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It’s football pickin’ timeIt’s time for
some football and The North-east Georgian is ready to get local fans in-volved in the college and NFL seasons.
The North-east Georgian offers the 2014 Pigskin Pickin’ Contest in each midweek edition. The contest features college and/or NFL games each week with fans getting a chance to pick the games and win a little cash.
In each Wednesday’s sports section for the next 14 weeks, the contest allows readers to pick college and NFL games with a chance to win $25 each week or $250 for a perfect entry.
The weekly games will appear in ads on the contest page. Each entry must include the name of the business sponsoring the ad along with the winner of the game (not the score). Entries that fail to have the name of the business alongside the game prediction will be automatically disqualifi ed.
Deadline for entry is 5 p.m. Friday before the start to that week’s game. Entries may be dropped off at The Northeast Georgian offi ce, located at 2440 Old Athens Highway in Cornelia. Entries may also be mailed to The Northeast Georgian but must be postmarked no later than the Friday before that week’s games and re-ceived no later than the following Monday. The mailing address is 2440 Old Ath-ens Highway, Cornelia, GA 30531.
Only one entry per person per week. Entries must consist of the offi cial entry blank printed in the newspaper. Photocopies will not be accepted. The winning entry will be the one with the greatest number of games picked correctly. In case of a tie, the tie-breaker game will be used to determine the winner.
Each weekly winner receives a prize of $25. In the event of a perfect entry, the grand prize is $250. A perfect entry will have winners of all games picked correctly, plus the winner of the tie-breaker game, plus the correct score of the tie-breaker game. Only one perfect entry prize can be awarded per week. In case of a tie, a random drawing will be used to determine the winning perfect entry. The decision of the judges is fi nal.
A wide-ranging group of 10 community members will make weekly picks as part of The Pigskin Pickin’ panel. The group consists of Carter Cain of Cain Ford, WCON 99.3’s Chris Black, Habersham County School Superintendent Matthew Cooper, South State Bank’s Matt McClurg, Burke Shea of Hayes Chevrolet, Tal-lulah Falls School Basketball Coach Jim Van Hooser, Habersham Central High School Head Football Coach Michael Pollock, HCHS Athletic Director Geep Cun-ningham, The Northeast Georgian’s Christina Santee and Habersham County Sheriff Joey Terrell.
$1 WeekendSEPTEMBER 5, 2014
The Northeast Georgian
INDEXClassifi eds 5-6BCalendar 12AOpinion 4ASports 1-3BTV 4BTwo sections, 20 pages
Volume 123, No. 23 DEATHS, 8AContact us706-778-4215
Fax706-778-4114
thenortheastgeorgian.com
Kenneth L. Anglin, 75Larry W. Holland, 63
Ethel G. Kenney, 94Xiengnoi Phorsavath, 70
$84 million generated in 2012By DONALD FRASER
While the economic woes of Georgia’s rural hospi-tals grab headlines, some medical institutions, such as Habersham Medical Center, continue to be a major, positive, local economic force.
In 2012, Habersham Medical Center generated more than $84 million in revenue for the local and state econ-omy, according to a recent report by the Georgia Hospi-tal Association. Total direct expenditure by HMC was $37,014,952, the report states.
During the same time frame, HMC was responsible for 400 people having full-time jobs. Total full- and part-time jobs were 487. HMC payroll was $26,828,800, according to GHA.
The 2012 economic impact report is from the most recent data compilation by GHA, a state-wide hospital trade association.
The GHA report also emphasized that in 2012, HMC provided approximately $6 million in uncompensated care for local patients.
HMC’s economic impact on Habersham County was provided in a Sept. 3 press release from the GHA.
“This new report shows that, as the state’s economy continued its slow rebound from years of economic downturn, Habersham Medical Center maintained an enormous positive impact on our local economy,” stated Jerry Wise, CEO of Habersham Medical Center, in the report. “We are so appreciative for the commu-
Medical center major economic engine in county
KIMBERLY BROWN/Staff
TIME TO HIT THE MIDWAY!The Chattahoochee Mountain Fair opens its gates this evening, ready to bring family fun to everyone. David Buenger of Peachtree Rides, left, David Coker of Toccoa, Jesus Rivera of Habersham County and Gary Grizzle of Dahlonega set up “The Dumbo” ride at the Habersham County Fairgrounds near Clarkesville on Thursday. There will be other brightly-colored midway rides, games of skill and two nights of rodeo activities. And that just starts the week. Other activities include car and tractor shows, plenty of livestock, art and photography contests for adults, crafts displays, vendors, and, this year, a dog show for children to show their best friend, nightly musical entertainment and plenty of tasty fair food for everyone to enjoy. The fair begins today and runs through Saturday, Sept. 13.
By KIMBERLY BROWN
Two new members, Haber-sham EMC and Georgia Power Co., have joined the Habersham Archway Partnership and will participate in the executive com-mittee.
During the Sept. 3 executive committee meeting, Archway Partnership facilitator Mike Mixon announced the new mem-bers. He said the two companies were approached when it seemed there would be a funding short-
fall for the partnership.“It looked like we may be one
funding partner short, so we put our minds together and thought of alternatives and reached out to a couple of different parties, and they agreed to come on board,” he said. “It’s perfect. We’ve got the whole group we’ve always had, plus two. It makes sense for them to be there, and we look for-ward to their representatives be-ing with us as we move forward.”
In other business, the execu-tive committee:
• Heard an update from execu-tive committee member Wade Rhodes about the Great Prom-ise Partnership. Rhodes said they had lined up 20-25 jobs for participating high school stu-dents. The students will earn high school credit while they are working part time;
• Heard an update from Arch-way Professional Rick Story about a trip he, Habersham County Commissioner Natalie Crawford and Archway Partner-ship Coordinator of Operations
Sue Chapman took to Athens to talk to public relations and ad-vertising classes. Story said they presented “basic information on Habersham County.” He said about 40 students will “some-what competitively” design a logo and come up with an adver-tising campaign for the county;
• Heard an update from Story about the partnership’s look into recycling. The original request came from the city of Demorest, for Archway to design a recy-cling program. It “boomed” into
a county-wide effort, Chapman said. Demorest Mayor Rick Aus-tin suggested a “phase-in” type project, where different recycla-bles are added over time.
Mixon suggested seeing if there is “enough interest” in es-tablishing a workgroup, which could consist of waste vendors, county and city representatives and others, to look toward de-signing a program for Demorest which could be expanded to be
Archway Partnership welcomes two new membersSee HMC, Page 14A
By LINDA ERBELECNI News Service
Mohammed Araim still can’t believe it happened.
The nephew of May Araim, the woman who was shot and killed in Helen on Sat-urday night, Aug. 16, said the fi rst thing family members said upon hearing that a bullet caused her death was, “We didn’t know she was back in Iraq.”
But she wasn’t in Iraq. She was looking in store windows in the town of Helen.
May Araim, 68, died of a bullet wound to the chest that Saturday evening, ac-cording to the White County coroner.
Glenn Patrick Lampien, 54, of Jasper,
was arrested and charged with involun-tary manslaughter. He was released on bail two days later.
Prior to being arrested, Lampien was treated at the Northeast Georgia Medical Center for a bullet wound in his hand. Ac-cording to the Helen Police, Lampien acci-dentally shot himself while handling his small-caliber pistol.
The same bullet continued across Main Street and struck Araim in her right arm and chest, police said. She died at the scene.
Araim’s nephew, Mohammed Araim of Lawrenceville, spoke to the White County News on Aug. 28 about his aunt.
SubmittedMay Araim, who died after being struck by a bullet in downtown Helen on Aug. 16, is shown at far left in this family photo taken by her nephew, Mohammed Araim, in front of the water fountain on North Main Street just 10 minutes before the shot was fi red. Beside her are Moham-med’s children and wife: Hameed, 12; Essra, 19; their mother Rola; and Talib, 17.
Woman killed in Helen was 11 days from taking oath of U.S. citizenship
See Archway, Page 2A
See Helen, Page 8A
A1
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published free of charge for the community. Information about area resi-dents and their achievements is also welcome.
Submissions should be typed or printed, and a name and phone number to call for more information should be included.
Accuracy Policy:� e Northeast Georgian strives to produce error-free news reporting.
When mistakes occur, it is our policy to correct them as soon as they are brought to our attention.
To request a correction, contact the publisher at 706-778-4215.In the event of errors in advertisements, � e Northeast Georgian will be
responsible only for the space occupied by the actual error. � e publisher assumes no � nancial responsibility for omissions.
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year. To research or review articles published more than one year ago, bound copies of the newspaper are available at the o� ce.
The Northeast Georgian
2A The Northeast Georgian Friday, September 5, 2014
Public meetings scheduledThe following public meetings are scheduled be-
tween Sept. 5-12.
Habersham County Airport Authority5 p.m. Monday, Sept. 8, in the commissioners’ con-
ference room at the Habersham County Administration Building.
Habersham County Board of Education6 p.m. Monday, Sept. 8, at the School Board offi ce
in Clarkesville. (Work session 4 p.m.)
Mt. Airy Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax forum
6 p.m. Monday, Sept. 8, at the Old School House. [Conducted by the Habersham Chamber of Com-merce.]
Clarkesville City Council 6:30 p.m. Monday, Sept. 8, at Clarkesville City Hall,
Washington Street.
Mt. Airy Town Council7 p.m. Monday, Sept. 8, at Mt. Airy Town Hall, Dicks
Hill Parkway.
Alto Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax forum
6 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 9, at Alto Town Hall, Gaines-ville Highway. [Conducted by the Habersham Chamber of Commerce.]
Alto Town Council7 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 9, at Alto Town Hall, Gaines-
ville Highway.
Cornelia City Commission7 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 9, at the Municipal Building,
Foreacre Street. (5:30 p.m. work session at City Hall Annex, Larkin Street)
countywide; • Heard an update from
Clarkesville Mayor Dr. Terry Greene about the health work group. He said they had a meeting about Farm to School, which is a “way to try to get local produce” into the three middle schools, and to get students interested in eat-ing healthier food. Eat-ing healthier and moving more are components in the program, Greene said.
He said they had gath-ered data from the com-
munity and “people are really interested in the ‘moving more’ part, and they’re really interested in doing outside activities” including nature walks, playground renovations and farmers markets. The group plans to build a web-site at gethealthyhabersh-am.org;
• Heard an update from Story about a substance abuse meeting, which in-cluded him, Chapman, local judges and “folks from the court system” to
discuss the idea of form-ing a workgroup around the drug prevention issue. Story said people in the court system, the treat-ment community and the faith-based community will be invited to join the workgroup.
Goals will be to create an inventory of state-cer-tifi ed treatment programs, to look at efforts of preven-tion in other communities, grant-funding potential, and best practices to bring resources together.
By KIMBERLY BROWN
During its Sept. 3 execu-tive committee meeting, the Archway Partnership executive committee dis-cussed the recently pro-posed Habersham County Economic Development Council and its relation-ship with Archway.
Through the Arch-way Partnership, a 501(c)(3) was created to handle funding of the EDC, and an organizational meet-ing for the EDC was held Aug. 12, though an Arch-way workgroup has not yet been formed for the project.
After the Aug. 12 meet-ing, there was confusion in the community about whether the EDC is a re-placement for Archway.
Habersham Archway Partnership Facilitator Mike Mixon stressed the two would run side-by-side.
He said eventually, “Archway will turn [the EDC] into its own orga-nization, and it should be something that will move forward for many years to come. It should be a suc-cessful program in the county.”
“There are many people interested in the [EDC], how it’s set up, how it’s go-ing to be funded,” Mixon continued. “Some of that is still to be determined. My personal opinion is Archway is going to be a viable entity here for a long time.”
He said it’s the job of the Archway Partnership ex-ecutive committee to “fo-cus our efforts on making the EDC a successful proj-ect and moving it forward in the future.”
J.R. Charles, economic development authority ex-ecutive director, said the general consensus after the Aug. 12 EDC meeting was “we move forward” in forming an Archway
workgroup to create the EDC.
The “underlying con-cern,” he said, was people wanted to know more detail, including “the by-laws, organization setup, funding, that kind of thing.”
Charles said Gail Thax-ton, president of North Georgia Technical Col-lege, is new chairwoman of the development authority board, and she asked him to write a white paper for that authority. He said the paper will focus on “vari-ous structures across the United States, how they’re funded, what the positions are, what the responsibili-ties of those positions are, and so forth.”
Habersham Chamber of Commerce Chairman and Archway Executive Committee Member Wade Rhodes told the group he wanted to “clear some-thing up.”
He said his passion for the EDC stems from “ev-ery one of our major com-panies” telling him they need help with workforce development.
“They all want to partic-ipate in a strategic plan for this community,” Rhodes said. “What amazed me was the strength of some of the companies we have in this community who want to get involved.”
Rhodes cited national-ly-owned companies such as Ethicon, Navitor and Magnolia Windows and Doors, which could be involved in economic de-velopment funding in the community, because “you never know until you ask.”
“In no way is the EDC competing with Archway,” he continued. “We’re part-ners in this. No city, board of education, hospital or people at North Georgia Tech, should have to make a decision to fund one or another, or to fund them both. If you are a funding
partner of Archway, you should have a place at the table at the EDC immedi-ately.”
He said he is trying to “empower the private sec-tor of industry we have in this community to sit at the table together and make a strategic plan for this community for the next 10, 15 or 25 years.”
“Archway and the EDC are hand-in-hand,” Rhodes said. “There are a lot of projects the EDC is go-ing to come up with, and they’re going to need help from Archway.”
Rhodes said passage of the next Special Pur-pose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) is “one of the most important we’ll ever have, because those projects are all economic-development driven.”
He said SPLOST proj-ects such as infrastruc-ture development along state Route 365 are “im-perative for economic growth,” and, “If we don’t get [SPLOST] passed, how are you going to fund that? You can’t put it all on the shoulders of the property owners.”
Other projects Arch-way has done are tied to SPLOST, he said.
“I felt the EDC is ex-tremely important in funding the [SPLOST] campaign so we can get it passed,” he said.
“I’ve heard it said, ‘The EDC will take up where Archway ends,’ but that shouldn’t have been said,” Rhodes said. “They need to run together, hand-in-hand, for the betterment of this community.”
Mixon said he believes the community “under-stands Archway and its process, though, he said, “People hear ‘EDC’ and they hear ‘Archway’ and some folks aren’t all that clear on it, but it’s impor-tant for the community to understand we’re try-
ing to move both of them forward. Archway is go-ing to be here as long as the members want it to be here. ... I hope EDC can be one of those things we talk about as a successful workgroup that came out of Archway.”
Thaxton said people had expressed confusion to her “about the rela-tionship between the de-velopment authority, the Habersham Chamber of Commerce and the EDC” as well as the municipali-ties’ Downtown Develop-ment Authorities.
“There’s confusion about how all of that works together,” she said.
“I don’t know there is an answer yet,” Mixon said. “That’s part of the process.”
County Extension Co-ordinator and Archway Executive Committee Member Steven Patrick advocated for having an Archway workgroup to work on the EDC.
“This is one of the only places in the county...all the community leaders come to this table at one time to discuss things, and I don’t know very many places that happens. We’ve been doing small projects for individual communi-ties, but this (EDC) could be the thing that drives us to really make a commu-nity wide impact.”
Rhodes said the exist-ing industry breakfast will be held 7:30 a.m. Sept. 23, Community House in Cornelia. He said Tim Ev-ans, economic director for Hall County will talk about EDC, how it func-tions and how it’s part of the chamber of commerce.
Archway executive committee discusses Economic Development Commission, Archway relationship
Archway From Page 1A
Youth Fishing Days set at Buck Shoals Sept. 20
CLEVELAND – Smithgall Woods State Park invites children and their special “big person” out to Buck Shoals to fi sh in a lake stocked with catfi sh, bass and bream, from 8 a.m.-noon Saturday, Sept. 20.
Fish caught (ask about limits) from the lake can be kept. Bring your own bait and rod (no corn). This is a spe-cial opportunity to see the property and fi sh on the lake.
Youth Fishing Days at Buck Shoals will continue the third Saturday of the month through September. Cost: $5 park pass per vehicle.
Call Smithgall Woods at 706-878-3087 for more infor-mation and for directions.
Board of Education Meeting Information
The October Board of Education Meeting date has changed. The Board of Education will meet on October 20, 2014 at Hazel Grove Elementary School. Meeting dates and locations for the remainder of 2014: September 8 Board Room October 13 October 20, 2014 Hazel Grove Elementary School November 10 Board Room December 15 Cornelia Elementary School For each meeting date the work session is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. with regular meeting scheduled for 6:00 p.m. The Board Room is located at 132 Stanford Mill Road, Clarkesville.
Board of Education Meeting Information
The October Board of Education Meeting date has changed. The Board of Education will meet on October 20, 2014 at Hazel Grove Elementary School. Meeting dates and locations for the remainder of 2014: September 8 Board Room October 13 October 20, 2014 Hazel Grove Elementary School November 10 Board Room December 15 Cornelia Elementary School For each meeting date the work session is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. with regular meeting scheduled for 6:00 p.m. The Board Room is located at 132 Stanford Mill Road, Clarkesville.
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