Sunday, May 19, 2013
Reviewing some top stories from Suwanee and Gwinnett.
Click on the links below for more information. WOOFSTOCK RETURNS: The annual extravaganza aimed at dogs held sway at Town Center Park again. SUWANEE FARMERS MARKET: The first fair weather weekend for the market in 2013 was a chance for a new vendor to shine -- King Of Pops. GWINNETT SETS SPLOST MEETING WITH CITIES: City and county leaders are scheduled to meet to discuss projects for a possible new SPLOST program. NEW EVENT AT MUSIC BARN: Everett's Music Barn hosted a two-day benefit that featured more than bluegrass, its signature attraction. TAX INCREASE FROM GWINNETT SCHOOLS?: In approving its 2013-14 budget, the state's largest school system said a tax increase might be necessary. -- What were some of your favorite stories recently? …
Follow our live blog and coverage beginning at 10 am.
President Barack Obama will give the commencement address on Sunday at Morehouse College, and Patch will be covering the event live. Obama is expected to make his remarks at approximately 11:30 am. Patch's live coverage will begin at 10 am. Readers can follow our live blog, ask questions and post their comments and observations. We'll also be running various polls throughout the morning. After the event, Patch will feature a wrapup of the president's speech and reactions to it. According to Morehouse, this will be the very first time a "sitting President has given a May commencement address in Georgia, and the first time in three-quarters of a century that one has delivered any commencement speech in Georgia." You can also follow our …
Saturday, May 18, 2013
Know before you go: Here's a link to all the Suwanee Patch stories on health checks.
On display in front of City Hall, the piece is to be sold at bid on May 25.
Saturday's Arts in the Park festival in Suwanee will be the last chance for some people to view the piece of the Berlin Wall that's on display in front of City Hall. Unless you buy it at auction on May 25, also in Suwanee. According to a news release, the 8,000-pound artifact of the Berlin Wall, which came down in 1989, will be sold at an auction May 25, 4:30 p.m., in Suwanee. The auction will take place on the amphitheater stage at Town Center. The 12-foot slab is one of the assets seized by a federal receiver of Atlanta investment advisory firm Lighthouse Financial Partners. The firm's owner/operator pleaded guilty in federal court to wire fraud, for defrauding 57 of his clients out of millions of dollars. The receiver (Hays Financial …
Friday, May 17, 2013
Law enforcement agencies will be participating in the event.
With the 2013 summer boating and recreational season near, authorities at Lake Lanier are gearing up to stress boating safety. A Boating Safety Awareness Day will be held at Lake Lanier on Saturday, May 18, 10 a.m.-4 p.m., to help increase awareness of boating safety issues, according to a news release from lake officials. The event will be held at the Sunset Cove area. Several local law enforcement agencies will attend, as well as lake partner agencies and local retailers, the release said. Complimentary vessel safety inspections will be conducted by the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary. Boating safety concerns have increased after several high-profile deaths occurred on the lake in 2012. Buford youths Griffin and Jake Prince and Atlanta youth …
The meeting would be the beginning of the formal process of possibly calling for a referendum on the 1 percent sales tax.
Updated 2:50 p.m. Moving beyond the preliminary phase, Gwinnett County officials have asked to meet with officials from cities in the county regarding a possible SPLOST vote in November. The meeting is set for Tuesday, June 4, at the Gwinnett Justice and Administration Center in Lawrenceville, according to Suwanee and Gwinnett officials. Suwanee City Council members were told of the meeting Thursday (May 16) at a workshop. Also, Suwanee Mayor Jimmy Burnette said that Gwinnett Commission Chairman Charlotte Nash appeared at a recent Gwinnett Municipal Association (GwMA) meeting for a "listening session." Burnette is on the GwMA executive committee. -- Do you favor extending the Gwinnett SPLOST program? Why or why not? Share your thoughts in …
The school board adopts $1.763 billion FY 2014 budget and tentatively adopts 1.30 mills increase in tax millage rate.
After holding the line in the face of declining revenue in recent years, the Gwinnett County Board of Education anticipates having to raise the tax millage rate to fund the fiscal year 2014 budget. The school board adopted a FY 2014 balanced budget totaling $1.76 billion, a decrease of $12.8 million or 0.7 percent from the 2013, at its meeting Thursday (May 16) at the Instructional Support Center in Suwanee. The board also tentatively adopted an increase of 1.30 mills in the tax rate. Despite “a tremendous downturn in the economy we’ve been able to have the millage rate unchanged for some time,” said Rick Cost, chief financial officer for Gwinnett County Public Schools. -- How do you feel about the new Gwinnett Schools budget? The millage …
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
The 2013 legislation lowers Georgia's BUI limit for boaters and hunters, and adds boating safety regulations.
It's official: As of Wednesday (May 15), a new Georgia law regarding the Boating Under the Influence legal limit and other boating safety regulations is in effect. According to a Lake Lanier website, state officials will attend information sessions at local marinas around the state Wednesday. The visits will culminate at Laurel Park in Hall County, where Gov. Nathan Deal will give an address at 2 p.m. The new regulations are contained in Senate Bill 136, which Deal signed into law in April. Portions of the bill are named for late Buford youths Griffin and Jake Prince, and late Atlanta youth Kile Glover. The youths were killed in boating or watercraft-related accidents on Lake Lanier in 2012. The legislation lowers the legal blood-alcohol …
Sunday, May 12, 2013
Reviewing some top news stories from the Suwanee area.
Click on the links below for more information: MULTI-USE PATH APPROVED: The Gwinnett Commissioners did their part in approving funds for a multi-use path from Peachtree Industrial Boulevard to Buford Highway. It's the latest of several transportation projects approved for Suwanee. GAMBLING ARREST: A Suwanee man was among those arrested when Gwinnett Police Narcotics and Vice officials conducted a gambling raid on a Duluth bar. GWINNETT BRAVES: Jason Heyward became the latest Atlanta Braves player to check in at Coolray Field on an injury rehab assignment. RAPE SUSPECT APPREHENDED: A Gwinnett man who had been at large was located in Duluth. HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL: The 2013 schedules were released for Suwanee schools, who regularly are in the …
Saturday, May 11, 2013
FAA chief makes an announcement on funding.
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Saturday, May 11
The control tower at Gwinnett County-owned Briscoe Field will remain open at least through September, according to a Federal Aviation Administration announcement Friday (May 10). FAA Director Ray LaHood said in a statement: ... the recently enacted Reducing Flight Delays Act of 2013 will allow the FAA to transfer sufficient funds to end employee furloughs and keep the 149 low activity contract towers originally slated for closure in June open for the remainder of fiscal year 2013. The federal government's fiscal year ends Sept. 30. Briscoe Field's control tower, which is maintained by the FAA, had been among 149 towers nationally that were slated to be closed under federal budget cuts known as sequestration. Citing economic and safety …
