About the Fighters

Josh Shaddock of Lawrenceville has been training in Mauy Thai for 3 years and has an amateur record of 3-4.  Josh will be facing Stephen Upchurch in a bout scheduled for the 155 lb division.

Tim Hart of Loganville is the owner and head instructor at Bulldog Kickboxing in Snellville.  He will be making his professional debut against Mike Maniaci scheduled for the 178 lb division.  Tim has been training Muay Thai for 5 years and opened Bulldog Kickboxing in 2007.  He has an amateur record of 4-4, one of which includes an international fight.

Tickets

Tickets for Friday’s event can be purchased in the “Events” section of www.bulldogkickboxing.net.

The business owners wanted to allow access from Westridge Drive to prevent traffic problems on the busy highway.

Chick-fil-A had already forked out $40,000 to construct the new entrance and exit but residents said there had never been a public hearing on the matter. They argue that there are no speed bumps on the road and cars already drive too fast in the area.

Westridge Drive snakes through neighborhoods, forming a horseshoe that leads back to U.S. 78 further east.

Currently the entrance is blocked with large orange construction barricades and cones until a solution is found.

Amenities:

• 87 developed acres
• 7-acre Pate Lake
• 1.2 mile fitness trail
• 8 lighted hard court tennis courts
• 8 soccer fields
• sand volleyball court
• swimming pool
• softball fields
• 2 playgrounds near picnic area
• open air pavilions

Rental Information:

Pavilions (Lakeside, Peters, Sager, and Williams Pavilions and the Bonnie Rose Gazebo), each accommodating 45 people standing and 30 people sitting, can be rented in two hour blocks. For pricing information, click here. To reserve one of the pavilions, contact Parks and Recreation at 770-985-3582.

Buildings (Betty McMichael Room and Courtland Williams Room) can be rented as well. The Betty McMichael Room seats 100 and the Courtland Williams Room seats 35. Reservations must be made ten days in advance. For pricing information, click here. To reserve one of the buildings, contact Parks and Recreation at 770-985-3582.

Softball Fields can be rented for the day, either from 9am to 5pm (without lights), or from 9am to 9pm (with lights). For pricing information, click here. To reserve one of the fields, contact Parks and Recreation at 770-985-3582.

Tennis, Volleyball & Basketball Courts are used on a first come first serve basis during the daytime hours, from 8am to 5pm. To reserve one of the courts for after hours, stop by the park office to pick up a key. Keys should then be returned in the drop box outside the park office when finished. For more information, contact Parks and Recreation at 770-985-3582.

Pool Hours

The pool is open from May 24 - Sept 1, 2008. Summer pool hours are noon-6pm Monday to Friday and noon-7pm Friday to Sunday.

Parks & Recreation Office

2500 Sawyer Parkway

phone: 770-985-3535

fax: 770-985-3582
View Larger Map

General & Program Information: 770-822-5414

Gymnasium & Youth Athletics: 770-978-5271

Managed by Gwinnett County, beautiful Lenora Park is situated on 112 acres. It offers various outdoor fun and will be adding a stand alone football field with walking track, an expanded trail system, and a new outdoor aquatic facility soon.

Amenities:

• 1.5 mile paved multi-purpose trail
• gymnasium
• community room
• pavilion
• playground
• fishing lake
• pastoral fields
• 6 baseball/softball fields
• 18 hole disc golf course (rentals available from the gym)

Suzanne Krieger was one resident who voiced her fear. She stated that she didn’t feel as if any fee or tax was justified.

Two engineers spoke in support for the fee for an hour detailing the complex fee structure that determines how much property owners would have to pay.

If passed, the fee rate would cost the average Snellville homeowner between $56 and $75 per year.

This would be in addition to the tax hike that was recently passed that will translate into a $75 increase in taxes per $150,000 assessed value.

Mike Sparks, who has been residing in Snellville for 23 years, stated the timing couldn’t be worse. He states, “You should find a way to reduce taxes during tough economic times instead of increasing the tax burden.”

Though they were scheduled to take a final vote, the Council agreed to table the issue until their July 14 meeting.

For information, call the h2u office, 770-982-2358, or visit www.emoryeastside.com.

Combining the elements of soccer and volleyball, it is a sport played with three players on each side of the net and a ball made of synthetic fiber or one woven layer. Allowed to only use your head, feet, knees and chest to score points, the most skilled perform acrobatic feats which include such tricks as bicycle kicks.

Amphone Sengchanh, 42, learned the sport in his hometown Vientiane in central Laos and while playing it in a refugee camp in Thailand. He came to the US at the age of 12. “I still remember watching the tournaments inside a temple near my house in Vientiane and playing my first game when I was 10 while living in the refugee camp.” Now he is one ofabout 20 fellow countrymen who play Sepak takraw at a Snellville-based Buddhist temple Monday through Friday.

Sengchanh states, “It is a sport played primarily by those from my Laos and other Southeast Asian countries … But my goal is to introduce this sport to more Americans and more cultures. People who watch us play are amazed by what they see.”

Entailing the planning and building of new interchanges at Pleasant Hill Road and at I-85 plus about three miles of four-lane roadway, the developer could use a toll-collection system to pay for the new roadway improvements instead of traditional taxpayer funding. Under this proposal, there would be no toll charges for the use of the existing roadway.

Ronald Reagan Parkway is a limited-access, four-lane road divided by a median. The major east-west thoroughfare currently extends from Scenic Highway/SR-124 in Snellville to Pleasant Hill Road northeast of Lilburn.

“We’re looking for private businesses capable of designing, building, financing, operating, and maintaining this much-needed road extension,” said Gwinnett County Administrator Jock Connell.

The County will hold a pre-proposal conference for potential partners in July with proposals to be due in August. For more information on the process, please call Debra Parmer in Gwinnett County Purchasing at (770) 822-8720.

Snellville residents voiced their opinions about the city taxes in public held hearings. Like the split vote, some residents are in favor of the increase, while others are opposed.

Mayor Jerry Oberholtzer urged the council to support the tax increase which would help compensate for a revenue shortfall.

Councilwoman Kelly Kautz refused to vote, expressing concern about the process. Kautz was concerned the mayor had not appointed a city manager until last week, meaning that the city manager was not in place in time to help balance the budget. Under Snellville charter, however, abstention counts as an affirmative vote.

Likewise, Councilman Robert Jenkins said he didn’t feel confident voting on a budget that was not overseen by a city manager.

Only Jenkins and Mayor Pro Tem Warren Auld voted against the increase.

Feeling there was no alternative due to revenue shortfall, Councilman Tod Warner voted for the tax. Speaking in favor of his vote, Warner stated, “People may think we are ‘tax and spend’ politicians, but we’re far from it … It’s not something we do lightly.”

Councilwoman Barbara Bender agreed and also voted for mileage increase. Expressing the difficulty she had in making the vote because of the hard economic times we are currently seeing, Bender stated that she also found her affirmative vote necessary.

Although residents won’t see the increase until the fall when Gwinnett County circulates the tax bill, the property tax increase is estimated to generate $595,000 for the city.

Vento allegedly sent an email to the Georgia National Guard in which he accused Gwinnett law enforcement of poisoning him and other county residents with what he claimed to be a nuclear pesticide called “Pulmo”. According to Gwinnett Police spokeswoman Cpl. Illana Spellman, “Pulmo” does not exist, however.

Spellman also claims that Vento stated he was a general in all branches of the armed forces and claimed to have worked for the FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration, CIA and Department of Natural Resources in an interview with police on June 12th.

Handling any situation involving threats against the police department seriously, the Gwinnett County Police Homeland Security Joint Terrorist Task Force investigated the case and brought criminal charges against him.

Vento is currently being held without bond at the Gwinnett jail, where he is housed alone in a maximum security cell.

His defense attorney, Scott King, stated his client has “delusional issues,” but also insisted that Vento is harmless.

There will be a probable cause hearing Friday morning in Gwinnett County Magistrate Court. King hopes that the charges will be dismissed at the hearing.