Health & Wellness Sponsored section ►►PAGE 20
Greenleaf demolition?
Commissioners want to demolish abandoned neighborhood ►►PAGE 4
Heroin use grows in suburbs Drug is lethal, cheap more powerful than ever ►►PAGE 28
Performing on Broadway
Duo compete in National High School Musical Theatre Awards ►►PAGE 10
July 8, 2015 | forsythherald.com | 75,000 circulation Revue & News, Johns Creek Herald, Milton Herald & Forsyth Herald combined | 50¢ | Volume 18, No. 28
Anti-gay hate crime transpires in Forsyth By KATHLEEN STURGEON kathleen@appenmediagroup.com
PHOTO BY HILLIARY HUNNINGS/STAFF
Suburbia for some has become a dead end as the number of families relying on food stamps continues to increase.
When suburbia ‘snapped’ Suburbs see increase of food stamps
SNAP Snapshot • $3.2 billion in food stamps were added to Georgia’s economy in 2014. • 911,716 Georgia households receive food stamps. • Average household size receiving food stamps – 2.15.
By HILLARY HUNNINGS news@appenmediagroup.com FORSYTH COUNTY, Ga. – Beneath selfsame shrubs, slick SUVs and sprawling shops lies a shrouded reality, one rooted in the 2008 Great Recession: a suburban SNAP surge. According to the Brookings Institution, the number of suburban SNAP, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (food stamp), households increased 116 percent from 2007
Pilot employment and training program SNAP Works… • Operates in 11 counties, and 17 are to be added in 2015. • Is mandatory for recipients without dependents who are work eligible. • 6,758 customers enrolled in fiscal year 2014. • 2,378 current enrollments in job skills training. at the start of the recession to 2012. In the United States’ largest cities, the growth rate was 79 percent. Sun Belt metro locations
hit hard by the housing market collapse and recession saw sharp increases in SNAP re-
See SNAP, Page 29
FORSYTH COUNTY, Ga. — Not even a week after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled samesex marriage legal in all 50 states, an unknown suspect rebelled in the form of a hate crime. According to Robin Regan, public information officer for the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office, the incident took place late Monday night, June 29 or early morning Tuesday, June 30 in northwest Forsyth County off Hurt Bridge Road. Not much is being released to the public on the homeowner’s identity. “We got a call earlier this morning that the homeowner woke up and discovered the rainbow flag that was hanging in front of their home had been removed from the front of their residence, laid over their windshield and set on fire,” Regan said. A fluid, suspected to be a sort of accelerant, was poured in a circle around the vehicle and then set on fire, Regan said. The vehicle did not catch fire, Regan said. A peach tree in the yard was also damaged. The rainbow flag is often seen as a symbol of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) pride and LGBT social movements. “It was clearly an intentional act,” Regan said. “Given the symbolism of the flag, the intent there is obvious.” Detectives with the sheriff’s property crime unit and
... The rainbow flag that was hanging in front of their home had been removed from the front of their residence, laid over their windshield and set on fire.” ROBIN REGAN Public information officer for the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office
special victims unit are working together on this, Regan said. “It’s something we are treating extremely seriously and something we will not stand for,” Regan said. Forsyth County Probate Court Judge Lynwood D. Jordan Jr. said the local office is ready to move forward following the Supreme Court’s ruling, however, and they have paperwork for couples to begin using with “Applicant 1” and “Applicant 2” listed instead of “bride” and “groom.” As of June 30, two samesex marriage applications have been filed in Forsyth County.
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