Shannon Mall
July 8, 2009 
I remember when I was a kid, Shannon Mall was the closest mall. If Arbor Place was never built, I believe Shannon Mall would still be alive and kicking, maybe even have retailers like Barnes & Noble outside the mall, but because of Arbor Place and the development of retail around it, as well as in other neighboring cities like Hiram, Shannon Mall is pretty much a ghost town now. I haven’t been there in over ten years. There used to be a great used bookstore there but I’m pretty sure it’s closed now. Someone has documented the history of Shannon Mall in a blog post–it’s an interesting read.
Carroll County BOC Has Their Priorities Straight
July 8, 2009 
From yesterday’s Times-Georgian, I think. The last sentence says IT ALL.
The Carroll County Board of Commissioners voted Tuesday night to give the city of Whitesburg $35,000 in special purpose local option sales tax money to develop land for passive recreation.
The board voted unanimously to give the city the SPLOST funds, which originally were earmarked in 2003 for municipal passive recreation projects within the county. According to County Comptroller Don Johnson, the board voted that year to allocate $3 million into a joint fund that could only be used to help cities develop passive recreation projects and for farmland preservation. While the entirety of the amount first allocated has been spent, the county was reimbursed more than $1 million of that by the federal government in recent years.
There is currently $1.2 million in the account.
“I’ve done a lot of things on the Board of Commissioners. Buying property to preserve the county, that’s what I enjoy doing the most,” said Commissioner Trent North. “Back when I ran for office in 1993, I said I hoped to preserve the quality of life we’re accustomed to. We can’t stop people from having kids or moving to our great community. What we can do is properly prepare and control our growth while buying up crucial property to preserve the quality of life for the future. That’s what passive recreation does for our county.”
Whitesburg will match the money from the county with existing funds to purchase about 4 acres inside the city limits. That land will be developed into several walking trails and a picnic area and will be open to all residents of Carroll County.
“Depending on how our money situation goes in the future, we might do something else with it,” said Whitesburg City Councilman Jay Williford. “Right now, that’s our plan.”
The county has, in the past, given the city of Carrollton $1.1 million out of the 2003 SPLOST passive recreation fund for a property purchase along Highway 27 and has given other municipalities in the county lesser amounts. The county should spread the wealth among other municipalities if it hopes to preserve the rural landscape that simply does not exist closer into metropolitan Atlanta, North said.
“I think it’s important we do it now while the land is reasonably priced, and second, we don’t want Carroll County to become a Douglasville or Atlanta,” North said. “We want to keep our beautiful scenery.”
Sex Offender Arrested In Knoxville
July 8, 2009 
From 11alive.com:
A suspected sex offender on the run from Georgia authorities for the past 8 years was nabbed Tuesday afternoon in a West Knoxville, Tennessee store.
Fifty-three year old Larry William Whitley has been living in Knoxville for the past eight years under the alias of Robert Moon. Tennessee authorities say he fled from Douglasville, Georgia to avoid prosecution for probation violation, sex offense against a child and child molestation.
Tennessee Detective Jim Albanese and a Douglas County Deputy on the U.S. Marshall’s Task Force out of Georgia found Whitley at a Wal-Mart where he has been working. As he tried to run from the officers, he fell into a clothes rack and sustained some facial injuries.
He was taken into custody and charged with Fugitive from Justice.
Whitley is being held without bond at the Knox County Detention Facility until Georgia authorities have him extradited back to Douglas County sometime Wednesday.
Child Molester Arrested At Arbor Place
From the DCSO page:
Jacob Alan Morris, from Gainesville GA, was arrested on Friday June 26th at 13:45 hours at the Arbor Place Mall. He was charged with Aggravated Child Molestation, Aggravated Sodomy, Aggravated Sexual Battery and Child Molestation. There have been a total of five separate Victims identified so far in an investigation that is encompassing at least Five Georgia Counties. Jacob Alan Morris was a Substitute Teacher in a North Georgia County and was the Director of Children Services K-5 at a private Christian Academy also in North Georgia. His Bond hearing was on Monday, June 29 and he was denied bond.
