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Toombs County, GA Archives News Radio Stories |
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July 31-- A new property owner in downtown Vidalia has plans to renovate a historic building which has fallen into disrepair. Tommy Collins, owner of Collins Dental Labs, says the old Darby Bank building at the corner of Meadows and Church Street, will be restored in the coming months. He reports the ground floor will be a combination gift and coffee shop, the second floor will be three luxury apartments, and the top floor will be used for receptions and social occasions. The Vidalia city council was briefed on the project at a called meeting Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the council was informed by airport committee chairman Tom Peterson that the city's new airport terminal is open for business and plans are being made to pave the area formerly occupied by the old terminal building which has been torn down. Peterson also said a plaque is being placed in the new terminal acknowledging the service of Ken and Aileen Nobles for running the airport since the 1950's.
July 31-- After reporting a profit of $1.4 million in fiscal year 2002, Meadows Regional Medical Center in Vidalia is reporting a loss in 2003 of $1.8 million. Even though revenue has been up for the past three years, Meadows CEO Alan Kent says costs have also been rising, including the cost of indigent care, employee health insurance and the hospital payroll which is up $4 million over last year. The hospital has also invested heavily in new technology. Admissions, emergency room and outpatient visits have all increased.
At a hospital board meeting Tuesday night, John McNames and Gary Braddy were reappointed to the holding board, Dr. David Payne was named to succeed Dr. Keith Barrett, and Matt Oxley will succeed Pete Wells. Reappointed to the operating board are Wayne Brantley, Howard Hill, and Polly Ann Martin. Dr. Gilbert Gonzalez succeeds Dr. Payne on the operating board.
July 31-- The Mel Blount Youth Home has hired a new attorney to help it keep its license. Former Georgia Attorney General Michael Bowers is replacing Reidsville lawyer Frances Stubbs according to papers filed in Toombs County Superior Court. A hearing on the case scheduled for Thursday was delayed due to the attorney change. The youth home is appealing a decision by the Georgia Department of Human Resources to pull its license due to alleged abuse of residents.
July 30-- The Georgia Lottery is generating about $750 million dollars a year to fund the HOPE program in Georgia. But is that enough? The state legislature is holding hearings to make sure the program can continue financial assistance to college students and pre-K kids. Two South Georgia lawmakers, Senator Jack Hill of Reidsville and Senator Tommie Williams of Lyons, are on a study commission which started hearings Wednesday on the funding problem. Senator Williams says one way to preserve the program for those who need it most is to make it "means-based." Another way to refine the program might be eliminating payment of fees which currently cost about $60 million a year. Wednesday the state commission heard from lottery officials, the university system, the department of adult and technical education, and the student finance commission which administers the lottery's education funds.
July 29-- School officials from Vidalia and Toombs County met with the Concerned Citizens Coalition Monday night to review the new school dress codes which are going into effect this school term. Vidalia High School principal Mitch Harrington estimates there's a ten to one favorable reaction to the new school policy, and Rosetta Summersett, vice principal at J.R. Trippe Middle School, says most parents are happy with the changes. Summersett also believes the dress code will make it easier on students and parents who can't afford the latest styles in kids clothing. One parent at the meeting wanted a school uniform of khaki pants and white shirts, however, Harrington said adoption of a set uniform could end up costing the school board money. He says if low income students claimed they could not afford the uniforms, then the school board would be required to buy them. School officials claim the new dress code will help them keep gangs out of schools, enhance school security and safety, help foster school pride and create a more effective learning environment in local schools.
July 28-- Vidalia attorney Mitch Shook is denying that he made any slanderous comments about Vidalia city manager Bill Torrance. In June, Torrance filed suit against Shook claiming that the lawyer publicly accused Torrance of the murder of Henry Dickerson, Jr. and placing his body in the trunk of his car after murdering him. Dickerson's body was found in the pool of Vidalia city Attorney Reid Threlkeld in 1997. The state crime lab said Dickerson drowned due to cocaine intoxication and severe heart disease. A series of newspaper articles tried to raise questions about the investigation of Dickerson's death, however, the GBI has refused to reopen the case citing a lack of any new evidence.
Torrance claims Shook made his accusations in a Vidalia restaurant in November of last year, about four months before the newspaper series. Shook has also paid for a newspaper ad denying playing any part in the newspaper's investigation, however, he did admit meeting with the paper when it interviewed his investigator Glenn Joiner about the case. Joiner was a Vidalia city policeman at the time of Dickerson's death.
Shook's denials in the court case were filed in the State Court of Toombs County July 24th.
July 23-- The cover story in this month's national medical journal, Radiology Today" is about the the new all-digital radiology department at Meadows Regional Medical Center in Vidalia. Connie Calvarese, who moved from Pennsylvania over a year ago to lead the transformation from film to digital, says the benefits are obvious to doctors and patients alike. Physicians have computer terminals in their offices which can access the medical center's data base for immediate review of images for diagnosis. Likewise, consulting physicians anywhere in the world can retrieve images via email and provide instant advice to local doctors. The medical center has spent more than $4 million in the last year to make the radiology department state-of-the-art. Calvarese says Meadows now offers services unavailable in nearby metro hospitals and is fast becoming a regional medical hub.
July 22-- Attorneys for Vidalia City Schools and Vidalia High School principal Mitch Harrington have asked a federal judge to dismiss a sexual discrimination lawsuit filed by former Vidalia High School teacher Melanie Campione. She filed suit last Fall alleging a kissing and hugging incident with Harrington in a school hallway and for administrative retaliation after she filed discrimination charges with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
The motion to dismiss the case says Harrington gave Campione a sympathy hug and kiss after she inquired about the health of his critically ill brother. Other teachers who witnessed the hug gave sworn statements saying she did not appear to be bothered by it and carried on casual conversation with the principal afterwards.
School lawyers claim Campione did not report the incident until after she was reprimanded for acts of misconduct and insubordination. They note reprimands for showing obsene T-shirts to students, for violating video policy by allowing an "R" rated video to be shown in class, for discussing her partying and drinking habits with students, and for violating school policy on use of cell phones in class. They claim no retaliation was taken against the teacher because she was recommended for re-hire at Vidalia High School. She subsequently resigned and took a job last school term at Toombs County High School.
Her lawyers have until early next month to file a reply with federal Judge Avant Edenfield in U.S. District Court.
July 22-- A hearing is scheduled next Thursday, July 31st, in the state's three-and-a-half year effort to revoke the license of the Mel Blount Youth Home in Vidalia. State investigators claim residents were physically abused and the state commissioner of human resources has upheld an administrative law judge's ruling that the home should lose its license. That decision is being appealed in Toombs County Superior Court where Judge Cathy Palmer will hear the latest round of motions next week. Youth home director Clint Blount has consistently denied any abuse of residents.
July 21-- A 22-year-old Montgomery County woman was killed in a traffic accident Sunday morning. The state patrol reports Amanda Gail Powell of Ailey died when the van in which she was riding hit a ditch on Highway 280 east of McCords. Trooper First Class Bryan Jones says the driver of the van, Robert Allen of Vidalia, was injured and taken to Memorial Medical Center in Savannah. He believes Allen ran off the shoulder of the road and over-corrected which caused the van to swerve across the road and hit the ditch. Trooper Jones says the occupants were not wearing seat belts.
July 17-- Plans are being made for a memorial service in Soperton for 27-year-old Army Sergeant Michael Tyrone Crockett who was killed earlier this week in Iraq. Congressman Jim Marshall says he has been in touch with the soldier's family and their desires are for a memorial in Soperton followed by interment in his wife's hometown of Houston. Sergeant Crockett was with a Third Infantry Division convoy which was attacked in Baghdad. Congressman Marshall, a Vietnam veteran, says he's afraid history is repeating itself and the U.S. needs to seek assistance from other nations in the peacekeeping mission.
July 16-- We should know by August 10th the judge's decision in the petition to remove Montgomery County's Board of Tax Assessors. The second day of hearings wrapped up early Wednesday afternoon in front of Senior Judge John Sognier in the Montgomery County courthouse.
In final arguments, Macon attorney Hale Almand contended that board members Howard Morris and Robert Brewer are currently qualified for the job after completing 40 hours of state training last December. He believes the state law applies only to the present and not past omissions by Morris and Brewer, both of whom admitted falling behind in their required training.
The two approved the county's latest tax revaluation last Fall before they had their latest training, and that revaluation is also being challenged in court due to alleged lack of uniformity. Their lack of training spurred Vidalia physician Dr. Ronnie Smith to organize a petition seeking their removal. His attorney, Howard Kaufold, argued that the law requires 40 hours of education during each two years of a tax assessors tenure. Morris told the court he went 14 years without training and Brewer admitted to five years without coursework.
Judge Sognier says he hopes to make a decision in early August and by the 10th at the latest.
July 15-- Eight people testified Tuesday as the hearing opened in Montgomery County Superior Court on a petition organized by Vidalia physician Dr. Ronnie Smith seeking removal of the county's board of tax assessors, Howard Morris and Robert Brewer. The petition claims the two have not met state training requirements and that tax appraiser Lawrence McCall is also unqualified. The premise is they were not qualified to approve last year's countywide tax revaluation which substantially raised county property values.
Macon lawyer Hale Almand, representing the board, concedes Morris and Brewer missed some training during their tenure, but he contends their belated training late last year qualifies them to remain on the board. Montgomery County commission chairman Wyman Morris testified it's hard to get citizens to volunteer for the board of assessors and, while he agrees they violated the letter of the law, he believes everyone involved "is doing the best they can."
Smith's attorney Howard Kaufold claimed last year's revaluation overlooked 25 percent of the property in the county, however, the contractor who did the work, Jimmy Kight of Tarrytown, says all parcels were reviewed even though the value on some didn't change.
An appraiser called as an expert by Kaufold, John Barnes, questioned a state audit which approved the revaluation and opined that some property sales figures could have been manipulated by Kight to meet state standards. Barnes' credibility was also challenged by Almand who noted he'd been fired from appraiser positions in Jasper and Charlton counties for absenteeism.
Others who testified include tax appraiser Lawrence McCall who said he never checked the work of the county contractor; board members Robert Brewer and Howard Morris who both admitted they've missed training required by the state; taxpayer Danny Fountain who said his appeal resulted in the assessors letting him set his own property value; and county commissioner Arnie Calhoun who disputed the nature of a board meeting attended by Smith and his lawyer which had been characterized as "threatening" by commission chairman Morris.
The hearing before Senior Judge John Sognier continues Wednesday.
July 14-- Toombs County Commission Chairman Charles Rustin and Meadows Regional Medical Center CEO Alan Kent had a meeting Monday morning to review oversight of the county's ambulance service. A Meadows ambulance overturned near Savannah in May and the patient, Martha Smith of Hazelhurst, was killed. The ambulance driver was charged and Chatham County police claimed the vehicle had bald tires. Smith's family has notified the county that it intends to sue for negligence and wrongful death. Chairman Rustin says the ambulance tires had been checked the day before the accident and one of its six tires was low on tread but still "had a few hundred miles left on it." In their meeting, officials came up with a safety checklist for each shift change, and also announced an agreement with Georgia Tire for a monthly safety inspection.
July 14-- Toombs County commission clerk Betty Hall is resigning the end of July. She's been selected to be the new county manager in Tattnall County and leaves the job in Toombs County after nine years.
In Treutlen County, longtime county commission clerk Sylvia Norris has resigned her position. She says she's looking for a new job after serving Treutlen commissioners since 1976.
July 14-- The Vidalia City Council has approved a zoning change from residential to commercial to allow expansion of a local hospice. At its meeting Monday night, the council rezoned two-and-a-half acres to the rear of the Community Hospice on Highway 280. Hospice officials say they will build an in-patient facility for up to 12 patients, the only one of its kind between Macon and Savannah.
Council also approved a $109,000 contract to Sikes Brothers to resurface 17 city streets and three intersections this summer. The state will over two-thirds of the cost. And the council was informed police have issued 21 parking warnings in downtown Vidalia since new two-hour limitations were imposed four weeks ago. Police say most of the warnings were to downtown business owners.
July 14-- A minor earthquake shook an area north of Vidalia Sunday afternoon. The National Earthquake Information Center says the quake measured 3.6 on the Richter Scale with the epicenter located about six miles southwest of Metter. Mark Findley and his wife, Laree, were at home in the Five Points area of Toombs County about 4:15 p.m. when their house started shaking. The couple says some neighbors also felt the quake, but no one observed any damage.
July 11-- The National Headstart Association is mounting an effort to derail legislation in the U.S. Congress to start a pilot program in eight states, possibly including Georgia, which would put the states in charge of overseeing the program. Association spokesperson Trish Butler says there's no need to create another state bureaucracy for a program she claims has been operating successfully for 38 years. In Toombs County, a hundred pre-k kids are enrolled in Headstart and there's a waiting list of 30 to 40 kids according to local administrator Joann Kiett.
July 10-- An environmental group thinks the Nuclear Regulatory Commission may be making a mistake in extending the life of nuclear plants like Plant Hatch. Sara Barczak of the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy says plant components are degraded by heat, pressure and nuclear bombardment and there's no history on nuclear plants to judge how safe they will be as more years go by. The group testified at a NRC hearing this week in Atlanta. Steve Higgenbottom, a spokesman for Southern Nuclear, says the company is satisfied that the plant is safe for continued operation.
Higgenbottom also notes that a weeklong homeland security exercise conducted by state officials will culminate Saturday at Plant Hatch. He says it gives plant and state emergency officials another opportunity to review security plans and procedures.
July 10-- Senator Tommie Williams of Lyons says campaign contributions from highway contractors are part of the political system, but they have nothing to do with legislation he supports as head of the senate transportation committee. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports Williams collected $60,000 last month in a fund-raiser sponsored by road contractors. The paper claims legislation for private toll roads and bonds to finance road construction would mean millions to road builders. However, Williams says they are new ways to finance roads without raising gas taxes.
July 9-- State and local officials are not giving up on the possibility of a multimillion dollar van plant near Savannah. The board of DaimlerChrysler decided Wednesday to delay a decision on building the plant near Pooler until further notice. Governor Sonny Perdue says he remains hopeful for a favorable decision later this year, and Kevin Langston of the Department of Industry, Trade and Tourism says falling sales probably contributed to the decision to delay.
Meanwhile, local economic development officials believe the Pooler site will attract another big industrial client if DaimlerChrysler bows out. Bill Mitchell with the Toombs County Development Authority says they will continue the project to build a spec building in the new industrial park on U.S. One north of Lyons.
July 8-- A former Army first sergeant is the new police chief in Lyons. Ricky Newsome joined the force seven years ago after 21 years in the Army and worked his way up from patrolman, to investigator, to chief. He says he's available to citizens 24 hours per day and hopes to do what it takes to "clean up some streets that need cleaning up." Newsome's appointment was approved by the Lyons city council Tuesday night.
In other actions, the council approved an across the board pay raise of three percent for all city employees, and also approved a motion to implement a merit pay system for employees in the future. The council agreed to run city water to a 48-acre site behind Toombs County High School which Mayor John Moore says is being developed by Bob James for up to 20 homes in the $130-to-$140 thousand dollar range.
July 8-- A Miami company which manufactures a plastic fishnet packaging product and the equipment which produces it is planning on opening a service and training center in Vidalia. Bob Moore, chairman of the Toombs County Development Authority, says the company is Spanish-owned and has about $150 million in annual sales. The netting is used for the shipment of produce. Moore says the initial employment will be about 15 jobs, but there's potential for many more if sales continue to grow. The company is negotiating a lease for the former Morris Apparel building in the Toombs Corporate Center and expects to move as early as September.
July 8-- Toombs County commissioners have agreed to spend a $100,000 or more to pave the Marshall Pittman Road and Lou Ellen Lane. They've also agreed to make a joint application with the city of Lyons to the state regarding paving of the Quint Shrine Road near the Toombs County High School and the planned road to the county's new Headstart building off Highway 292 behind the Stanley Health Clinic. However, the board balked at spending sales tax funds to help Lyons pave a portion of McDilda Street which is within the Lyons city limits.
In other actions at its Tuesday meeting, the commission was briefed that cellphone users in Toombs County should start paying a one dollar 911 surcharge in September, approved a bid to spend nearly $50,000 in grant money to drill water wells for low income county residents, and was introduced to the new county Extension Service agent, Ronnie Blackley, who starts August 1st after four years on the job in Appling County.
July 7-- The taxpayer petition filed by over 300 property owners in Montgomery County to remove the county Board of Tax Assessors has apparently become a political hot potato. Judges in the Oconee Judicial Circuit have recused themselves from hearing the case, and former Georgia Appeals Court Judge John Sognier has been named to hear the case brought by Vidalia physician Dr. Ronnie Smith against tax assessor board members Robert Brewer and Howard Morris. The hearing, which has already been twice delayed, is now scheduled for July 15th at 9:30 in the Montgomery County courthouse. Smith maintains board members failed to maintained state required training and were not qualified to approve last year's tax digest which is also being challenged in court due to alleged lack of uniformity of county property values.
July 7-- The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta will hear oral arguments in August on the American Civil Liberties Union lawsuit against the Ohoopee Regional Library in Vidalia. The ACLU sued the library last October after it removed a newspaper published by gay activist Ron Mangum who at the time was running a barbecue restaurant in Lyons. Librarian Dusty Gres says a federal district court ruled against the ACLU earlier this year, but she expects the organization will exhaust its appeals before the case is put to rest.
Meanwhile, the library is making plans to relocate the Ladson Genealogical Library to its new home in downtown Vidalia. Gres says the nationally renowned library will close Friday and its contents relocated to the newly renovated location off Meadows Street downtown. The new home in the rear of the former Belk building has been remodeled with a $250,000 state grant and will make the library accessible to more people. Gres also says donations are needed for new shelving and any contributions will be appreciated.
July 5-- A Montgomery County man has filed a multimillion dollar damage suit against Montgomery County, the Sheriff's Department, Sheriff Clarence Sanders, and four of his employees, Dana Cooper, Michael Maybin, William Fulford and Joy Brown. Truck driver Reginald Burns of Higgston filed the suit in U.S. District Court and claims his wife's civil rights were violated when she was killed in December, 2001 when Montgomery County deputies attempted to serve her with arrest warrants. A GBI investigation at the time said the deputies were acting in self defense after 36-year-old Cheryl Burns opened fire with a shotgun when deputies entered her home. Deputy William Fulford had part of his hand blown off and deputy Michael Mayben was slighly injured. The husband answered the door the night of the incident and this past February, a Montgomery County jury acquitted him on one count of assault, two counts of making terroristic threats, and one count of obstruction of justice.
The suit says both Fulford and Mayben fired their weapons in the direction of the woman and her two children, and that one of the rounds fired by Mayben caused a fatal wound to the head. Burns claims he asked to be shown the warrants when deputies forced their way into his home, but Maybin refused. Burns says he was physically assaulted and sprayed with pepper spray. The suit claims the warrants were based on perjured affidavits and were designed to exact revenge on Cheryl Burns for previous run-ins between her and the sheriff's department.
Sheriff Sanders says he can't respond at this time on the advice of the department's lawyer in Atlanta.
July 5-- An arrest has been made in the armed robbery which happened last week at the Sonic Drive-in in Vidalia. Vidalia police say two teenagers from South Carolina are involved. Lieutenant Clint Kennedy reports 17-year-old Dell Tyree McMichael is being charged with the armed robbery of a Sonic customer and for a second attempted robbery which happened in the parking lot of Belk's in Vidalia. His girlfriend, 18-year-old Tiffany Hodge, is charged with receiving stolen property. Police say they recovered some items stolen in the robbery and a 9 millimeter semi-automatic handgun they believe was used in the crime.
July 2-- Eight teaching positions and two para-professional jobs are being cut in the Montgomery County school system. School superintendent Dale Clarke says there's a net reduction of one job at the high school and seven jobs in the elementary school. While ten positions are effected, Clarke says attrition and teacher reassignments within the school system mean only four people are losing their jobs. The superintendent says the Montgomery school board will consider the system's new budget at its Monday night meeting and she expects the county school tax rate to remain the same as last year, 13.9 mils.
July 2-- A murder case from Washington County has been moved from Sandersville to Toombs County Superior Court in Lyons. The state plans to seek the death penalty in the murder trial of 21-year-old Brandon Tarver of Riddleville, accused of shooting Bobby Westbrook of Riddleville during the armed robbery of a convenience store in the small town east of Sandersville in May, 2000. Death penalty opponent Michael Garrett of Augusta is defending Tarver in the case which potential jurors have been warned could be an extended trial. The jury will be selected starting July 28th with the trial scheduled to start August 4th. A sidebar to the story - Tarver's mother was earlier ordered to stay out of the Washington County courthouse in Sandersville except when her son was in court for preliminary hearings because she was suspected of practicing voodoo in the women's bathroom. A custodian found a dusty substance and eggs scattered throughout the bathroom after she was seen leaving the area.
July 1-- A bizarre incident in Glenwood Monday night led to the shooting death of an Ailey man by a Glenwood police officer. GBI agent Greg Harvey says 43-year-old Kenneth Thomas of 214 Easy Street in Ailey drove his pickup truck to the parking lot of the Wheeler County Hospital in Glenwood, poured gas on the truck and set it on fire, then fired two shotgun blasts into the empty car of his former girlfriend, Patsy Neal of Ailey, who was working inside the hospital. By that time, police officer David Attaway had arrived on the scene and shot Thomas when the man turned the shotgun in his direction. Agent Harvey says the officer fired in self defense. He also says he understands Thomas and Neal broke up over the weekend and that apparently caused the man to show up where the woman worked. No charges are being filed in the case.
July 1-- The Montgomery County government is running short on cash and the county commission Tuesday authorized the chairman to borrow up to $200,000 "if needed" to meet county payroll and other operating expenses in the coming months. County manager Keith Hamilton told the board the county only has about $20,000 in its operating account, the amount needed to meet the weekly county payroll. County tax commissioner Lawana Sharpe says about 93 percent of this year's tax bills have been paid so far.
In other actions, coroner Joe Strickland reported state budget cuts have caused the GBI to cease paying the costs of transporting bodies to the state crime lab for autopsies. The commission okayed an agreement with Jamie Stewart to do the job for about $500 a trip.
The board also passed a resolution urging the state to consider placing a public fishing area in Montgomery County, and heard a report from the local chamber of commerce that Allen Rice of Savannah Luggage is considering adding up to a hundred jobs to the company payroll and that Montgomery County is one potential site for the expansion.
News Break - Vidalia Communications.
This site is a member of The American History and Genealogy Project (AHGP), an unincorporated not-for-profit network of independent sites devoted to History & Genealogy, and covering North American Countries and Territories. For more information about our group, including how you can join us, please see our About page. Downtown Vidalia Development
New Income Down at MRMC
Home Hires New Attorney
Paying for "HOPE"
School Dress Codes Explained
Shook Denies Slander
MRMC in National Magazine
Vidalia Schools Seek Dismissal of Sexual Harassment Case
Hearing Date in Mel Blount Youth Home Case
Traffic Death
Memorial Planned for Dead Soldier
Montgomery Ruling Next Month
Removal Petition Hearing in Montgomery County
Ambulance Service Review
Names in the News
Vidalia City Council OK's Rezoning
Minor Earthquake Sunday
Headstart Supporters Oppose Change
Group Questions Plant Hatch Long Term Safety
Williams "My Vote Can't Be Bought"
DaimlerChrysler Delay, Local Officials Still Optimistic
New Lyons Police Chief Hired
Miami Firm Moving Operation to Vidalia
Toombs County Paving
Outside Judge Named to Hear Montgomery Tax Petition
Federal Appeals Court to Hear ACLU Case
Suit Filed Against Montgomery County Sheriff
Armed Robbery Suspect Arrested
Montgomery Cuts School Jobs
Capital Murder Case Scheduled for Toombs Court
Shooting Death in Glenwood
Montgomery County "Short on Cash"
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URL: http://toombs.150m.com/news/radio/2003/July.htm Updated: Thursday, July 31, 2003. Top
