Special to the Times-Courier

alsummers@timescourier.com

Agents from the Zell MillerMountain Parkway DrugTask Force (DTF) have madean arrest and charged oneperson with trafficking theillegal drug, methampheta-mine.In a press release to the

Times-Courier, the DTFreported it had arrested JohnMatthews, 33, of Cartersville,and charged him with thecrime.According to the DTF press

release, agents had been con-ducting a four- month investi-gation into a methampheta-mine trafficking operation.The operation is based out ofa neighboring county, but the

methamphetamine was beingdelivered to Fannin, Gilmerand Pickens counties in theAppalachian Judicial Circuit.A surveillance on

Matthews was being conduct-ed, and information wasobtained that he was headingto Gilmer County to possiblymake a delivery. Matthewswas followed to the East Elli-jay Walmart where hestopped. Agents from the DTF,

Gilmer County Sheriff ’sdeputies, and East EllijayPolice officers approachedMatthews to question him.During the investigation 61grams of methamphetaminewere discovered. Themethamphetamine has anapproximate street value of

close to $6,000. At that timeMatthews was arrested.A spokesperson for the

DTF told the Times-Courier,“We have made arrests inFannin and Pickens countieswithin the last four weekswho are all connected to thesame organization. We con-tinue to receive informationon other local individualsinvolved with this organiza-tion. This investigation is stillongoing and we anticipatemore arrests in the future. So

far, close to 150 grams ofmethamphetamine headedto the local distributor hasbeen seized.”The Zell Miller Mountain

Parkway Drug Task Force issupported by the GilmerCounty Sheriff ’s Office andthe local district attorney’soffice.DTF agents ask if you

have any illegal drug infor-mation to call 1-866-920-6384. All calls are consid-ered anonymous.

County to runcollections in 3-month trial

by Ryan R Rees

rrees@timescourier.com

Finally. The board of com-missioners finally reachedan agreement for handlinghousehold garbage at a spe-cial called meeting lastWednesday.Beginning April 4, resi-

dents using county-operat-ed compactors will pay $1per 32-gallon bag. Also, onthat date, the four com-pactors closed at the first ofthe year will reopen on athree-day schedule, Mon-day, Wednesday and Satur-day from 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.The other three sites will be

open six days a week from7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. In addi-tion, the Tower Road loca-tion will be open Sundaysfrom 1 to 6 p.m. to accom-modate weekend visitorsand the cabin rental indus-try.The county will operate

the facilities on a three-month trial basis.The garbage issue has

been discussed for severalmonths with several propos-als put forth. One, privatiz-ing the operation, is stillopen for discussion butAdvanced Disposal Sys-tems, which is under con-tract through December2014 for hauling collectedgarbage, said it would haveto charge $1.50 per bag or10 cents a pound if it han-dled the program.

by Whitney Crouch

wcrouch@timescourier.com

Editor’s note: Members of

the Gilmer County Board of

Education (BOE) voted to

close Oakland Elementary

School at their Tuesday,

March 8 meeting. Because the

action came at the press dead-

line Tuesday night, a full

story on the closing of Oak-

land and other BOE decisions

will appear in next week’s edi-

tion of the Times-Courier.

The Gilmer County Boardof Education held two publichearings last week. Approxi-mately 75 people were pres-ent for the first meeting,which was held the evening of

Tuesday, March 1, in theGilmer High School auditori-um. A slightly smaller crowdattended the second hearingat 9 a.m., Wednesday, March2, in the Ellijay ElementarySchool auditorium. During both meetings, par-

ents, educators and commu-nity members shared theirthoughts and concerns aboutthe school system’s proposedrestructuring plan, whichincludes the closing of Oak-land Elementary School(OES). At Tuesday’s hearing, the

comments included a state-ment by Sharon Rogers, whoaccused the BOE of rubber-stamping decisions and calledthem “fairly disinterestedobservers.” She also predictedthat they will see “an evengreater firestorm” when therest of the county sees howthe restructuring plan works. Similarly, former OES prin-

cipal Jim Parmer describedthe BOE’s restructuring planas “a heartless reaction tostate funding formulas” andcalled instead for system-wide budget tightening.“Are you willing to sacrifice

the education of our chil-dren?” he asked. “Don’t giveup our children, our future.”Several individuals

expressed concerns that theBOE has not had time toproperly look into this issue,the implications of their planand what the public wants.They asked for the boardmembers to wait a probation-ary year before making anydecision about OES. Former BOE member

Ronald Watkins stated, “Hon-estly, we did not see this com-ing. This is not one person’sfault … just hard times.” Tim Chadwick commented

BOE votes to close Oakland

VOL. 136 • NO. 10 • U.S.P.S. NO. 630-280 March 10, 2011 EST. 1875 • CONSOLIDATED 1916 • 50 CENTS

Your Hometown Newspaper Devoted To The Progress Of Gilmer County

Region baseballbegins March 11

See Sports 1C

Parent resourcecenter unveiled

See Around Town 1D

Gilmer Relay forLife preps for May 13 event

See Gilmer Living 1B

In this issue...

Ellijay Lions Blood DriveThursday, March 10 • 12–6pm

Ellijay Lions Club1729 South Main St. • Ellijay, GA

National/State Roundup............2A

Editorial .....................................3A

Church News/People .............6–8A

Chairman’s Report .....................9A

Obituaries ..........................10–11A

NGCA Famous Speaker ............12A

Gilmer Living..............................1B

Legals ..................................3–10B

Sports ....................................1–4C

Focus on Education................5–6C

Health & Fitness..................7–10C

Arrests .....................................11C

Dixie Divas ...............................12C

Around Town...............................1D

Calendar/Movies/Puzzles .........2D

TV Guide ....................................4D

Girl Scout Week .........................5D

Classifieds ...........................6–10D

See Oakland page 4A See Trash page 4A

by Al Summers

alsummers@timescourier.com

The residents of the Cityof Ellijay will go to the citypolls next Tuesday, March15, and decide whether toallow dining establishmentsto sell and pour distilledspirits or not. The measurefailed by eight votes in 2006.In the 2006 election only 198of the city’s 631 registeredvoters turned out to vote.

In 2006, the county wasstill rolling along on the tailof economic bliss like neverbefore. Businesses sur-rounded the downtownsquare.

But the year 2011 bringsa totally different picture.

The economic bonanza hasbecome a thing of the past.Some empty storefronts facethe downtown square. A fewdedicated eateries survivealong River Street andNorth Main Street. NorthMain is also holding its ownwith antique stores. Someowners have mentioned thatit is month-to-month withthem.

It is hoped by some mem-bers of the Ellijay CityCouncil and others who sup-port the alcohol-by-the-drink idea that, if passed,tax revenue derived fromalcohol sales will help offsetany future tax increases.

It will be up to the citi-zens of Ellijay to decide this

question. The residents ofEast Ellijay approved themeasure in 1999, and theyhave been able to attract anumber of restaurantsbecause the alcohol by thedrink option is available.East Ellijay also allows twostores to retail sell distilledspirits. Package sales of dis-tilled spirits in Ellijay arenot a component of nextweek’s referendum.

Those against the alcoholpouring referendum citeincreased crime, increasedcases of motorists drivingunder the influence of alco-hol and the amount of rev-enue to be derived will notoffset the cost of adding dis-tilled alcohol to city dining

establishments if they sodesire it.

One supporter of the dis-tilled alcohol by the drinkproposition said, “The morepeople who visit downtownand stay for a meal and adrink, the more revenue thecity derives. It will then beup to citizens to make surecouncil members do notincrease budgets, but passalong the extra revenue inthe form of tax cuts.”

Early voting continuesthrough Friday, March 11, atEllijay City Hall until 4 p.m.

Voting on March 15 willtake place at the GilmerCounty Civic Center. Pollswill open at 7 a.m. and closeat 7 p.m.

Ellijay alcohol by the drink vote set

for next Tuesday, March 15

One arrested for trafficking meth

News Brief

Early voting through Friday for

Ellijay alcohol referendumEarly voting for the referendum that would allow the

pouring of distilled spirits in the city of Ellijay will contin-ue at Ellijay City Hall through Friday, March 11. Votingwill be allowed from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. Those wishing tovote must show identification.The special referendum will be held next Tuesday, March

15. The city polling precinct next Tuesday will be at theGilmer County Civic Center. Polls will open at 7 a.m. andclose at 7 p.m.

BOC agrees to $1/bagtrash program