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Toombs County, GA Archives News Radio Stories |
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Mar 31-- Construction is starting soon on a new apartment complex for Vidalia. The Braden Group of Summerville, GA is building 56 apartments on a six-acre site purchased from Lake McDonald of Vidalia at the corner of North Street and Loop Road . Anna Marie Braden of the company says the units will rent at the moderate income level and will include 21 two-bedroom units, 16 three-bedroom layouts, and 12 one-bedroom apartments. The complex will also include an administrative building and a recreation pavilion. Estimated cost of the seven two-story apartment buildings is nearly $2.5 million, according to Vidalia city building inspector Jackson Posey. The company says construction of what they are calling "Chateau Apartments, Vidalia" will take about a year.
Mar 31-- A wrongful death civil suit has been settled out of court, according to attorneys for the plaintiff in the case. Just over five years ago, a 30-year-old resident of the Pineland Mental Health Facility in Lyons died of suffocation while allegedly being restrained by two Pineland employees. Vidalia attorney Mitch Shook says Helen Slywka and Jean Gurney sat on the chest of Mitchell Salter to hold him down. He died and Shook says the two were fired. Salter's mother, Mary Salter of Lyons, sued Pineland alleging employee negligence and negligence by the facility regarding training, supervision, hiring and retention. Attorneys for Pineland agreed to a settlement a day before the case was to be tried in Bulloch County Superior Court. Under terms of the settlement, the amount Pineland will pay Mary Salter is confidential, however, Shook says it's substantial and "one of the largest he's seen in such a case."
Mar 27-- A scare for administrators at Montgomery County High School Thursday morning when a student suffered some kind of allergic drug reaction. Principal Michael Parker says the female 9th grader apparently took a prescription drug and had a negative reaction. Emergency medical personnel were called and took her to Meadows Regional Medical Center in Vidalia where school officials said she was doing OK.
Mar 27-- If you have a phone line in Toombs or Montgomery County, your phone bill includes a $1.50 a month charge to help finance local 911 service. Now the county wants cell phone users to pay a dollar a month also. And Toombs County commissioners have called a public hearing on April 9th at seven p.m. in the courthouse to get public input on the idea. The additional charge would help pay for phase one of a three-phase wireless plan to improve response to cell calls, officials say.
In other news, Toombs commissioners are on the verge of buying two acres of land for a new Headstart building. The county has a $500,000 grant for the building, and is negotiating with Tommie Williams of Lyons to purchase property off Highway 292 to the rear of Natsu's. The county is waiting on a survey of the property to close the deal.
Mar 27-- A Vidalia minister has until April 4th to get 100 registered voters to sign a petition seeking a recall election application for Toombs County coroner Mandel Edenfield. Bishop Vincent Drummer got the petition March 20th from county elections supervisor Jackie Driskoll and has 15 days to return it. Drummer started the action after Edenfield was quoted as making a racial slur in the Savannah Morning News. Edenfield denies making the slur during an interview with two newspaper reporters.
Once the petition is returned by Drummer and is validated by Driskoll, his next task would be to gather an estimated 4,000 names on a recall application. At the same time, the coroner is entitled to seek a review in superior court and the application must be put on hold until a judge reviews the case.
Mar 26-- A Toombs County jury took just over two hours Wednesday to convict a Vidalia man of murder with malice. Thirty-seven-year old Nathan Anthony was found guilty of killing his estranged wife, Patrena Denay Anthony, in a shooting at her home on Allen Drive in Vidalia on January 31, 2001. The jury also found Anthony guilty of wounding 32-year-old Morris Morgan, Jr. when he found the man at the woman's home, and he was also convicted of using a firearm in the commission of a felony. Toombs County Clerk of Court Chess Fountain says he expects Judge Kathy Palmer to sentence Anthony in the next two to three weeks.
Mar 26-- The Georgia Hospital Association is lobbying Governor Sonny Perdue to scale back his plans to cut Medicaid payment rates to help balance the state's budget deficit. The governor says the only way to avoid the cuts is to get the general assembly to approve his requested tax increase on tobacco. At the monthly meeting of the Meadow's Regional Medical Center operating board Monday, CEO Alan Kent urged board members to contact local legislators and protest the Medicaid cuts. Kent says the proposed cuts will especially hurt rural hospitals and nursing homes. Most senior citizens depend on Medicaid for nursing home care, and rural hospitals with large indigent patient populations depend on Medicaid for reimbursement for care to the poor. The governor's budget is proposing $111 million in cuts to Medicaid.
Mar 25-- March rains have softened up the Vidalia Onion fields so much that farmers are having problems applying treatment to plants being attacked by disease. The chairman of the Vidalia Onion Committee, R.T. Stanley Jr. of Toombs County, says its too early to tell how much damage will be done to the estimated $80 million dollar onion harvest. Until the rains came, Stanley says the crop was looking like one of the best in years.
Because this year's Vidalia Onion Festival was moved up a couple of weeks to book the Navy's Blue Angels at the festival air show, it may be hard to find onions during the festival. Stanley says no onions can be brought to market until they meet state standards for quality and sweetness. He says "it's marginal" that onions will be available in time for the festival.
Mar 24-- The weekend death of a Toombs County man has been ruled accidental. Toombs County Sheriff Junior Kight says 59-year-old James Calvin Powell of the South Thompson community was found in his home. According to the sheriff, Powell's shirt caught fire while he was trying to refill a butane lighter and the flame sent him into shock and caused a heart attack. The state crime lab says no foul play was involved in his death. Sheriff Kight said deputies entered the home Saturday night after being notified by out-of-town relatives that Powell, who was in bad health, was not answering his phone.
Mar 24-- An Adrian man died in a one vehicle wreck early Sunday in Emanuel County. Forty-year-old Chris Moore was killed in a wreck on Highway 80 between Swainsboro and Norristown. The Swainsboro State Patrol post investigating.
Mar 24-- The murder trial of 37-year-old Nathan Anthony of Vidalia is underway in Toombs County Superior Court. On the last day of January, 2001, Anthony turned himself in to police after the shooting death of his estranged wife, 33-year-old Patrena Denay Anthony, at her home at 883 Allen Drive in Vidalia. At the same time, he allegedly wounded 32-year-old Morris Morgan, Jr. whom authorities said was visiting the woman at the time. Anthony has pleaded not guilty in the case. Jury selection took place Monday and testimony is expected to continue through Wednesday.
Mar 22-- Former state senator Van Streat of Coffee County has been ordered to pay the state $4,000, the same amount he received in 1997 from a convicted felon to be moved to a minimum security prison. The State Ethics Commission issued the order against Streat. Last summer a special prosecutor appointed by then-Governor Barnes dismissed a grand jury indictment against Streat just before he ran unsuccessfully for the state senate against Senator Tommie Williams of Lyons. At the time, Williams criticized Barnes for protecting Streat from criminal prosecution.
Mar 22-- Three elected officials in Treutlen County are having their share of problems with the law. Tax commissioner Wayne Sumner entered a guilty plea to his second DUI and will spend a year in a rehab clinic in Florida. He was fined in city court $1,000 for DUI and $100 for going 70 miles per hour in a 45-mile-an-hour zone in Soperton.
Meanwhile, Treutlen Commissioner William Baker was picked up on a bench warrant issued by a city judge in Adrian where Baker had been charged with driving with a suspended license and without proof of insurance. The warrant charges Baker with failure to appear and contempt of court. He was released on bond.
And county Sheriff Wayne Hooks remains under federal indictment for allegedly assaulting two men he arrested on traffic charges. A state review panel has yet to be appointed by Governor Perdue to determine if Hooks will continue on the job pending court action.
Mar 22-- The water is still on in Tarrytown. Last week the city of Soperton, which provides water to its neighbor to the south, threatened to cut the water off Friday unless the water meter on the supply line was repaired. Tarrytown city manager Jmon Warnock and Soperton Mayor Greg Higgs have agreed that Soperton workers will repair the meter and send Tarrytown the bill.
Mar 18-- If you ever saw the old movie, "The Birth of a Nation," you may remember the scene of the minute man in the field, dropping his plow, and heading off to fight the British. Today's "Minute Men" are the country's military reservists and national guardsmen and they're leaving their jobs to mobilize for war with Iraq.
In Lyons Tuesday, members of Company C, 878th Engineer Battalion, gathered in preparation for their departure for Fort Stewart and mobilization. The unit's 129 soldiers are from all walks of life and from many parts of the state. Locally, Toombs County Board of Education member Needham Rogers is making his second trip to the Mideast, he was there in 1991 for Desert Storm, and says he sure his fellow school board members will take care of business while he is gone this time.
Another local guardsman, Robert Marin of Vidalia, is a state patrolman at the Reidsville post and he says family members who remain behind would welcome support from the community.
Georgia Adjutant General David Poythress visited the unit in Lyons Tuesday. A community farewell is planned for noon Thursday at the armory in Lyons and you're invited to attend.
Mar 17-- A group of concerned Vidalia citizens is paying the Savannah Morning News for an ad in the paper Tuesday defending the city against attacks on it launched by the paper nearly two weeks ago. Vidalia businessman Otha Dixon says 17 Vidalians paid the paper $1600 to publish an open letter to let readers know the paper's portrayal of Vidalia was "conjecture" and "in all likelihood not accurate."
Mar 17-- The U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia believes there were insufficient grounds to pursue a criminal wiretapping prosecution of Vidalia police chief Darrell Collins when he overheard a cordless phone conversation of GBI agent Vicky Horton in November, 1997. The city's insurance company settled a civil suit with Tapley and a federal judge gave Collins and other city officials qualified immunity in the case. Thompson says the U.S. Attorney at the time, Donnie Dixon, exercised sound judgement in concluding he could not prove the case "beyond a reasonable doubt" and that the civil penalty was the appropriate avenue for Tapley. The criminal statute of limitations in the case has expired and no action will be taken by the feds, according to Thompson.
Mar 16-- A respected guidance counselor at Vidalia High School died Sunday at her home after a long battle with cancer. Fifty-year-old Charlene Newsome had been in public education for 29 years and spent the last 12 as a guidance counselor at Vidalia High School. School superintendent Dr. Tim Smith says she touched hundreds of lives during her tenure and was liked by students because she took time to listen and provided many with valuable advice.
Mar 16-- The First Baptist Church of Lyons broke ground Sunday for a new education annex and fellowship hall. Reverend Danny Williams says the new complex is a major step forward for the church. Satilla Construction Company of Blackshear has a contract for $1.6 million to build the new addition.
March 16-- Two Georgia boys from Toombs County were among the top finishers over the weekend in the national dutch oven cooking competition at Sandey, Utah. Craig Adams and Carson Randall placed third for their cornish hen dish called "Ohoopee Hen." More importantly, the two were voted "crowd favorite," perhaps because they came bearing all sorts of Vidalia onion gifts and favors.
Mar 13-- He learned about Lyons while a contractor for Plant Hatch in the 1970's, moved to the town in the 1980's, and Thursday night, James Bellmore was named the Lyons Citizen of the Year for 2003. He's known for his personal and financial support of worthy causes in the town and has been on the ground floor with such things as the Lyons Merchants Association, the Better Hometown program, the depot renovation and the annual Soap Box Derby.
Mar 13-- A former Man of the Year in Treutlen County and the county's tax commissioner has had a second DUI arrest since release from a rehab program. The local paper reports Wayne Sumner was stopped by Soperton police for going 70 in a 45-mile per hour zone and for failing a blood-alcohol test. He was released on bond and will enter an alcoholic treatment program. Sumner has already been away to such a program once and most recently was in a work-release program allowing him to work in the tax office and spend the night in the county jail.
Mar 13-- Lyons police are investigating an attempted robbery in Lyons. Police chief David Prescott says a black man and woman entered the Handy Check convenience store on Highway 292 East Tuesday night. They reportedly were recognized by the clerk and fled with no money after spraying him with pepper spray.
Mar 12-- A group of some 25 students and parents attended Tuesday night's Vidalia school board meeting to protest enforcement of the school board's dress code at Vidalia High School. School principal Mitch Harrington has cracked down on students who come to school dressed in "all-black" because he doesn't want to open the door to gangs who sport gang colors. Parent Michelle Hardiman of Higgston pays out-of-system tuition so her freshmen daughter can attend Vidalia High School, but she claims the color rule is being administered arbitrarily and should be changed. In response, Harrington points to the gang reference in the student handbook and says the ultimate solution may be adoption of a school uniform at Vidalia High School. He also notes that since the dispute was reported on Savannah television, he's been contacted by other school systems experiencing similar problems with student dress.
Mar 11-- The Toombs County coroner who was accused by the Savannah Morning News of making a racial slur says he never made the comment to reporters Tuck Thompson and Brett Bell. However, some local citizens headed by Bishop Vincent Drummer of Vidalia plan to petition for his removal. Coroner Mandel Edenfield denies using the "n" word when he was interviewed regarding the 1997 death of 28-year-old Henry Dickerson, Jr. He also says he's prepared to call for an inquest in Dickerson's death if requested to do so by the family.
In order to remove the coroner from office, Drummer would need to apply for a recall petition from Toombs County election supervisor Jackie Driskoll. The petition for a recall election would require a least 30 percent of the registered voters who voted in the 2000 general election. Meanwhile, Drummer has submitted a 200-name petition to the Toombs County commission requesting Edenfield be fired from his other job as county constable.
The commissioners say they will forward Drummer's petition to county magistrate Ezra Aaron, however, Edenfield says he's done nothing wrong for which to be fired and he has no intention of retiring.
Mar 10-- The GBI is being asked to review its investigation into the death of 28-year-old Henry Dickerson, Jr. in April, 1997. The man's body was found in the bottom of the pool of Vidalia city attorney Reid Threlkeld six years ago and Savannah Morning News reporters Tuck Thompson and Brett Bell have tried to tie Threlkeld and Vidalia city manager Bill Torrance to the death. Dickerson, who served prison time after pleading guilty as a peeping Tom, may have been the man Torrance spotted outside his daughter's window hours before his body was found in the pool several blocks away. A state autopsy ruled drowning due to cocaine intoxication.
Torrance says he has asked Keith Golden, the Special Agent in Charge of the GBI office in Eastman, to review the case. Both Torrance and Threlkeld have denied the paper's allegations and called them lies. Golden is out of the office attending training this week, but he told Torrance it would take at least a week to retrieve the case file from GBI headquarters. GBI agent Vicky Tapley of Vidalia was the original state investigator in the case, the same investigator who sued city of Vidalia officials for alleged wiretapping. She also claimed to have attempted a cocaine drug sting on Torrance. However, her former boss, special agent Greg Owen, says Tapley never informed him of her undercover drug plans which he says would have been required under GBI policy.
Meanwhile, Torrance says a letter is being prepared asking that the newspaper retract its allegations of wrongdoing by him and other city officials. He's also considering a lawsuit for libel but admits he can't afford the estimated $100,000 it would take to fight the paper in court. And at its March meeting Monday night, the Vidalia city council met in executive session to discuss possible legal action, but made no decisions. The council is also considering hiring a public relations person to deal with outside media on the story.
In other news, the council was informed that Toombs County commission chairman Charles Rustin is weak but making some progress in his recovery from surgery in January which removed a tumor from his pancreas. The surgery was done at Emory, but he's currently at Meadows Regional fighting infection. He's been moved from intensive care to a private room.
Mar 9-- A native of Guatemala is the winner of this year's top student award at Southeastern Tech in Vidalia. Eric Campos was victim of an Oxford layoff just over a year ago and decided to go back to school to learn computers. Now he's half-way to getting his full Microsoft certification and is an outstanding example to other students according to instructor Karl Hay. Seventeen students were nominated for the annual Georgia Occupational Award of Leadership with the winner advancing to state competition later this year in Atlanta. Other finalists at STC were Debbie Burk, Lanette Ferguson and Crystal Hussey.
Mar 6-- A Vidalia doctor who's been a state-appointed medical examiner for 30 years says he confident there was no foul play in the death of 28-year-old Henry Dickerson, Jr. in April, 1997. Reporters for the Savannah Morning News last week tried to cast doubt on how the self-admitted "peeping Tom" wound up in the bottom of city attorney Reid Threlkeld's pool. Dr. Bob DeJarnette reviewed the state autopsy report in detail and supports the finding of drowning due to cocaine intoxication.
At the same time, Vidalia police chief Darrell Collins says he would be glad to cooperate with any state or federal prosecutor who may want to relook any of the allegations in the newspaper's series.
And former GBI agent-in-charge Greg Owen says he's sure there was no GBI drug investigation of Vidalia city manager Bill Torrance. Agent Vicky Tapley of Vidalia had claimed she was trying to put together a cocaine case against Torrance, however, Owen tells us she never informed him of that and he was her boss. Owen says that allegation came to light only after Tapley filed suit against Vidalia officials for alleged violation of state and federal wiretapping laws.
Mar 5-- The Defense Department is activating Army National Guard units in Georgia including the engineer company in Lyons. Army Sergeant Don Paradice of Vidalia, admin NCO of Company C, 878th Engineer Battalion, says 128 area citizen-soldiers are being called up, about half of whom live in the immediate Toombs County area. The unit also has a detachment in Metter. Company C is a combat engineer battalion whose mission is to assist combat units with battlefield construction and clean-up. Sergeant Paradice says the unit has been training to work in a nuclear, biological, chemical envrionment. Left behind are many families in the area who will need community support. The unit departs for Fort Stewart and activation on March 18th.
Mar 4-- Vidalia physician Dr. Ronnie Smith has dismissed his removal petition against the Board of Tax Assessors in Montgomery County. However, he's starting a new petition. The dismissal was filed late Monday because Smith's first petition contained less than the required 100 names of property owners in the county. Smith's son, Rusty, says a new petition will be filed and that it will have more than enough signature's by property owners. Once filed, the case will be heard again in Superior Court. The petition alleges four violations of state law by assessors Robert Brewer, Howard Morris and James Fortner. Fortner resigned from the board in January.
Mar 4-- The vacancy on the Montgomery County Board of Tax Assessors was filled Tuesday when the county commission appointed Derrick Barnes of Uvalda to succeed James Fortner.
The commissioners also turned down a request from the Board of Tax Equalization that the county hire it an attorney. County attorney Mackey Bryant advised that the Board of Equalization is an arm of the court, not the county, and as such has no need for an attorney. The board recently ordered the county tax assessors to conduct a county-wide revaluation of property, and the assessors are appealing the ruling in court.
Commission chairman Wyman Morris reported fire insurance rates are more than doubling in the area of the county bordering Vidalia. The increase is because Vidalia firemen no longer respond in that area due to a dispute over the purchase of a fire truck. Morris says Higgston volunteer firemen are preparing to take over in that area and hope to meet standards soon which will reduce the fire insurance rates.
Mar 4-- The city of Vidalia is taking legal action against five hangar owners at the Vidalia Airport. At a called meeting Tuesday, the council voted to initiate condemnation action against Alene Nobles, Bob Moore, Tony Zorn and Karen Meeks, and to order Davis Lovins to remove his hangar from airport property. Mayor Ronnie Dixon says the owners are unwilling to accept the city's offer for their hangars and the legal action will allow a court-appointed mediator to establish fair market value for the property.
Mar 4-- Bond has been set for a Higgston man accused of killing his common law wife. Judge Phillip West set a $50,000 bond for Frank Lloyd, Jr. who's charged with the fatal shooting of 27-year-old Nancy Smith in front of their house in Higgston on February 17. As of Tuesday night, Montgomery County Sheriff Clarence Sanders said Lloyd had yet to make bond and was still in jail.
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. New Housing in Vidalia
Wrongful Death Suit Settled
Student OK After Drug Reaction
Toombs Commissioners Consider Cell Phone 911 Charge
Preacher Petition
Guilty Verdict
Hospital CEO "Call Your Legislator"
Onions Threatened
Death Ruled Accidental
Adrian Man Killed in Wreck
Trial Starting in Toombs Superior Court
Streat Fined
Treutlen Officials Plagued by Problems
Tarrytown has Water
Guardsmen Preparing for Departure
Citizens Pay Paper for Ad Defending Vidalia
US Attorney Defends Predecessor's Decision
VHS Guidance Counselor Dies
Groundbreaking for Church Project
Local Duo Places in National Competition
Lyons Citizen of Year
Tax Commissioner DUI
Robbery Attempt in Lyons
Protest Over Vidalia School Dress Code
Toombs Coroner Denies Racial Remarks
Vidalia City Manager Asks GBI to Review Case
STC Names GOAL Student
Vidalia Medical Examiner "No Foul Play"
Local Guard Unit Mobilizing
Smith Withdraws Removal Petition, Will Try Again
Montgomery Commissioners Name New Tax Board Member
Vidalia Taking Legal Action at Airport
Bond Set In Homicide Case
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URL: http://toombs.150m.com/news/radio/2003/March.htm Updated: Monday, March 31, 2003. Top
