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Toombs County, GA Archives News Radio Stories |
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June 30-- A labor strike at Plant Hatch has been averted. A spokesman for Local 84 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers says members at Plant Hatch and Plant Vogel near Augusta voted to ratify a new contract with Southern Nuclear Operating Company. The old contract expired at midnight Monday. Union members had threatened to walk over the issue of seniority, and company spokesman Steve Higgenbottom says Southern Nuclear is happy the members relented. The company had made plans to keep the plants operating and said all along there would be no interruption of service from the plants.
June 30-- A customer at the Sonic Drive-in in Vidalia was robbed at gunpoint Sunday night. Vidalia police say Melinda Lee of Claxton handed over her purse when a black male approached her car, stuck a nine millimeter gun in the window, and said, "Do me a favor, give me all your money." He then ran south toward Manning Drive and has not been caught, according to Vidalia police lieutenant Clint Kennedy. However, a man wanted by the Toombs County sheriff's department was apprehended in the Vidalia Village area during the search for the robber, and police say Charles Ira was taken to the Toombs County Detention Center in Lyons.
Meanwhile, the robber wanted in connection with the June 13th hold-up at the Friendly Gus convenience store in Mount Vernon is still at-large. Sheriff Clarence Sanders of Montgomery County says his department is still working on several leads in the case.
June 29-- Vidalia city manager Bill Torrance is suing Vidalia attorney Mitch Shook for defamation. Torrance's Savannah attorney, Brent Savage, filed suit in Toombs County state court on June 23rd seeking a jury trial and punitive damages for remarks Shook allegedly made in public about Torrance.
According to the suit, Torrance and four city council members joined Shook and another council member for dinner in a Vidalia restaurant the night of November 11th, 2002. After remarks Shook supposedly made about school teachers angered Torrance, whose wife is a teacher, Torrance tried to respond and Shook "loudly accused Torrance of murdering Henry Dickerson." The suit also says Shook had made other remarks suggesting Torrance put Dickerson's body in the trunk of his vehicle after murdering him.
Dickerson's body was found in the pool of city attorney Reid Threlkeld in 1997 and a series of stories in the Savannah Morning News earlier this year raised questions about the investigation surrounding his death. The state crime lab said he drowned due to cocaine intoxication and severe heart disease. After the newspaper series, Shook bought an ad in the local newspaper denying having anything to do with the newspaper series, but admitting that he was in his office with his investigator Glenn Joiner when he was interviewed by the newspaper.
Torrance is out of town on vacation and can't be reached for comment, however, Shook says he hopes "a thorough legal investigation of this matter will benefit the community as a whole, and hopefully, will dispel some of the cloud that has surrounded the circumstances since the Savannah Morning News printed the article."
June 27-- The police chief in Lyons has resigned. Mayor John Moore says Friday was the last day on the job for Chief David Prescott who is returning to the Hogansville area after only eight months on the job in Lyons. Assistant Chief Jack Caves will serve as interim chief until the city council meeting July 8th when Mayor Moore says he will recommend that the city council appoint police investigator Ricky Newsome to the job.
June 27-- Good news for the Toombs County Boys and Girls Club Friday. Representatives of Taco Bell awarded the club $5,000 which executive director Greg Johnson says is much needed for club operations this summer. Local Taco Bell manager Gretchen Watkins of Lyons says her staff and customers are happy to help support the local club. Janice Jackson of Warner Robins presented the Taco Bell check to the local club and says its part of the company's policy to help teenagers succeed.
June 26-- Lyons police have made nine arrests in connection with recent vandalism in the city cemetery which caused an estimated $75,000 damage to an Italian marble monument owned by the Bob Garbutt family. Investigator Ricky Newsome says officers broke the case when four of the alleged vandals returned to the cemetery to videotape the damage and were caught by officers who had the scene under surveillance. Police also recovered the stolen head of a bust which was found in a home on Northeast Broad Street which, coincidentally, is next door to the police sub-station.
Newsome says a house at 267 North Lanier Street was where the group hung out and experimented with ouija boards. Those arrested include William Wilder and Helen Nito of Vidalia; Barbara Phillips, Natasha Rauton, Brandon Bazemore and Jacob Wellborn, all of Lyons; Erica Robbins of Bloomingdale, and two juveniles. Toombs County magistrate Ezra Aaron has set high bonds on the adults who are being held in the Toombs County jail. Newsome credits good work by Sergeants Dale and Ryan Dixon and officers Art Villegas, Mitchell Meeks and Jason Hutchinson in solving the crime.
June 26-- The federal trial of Treutlen County Sheriff Wayne Hooks and his deputy Ryan Griner has been delayed. According to federal Judge Dudley Bowen's office in Augusta, the trial which had been set to begin on Monday, July 7th has been re-scheduled for Monday, August 18th at the Federal Courthouse in Dublin.
Hooks and Griner were indicted by a federal grand jury in January for allegedly violating the civil rights of two men they had arrested after a chase on DUI charges. Steven Dewayne Tanner and Tony Lee King claim they were assaulted at the Treutlen County sheriff's office. Griner is also facing a witness tampering charge in the case.
June 25-- The state has approved nearly $4 million to help Montgomery County build a new elementary school. School superintendent Dale Clarke says local sales tax money of nearly $2 million will pay the remainder of the school construction costs. The new building will include 37 classrooms, a media center and gymnasium, all located on the current campus in Mount Vernon. Clarke says construction should start next Spring and take about 18 months to complete. The new building will allow students to vacate eleven mobile classrooms, according to Clarke.
June 25-- A Toombs County grand jury has indicted a Lyons man for felony murder in the fatal shooting of a 14-year-old boy and for aggravated assault in the shooting of four other people last October. Twenty-nine-year old Manvester Evans was arrested after a shooting spree at the Lyons home of his estranged wife which killed Rodney Mobley, Jr. of Vidalia and wounded his ex-wife Cheryl Evans, her mother, 66-year-old Mary Jones, an aunt, 41-year-old Cathy Mann, and his ten-year-old stepson, Blair Jones. Evans has a previous conviction for second degree murder in Florida.
The grand jury also indicted a special agent of the Georgia Department of Revenue and his wife for theft by conversion. Assistant District Attorney Charles Howard says Jess Clifton and his wife Tonnessa of Toombs County are accused of stealing state fees and fines paid by various liquor establishment operators. The indictment says over $12,000 was deposited in the couples' personal bank account during a three-year period.
Eight indictments were also returned on cocaine-related charges against Anthony Knight, James McNeal, Derrick Westpoint, Antone Victoria, Emory Kirkland, Charlie Rogers, Jr., Willie Brown, Demery Parker, Raheem Ford and Latressa Wiggins.
June 24-- For the second time this month, a superior court judge has delayed hearing a petition to remove the Montgomery County Board of Tax Assessors from office. Earlier it was because the board's attorney said he was sick. Tuesday the hearing was cancelled because board member Howard Morris is on vacation. And the man who filed the petition, Vidalia physician Dr. Ronnie Smith, claims its all a ploy to delay the hearing until after an appeal field by the Board of Assessors can be heard in August. The board is appealing a ruling from the county board of tax equalization which ordered a countywide tax revaluation.
Dr. Smith's 360-name petition claims actions taken on the county tax digest last year are illegal because neither the county tax appraiser nor the board of assessors meet state-mandated qualifications. A group of 20 citizens showed up at the courtroom in Mount Vernon only to learn of the delay. While there, they heard from Dr. Smith who claimed the case is embroiled in local politics and that he plans to run for office next year because the Montgomery County commission is wasting taxpayer dollars on lawyers. He believes the money should have been used to pay for a new revaluation as ordered by the Board of Equalization.
June 23-- The volunteer fire department serving the Marvin community in Toombs County is one of four in Georgia to get federal grants for equipment. Volunteer Chief Larry Stephens says the $48,115 will be used to buy equipment needed to improve fire protection and to help residents get better rates on fire insurance. The Marvin firefighters applied to the Federal Emergency Management Agency to get the grant.
June 23-- Officials at Meadows Regional Medical Center in Vidalia are closing the Treutlen Medical Center in Soperton. CEO Alan Kent says the recent move of Dr. Tom Ferrari from the Treutlen clinic to Tattnall County, and last year's opening of another community clinic sponsored by the Emanuel Medical Center in Swainsboro precipitated the decision.
June 23-- You may have noticed the Hardee's sign on the strip in Vidalia is gone. So is the store. Officials at the Hardee's franchise headquarters in Savannah confirm closing of the store which they said had been losing money for some time.
June 20-- It’s been almost 5 years since R. T. Stanley first approached Vidalia city officials with the idea of an “Onion Museum” – a location dedicated to the promotion of our most famous local commodity. But what began as a seedling thought sprouted into a community-wide effort and the Vidalia Onion Museum officially opened its doors on Thursday afternoon. The museum features a video history of the onion, as well as other artifacts. Onion Museum Committee Chairman Alexa Chapman explains that even more is planned for the onion museum as people continue to donate interesting items related to the Vidalia onion.
The onion museum has been a coordinated effort of almost every state and local agency in the area according to City Manager Bill Torrance.
June 20-- Local musician and former Toombs county Sheriffs Deputy Lloyd Knight is pursuing his dream of making it big in country music. Knight, a long time resident of Toombs county says competition is tough in Nashville--a town full of people trying to break into the music industry. Knight first moved to Nashville in 2002 and has worked many an odd job while trying to get his foot in the door. Things are looking up for Knight, however, with the release of his debut album “ All In Your Hands” and the growing popularity of its first single release: “Hello, Beer”.
Knight credits the support of his family and friends and the help of some big names in the music industry with helping him launch his music career. This weekend, Knight will begin touring military bases around the country where his new single is especially popular.
June 19-- Jerry Pruitt, Director of Laboratory Services at MRMC says despite blood supply shortages in recent weeks, the local blood supply is adequate to meet current needs in our area. Over the last six weeks, the American Red Cross Southern Region’s blood collections have been dangerously low, falling far short of the minimal levels required to meet the needs of Georgia’s hospital patients.
Grady Braziel, chief operating officer of the Red Cross Southern Region explains stormy spring weather kept many regular donors away from blood drives. Combining that fact with traditionally low summer blood donations means the region’s blood supply is shrinking at an alarming rate.
A low blood supply, according to Pruitt, is a serious problem for emergency rooms and other trauma events, but also affects elective surgeries and other non-emergency areas as well. Because a unit of blood has a shelf life of only 43 days, the current supply is always changing. Pruitt explains since Meadows Regional serves as a distribution center for local smaller hospitals, the hospitals’ blood supply is maintained at a more constant level by shipments from Savannah.
If anyone would like to help with this shortage, there will be a blood drive on Tuesday, July 8th at the Vidalia Community Center from one until 7 p.m.
June 18-- A Soperton resident was killed Tuesday night in a single car accident near Norristown in Emmanuel County. Georgia State Patrol authorities say 25-year-old Mandy Morrison died when her car left Hwy 171, struck a culvert and overturned shortly after 7:00 p.m. No word as to whether or not the weather played a role in that accident.
June 18-- The annual Paul Anderson Benefit golf tournaments were a tremendous success according to Betty Burris, Director of Special Services. This year’s tournaments held in Augusta and Atlanta raised almost $500,000 to help continue the work begun by Paul Anderson in 1961.
Doug Roper, who works as a counselor and with donor relations, explains the golf tournaments help defray some of the expenses of the youth home because they do not accept any federal or state funding and rely completely on donations.
Success for the Youth Home is not measured in money raised, but in lives changed and Roper explains the Youth Home has a 94% success rate for young men who complete their program. Roper credits that rate to the home’s ability to bring structure and organization into the boys’ lives while teaching them Biblical foundations for living.
June 17-- State Senator Jack Hill of Reidsville has been appointed to the National Conference of State Legislatures Budget and Revue Committee. Hill will be working with members of Congress and the White House to influence policy decisions on state and federal budgets, as well as dealing with other financial issues for state and federal governments.
The appointment follows Senator Hill’s first term as Chairman of Georgia’s Senate Appropriations Committee. Over the past two years, Georgia has had to cut nearly a $1 Billion from its budget in order to meet the federal mandate for states to balance their budgets by year’s end. Hill explains a shifting of Federal Medicaid funds helped Georgia offset this year’s budget deficit.
June 16-- The Bank of Soperton is celebrating 100 years of service to Soperton and surrounding communities. President Jimmy Gillis attributes the bank’s success to strong leadership, dedicated employees and strong community support. Gillis explains what smaller banks lack in size they make up for in service.
June 16-- After humble beginnings in the 1940’s Altamaha Bank and Trust opened it’s fifth location in a full-service banking facility at 206 Jackson Street in Vidalia. Bank President Colon Sammons says a stable local economy has helped the bank continue to grow.
June 12-- The state Democratic Party is charging that U.S. Attorney Rick Thompson of Vidalia, a Republican, is partisan when it comes to doing his job. An article this week in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution quoted a Democratic Party official who said a reasonable person could have suspicions that politics plays a role in Thompson's decisions. He denies the charge.
Last year Thompson looked into evidence gathered by a special state prosecutor appointed by Governor Barnes after the prosecutor dismissed a Fulton County grand jury indictment of former state senator Van Streat of Nicholls.
Last month, the paper says, attorneys for Georgia House speaker Terry Coleman of Eastman confirmed that federal officials are investigating whether Coleman used campaign funds for his personal use. Under federal policy, Thompson cannot comment on on-going investigations, but he notes that U.S. Attorneys do not originate cases and only act on those referred to them from other sources.
Defending his office, Thompson says the first person he prosecuted as an U.S. Attorney was a Republican. He convicted a member of the Chatham County school board for receiving kickbacks.
June 11-- A black male walked into the Colony Bank in Soperton about 12:20 Wednesday with a note demanding money. The note said he was armed, but he never showed a weapon. Soperton police chief Joey Powell says the man took an undisclosed amount of money and left the bank. Powell says the man was caught on videotape, but he's still at large. It's the second robbery at the Colony Bank in two years. The GBI and FBI are assisting with the investigation.
June 11-- Despite state cuts of nearly a half-million dollars, the Toombs County Board of Education has fashioned a tentative budget of just over $16 million for 2004. Nearly $2.5 million of the budget comes from local property taxes and school officials expect the tax millage rate of 13 mils to remain the same as this year. Over $2 million dollars in funds carried over from this year will be used to provide furnishings from the new Toombs Middle School and for renovations on Lyons Elementary. Final approval of the budget will come in July. And on July 1, school superintendent Dr. Kendall Brantley says members of the school board are being subpoenaed to attend a teacher dismissal hearing at the board offices in Lyons.
June 10-- Vidalia Mayor Ronnie Dixon says the city will take another look at limiting parking to two hours in downtown Vidalia. Proprietors of Lady K and Clark Appliance were at Monday night's city council meeting and said the new city policy will kill business in downtown Vidalia. They said the majority of downtown merchants don't want the parking limits. The new two-hour limit takes effect June 15.
In other actions, the council okayed a $60,000 low interest economic development loan to the trio of Slade Clements and Timmy and Tony Williamson to buy equipment for screen printing of golf flags for a new business venture started by former Oxford executive Tom Meredith. They also approved rezoning of the 300 block of Durden Street for commercial development, and gave a zoning variance to Hub Communications for a 200-foot communications tower.
Airport committee chairman Tom Peterson reports the new Vidalia airport terminal building should be ready to open in late July or early August.
June 10-- Lyons Mayor John Moore is authorizing a two percent pay raise for all city employees as of July 1st. Moore recommended a three percent raise for employees at the June city council meeting, however, councilman Ivey Toole objected to an across the board raise and called for individual performance-based raises. The council took no action on the question after an executive session and Mayor Moore says he's taking action on his own authority to increase the pay. He says many employees make very little and deserve a cost of living pay raise.
The Lyons city council has okayed spending up to $50,000 this summer for road repairs and resurfacing. Ellis Wood Contracting of Statesboro submitted a low bid for work on six streets including North Washington Street, North Victory Drive, Nellie Rose Street, Parker Street, McDilda Street and West Peterson Avenue.
June 8-- The Georgia Army National Guard construction battalion which includes Company C from Lyons has finally departed for the Mideast. The unit, activated in March, left last week for what most assume will be a mission to help build Iraq. Cindy Boyette, who heads the unit's family support organization in Reidsville, says some thought they'd return home without being deployed because combat operations have ceased.
June 8-- The hearing on a petition to dismiss members of the Montgomery County Board of Tax Assessors has been delayed. The petition filed by Vidalia physician Dr. Ronnie Smith was scheduled Monday before Judge Frederick Mullis in Montgomery County Superior Court. However, clerk of court Dwight Newsome reports the tax assessors' attorney requested a continuance and the new hearing date is Tuesday, June 24th. Smith has submitted a petition with 360 names claiming the board members have not maintained state-required training and have not fairly and impartially discharged their duties.
June 5-- A Toombs County man is going to jail for child molestation. George Patrick Edenfield of Reedy Creek Circle near Lyons was sentenced Thursday in Toombs County Superior Court. Judge Walter McMillan sentenced Edenfield to 15 years in prison followed by ten years probation. He was convicted for sexually molesting his ten-year-old daughter over a four-year period starting in 1998.
June 3-- Folks who live or travel on the Bob Sharpe Road in Vidalia and Toombs County will soon find the going easier. Monday the Vidalia city council agreed to fund nearly $120,000 to pave the road to the city limits, and Tuesday the Toombs County commission approved nearly $106,000 to pave the remainder from the city limits to the Montgomery County line. Sikes Brothers submitted the low bid and is expected to start construction this summer.
June 3-- State budget cuts are causing some local job cuts. The Georgia Forestry Commission is eliminating an administrative position at its units in both Toombs and Telfair counties. District forester Lane DeFee says the counties and the state shared the salaries 50-50, but the state can no longer pay its share.
June 3-- Montgomery County commissioners have voted to buy a building in Mount Vernon. At their meeting Tuesday, they approved the $50,000 purchase of the building at the corner of Fulton and Broad Streets which is used by the County Extension Service Agent. The building had been leased by the county.
June 3-- Roy Barnes' appointee Tom Coleman has announced his intention to resign as head of the Georgia Department of Transportation in August. Governor Sonny Perdue will recommend a replacement and the current deputy commissioner is expected to serve as interim commissioner, according to state Senator Tommie Williams of Lyons, chairman of the senate transportation committee. Williams says Coleman's departure will have no impact on local interest projects like the widening of U.S. Highway One from Lyons to Interstate 16.
June 2-- After years of seeking voluntary cooperation, the Vidalia City Council voted Monday to impose a two-hour parking limit in most of the business district in downtown Vidalia. The new parking restrictions take effect June 15th on Jackson and Church Streets from Highway 280 to South Main, on all of Meadows Street, and on the south side of Southwest Main Street.
The council also approved nearly $120,000 to pave that portion of the Bob Sharpe Road within the city limits, and voted to accept Country Club Drive as a city street.
June 2-- The latest area school system expected to adopt a dress code for students is Montgomery County. School superintendent Dale Clarke says a faculty committee is currently working on recommendations which she expects the school board to consider in July. Vidalia City Schools and Toombs County schools have already adopted dress codes. Clarke says she expects that trend to continue statewide because too many students are coming to school dressed inappropriately.
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. Union Approves Contract, Strike Averted
Armed Robbery at Sonic
City Manager Sues Vidalia Attorney
Lyons Police Chief Resigns
Local Boys-Girls Club Gets Taco Bell Grant
Arrests Made in Cemetery Vandalism
Sheriff's Trial Re-Scheduled
New Elementary School Building in Montgomery County
Murder Indictment and More
Tax Petition Hearing Delayed Again, Smith To Run for Commission
Marvin Community Fire Department Grant
Treutlen Medical Center Closing
Hardee's Closes in Vidalia
Onion Museum Opens Its Doors
Local Musician Gaining Popularity
Local Blood Supplies Could Face Summer Shortages
Soperton Resident Killed in Single Car Accident
Paul Anderson Golf Tournaments a Success
Reidsville Senator to serve on National committee
Bank of Soperton Celebrates 100 Years
Altamaha Bank Opens New Location
Democrats Claim US Attorney is "Partisan"
Colony Bank Robbed
Toombs County School Budget
Merchants Object to Parking Limits
Lyons City Employee Pay Raise
Company "C" Deploys to Mideast
Petition Hearing Delayed
Edenfield Sentenced in Child Molestation
County Paving Contract
Forestry Commission Cuts Local Jobs
Montgomery Buying Building
DOT Commissioner Retiring, No Local Impact
Parking Limits in Downtown Vidalia
Montgomery County Schools to Adopt Dress Code
References
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URL: http://toombs.150m.com/news/radio/2003/June.htm Updated: Monday, June 30, 2003. Top
