http://www.ajc.com The latest headlines from AJC en-us Copyright 2008, Cox Newspapers Inc., AJC Fri, 22 Aug 2008 01:40:18 EDT Newspapers COXnet RSS Generator v1.0 http://img.coxnewsweb.com/C/08/17/52/image_1352178.jpg http://www.ajc.com 5 http://www.ajc.com/services/content/metro/cherokee/stories/2008/08/19/holly_springs_molest.html?cxtype=rss&cxsvc=7&cxcat=13 http://www.ajc.com/services/content/metro/cherokee/stories/2008/08/19/holly_springs_molest.html?cxtype=rss&cxsvc=7&cxcat=13 Tue, 19 Aug 2008 23:28:20 EDT Police tracked a Holly Springs man to Arizona to arrest him for molesting two young girls. On Tuesday, Christian Gunther III, 45, pleaded guilty to two counts of child molestation. Gunther was sentenced to 30 years in prison and will serve a mandatory 16 years. http://www.ajc.com/services/content/metro/cherokee/stories/2008/08/13/habitat_stolen_tools.html?cxtype=rss&cxsvc=7&cxcat=13 http://www.ajc.com/services/content/metro/cherokee/stories/2008/08/13/habitat_stolen_tools.html?cxtype=rss&cxsvc=7&cxcat=13 Wed, 13 Aug 2008 12:08:04 EDT Cherokee County sheriff's detectives on Tuesday returned about $5,000 worth of stolen tools to Habitat for Humanity, the Georgia-based non-profit organization that builds homes for people in need. The commercial-grade tools were taken in April from a trailer parked at a Habitat job site in Milton, Cherokee sheriff's Sgt. Jay Baker said. The tools were among stolen items recovered last month from a home off Holbrook Campground Road in Cherokee County, Baker said. http://www.ajc.com/services/content/metro/cherokee/stories/2008/08/10/soldier_memory_loss.html?cxtype=rss&cxsvc=7&cxcat=13 http://www.ajc.com/services/content/metro/cherokee/stories/2008/08/10/soldier_memory_loss.html?cxtype=rss&cxsvc=7&cxcat=13 Tue, 12 Aug 2008 11:05:31 EDT Scott MacKenzie recalls little of his past. His parents remember every detail. The young Marine corporal relies on Robert and Nan MacKenzie to fill in the gaps in his memory. His mother made a scrapbook of baby pictures and tells him about his childhood. Bits and pieces come back, he said, in a slide show of flashbacks. "I remember my younger sister Savannah was born at 6:29 p.m. and weighed 6 pounds 3 ounces, " he said at his Canton home on a recent furlough. "But I met someone I grew up with and I didn't know his name." http://www.ajc.com/services/content/metro/cherokee/stories/2008/08/11/whatever_Scott_Sission_.html?cxtype=rss&cxsvc=7&cxcat=13 http://www.ajc.com/services/content/metro/cherokee/stories/2008/08/11/whatever_Scott_Sission_.html?cxtype=rss&cxsvc=7&cxcat=13 Sun, 10 Aug 2008 18:03:56 EDT Scott Sisson once faced a 37-yard field goal with seven seconds remaining to upset the nation's top-ranked team in front of 49,700 screaming fans. But his toughest crowd? His son's second-grade class on career day. http://www.ajc.com/services/content/metro/cherokee/stories/2008/08/08/cherokee_car_breakins.html?cxtype=rss&cxsvc=7&cxcat=13 http://www.ajc.com/services/content/metro/cherokee/stories/2008/08/08/cherokee_car_breakins.html?cxtype=rss&cxsvc=7&cxcat=13 Fri, 8 Aug 2008 10:54:29 EDT A string of car break-ins in Cherokee County has authorities on alert. Within the last month, six cars have been broken into during the middle of the day, the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office said. The suspects have gained entry by smashing the windows and then taken purses. The majority of the break-ins have taken place at public parks or fitness centers while the victims have been playing with their children or working out. The suspects then immediately went to local retail stores to purchase gift cards with stolen credit and debit cards. http://www.ajc.com/services/content/metro/stories/2008/08/04/school_starts.html?cxtype=rss&cxsvc=7&cxcat=13 http://www.ajc.com/services/content/metro/stories/2008/08/04/school_starts.html?cxtype=rss&cxsvc=7&cxcat=13 Wed, 6 Aug 2008 10:08:00 EDT Summer ended early for thousands of metro Atlanta school children who returned to classes Monday in four districts. School bells rang Monday morning signaling the start of the 2008-2009 academic year in Cherokee, Douglas, Henry and Rockdale counties. Students in those districts got a week's headstart on an even larger number of school children elsewhere around the metro area who get one more week to wind down their summer break. http://www.ajc.com/services/content/metro/cherokee/stories/2008/08/05/cherokee_summer_school.html?cxtype=rss&cxsvc=7&cxcat=13 http://www.ajc.com/services/content/metro/cherokee/stories/2008/08/05/cherokee_summer_school.html?cxtype=rss&cxsvc=7&cxcat=13 Tue, 5 Aug 2008 14:38:42 EDT More than half of Cherokee students who attended summer school to get ready to retake state reading and math exams passed on the second try, according to data released Tuesday by the district. Ninety percent of students who failed the Criterion Referenced Competency Test in math or reading took another shot at it this summer. Overall, 54 percent made the passing mark. Passing rates varied by grade level and subjects. http://www.ajc.com/services/content/metro/cherokee/stories/2008/08/01/colbert_apology_canton.html?cxtype=rss&cxsvc=7&cxcat=13 http://www.ajc.com/services/content/metro/cherokee/stories/2008/08/01/colbert_apology_canton.html?cxtype=rss&cxsvc=7&cxcat=13 Fri, 1 Aug 2008 08:14:24 EDT After hyperventilating into a brown paper bag, Comedy Central host Stephen Colbert issued a "rare apology" to the Cherokee County city after calling it "crappy" on national television last month. The tossed off barb originated when Colbert was describing presidential candidate John McCain's travel schedule, saying "And Canton, and not the crappy Canton in Georgia. I'm talking about Canton, Ohio!" On Wednesday's episode, Colbert told viewers: "Evidently, I offended some people because two days later, I saw this in The Atlanta Journal Constitution," holding aloft our "Colbert's 'Crappy Canton' Comment Puzzles Mayor" story written by AJC reporter Jamie Gumbrecht. http://www.ajc.com/services/content/metro/cherokee/stories/2008/07/31/skydiver_ymca.html?cxtype=rss&cxsvc=7&cxcat=13 http://www.ajc.com/services/content/metro/cherokee/stories/2008/07/31/skydiver_ymca.html?cxtype=rss&cxsvc=7&cxcat=13 Thu, 31 Jul 2008 16:26:23 EDT A metro area YMCA plans to name its climbing tower for a Georgia Tech student and former camp staffer killed in a skydiving accident. The 60-foot structure will become the Reid Ashe Memorial Climbing Tower on Tuesday when the Cherokee Outdoor Family YMCA at Lake Allatoona in Woodstock is scheduled to hold a 7 p.m. farewell to Olen Reid Ashe III. Toby Bramblett, YMCA executive director, described Ashe as a "rock for this facility" in his role as action learning coordinator. For the past two summers, Ashe, of Richmond, Va., managed the YMCA's climbing towers and lead off-site climbing trips. http://www.ajc.com/services/content/metro/cherokee/stories/2008/07/28/arrowhead_development.html?cxtype=rss&cxsvc=7&cxcat=13 http://www.ajc.com/services/content/metro/cherokee/stories/2008/07/28/arrowhead_development.html?cxtype=rss&cxsvc=7&cxcat=13 Mon, 28 Jul 2008 23:38:13 EDT After years of being virtually dormant, an enormous portion of Cherokee County is on the cusp of a major makeover. A Texas-based developer that helped transform Cherokee with two huge planned communities now is pumping millions of dollars into Lake Arrowhead in the northwest corner of the county. The development covers in excess of 8,000 acres — more than 40 times the size of Piedmont Park. With two successful projects in Cherokee complete — Towne Lake and BridgeMill — Johnson Development Corp. is plunging deep into what once was one of metro Atlanta's last rural hinterlands. http://www.ajc.com/services/content/metro/cherokee/stories/2008/07/25/stolen_property_found.html?cxtype=rss&cxsvc=7&cxcat=13 http://www.ajc.com/services/content/metro/cherokee/stories/2008/07/25/stolen_property_found.html?cxtype=rss&cxsvc=7&cxcat=13 Fri, 25 Jul 2008 20:53:11 EDT A Cherokee County man is out on bond after authorities say they found more than 200 stolen items — including three luxury cars and dozens of commercial-grade tools — in his garage. Deputies arrested Christopher James Antkowiak, 34, on July 17 and charged him with five counts of receiving stolen property, Sgt. Jay Baker said Friday. Antkowiak was released on $32,000 bond the next day. Baker said deputies found dozens of commercial power tools, three Mercedes vehicles, two ATVs, a tree chipper and dozens of boxes marked "Habitat for Humanity" on his property on Holbrook Campground Road. http://www.ajc.com/services/content/metro/cherokee/stories/2008/07/25/cherokee_schools_ayp.html?cxtype=rss&cxsvc=7&cxcat=13 http://www.ajc.com/services/content/metro/cherokee/stories/2008/07/25/cherokee_schools_ayp.html?cxtype=rss&cxsvc=7&cxcat=13 Fri, 25 Jul 2008 18:02:23 EDT Cherokee was one of only three metro-area school districts to successfully meet state testing standards in results released by the state Department of Education on Friday. Ninety percent of Cherokee's 33 schools made adequate yearly progress Three missed the mark: Polaris Evening School, Teasley Middle and Hasty Elementary. Since all of Cherokee's traditional schools made AYP last year, none are on the state's Needs Improvement list. An individual school or district that fails to make AYP two years in a row in the same area are put on the state's NI list and are on track for increasing state sanctions. http://www.ajc.com/services/content/metro/cherokee/stories/2008/07/25/cherokee_arrest.html?cxtype=rss&cxsvc=7&cxcat=13 http://www.ajc.com/services/content/metro/cherokee/stories/2008/07/25/cherokee_arrest.html?cxtype=rss&cxsvc=7&cxcat=13 Fri, 25 Jul 2008 13:00:19 EDT A Cherokee County man has been released on bond after allegedly being caught with stolen items - including three Mercedes automobiles and a John Deer all-terrain vehicle. The Cherokee County Sheriff's Office said the investigation began the week of July 17 with a tip that a stolen transformer could be found at a house on Holbrook Campground Road. At the house, investigators discovered more stolen property, including two stolen auto tags, the three Mercedes, the John Deer ATV, a Polaris ATV and more than 200 power tools and chainsaws. http://www.ajc.com/services/content/metro/cherokee/stories/2008/07/24/disaster_relief_rejected.html?cxtype=rss&cxsvc=7&cxcat=13 http://www.ajc.com/services/content/metro/cherokee/stories/2008/07/24/disaster_relief_rejected.html?cxtype=rss&cxsvc=7&cxcat=13 Thu, 24 Jul 2008 22:34:41 EDT Federal officials have rejected Cherokee County's appeal for federal disaster relief to cover uninsured victims of the May 20 tornado. The storm, which pounded the southeastern part of the county, caused $3 million in uninsured damage, more than four times the amount required by federal standards for disaster declarations. In his appeal, Gov. Sonny Perdue said "effective response and recovery is beyond the capabilities of the state and the affected local governments." The Federal Emergency Management Agency was not convinced. http://www.ajc.com/services/content/metro/cherokee/stories/2008/07/23/colbert_canton_comment.html?cxtype=rss&cxsvc=7&cxcat=13 http://www.ajc.com/services/content/metro/cherokee/stories/2008/07/23/colbert_canton_comment.html?cxtype=rss&cxsvc=7&cxcat=13 Wed, 23 Jul 2008 12:54:40 EDT Michigan has a Canton, just like Texas, Minnesota, Kansas, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, New York and North Carolina. None of those Cantons came up, though, when Stephen Colbert, host of "The Colbert Report" on Comedy Central, lauded the travel schedule of Republican presidential candidate John McCain. "I've got his schedule right here," Colbert said during Monday's show. "This week, Sen. McCain is rocking through Kennebunkport, Maine ... Rochester, New Hampshire ... Baltimore, Maryland. That means crabcakes! And Canton. And not the crappy Canton in Georgia. I'm talking about Canton, Ohio! Where he is hosting a ... finance reception."