Barrow County elections supervisor Monica Franklin has scheduled for 2 p.m. today a recount of last week’s votes in the Barrow County Board of Commissioners District 2 race. Former commissioner Bill Brown, who was on the short end of the 710-700 results in the July 31 Republican Party primary, requested the recount.
Franklin said she would reprocess both the paper ballots and the electronic voting machine cards for that race. She said she doesn't foresee a change in the outcome.
In the race results that Franklin on Friday certified to the Georgia Secretary of State's Office, Winder businessman Kenny Shook was the winner.
For an update on the results of the recount, check back this afternoon.
Entries by Susan Norman
Recount in BOC District 2 race is at 2 p.m.
Monday, August 6. 2012
Downtown Winder road closures start Monday
Sunday, August 5. 2012
Winder's utility department is in the process of replacing some water lines under downtown streets in preparation for the Broad Street resurfacing and streetscape project that are coming.
Starting Monday, Aug. 6, the portion of North Jackson Street that is between East Stephens Street and East Midland Avenue will be closed. It will remain closed until Friday, Aug. 10.
"Utility crews will alternate closing the post office back parking lots so that there will be continuous access," said Meredith Cameron, director of the Winder Downtown Development Authority, in a press release.
In addition, the portion of East Stephens Street between Jackson and Broad streets will be closed. And northbound traffic on Broad will be rerouted into the turn lane so that a new water line can be installed in that northbound lane, Cameron said.
Starting Monday, Aug. 6, the portion of North Jackson Street that is between East Stephens Street and East Midland Avenue will be closed. It will remain closed until Friday, Aug. 10.
"Utility crews will alternate closing the post office back parking lots so that there will be continuous access," said Meredith Cameron, director of the Winder Downtown Development Authority, in a press release.
In addition, the portion of East Stephens Street between Jackson and Broad streets will be closed. And northbound traffic on Broad will be rerouted into the turn lane so that a new water line can be installed in that northbound lane, Cameron said.
Authority punts on wholesale water rate
Friday, August 3. 2012
The Barrow County Water and Sewerage Authority at a called meeting Aug. 2 did not vote, as expected, on a recommended wholesale water rate. With 10 municipal officials from three cities in the audience, the WSA voted instead to authorize chairman Stan Coley, vice-chairman Ron Beacham, and secretary Barbara Garland to “correct where necessary” information regarding the justification of the new rate and to prepare recommendations that will be presented to the Barrow County Board of Commissioners in September. The municipal officials attended the meeting after learning that the WSA last week had come to a consensus to raise the rate from the current $1.60 per 1,000 gallons to $3.00 per 1,000 gallons. Coley pointed out that the WSA had been asked to recommend a rate, but the BOC would make the final decision.
To read the full story about the meeting, read the Aug. 8 edition of the Barrow Journal.
To read the full story about the meeting, read the Aug. 8 edition of the Barrow Journal.
Winder council approves tax agreement, avoids court battle
Friday, August 3. 2012
The Winder City Council at a called meeting Thursday afternoon approved a heavily negotiated split of the next 10 years of Local Option Sales Tax proceeds. That penny sales tax helps fund the operations of all of the local governments. To avoid a court fight, the council — with the support of the other cities' mayors — agreed to this split of the monthly sales tax proceeds: Barrow County 62 percent; Winder 20.80 percent; Auburn 10.78 percent; Statham 3.55 percent; Braselton 1.60 percent; Bethlehem 0.89 percent, and Carl 0.38%. The Barrow County Board of Commissioners is scheduled to approve the agreement at its regular 7 p.m. meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 7.
To read more about this issue, read the Aug. 8 edition of the Barrow Journal.
To read more about this issue, read the Aug. 8 edition of the Barrow Journal.
Look for election results here tonight
Tuesday, July 31. 2012
THE big day is here. After weeks of politicking, thousands of signs and a lot of the usual political hot air, voters will end the Primary season when polls close at 7 p.m. tonight. Elections supervisor Monica Franklin is predicting a turnout of 20-25 percent. In-person absentee voting ended at 7 p.m. Friday, with 1,839 people casting ballots. Another 200 had returned paper absentee ballots as of Friday evening, but paper ballots may be brought to the elections office all of the way up until the polls close at 7 p.m. Tuesday. The Democrats have no contested local primary races, but Republican voters will pick five nominees — in districts 1, 2 and 3 of the Barrow County Board of Commissioners, District 8 of the Barrow County Board of Education, and for Barrow County Chief Magistrate. Of those, the District 3 BOC nominee will be the only one facing Democratic opposition in November’s general election.
Election results will be posted on BarrowJournal.com tonight. [Full Story »]
Election results will be posted on BarrowJournal.com tonight. [Full Story »]
County's voter turnout surprisingly low — so far
Tuesday, July 31. 2012
Despite a decent number of advance voters, turnout so far today for Barrow County's primaries has been below expectations. Ken Young, chairman of the Barrow County Republican Party, said he was surprised when he arrived at the Winder Community Center to vote during the lunch hour and there was hardly anyone else there.
"The lady said I had just missed a big bunch of people," Young said. "It's hard to tell. It seems to me like turnout may not be as high as we thought it would be."
Barrow County elections supervisor Monica Franklin confirmed Young's impression.
[Full Story »]
"The lady said I had just missed a big bunch of people," Young said. "It's hard to tell. It seems to me like turnout may not be as high as we thought it would be."
Barrow County elections supervisor Monica Franklin confirmed Young's impression.
[Full Story »]
Historic Winder church destroyed in blaze
Friday, July 27. 2012
A Thursday night fire, apparently caused by a lightning strike, destroyed a restored, historic church near downtown Winder. The Sanctuary of the Holy Spirit on Center Street is the site of the old Methodist church. The building was constructed in 1904 and was painstakingly restored by the current congregation several years ago. Winder fire chief Matt Whiting said the cause of the fire will not be known for certain until his department conducts an investigation. But he said the blaze occurred during a short-lived, but intense, lightning storm that arrived in the city sometime after 10:30 p.m. on July 26. When city firefighters responded to a report of heavy black smoke coming from the top of the church, they discovered flames on the left side of the roof. Whiting said they attempted to go inside the building, but the fire was too far advanced. They went back outside, and their task then became to contain the destruction to the church itself and to prevent the flames from spreading to nearby businesses and homes.
"With an old building like that, when the fire breaks through the roof, there is very little we can do because of the wood and materials and the way it was constructed," Whiting said. "So our efforts were to protect the houses and businesses around it, and we were successful doing that. But unfortunately the church is destroyed." Every piece of the city's firefighting equipment was used, and Barrow County Emergency Services also responded with engines and emergency medical units staffed with personnel who also fight fires. A county source said that at the time of the church fire, there were so many emergency calls throughout the county, mostly due to lightning strikes, that BCES had to request "mutual aid" assistance from Jackson County. Whiting said no one was injured in the blaze.
"With an old building like that, when the fire breaks through the roof, there is very little we can do because of the wood and materials and the way it was constructed," Whiting said. "So our efforts were to protect the houses and businesses around it, and we were successful doing that. But unfortunately the church is destroyed." Every piece of the city's firefighting equipment was used, and Barrow County Emergency Services also responded with engines and emergency medical units staffed with personnel who also fight fires. A county source said that at the time of the church fire, there were so many emergency calls throughout the county, mostly due to lightning strikes, that BCES had to request "mutual aid" assistance from Jackson County. Whiting said no one was injured in the blaze.
Busy morning on final day of early voting
Friday, July 27. 2012
About 110 early voters cast ballots on the final morning of early voting for the July 31 primaries and other elections.
That brought to 1,667 the number of people voting in person as of noon Friday. That is off slightly from the 1,842 people who voted early and in person for the 2008 county primaries.
The opportunity to cast advance absentee ballots ends at 7 p.m. today. All early voting is at the county government's administration building at 233 E. Broad St.
That brought to 1,667 the number of people voting in person as of noon Friday. That is off slightly from the 1,842 people who voted early and in person for the 2008 county primaries.
The opportunity to cast advance absentee ballots ends at 7 p.m. today. All early voting is at the county government's administration building at 233 E. Broad St.
Historic Winder church destroyed
A Thursday night fire, apparently caused by a lightning strike, has destroyed a restored, historic church near downtown Winder.
The Sanctuary of the Holy Spirit is the site of the old Methodist church. The building was constructed in 1904 and was restored by the current congregation several years ago.
Firefighters from Winder and Barrow County responded to the blaze.
For updates, please check back throughout the day.
The Sanctuary of the Holy Spirit is the site of the old Methodist church. The building was constructed in 1904 and was restored by the current congregation several years ago.
Firefighters from Winder and Barrow County responded to the blaze.
For updates, please check back throughout the day.
Possible mail scam making the rounds
Tuesday, July 24. 2012
Barrow County Superior Court Clerk Regina McIntyre is alerting the public about an apparent mail scam that is causing local property owners some unnecessary worry.
“We have been receiving phone calls from people stating that they have received some official looking letters stating that these Barrow County citizens need to purchase copies of their deeds from them at a cost of $80.00+,” she said in an email to the newspaper. “If this is not a scam, it is at least highly unethical.” [Full Story »]
“We have been receiving phone calls from people stating that they have received some official looking letters stating that these Barrow County citizens need to purchase copies of their deeds from them at a cost of $80.00+,” she said in an email to the newspaper. “If this is not a scam, it is at least highly unethical.” [Full Story »]
Recent Comments