out of debt by the year 2020. Chism said the fact that the city has managed to continue to meet its debt service obligations each year a quote, "remarkable achievement."

The Georgia Department of Natural Resources is warning Georgians of yet another forest critter out in abundance in the spring - snakes.

With the return of spring, many Georgians return to the forests to go camping and hiking and could encounter one of Georgia’s 42 species of snakes.

Wildlife biologist John Jensen reminds listeners that if you see a snake, avoid the temptation to kill it. Jenson said that despite being misunderstood and often maligned, snakes represent an important part of the state’s ecosystem and most are protected.

If left alone, most snakes will go about their business and not bother you, Jensen said.

He said snakes most often bite people when the snake is frightened or cornered and trying to defend itself. Of the 7,000 snakebites that happen every year in the U.S., about 70% are avoidable.

To avoid a snake encounter when out in the wild, Jensen recommends using caution around fallen logs, vegetation, rocks and piles of debris where snakes often seek shelter.

The Georgia Department of Labor's 2007 summer internship program is now taking applications for students at the college, university, and technical college level.

These are paid internships and will give students an opportunity to earn college credit.

Labor Commissioner Michael Thurmond tells WNEG the interns will work 25 hours per week for seven weeks between June 4 and August 3 at the Labor Department offices.

The program is open primarily to college sophomores, juniors and seniors presently enrolled in, or accepted to, a college, university, or technical college in the state, or a Georgia resident enrolled in a similar school in another state.

Interns will be selected on the basis of their interests, areas of expertise that will be enhanced by their work with the labor department, maturity level, and access to one of the Department's offices around the state.

Whenever possible, the selected interns will be allowed to choose the office where they will work.
Applicants must submit an application and a one-page essay describing the "rewards and benefits of interning at the Georgia Department of Labor."

Interns may also be required to complete a job interview.

The deadline to apply is April 27. Interested students should contact the Labor Department office at (404) 656-2683 for an application.

City mayor David Austin responded this week to complaints from citizens that Toccoa is not doing enough to create new jobs. Austin read a two-page speech at Monday night’s City Commission meeting outlining Toccoa’s efforts to support and spur growth.

According to the mayor, the City of Toccoa works very hard to promote economic development, not only in Toccoa, but also throughout the county.

"As a major utility company, the City provides a majority of the utilities needed to support business and industry, such as water, sewer, natural gas. The City successfully participates in the creation of job and accomplishments of the Development Authority, the Chamber of Commerce, the Airport Authority, the Downtown Development Authority, and all of our other partners," Austin explained.

Austin went on to say that Toccoa also provides incentives to encourage positive growth using city forces and funds to attract economic development. For example, Austin said that over the past year, Toccoa was instrumental in attracting new jobs to the area.

"The City annexed the property around the Toccoa Bypass so that that development could be served by all City services, including police, fire, water, and natural gas. The City accepted maintenance and ownership of sewer line extensions to serve the site and well over 300 jobs were created with an investment of $20-million. In our downtown area, the City is using grants and local funds to renovate and revitalize the downtown mall representing a public investment of $1.4 million. That project will create 25 jobs and encourage almost one million dollars in private investment," he said.

Austin also pointed to the City’s utility services that have been extended into the county for projects such as the Hayestone-Brady Industrial Park, as well as in the development of residential areas. According to Austin, that has resulted in the creation of 700 jobs in Toccoa-Stephens County and private investments of over $50-million dollars.

There has been another development in Home Depot’s efforts to locate a store in Toccoa. The home improvement giant has asked the City of Toccoa and the County to write a letter to the state Department of Transportation asking for access to their new store from the 17 Bypass.

Home Depot has already submitted plans to the City Planning Commission for a 106,278 square foot store with an attached 28,086 square foot garden center. So far, the City has approved requests from the company for a sign variance and a parking variance, and annexed the 37-acre property into the City.

Plans are for the access to be located 645-ft. from Memorial Drive on the Bypass. This week, both City and County commissioners agreed to write the letter. Home Depot is requesting right in, right out access only from the Bypass. That means there will be no left turns or turns that cross the center median.

After the City commission vote, Toccoa mayor David Austin said the City is prepared to do whatever it can to help bring Home Depot here.

A Westminster wrestling group wants to use the old middle school gym for their matches. This week, County commissioners heard from Westminster Wrestling Association manager Jackie Owens. Owens wants to lease the old gym to hold local matches and for training local wrestlers. Owens said the association is prepared to do the work needed to make the facility useable.

"We're willing to replace all the windows, repaint everything that needs painted and do all the maintenance and upkeep on it during our contract and then if they decide they want it for something else, we're willing to step aside and it will be ready to go for somebody else," noted Owens.

Owens asked the Commission for an 18-24 month lease and said his group would be using the gym at least three to four times a week with show matches once a week on Saturdays. County attorney Brian Ranck indicated the County could legally lease the gym, but there were a lot of details that would need to be worked out first.

Commissioners made no decision but turned the matter over to Ranck and instructed him to schedule a meeting with Owens.

Toccoa City police destroyed hundreds of guns yesterday that have been in storage for at the police department for years. Over 200 guns were taken to the Toccoa Fire station yesterday morning on Fernside Dr. and chopped to bits. Toccoa Police chief Jackie Whitmire said the firearms had been accumulating at the police station since the 1970s.

"A lot of these guns are old and a lot were taken from convicted drug dealers and other felons. Some of them are lost and found, and the majority of these guns that we advertised in the legal section of the paper are what you call, 'Saturday Night Specials,'" explained Whitmire.

Most of the firearms had serial numbers on them, but some did not. Whitmire says the law does not allow such firearms to be sold or auctioned off by the City as surplus property.

"We cannot get into the gun selling business for a whole lot of reasons - mainly because it's against federal law, but what we will probably do for a few of the guns is trade them to our gun company for police weapons," Whitmire said.

Before being destroyed yesterday, they were first advertised in the local paper for several weeks in January and February in order to give citizens who may have lost a gun an opportunity to claim them.

Conducting your driver’s licensing business continues to get easier in Stephens County.  The Georgia Department of Driver Services (DDS) reports that in February, customers waited an average of only four minutes before receiving service at the East Doyle Street Customer Service Center.

100% of the customers who visited the Toccoa Driver Services Center in February were initially served within 30 minutes or less.  The Toccoa DDS office, which opened downtown two years ago, typically serves 2,000 – 3,000 customers a month.

For the past several years, the DDS has initiated many enhancements to make customer service faster, friendlier and easier, according to spokeswoman Susan Sports.

 "It is an improvement. There are several reasons. One is staffing levels. We are back to license examiner staffing where it should be and we have changed some policies and procedures that help the wait times. We've also looked at all the centers to see how we could improve in the customers' experience while they're at the center," noted Sports.

Sports said Tuesday continues to be the busiest day, while the middle of the week during the middle of the day typically experiences the least amount of volume. Customers can also avoid coming to the DDS office in person because many transactions may be initiated online, such as change of address, replacing a lost license and viewing a copy of your driving history. You can visit their Web site for more information at www.dds.ga.gov.

POLICE NEWS
March 28, 2007

Stephens County Sheriff’s deputies are looking into the theft of some jewelry from an elderly Martin woman. The victim’s daughter told deputies two of her mother’s rings have gone missing. One was her mother’s gold wedding ring valued at $2,500. Another was a diamond and amethyst ring with a gold band valued at $800. The victim gave deputies the name of a possible suspect, but there have been no arrests.

Three people are being sought in connection with the theft of prescription drugs. According to the Stephens County Sheriff’s office, it happened last week at a home on Matheson Drive. The victim said a large quantity of prescription drugs were taken from the home. They include 75 Loritab pills, 40 Diazepam, 70 Tizanidine pills, and 50 tabs of Carisoprodol.

Also taken was a light blue Smith and Wesson handgun with walnut grips. Total value of the theft was over $300. So far, no arrests have been made.

A Toccoa man, already facing charges stemming from a home invasion last week on Savannah Street, now faces more charges in the County. Stephens County Sheriff Chief Deputy Mike Crozier tells WNEG Ricky Dale Mathis, Jr. was on the run from Toccoa investigators when he entered the home of an elderly Eastanollee woman.

It happened the night of March 14. The victim told deputies she was home alone sitting in her living room when she heard the back door open and close.

She thought it was her husband but then looked to see a white male with no shirt on standing in the doorway. The man was later identified as Mathis who allegedly had broken into a home on East Savannah Street hours earlier robbing the homeowners at knifepoint.

The victim said she asked Mathis what he wanted and he reportedly told her he needed a shirt and money. She told him she could not help him and he left. Mathis was later arrested after deputies spotted him walking down Highway 106.

He remains in the Stephens County jail charged with kidnapping, armed robbery, burglary, and aggravated assault in the Toccoa case, and with burglary in the Stephens County case.

Mathis was also on probation for drug charges and state probation has placed a hold him

City commissioners passed a new version of a setback variance request for Friendship Baptist Church that will enable the church to move forward with developing plans for a new fellowship hall.

The church plans to build the hall at the corner of Sage and Sautee Streets and had requested the setback on both streets be changed from 25-feet to zero in order to accommodate parking for the center.

Commissioner Andy Pavliscsak said he visited the site three times to see if a zero set back would work.

"After looking at it and thinking about what they wanted, I don't have a problem with the zero setback on the Sautee side, but I just don't see any way that we can give them a zero setback on the Sage St. side of it. In my estimation, it looks like it's going to take about 10 feet of space to provide for the utilities that need to be in there and to make sure that we can do what we need to do later on down the road," Pavliscsak noted.

Pavliscsak then requested a motion to change the variance on the Sage Street side from zero to 10 feet and leave the Sautee Street side at zero. Commissioners passed the motion unanimously.

That did not allay fears by neighbors like David Neal, who lives down the hill from the proposed site, that improper sewer and water pipes would not be adequate to control flooding.

However, City manager Billy Morse stressed the church’s plans must first be approved and must meet all codes and ordinances before the church can begin construction.

In other business last night, City commissioners also passed a second reading of the Alcoholic Beverage Control ordinance amendment that will require owners and managers of liquor stores to be either U.S. citizens or legal aliens.

The idea to require citizenship was first brought up by commissioner Ferrell Morgan last month and sparked a wave of controversy and comments from citizens and others who questioned the legality of the move.

Commissioners then voted to amend Morgan’s original proposal to also include those aliens working in the country legally. The new amendment passed last night unanimously.

The Toccoa Pilot Club held it’s 66^th Annual Civic Night Banquet Monday evening at the Georgia Baptist Conference Center.

The local Pilot Club is an organization of executive, business and professional women in the community who work together to improve the quality of life within that community.

Martha Mitchell is the President of the Toccoa Pilot Club this year and she said that the Lifeline program, which was started by the Pilot Club a number of years ago, is still serving the elderly who wish to stay at home…

"We have an ongoing project called the Lifeline which we put in the homes of the elderly." Mrs. Mitchell stated. "These are people or don’t wish to go to a health care facility or to a nursing home. These people prefer to stay in their home, but they do need some sort of lifeline to the outside world. With this, they can feel secure because of they fall or need help, they can get help immediately, so this is a good thing."

A new project this year deals with children and the prevention of brain injuries.

"We have the Brain Minders Program. We have a program for young children at school in which we go into the schools with puppets and books and a puppet show and teach the children how to be safe when they are playing and wearing their helmet when they ride their bicycles or taking care that they do not injure their brain. We also work toward those who have sustained brain injuries, but children and adults in that respect also."

The State Pilot Club has launched a new program to help disabled veterans of the Iraq War when they return home.

"On of the pet projects for our District Governor is Paws for Pets for Patriots. This is training for dogs to assist a vet who has come home from the war and perhaps is in a wheelchair or has lost a limb or is blind or has some other disability. The dog is trained to help sustain him and help him live by himself."

The Toccoa Pilot Club was chartered on April 14^th, 1941 by the Elberton Pilot Club.

Today is "Crossover Day" in the Georgia Assembly – it is the last day for bills to be passed in one chamber to be considered in another by the end of the session.

In the State Senate, Senator Nancy Schaefer (R. 50^TH District) has several bills she hopes will see the light of day before the session ends. Schaefer tells WNEG she is expecting her ultrasound bill will go to the floor today.

Under the measure, a woman seeking an abortion would be required to have an ultrasound of her unborn baby and then be given the opportunity to view it. A similar bill just passed last week in South Carolina and will now become law.

Schaefer said she hopes her home school bill will make it to the floor today. It calls for home-schooled children to have access to sports and the arts in public schools.

Two other Schaefer-sponsored bills were tabled. A mental-health-screening bill and a bill concerning the Department of Family and Children Services were both tabled.

Other pieces of legislation that could make to the floor of the Senate or House today include:

It’s spring in Northeast Georgia and the possibility of seeing a black bear in a backyard near you is higher that at other times of the year. The Georgia Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is warning all Georgians to prepare for spring bear sightings.

Georgia’s black bear population now reaches over 2,200. DNR bear coordinator Adam Hammond says bears are most active this time of year for several reasons.

"The bears have been denned up for the winter and they're starting to come out. So that's the main reason you get many bears moving around in the spring. You also have young bears on the move dispersing from their mother's territory. These are young bears about year and a half old," Hammond said.

Another reason is they’re looking food. In the early spring, much of a black bear’s natural food source, such as berries and nuts, are not yet available. That means bears could come looking for food in your trash or garden.

However, Hammond says calling the DNR to have a bear relocated is not the answer.

"Most of the problem we have with bears is bears taking advantage of some human-related food source. Whether it be garbage or birdseed or somebody's grill or pet food. So, with the bear population we have in North Georgia, there are plenty of bears and there are many people. So the two will frequently meet up with bears taking advantage of these non-natural food sources if they're available," he concluded.

Hammond recommends removing the food source so the bear will look elsewhere. In addition, if you keep bees, Hammond advises putting an electric fence around them to keep bears from going for the honey.

A Toccoa woman was charged with shoplifting after she tried to return an item she allegedly did not pay for. Wal-mart store security said 23-year old Tasha Sorrow took the bar code off a CD player and walked out of the store with it. A short time later, she came back and tried to return the CD player. Sorrow was arrested and charged with felony theft by shoplifting.

Toccoa police are investigating the theft of construction equipment from a site at Prather Park Apartments. The victim told authorities the unidentified building materials and other items were taken some time last Tuesday night.

Witnesses reported the thefts and investigators were given the names of two possible suspects but no arrests have been made.

A homeowner on Hayes Street in Toccoa called police after discovering their Play Station 2 had been taken. It happened sometime Sunday. The incident was turned over to investigators.

County commissioners will meet Tuesday morning for their second meeting of the month. Among the items on their agenda, commissioners will consider a request from the City of Toccoa to release the remaining SPLOST II and III funds. The money will be used for a new sewer project.

In the past, the Toccoa had an agreement for the County to collect and handle their SPLOST monies. The City would spend the money for a project and the County would reimburse them out of the tax fund. That changed with SPLOST IV.

"The City of Toccoa has been waiting for some time to use those funds on a wastewater collection system in the Wesley area. We just finally have gotten to the point now where we can actually do that project. So, what the County wants to do instead of handling it on a reimbursement basis, they want to just go ahead and forward all that money to the City. It's going to be about $425,000. The City has agreed to accept that money," noted City manager Billy Morse.

Since SPLOST IV, the County collects the tax money and immediately turns it over to the City. Other items on tomorrow’s agenda include authorizing County staff to begin advertising for a new e-911 director.

The Stephens County Health Department will observe American Diabetes Alert Day by offering a free Diabetes and Blood Pressure Screening Clinic for adults 18 years and older. The free screenings will take place Thursday between 8:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. and again from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Persons who should be screened for diabetes are individuals who fall into the risk groups for the disease. This screening is not for individuals who know they are diabetic and want to have a blood sugar test done. Groups that are particularly at risk for diabetes include:

• Persons with a family history of diabetes (parents or siblings),

• Persons with hypertension,

• Persons with elevated cholesterol and/or triglyceride levels,

• Persons who are obese (20% over ideal body weight),

• Persons who are African American, Hispanic, American Indian, Asian, and Pacific Islanders,

• Women who have delivered a baby weighing 9 lbs. or more at birth,

• Persons over 45 years of age.

Diabetes can affect many parts of the body and can lead to serious complications such as blindness, kidney damage, and lower-limb amputations.

Because the test for diabetes checks glucose (sugar) levels in the blood, persons should fast or wait at least two hours after eating before having the test done to get the best results.

People with diabetes can reduce the occurrence of complications by working with their health care provider and following preventative care practices. These practices include following a careful diet, exercising properly, losing excess weight, and in some cases using diabetes specific medications.

In addition to diabetes screening, Stephens County Health Department will offer cholesterol screening for $10.00 per person. Elevated cholesterol can increase the risk for diabetes. This low cost screening is a good way to learn if your cholesterol levels are acceptable.

If your children are in elementary or middle school, likely next year they will be studying math out of new textbooks. Copies of the new texts can be viewed at the school administrative offices on Mize Road.

Last week, curricula director Brenda Kelly presented the new texts to school board members.

Students in grades K-5 will be using a math book by Harcourt School Publishers, and the middle school will be using texts from Hart Education Company. Kelly told board members her textbook adoption team has been working on textbook selection since last year.

"We started in October of this year, actually before that. They started getting books in all the schools and making sure we looked at all eight companies. They were on the Georgia list. Then we went to RESA and spent two days at RESA just examining books, making sure that the Georgia Performance Standards were met in those books," Kelly explained.

Elementary school students will also have e-books available to them – something board member James Thomas had advocated. Kelly said the math books will all conform to the new Georgia performance standards, but will come with a hefty price tag.

"Right now, to make sure that every student in K through 8 has a book and the resources that go with it, it's going to be about $170,000," Kelly stated. "That only includes math books," she said.

That price doesn’t include workbooks and other associated materials. Books are changed every seven years. The high school will continue with their math books for another year while the state revises its math standards.

Commuters can expect some traffic slowdowns on 985/365 near exit 16 beginning today. Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) crews will be placing asphalt in the area that used to be medians. Today through Thursday, GDOT crews will close the inside or left lane of Mundy Mill in each direction from Frontage Road to Gainesville State College from 9:00am to 3:00pm as weather allows. Spokeswoman Teri Pope said there were long delays last week with this work so they want you to know that delays are likely again this week.

Crews will also be working on I-985 north Tuesday through Thursday to remove framing from the new SR13 Bridge over the interstate.

The work will close one lane of I-985 north from 9:00am to 3:00pm Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday next week," said Teri Pope GDOT communications officer. Also, the southbound exit ramp to Mundy Mill is narrower and will remain so through the summer.

The GDOT hopes to get the work done at the end of the ramp sooner than the projected six months and open up those turn lanes again but all that work is weather permitting so it could even take longer.

Lavonia Police are investigating the theft of another tractor-trailer and the attempted thefts of several others. This time it happened about 11 p.m. last Monday night at Dowell Express. Lavonia Police chief Randy Shirley said a witness spotted about the suspects going through the trucks.

"A gentlemen that lived next to the truck company did not have a telephone. He saw the Hispanic males going through the trucks. He actually approached one of them and asked them what they were doing there. He became suspicious and walked to Dill's to use the telephone and called us," recalled Lavonia Police chief Randy Shirley.

One of the trucks was stolen but investigators found it later next to Fred’s on Joe Harvey Street.

Shirley says Lavonia investigators have some good leads.

"They were at least five to six Hispanic males. They got into a red small compact car with Gwinnett County tags. We're pursuing leads with Gwinnett County and hope to have some more information later on next week," Shirley said.

Because of its proximity to I-85, Lavonia has been the scene of a number of tractor-trailer thefts.

In the most recent case, two trucks were stolen from the Hardee’s on Highway 17. GBI agents later found one of the trucks at a distribution center in Forest Park. Two people from North Carolina were arrested.

Class is back in session this morning at an elementary school is Seneca after some tense moments Friday. About 10 a.m. Friday, fire erupted in two classrooms at the J.N. Kellett Elementary School on Adams Street.

Students were immediately evacuated and about 16 Seneca firefighters arrived shortly thereafter to battle the blaze.

Seneca Fire chief Phillips tells WNEG the sources of the fire were two electrical strips in two separate classrooms. Phillips said the building is old and so is the electrical wiring. The fire was quickly put out and students were allowed to return to the classroom. Phillips commended teachers at the school for how safely and efficiently students were evacuated.

Toccoa Police were called to the Huddle House Restaurant lat week when a couple left the establishment without paying for their meal. The couple was described as a middle aged Hispanic male and female. The couple left in a reddish color GEO Metro displaying a tag number of AIY-9407 and left the scene.

An officer responded to Prather Park Apartments where he was told that someone had illegally entered a van and taken some cash. The victim, a woman from Lavonia, reported that about $109 was missing from her van.

Toccoa’s Downtown Development Authority in conjunction with the Main Street Program honored local businesses last night that have contributed to the revitalization of the city. This year’s Main Street Awards program honored eight business and property owners for their efforts in helping to bring about the most change downtown Toccoa has seen in decades. In his opening remarks, Toccoa mayor David Austin called the downtown area a tangible symbol of a community’s health.

"Both public and private sectors have made substantial contributions in downtown Toccoa. They have recognized that investment in downtown pays big dividends in terms of economic vitality, community unity, and the preservation of a living history. The opportunities for downtown are without bounds," Austin noted.

Even thought a lot has already been accomplished, DDA president Dean Scarborough said Main Street and the DDA still have a lot of work ahead them.

"A few of the major tasks facing us of course, are the street opening project, the Phase III Streetscape project, which is updating Sage St., and the promoting of our downtown during and after the construction projects are completed. We also continue efforts in business recruitment and business renovations and business promotions. We had a busy year in 2006 and 2007 promises to be just as busy," Scarborough said.

Those receiving awards included:

Former City commissioner and mayor Ken Davis received the first "Signature Citizen" award for his work in renovating the train depot and spearheading the removal of the canopies.

Finally, Troup’s Photo Studio and Gold Crown Hallmark was presented with a new state award – Most Innovative Downtown Business Anchor in Georgia – for their decades of dedication to the success of downtown Toccoa.

The State Department of Community Affairs is looking a funding options for downtown business and property owners. Toccoa Planning Commission director Connie Tabor met this week with Alan Dickerson, from the DCA’s Downtown Redevelopment Loan Program and Becky Taylor with the Georgia Cities Foundation. The group spent a day touring downtown speaking with local business owners.

"They visited the downtown area and are looking at projects there that may be renovations involving larger dollar amounts. They're offering them a lower percentage rate in a long-term loan," explained Toccoa Planning Commission director Connie Tabor.

Since the canopies have come down, there has been a lot of activity downtown with storeowners tearing off old siding and preparing to renovate their facades. All of this is in anticipation of the second big phase of the downtown restoration – the re-opening of Doyle Street.

"Currently, Robert & Co. is putting together the construction drawings. They should have them to us in April. Once we receive those, they will be bid out and then we will have 30 days for the bid award to be advertised. Then, we'll select a candidate to do the construction for Phase II of the Streetscape project, which will be the re-opening of Doyle St. to vehicle traffic as well as pedestrian traffic," Tabor said.

Business and property owners may also contact the Georgia Mountain Regional Development Center for free help. Preservation Planner Chip Wright is offering his services free of charge to owners to help them with the design and renovation of their storefronts.

Toccoa-Stephens County customers now have a new place to buy their health products. A little shop called, Herbs, Flowers & More recently celebrated their opening with a Chamber of Commerce ribbon cutting. Located next to the Cingular Wireless store in the Bi-Lo Shopping Center, shop owner Danny Forester says their focus is natural health.

"We sell encapsulated herbs, vitamins, minerals, natural supplements and other health products such as shampoos, deodorants and natural foods. All the things you would find in a natural line of products," he said.

The store carries a wide variety of popular health food brands, as well as natural herbs and vitamins.

Longtime drafting teacher at Stephens County High School Jonesy Haygood is retiring. Haygood’s last day is May 23. His retirement announcement is part of a seven page human resource report released this week by the Stephens County school system.

The report lists five new teachers who will join the school system in August, and two other new hires – a career connections coordinator for the middle school and a bus monitor. Three employees announced their resignation over the past quarter and just about every other elementary, middle school, high school, and Crossroads teacher has been rehired for the next school year.

Also retiring at the end of this year is Stephens County High School principal George Sanders. Sanders retires after a more than 30-year career in education.

The Stephens County Board of Education is considering joining a class-action lawsuit filed by host of school systems in Georgia in an effort to force the state to distribute funding more equitably. At this week’s BOE meeting, school superintendent Gary Steppe discussed the idea of joining the consortium with board members.

The consortium wants the State to revise their funding formula. Board member James Thomas has been attending meetings with a State education committee, but told the Board he does not believe they are sincere when they say they are looking at the situation. Thomas called the meetings a, "smoke screen," and said he was told as an aside by one of the committee members that the State did not intend to change the funding formula.

One drawback to joining the lawsuit would be cost. It was noted that with practically unlimited financial resources, the State could easily drag the suit out for years – hoping poorer school systems would give up and drop out after spending millions in attorneys fees. The board took no action this week, but agreed to study the idea further.

It happened again to a homeowner on Skyline Drive. This time, someone took a bicycle out of his yard. This is the second theft at the home in as money months. So far, police have no suspects.

A Toccoa woman wants her dogs back. The victim told Stephens County Sheriff’s deputies someone stole her Collie, its 4-week old puppies, and two part-Collie/Rottweiler puppies from her property on Dogwood Road. She said the dogs were not confined. Neighbors told deputies they did not see anyone take the dogs, but the victim showed deputies tire tracks on her property that did not belong to any of her vehicles.

Five people, including three juveniles were arrested after Wal-mart loss prevention officers say they were caught shoplifting. It happened last Friday. Officers arrested Pamela Rucker of Second Street in Lavonia and Jessica Davis of Highway 53 in Commerce. Both were charged with theft by taking and taken to Stephens County jail. The juveniles were also charged and released to the custody of their parents.

The State House has found another $80 million dollars for Peach Care to keep it going a little while longer, but new enrollment has not restarted. State Representative Jeanette Jamieson has been at forefront of the fight to keep Peach Care going.

Jamieson tells WNEG money was pulled from several sources, including $14-million from the governor’s “Go Fish” program and from Medicaid. However, the next fight will be determining who qualifies for the child health care benefit.

According to Jamieson, Republicans want to amend the income level for Peach Care recipients.

"We will have a bill coming up next week that the House speaker is sponsoring that's going to try to limit the number of people who can qualify," Jamieson said. "When you think that the federal poverty level is $16,000 for a family of three and you're talking about twice that much, you aren't talking about people with very high incomes. So, we're going to have a real battle, I think, over that bill," she concluded.

Currently, more than 200,000 low-income children in Georgia are on the Peach Care roles.

Local business and civic leaders will gather this afternoon to honor those who have contributed to moving Toccoa forward. The annual Main Street Awards Reception takes place at 5 p.m. today in City Hall, according to Main Street director Connie Tabor.

This has been a big year for Toccoa with the downtown area undergoing a kind of renaissance.

And despite initial concerns, Tabor says most of the downtown business and property owners are very enthusiastic about the changes taking place.

"I have heard very positive comments. The majority of property and business owners are on board with program. They like the changes that have occurred and want to continue to renovate and invest in their buildings now. We are currently providing design assistance through the Georgia Mountain Regional Development Center. The Preservation Planner there, Chip Wright, is offering free technical assistance to individual property owners, as well as providing them with renderings of their particular properties," Tabor said.

Today’s reception takes place in the commission meeting room of City Hall.

Habersham County authorities are asking for the public’s help in locating one of two suspects believed to have robbed an elderly woman. It happened last month in Demorest.

According to the Habersham County Sheriff’s office, the men broke into the woman’s home and demanded she pay them for repairing her roof. One of the suspects, identified as 33-year old Bennie York of Virginia, was arrested last Friday at his home by GBI agents and the Virginia State Police.

York is charged with armed robbery, kidnapping, aggravated assault, and burglary.

He is currently awaiting extradition to Georgia. Another suspect is still at large.

He is identified as Fabian Small of Princeton, WV. Anyone with information on Small’s whereabouts is asked to contact the GBI Tip line at 1-800-597-8477.

If your child will be entering kindergarten or pre-school next year you should be aware of the new vaccine requirements.

According to Dave Palmer, District Two spokesman, the Georgia Department of Human Resources Division of Public Health is adding two new vaccines to its list of required vaccines. They include:

The new vaccine requirements go into effect July first and also apply to children enrolling in Head Start or pre-K programs. Additionally, Palmer said additional doses have been added for children in kindergarten to grade six or a new entrant to Georgia schools in any grade K through 12.

A new entrant is defined as any child entering any school or facility in Georgia for the first time or after having been absent from a Georgia facility for more than 12 months or one school year. If your child falls into either category, they must:

Vaccines may be obtained at the Stephens County Health Department or your current healthcare provider.

The pet death toll continues to rise from animals eating tainted pet food manufactured by Menu Foods. Over 95 pet food brands are on the recall list including Wal-mart brands "Special Kitty" and "Ol Roy" canned and pouch foods and store brands, such as Ingles’ Laura Lynn brand.

So far, over 16 pets, mainly cats, have died of kidney failure from eating the tainted food and a class-action lawsuit has been filed by a woman in Chicago whose cat died after eating Special Kitty.

In our area, veterinarian Dr. Michael Maddux of Cornelia Vet Clinic says so far, they have not had any cases related to the pet food recall, but clients are concerned.

"We've had clients call in to get more information about it," Maddux said. "They're feeding those diets, but we haven't seen any sick patients at this clinic," he said.

The federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has dispatched inspectors to the Menu Food plants in New Jersey and Kansas. Both plants received shipments of wheat gluten from the same supplier, but Dr. Maddux said so far, they still aren’t sure what’s causing the contamination.

"They don't know. I was looking online this morning and they don't have the exact ingredient or toxin that caused it. They haven't isolated it yet and they haven't sent any direct mailings out to us. We've been going through the veterinary networks online to get our information," he said.

Now if you think your dog or cat may have eaten any of the contaminated pet foods, there are certain signs to look for according to Dr. Maddux.

"It will be a very sudden onset of signs, anywhere from one to twelve hours of eating one of the contaminated packages. Basically, signs of lethargy, i.e. laying around a lot, loss of appetite, not wanting to play, vomiting has been seen, not drinking water are some of the most common ones," he noted.

Another symptom of failing kidneys is if you pet begins drinking large amounts of water. Even if your pet has no symptoms you might want to have it checked out to make sure everything is ok. A complete list of the recalled pet foods can be found by going to the Menu Foods Web site at www.menufoods.com/recall.

Then match the UPC codes listed on the Web site with the cans or pouches of pet food you have purchased. If they match, return them to the store for a refund.

The Georgia Department of Natural Resources' Wildlife Resources Division (WRD) announces the availability of funds for Watchable Wildlife and Wildlife Education projects. 

Organizations in the private, public, and nonprofit sectors, as well as schools and local governments throughout the state, are invited to send in proposals for wildlife-related projects. 

Wildlife Education projects can include programs, facilities, exhibits, or other activities where the goal is to educate students, teachers, or the public about non-game wildlife conservation. 

Watchable Wildlife projects can include facilities improvements or other activities that will develop or improve opportunities to observe non-game wildlife on lands accessible to the public, such as county or local parks.  Requests should not exceed $5,000 per project.

Beginning in 1999, the Wildlife Resources Division established an annual program to provide funding for organizations working to develop or improve wildlife conservation, education, and recreation. 

Using funds earned from the sale of non-game wildlife license plates - the Bald eagle tag and the hummingbird tag - the program has provided more than $375,000 to fund Watchable Wildlife and Wildlife Educational projects throughout the state. 

The request for proposals can be viewed online at www.georgiawildlife.com or by calling 770- 761-3035. The deadline for applications is April 27, 2007.  Notification of awards will be made by May 25, 2007.

Toccoa Police are investigating a burglary that took place at a residence on Nassau Street. The victim said that he had just arrived home and noticed his lap top computer that had been on top of the refrigerator was missing. After the officer arrived, the victim searched the house further and discovered a Play Station 2 and controllers were missing, along with about 15 DVDs and a baseball cap that he had purchased at the beach. Police indicated that the door jam on the back door had been smashed to gain entry. The gray Hewlett Packard computer was valued at about $1200.

A soft drink vendor from Gainesville told police that between November of last year and March of this year, a Pepsi drink machine that he owns at Stephens County Hospital continues to come up short on money. The victim recently installed a security camera and the video indicates that on March 15^th, a white male, about 40 years of age, with a mustache and a Georgia Tech baseball cap took the money. The machines are not damaged and the victim said that the suspect either knows how to pick the lock or has a key.

A suspect in a gas drive off apparently has come back to the Big A Road location more than once. According to the store’s manager, a white Oldsmobile drove up to the pump on March 11^th, pumped gas and drove off. The manager stated that the same car had driven off on March 8^th without paying for gas. The video was given to police. The tag number is AZT 6586. The tag came back to a subject out of Oakwood, Georgia and had a Hall County sticker on it.

Stephens County High School band members will be strutting their stuff in new uniforms, thanks to some help from the Steve Stovall Music Scholarship Foundation and Stovall Building Supply owner, Jack Stovall.

At last night’s school board meeting, Stovall offered to contribute funds from the foundation for the purchase of new band uniforms.

"What I would propose to do and what the board proposes to do is to give this money to the band for use to purchase new uniforms. What I propose to do on behalf of Stovall Building Supplies is to round that up to $10,000 and I would ask that the School Board match that amount so that we can help the band get the money that they need to buy new uniforms," said Stovall.

Afterwards, the BOE immediately voted to approve Stovall’s proposal and thanked him for his generosity. The high school will buy 150 uniforms at a cost of $50-thousand dollars. Scott Wilcher is the high school band director. Wilcher said the Steve Stovall foundation has been a tremendous benefit to his students over the years.

"When I came here 17 years ago, the Stovall Music Foundation was in place. You would not believe how much help it has been to our kids and our program. It’s just been a Godsend for us and for our kids who want to go on a major in music. It's been great. His support has been unbelievable over the years, it really has," Wilcher explained.

Band Booster president Mark Haddock said the Club has been working hard to raise money for the new uniforms and this contribution totaling $20,000 is a wonderful gift.

"We're doing everything we can to try and get the community involved, and raising this money for the band uniforms and this step right here by Mr. Stovall, the Steve Stovall Music Foundation and the School Board matching funds is a mighty big step in accomplishing the goal we have for the new uniforms," he said.

Since it began in 1974, the Steve Stovall foundation has helped over 250 students pursue their love of music.

Stephens County Sheriff’s office is investigating a burglary at a home on Jordan Road. The homeowner told deputies someone broke into his shop last week and stole all of his tools.

They include a red Craftsman toolbox valued at $60 and a yellow Snap-On air wrench valued at $400. Also stolen were assorted wrenches valued at $3,000. The victim said some of the wrenches had identifying marks on them, some did not.

Some middle and high school athletes will soon have a state of the art sports complex that will be located on property between the high school and middle school and include indoor and outdoor facilities.

Head coach Travis Noland last night presented plans for the complex to the Stephens County School Board. One feature of the complex is a 60-foot by 90-foot metal building, which Noland said would serve cheerleaders as well as baseball and softball teams.

"Baseball, softball, and my goal is to put our cheerleaders up there with their big competition mats that they always have a hard time finding a place for and a place to practice," noted Noland. "With the understanding that in the fall, if it's a rainy day, the softball team as first dibs to be able to get an indoor practice in. I stopped at West Carroll high school a couple of days ago and they do that - they use it for their cheerleaders," he said.

The building will house two batting cages, two pitching areas, netting for hitters, locker rooms, bathrooms, and showers.

Another area of the complex will feature two sets of three tennis courts, outdoor softball/baseball fields, with lighting and bleachers, a dugout, and another small building, which will house locker facilities for tennis teams.

In addition, the complex will have parking and separate parking for school buses. Noland pointed out surrounding schools systems have such complexes already and it’s important Stephens County teams have the same advantages if they are going to remain competitive.

High School principal George Sanders praised Noland’s ideas and efforts and said everything Stephens County does must be top notch.

"If we don't do that, then we're short selling ourselves and our kids. What coach Noland has put together is something that is very feasible. It's something that we can take pride in. We even have people on staff that can look after the grass and make sure that it is ready for softball season. The location is one that will benefit both schools - the middle school and the high school," Sanders said.

Cost for the complex is $556-thousand dollars and will be paid for with SPLOST monies. Noland expects the facility to be ready in time for baseball season.

The Stephens County Hospital Authority has approved the purchase of some new hospital equipment. Hospital administrator Ed Gambrel says the Board voted for the purchase at their regular meeting Monday night.

"The Authority approved the purchase of approximately $42,000 worth of respiratory therapy equipment. Some of it will be used in our nursery and some of it will be used to improve the way we improve EKG's," noted Hospital administrator Ed Gambrell.

Meantime, work on renovating the top two floors of the hospital continues. Gambrell says crews are just beginning to tear out the old rooms but that so far, the work has not caused any serious problems for the hospital staff or patients.

David D. Stovall, president and CEO of Habersham Bancorp, was named this week as one of Georgia’s top-performing CEO’s in a special report published by The Atlanta Business Chronicle.

This report lists the CEO’s of Georgia’s public companies who produced the greatest stockholder return over five years. Rankings were based on shareholder return as reported to the Securities and Exchange Commission during a recent five-year period, 2000-2001 to 2005-2006.

Top performers were grouped according to the size of the company, based on 2005 annual revenue. Stovall was listed at number 13 on the top performer list for companies with annual revenue of $99 million or less.

Stovall has been the president and chief executive officer of Habersham Bancorp since 1989.

He is active in the Rotary Club of Habersham County and has held leadership positions within Rotary International.

He also serves on the board of the Georgia Mountains Regional Development Center (GMRDC) and is a licensed private pilot. Habersham Bancorp owns Habersham Bank, which is headquartered in Clarkesville and has full-service offices located in Cornelia, Baldwin, Braselton, Cleveland, Canton, Cumming, Eastanollee, Hickory Flat, Toccoa, and Warrenton.

In Charleston, SC the son of former Georgia Lieutenant Governor Mark Taylor will spend a year in prison for the death of his friend. 23-year old Fulton Taylor pleaded guilty Monday in a Charleston courtroom.

In August 2005,Taylor was drunk when the car he was driving crashed, killing his passenger, 22-year old Joseph Gennert of Charleston, SC. Authorities say Taylor was speeding when the car hit a concrete wall on I-26, flipping the vehicle.

His blood alcohol level was .25 –triple the legal limit in South Carolina. Taylor was also sentenced to five years probation and was fined $15,000.

After ten years on the job, Seneca’s police chief has announced his plans to retire. The announcement that Doug Graffagnino will retire June 30 was made Monday morning at Seneca City Hall. 

City administrator Greg Dietterick says Graffagnino intends to spend more time with his family, which includes Milwaukee Brewers infielder Tony Graffagnino. 

Dietterick says though Graffagnino will work about three months, the City will start the process now to find a replacement.  Before becoming chief, Graffagnino served two years as city judge and was a police officer on the Long Island, NY police force.

Authorities have ruled the deaths of two women in Hartwell were a murder-suicide. The women are identified as 80-year old Berta Fuller and her youngest daughter 50-year old Shelia Watson.

The pair is the mother-in-law and sister-in-law of Hart County Sheriff Mike Cleveland.

According to the GBI spokesman John Bankhead, the deaths were result of a domestic argument that resulted in a murder suicide.

Fuller, who was bedridden, died of multiple gunshots. Authorities are waiting for a toxicology report to determine the cause of Watson’s death.

On Sunday, hart county sheriff’s deputies were called to the home after family members were unable to make contact with either Mrs. Fuller or her daughter. Deputies discovered the women’s bodies inside.

GBI agents were on the scene until early Monday morning, according Athens special agent in charge Fred Stephens, and had interviewed dozens of witnesses. The bodies were sent to the gbi crime lab for autopsy yesterday.

Crews from an Atlanta arbor company are in Toccoa this week working to give the trees on the old courthouse campus a new lease on life. Work began in earnest yesterday with the removal of two old oaks.

Jim Bruner is the job site manager for ArborGuard, the company contracted by the county to do the work. Bruner said both of the oaks had died and presented a danger to pedestrians.

"We removed both oaks, they were dead so we brought them down. We elevated the Magnolia trees and trimmed the Hollies on both sides. We're doing one-inch trims on all the trees, taking out all the mistletoe, looking for any conflicting limbs that are rubbing across, just trying to make a better structure for the tree, make it more healthy," Bruner said.

Bruner estimates both oaks were at least 80 years old. He said an overabundance of mistle toe and wood beetles killed the trees. Crews also cut back the old magnolias and trimmed the stately dogwood.

Last year, another arborist trimmed the trees around the courthouse. It was the first work done on them in years. Bruner said it’s obvious the trees are suffering from years of neglect.

"Yes, there was a lot of stub cuts, there's a lot of dead branches throughout the trees. You can see they're real overgrown where there's no center leader. The trees are just kind of growing real goofy and they’re breaking off," he said.

Crews will also be working around the trees’ root systems, loosening the soil to allow a better flow of water and air. Work on the courthouse trees will continue through the week.

Toccoa Police have arrested a man in connection with a home invasion. It happened in the early morning hours last Wednesday at a home on East Savannah Street, according to Chief Jackie Whitmire.

"We had guy climb in a window at a house on Savannah Street and hold the residents at knifepoint. He robbed them of their money and asked for their car keys, but he went out the front door and ran up the sidewalk," Whitmire began. "He didn't take the vehicle. He didn’t get a large amount of money. The police officers and detectives did a fantastic job on this case. They worked on it all day, all night, and the next night we developed some leads. Those leads got better and better and we ended up identifying the suspect. A couple of days later, a deputy with the Stephens County Sheriff's office spotted the suspect walking along Highway 106," Whitmire said.

Arrested was Ricky Dale Mathis, Jr. of South Big A Road. According to Whitmire, Mathis faces multiple charges.

"Detectives issued warrants for this guy for kidnapping, armed robbery, burglary, and aggravated assault. He's on probation for drug charges and state probation has placed a hold him. Right now, he's being held in the state hospital in Rome. When they get through with him up there, the Sheriff's office will go get him and bring him back to Stephens County jail," he said.

Whitmire said he was glad to see the case solved and that none of the victims had been hurt.

However, he warns Toccoans to be always being aware of what is going on in their neighborhoods and to always lock to their doors and windows.

County commissioners are considering three candidates to fill the position of county road superintendent after conducting another round of interviews yesterday. However, once those interviews were completed, Commissioners did not make any decision.

"They will revisit those interviews at their second monthly meeting on the 27th. I would anticipate that at that time Commissioners would narrow it down to the person they want to talk to. Shortly thereafter, make an offer to that person and then within that week announce their finalist," explained County administrator Darrell Hampton.

In January, Commissioners interviewed six potential candidates for the job, but were not happy with any of them and the position was re-advertised.

The County has scheduled maintenance and paving work on some eight county roads. Commissioners hope to have the new superintendent in place in time for that roadwork, which is scheduled to begin later this spring.

Oconee County, SC Sheriff’s deputies have arrested an Anderson man in undercover online sting. It happened early Saturday morning.

Lt. Travis C. Tilson tells WNEG the arrest followed an online investigation where a man identified as 41-year old Charles Monroe Harris of Anderson solicited sex numerous times via emails from a 13-year old girl.

However, the 13-year old girl was really an undercover officer with the Oconee county sheriff’s office. In cooperation with the Anderson County Sheriff’s office, deputies served arrest and search warrants at Harris’ residence on Eisenhower Road in Anderson.

He was arrested and brought to Oconee County where he was charged with one count of criminal solicitation of a minor. He was released on Sunday on a $25,000 bond.

This case marks the first arrest by Oconee County deputies since joining the Attorney General’s Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force late last year.

Most of us would agree that there are times when driving down big a road can be downright dangerous. Well the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) has been working for the past several weeks to make the whole Big A experience a little easier to deal with and much safer for motorists and pedestrians.

The GDOT is spending just over a million dollars to upgrade and improve the traffic lights on Big A.

"What we're doing is replacing all of the traffic signals equipment. The new signals are LED. They're much brighter and almost look like a Light Bright with little pixels of light instead of just a light bulb. The old signals were a light bulb with a plastic colored covering. This new signal is LED and has a much longer burn time - 10,000 hours per color and there's much less maintenance. We literally used to have to go change the bulb with the old lights," explained Georgia Department of Transportation spokeswoman Teri Pope.

Crews are also re-striping pedestrian crossings at each intersection to make them easier for everyone to see.

"We're re-striping the existing cross walks and stop bars and the pedestrian heads will be new as well," Pope said.

One of the major complaints about Big A is the lack of synchronized traffic lights. Thanks to computer technology, Pope says that problem will soon be a thing of the past.

They'll actually be able to 'talk' to one another and be synchronized one to the other," Pope pointed out. "And each intersection will have its specialized program for that intersection even as detailed as for different times of day. We can determine how long the signal will stay on each color based on the traffic patterns in the morning, afternoon and at night. Now, the computer doesn't specify Saturdays and Sundays and if there's a malfunction sometimes the computer will kick it back to the default computer times, but this new equipment will give us a lot more capability for customizing the signalizations and coordinating the timings between all those signals on Big A," she concluded.

You can expect some traffic tie-ups today, however, because crews are replacing the old concrete pole system of hanging lights with what’s called a "mast system." Crews will begin installing those masts today.

That means between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., various intersections along Big A will be impacted by work crews and that could mean traffic delays in the area. So use extra caution and allow extra time if you have to travel down Big A Road this week. Pope says the entire project is about 75%complete and the new lights should be in use by mid-April – four months ahead of schedule.

A Toccoa man has been charged with forgery after making a fraudulent deposit at a local bank.

It happened over a period of time between August of last year and January 2007 at First Citizens Bank.

Toccoa Police investigator Shannon Westbrook said Jonathon Linville of S. Big A Road in Toccoa allegedly deposited money orders into his account totaling about $3,000. However, the bank discovered those money orders were counterfeit. Linville is charged with three counts of felony forgery. He is currently in the Hall County jail on outstanding warrant charges.

County commissioners are considering three candidates to fill the position of county road superintendent after conducting another round of interviews today. In January, commissioners interviewed six potential candidates for the job, but were not happy with any of them.

The county then re-advertised the position and this time, County administrator Darrell Hampton believes they have better qualified candidates.

"I think of the candidates we have we have several that have the experience, qualifications, and the expertise that the job requires," noted Hampton.

This time, the Commissioners interviewed three candidates. They are expected to announce their selection once the interview process is complete. It will be another 14 days before the new road superintendent is in place.

Seneca police have arrested three people in connection with two separate thefts.

In the first, police say 45-year old Gabriel Matthew pace of Walhalla, SC broke into the East Main Street Church of God in Seneca, SC. He was arrested Friday and charged with burglary and malicious property damage.

No word on what he allegedly stole from the church. In the second, Seneca investigators arrested Ruthann Tuttle of Salem and Daryl Leron Moore of Seneca. The pair is charged with stealing a 1998 Dodge Caravan. That vehicle was later found in Anderson County.

Republican State Senator Jim Whitehead made a campaign stop in Toccoa Friday.

Whitehead is running for the 10^th Congressional district seat left vacant by the passing of Congressman Charlie Norwood in February. Whitehead said he is focusing on three main platform planks.

"The three parts of my platform are education, tax reform, and illegal immigration," explained Whitehead. "That's a lot of the same things that I have done in the Georgia state Senate. I've been there for three years and we're very much into health care whether we want to be or not. We've got a problem with Peach Care in the State Senate and I can assure your listeners that we're not going to let the children of Georgia go without healthcare," he concluded.

The u.s. chamber of commerce recently issued its education report card, giving Georgia a "d" in academic achievement and graduation rates. Whitehead says he’s not sure what can be done at the federal level to solve our education issues.

"Well I think you have to make sure they get their proper money. In a lot of ways, Georgia is a donor state. By that I mean we send money to Washington and don't get anything in return. That's not necessarily true of education, however, but I'm not a big person that knows all the things about education. I can't give you a good answer as far as what we need to do about education," Whitehead said.

Meantime, the first person to announce their candidacy in the race for the 10^th district, Ralph Hudgens, suddenly pulled out of the race last week.

Hudgens told CQPolitics.com that his heart wasn’t in it anymore when he realized what he would have to give up if won the election. Hudgens initially ran for the 10^th congressional seat back in 1995, but lost it to Norwood in a primary run-off.

That makes whitehead the republican frontrunner so far, but more candidates will likely enter the race once qualifying begins. The special election is slated for June 19.

The City of Toccoa will purchase four newer pre-owned vehicles for the Toccoa Police Department from local dealerships. At last week’s City commission meeting, bid packages were opened from Hayes Buick-Pontiac in Toccoa, Maypole Chevrolet, and Toccoa Ford.

Last week, City manager Billy Morse announced Toccoa would purchase cars from all three dealerships.

"We sent out bid specifications for slightly used program cars with low mileage to be used for administrative purposes in the police department," Morse noted. "We have made a decision to purchase four of those used vehicles. We're buying a Grand Marquis from Toccoa Ford, a Trail Blazer from Hayes, and a Durango and Trail Blazer from Maypole," he said.

In early February, Toccoa was blanketed with about 5 inches of snow, which caused hazardous driving conditions. It was then, Morse said, that he realized the need for more 4-wheel drive vehicles.

"We wanted some four-wheel drive vehicles in the police department based on that recent snow event. I strongly felt the need for some four-wheel drive vehicles that we could use in the patrol division in case of a snowstorm or bad weather like that. So, that's why we've gotten three four-wheel drive vehicles," he said. All of the vehicles will be used by Toccoa Police captains and investigators.

The Georgia Department of Public Safety turns 70 years old today and special ceremonies marked the event at the Georgia State Capitol. 

Legislation creating the Department and the Georgia State Patrol was signed on March 19, 1937, and became effective immediately upon the signature of then-governor E.D. Rivers. 

Colonel Bill Hitchens, commissioner of the Department of Public Safety tells AM630 WNEG there was an immediate need in the 1930’s for a highway patrol to enforce traffic laws and investigate traffic crashes.

Additionally, the state did not have any way to test and license drivers back then, nor did Georgia have a state criminal investigative agency. Those needs led to the creation of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Motor Vehicles.

A special ceremony was held this morning in the State Capitol to mark the anniversary.  Governor Sonny Perdue, lieutenant governor Casey Cagle, and House speaker Glenn Richardson delivered remarks to mark the occasion.

The ceremony also included a tribute to the 26 troopers and agents of the Department of Public Safety who have been killed in the line of duty. The tribute featured a 21-gun salute from the Georgia State Patrol Honor Guard.

About 10 contractors turned out yesterday at the Courthouse Annex to get more information on the jail construction project. Peter Brown Construction is sub-contracting work to local contractors and yesterday they held a meeting for any company to come ask questions and pick up a packet. Will Sumner, construction project manager for the jail, said most of the work will be bid locally.

"We’re bidding everything, concrete, masonry, hollow-core panels, fencing, cabinets, metal buildings, painting, flooring, fire sprinkler, electrical and plumbing," Sumner said.

Sealed bids can be submitted between now and 2 p.m. March 29 and can be dropped off at the County Commission office in the Courthouse Annex. Sumner said if contractors were not able to attend the pre-bid meeting yesterday, they can call for a packet.

"Just contact Peter Brown’s office at 850-668-4498 and give your name and number, which area you would like to bid on – which packet you would like to receive. We’ll take your address and a full set of plans and specifications as well as the bid package will be shipped to you overnight," he said.

Meantime, grading on the new jail property did not happen as planned yesterday. County administrator Darrell Hampton tells WNEG the two buildings on the property have not been demolished yet.

Also, the County cannot start the grading until they receive a permit from the civil engineer to move dirt and a land-disturbing permit from the EPD. Sumner says foundation work is expected to begin in mid-April.

Franklin County has a new school superintendent. After a fourth-month long search, the Franklin County School Board has hired Dr. Ruth Odell from Houston County.

She then moved to Warner Robbins in 1995 where she has served as an instructional coordinator, assistant principal, and principal before being named assistant superintendent in 2005 for the Houston county school system. 

Stephens County has been benefited by the opening of the new Super-Wal-Mart and continues to be in good financial shape.

Finance Director Phyllis Ayers indicated that the county may be able to end SPLOST IV a little early at the end of this year.

"We’re doing really well since the new Wal-mart opened in February." Ms. Ayers said. " I’ve been tracking every month in comparison. And from our February to December this year receipts, we’re about 20 per cent higher than last year. So it’s going really well and it will help us finish SPLOST about four months early."

SPLOST IV was supposed to end around the end of March of 2008.

Ms Ayers indicated that the only two departments that are in the red financially are the solid waste department and the continuing funding for the Emergency E-911. However, she said that these expenses were anticipated and did not catch the county off-guard.

About 12 per cent of the private drive signs in Stephens County have now been removed, according to County Administrator Darrell Hampton. He said a little over 400 more signs are expected to come down.

"So far, we’ve been able to eliminate some 165 of those signs." Hampton reported. " We anticipate that we’ll have another 450 or so signs that we’ll remove. As we remove those private drive signs, we’re assigning an address to them sending that correction to Windstream and sending it to the Postal Service as well so they have the revised address for these private drives. We hope to be able to continue to do this for the next three or four weeks Hopefully, some time in April, we will finalize this process and start issuing maps showing the revised address and the reduced number of private drives."

Hampton urges those residents who have had the signs removed to return a call from the 911 office to verify their new address.

Always wanted to own something once owned by the British Royal family? Well you can find some of their royal castoffs at a new antique shop in downtown Toccoa. The shop called, "Antiques From Us" is now open for business.

Owned by Richard Hartwell and Stephanie Ayers, the little shop on the corner is made up of antique furniture and accessories from Great Britain. The pair has been in the antique business for a combined 30 years and has a successful online business. However, Hartwell said they had several reasons for opening their first retail shop here in Toccoa.

"Joint interest, joint love of antiques, longtime friendship came about the idea for an antique shop. Toccoa because it has great potential. The downtown area is fantastic with the changes coming up. Just everything fitted in," he said.

Another reason includes the ability to offer a variety of antiques not generally seen in our area.

Co-owner Stephanie Ayers said there is a difference in the style and age between American and British antiques.

"Things are older. A little bit more primitive style on some things. We do have some items from Royal families, which we do not get here in America. And there of course again we have the older silver. It’s hallmarked so we know exactly where it came from and what the age is. It’s things we don’t have from our American history," Ayers explained.

Both Hartwell and Ayers feel the building they chose next to the Rebel Café is perfectly suited to their business. Formerly M’lady’s Dress Shop, the store has been completely renovated to take customers back in history. There’s even a sitting area where customers can enjoy a nice cup of British tea made the in the traditional way.

Work is continuing on the railroad crossings in Toccoa. Norfolk Southern is in the process of repairing and upgrading sections of track on its line. This week, crews began work on the Sage Street crossing, but cancelled work on two other crossings – Lake Louise and Summit Drive.

Yesterday, the railroad announced work on Summit Drive will begin on Monday and that crossing will be closed while repairs take place. They will also return to the Sage Street crossing and complete repairs there on Monday. Norfolk Southern is installing new cross ties and gravel at the crossings.

There’s a growing problem in the U.S with illegal dumping of unused prescription drugs and the adverse affects on the environment. Tomorrow, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) and the American Pharmacists Association (APHA) will be announcing a major initiative to solve the problem. 

The consumer outreach program is designed to educate American consumers about the potential environmental and public health impacts of improperly disposing of unused prescription and over-the-counter medications. 

The program will be unveiled Saturday during the APHA Annual Meeting & Exposition, March 16-19, 2007 in Atlanta. A formal signing ceremony of the memorandum of understanding between the USFWS and APHA will be held at that time.

It was supposed to be a simple approval of a rezoning request, but it turned into a lengthy public debate. It happened Monday night when Friendship Baptist Church asked the city to approve a setback variance request.

The Church, located on South Sage Street, plans to build a new family life center across the street on the corner of Sage and Sautee Streets. Church trustee L.J. Harrison submitted a request to change the set back from 25-feet to zero in order to accommodate more parking for the facility. That would put the building right up against the street.

Commissioners questioned the safety of the request since it leaves no buffer between motorists, pedestrians, and the building itself.

Neighbor David Neal also objected to the request. Neal lives in a house below the church and said he worries about storm run off that might occur from a lack of proper sewer and drainage planning.

"The land from up on Sautee, Charles Lawson's house, B.J. Richards' house comes down to the lot where the church bought. And where my house is and where my mama's house used to be, if it rains, I end up with a fish pond in my backyard," Neal said. Neal said the church owns three acres and could put the building somewhere else.

The son of another neighborhood homeowner spoke on behalf of his 81-year old mother. Vernon Wilson said his mother along with others on sage street already have traffic problems on Sundays because of a lack of church parking.

"There are many elderly people in that community that are very hampered by the parking situation on Sunday mornings," Wilson explained. "Which they're very reluctant in saying anything because they worry they would be perceived as being against the church. I think if you go down Sage Street at this time, being African-American community, the community really cleaning up itself. It looks good down there and I think it's the duty of the City to make sure the infrastructure is correct," he concluded.

Church members Inger Neal and Philip Teasley told commissioners the Church would do whatever is necessary to assure proper infrastructure and pedestrian safety. Commissioners approved the request conditioned upon the submission and approval of a construction plan by the builder by the Toccoa Planning Commission.

A Toccoa couple plead guilty this week to one count of operating a commercial gambling establishment. Beverly and Larry Funderburk operated the Game Room on South Pond Street.

The pair were indicted in January at which time Toccoa Police Captain Butch Newkirk testified that undercover officers who played their video poker machines were paid their winnings in cash, which is against Georgia law.

On Tuesday, Judge James Woods sentenced the pair to 12 months probation and each were fined $2,500. The Game Room was one of eight businesses that were busted in November 2005 for conducting illegal gambling operations. However, the Funderburks were the only ones to face the additional charge of commercial gambling.

Meantime, two more business owners plead guilty this week to the lesser charge of unlawful redemption of amusement rewards. Badar-Zamman Memon and Michael Jones were also part of the November 2005 raid by Toccoa Police.

The pair admitted to paying customer winnings in cash rather than merchandise. They were each fined $1,000 and sentenced to 12 months probation.

The City of Martin could one day be on the Best Seller list – that is if the Martin Women’s Club has its way. The Club is writing a book on the history of the town, according to member Rebecca Kennemur, who said many of the members are very interested in its history.

"When we started we were thinking of just the downtown area of Martin, but we got to thinking if the history of Martin is really played out in a book, it would include all of the Martin area," Kennemur said.

Club members are gathering as much information as they can for the book and Kennemur says they are looking for help from local citizens. Members are looking for any kind of interesting items of a historical nature for Martin and surrounding communities.

"We're going to include the Avalon and Tom's Creek communities and even the Clarke's Creek community. We do not know all of the events. We are looking for fun stories, things people will enjoy reading about that are things that happened in the Martin area. Yesterday was history, so it does not have to be from the early days of Martin. We have a lot of information on the early days of Martin, Kennemur noted.

If you have something interesting, including photos and stories, please contact Rebecca Kennemur at 706-779-3680 or email martin30557@gmail.com

Two new businesses are celebrating their openings in downtown Toccoa. This week, the children’s store, "Pollilops" was officially inducted into the Chamber of Commerce with a ribbon cutting ceremony.

Owner Jennifer Ritter says she has been in business for six years, but this is the first retail store she is opened.

"We have children's clothes from infant to size 12, we've just put out our new spring items. We've got gift items as well for baby showers, including things that can be personalized and monogrammed, silver rattles, anything for a baby shower or a new gift for a baby we've got," noted store owner Jennifer Ritter.

Pollilops is an unusual name for a store. Ritter said the name came from her son. "My oldest son, Thompson, when he was little used to love lollipops, but couldn't say the word correctly. He called them, "pollilops." So since we created this company with our children in mind so that we could stay home with them, we thought it would be an appropriate name," Ritter said.

Another new store downtown will be holding an open house tonight from 7p to 9p. It’s an antique shop owned by Richard Hartwell and Stephanie Ayers and is located in what was once the M’lady’s clothing store and CB Originals next to the Rebel Café.

The shop will feature antiques from Great Britain. Tonight, the store will be open for a short time to give shoppers a chance to be acquainted with the new owners and their items.

Grading for the new Stephens County Jail site begins today and a main road near the current jail site will be closed in the process.

Stephens County Administrator Darrell Hampton said that a lot of work had already begun at the site.

"The road department and the recreation department staff have been very helpful." Hampton said. " The Sheriff and his department have all ready been relocation their communications department and we’ll be closing County Farm Road on Thursday to traffic because the road lies in the area where the new jail will be constructed. In the morning, the gas will be disconnected and the rod department crews will be in the process of demolishing the buildings in the jail construction area."

This morning, there will be a meeting of firms who would like to be included in the construction of the new jail, according to Hampton.

"Thursday morning at 10 AM, we will have a meeting in the courthouse annex with the contractor and the designers to talk with the folks who would like to be bidding on any aspect of the new jail. We have two sets of plans in the commissioner’s office for those who would like to come by during normal business hours and give them an idea of the types of vendors we will be looking at."

The Stephens County Emergency Management Office and the Communications Department of the Stephens County Sheriff’s office has relocated to the old Stephens County Hospital building.

A homeowner on Ayersville Road in Toccoa is the victim of a burglary. The victim told Stephens County Sheriff’s deputies someone broke into his tools shed and took a Stihl chainsaw, and an air nail gun. An extra watch has been placed in the area.

A shopper at Wal-mart told Toccoa Police someone snatched her cell phone from her buggy when she was not looking. The phone is described as a Samsung u340 with Verizon service.

A customer at the NAPA Auto Parts store told police when he came out of the store; he discovered his tag was missing from his pick up. Police have no suspects.

Martin Construction wants to know who damaged the glass on their track hoe. It happened on Kyte Street last Thursday. Cost of the damage is estimated at $1,000.

Agriculture Commissioner Tommy Irvin is alerting Georgians that a type of dog treat is being recalled because of potential for salmonella contamination.

Baja’s Wholesale Club, Inc. is recalling its 25-count packages of "Berkley & Jensen" full-cut pig ears because they have the potential to be contaminated with salmonella.

The pig ear packages have no lot number and only the expiration advisory "best if used by 2009" (without referencing a specific month). Irvin says consumers should immediately stop feeding the treats to their pets.

Salmonella can potentially be transferred to people handling these dog treats, especially if they have not thoroughly washed their hands after having contact with the product or any surfaces exposed to these products.

Dogs that become ill from salmonella generally will have a fever and diarrhea that may contain blood or mucus. Affected animals may seem more tired than usual, and may have vomiting. Some dogs do not have diarrhea, but will have decreased appetite, fever, and excess salivation.

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