July 31, 2006---- State School Superintendent Kathy Cox was in Mount Vernon Sunday for the new Montgomery county elementary school?s ribbon cutting and open house. Cox said that although the state helped provide the money to build the school, it?s the community that will have to take over to make great things happen inside the building. "The State Board of Education has to approve all facilities planned. We also help with the bonds and we help get, particularly for low wealth systems, good financing so that they can afford the note, and if they have to borrow money to get the school completed. So our Board has been active, but mostly the process that the state has in place to help situations like Montgomery County where it takes awhile for that SPLOST money to build-up and the facilities needs are there and we want to help get everything started. This is a great day for the state of Georgia, to have a beautiful new facility at the heart of the community that everyone can rally around and feel so proud of. And then of course, all that helps to make great things happen inside the building."

Classes started on Monday for students, and the school building was ready for them. The building cost a total of $6 million dollars. According to Mont. County Superintendent Dale Clark, It had been 50 years since the old elementary school had opened its doors and would have cost more to renovate than to start over. Two thirds of this money was attained through a low wealth grant from the state and the remaining through two SPLOSTs. "The legislature approved our low wealth grant and the citizens of Montgomery County voted in the SPLOST and every penny of that money has gone to the building of this school. And with the second SPLOST we hope to do some more work in the front wing of the old building which we are keeping to get rid of the mobile units and then we're going to hopefully start building a new high school."

Clark also says that with the new facility, it will provide more opportunities for children to be successful. Research shows that children who are in a good environment, their test scores are better and are more conducive to learning. So we feel that with this new facility that our children have a better opportunity and we have the facilities that we need for our children to be successful. If they aren't successful, it's not because of the facility."

July 31, 2006---- A Toombs County man died early Monday morning in a South Carolina traffic accident. Thirty-nine-year old Lee Copeland of near Cedar Crossing was killed in a one-vehicle accident on Interstate 95 in the city limits of Yemassee, South Carolina. Officials with the Hampton County EMS say the South Carolina State Patrol is investigating reports that Copeland's truck was hit by a wheel which flew off a tractor-trailer. The accident happened about 5:30 a.m. while Copeland was enroute to a construction work site in South Carolina.

July 31, 2006---- Vidalia police report three arrests for burglaries. Two juveniles were arrested for weekend breakins at the Center Drive Paintball Gallery. Also, 31-year-old Henry Tolbert of Vidalia was arrested on charges of entering an automobile and burglary.

In other cases, two people arrested for receiving stolen property are 19-year-old Robert Jinks of Mount Vernon and 38-year-old Emmitt Jackson of Vidalia. Jinks allegedly received property stolen from V-Town Fashion while Jackson received TV amplifiers stolen from Northland Cable.

And in a child molestation case, 48-year-old Henry David Reaves of Vidalia has been arrested on two counts.

July 29, 2006---- A local Vidalia man was a winner on last week's Jeopardy. Brad Jeffcoat won a total of $16,400 pulling through in final jeopardy. He says he took the contestant tests when the Jeopardy Brain Bus came to Savannah last December. After passing all of these and was called in March to be a contestant. The show was filmed in late April and aired last Friday night. "It was a dream come true. I've watched Jeopardy ever since it came back on air in 1983. It's so strange since you see it on television all the time, but to actually walk out on it, it's nothing short of surreal. It was just a little overwhelming, but once you get used to the fact that you're just playing high school quiz bowl - you hit the button and ring in - then everything went pretty smoothly." Jeffcoat will return on Jeopardy in September.

July 28, 2006---- Voters return to the polls Tuesday, August 8th to vote in runoff elections following close races in the Democratic and Republican primary elections. Democratic party runoffs for Lieutenant Governor are between Greg Hecht and Jim Martin, and for Secretary of State, Gail Buckner and Darryl Hicks. Republican party runoffs for Secretary of State pit Karen Handel against Bill Stephens and for Commissioner of Agriculture, Gary Black versus Brian Kemp. Winners of the runoffs will advance to the general election on November 7th. If you'd like to vote in advance, you may do so at your county voting registrars office Monday, July 31 through Friday, August 4.

July 28, 2006---- You can save some money during the upcoming sales tax holiday in Georgia. Starting Thursday, August 3rd and continuing through Sunday, August 6th, shoppers will pay no state or local sales tax on school supplies, clothing, shoes, computers and computer accessories.

July 27, 2006---- It's been nearly a month-and-a-half since Toombs County Commission Chairman Charles Rustin learned that county payroll clerk Brenda Galbreath stole at least $14,500 from the county by double-paying herself. At the time, he dismissed her and later reported the county would demand restitution with interest. In response to questions, Rustin also said he had no intention of prosecuting Galbreath "at this time."

Thursday we asked Chairman Rustin for a status report, and found nothing has changed. No restitution has been received, and the chairman still refuses to prosecute his longtime employee for stealing public funds. He claims collection efforts are "in process," but will not comment publicly about his decision not to file criminal charges. When asked why, Rustin says "tell them to call me and I'll explain."

In two previous county commission administrations, employees were discovered taking funds from the chairman's office, made restitution and were dismissed without prosecution. In those cases, former officials say the amounts taken were in the hundreds of dollars. In the Galbreath matter, the amount is at least the reported $14,500 and could be more.

July 27, 2006---- Plans are moving forward to build a second "spec" building in the Toombs Industrial Park on U.S. One north of Lyons. At its July meeting, the Toombs County Development Authority said it hopes bids will go out in late August for a contractor to build the estimated $2.2 million building on the north end of the park.

July 27, 2006---- The state of Georgia is distributing over $350,000 to help community health clinics provide care to underinsured and uninsured citizens. Included is a $45,000 grant to the East Georgia Healthcare Center for clinics in Treutlen, Tattnall and Emanuel counties.

July 27, 2006---- The Georgia Department of Transportation has awarded contracts for road work in southeast Georgia. A nearly $2 million dollar project will build a bridge on state road 144 over Watermelon Creek in Tattnall County. Also, Douglas Asphalt Company will widen nearly seven miles of the Highway 301 East Bypass around Statesboro. The $19 million dollar project should be finished by March of 2008.

July 26, 2006---- The Toombs County sheriff's office is prepared to enforce Georgia's new sex offender act which prohibits offenders from living within 1,000 feet of a designated school bus stop. On Tuesday, a federal judge okayed enforcement of the law as long as the school bus stops are marked by signs. In Vidalia, school superintendent Dr. Tim Smith says there are 111 designated school bus stops which, he says, will make it difficult for any sex offender to live within the city limits.

Toombs County Chief Deputy Barry Brown reports there are 25 registered sex offenders living in Toombs County and the sheriff's office is "prepared to enforce the law where the signs are posted." He also notes enforcement will not be possible along Toombs County school bus routes until signs are erected at pickup points.

July 26, 2006---- Local lawmen say they have a story that proves the registered sex offender law works. Forty-seven-year old Wayne Rice moved from Massachusetts to Toombs County and, because he's a convicted sex offender, came to the Toombs County sheriff's office to register. After he reported his new address on the Lyons-Center Road, Rice left the office and officials ran a background check which turned up four assault charges from last month which are outstanding against Rice in Massachusetts. Chief Deputy Barry Brown says an alert was put out for Rice and he was spotted Tuesday afternoon in a Vidalia convenience store. He's currently in the Toombs County jail pending extradition to Massachusetts.

July 26, 2006---- A Toombs County grand jury has indicted a Vidalia man for allegedly sexually molesting a young girl. Twenty-nine-year old Lynwood Lee Blackshear of 305 Croomes Street was indicted on five counts of child molestation and three counts of aggravated child molestation. Blackshear is accused of having sex and committing other sex acts with a 13-year-old Vidalia girl.

July 26, 2006---- The increase in this year's tax digest in Toombs County is expected to lead to a rollback in the property tax millage rate. Because of property revaluation, the county's tax digest increased nearly ten percent, or about $44 million. Since most of the increase is inflationary growth, the commission must rollback the mil rate to avoid a windfall tax increase. The rate is expected to be reduced by about one-third of a mil at a called meeting of the Toombs County commission on August 10th.

July 25, 2006---- Georgia's Attorney General is facing opposition in the November general election. Thurbert Baker is being challenged by a former state senator from Douglasville. Perry McGuire believes Baker has done a poor job representing the state in court on important issues. "I would not be running for this office if I didn't think the current Attorney General didn't need to be replaced. And the fact is, he was appointed to this office. He has never had to stand for real election from the ground zero. But, when you look at something like the marriage amendment that was passed by 76% of the voters and it was struck down by a local Superior Court Judge and the State Attorney General was not even there to make the case on behalf of the people. I believe that when it comes to issues that is that important, that you have to be the person delivering the message. And I believe that we would have possibly had a different outcome if he had been there making the case."

McGuire made a campaign swing through Vidalia this week and says he will draw upon his experience as corporate counsel for Chick-fila if he's elected Attorney General. He talks about things he learned from Chick-fila founder Truett Cathy. "The first was customer service and taking care of the customer. You as citizens are customers. We're going to be focused on making sure that when you have interaction with our office, it is positive - that we are helping you get your questions answered or meet your needs. Secondly, financial stewardship - at Chick-fila you are accountable for the money that you spend, and I believe that we need to be more accountable in our state government for how we spent people's money. Third is operational excellence - that is doing the very best that you can do at your job. And then lastly, we're going to take care of our people. People who work for the state government aren't the highest paid people around. Especially attorneys in the Attorney General's office can make a lot more money outside of that office. They are dedicated to that institution and we are going to support them the way that they need to be supported to do the best job that they can do."

McGuire served two terms in the Georgia senate from 1994 through 1998.

July 24, 2006---- The Toombs County Board of Education has decided to rollback county school taxes this year. At the July meeting, the Board chose to rollback taxes by nearly 1.2 mils. The rollback is because of this year's property revaluation in Toombs county which significantly increased the county's tax digest.

Without the rollback, the school board would have raised more money than it needs to run the school system next year, according to school superintendent, Dr. Kendall Brantley, "When we met and looked at our tax digest, in the real and personal property of that digest, we saw that there was a significant increase in the value of a mill, and we felt that increase was not totally necessary in terms of what it would take for us to run the system. So as a result, the Board voted to advertise, at least tentatively, a reduction in rate from 13 mills to 11.828. That reduction should affect most people in a positive way. There was real growth and we looked at that figure. Of course, we had some increased expenses in particular with transportation costs. Diesel fuel has gone continuously higher and higher over the past year, and we had some increased costs there, but not significant enough. W would have had almost a half a million dollar windfall if we had kept it at the 13 mill rate."

The Board is holding a public meeting on August 3rd at 6pm to reaffirm the rollback and to officially set the rate.

July 24, 2006---- Governor Sonny Purdue was in Vidalia on Monday. The OneGeorgia Authority Board met at Southeastern Technical College to launch a new initiative called AirGeorgia and to hand out several grants and loans. Because air transportation is the preferred choice for businesses, Perdue felt that Georgia needed to update 49 airports in rural Georgia to make these airports more accessible and attractive to people looking to bring their industries to the state. The approved initial budget will be $15 million to extend rural airport runways to at least 5,000 feet, placing every Georgian within a 30-minute drive of an airport that is capable of serving most corporate aircraft.

July 21, 2006---- The Regional Children's Advocacy Center for child abuse, The Sunshine House, has a new home in Toombs County. A few months ago, the Toombs County Sunshine House decided to rent a house on Jackson Street to offer victim services and counseling. Carol Donaldson, the Executive Director of the Sunshine House said, "We have our very own house, and we're only able to do that because of the support of United Way and the Toombs County Board of Commissioners. We've just moved to this house in the past two months, and we have a lot of things we still need to do there, but it will be the place that we move our victim services and counseling. We are really excited. Now, we need some community support to make the house child friendly like the house here in Swainsboro."

The Sunshine house serves the five counties of the Middle Judicial circuit. It began in Swainsboro in 1992 and now has additional locations in Candler, Jefferson, Toombs, and Washington Counties. They also provide services to children in about 23 other counties where resources that the Sunshine House has to offer aren't available. Donaldson says that unfortunately, child abuse is quite prevalent in our area. "What we know is that one out of four girls and one out of six boys will be sexually abused by the time they reach eighteen and nine out of ten won't tell, so we're only dealing with a very small fraction of the problem. Just so far in six months of this year, we've had twenty-one children referred to our offices in Toombs County for both interviews and a medical exam."

The Sunshine house had their annual meeting and legislative dinner last Thursday. This year, the speaker was Superior Court Judge Walter McMillian. He talked about how the Sunshine House has helped tremendously in child abuse cases. "Thirty or forty years ago, child abuse was just not recognized in the courts. And some people, like Carol Donaldson and others, realized that it was happening, and created places like the Sunshine House. What they do is they interview the children so that their testimony can be given in the courts. It's awful trying these cases, and so often we just ignored it, but now we're beginning to realize it."

July 20, 2006---- The Adequate Yearly Progress Reports are officially in from the state. From our district, 6 of the 18 schools made AYP. They are Toombs County, Vidalia, Appling, Jeff Davis, Candler, and Screven County. In other area school systems, Montgomery County did not meet AYP and Truetlen County did. Statewide, 51% of High Schools and 68% of Middle Schools made AYP. Schools that do not make AYP for two consecutive years are placed on the Needs Improvement list. Although almost 100 schools lost their Needs Improvement label, 44 schools went on the Needs Improvement list.

July 20, 2006---- On Tuesday, the Toombs County commissioners held a called meeting to discuss how to go about hiring a new payroll employee. Commissioner Louis Powell suggested that they outsource their payroll to a payroll company to avoid the possibility of fraudulent actions in the future and then hire a basic employee to work in the Commissioner’s office. The Commission plans to investigate this possibility as well as other options and make a decision at their next meeting.

July 19, 2006---- Hurricane season is here and residents need to prepare themselves in case of an emergency situation. Donna Pearson from the Toombs - Montgomery Service Center of the American Red Cross tells us what we can expect if a storm was to come our way. "If there is a large scale hurricane, anything Category 3 or above, we would certainly evacuate this area as soon as possible, it just depends on conditions. We certainly would not want to keep people here or house people from other areas if we could not provide them a safe place to be, just in case we may be a victim of a large storm or hurricane to hit our costal area. However, if we had something smaller where we would not see the large impact of it, we may get a lot of folks who are seeking refugee here in our area. And we are every day making preparations to get our shelters ready, making sure we have as many supplies as we can on hand just in case so we’re not caught unprepared."

Designated hurricane shelters are the local schools and most area churches are earmarked for nursing homes and care facilities that may be evacuated out of Savannah. Pearson also explains what residents should do to prepare themselves for a storm. "If they should have to leave their home, they need to be able to grab enough stuff – whether it's medication, clothing, food, water, pet supplies, whatever they’re going to take with them. They need to be able to sustain themselves with no outside help for at least five days. And the same thing if they intend to hunker down and stay put, they need to be able to fully sustain their household for at least five days assuming they have no power or running water."

Also, the Toombs-Montgomery Red Cross was just given a disaster trailer to use in situations like hurricanes or any other disaster. Citizens can help out by donating items to stock this trailer. Pearson says, "We need to stock it. We are in desperate need of shelter supplies – blankets, cots, bottled water is a huge demand right now. So we need to get that trailer stocked. Right now it's sitting pretty much empty." Donations may be brought to the Ross Bowen building in Lyons or you can call the Toombs - Montgomery American Red Cross at 912-526-3150 for more information on how to help.

July 18, 2006---- The primary election results are in, and Mell Taylor won the race for Toombs County Commissioner of District 4 on the democratic ticket. Taylor ended up with 148 votes over his opponent Bruce Herndon, and the race was fairly equal until the absentee votes were counted. Taylor comments on the race and how he's looking forward to the general election. "No election comes to you easy. This race between me and Mr. Herndon, we both worked real hard and I'm sure it could have gone either way. That race we want to put behind us and now look at the general election - to go out and see the people and tell them that I feel like I can represent the rural district in this county better than the other person that will be in this election. I appreciate the people in Toombs County that went out and voted for me and if I get re-elected in the general election I will support the whole district, not just part of it. I'll represent everybody."

Taylor's republican opponent in the general election will be Steve Brown. Brown talks about how he decided to run and says he felt that there was major need for change within the commission even before the recent chain of events with payroll theft and cases of lack of documentation. "I had never been to a commissioner's meeting until about a little over two years ago. I was concerned about getting my road paved and I went up there to investigate what was the proper process. After several months of witnessing the manner in which meetings were conducted and so forth, I quickly learned that there didn't appear to be a criteria for a lot of things. So, I said, I've been a proponent of bettering the communities in which we live for a long, long time, and have served in a variety of different capacities to do that, and decided that I believe I can make a difference to serve the community, to give back something to the community that has been so good to me."

DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY - COMMISSIONER DISTRICT 4
	REG.	Mell Taylor	Bruce Herndon
PRECINCT	VOTERS
MARVIN COMMUNITY	284	34	33
43rd CEDAR CROSSING	793	88	56
1521st HARDEN CHAPEL	402	43	51
1536-2 SANTA CLAUS	890	42	42
1823rd CENTER	878	62	74
ABSENTEE VOTES	>>>>>>>	157	22
TOTALS	3247	426	278
PERCENTAGE	>>>>>>>	60.51%	39.49%
DIFFERENCE	>>>>>>>	0	148

In statewide elections, for Governor, Toombs County went for Mark Taylor on the Democratic ticket, and Sonny Perdue on the Republican. For Lieutenant governor, Toombs County went for Jim Martin on the Democratic side and Ralph Reed for Republican, and for Commissioner of Agriculture, Toombs County went for Republican Gary Black up against unopposed Democrat incumbent Tommy Irvin.

The general election is November 7th.

July 17, 2006---- The One Way Pair Project is moving downtown. At the Vidalia City Council Monday evening it was announced that parts of South West Main will be closed starting as early as Tuesday for the beginning of the project. City Manager Bill Torrance talks about what citizens can expect over the next few months. "The South Main section will be worked on and they are going to start out with drain lines for the storm water and water and sewer installation, so that's going to cause a lot of mess down there. There will be interruptions in traffic flow on South Main, but at least one lane of traffic will be maintained. So you'll be able to get around, but people really need to avoid the construction area if possible. The 280 corridor will be open fully and you can come in from that route, but it will be a mess. The part that we're doing right now is the worst part. We're putting in all of the underground stuff, so I hope people will understand. Once we start getting this underground stuff we'll start seeing some real progress like we're seeing on the west end. So if people will bear with us, plan their trips around town, and be courteous and patient, we'll all get through this together." Torrance says we can expect major disruptions in the corridor for the next year and a half.

The new fire station in Vidalia had to postpone it's groundbreaking planned for Monday the 17th due to unexpected problems with the soil and old railroad materials found under the site. Clearing this will take an additional $15,000. The council decided to take more soil samples before proceeding with the project, and expect to reschedule the groundbreaking soon.

The council also approved new four pieces of playground equipment, including one especially for handicapped children, for Miller Park on Epstein Street. They agreed to pay half of the cost of equipment and installation – about $4750. Also, they decided to put other pieces of playground equipment for handicapped children at Ed Smith Complex. These pieces will be purchased by the Shriner's and installed by Lowes by the end of the year.

July 14, 2006---- The primary election is Tuesday and the only locally contested position is Toombs County Commissioner of District 4 on the Democratic ticket. Mell Taylor is the current commissioner and is running for re-election. "I've been commissioner for eight years and would like to be re-elected to finish up some projects that I'm working on. We've been working on several roads that we want paved to help people. A lot of different projects are going on in the county. We just had a ribbon cutting for Simonton Window Factory which is a boost for Toombs County residents."

Taylor believes that there need to be major changes with the commission especially after recent discoveries of payroll theft and past issues of being unable to provide documentation on county credit cards and signed construction contracts, and Taylor says he will do whatever it takes to fix that. "We've got a little problem at the Commissioner's office and there have got to be some changes. That shouldn't be happening to Toombs County people. The people deserve better. Whatever it takes to get it straightened out, I will be supportive of it."

Taylor’s opponent is farmer and businessman Bruce Herndon. Herndon feels that there is a lack of representation in District 4 and he believes that the major problems with the current commission are a lack of communication and an overall lack of openness to Toombs County citizens. "I believe that the people in the fourth district need better representation. There's a lot going on that we're just not getting represented in. I am going to try to pay closer attention at meetings. I feel like if they'd been doing their job, they'd have found out about [the payroll theft] before it came out, and this has been going on a long time. I feel like I can do a better job with the roads and can get out and talk to the people better. I don't have any political ties to anybody in the county and I think I can work better with the people and the chairman that [Taylor] can do. All the promises that he's making that he's going to try to change in the next four years, he hasn't done anything about them in the past eight years."

The winner of the primary will run against Republican Steve Brown in the General Election on November 7th.

July 14, 2006---- Early voting for Tuesday's primary election has been "light" according to officials in the Toombs County voting registrars office. On Thursday, less than 150 people had taken advantage of advance voting and about the same amount of absentee ballots had been received, according to deputy registrar Hazel Williams.

July 13, 2006---- A Montgomery County girl was killed in a traffic accident Thursday afternoon. Sheriff Clarence Sanders says 18-year-old Charlene Fleming Foskey died in a one-car accident on Highway 135 south of Mount Vernon. According to the sheriff, she was thrown from the car when it overturned and might have survived had she been wearing a seat belt.

July 13, 2006---- There have been so many appeals of property revaluations this Summer in Toombs County that the county is requesting an extension on submitting its tag digest to the state for approval.

Tax commissioner Julie Reaves informed county commissioners Tuesday she is sending an extension request letter to the Department of Revenue. The late digest also makes it hard for the county commission to prepare next year's budget. Until all the property appeals are resolved, the commission will not know the exact amount of the tax digest, thus complicating their ability to set the tax millage rate for next year.

Meanwhile, the commissioners have given a pay raise to members of the county Board of Equalization. They bumped the salary from 60 to 75 dollars per day after board members, who are all volunteers appointed by the grand jury, noted this year's workload is the highest ever and is keeping them from their "real" jobs. The board started with nearly a thousand appeals this year and has reduced the volume to between three and four hundred cases as of this week.

In other actions at its July meeting, Toombs commissioners okayed 57-thousand dollars in upfront costs to start what's called the "phase two wireless" 911 system in the county. Using new computer and communications equipment, the system will allow 911 operators to pinpoint the location of cell phone emergency calls. Starting next year, cell phone users surcharges for the service will increase from a dollar to a dollar-fifty.

July 12, 2006---- Citizens who live in Lyons may see a property tax increase next year. Mayor John Moore told the July meeting of the Lyons city council he may recommend a small increase once the city's budget is prepared. Currently the city's tax rate is 1.89 mils. "They will be increased a little bit because we are at the point where we will have to increase them," Mayor Moore says. " I look for us to go up to 3 mils, or it may be 2 mils, but it will be a very slight increase in property taxes. Of course, there's a possibility that we won't go up, but it will be very little if we do," he says.

Because a recent county property revaluation has raised property values in Lyons, the city has the option under state law to rollback the tax rate in order to avoid what's termed "a backdoor tax increase." If the city decides to maintain the current tax rate or, as Mayor Moore suggests, increase taxes further, it is required to hold three public hearings to allow for citizen input.

Homeowners in Lyons could be further impacted because the city failed to allow them to vote in 2004 on capping homestead exemptions to offset increases in property values.

Meanwhile, the Lyons council has approved a recommendation from the mayor to raise city charges for water and commercial trash pickup starting in September. Water will be $7 for the first 3,000 gallons and $1.50 for each additional 1,000 gallons after that, an increase of 35 cents per additional 1,000 gallons. As for trash, commercial dumpster pick up will increase to $50 per month for one pick up a week for a 6 yard bin, an increase of $15.50. Mayor John Moore reflects on the need for the increases. “We have about 20-25% of the folks in town that use just the 3,000 gallons and that won’t affect them when they’re living on a limited income. But the cost is what drove it up. We were getting behind with our revenue versus the cost. For a person that uses 10,000 gallons, their water bill will only go up $4.90. Our garbage rates have been $34.50 for a long, long time and we had to go up on that because the gas, fuel, tires and expense for picking that up, but the only reason we had to do that was because of the cost factor that it was costing us to do business.”

Also, in response to the new city ordinance regarding vicious dogs, the city reminds citizens that to keep the dog, they must have an insurance policy incase something were to happen, and if you are looking for a company you can call city hall for that information.

July 10, 2006---- Local farmers and ranchers may be able to receive financial assistance if they are striving to conserve water. The Georgia Soil and Water Conservation Commission announces that $3.6 million has been made available to help farmers in Georgia, with $2.1 million for the counties included in the South Georgia Initiative. The funding will enable farmers to construct or renovate irrigation water catchments and proved enhanced technical assistance to the landowners. Kerry Collins, a soil conservationist at the Natural Resource Conservation Office in Lyons, comments on the program and what his office will be doing to help. "We do the construction part after they decide how to spend the money. The money is spent on new pond construction and renovating old ponds that are for Ag use only - which is irrigation and livestock water."

Providing surface water solutions like irrigation points that utilize rainwater supplies decreases the demand placed on the state aquifers and streams. Water catchments are designed to retain excess rainfall to be held for irrigation uses during the peak irrigation season for watering Georgia’s crops. "The more surface water we store, the less groundwater we'll have to pull out of the ground. And that's part of this program too - to keep farmers from pulling out large amounts of groundwater and instead store the surface water and runoff until its needed."

Approved applicants can receive up to 75% cost-share funds of the reservoir construction or renovation up to $50,000. Applications for the program will be accepted between July 1 and July 31 of this year and you can apply at the Ross Bowen Building in Lyons.

July 10, 2006---- Vidalia police have filed check forgery charges against two men and two women from Jacksonville. The four were picked up in Tattnall County after an employee at Harvey's in Pembroke became suspicious and called police. Officers say the four cashed fake payroll checks totaling nearly two thousand dollars at the Harvey's in Reidsville. They are also accused of cashing forged checks at the Harvey's in Vidalia and Claxton, and attempting the same thing in Swainsboro. The two men are being held at the Toombs County jail while the two women are free on bond.

July 6, 2006---- A property appraisal firm has been named to conduct a new countywide revaluation in Montgomery County. At a called meeting Thursday, Montgomery County commissioners accepted the recommendation of the county Board of Tax Assessors to award McCormack Consulting Company of Dawsonville the $142,000 contract. Commission chairman Charles Truett, "We've checked out the background and the prior performance of this company and everything we've seen indicates that they are quality people, they do quality work. What we're asking them to do is to do a complete revaluation of all the properties in the county and to reappraise all the properties on the same basis. Keep the playing field level as far as the property revaluations. Treat the poorest tax payer in the county, the same as the richest tax payer in the county. We will get everyone back to the point that the entire county population of property owners are treated alike."

Earlier this year, the Montgomery Board of Equalization ordered the new property valuation after hearing an appeal from Dr. Ronnie Smith who argued the county's 2002 revaluation "lacked uniformity" and violated state law. The Montgomery Commission also agreed Thursday that Dr. Smith will not have to pay past due property taxes, interest or penalties on the property involved in his appeal. The Board of Assessors is expected to approve the agreement in order to avoid further court action in the case.

Chairman Truett says the new evaluation will correct earlier problems with uniformity and bring the county up-to-date on current property values. "Basically it's taking away property valuations that had been somewhat flawed over the last four years and giving us the chance to make a new start with current property values. I think its an opportunity to make sure everyone is treated alike."

The appraisal company will start work later this month and is expected to finish next year in time for the county's 2007 tax digest.

	Toombs County Deputies Gary Renew and Greg Williamson were presented with plaques by Vidalia mayor Ronnie Dixon and Fire Chief Buddy Coleman at the called Vidalia City Council meeting on June 29th in honor of their heroism in saving three children's lives.

July 6, 2006---- Two Toombs County deputies were presented with plaques in honor of their heroism in rescuing three young children in a burning apartment. On May 9th, as representatives of the magistrate, Toombs County Deputies Gary Renew and Greg Williamson were sent to a tenant of the Vidalia housing authority on Lee street. But suddenly their routine trip became very unusual. Vidalia Fire Chief Buddy Coleman recounts the event. "They were on duty working at the Vidalia Housing Authority and they noticed smoke coming from the apartment and they notified the fire department, 911, and the police. They made an entry into the back of the house - the kitchen was on fire. They heard the small children crying inside and they made entry and found three children and rescued them."

Coleman says that the Deputies were first on scene and the fire department arrived shortly after the children had been rescued. "We were notified through 911 and when we got there we extinguished the fire. They already had the children outside."

At the called meeting of the Vidalia City council last week, the deputies were presented with a plaque for their heroic efforts. "We gave them a certificate of appreciation from the Vidalia Fire Department for their act of heroism in saving the small children's lives. They went right in and had they not done what they had done, the children would more than likely have lost their lives."

July 5, 2006---- Only a couple of school board seats are contested in our area in the November 7th general election.

In Toombs County, board chairman Danny Bowen is challenged by Daniel Caraway, and District 3 incumbent Luther Caraway is facing competition from Harold Milligan. Two other incumbents, Needham Rogers in District 1 and Robert Rozier in District 5, are unopposed.

And there's no opposition for school board seats in Montgomery and Truetlen counties. Running without competition in Montgomery County are chairman Randall Morris from the Uvalda district and Dorothy Days in the Ailey district. In Truetlen County, chairman Freddie Mills, Sr. is unopposed in District 5 and incumbent Alvin Heath has no opposition in District 3.