Entries by Chris Bridges

OK, everybody exhale. Or perhaps maybe everyone should spit. [Full Story »] 

I received a Facebook friend request from a former teammate from my Little League baseball days earlier this week and I must admit it brought back a flood of memories from those “glory days” of mine on the diamond.
[Full Story »] 

An all-day benefit at Dairy Queen in Winder is being held today (Wednesday) for the Kristen Clack Fund. The local business will donate $1 from every blizzard sold, regardless of size to help with medical expenses for the Apalachee High School senior, who was injured recently in a car accident and remains hospitalized. In addition, Radio Shack in Winder will match each dollar raised by the Dairy Queen for the fund.

AHS softball coach Mike Cavey said Monday night he was able to talk with Clack Sunday for a few minutes as she continues to make daily progress.

Town of Bethlehem officials dotted all the I’s and crossed all the T’s during a called meeting last Thursday concerning intersection improvement work at Hwy. 11/Star Street.

The council signed a contract with McFarland-Dyer and Associates to make intersection improvements by surveying and additional use of civil engineering and signal design. [Full Story »] 

In between the chaos of a new school year starting and the increased number of activities I once again have to attend, it dawned on me as I rested for a few minutes this past weekend just how fortunate I am. [Full Story »] 

John Hunt keeps a close eye on the housing market.

As founder of Via Search, Hunt deals in market research for real estate companies and spoke of how since 2003 the bottom has fallen completely out of the market. A big part of the problem, Hunt told the Walton-Barrow Board of Realtors Tuesday, is in the Atlanta area. From 2003-2007 lot prices doubled in the Atlanta area and Hunt said under normal circumstances it would have taken 20 years for that to happen.

“New homes are so far higher than retail property that people stopped buying homes,” Hunt said. [Full Story »] 

Seventeen years, while not a great amount of time in the grand scheme of things, does take a while to pass by. [Full Story »] 

Ken Cato was able to delivered some good news last Tuesday to the Barrow County Board of Education.

The assistant superintendent for business services said the Educational Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax collection for July was $641,666, an increase from $632,995 the previous year.

“I feel August should also be a bump with all the back-to-school shopping,” Cato said. “September may even be strong without the tax free holiday this year. The only month which scares me is going to be December.”

Also at Tuesday’s meeting, assistant superintendent for teaching and learning Claire Miller told the BOE the system should hear on its appeal of the AYP for Russell Middle School and Bethlehem Elementary School should be available in September. [Full Story »] 

To say Bethlehem officials are anxious about getting improvements made at the intersection of Hwy. 11/Star Street would probably be an understatement.

Town leaders have been lobbying state Department of Transportation officials for years about installing a red light at the intersection, yet the wait continues.

During Monday night’s town meeting, another step was taken toward that long-term goal when the council voted unanimously to accept the low bid from McFarland-Dyer and Associates (MDA) for $38,800 to survey, landscape and handle engineering work at the intersection in hopes of getting a traffic light.

The council was informed Monday improvement design would be ready in approximately 60 days. A red light could be installed within 6 months to a year, depending on the DOT and what water lines have to be moved. [Full Story »]