-NorthSide Bank blasted by FDIC in cease-and-desist notice.
-2009 elections: Economy, growth all key issues.
-Community by community guide of election qualifying.
-Floyd's SPLOST vote a matter for city, county residents to decide.
-Peaks & Valleys: Gayland Cooper; double secret probation for RNT.
Coming Tuesday on Hometown: John McClellan's latest high school football picks, updates. Click Football Report
Coming Friday on Hometown: Norman Arey wraps up his 20-part college football preview (click Arey) with his first batch of Norman's No-Nos for the 2009 season. What's a No-No? Norman's locks to lose any particular weekend.
First two home run trees to be planted at State Mutual Stadium at 10 a.m. Wednesday> Sports
Your latest weather:
-Monday: High of 86, low of 60. 30% rain chance.
-Tuesday: High of 84, low of 61.
-Your extended forecast> Weather / Local radar > Radar
Norman Arey's Sports Roundtable
-Countdown to kickoff: BCS bowl predictions promise some surprises but in the end, you-know-who wins it all
John McClellan's high school picks
-Get John's latest previews and picks for this weekend's high school football games. Latest picks will post Tuesday morning.
-Savannah wins finale, 2-0.
-Last home stand of the year: Tonight-Friday night.
-Mills Fitzner's latest game pictures> Gallery
-'Softball Slam' coming to State Mutual Stadium Oct. 23-25> Sports
Today's Georgia High School Football Daily: Rome, Pepperell, Calhoun remain in respective Top 10 rankings following first week of play> High School
FDIC 'cease and desist' report hammers NorthSide Bank
Four years ago, NorthSide Bank was the buzz of Northwest Georgia's financial community. It didn't hurt having a virtual all-star lineup of directors, including Atlanta Braves Manager Bobby Cox (a part-time Adairsville resident), WSB TV chief meteorologist Glenn Burns and local outdoors enthusiast/real estate owner Orlando Wilson.
The bank opened a stunning headquarters on Ga. 140 just off I-75. More important, it was just a mile or so from what was to be the retail hub of Northwest Georgia--a customer magnet known as Cabela's as well as a retail center surrounding the northeast corner of the I-75/Ga. 140 intersection.
Second-tier development around the Cabela's site called for hotels and restaurants to help service the hundreds of thousands of customers it was expected to draw
And just down the highway in the other direction, Forestar's Town West development with more than 2,500 households was announced.
Quiet Adairsville was about to be the epicenter of a boom. All the while, NorthSide continued growing, opening a branch in front of the Main Street shopping center in Cartersville and then an office in Calhoun.
The glow didn't last long. The Cabela's deal went south for a variety of "reasons" and two years later, the site remains vacant. Town West has been stalled by the recession.
And today, NorthSide is under a rigid "cease and desist" order from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. It chides directors and staff, and places strict orders to clean up immediately. The bank also must get rid of troubled assets (see bank-owned properties)
The bank joins two others under increased supervision from regulators: Unity National Bank, based in Cartersville, and Heritage First Bank in Rome.
NorthSide's problems are beguiling. The theory goes that "newer" banks aren't saddled with the toxic loans choking more established financial centers. Plus NorthSide immediately jumped into the civic arena, getting involved in community activities and groups. The goodwill was plentiful--and real--and remains today.
And, on the outside, the numbers look OK.
As of June 30, NorthSide showed deposits of more than $122 million, up 11 percent from the same period in 2008. Also, the bank had assets of $147 million as of June 30. NorthSide was sixth out of 14 banks doing business in Bartow as of June 30, 2008, based on total deposits.
A recent review of bank assets and loans by Hometown Headlines and SNL Financial showed NorthSide ranked 76th out of 300 state banks when reviewed for "Texas ratio" (assets to troubled loans). NorthSide's ratio as of June 30 was 81.6, up from 73.2 percent as of March 31. (Click)
Forbes describes the Texas Ratio as a measure of the credit problems facing each bank. It takes the amount of a bank's non-performing assets and loans, as well as loans delinquent for more than 90 days, and divides this number by the firm's tangible capital equity plus its loan loss reserve. A ratio of more than 100 is considered a warning sign. NorthSide's numbers were below that line.
Richard Guinter, president and chief executive officer of the bank, told the AJC on Friday that the bank plans to "shrink its loan portfolio and raise capital by issuing $3 million to $5 million in stock." (Click AJC for the full story).
Those moves and others are outlined in the FDIC cease-and-desist order. That order has put NorthSide Bank back in the financial headlines yet again.
Off-year election? Not when there's a recession around
Qualifying begins today for municipal elections: City council and commission seats, city school board posts and at least one SPLOST project (Floyd County) are on the Nov. 3 ballots awaiting Northwest Georgians. Natalie Simms has assembled a city-by-city look at what's on the ballot for voters in Floyd, Bartow, Gordon and Polk counties. You'll find those updates on our 2009 Election Headquarters page.
What to watch this year, community by community:
-The economy overall: The ongoing recession has forced municipal leaders to make some substantial cuts in services and to increase the flow of money into their communities as tax revenues plummet. Will that influence voters this fall?
-In Rome: It has been a tense year with several issues rallying diverse groups of residents and businesses: Etowah Terrace, fire water lines and the sign ordinance. What to watch: How will each play, if at all, with Rome's 15,000-plus registered voters. Also: Bill Fricks will not seek a new term which guarantees one new face on the commission come January.
-Before the Rome School Board: The key issue ahead could be replacing Dr. Gayland Cooper, who is expected to retire in the next few years.
-In Cave Spring: At least once incumbent, Tony McIntosh, will not seek a new term so one fresh face is guaranteed.
-In Floyd County: Voters are about to see a blitz supporting the one-cent local option sales tax, a $42.2 million package that would replace the current projects penny-on-the-dollar SPLOST. City and county voters will have a say on this one; the question is how will the Rome and Cave Spring votes influence the SPLOST vote?
-In Adairsville: The 2007 election was one of the more interesting in recent history, powered by growth concerns tied to the would-be Cabela's store and the Town West development planned by Forestar. Will those factions fight again this year?
-In Cartersville: Growth is key. Bartow County as a whole is seeing a population spike and a number of key projects are on the move, including the new civic center, two new hotels and plans for a second building on the Georgia Highlands campus. But unemployment also is a concern with the jobless rate at 12.6 percent, or 5,829 people, last month countywide.
-In Emerson, Euharlee and White: Growth also is a key topic for the fall.
-In Calhoun: Growth and the economy are top issues, especially with Gordon County's jobless rate at 13.9 percent (3,579 people). Gordon is seeing some new or expanding plants even as other longtime employers close or reduce staffing.
-In Rockmart, Cedartown: New retail has opened (two Wal-Marts) in recent years as well as adjoining strip centers. The boom in neighboring Paulding County is starting to spill into Polk County, especially near Rockmart. The time is now to make decisions on how to cope with this growth. Polk County was the third-fastest growing community in terms of new households in our market between 2000 and 2008 at more than 13 percent, trailing only Bartow and Gordon counties.
-For more on each community, please click 2009 Election Headquarters.
PEAKS & VALLEYS: The highs and lows of Northwest Georgia
Peak to Dr. Gayland Cooper: The superintendent of Rome City Schools is among the finalists for Georgia superintendent of the year. Cooper is a tireless advocate for the students, faculty and staff of the city school system and news of his pending retirement still troubles us. Here's hoping the state recognizes Cooper as what he is: one of our community's top ambassadors and representatives. The decision is due in early December.
Valley to the Rome News column bashing Rome's 175th anniversary celebration: A column appearing in the Rome News last week belittles organizers for the Toga Party record-setting contest and just about anything else to do with the Sept. 5 celebration of Rome's 175th anniversary. Supporters are stunned and feel betrayed. We could take this Roman thing a few steps further by calling it an outright stab in the back. Et tu, Brute? If this event is such a joke, we wonder why the newspaper is publishing a money-grabbing "special section," milking advertisers for a tribute the paper itself has doubts about. A snarky question on the RNT Web site didn't help matters, either. Rome's 175th year is cause for celebration, even amid the recession and high unemployment. Organizers have put together a fun and mostly free event. The toga party likewise could earn Rome a place in a worldwide publication as well as some free national publicity. The newspaper deserves nothing short of double secret probation.
Valley to the coverage of Sen. Ted Kennedy's death: Ted Kennedy probably had a rock-bottom approval rating among mostly conservative Northwest Georgians. This is no territory for a "liberal lion" as he's been called in recent days. While we seldom agreed with Kennedy's politics or his early antics, we believe he indeed earned redemption and a solid place in American history. That said, compare coverage of his passing to that of Michael Jackson. As the media swarmed every detail of the pop star's death--and life--and broadcast and posted and printed tributes and trivial updates, we were hard pressed on Friday and Saturday to find detailed coverage plans of Kennedy's funeral and burial. The cable networks managed to fill a slow Saturday afternoon and evening with almost non-stop coverage, for which we were grateful. But we also have to ask: what are the "news" priorities these days? Kennedy--and history--deserved better.
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