Sunday Edition June 30, 2019 BARTOW COUNTY’S ONLY DAILY NEWSPAPER $1.50 Bartow County proposes INSIDE Allatoona Overlay District Th e 2019 BY JAMES SWIFT junk vehicles. Summer [email protected] “This should be our nicest part of the county on the lake, this edition of the The way Bartow County Zon- would be our highest value real ing Administrator Brandon John- estate,” he said, “and it’s not.” Th e Daily son sees it, the southernmost part A desire to change that is the of the county abutting Lake Alla- impetus behind what County offi - Tribune News’ toona ought be the most coveted cials describe as the proposed “Al- magazine, piece of property in Bartow. latoona Overlay District,” which Instead, it’s one of the most would cover large swaths of Bar- Discover heavily blighted parts of the com- tow’s southern tip from Cherokee RANDY PARKER/THE DAILY TRIBUNE NEWS munity, pockmarked with dilapi- Street to Twin Pines Road. County offi cials have plans for a new “Allatoona Overlay Bartow dated mobile homes and car lots District” that would impact developments in southern Bar- that are essentially boneyards for SEE ZONING, PAGE 8A tow. DA discusses Holiday drug cases, BEAUTY AND THE BEAST brings mental increased health at public forum GSP BY JAMES SWIFT presence, [email protected] When it comes to crime in closings Bartow County, Cherokee Ju- dicial Circuit District Attorney BY DONNA HARRIS Rosemary Greene said one com- [email protected] mon factor shows up time and time again. With the Fourth of July being “I tell grand jurors when I on a Thursday this year, the holi- meet with them that probably day period will be more than three somewhere around 85% of all times longer than last year as res- crime in Bartow County — and idents make a long weekend of it. really, across the United States And that means more hours for — is involved in a drug case,” impaired, distracted or reckless she said. “And by that, I don’t RANDY PARKER/THE DAILY TRIBUNE NEWS drivers to wreak havoc on Geor- mean it is a drug case, but most Several images by photographers Phyllis Burchett, left (“Down To There Hair”), and Richard Calmes (“Lady In Red”) gia’s roadways. are on display at the Summer 2019 Photo Fence exhibit in downtown Cartersville. of our thefts, our sexual offenses, This year, the holiday travel pe- domestic violence, they all have riod is 102 hours long, beginning drug undertones to that.” at 6 p.m. Wednesday and ending at Greene, who serves as the The Photo Fence highlights ballerinas, horses 11:59 p.m. Sunday, July 7. lead prosecutor for Bartow and The Georgia State Patrol and Gordon counties, was the guest BY MARIE NESMITH “I had met both of these photogra- daylong photo shoot at Old Car City motor carrier compliance division speaker at Tuesday evening’s [email protected] phers over the past fi ve years and great- U.S.A. in White. are encouraging everyone to cele- Bartow Diversity: Open Forum ly admired their work. Then it hit me. “It was mid-August and a humid 95 brate Independence Day responsi- meeting at the Cartersville Civic Referred to as “stunning,” The Pho- These two photographers had bodies of degrees,” she said about Calmes’ Old bly and safely. Center. to Fence’s second exhibition showcases work that exemplify that comparison.” Car City setup. “One of the shots he had “With a record number of trav- While she said methamphet- the artistic images of Richard Calmes’ Installed June 11, the 31 photographs ‘pre-visualized’ was a ballet leap from elers hitting the roadways this amine is still the biggest drug ballerinas with Phyllis Burchett’s will be on display through mid-Oc- hood to hood. What a contrast: a gor- holiday, we want everyone to problem prosecutors are seeing equine photographs. Bearing the theme tober. Described by Henderson as geous, feminine dancer and a very rusty pack a load of patience for traffi c in the local courts, Greene not- “Beauty and the Beast,” the display is “straightforward realism,” she shared old car. Such creativity on his part. delays and to put safety fi rst by ed that how the drug is being situated along the fence at Founders the images are captured with one shot. “The ‘best’ setup he located was un- following the posted speed lim- manufactured — and by whom Oak Plaza in downtown Cartersville. “There [were] so many to select from fortunately in full sunshine, tangled it, not driving while impaired, — has changed over the last two “The fi rst Photo Fence last fall con- but it was important that the chosen with vines and summer bugs — possibly making sure all occupants are decades. sisted of images submitted by anyone images fi t together as a body of work,” snakes and yellow jacket nests — and restrained and keeping your “In Bartow County now, we that fi t the theme ‘Joy and Happiness’ Henderson said. “Then of course it rusted weak old car hoods. He lightly hands off of your cellphones,” don’t have a lot of individuals and refl ected a good sense of photog- was important to balance imagery, inspected the hoods’ condition, helped said Col. Mark W. McDonough, who are making methamphet- raphy,” said Lynn Henderson, curator color, and shape and content. For ex- the ballerina climb onto the bumper commissioner of the Georgia amine,” she said. “When I started of The Photo Fence. “The entries were ample, horses splashing through water and waited while she tested her ability. Department of Public Safety, in a as a prosecutor back in the early juried for fi nal selections. This sec- are placed next to ballerinas splashing The rusty metal was extremely hot and press release. “State troopers and 2000s and then through there, we ond Fence goes to the other end of the through water.” in poor condition; she made that leap at offi cers will be on high-visibility saw meth labs all the time.” spectrum by selecting photography of As Henderson noted, she was well least fi ve times in order to ‘get it right.’ I patrols during the 102-hour hol- Rolling meth labs and “shake professional photographers who have acquainted with the two photographers, was worn out from just watching.” iday period in an effort to keep and bake” hotel operations are excelled in specifi c genres, which are having attended an eight-hour work- almost unheard of now. Rather, totally different but similar. shop of Burchett’s in 2015 and Calmes’ SEE FENCE, PAGE 3A SEE JULY 4, PAGE 2A Greene said the bulk of the com- munity’s supply is being import- ed from south of the border. “You’re not seeing it produced locally,” she said. “We are having an infl ux of that coming in now AES teacher fulfi lls goal of being an author from Mexico — that’s what’s made it so cheap.” BY DONNA HARRIS ago, Walker said she can “still remember the plot” [email protected] of her story. SEE GREENE, PAGE 2A “It was a great plagiarized mash-up of ‘The Most people aren’t fortunate enough to know Goonies’ and a Goosebumps book I had fallen in what they want to accomplish in life when they’re love with that year,” she said. “I worked so hard on only in second grade, but Kayla Walker was one of it and wrote an entire page and a half, which is a those lucky few who did. big deal to a second-grader.” Encouraged by her teacher, the Adairsville na- But what happened after she fi nished the story RANDY PARKER/DTN tive knew she wanted to be an author when she made an even bigger impression on her. Author Kayla grew up, and she achieved that goal March 5, “I will never, ever forget my teacher, Mrs. Har- Walker, who when her fi rst novel, “Ain’t Nothin’ but the Devil,” rison, telling my mother what a great story it was writes under was released by Limitless Publishing. and how one day, I would be an author,” she said. the pen name Lorelai Watson, “I’ve wanted to be an author from a very young “That was the exact moment I knew that I wanted shows off her age,” said Walker, who writes under the pen name to be a writer. I cannot explain how wonderful that fi rst novel, “Ain’t Lorelai Watson. “When I fi nally got to hold a hard moment felt, but I remember it clearly 22 years Nothin’ but the copy of my book, it was a dream come true. Tears later. It’s a powerful reminder to me, as a teacher, Devil.” Walker might have been involved.” that our words, no matter how simple, can have also teaches A fi fth-grade reading and writing teacher at such a huge impact on children.” fi fth grade at Adairsville Elementary, Walker, 30, said her love Walker’s 388-page novel centers on Madeleine, Adairsville Ele- of crafting characters and plots began when her who’s life as the wife of a billionaire was anything mentary School. second-grade teacher gave the students an assign- but the fairy tale it appeared to be on the outside. JAMES SWIFT/DTN ment to “write our own story.” Her marriage was failing, and her depression Cherokee Judicial Circuit “There were no rules, just complete freedom to drove her to the brink of suicide, but a glimmer of District Attorney Rosemary Greene spoke at Tuesday’s write,” she said.