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March 31--Toombs County Sheriff Junior Kight called a news conference Wednesday to announce a Spring cleaning of alleged drug violators. The operation culminated six months of undercover work by area lawmen and included representatives from nine local and state agencies. Warrants were issued on 46 individuals in Toombs, Montgomery and Candler counties. Sweeps of street level drug suspects have almost become routine operations in Toombs and surrounding counties and Vidalia police chief Daryl Collins appealed to the community to get involved with turning in drug users and dealers. In Lyons, police chief Ricky Newsome says drugs plague parts of town where senior citizens are afraid to talk. He says identities will be protected when information is provided to police.
March 30--A fire of unknown origin destroyed the home of Vidalia minister Murray Ward Monday. Vidalia fire chief Buddy Coleman said the brick home was almost gone by the time firemen were notified and could respond to the call. He says the fire on Bostwick Circle also destroyed a camper and a shed on the property, and that the Ward's two terriers died inside the house. Firemen from South Thompson and Higgston also responded to the call. Toombs County sheriff Junior Kight says the state fire marshal has been unable to determine the cause of the fire. Reverend Ward is pastor of the Tabernacle Baptist Church. Both he and his wife were at work when notified about the fire.
March 30--They're peeling off the years on one of downtown Vidalia's historic buildings. Ann and Karl Owens bought the old Citizens Bank building at the corner of Church and Southwest Main two years ago, and now the modernistic facade is being removed to reveal what Karl Owens says is Greek Revival architecture. The Owens are working to get the building placed on the National Registry of Historic Buildings before they start the actual restoration. Ann Owens is president of the Downtown Vidalia Association and Karl says they're both committed to preserving the downtown area.
March 30--A repeat drug offender has been found guilty on two counts of selling cocaine. Officials say Willy James Brown of Vidalia was convicted by a Toombs County superior court jury and faces the possibility of a life without parole sentence from Judge Walter McMillan. Vidalia police say getting Brown off the streets is a another step forward in their efforts against drug offenders.
March 29--Lack of action on redistricting by the Toombs County commission could result in court action nullifying this year's county commission election. On February 2nd, the commission was notified by the county board of registrars that commission districts don't conform to census data provided by the state. In order to comply with the Voting Rights Act and the principle of one man-one vote, each commission district must include the same number of citizens plus or minus five percent. At its February meeting, commission chairman Charles Rustin appointed commissioners Louie Powell and Roy Lee Williams to handle the issue, however, no action was taken until mid-March when local officials enlisted the aid of the Reapportionment Services Office in Atlanta to draw new maps to satisfy the law. Once the maps are drawn and approved by the local commission, they require Department of Justice approval and local enabling legislation by the General Assembly. However, the deadline for legislation in this session of the General Assembly was last week which means Toombs County's redistricting plan can't be approved this year. A member of the reapportionment office says this means anyone can file a suit challenging the election. The seats of commission chairman Rustin, and commissioners Powell and Durward NeeSmith are up for election this year.
March 29--A member of the Bryan County Development Authority took pleasing of industrial prospects too far. The U.S. Attorney in Savannah reports Derrell Newman, public works director in Bryan County and also a development authority member, baited the county's industrial park in order to attract doves to a developer's dove shoot in October of last year. Officials said none of those invited knew they were shooting over a baited field. Newman was fined $2,500 by a U.S. Magistrate.
March 29--Vidalia florist Ellis Collins has won a top award from the Georgia State Florist Association. Collins was named floral designer of the year in competition over the weekend at St. Simons, and will now represent the state of Georgia in the Southern Retail Florist Convention coming up in August in Charlotte.
March 26--For over 25 years, Vidalia auto dealers have hosted an appreciation dinner for the city's police officers. At this year's banquet, Kurt Thompson was named rookie of the year, Ray Corbitt was selected as officer of the year, and Lieutenant Joel Williams was honored as supervisor of the year. Vidalia police chief Daryl Collins says he proud of the job the department's officers do for the people of Vidalia.
March 26--The principal at Vidalia High School says too many students are making failing grades in the school's elite Program Challenge coursework. At a school board meeting last week, the board approved Mitch Harrington's recommendation that standards for entering the program be raised in the future. He says nearly 40 students are currently enrolled and that it should be limited to about 25 in a school the size of Vidalia High School. At the same meeting, the board approved a recommendation from J.R. Trippe Middle School principal Gwen Warren that her school be allowed to drop out of the accreditation program conducted by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. She said the program is too expensive and is redundant with standards now being required by the state department of education.
March 25--The Vidalia school board has named a committee to study whether voters should be asked to approve another one percent local sales tax for education. The current sales tax is in its last year and the Toombs County school board has contacted Vidalia regarding another joint resolution. Toombs school officials have previously discussed the need to build a new elementary school on the heels of the just-completed county middle school which was financed locally by sales taxes. Vidalia school board members Bruce Asberry and Mac Jordan will make a recommendation at the April board meeting. If the two boards agree, voters would be asked to approve a new tax when they go to the polls in November.
At a meeting Thursday night, board chairman Bill Bedingfield also appointed members Lisa Adams and Virginia Sharp to review board polices regarding parents' right to appear before the board. Reverend Willie Dawson of Vidalia urged the review after claiming the school superintendent and board chairman can effectively block school board members from hearing directly from parents in cases where the superintendent and/or chairman may be covering for school administrators. Dawson's appeal grew from the board refusing to hear from a parent whose child had been disciplined earlier this month at Vidalia High School.
March 25--The two men whose traffic arrests led to federal civil rights convictions against former Truetlen County Sheriff Wayne Hooks have finally had their day in state court. Steven Tanner and Tony King were both fined and put on probation by Judge William McHorter. King pled guilty to three counts including 110 miles per hour in a 55 mile per hour zone and will pay a $3,156 fine. Tanner was found guilty on two counts of driving with a suspended license and fined $1,668. A DUI charge against Tanner was dropped due to lack of evidence. Sheriff Hooks was forced to resign, pay a fine and is currently on probation after admitting slapping Tanner and King in the county jail in Soperton.
March 25--The veteran clerk of court in Montgomery County says he will not seek reelection. Dwight Newsome completes 24 years in office this year and says he and his late wife, Charlene, had decided he would not seek the office again. Qualifying for the general primary election in July is the last week of April.
March 23--Construction is expected to be completed late this Fall on a wellness center in what was formerly the Tumi building on Highway 280 in Vidalia. The project is an initiative of Meadows Regional Medical Center in Vidalia, and is a proactive move to help people stay healthier according to Meadows president Alan Kent. Kent estimates the cost at $4.5 million including an indoor track, 25-meter pool, and fitness center.
March 23--The Lyons city council is considering a rezoning request which would allow construction of an 80-unit apartment complex. Earl Collins submitted the request to allow multi-family housing units to be built on Highway 292 east of Lyons. The area is currently zoned for single family housing. A public hearing on the question will be held April 8th at five p.m. at the Lyons city hall. At a called meeting Monday night, the council also inspected a two-story brick building on Northwest Broad Street which the Masonic Lodge is offering to sell the city for possible use as an Altamaha Heritage Center. No decision was made on the offer.
March 22--The sheriff says everybody called her "Granny" and she'd been running a general store on the Altamaha School Road in Jeff Davis county for 50 years. Friday afternoon somebody killed her in the store. Sheriff Jimmy Boatwright says 73-year-old Mary Lee Sharpe was killed by several blows to the head by a blunt object. Officers assume the motive was robbery, but say she kept only small change in her cash register, and that other money which she kept in her pants pocket was not taken. Boatwright says someone saw a silver colored pickup truck at the store about 1:45 p.m. Her body was found just after two p.m. by a customer. The GBI is assisting with the investigation and anyone who may have information is asked to call the Jeff Davis County sheriff's office.
March 22--Local lawmen are on the lookout for a man wanted in connection with the shooting of a Toombs County woman early Monday morning. Sheriff Junior Kight reports Cheryl McLendon Cason spotted a Hispanic man in her yard off McLendon Road near Lyons. She took a pistol with her outside where the man entered an old shed. She followed and fired one shot in the air. The sheriff said the man attempted to take the gun away from the woman and it fired with a bullet striking her in the abdomen. The man fled and she made her way back inside the house and awakened her sons who called for help. She was taken to Meadows Regional and came through surgery in satisfactory condition. Sheriff Kight says dogs and a state patrol helicopter were used to try and find the alleged assailant to no avail. The man is described as wearing dark clothing, short and slender. Call Toombs County Sheriff Junior Kight if you have any information.
March 22--Lyons police are asking the public to help them find a man wanted in connection with a shooting last month. Investigator Milton Smith says Alonzo James Albert, alias "Big Al" is suspected of shooting Chris Johnson of Lyons in the arm February 29th. Albert is a five foot eight black male, 150 pounds, with all gold teeth and a tattoo on his left arm. (Pictured below.) Police say he's armed and dangerous. If you have information, contact the Lyons PD.
March 22--The Georgia Department of Revenue has added more names of people and businesses in Georgia who are delinquent with their taxes, including four individuals and one business from this area. According to the department, people owing back income taxes include Oscar Cruz of Toombs County, $78,500; Dennis Doxilly of Tattnall County, $61,000; and two Emanuel County residents, Ira Lewis, $82,000; and Henry Parrish, $78,000. The state also identified one delinquent area business and claims VMG Company of Toombs County owes $97,000 in unpaid sales tax. The current delinquent list includes nearly a thousand names and is available to the public at www.gatax.org.
March 22--Another money for jobs deal by the Toombs County Development Authority. At its March meeting, the authority agreed to provide up to $250,000 for a new building at Savannah Luggage Works in return for creation of 180 additional jobs in a three-year period. The authority also is recommending a $24,000 low interest loan be approved by the Vidalia City council to help Patricia Puma start a new coffee and deli shop in downtown Vidalia. She plans to employ four fulltime employees.
March 18--Toombs County keeps jobs, Vidalia gets parking for its proposed new high school football field, and nobody gets hurt on tax revenue. That's the gist of an agreement the Toombs County Development Authority worked out Thursday with local governments, school systems and Oxford Industries. The company gets a write-off of its abandoned property on North Street in Vidalia and seven years worth of tax abatement on its property in Lyons. Toombs County commission chairman Charles Rustin, who, along with commissioner Louie Powell, has been pushing the deal for months, says it helps protect some 300 Oxford jobs and shows community support for the community's oldest corporate partner. The county will rent the former Oxford corporate offices in Vidalia to Pineland Mental Health keeping 37 jobs in Toombs County which could have been moved to Statesboro when the center's lease in Lyons expires in June. The rent money from Pineland will be used to reimburse the city of Lyons and the Toombs County school system for money they would have lost due to the tax abatement, and county school superintendent Dr. Kendall Brantley is happy with the development authority's solution. Likewise, Vidalia school superintendent Dr. Tim Smith is glad the school system is getting ten acres of land to accommodate parking when a new football stadium is built at Vidalia High School. Development authority board member Bob Moore of Lyons announced details of the deal at the board's meeting, and chairman Rusty Moses says it demonstrates what can be accomplished when people work together.
March 17--Toombs County commission chairman Charles Rustin says he will run for re-election. Earlier the word was out that he had advised his staff he would not run again. Rustin, who had major surgery last year, says after consulting with his doctors and talking with his wife and others, he plans to seek a second term. At the same time, he says he's considering recommending that the county commission hire a professional county manager to coordinate daily operations of the various county departments. At least one of Rustin's opponents in the July 20th primary election will be former Toombs County commission chairman James Thompson. Qualifying for the primary is the last week in April.
Rustin also reports he is confident that the county and the Toombs County Development Authority will sign an agreement with Oxford Industries granting the company seven years of tax abatement in exchange for abandoned Oxford property on North Street in Vidalia. He says the agreement will help keep jobs in Toombs County and provide needed space for parking adjacent to the planned new football field at Vidalia High School.
March 16--A Toombs County grand jury has appointed George Chapman, Sr. of Vidalia to serve as an alternate to the county Board of Tax Equalization. The board hears appeals from taxpayers who feel their property has been overvalued.
The grand jury also returned 15 indictments including a six-count charge against Mathew Jones of Lyons for statutory rape of two girls under the age of 16 last summer. Aggravated assault indictments were returned against Macie Dismuke for ramming a Toombs County sheriff's vehicle with her car, and Bruce Green for pouring kerosene on Louise Tina Johnson and threatening to set her on fire.
March 16--It's the second year they've been to the World Dutch Oven Cookoff in Salt Lake City, and this year Vidalia's Craig Adams and Lyons' Carson Randall came up only one point short of winning the world title. The Adams-Randall team competed with eleven other teams at the Utah Outdoor Expo and prepared a main dish, a bread and dessert using dutch ovens. Adams says their pecan pie almost put them over the top for the gold medal. It's the second year they've been selected to compete and they plan one more trip next year. Meanwhile, in May, you can see one of their dutch oven demonstrations during the Vidalia Onion Festival cookoff.
March 16--State senator Hugh Gillis of Soperton would like to run for re-election this year, however, the country's longest serving state lawmaker says his final decision will depend on how redistricting maps drawn by federal judges end up. The current maps place scores of incumbents in both the house and the senate in the same district, and many lawmakers are now trying to come up with an alternative map which will pass both houses, gain the governor's ok, and pass muster with the federal courts. As the maps now stand, Senator Gillis and Senator Jack Hill of Reidsville would be facing each other, and other candidates from counties like Bulloch and Effingham might enter the race.
March 15--A federal court released maps Monday to redistrict state house and senate districts to comply with the Voting Rights Act. State Senator Tommie Williams of Lyons says the new maps correct many of the problems associated with the maps passed by the Barnes administration in 2001. The 19th Senatorial District in our area includes all of Toombs, Montgomery, Wheeler, Jeff Davis, Appling, Wayne and Long counties and parts of Tattnall and Liberty counties.
The 4th Senatorial District puts incumbents Hugh Gillis of Soperton and Jack Hill of Reidsville in the same district and includes all of Treutlen, Candler, Bulloch, Effingham and Evans counties and parts of Emanuel and Tattnall counties.
The 120th House District, currently represented by Greg Morris of Vidalia, includes all of Toombs, Montgomery and Treutlen counties and parts of Wheeler and Emanuel counties.
Senator Williams says state lawmakers will have a chance to petition the court for additional changes if they can agree on a better plan which the court will approve.
March 12--The one percent education local option sales tax in Toombs County is projected to expire the end of September. Because of a better than expected rate of collection, county school superintendent Dr. Kendall Brantley says the tax is expiring about six months earlier than expected. At its meeting last week, the county school board authorized Dr. Brantley to begin coordinating with the Vidalia school board regarding a referendum on a new education sales tax, possibly as early at the November election.
The Toombs County school system used the lions share of its sales tax collections to pay for the county's new middle school. Total cost of the project is just over $11 million, and plans are to move into the new building starting May 3rd. Currently, a $581-thousand paving contract sublet from McDonald Construction to McLendon Enterprises is underway on the school's parking lot and connecting roads.
At its March meeting, the school board was treated to a violin concert by some 20 kindergarten and first grade students. According to Dr. Brantley, the school system is committed to a music program for youngsters because he says those involved in music do better in school. The system is currently looking for a fulltime middle school band director and an elementary school choral director.
March 12--The 2004 Onion Festival Committee has selected the official logo for the 27th annual festival. The winning design was submitted by Fran Hartley of Alamo, who also had the winning design in 2001. And the winning designer for the Onion Festival Children's Parade logo, which prominently pictures Yumion, was designed by Toombs Central Elementary School six-year-old Jada Ussery.
March 12--One of the youngest men ever chosen for the honor was named Lyons Citizen of the Year Thursday night. Forty-two-year old Clint Williams received the 2004 honor for his leadership in helping rejuvenate downtown Lyons with the Blue Marquee Theater and for his encouragement to young people. Williams is a Lyons native who credits his success to his upbringing in Lyons.
March 11--Seventeen students were in the running for the top student honor at Southeastern Tech this year, and the winner is Cheryl Morgan of Lyons, mother of five who decided she needed to learn about computers to stay involved with her children. Cheryl is winner of the annual Georgia Occupational Award of Leadership and is looking forward to a career as a network administrator. The GOAL award winner serves as a spokesperson for STC in the coming year and Morgan says the school makes it possible for students to succeed. She was nominated for the award by computer instructor Stephanie Moye who says she will be a good representative for STC at state competition in May in Atlanta. Other finalists for the award were Robin Waters in Management Development, Rebecca Overstreet in nursing, and Willie Haynes in marketing management.
March 10--Facing state cutbacks in funding, the Vidalia school board was told Tuesday night that it will have to dip into its reserves to the tune of $415,000 in order to balance its 2005 budget. School superintendent Dr. Tim Smith says the tentative budget contains no firings, but two positions will not be refilled when they are vacated by incumbents this year. Ninety percent of the budget is devoted to salaries and benefits. Among Georgia's 21 independent city school systems, Vidalia pays above the state average. The average annual salary for Vidalia teachers is just over $43,000, support personnel average $55,000 per year and administrators average $74,000, according to information provided by the University of Georgia for the 2002 school year. With the exception of Appling County, which pays its teachers an average of over $45,000 per year, Vidalia pays teachers more than other area school systems. Truetlen pays an average salary of $41,450; Montgomery pays $40,450; and Toombs and Wheeler county teachers make an average of $40,000 per year.
The school board also honored 17 students who placed first and second in regional vocational competition. All but one of those will travel to Jekyll Island next month to compete in state competition. Parent Connie Williams was at the school board meeting to appeal to board members to let her son attend, however, they refused to hear her appeal. He is being disciplined by school administrators for allegedly using vulgar language on the bus trip to the region competition. His mother claims her son is being treated unfairly because two other boys accused of similar language are not being disciplined. Superintendent Smith says the board generally does not address individual discipline matters.
March 10--Vidalia police have been asked to increase their patrols in the area around Georgia Circle and Toombs Street due to loud music. Citizen Chris Jones attended Monday night's city council meeting and complained cars equipped with high powered sound systems were cruising the area late at night disturbing the neighborhood. Jones, a Vietnam vet, says the noise was as bad as incoming artillery rounds. The council also gave the go-ahead to start design work for making Broadfoot Boulevard three lanes from Highway 280 to the railroad tracks.
March 9--Last December Toombs County commission chairman Charles Rustin announced what he thought at the time would be a good deal for all concerned. One problem though, the announcement was premature. The plan was for Oxford to deed its abandoned North Street property in Vidalia to Toombs County in return for five years of tax abatement, the county would give some of the North Street property to the Vidalia Board of Education to use as parking for the planned football stadium at Vidalia High School, and the old Oxford office complex would be rented to Pineland Mental Health. Now, after over two months of negotiations, the draft agreement has been sweetened to grant Oxford seven years of no property taxes at an estimated $40,000 per year. And concerns have been expressed by Lyons Mayor John Moore and Toombs County school superintendent Dr. Kendall Brantley regarding the loss of tax revenue. Asked about the situation at Tuesday's commission meeting, chairman Rustin said the deal is on hold until all concerned can agree.
Also on hold is any course of action to redistrict the county commission districts to conform with the Voting Rights Act. Since being notified last month that the commission districts are outside the five percent variance allowed by law, the commission has taken no action. A spokesman at the Reapportionment Services Office in Atlanta says they are leaving themselves "wide open to a lawsuit" which would challenge the outcome of this year's county commission election.
Also Tuesday the Toombs commissioners, for the third month in a row, heard an appeal from Stephen Brown regarding his request to have the county pave the Ben Jackson Road. Currently, the county is working on paving the Clifford Rogers Road, the Marshall Pittman Road and Lou Elle Road. It has also been informed the state has okayed paving of roads in the Quail Ridge sub-division, Dixon Lake Road and Neely Road, however, no state funding has been authorized as of yet.
The county also approved a public health ordinance regulating tattoo and body piercing studios, and set new higher fees for inspections and services provided by the county health department.
March 8--Like most rural counties in Georgia, Montgomery County has its share of economic development problems. However, an assessment by the Georgia Tech Economic Development Institute points out a number of positives which, if combined with local planning and action, could bode well for the county's future. Montgomery's population grew by 15% in the 1990's, two-thirds of its population is between 18 and 65 and its poverty rate has decreased by five percent. Karen Fite of Georgia Tech says this type of environment is user-friendly for entrepreneurs. Currently, a quarter of the workers in the county are employed by government, and another 30% work outside the county. Fite says it's important for Montgomery to keep working in partnership with Toombs County, and she says a large recreational lake which has been discussed between the two counties, is worth pursuing as an economic development catalyst.
March 4--A Toombs County jury has found for Meadows Regional Medical Center in a negligence suit brought against the hospital's nursing center. Seventy-five-year old Margaret Dykes claimed she required a second round of surgery after nurses allegedly re-injured a hip which had previously been operated on at a Savannah hospital. The jury didn't buy the argument and found no fault on the part of the Meadows Nursing Center.
March 4--A Lyons man was injured Thursday in a freak accident. Toombs County Sheriff Junior Kight reports Ken Thompson of Lyons suffered head and abdomen injuries when he was working under a vehicle and the jack fell. Thompson was taken to Meadows Regional Medical Center.
March 4--A bankruptcy hearing is scheduled Friday for Larry Millsaps Incorporated of Vidalia. The company, operator of a Nissan dealership, filed for Chapter 11 reorganization on February 13th and two weeks later bankruptcy trustee Ann Moore filed a motion to convert from Chapter 11 to Chapter Seven protection. A hearing on that motion is being held in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Augusta.
March 4--An elderly Uvalda man was indicted last month by the Montgomery County grand jury for allegedly molesting a minor girl. That's a new charge over and above Joseph Delk Sr.'s conviction in February for molesting his granddaughter over a period of several years. Delk was sentenced to four years in prison and six years probation.
In other cases, Jonathan Adams of Mount Vernon was indicted for cruelty to children for allegedly running hot water over a two-year-old girl and Kimberly Moye of Soperton was charged with failure to seek medical attention for the child. Richard Nannery of Vidalia was indicted for vandalizing the New Allen Chapel AME Church, and Kenneth Inman Sr. of Vidalia is charged with aggravated assault for hitting Leon Shinholster in the head with a board last October. Julius Atkins was indicted for the armed robbery of the Mount Vernon Subway last October, and eleven people were indicted in drug cases.
March 3--The body of a Lyons man was found in the Oconee River Wednesday morning the day after his fishing boat sank. Officers say 83-year-old Sebern Burton and his fishing partner, 71-year-old Bobby Higgs of Lyons, were fishing north of the Highway 280 bridge between Montgomery and Wheeler counties when the boat hit a log and overturned. The fast moving river carried Burton downriver and his body was found by searchers over two miles from where the boat sank. Investigators are unsure if he drowned or had a heart attack and Wheeler County Sherif James Peacock sent his body to the state crime lab for an autopsy. Higgs was able to get out of the river and was taken to the Wheeler County Hospital in Glenwood. Seber Burton Obituary
March 3--A Laurens County man died in a one-vehicle wreck over the weekend in Treutlen County. The state patrol reports 24-year-old Harold McDonald of East Dublin was thrown from his pickup when it hit a ditch on a county road near Lothair. The accident happened early Sunday morning.
March 3--This year's Southeast Georgia Soap Box Derby in Lyons is moving from North Victory Drive to Partin Park. Derby director Charles James told the Lyons city council Tuesday night that new construction adjacent to the old Derby Hill site made it necessary to find a new home. The council also appointed Ivey Toole and Willis NeSmith to the city recreation committee, and approved $37,000 for work by McLendon Construction on the water line serving the new industrial park north of Lyons.
March 3--Montgomery County commission chairman Wyman Morris paid a visit to the state capitol last month and reports the head man at the state highway department promised $140,000 to help the county do some paving in the coming year. At its meeting Tuesday, the commission also adopted the county's 2004 budget and heard a report from Tax Commissioner Lawana Sharpe regarding back taxes due the county. Sharpe gave commissioners a computer printout with names of delinquent taxpayers dating as far back as 1997 and totaling $456,000. Sharpe said she continues to work on collections, but refused a request to publish the names in the local newspaper. She said the commissioners could print the names if they wanted to, but she thought it would do more harm than good.
March 2--Voters in Toombs, Montgomery and Treutlen Counties overwhelmingly want to keep the current Georgia flag. In Tuesday's non-binding state flag referendum, Toombs and Montgomery voters favored the 2003 flag by a four-to-one margin, and Treutlen voters voted for it by a three-to-one margin. Unless the legislature decides to take further action on the flag, the 2003 version will remain. However, some at the state capitol say the issue regarding the 1956 flag is not dead and could be revived.
In the Democratic Presidential Primary, John Edwards beat John Kerry by 246 votes in Toombs County and by 110 in Montgomery County, but Kerry beat Edwards by five votes in Treutlen County. Voting was light in both primaries, and only 855 voters in the three counties voted for the unopposed President Bush in the Republican primary.
March 2--State and local officials gathered on a 56-acre plot Tuesday morning to do the groundbreaking for what officials hope will help attract industry and jobs to Montgomery County. The new Ailey Industrial Park is located on Highway 280 east of Ailey, and was purchased with a grant from the One Georgia tobacco settlement fund. Nancy Cobb of One Georgia says the site has a lot of potential due to its location and the cooperative spirit which exists between Montgomery and Toombs counties. Martin Moses of the Montgomery Development Authority believes its a first step toward economic development for the county, and commission chairman Wyman Morris is hopeful about the park's future.
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 Renovation Project
Drug Seller Found Guilty
March 29
Toombs Commission Election Open to Court Challenge
Bryan County Development Authority Member Fined
Local Florist Tops in State
March 26
VPD Officers Honored
Raising the Bar
March 25
School Board Committee to Explore E-Splost
Two Sentenced in Treutlen
County Clerk Not Running
March 23
Wellness Center Announced
Lyons Considering Rezoning
March 22
Jeff Davis Murder
Woman Shot
Lyons Police Issue Alert
Delinquent Tax
Development Authority OK's Economic Assistance
March 18
"It's a Done Deal"
March 17
Rustin Will Run
March 16
Toombs Grand Jury Presentments
Local Cooks Win "Silver"
Senator Gillis Waiting on Final Maps
March 15
Federal Judges Draw State Redistricting Maps
March 12
E-SPLOST TO EXPIRE EARLY
Onion Festival Logo Winners
Lyons Citizen of Year
March 11
STC Names Top Student
March 10
Vidalia School Board Meets
Too Much Noise
March 9
Oxford Deal "A Work in Progress"
March 8
Montgomery County, More Pluses than Minuses
March 4
Jury Finds For MRMC
Man Injured
Bankruptcy Hearing
Child Molester Indicted Again
March 3
Oconee River Drowning
Treutlen Traffic Death
Soap Box Derby Moving
DOT Funding Promised
March 2
Georgia Flag Okayed by Local Voters
Ailey Industrial Park Groundbreaking
References
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URL: http://toombs.150m.com/news/radio/2004/March.htm Updated: Wednesday, March 31, 2004. Top