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Tara Baker’s family speaks out about arrest in cold case

By
Joy Purcell
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Tara Baker's mother, Virginia Baker, speaks during a press conference at GBI headquarters in Decatur on Monday, May 13, 2024. Her daughter Meredith Baker Schroeder stands at her side. (GBI livestream image)

23 years after the murder of Tara Louise Baker, her family finally has some answers.

“I’m so grateful, I want people to know that prayers work,” Baker’s mother Virginia said. “Don’t ever stop praying, don’t ever stop having hope in your heart, because it can happen.”

At a press conference held Monday at GBI Headquarters in Decatur, Baker and her family expressed their relief following the recent arrest of Edrick Lamont Faust, a suspect in the case.

“We grieve for Tara. We grieve for those we lost along the way still waiting for answers. We grieve for the new generation that will never truly understand how amazing their Aunt Tara was. And we grieve for the Faust family,” said Tara’s sister Meredith Baker Schroeder. “While we understand that this is the first step of many, we are grateful for this day.”

Cold case unit formation and breakthrough

GBI Director Chris Hosey, Athens-Clarke County Police Department Chief Jerry Saulters, FBI-Atlanta SAC Keri Farley, Western Judicial Circuit DA Deborah Gonzalez, and State Representative Houston Gaines joined the Baker family for the May 13 press conference.

At the time of her murder, Tara was 23 and a first-year law school student at the University of Georgia. Her legacy lives on in the Coleman-Baker Act, which the state legislature unanimously passed in 2023.

Named for Rhonda Sue Coleman and Tara Baker, the bill, which Gov. Brian Kemp signed into law, has been “significant in addressing cold cases and providing a process for reviewing and investigating unsolved murders in Georgia,” Director Hosey said.

He expressed gratitude to the GBI Cold Case Unit, created in July 2023 to investigate unsolved homicides. He also thanked the other agencies that assisted in solving the crime, including the Athens-Clarke County Police Department (ACCPD), Georgia State Patrol, and FBI.

“For over two decades, investigators have worked tirelessly to find answers for the family and friends of Tara Louise Baker and bring some amount of closure and healing to this horrific incident,” Hose said. “With an arrest in this investigation last week, it is my prayer this process has begun.”

Law enforcement’s message and a mother’s plea

On January 19, 2001, Tara Louise Baker was found dead in her Athens apartment after a fire was intentionally set. In September of 2023, the GBI Cold Case Unit partnered with the ACCPD to conduct an in-depth review and analysis of the ongoing investigation. This partnership led to Faust’s arrest. Authorities charged the 48-year-old Athens man with murder, aggravated assault, arson, and aggravated sodomy.

“For many years, I have hoped the Baker family would find justice for the loss of Tara,” said Chief Saulters, who was an officer at the crime scene in 2001. “This is a case that has lived with me throughout my career at ACCPD. I remember being there during that horrific time. Seeing this case now full circle, I appreciate the hard work of the detectives, from then and now. Knowing that the evidence collected at that time contributed to the arrest today gives me tremendous pride in all the officers who worked this case over the years.”

“The recent events in the Tara Baker investigation also send a strong message that justice has no expiration and law enforcement in Georgia will never stop seeking answers to these tragic events,” said Hovey.

Before leaving the press podium, Baker’s mom made a final appeal to the people of Georgia.

“Please think of our Tara sometimes and the remarkable person she would have become. Hers was a life so full of promise.”

Peak cicada season arrives in Georgia

By
Chaya Tong
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Close-up of a Cicada. 13-year periodical cicada from Brood XIX emerging in North Carolina April 2024. (Adobe Stock)

(Georgia Recorder) — Turns out the solar eclipse wasn’t the only rare natural phenomenon in store for 2024. Instead of looking up at the sky, Georgians should prepare themselves to look down at the ground – or maybe in the trees. Because this summer’s spectacular isn’t the moon or the sun, it’s a whole lot of bugs.

The special kind of cicada that only emerges from underground every 13 years is set to surface by mid-May this year and will appear in at least a dozen states in the Southeast, including Georgia.

Nationwide, this year’s batch of cicadas is particularly exciting because two types of periodical cicadas, which have black bodies, red eyes, and orange-tinted wings, will emerge at the same time. One of these broods is “The Great Southern Brood,” the largest periodical cicada brood in North America. Millions of periodical cicadas will emerge in Georgia as part of Brood XIX. By early June, the periodical cicadas will die off, replaced with the annual cicadas Georgians are used to that can last as long as November.

‘They’re harmless’

Nymphs, or baby cicadas, normally live below ground, eating the sap from hardwood tree roots. But every 13 years, they emerge and spend their adult lives above ground for a couple of weeks. Most of the cicadas will be concentrated in northwest Georgia outside of heavily concentrated metro areas. “It will be like having a National Geographic right in your own backyard,” Michael J. Raupp, emeritus professor of entomology at the University of Maryland, said. “You won’t have to travel to Africa to have seen some spectacular event because it’s going to happen right in the suburbs of the major cities of Georgia.”

Nancy Hinkle gets a close look at a Great Southern Brood cicada, a special kind that only emerges from underground every 13 years. It is set to surface by mid-May this year and will make an appearance in at least a dozen states in the Southeast, including Georgia. (Courtesy Nancy Hinkle)

With millions of cicadas crawling around, some may be tempted to flee the state. But entomologists who study cicadas say there’s nothing to fear. “They’re harmless. They can’t bite, can’t sting and are not poisonous. They’re not going to harm us. They can’t harm plants. They’re not going to do anything to your garden or your lawn,” Nancy C. Hinkle, an entomologist at University of Georgia who studies cicadas as a hobby said. “So no reason to be concerned. Just enjoy them.”

Cicadas play an important role in the ecosystem, transferring the biomass they eat from trees to the rest of the animal kingdom as birds and small mammals feed off of them.

“Everything out there is getting an extra boost of nutrition this year,” Hinkle said, adding that Georgia will see increased populations of deer, turkey, and other wildlife next spring because this year’s wildlife got extra nutrition from the large cicada population this summer. When the cicadas die, their bodies fertilize plants and return nutrients to the soil.

Life and death in the digital age

Entomologists urge everyday citizens who see cicadas to take photos and upload them to iNaturalist, a wildlife database that researchers around the country can pull from when investigating brood XIX. For researchers like Evan Lampert, a biology professor at the University of North Georgia, researching the distribution and timing of periodical cicadas, modern technology will make all the difference in studying cicadas in 2024 versus the last time they appeared in 2011.

“This is the largest emergence in Georgia and it’s really the first emergence of this brood in Georgia since a lot of the online citizen science has been around. Yes, there were smartphones back in 2011. But iNaturalist was just barely used at the time and Cicada Safari didn’t exist,” Lampert said. “This is our first chance to really get people all over the state involved in posting pictures and sending records in.”

Periodical cicadas will live among humans for just a short time before dying off.

“It’ll be both life and death that people have had an opportunity to witness. They’re going to see all the elements that go into the natural world in terms of birth and death and song and romance,” Raupp said.

Entomologists urge Georgians to take advantage of this unique natural phenomenon.

“It’s kind of like the eclipse that we had last month,” Hinkle said. “You only get a chance, maybe five, maybe six times in your life to actually see these cases emerging.”

Star witness in Trump trial tells of plot to conceal porn star hush money payments

By
Ashley Murray
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Former U.S. President Donald Trump attends his trial for allegedly covering up hush money payments at Manhattan Criminal Court on May 7, 2024, in New York City. Trump has been charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records, which prosecutors say was an effort to hide a potential sex scandal, both before and after the 2016 presidential election. Trump is the first former U.S. president to face trial on criminal charges. (Sarah Yenesel-Pool/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON (States Newsroom) — Donald Trump’s former fixer took the stand in a Manhattan courtroom Monday and told jurors that Trump was well aware of a scheme to hide the repayment of money intended to silence porn star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 presidential election.

Michael Cohen, the prosecution’s star witness, told the jury that he used a home equity loan to pay $130,000 to Daniels’ lawyer, trusting a promise from Trump — then a Republican candidate for the presidency — that he’d be repaid.

The criminal trial, the first ever for a former president, centers on Trump’s reimbursement to Cohen and whether Trump illegally covered up the hush money as routine legal expenses, a felony in New York.

Trump is charged with 34 felony counts for each alleged falsified business record related to his repayment to Cohen — 11 invoices, 11 checks and 12 ledger entries.

Cohen has already served time in prison for several federal crimes, including campaign finance violations in relation to the hush money deals with women who alleged sexual affairs with Trump. He was sentenced to three years in August 2019, but did not serve the entire sentence.

Cohen’s intense loyalty to Trump fizzled after the then-president distanced himself. The former fixer is now an outspoken Trump critic and has published books titled “Disloyal” and “Revenge,” and produces a podcast called “Mea Culpa.”

Cohen was called to the stand just days after Daniels, an adult film actress and director, described in lurid detail her alleged sexual encounter with Trump in 2006, the affair at the heart of the payments in question.

GOP senators show up as moral support

Journalists at the courthouse reported that Trump, the presumed 2024 Republican presidential candidate, was sleeping at times during the trial Monday and shaking his head in response to some of Cohen’s testimony.

New York does not allow recording in the courtroom but provides public transcripts of the proceedings.

Trump was accompanied by Republican U.S. Sens. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama and J.D. Vance of Ohio, considered to be on the short list as Trump’s running mate. Republican U.S. Rep. Nicole Malliotakis of New York also joined the senators and spoke to the media outside the Lower Manhattan courthouse.

Florida’s GOP Sen. Rick Scott made an appearance in the courtroom last week.

Prior to Monday’s proceedings, Trump delivered remarks to the press with Tuberville and Vance, among others, behind him.

Trump defended his payments to Cohen and blamed the charges on the Biden administration despite the indictment coming down from the state of New York.

“A legal expense is a legal expense. It’s marked down in the book quote ‘legal expense,’” Trump told reporters, making air quotes with his hands.

“This all comes from Biden in the White House by the way,” he added.

Worries about ‘Access Hollywood’ tape

Cohen testified that he wanted to protect Trump from further alienating women voters just weeks before the November election, according to reporters at the courthouse.

A story about Trump’s alleged extramarital affair with Daniels reaching the public shortly after the revelation of the “Access Hollywood” tape would have been “catastrophic,” Cohen said.

The tape, published by the Washington Post just a month before the 2016 presidential election, showed Trump bragging to “Access Hollywood” host Billy Bush that fame allowed him to grab women’s genitals.

The tape caused upheaval in the Trump camp as Election Day approached, former Trump spokesperson Hope Hicks testified on May 3.

Prosecutors showed phone records, texts, and emails of Cohen’s frantic attempts to quash stories of Trump’s alleged trysts with Daniels and with former Playboy model Karen McDougal, according to journalists witnessing the testimony.

Cohen testified for several hours about communications with David Pecker, former National Enquirer publisher; Keith Davidson, the attorney for both Daniels and McDougal; and Hicks — all of whom took the stand during the trial’s preceding weeks.

Phone records revealed a five-minute call between Cohen and Trump on Oct. 28, 2016, at 11:48 a.m., during which Cohen told the jury that he assured Trump “that this matter is now completely under control and locked down,” according to reporters at the courthouse. The phone call occurred on the same date Cohen signed the agreement with Daniels and Davidson.

The jury also saw records of a wire transfer from Cohen’s shell company Essential Consultants to Davidson, the purpose of which was to “to pay Stormy Daniels to execute the non-disclosure agreement and to obtain the story, her life rights,” Cohen said, according to reporters at the courthouse.

‘Legal services rendered’

By late afternoon, Cohen began to testify about Trump’s direct knowledge of the plan for reimbursement. The plan was hatched with the Trump Organization’s longtime chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg, who is currently in prison for crimes related to Trump’s civil fraud trial, which wrapped up in New York in February.

Jurors saw handwritten notes from Weisselberg detailing plans to get the money back to Cohen. This was the second time the jury has seen the notes, as Jeffrey McConney, the Trump Organization’s longtime controller, testified to them on May 6.

Just before the court broke for the day, Cohen testified that he and Weisselberg went to Trump’s 26th-floor office when Trump was president-elect and received Trump’s approval for the reimbursement plan, according to reporters in the courthouse. Cohen said Weisselberg had instructed him to submit a series of invoices over 12 months and to label them “legal services rendered.”

The prosecution’s direct questioning of Cohen is expected to resume Tuesday.

Weisselberg is serving time at Rikers Island after pleading guilty to committing perjury during Trump’s civil fraud trial. The former financial officer for Trump had already spent three months at Rikers for tax fraud offenses stemming from the same case.

Christopher Brett Webb

By
Now Habersham
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A Celebration of Life for Christopher Brett Webb, 37, is scheduled for Saturday, May 18, at 2 p.m. at the First Presbyterian Church Cornelia in Cornelia, Georgia.

He died March 31, 2024, while stationed at Fort Riley, Kansas.

Christopher graduated in 2005 from Habersham Central High School in Mt. Airy. In 2010, he enlisted in the U.S. Army and served as a combat medic (68W). He was an SSG stationed at Fort Riley, Kansas, and dedicated more than 14 years to the U.S. Army, including serving in Operation Iraqi Freedom. Throughout his military career, he received numerous awards and accomplished many feats. Christopher had the opportunity to live in various places and travel extensively. Additionally, he obtained an associate degree in health sciences from Purdue University Global. Christopher enjoyed spending time with his family and watching college football, especially his favorite team, the Georgia Bulldogs.

Christopher is survived by his parents: mother, Rosanne (Daniel) Short, and father, Troy (Cathy) Webb from Cornelia, Georgia; his grandmother, Emilee Chastain of Clayton, Georgia; stepsisters, Melissa (Raphael) Mayberry of Hoschton, Georgia, and Abby (Bryan Higdon) Short of Clarkesville, Georgia; an aunt, Vickie Webb (Frank Johnson) of York, South Carolina; uncle, Tim (Maria) Chastain of Baldwin, Georgia; aunt, Julie (Darryl Pitts) of Tiger, Georgia; and many cousins, nieces and nephews who cherish memories of his smiles, quick wit, playfulness, humor and tenderness.

Christopher was the grandson of the late Nancy Collins Kilby of Clayton, Georgia, and the late Dr. Jimmy Chastain of Martin, Georgia.

Donations in Christopher’s honor may be made to the nonprofit A New Veteran – a free education and self-reflection framework to help veterans understand their entitlements – at [email protected].

Announcement courtesy of McGahee-Griffin & Stewart Funeral Home, Cornelia, Georgia.

From communism to Christianity, couple changes lives

By
Nora Almazan
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Tamara, Gabor, Mara, and Gabo, missionaries from Budapest, Hungary. (submitted)

To hear their story, one would think the words came from a novel read in a Book Club. For over 20 years Mara and Gabor Madarasz have been spreading the Word of Jesus Christ in Budapest, Hungary, having both grown up in communism. The couple ministers to high school and college students. Currently, the couple is visiting the United States for six weeks to update sponsors on the ministry.

From communism to Christianity

Married for 17 years, with two children Gabor and Tamara, the couple works for CRU, which was formerly known as Campus Crusade for Christ. They both grew up in communism, which did not fall in Hungary until 1989. Mara’s family was not Christian and she remembers well being shown pictures of Vladimir Lenin and Joseph Stalin which depicted the men as heroes. “Lenin was my childhood hero. I used to imagine situations that could happen, and Lenin coming to save everyone,” Mara explained.

As a child, Mara remembers the “big black car” which would come and take people away never to be seen again. “Neighbors spied on neighbors. Families turned family members in. Anyone who spoke against communism and was caught, disappeared,” Mara added.

Mara and Gabor Madarasz share the love of Jesus Christ to students in Hungary. (submitted)

She remembers the amazing treat of a banana. Her mother would wait in line for hours once a year to get 5 bananas for their family. Every day she and her brother waited for the bananas to turn yellow. It was such a treat. Mara knows now that her father knew that communism wasn’t right, but he protected his family by teaching them that it was.

Christianity was illegal

Gabor’s family lived in a tumultuous environment because they were Christians. His grandfather held an underground church. He was a professor at a University in Budapest teaching math and physics. One day he was called in for questioning by the University. They had learned he was a Christian and gave him three days to choose between his job or Christianity. “My grandfather told them he didn’t need three days,” Gabor said. “He immediately said he chose Christianity.” Gabor described how his grandfather lost his job and was never able to teach anywhere again. There were seven children in his home and his wife but God provided everything they needed and protected them.

The seven children described the moment when he came home and told them he no longer had a job as life-changing. “They knew Jesus Christ was real if their father was willing to sacrifice everything for Him. My grandfather’s decision taught us that Christianity is much more than a religion,” Gabor added. Some of the seven children, as they got older, ended up in prison because of their faith, but they were all able to escape eventually.

Students meet together to learn about the gospel. (submitted)

Mara came to know Christ in college. “I had questions about religion. I did not understand what it was about. My roommate had a Bible, and one day the Campus Crusade for Christ (now CRU) came to visit her.”

Witnessing to others

Mara said her roommate was studying at the library, so Mara invited the college students in, saying she would like to talk to them. Because of their visit that day, Mara became a Christian and developed a lifelong love for Christ and ministry. “That is what motivates me to work every day for CRU. If it weren’t for the visit that day, I would not have accepted Christ as my Savior and the rest is history.”

Mara’s brother was a Neo-Nazi. When Mara became a Christian, his anger toward her was extreme. The two argued often and eventually did not speak to one another. Her parents also did not like her decision and were scared for her because of all they had heard about Christianity.

Her brother believed he belonged to a superior race, and he had a strong hatred for Jews and gypsies. One day, her brother contacted her and told her he believed she may be right. Mara asked him what he was talking about and he said he was talking about sin. Before, he did not think that he had ever sinned but something was changing.

Istvan Kis, Mara’s brother, left his Neo-Nazi life to full-time ministry. (submitted)

Mara left him books and a Bible which he read and called her. He told her that he understood now but because of all the horrific things he had done, he didn’t believe he could be forgiven. “I explained to him that 1/2 of a drop of blood from Jesus washed all of his sins away,” she said.

Her brother did not know how he could ever love a Jew or gypsy. She prayed with her brother and he accepted Christ as his Savior. Today, he is in full-time ministry and one of the Pastoral Leaders of the Hungarian Gypsies.

There is a documentary on her brother in Hungary about his transformation from a skinhead to a preacher.

Programs in Hungary

Gabor and Mara run a camp called Speak Out for students in Hungary. They hire students from the United States to come as English tutors. Many of the campers come to know Christ as a result of attending camp. “Recently, I met one of our campers from years ago. She was married with children and a leader of ministry in her church. She had learned about Christ through the camp,” Mara said.

Mara meets with students one-on-one to share about Jesus Christ. (submitted)

The couple relies upon donations and sponsorships through CRU to live and work as missionaries in Budapest. “It is a team effort. So many people say they could never travel abroad and witness for Christ. This way, we are all working together through prayer, donations, sponsorship, and our boots on the ground in Budapest. Together we bring people to Christ,” Gabor added.

After 20 years of working as missionaries, the couple realizes the impact made when partners come together with them. It is humbling for Mara and Gabor to express the lives that have come to know Christ and been changed through CRU.

“Our greatest joy is helping newcomers to Christ grow in their faith,” Mara said with a smile.

 

 

 

 

$753,200 drug bust in Hall County

By
Staff Report
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Weapons, drugs, and guns authorities say they seized from a home southeast of Gainesville. (Hall County Sheriff's Office photo)

A southeast Gainesville man was arrested on drug charges after investigators said they found three-quarters of a million dollars worth of drugs in his possession.

Daniel Hernandez, 36, is facing charges of trafficking marijuana, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, possession of THC oil with intent to distribute, possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, possession of psilocybin, and possession of marijuana.

Daniel Hernandez

Hall County Sheriff’s investigators and Homeland Security agents said they found the drugs while executing a search warrant at Hernandez’s home in the 3000 block of Wallace Road on Thursday, May 9.

According to a news release from the sheriff’s office, investigators found about 65 pounds of marijuana, 450 THC edibles, 60 ounces of THC oil, 2,870 grams of THC moon rocks, 11 THC vapes, and 18 grams of psilocybin, also known as magic mushrooms. They also found five guns, two cars, and about $156,000 cash.

The drugs have an estimated street value of $753,200.

The drugs and cash were seized from the home and from a storage unit that was also in Hernandez’s name.

Hernandez is being held at the Hall County Jail without bond, and the investigation remains ongoing.

Alto runaway found safe

By
Staff Report
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The Habersham County Sheriff’s Office says an Alto teen who went missing last week has been found safe.

Over the weekend, authorities released a social media post asking the community for help locating 17-year-old Paton Carter. He was reported missing from his home on Newcastle Drive Friday night, May 10.

The sheriff’s office did not reveal where or how Carter was found. In an updated social media on post Monday, May 13, officials thanked those in the community who helped spread the word about the missing teen.

Early primary voting ends May 17

By
Joy Purcell
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(Jerry Neace/NowHabersham.com)

If you plan to vote early in Georgia’s primary, this is your last week to do it. Early voting ends Friday, May 17th.

Primary election day is Tuesday, May 21st.

According to Georgia’s Election Data Hub, just over 286,000 ballots have been accepted statewide since early voting began on April 29th, resulting in a 4.1% voter turnout.

Regional turnout

Early voting has been slow but steady across Northeast Georgia, with regional voter turnout at around 6%.

Data from the Georgia Secretary of State’s election website shows Rabun County with the highest turnout so far, at 14.8%, trailed by Towns (13.8%), Union (13.2%), and Stephens (11.2%).

(Source: Georgia Election Data Hub)

Many of the region’s local races will be decided in the primary.

In Habersham County, for instance, only Republican candidates qualified to run for county commission and school board. Voters wanting a say in those races must request a Republican primary ballot. Georgia has an open primary, so voters may request whichever ballot they choose.

For more information on early voting, contact your local elections office. Contact information is listed on the My Voter Page on the state election website.

Georgia linemen showcase skills at rodeo

By
Staff Report
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Habersham EMC Rodeo team members are, front from left, Tucker Dyer, Dillon Welborn, Tanner Wade, and Robert Morris. Back row from left, HEMC Vice President of Engineering and Operations Josh Allen, Isaac Wall, and Chris Chapman. (HEMC photo)

For the past 30 years, the Georgia Lineman’s Rodeo has provided a platform for linemen across the state to showcase their skills and talent while also competing for safety awards.

This year, the Rodeo took place at Camp John Hope FCA-FCCLA Center in Fort Valley, Georgia. The competition included a variety of events, including hurtman rescue, arrestor and insulator changeout, and two mystery events.

HEMC journeyman team prepares to compete at the Georgia Lineman’s Rodeo in Fort Valley, GA, on Saturday, May 4, 2024. (HEMC photo)

The journeymen team from Habersham EMC brought home several awards, including first place in the hurtman rescue event. The team placed third in the journeyman known event.

Chris Chapman coached team members Dillon Welborn, Tucker Dyer, and Robert Morris. HEMC’s Tanner Wade competed in the apprentice category. He was coached by Isaac Wall.

HEMC Director of Operations Cody Thomas says the competition gives linemen a chance to demonstrate their skills and knowledge, while also learning from one another.

“The competitors spent time practicing, but it is their everyday jobs that prepare them for the competition,” said Cody Thomas, HEMC Director of Operations. “We showcase the skills that HEMC employees use every day, and we bring back different techniques that we observe from our fellow competitors.”

Habersham Community Theatre sets stage for Rumors

By
Nora Almazan
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HCT

It is the hilariously funny Neil Simon’s comedy Rumors directed by Chris Bryant and Mary Decker and Habersham Community Theatre’s latest production.

The entertainment starts when a gunshot is fired at the home of the Deputy Mayor of New York on the eve of the couple’s tenth-anniversary party. When the guests arrive to find the Mayor shot and his wife is nowhere to be found, the guests begin a quest to try and solve the mystery without involving the police. The rumors created make the play a night to remember.

Habersham Community Theater’s opening night is May 23 at 7:30 p.m. The production will run from May 23rd through May 26th and May 30th through June 2nd. Times are 7:30 p.m. on the 23rd – 25th and 30th through the 1st. May 26th and June 2nd are starting at 2 p.m.

Tickets are $25 for adults and $15 for teens/students. The show is recommended for ages 13 and up due to the language and adult themes. You can call the box office at (706) 839-1315 or purchase online.

 

 

HABCO BOE set to approve its FY 2025 Budget, discuss school renovations

By
Jerry Neace
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The Habersham County Board of Education will consider approving its FY 2025 budget at its Monday May 13 meeting. (Habersham County Board of Education livestream)

The Habersham County Board of Education (BOE) will meet Monday to approve its FY 2025 annual budget and discuss renovations at two elementary schools.

The BOE will consider approving its FY 2025 General Fund budget of $97,042,115, an increase of $8,328,863 over the FY 2024 budget. Of the $8.3 million increase, $7,980,261 are for employee raises and benefits.

Teachers will receive a $2,500 pay raise and classified employees will receive a 4.1% salary increase. Staff salary increases will be $2,116,070.

Health insurance benefits increased as well for the school district. For FY 2025, health insurance costs increased by $2,479,320 when compared to FY 2024.

Another increase in salaries for the FY 2025 General Fund budget will be the retention of 41 employees that were hired with federal funds. In 2020, school systems received the ESSER III ARP Federal Grant to hire employees to assist students that may have been impacted due to school closings during the pandemic. That grant will expire on September 30, 2024. The cost in retaining those employees will impact the general fund to the tune of $2,348,575.

The school district operates 14 schools. It is made up of 28 departments and has 1,212 employees. The school district instructs 7,190 students.

School renovations

The BOE will consider approving Carroll Daniel Construction Company as the design build firm for renovations to two elementary schools. Hazel Grove will see all of the building’s windows replaced. The current windows were installed when the school was built in the mid-1950’s.

Woodville will see renovations to the office area and renovations within the building that will add three classrooms. The school also will have built a more secure entryway.

According to Assistant School Superintendent Patrick Franklin, the cost for the renovations will not be known for at least a month. Once the design phase is completed, the school board will receive ,for their approval, a guaranteed maximum price for the renovations at the two schools.

Last year, Carroll Daniel Construction began the addition to Clarkesville Elementary School that will add 10 new classrooms and a renovated cafeteria and kitchen. The addition will accommodate the additional students the school will receive as the school district grows. The Clarkesville Elementary School expansion cost the school board approximately $11 million.

The Habersham County Board of Education will meet at 6:00 p.m. Monday May 13. The meeting will be held in the Board Meeting Room at 144 Holcomb Street in Clarkesville.

HABCO Senior Center grows with North Georgia Technical College

By
Rob Moore
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North Georgia Technical College horticulture teacher Scotty Peppers helps plant box gardens in the Habersham County Senior Center greenhouse. (Rob Moore/Habersham County)

Spring has sprung, leaving many people thinking about growing food and decorative plants.

At the Habersham County Senior Center near Demorest, members there are no different.

With the addition of a greenhouse built by Frank Riley of Chestatee-Chattahoochee Resource, Conservation, and Development, Senior Center members now have planted their spring crops.

Graduating horticulture student Allison Collins of North Georgia Technical College has been working with the senior center on the greenhouse growing project.

“When I showed up, there was just empty beds and I have filled them with soil and we’ve had a pretty prolific lettuce garden since probably January,” Collins said. “It’s been growing pretty well in here. We have just added in some parsley and cilantro and the clients here have added in their own tomatoes among other stuff.”

(Rob Moore/Habersham County)

Lettuce grown in the greenhouse already has been harvested twice, while new plants were put in by members on May 2.

“It’s grown really nicely here,” Collins said. “As far as I know, all of the clients that are affiliated with it are excited about it and happy with it.”

Scotty Peppers, horticulture program director at North Georgia Technical College and currently the sole horticulture instructor, said the partnership came about as the result of a suggestion from a lady in the Soque River Garden Club, who mentioned to him that the Habersham County Senior Center had a new greenhouse.

“They were just looking for somebody to give them a hand, help them get some plants in here, and just sort of help them maintain and manage the thing,” Peppers said. “I thought it was a great idea. My students need internships, so I thought this was a perfect internship fit. I brought Allison out here and she enjoyed it and wanted to do it.”

Collins, who is moving home to take over her grandfather’s cattle farm in middle Georgia, said she’s glad she overcame personal uncertainty to get involved in the project.

Mae Holt listens as North Georgia Technical College horticulture graduate Allison Collins discusses planting seeds outside the Senior Center greenhouse. (Rob Moore/Habersham County)

“When my teacher offered me this opportunity, I was unsure at first,” Collins said. “It just felt like the right thing to do, and it really has been a blessing to me to be of service to elderly people because I have a lot of respect for those people.”

Peppers said the college helped the Senior Center start from scratch to bring the greenhouse to life.

“There wasn’t anything in here when we got started earlier this year,” Peppers said. “We’ve got some water hoses out here now. We’ve got plants in the beds. We filled them up full of soil and fertilizer that we brought, and I hope to keep this going indefinitely now because it’s a good location to the school and I’ve always got students that need internships as we have a requirement for the program.”

Collins also praised the horticulture program from which she received her associate degree.

“There are lots of job opportunities in horticulture,” Collins said. “My goal is to be a market gardener and sell produce at farmers markets.”

Her experience at the Habersham County Senior Center supported that goal.

Peppers said there are opportunities for both traditional and nontraditional students in a variety of horticulture applications at NGTC.

Brenda King and Joyous Jones watch as North Georgia Technical College Horticulture Program Director Scotty Peppers helps relocate a plant. (Rob Moore/Habersham County)

Commercial growing, greenhouses, and retail garden work are one aspect, while another is landscape maintenance and landscape design.

Peppers said it’s not too late to get involved in horticulture, even if a person did not do so straight out of high school or is older.

Peppers’ classes currently are diverse – “a good mix of young folks fresh out of high school, a good mix of folks in their early to mid-20s that maybe didn’t go to school originally and now have decided to go to school and get some paperwork and a degree, and I’ve got a healthy – 20 to 30% of the students are retired, maybe in their 50s, and this is like either a second career or just a hobby for them and they just want to learn how to grow their own vegetables and food on their own property.”

Peppers said he is in the process of getting the college’s half-acre garden certified organic.

“I teach a small-scale food production class, really focused on the beginning farmer/homestead aspect,” Peppers said.

Rob Moore is the public information officer for Habersham County

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