June 30, 2006-- This Fall's race for Superior Court Judge in the Middle Judicial Circuit could prove to be tight with two well qualified candidates running. Attorneys Mackie Bryant of Vidalia and Bobby Reeves of Swainsboro are running for the seat being vacated by Judge Walter McMillan of Sandersville. Bobby Reeves reflects on reasons why he is qualified for the position. " I have been involved in representing clients in virtually every kind of case that a Superior Court Judge will have to handle, including a lot of domestic relations - divorces, and custody battles."

Reeves also talked about his civic commitment through community service work with such organizations as the red cross, boy scouts, march of dimes, and the Methodist church. "I have been very active in all sorts of civic affairs here and over the circuit, and I just think that shows that I have a commitment to the people of this circuit to try to make things better. And I think a judge ought to have a commitment to make things better in his community."

Mackie Bryant is resigning as the Toombs County State Court judge to run for the Superior Court post, and he hopes to use lessons learned if elected superior court judge. "One of my priorities has been to make the jury selection process a little bit kinder. I have attempted to do things that will make it take up less of a juror's time. I think another thing that a Superior Court Judge can do is encourage there to be less trials by using alternate dispute resolutions. They can use motion practice in order to cut down on the number of cases and hopefully get more of the cases settled."

Also, Bryant points out one reason why he feels he is a better candidate than Reeves. "We have one other sitting Superior Court Judge and that's Kathy Palmer. She's located in Swainsboro, and I think it would be better to have Superior Court Judge located in another county in the circuit rather than have both of them located in Swainsboro."

Governor Sonny Purdue will appoint a State Court replacement for Bryant. The election for Superior Court Judge is November 7th.

June 29, 2006-- The payroll clerk for the Toombs County Commission has been fired for stealing money from the county. The commissioners held a called meeting Thursday and announced Brenda Galbreath was dismissed on June 15th after an audit revealed she had "double paid" herself $14,500. She used a signature stamp with Rustin's name on it to issue the checks to herself. Commission chairman Charles Rustin says the county "will demand restitution with interest," but he has no plans at this time to press criminal charges against Galbreath. She started work in the commissioners' office when Rustin was elected and previously worked for him in private business.

The commission also passed a motion by Commissioner Durward NeeSmith calling for an investigation of payroll procedures in the courthouse. Chairman Rustin admits his office has no time card system for the office personnel who are all hourly employees, and he has no way to document what may have been significant overtime payments to Galbreath. Still Rustin believes the overtime hours were earned by both Galbreath and office manager Gail Widener because "the work got done."

The Rustin administration has had its share of problems in the past few months. It had to abandon the county's credit card system in the Spring because an audit showed receipts were not being maintained and at least one commissioner, Roy Lee Williams, was using the county card to make personal purchases for which he reimbursed the county. And last year, it came to light that Chairman Rustin awarded county construction contracts to a friend without benefit of competitive public bids. That led to a commission resolution requiring all county work exceeding $5,000 be advertised for bid.

	Gary Black greets Vidalia Kiwanis members after the meeting on Tuesday, June 27 while on his "Tour of Homes and Farms."

June 28, 2006-- With 14.5% of Georgia's jobs based in Agriculture, Gary Black feels like we need new leadership to bring the industry into the 21st century. That is why he is running for Commissioner of Agriculture in the July 18th primaries. Black is up against two other republican candidates, and long time incumbent, Democrat Tommy Irvin. Black, with 25 years of experience in agriculture, agribusiness and government, he feels that he is best suited for position of Commissioner. "We can ill-afford to turn this most important agency to someone that will require on-the-job training. I'm prepared for this job today, and that's why I'm separated from my other Republican candidates."

Black is running on a five-step plan that he calls Agriculture 2010. "I want to focus the department more on economic development, education, and environmental stewardship. Those are the first three legs – and we call that the E3 Initiative. The fourth part is to bring this department into the 21st century in regards to technology. The last part is the frontline responsibility of the department – we must keep our food supplies secure."

Education is a big part of Black's plan – and if elected he wants to create a mobile classroom to bring farming and agriculture to the students. "I want to be the catalyst to pull our Department of Education together, our University system together, with the Department of Agriculture and have an outreach program together available to every school in the state of Georgia, primarily those that are in urban areas. We must reconnect our society with agriculture. My initiative is called the Farm to Home mobile classroom and will have lots of different assets that you can utilize in a school and deliver a message about nutrition, careers, agricultural heritage to young people and when we do that we can show that agriculture is exciting and is an important part of our quality of life."

June 28, 2006-- How would you feel if your surgery had to be postponed due to a blood shortage? That is exactly what may begin to happen in this area. Yesterday, the red cross issued a Public appeal because their blood supply was critically low. Nancy Martin, the area director for the Red Cross, explains why the appeal had to be issued. "What is happening is the normal summertime falloff of donations, but unfortunately, during the last two weeks, it has really dropped off and right now there is a nationwide blood shortage. We're not collected enough locally to provide for our patients, and usually we have the option of going outside the state to other states and importing blood back here, but right now we can't do that because no one nationwide has blood. We fully expect that we will not have enough blood to last through the July 4th holiday weekend."

The Red Cross has a scholarship program called Blood stock where people can find organizations and places to sponsor blood drives during times when the intake is low. Jessica Jones, a resident of this area, decided to participate in this program. “This young lady went to Toombs County High School, STC, and is going to Middle Georgia College and she has agreed to put on a blood drive, and if she reaches her goal of 35 units, she can apply for the $1,000 scholarship, and if she collects 50 units, she will automatically be bumped up into the $2,000 scholarship.”

Since you can only give blood every 56 days and public appeal stretches until the beginning of September, Martin reminds us that not only is it important to give blood now, but it will be important throughout the entire summer.

Jones’s blood drive is scheduled for this Friday from 12 to 5:30pm at Wal-mart. If you have any questions you can contact her at 912-293-7165.

June 28, 2006-- The Vidalia Rotary Club named its outgoing president, Ann Todd, as the club's Rotarian of the Year during annual installation ceremonies Tuesday night. The new club president is Denny McShane with Phillip Williams, vice-president; Mac Jordan, treasurer; and Melanie Parker, secretary. Board members include Marion Franklin, Richard Martin, Keith Spivey, Elaine Simpson, Otha Dixon and Sam Polk.

June 27, 2006-- Last Friday night, the Toombs County Sheriff’s Office, East Central Georgia Drug Task Forces, the Georgia State Patrol and the Georgia State Canine Unit were having a safety checkpoint near Toombs Central. During the checkpoint, a green jeep was pulled over because the driver, 43 year old Maria Rosales of Blackshear, could not produce a driver’s license. The dogs circled the vehicle and set off an alert prompting police to search the vehicle. In the trunk they found 55 pounds of marijuana in plastic bags that had a street value of approximately $60,000. Also in the car were three juveniles. The children were turned over to Department of Family and Children Services and Rosales was taken to the Charles Durst Detention Center for possession with intent to distribute.

June 27, 2006-- A Baxley woman is dead following a collision Monday afternoon. Toombs County Sheriff Junior Kight reports Jacquelyn Smiley died early Tuesday morning from injuries suffered in the wreck on U.S. One south of Lyons near the U.S. One Farm Center. The manager of the farm center, Joey Clark of Vidalia, was shaken up but not seriously injured. Sheriff Kight says the accident happened during a thunderstorm which hit the area about five p.m. Monday.

June 26, 2006-- The Vidalia Lions Club announced their officers for the 2006-2007 year last night at their annual banquet. The slate of new officers is as follows: President, James Castleman; First Vice President, Tom Cato; Second Vice President, Tony Wardlaw; Third Vice President, Fred Stokes; Past President, Joel Garrett; Secretary, Larry Edenfield; Treasurer, Tracy Clark; Tale Twister, Charles Page; and Lion Tamer, Chester Proctor.

June 26, 2006-- The Vidalia City Schools have a lot to celebrate over as their progress reports came in this year. According to Superintendent Dr. Tim Smith, all four schools passed Annual Yearly Progress. "The scores on the tests required to meet AYP was increased for this year, but it's not unusual for us to meet all or most of the AYP indicators. It just really depends on the year and the class. In the elementary schools it's primarily reading and mathematics, and as you get up into the middle grades it expands out into science and social studies as well."

A fundamental part of AYP for Vidalia High School was this year’s graduation rate. It has increased about six percent from last year, to 81.1 percent making VHS have about a 25 percent higher graduation rate than the state average.

Another issue that Vidalia is celebrating over is the Science CRCT scores at JR Trippe Middle School. "They scored as on of the top ten or fifteen middle schools in the state. The significant part of that is that science scores for the average state-wide were particularly low. We're very proud of the work that has been done in our science department - particularly at JR Trippe. They have a fabulous science department. A lot of it is hands on and the students and teachers work very hard there, and it showed on the tests this year. We've been doing some work in all of the lower grades in our science curriculum and I think that we're beginning to see a culmination of this in some of the grades and it makes a big difference.

In fact, several middle school science teachers were asked by the state to talk to other educators about the science curriculum they use. "Superintendent Cox had someone call down and ask if we would put together a team and send a team of people who could explain to people in the state just what we have done in our science department that resulted in such high test scores. Of course, we've done that." Dr. Smith reported that the group of teachers went last week and were very well received.

June 24, 2006-- If you were unhappy about your property tax assessment this year, you aren’t alone. Senator Tommie Williams brought Chuck Nazerian and Richard Vinke, both tax appraisers for Georgia’s Department of Revenue, to the Toombs County Courthouse on Friday morning to answer questions about the recent assessments. If you missed the meeting, Vinke offered some advice on what you should do if your property is under appeal.

"The very first thing you need to do is go in and look at your property record card and see if the data that they have is correct. The second this is that if your property is under appeal, then you can apply for the conservation use or the preferential assessment. If you plan on keeping your property for more than ten years then this is something you surely need to consider doing. If it's not under appeal, then you can apply the first part of next year. If it is under appeal, and you come in before the board of equalization, you need to have done some research - don't just come in empty handed - bring in some evidence. Also, you're welcome to come and sit in on some of the meetings before theirs comes up, those meetings - both the assessors and the equalization - are open to the general public."

Also, Vinke talked about how Homestead Exemption will help property owners if their property value increased. "If the value goes up, the homestead will go up to offset that, so the taxpayer really won't end up paying any more in taxes, unless they increase the millage rate. Every taxpayer needs to come in to make sure that they have homestead exemption."

June 22, 2006---- There is an advocacy group in Atlanta trying to help protect Georgia’s families by education and giving families a voice in critical public debate. Allison Wall, Executive Director and founder of GA Watch, the state’s leading consumer watchdog group came to Vidalia last week. She described GA Watch as a non-profit, non-partisan organization designed to educate the consumer especially in areas of healthcare, insurance, and personal finance. Wall spoke about whether or not, so called frivolous lawsuits are a myth. "The problem is that the doctor's insurance rates have been going up for several years now and the state legislature passed a bill last year to try to limit medical lawsuits and what we're finding is that since this bill was passed doctors insurance rates have gone up sometimes 50 percent. And on the other hand you have a lot of people who have lost their husband or wife or who have had serious injury in a hospital or a doctor's office, and they cannot hold anyone accountable."

Another focus issue of Georgia Watch is predatory lending. Wall explains why title pawn lending can be quite costly in the end. "Georgia actually started title pawn lending for the entire nation. Georgia law allows these lenders to charge up to 300 percent interest on these loans, allows them to repossess a person's car if they are an hour late on their payment, and allows them to sell that vehicle if the consumer doesn't pay the entire loan amount within 30 days."

June 22, 2006---- The Georgia Department of Labor reported that the unemployment rate in the Heart of Georgia-Altamaha areas declined to 5.4 percent in May, down from 5.6 percent in May and down from 6.0 percent a year ago. However, statewide the unemployment rate increased from 4.3 percent in April to 4.7 percent in May. This is due to the increase in active job seekers added to the workforce and there not being a large enough increase in jobs to counterbalance it.

June 21, 2006---- A community stronghold celebrated another successful year with some of their sponsors. The Boys & Girls Club had their annual fundraising dinner on Tuesday night at the Callaway Community center in Partin Park in Lyons. After skits, dances, songs, and even a step routine, Senator Tommie Williams spoke of what he sees as the importance of the Boys and Girls Club in this area. "What Boys & Girls Clubs do is they often are the surrogate family - they're the place to go when home isn't such a good place to go, where kids can learn some character values and hopefully make the difference in their lives. Last year, we had about $20 million we were lapsing every year. I was on the board of the Boys & Girls Club years ago so I asked if we could use it for the club and they reluctantly said yes so we put $10 million of that in the Boys & Girls Club statewide and Toombs County was able to get about $30,000 of that money."

Tonjai Woodard, the Executive Director of the Boys & Girls Club in Toombs county said that the money they received has been used to better the club. "We've used a lot of the money for scholarships for foster kids and for teen programming - just things that try to build our program. Since we recieved the money we had to get more staff because we have so many more children and we've done a whole lot of staff training. So this has been really good for our club. Our daily average right now is about 120 - 140. We are very busy!"

With over that many regular attendees, Woodard says the boys and girls club is always in need of the same two things. "Our two biggest things are more volunteers and more money - just the community giving more freely to us. We do a lot of community service programs, just so that the kids see that when we do go out and ask for money, the community will see that we're giving back. We're teaching our kids to not just take all of the time, but to also give back to the community."

June 20, 2006---- If you haven't already heard about them, you might be a little behind. Vidalia is home to an up and coming Christian band - Contagious. Band members are lead singer Blake Neesmith, Chris Brown on bass, Allen Dukes and Dustin Daniels on guitar and Adam Scott on Drums. The band has been in existence for about two years, but has been in this form for about seven months.

Contagious made a trip to Nashville last December to make their Spread by Contact EP. It contains five songs that the band wrote themselves. Allen Dukes said, "It was an awesome experience as far as our first time being in a professional studio. We increased as musicians and as a band we united together."

Since the band decided to drop everything and share their music with others, the members say that God has been working in their lives. Adam Scott said, "My passion for God has grown a lot more since I as I've been with these guys. I got saved a year ago and then I met these guys. As far as the band goes, we've just grown together through God. We're just letting Him use us as He wants. He's blessed us already and as we keep Him first in our lives, He'll continue to bless us. I believe that this is a good thing that we're doing and we're doing it for the right reasons."

Contagious has traveled to Medina, North Dakota to be the worship band at a Christian camp and they will be leaving soon to accompany their church on a mission trip to Chile to head the worship. Contagious is also the worship band at Cedar Crossing Baptist Church. Chris Brown told us that no matter what experiences they have elsewhere, their home audience is what really matters to the group. "There are so many Christian bands that hit the road and go off on their own and kind of put their church behind them and don't go back. A commitment that we've made as a group is that we want to be home as many Wednesdays and Sundays as we can to lead worship at our home church just because that's our most important audience as far as worship goes - the people that have helped us get started and to where we are now."

June 19, 2006---- On Monday, June 19th, Savannah-Chatham Metropolitan Police arrested John Anthony "Tony" Jenkins, 38, of a Savannah address, for armed robbery on a state warrant that was issued in Vidalia. The arrest was a result of an investigation launched after a citizen complained of being robbed in the Econo Inn Parking Lot on May 26. After weeks of research, Jenkins was apprehended and is being extradited back to Toombs County.

June 17, 2006---- This year's primary election for secretary of state is candidate-filled with six candidates on the Democratic ticket and four on the Republican. One of the democratic candidates, Darryl Hicks, was in Lyons at St. Luke AME to talk to supporters and meet with citizens. Hicks is native of Reynolds, Georgia, and is running on the slogan "A public servant without the politics." He believes those holding public office need to be, "public servants, serving people no matter who they are, where they came from, or what they look like. And in the Secretary of State's office that's exactly what I'll do. You don't have the opportunity to do anything but serve the people that come to you."

Hicks has done extensive volunteer work serving with organizations Big brother, Big Sister, YMCA, Center for the Visually Impaired, March of Dimes, Habitat for Humanity and several others. For his work he received Outstanding Volunteer of Georgia in 2002 from President Bush. Hicks said volunteerism was so close to his heart because, "That is my way of showing that I want to help people and I'm not asking for anything in return, I just want to help the next generation."

If elected, Hicks has four goals that he wants to conquer within his first 100 days in office. The first two revolve around the voting processes. As a former auditor, Hicks wants to audit the voting machines to make sure every vote counts as well as equip machines to leave a paper trail. Also, Hicks wants to make Voter Ids available to those who have difficulty getting one because he feels that if someone wants to vote, then they should be able to do so. Another Issue hicks believes in is customer service. "I want it to be so good that I want people to walk away wondering if they just went to a government office." Hicks also plans to raise awareness of identity theft and fraud. "there are too many opportunities where our citizens - especially our senior citizens - are victimized where people are selling things that are not legitimate. I will make sure that they understand that if they do that in the state of Georgia, they will be arrested and prosecuted."

June 16, 2006---- Danny Carter, the Assistant Director of Career and Technical Education Programs for the State of Georgia, came to this area to promote his campaign for the State Superintendent of Schools on the Republican ticket against incumbent Kathy Cox. Carter is a native of this area and has worked in education for 23 years.

He talked about what his main focuses would be if he was elected as Superintendent. "We have a drop-out rate that exceeds 45% based on the Governor's Office of Student Achievement. I believe that much of that occurs because there is a lack of relevance that is taught within our curriculum from early on. In elementary through high school we have a huge emphasis on academic education - which is critically important - but we also have to relate the academic education to real world experience with a relation to careers and jobs."

Carter also plans to help make the transition from 8th to 9th grade smoother to lessen the drop out rate and increase the support and resources for teachers from the government as the school curriculum is being refocused.

As for school funding, Carter wants to give money back to cut programs before turning over a new leaf. "I would like to see funding cuts become a priority before we put funding toward new education initiatives. I think we need to go back and fully fund schools at the levels that they have earned through established quality education."

Standardized school testing is another area within education that Carter feels could stand a change. "We have too many cases of duplicate testing. For instance, there is the High School Graduation Test and now the End of Course Tests in several subjects. We need to go back and look at the entire testing system to make sure we aren't putting too much emphasis on testing for students. At this point in time, we have in excess 36 competency tests beginning in the first grade. When you have that much testing and when we hold teachers accountable for student performance on the tests, you have too much pressure to have teachers to teach to the test rather than teach to the competency."

Carter also wants to concentrate on making education focused toward what students will need for after graduation. "I think one thing we've missed with state-level leadership of education is providing students with opportunities that they want and recognize the importance of. I think our system has developed into too much of a cookie-cutter system, where we are tying to push students into particular directions, and I don't think that works anymore."

June 16, 2006---- The body of a Vidalia woman was found in her swimming pool Friday morning. Toombs County coroner Ron Hall says 79-year-old Lurlie Allen of 802 McLemore Drive was discovered when her sitter came to work about 8 a.m. Friday. The coroner reports it was Mrs. Allen's practice to swim in the pool each evening and no foul play is suspected. He says an autopsy will be conducted to determine if she died of natural causes or from accidental drowning.

June 16, 2006---- If you're a Georgia Power customer, your electric rates are going up. The Georgia Public Service Commission has approved a company request to raise rates an average of $5 per month starting July 1st. The increase allows Georgia Power to recover increases in fuel prices, according to the Commission.

June 16, 2006---- Parents and students who have federal student loans for college are facing a rise in interest rates. Third District Congressman Jim Marshall is advising those with loans to consolidate the loans before July 1st when interest rates will increase to as much as 7.8 percent for parents and 7 percent for students.

Marshall says students and parents who combine separate or multiple loans into one single loan will enable them to lock in a low, fixed interest rate and save thousands of dollars over the life of their loans.

Each year on July 1st, the Department of Education adjusts the interest rates on outstanding college loans. Student borrowers who refinance right away canget a low 4.85 percent interest rate and save an average of $3,500 over the life of the loan. Parents can get a 6.1 percent interest rate.

College costs have increased by 40 percent in the last five years, and the typical student borrower graduates from college with a record $17,500 in education debt.

June 15, 2006---- Six past and present area school principals are on a list of one hundred "High Performance" principals announced by the Georgia Department of Education. The principals earned the recognition based on their school's performance for three consecutive years ending in the 2005 school year.

Among the high performers are former Toombs County High School principal Ralph Hardy, Toombs Central principal Dr. Renee Stanley, Appling County Middle School principal Keith Johnson, and Evelyn Campbell of Metter Middle School, James Jarvis of Twin City Elementary, and Gregory Carter of Jeff Davis Middle School.

High performance principals are eligible for a 15-thousand dollar salary supplement if they are hired as a principal in a "needs improvement" school.

June 15, 2006---- Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue announces a water use plan to meet the needs of southeast Georgia while protecting the area's supply of ground water. Nineteen counties in the 24-county coastal area, including Toombs, Tattnall, Candler and Emanuel, will be allowed to resume filing water permits for all uses with certain conservation restrictions. Elsewhere, no more wells will be allowed in the immediate Brunswick area, and some restrictions on water use will be imposed in Chatham, Effingham, Bryan and Liberty counties.

June 14, 2006---- Higgston’s industrial park is getting a new look thanks to an equity grant. Governor Sonny Perdue was in Metter on Tuesday to announce the OneGeorgia awards. The board approved approximately $4 million in grant and loan awards to be distributed throughout Georgia’s more economically distressed areas for projects that the county would normally not have enough revenue to fund. In Higgston’s Industrial Park, the equity grant funds will be used to construct and acceleration/deceleration lane to serve the park’s entrance. Patriot Gas Company, the park’s anchor tenant, has already committed to an investment of $900,000 to relocate in Higgston. The state grant totaled $61,820 and Montgomery County is expected to pay around $20,000 to complete the project, making the industrial park a place accessible for trucks and hopefully attracting other companies. The acceleration/deceleration lane will enhance the park since heavy trucks and vehicular traffic will have an easier time entering and exiting the park. The new lane will also alleviate a potential public safety hazard.

The Development Authority of Emanual County and the City of Swainsboro was awarded $125,00 for building improvements in support of the location of R&F Marketing, a manufacture and distributor of a large line of home accessories. Some of its clients include: T.J. Max, Marshall's, Kirkland', Ross, Tuesday Morning, and the Bombay Trading Company. The company wishes to expand the facility bringing 66 more jobs to the area over a span of two years.

June 13, 2006---- A local government snafu will cause homeowners in Vidalia, Lyons and Santa Claus to have higher property tax evaluations this year. Because city officials failed to hold elections which would have allowed homestead exemptions to offset increased property values, city homeowners will not get the same exemptions as county homeowners who were allowed to vote and who passed the measure by a ratio of six-to-one.

The Vidalia city council was informed of the state law in July, 2003, however, no action was taken to put the question on the ballot in November, 2004. "Obviously we didn't have a vote, but I don't know why," says Vidalia Mayor Ronnie Dixon." In order to avoid a tax increase on homeowners this year, Mayor Dixon says he expects the city council to rollback the city's millage rate later this year.

Vidalia homeowners also pay school property taxes, and school superintendent Dr. Tim Smith says the school board will have to see the new tax digest before it can decide about a rollback. In Lyons, Mayor John Moore is also waiting to see the new digest before making a recommendation to the city council on a rollback. "We may need just a little more revenue," he says.

Meanwhile, state representative Greg Morris of Vidalia, who introduced the legislation which the cities ignored, says he will re-introduce the measure at the earliest opportunity. "It would be retroactive to the property values in the 2004 tax digest so homeowners in the cities won't be stuck with the high property appraisals which we've seen this year," Morris says.

Two weeks ago, Mayor Dixon, most members of the Vidalia city council, Mayor Moore and Lyons city manager Rick Hartley, and representative Morris met at Morris' cabin on Aimwell Road to discuss the situation. Mayor Dixon says local media were not notified because "it wasn't a meeting as such." Georgia's open meetings law allows a government agency "to conduct a meeting at which no final official action is to be taken, with another agency or with officials of another agency at a location outside of the agency's geographical location." Morris' cabin is outside the Vidalia city limits.

Once Morris' legislation is passed, Mayor Dixon promises voters will get a chance to vote the second time around.

June 13, 2006---- Four people were arrested last Friday night during a drug search at a local motel. Toombs County Sheriff Junior Kight says deputies, agents of the East Central Georgia Drug Task Force, and Vidalia police officers executed the search warrant at Shoney's Inn. Lindsey Charmaine Ward of Vidalia and John William Youmans of Lyons were charged with possession of cocaine. Tyrone Walton of Vidalia was charged with possession of cocaine and marijuana, and Melissa Eve Waters of Lyons faces charges of cocaine and marijuana possession with intent to distribute.

June 13, 2006---- Four area governments are getting local development fund grants from the state of Georgia. Governor Perdue announced nearly $700,000 in grants during a visit to Metter Tuesday. Included are $20,000 to help replace the roof of the Treutlen County courthouse in Soperton, $20,000 for improvements at the historic Alexander Hotel in Reidsville, $20,000 for window replacement in the Candler County courthouse, and $2,000 for a welcome center sign in Glennville.

June 13, 2006---- A Vidalia city council committee will study annexing 30 acres of land in Montgomery County into the city. Developer Massie McIntyre asked the city council Monday night to annex land at the end of McAllister Drive into the city to accommodate up to 40 homes in a new sub-division. The city's water and sewer committee will study the request.

Also at its June meeting, the council okayed construction of a new Northland Cable television tower on Commerce Way, agreed to a stop light at the corner of Randolph Drive and Seminole, and discussed ways to crack down on people who litter the city. Officials say police are making cases against litter bugs, and city manager Bill Torrance says Sullivan Environmental is being asked to do a better job of keeping its trucks from dropping trash on their routes.

June 13, 2006---- Thirty-one families live in the Rushton sub-division near Center Hill in Toombs County, and Tuesday a sub-division delegation showed up with some concerns at the June meeting of the Toombs County commission. Spokesperson Cheryl Williams asked for road paving, zoning and animal control. Commission chairman Charles Rustin said the county will seek right-of-way for the road-paving, and recommended a sub-division covenant regarding zoning and pets.

Commissioner Louie Powell reports the county has 45 days to meet EPD requirements regarding leaking methane gas at the county landfill. The commission approved nearly $50,000 for a project to vent the gas on county property. It's also considering renewing the county's two-year contract for ambulance service with Medstar One for nearly $710,000, a three percent increase over its current contract.

June 12, 2006---- Congressman John Barrow was in town Saturday to listen to citizen’s concerns on different aspects of the government. Barrow is from Georgia’s 12th district, which stretches from Milledgeville to Augusta to Savannah and includes all of Toombs County. Despite being on the Democratic ticket, Barrow does support several conservative causes and describes himself as a “Georgia conservative democrat.” Barrow was born and raised in Athens and after the 12th district was shifted, he moved to Savannah last year. If re-elected, this will be Barrow’s second term in office.

In his first term, Barrow’s focus revolved around two major issues – that of raising the minimum wage and “protecting America first.” Barrow believes that it isn't fair to keep the minimum wage at the level it is since the cost of living has increased nearly 20% over the past 10 years. Also, he believes a low minimum wage is directly related to illegal immigration. Also in the this term, Barrow authored the bill "Protect America First," after the problems arose concerning the Dubai ports deal. It allows the appropriate members of congress to know what's going on, when it's happening.

On taxes, Barrow believes that, although Congressman John Linder's Fair Tax plan is "too good to be true," the current tax system need to be changed. "We need to completely overhaul the income tax system, junk all of the exemptions, keep and preserve the main ones - the things that have built the middle class in this country - and just start all over again with a system that is simple and effective."

Congressman Barrow will continue touring the 12th district before Election Day on November 7th. He will face former Republican Congressman Max Burns in the general election.

June 9, 2006---- Recently, Toombs Co. Family connection sponsored a methamphetamine seminar for local law enforcement agents educators, and DFCS. Sherry Adam from Family Connection said that Meth was here in Toombs County and we need to raise awareness about this. Harry Thornton, former law enforcement agent and current public affairs specialist with the Atlanta division of the DEA, was the main speaker at the seminar. He said that 98% of Meth users are addicted by the second or third time they use the drug. Consequences of long term use of methamphetamine include: malnutrition, severe weight loss, sores and crank bugs, gray or black teeth, depression, organ damage, hallucinations, aggressive behavior, and even death. Signs of Meth usage can range from dilated pupils and restlessness to jerking movements and compulsive behaviors. Meth is widespread because of the availability of its ingredients. Most can be found in drug stores in over the counter medicines. Although the law has only been in effect for about a year, Georgia drug stores and pharmacies now keep cold medicines with Meth ingredients behind the counter so they can control their distribution in hopes of curbing the increase of methamphetamine labs. Although this has been a positive move, both Adam and Thornton agree that education and awareness of this drug and its effects are the best ways to help prevent it from becoming an even larger issue in our area.

June 8, 2006---- The Vidalia city council has voted to withdraw from the East Central Georgia Drug Task Force. The action was recommended by police chief Frank Waits who wants to use the resources to beef up the Vidalia police departments drug investigations. The city would have been required to pay $19,000 as its share to support the drug task force had it not withdrawn.

In other actions at its May 30th called meeting, the council awarded a nearly $307,000 contract to Harry Moses Construction of Vidalia to build a new city fire station on Orange Street. The city is also considering an addition to the Vidalia Community Center and is seeking architectural estimates.

The city's project to provide city sewer service to city residents on Forest Lake Drive is moving along and the process of obtaining easements will start soon.

And on the question of the city millage rate for next year, city and school officials are awaiting the county's new tax digest before they decide on the tax rate. Many property valuations are up in the city and the city council and the school board can roll back the millage rate to avoid a windfall tax increase. If they don't do a rollback, they're required to hold three public hearings to obtain citizen input.

June 7, 2006---- Georgia has a program that encourages able citizens to work rather than go on welfare. The program is called Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, or TANF, and gives people training and job skills that they can use to find work. Today, in 32 counties including Toombs, 100 percent of adults receiving TANF are either employed or in a training program to help them gain employment. In 2004 Toombs County had 74 TANF recipients, but currently there is only one. State-wise, in 2002, there were 30,598 TANF recipients and only 8,100 of those cases remain today. DFCS believes that “welfare is not good enough for any family.” Under TANF, benefits for a household of 4, for 40 hours of work, are only $330 a month whereas part-time employment for 20 hours a week at minimum wage is $412 a month. DFCS is committed to helping citizens find a job by doing everything from helping citizens find childcare and transportation to holding resume writing and interview workshops. To get more information on these issues or for an in-depth presentation contact Lisa Graham at 526-2117.

June 7, 2006---- There won't be any "Happy Meals" in Swainsboro for a while. Fire destroyed the town's McDonalds early Sunday morning. Tom Findlay of Vidalia, who owns the Swainsboro store, says an electrical fire apparently started in the roof of the building just after midnight Saturday. The Swainsboro Fire Department responded and contained damage to the rear of the building. However, after firemen left, the fire broke out again and destroyed the building. Findlay, who built the building in 1982, says it could take up to five months to re-open in Swainsboro.

June 7, 2006---- Police say DNA evidence has implicated a man who pled guilty to a Vidalia killing with four murders in Connecticut. Forty-year-old Emanuel Webb was questioned by Bridgeport, Connecticut detectives in connection with the deaths of four women who were murdered in the town in the early 1990's. He is being held in the state correctional facility in Folkston on a parole violation. Previously, Webb was sentenced to 20 years for the July, 1994 strangulation death of 36-year-old Evelyn Charity of Vidalia. He was released on parole in 2001. Webb had lived in Bridgeport in the early 90's and moved to Mount Vernon in 1993.

June 7, 2006---- If you were surprised when you got your property tax assessment from Toombs County this year, get in line. The county's new chief property appraiser, Angela Waldron, says she's catching up on property revaluations which haven't been updated in recent years. As a result, many property owners are seeing large increases in their property values, and many are filing inquiries. Waldron says about 800 appeals and questions have been filed with the Board of Assessors with 185 scheduled so far to be heard by the Board of Equalization.

June 7, 2006---- Some kids in Vidalia City Schools are going to classes this summer trying to get promoted to the next grade. Overall, 136 students in the third, fifth and eighth grades did not pass end of course tests in reading and math. They hope to pass the summer school tests and avoid being held back next school term. Overall, school officials say eighth graders did good on their tests with 91 percent passing reading and 88 percent making the grade in math. Eighty-two percent of fifth graders passed reading and math, and eighty-two percent of third graders passed reading.

June 6, 2006---- The Board of Tax Assessors in Montgomery County is seeking a contractor to conduct a county-wide property tax revaluation. The action stems from an April decision by the county's Board of Equalization which found that the county's 2002 tax revaluation was not uniform. Bids are expected later this month, and county commission chairman Charles Truett says commissioners will also review the bids to ensure a qualified company is hired this time.

At its June meeting, the county commissioners tabled a request from the Board of Assessors that the board be expanded from three to five members. The board says it expects a large number of appeals when the revaluation is completed.

Montgomery County commissioners are back to square one on what to do about a new county jail. Even though the county grand jury has recommended construction of a new jail, commissioners are concerned about how to pay for operating the facility if it's built. An initiative to build a regional jail with Treutlen County has fallen through, and commissioner Brandon Braddy, who has surveyed numerous small counties in the state about the cost of jail operations, feels it may be better to pay another county to house Montgomery prisoners. Currently, the county pay Irwin County $45 per prisoner per day to house its inmates.

At a minimum, commissioners agree the county will build a new sheriff's office to include holding cells. Superior Court Judge Phillip West has asked the commission for a status report on the project, and a meeting will be held with the judge to discuss the county's dilemma.

	Chuck Ray, the Chief of Field Operations for Georgia Emergency Management Agency with Newsbreak's Mallory Thompson at Tuesday's meeting of the Vidalia Kiwanis Club.

June 6, 2006---- Chuck Ray, the Chief of Field Operations for the Georgia Emergency Management Agency of the Georgia Office of Homeland Security talked to the Kiwanis club on Tuesday. GEMA is responsible for responding to both natural and man-made disasters and allocating help to areas in need after a disaster. After September 11th, GEMA’s operations expanded to include terrorism and intelligence gathering. According to Ray, Georgia is in the top 25% of places likely to be hit with a terrorist attack. Ray offered advice on how citizens can help quell the nation-wide war on terror. “If you see something going on and it seems to be out of place you can contact local law enforcement and they can forward it on to the state analysis center.”

Since hurricane season has begun, Ray also talked about what GEMA does for hurricane relief. He warned that despite this area being inland, we need to be prepared for hurricanes as well. Ray suggested to have a weeks worth of food and water stored, to listen to your local radio and television stations for weather updates, and to do whatever the city officials recommend if evacuation was ever necessary.

June 1, 2006---- You've probably seen signs around Vidalia welcoming home PFC Nate Adams, USMC, after his completion of boot camp at Parris Island, SC. "I've wanted to be a Marine ever since the seventh grade, and after spending a year-and-a-half at East Georgia College, decided this is what I want to do," he says. At first Nate's parents, Lisa and Pat Adams, were not in favor of his decision, but now he says, "They've done a complete turnaround and are proud of my decision." Nate's next assignment will be advanced individual training in communications at Camp Lejuene, NC.