Empty Nest
Sponsored section ►►PAGE 22
JCHS PTSA sponsors Council Candidates 13 vie for 4 seats on City Council ►►PAGES 4 – 6
JC Arts Festival shining success Beautiful weather, crowds mark event ►►PAGES 10 – 11
Gladiators don new armor Pads aid JCHS football against torso injuries ►►PAGE 12
October 22, 2015 | johnscreekherald.com | 75,000 circulation Revue & News, Johns Creek Herald, Milton Herald & Forsyth Herald combined | 50¢ | Volume 19, No. 42
Child sex sting nabs 9 in Georgia Alpharetta arrests add to list By JONATHAN COPSEY jonathan@appenmediagroup.com
North Carolina artist Adam Walls’ sculpture Creepy Crawley is one of six public works of art the city is considering for display in public places in the city.
City to place public art in local parks Sculptures on 18-month loan for public display By HATCHER HURD hatcher@appenmediagroup.com JOHNS CREEK, Ga. – One item on the Oct. 12 Johns Creek City Council agenda had enthusiastic agreement, and that was a proposal for six works of public art to be placed strategically around the city – at virtually no cost to the taxpayers. Artists from around the country have agreed to loan their sculptures for display around the city as part of a project begun by the Johns Creek Beautification Public Arts Committee. This group of volunteers is an offshoot of the Leadership Johns Creek effort to create
the infrastructure for accepting public art in the city. The beautification committee picked up the gauntlet and set to work, first establishing the criteria, and then vetting the artists. “Public art was always a goal for Johns Creek Beautification,” said Linda Johnson, who founded the nonprofit. The beautification group got a jump-start after a Leadership Johns Creek project created a pathway for the city to accept such art and, in 2013, a public art master plan was created. Since then, the beautification committee has been collecting grants and donations for public art for the city.
Johnson, now a board member, said the committee spent months preparing. Once they were ready, they sent out requests for art, and 46 artists replied. The public art committee narrowed the selection to 17 finalists. The city’s Arts and Culture Board winnowed that field to six works and two alternates. The public art master plan has designated where the works can go – mostly in public parks. The most popular piece among the City Council appeared to be the one named Creepy Crawler, a huge, overgrown spider-like sculpture.
See ART, Page 36
ALPHARETTA, Ga. – Two people were arrested Oct. 5 and 7 in Alpharetta as part of “Operation Cross Country,” a nationwide law enforcement action that focused on underage victims of prostitution. The operation resulted in the recovery of 149 sexually exploited children and the arrests of more than 150 pimps and other individuals throughout the nation. Alpharetta Department of Public Safety worked with the FBI and dozens of other agencies in the operation. In Georgia, seven children were rescued and nine suspects were arrested and face federal charges on trafficking children. In Alpharetta, a doz-
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en more people were arrested as part of the operation and face local charges, including prostitution, pimping and narcotics possession. The FBI, in partnership with local, state and federal law enforcement agencies and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, conducted the annual action — the ninth and largest such
See STING, Page 30
Schools still waiting on Milestones results Statewide data shows subpar performance on annual test By CANDY WAYLOCK candy@appenmediagroup.com ATLANTA - Preliminary results for the 2015 Milestones tests released last month were dismal, as expected, with the majority of Georgia students failing to meet standards in
any of the four subject areas on the state’s new assessment tool. The wait is now on to see if Fulton County students can do any better than their statewide peers, with system scores ex-
See RESULTS, Page 37