May 31, 2006---- Kent Kingsley, a retired Army Lieutenant Colonel and former chairman of the Lamar County Commissioners, is out stumping the state trying to educate citizens on "The Fair Tax." Speaking on behalf of Americans For Fair Taxation to the Vidalia Kiwanis Club Tuesday, Kingsley explained how the 23% national sales tax would benefit the average citizen by eliminating income, medicaid and social security taxes. The measure has been proposed in the U.S. House of Representatives by Congressman John Linder but has yet to be given any serious consideration. Kingsley says "most politicians oppose it because it takes away their control of the family purse strings, and lobbyists are against the fair tax because it threatens benefits the current tax code provides many special interest groups."

In addition to getting everybody to pay taxes, Kingsley says the fair tax will aid the country's economy. "U.S. manufacturers are penalized in the world economy because of the tax code," he says, "and the fair tax removes the disadvantages, returns jobs to the U.S. Plus, money floating overseas because of the tax code returns for investment here."

May 29, 2006---- Colonel Edward Cardon, commander of the 4th Brigade, 3d Infantry Division, Fort Stewart, addresses the annual Memorial Day program sponsored by the local VFW Auxiliary. Forty-five members of the Colonel Cardon's brigade were killed during their deployment to Iraq and he came to Vidalia to honor their sacrifice for the United States.

May 25, 2006---- A Montgomery County man has been arrested after allegedly kidnapping his girlfriend and holding her hostage. GBI agent Keith Golden says 26-year-old Justin Carroll forced Christina Bowen to accompany him from Vidalia to his mobile home at 390 Taylor Springs Road Wednesday afternoon. Sheriff's officers from both Montgomery and Toombs Counties cordoned off the area for a couple of hours until Carroll released the woman. Officers say she was beaten and suffered a broken nose. Carroll was arrested and taken to Meadows Regional Medical Center for mental evaluation. While there, he escaped and was captured about an hour later by Vidalia police. Montgomery County officers later took him to the Irwin County jail in Ocilla. The GBI says he facing charges of kidnapping, aggravated assault and battery, and false imprisonment.

May 25, 2006---- The state labor department is making $1.3 million available statewide to help pay for more than a thousand summer jobs for young people. For this area, $72,000 will be shared by the 17 counties which make up the Heart of Georgia-Altamaha region. Sixty area teenagers will benefit from the six-week program this summer. They'll be paid minimum wage and work 32 hours a week. For information, call 912-739-7158.

May 25, 2006---- Georgia's unemployment rate in April dipped to 4.3 percent, however, unemployment in this area was up to 5.6 percent according to the labor department. Nearly 4,000 people in the nine-county trade area are without jobs. Jeff Davis County has the worst job situation with a 15 percent unemployment rate and 919 people out of work. Candler County has the fewest out of work with a 3.7 percent unemployment rate. The Toombs County jobless rate is 5.4 percent with 702 people unemployed.

May 25, 2006---- The Downtown Vidalia Association has awarded a $500 grant to downtown property owner Ellis Collins for building improvements at 115 Main Street. Jim Lowe is leasing the building for "Slick Willie's," a new barbecue restaurant downtown.

May 24, 2006---- The commander of a Georgia National Guard infantry battalion just returned from Iraq says "our soldiers did a good job and we're glad to be home after a yearlong deployment to Baghdad and southern Iraq." Lieutenant Colonel Steve McCorkle lives in Bonair and commands the 48th Brigade's infantry battalion headquartered in Albany.

LTC McCorkle spoke to the Vidalia Kiwanis Club Tuesday and later told us his unit's morale is high despite losing eight of their comrades to "improvised explosive devices" during their year in Iraq. "We had 219 soldiers eligible to re-enlist, and 205 signed up. That tells me they're proud of their service and proud to wear the uniform," he said.

In addition to combat operations, the battalion's soldiers engaged in a variety of humanitarian projects including opening of schools and providing clothing, food and medical care to individual Iraqi citizens. "Most of them had never seen a doctor before," LTC McCorkle says.

May 23, 2006---- Property owners with land west of U.S. Highway One in Lyons turned out Tuesday afternoon to see where the state highway department is planning to build a Lyons bypass as part of the project to four-lane U.S. One from I-16 to the Altamaha River.

Project manager David Norwood says the bypass will start north of Lyons just below the intersection of U.S. One and state highway 130, veer to the west of Lyons and intersect with highways 292 and 280 and proceed to the south where it will ultimately rejoin U.S. One below Santa Claus. Norwood estimates this portion of the project will cost about $110 million. "If we don't have any unexpected delays to our schedule, we could start construction on the bypass by July, 2009." he says.

Meanwhile, the northern leg of the four-lane project from Lyons to the interstate is "progressing" and Norwood estimates right-of-way acquisition could start the middle of next year.

May 22, 2006---- Water accidents Sunday and Monday have taken two lives. The most recent occurred Monday morning when a group of teenagers was attempting to swim across a farm pond on the Sam Beasley Road about two miles south of Toombs Central School. Toombs County Sheriff Junior Kight says 16-year-old Kaleb Ray of Cedar Crossing went down while attempting the swim. County EMA Director Lynn Moore says searchers were dragging the pond when they found his body. He apparently went under just after eleven a.m. and was found about three hours later. In a Sunday drowning, EMA personnel were called to the Altamaha River to search for a man whose airboat capsized. Moore says 54-year-old Billy Gene Courson of Baxley was found still strapped to the seat of the overturned boat which was hung on a log in the river.

May 21, 2006---- Failure by election officials in Vidalia, Lyons and Santa Claus to put a homestead exemption issue on the November, 2004 election ballot could cause homeowners in those towns to miss out on property tax relief.

A law introduced by state representative Greg Morris of Vidalia in 2003 allowed local voters to decide if they wanted to cap residential property values until such time as the property was sold. The question was placed on the ballot by Toombs County election supervisor Jackie Driskoll and passed as it applies to homeowners who pay property taxes for Toombs County and the Toombs County schools. However, city election officials did not put the issue on the ballot as it applies to property taxes for the city of Vidalia, Vidalia schools, the city of Lyons and the city of Santa Claus.

As a result, you have one group of homeowners who are protected from the increases of the recent county property revaluation, and another group which was denied the vote and is facing large increases in their property values with no protection.

City officials in both Vidalia and Lyons say the absence of the homestead exemption issue on the ballot was an oversight and they're all trying to find a way to correct the problem. "It certainly was inadvertent," says Vidalia city manager Bill Torrance, "and we're trying to find out how we can proceed to make the property values cap equal for those in the city and in the county."

If nothing can be done by the cities, Representative Morris says he will re-introduce legislation in the next session of the legislature to correct the situation.

May 19, 2006---- Eleventh graders at Vidalia High School who passed this year's graduation tests outscored the state average. Results of this Spring's test show that Vidalia students scored higher in English, Math, Social Studies and Science. However, the percentage who passed the tests was lower than the state average in all areas except science. Statewide, only 72 percent of students passed the science test while 77 percent of Vidalia students passed. In other subjects, 93 percent of VHS juniors passed English (state 96%); 90 percent passed math (state 92%) and 83 percent passed social studies (state 85%).

May 18, 2006---- "They've been doing everything they can to close down competitive local phone exchanges in Georgia," says Doug Baird, president of the Vidalia-based Cybersouth telephone service. He made the comment after being up all night trying to resolve circuit problems with Bell South. Under an interconnect agreement, Cybersouth leases trunk lines from Bell South to serve local customers in Vidalia and other towns. He accuses Bell South of purposely shutting down his leased circuits to undermine his customer base and drive him out of business. "In the last three years, they've reduced our customer base from 10,000 to 4,000 by interrupting our service," he says. Early Thursday local customers had been without phone service for more than a day, and some were switching to Bell South to protect their businesses.

Newsbreak contacted Bell South for reaction Thursday morning and awaits a reply. Meanwhile, Baird says he intends to file a complaint with the Georgia Public Service Commission which oversees interconnect agreements. However, a PSC spokesman says it may be too late to save the Cybersouth phone service.

Once the small exchanges are put out of business, Baird says you can expect to see phone rates on the rise. "We are going back to the days of the monopoly in phone service," he says.

May 17, 2006---- It's a story that makes the anti-gun lobby cringe. Wednesday afternoon a Vidalia woman was at work when here granddaughter called and said a black male had stolen her car keys from the ignition while she was parked at Flash Foods at McIntosh & North Streets in Vidalia. Police were called, but before they could arrive, grandma was on the scene and spotted the "perp" walking north on Highway 297. She pulled up alongside and demanded he return the keys. He let go with a few expletives. Granny reached in her glove compartment and pulled out a pistol. Then she said, "You've got the keys, and I've got the gun, so drop'em before I blow your head off." He threw down the keys. End of story, and way to go granny!

May 17, 2006---- There was a rash of house burglaries last week in Vidalia. Police say four homes were burglarized, and an arrest has been made in one case. Major Roger Callaway says 19-year-old Brandon Mathew Quick was arrested for a break-in at a house on East 6th Street. Still under investigation are two burglaries on Rigsbee Drive and another on Cherrywood Drive.

May 17, 2006---- They're running against each other for congress in the 12th Congressional District, however, Congressman John Barrow and challenger Max Burns agree on at least one thing. The United States needs to secure its border with Mexico as a first step in cleaning up the immigration mess in the country. From his office in Washington, Barrow said the country doesn't need to repeat the mistake in 1986 when President Reagan gave amnesty to three million illegal immigrants. Meanwhile, Max Burns made a campaign visit to Vidalia and agreed with Barrow. He also said 6,000 national guardsmen are insufficient to do the job.

May 17, 2006---- They were neck-and-neck going into "finals" and in the end, Henry Oddi (left) won valedictorian honors over Timothy Burnsed who garners the salutatorian title this year at Vidalia High School. Henry, son of Dr. Bernie and Jackie Oddi, is going to the University of Georgia. Timothy's parents are Tim and Venus Burnsed. He's looking forward to attending Georgia State University in Atlanta this Fall.

May 17, 2006---- John Sharpe, III (left) of Vidalia is the valedictorian in the Class of 2006 at Robert Toombs Christian Academy in Lyons. He's the son of John and Caroline Sharpe and plans to attend Mercer University. The salutatorian, Canaan Banks, of Vidalia will attend the University of Georgia. He's the son of Dennis and Gwen Banks. Both students transferred to RTCA from Vidalia High School and say they enjoyed the smaller class sizes and the chance to participate in more school activities.

May 17, 2006---- Katey Outler (right) and Katy Galbreath are the valedictorian and salutatorian, respectively, this year at Montgomery County High School in Mount Vernon. Katey, daughter of Jan and Terry Outler of Alston, plans to attend Valdosta State University and become a speech therapist. Katy is the daughter of of David and Dianne Galbreath of near Alston and will attend the University of Georgia. She says she has "no clue" about her major yet, and if she did, "I'd probably end up changing it anyway." She edged out Mathew Moxley by one-tenth of a point to win salutatorian honors.

May 16, 2006---- It's a first at Treutlen High School. Twins Nicole (left) and Natalie Spehar are the school's valedictorian and salutatorian for the Class of 2006. Nicole, the valedictorian, is less than one point ahead of her twin sister based on a four-year grade point average. The twins moved to Soperton when they were six. Their parents are Connie Stevens of Soperton and George Spehar of Michigan. Both plan to attend Georgia Southern where Nicole wants to major in interior design. Natalie is undecided on her major, but thinks it may have something to do with math, her favorite subject.

May 16, 2006---- The Vidalia Kiwanis Club has awarded $6,500 in college scholarships to local high school students. Five winners of $1,000 scholarships at Vidalia High School are Sarah Gayle Emery, Blaine Holder, Jonathan Brown, John Dixon and Clay Davis. Canaan Banks from RTCA also won a $1,000 award and Alexa Cain of Toombs County High School is the recipient of a $500 scholarship.

Scholarship committee chairman Tony Brooks says the scholarships are made possible by Kiwanis fund raisers throughout the year like the Fall Fair and the Vidalia Onion Run.

May 16, 2006---- Leading Republicans at the grassroots level have been named to head Governor Sonny Perdue's campaign in Georgia's 159 counties. In our area, the campaign chairperson's are Allen Rice in Toombs County, Kevin Parker in Montgomery County, Phillip Jennings in Treutlen, Robert Shaw in Wheeler, Wayne Dasher in Tattnall, Phyllis Johnson in Jeff Davis, Craig Lanier in Candler, Ray Woods in Emanuel, and Roy Harrington in Appling County.

May 15, 2006---- Andrew Darley (left) of the English Eddy community in southern Toombs County is the Class of 2006 valedictorian at Toombs County High School for maintaining the highest grade point average during his four years of high school. Andrew is the son of Al and Donna Ann Darley and plans to attend either Georgia Southern or East Georgia to study pre-pharmacy. The salutatorian is Jeffery Hutto, son of Lauren and Tabitha Hutto of Johnson Corner, who plans to study computer science at Georgia Tech.

May 14, 2006---- The Toombs County board of education has awarded a contract to build a new elementary school in the county. On the recommendation of school superintendent Dr. Kendall Brantley, T.Q. Constructors of Metter is getting an $8.2 million dollar contract to build the new Lyons Upper Elementary School. The new school will be located to the rear of Toombs Middle School and face U.S. Highway One. Officials hope it will be completed by August of next year.

At its May meeting, the school board also announced some new principal appointments. Pam Sears moves from the assistant principal's job at Toombs Central to the principal at Toombs Middle School. Tim Young succeeds Dr. Victor Wolfe as the principal at Lyons Primary and his assistant principal will be Sabrina Calhoun who leaves her job as Title One coordinator. Rose Ann Phillips from Toombs Middle School will succeed Calhoun.

The board was informed of honors earned by the Toombs County FFA alumni at the state convention in Macon. Chapter President Johnny Jones received the statewide "Outstanding Achievement Award." He says one of the most important things FFA does is teach integrity. Jones would like to see more teachers hired to teach agricultural education classes in the Toombs county schools. He says one faculty member is not enough due to the number of students who would like to enroll in the classes.

May 11, 2006---- The Vidalia school board has approved a budget for next year which is about a half-million dollars more in local revenue than this year. The local share of the budget is just over $3.6 million, and due to a projected increase in the county tax digest, the millage rate will remain at 14.9 mils. Overall, the budget is $28.5 million with over half of the revenue coming from state and federal sources. The schools expect to receive $1.8 million dollars from the education sales tax.

Vidalia schools are receiving more from the state this year than in years past, however, austerity cuts of over $2 million have been levied by the state since 2003. School superintendent Dr. Tim Smith says Vidalia was lucky it had reserve funds during that period to soften the blow. "We spent about $1.25 million from our reserves in order to maintain our staff, facilities and smaller class sizes," he said.

Today Vidalia City Schools are in excellent financial condition with more than $2.5 million in reserve, according to Dr. Smith.

May 10, 2006---- The Lyons city council has passed an animal control ordinance to control what it defines as "vicious dogs" in the city. City manager Rick Hartley says vicious dogs are "any dog which has a history of biting people, or any dog classified in the pit bull breed to include American, English or mixed breed pit bulls."

Owners of such dogs will be required to register their dogs with the city each year and pay a $25 registration fee. They will also have to show proof of a $50,000 surety bond or a $50,000 liability insurance policy. The ordinance limits the total number of dogs and cats a person can own to a total of four in any combination. The new law takes effect July 1st.

Hartley says the new law is needed because small towns like Lyons are experiencing an increase in suspected drug dealers using the dogs as guard dogs and for dogfights which are illegal in Georgia. He notes one instance where officials found 27 pit bulls tied up in a wooded area. "When you've got that many dogs in one place, we've got to do something," Hartley said.

In other actions, the city council okayed the demolishment of abandoned houses behind the Sav-A-Lot food store in Lyons. The city recently bought the land in order to remove the houses which have been used for prostitution, according to Hartley.

May 10, 2006---- Paul Graham (left) is the Instructor of the Year at Southeastern Technical College in Vidalia. Graham teaches computer information systems and has been with STC since 2001. He formerly worked at Georgia Southern. Karl Hay, STC's Director of Instruction, presented the award to Graham during ceremonies May 2nd at the college.

May 9, 2006---- Three property owners from Dees Lake in south Toombs County lambasted the Toombs County commissioners Tuesday for failing to repair the earthen dam on the lake which washed away when tropical storms hit the county nearly two years ago. The 22-acre lake has been dry ever since.

Officials say the county has spent nearly $50,000 to restore an access road, however, money is not available to restore the dam. The county has applied to FEMA for a $286,000 grant to help with restoration, however, in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the agency has not taken any action. Commission chairman Charles Rustin promised to get all concerned together and contact FEMA for a status report. After the meeting, commissioner Louie Powell also said the lake should be opened to the public if the county spends tax dollars to restore what had been a private lake.

In other actions, the commission okayed $10,000 to hire a consultant to help improve county fire protection, authorized $9,700 to replace computers in the tax commissioner's office, and agreed to transfer ownership of voting precinct buildings in Vidalia and Santa Claus to the two towns. It also agreed to accept roads for county maintenance in a sub-division developed by Andy Shepherd near the intersection of Highways 280 and 86.

May 9, 2006---- The Vidalia city council says its participation in development of a private sub-division is a "test case." After passing an ordinance over a year ago aimed at encouraging housing development in the city, the council Monday night gave city manager Bill Torrance the go-ahead to prepare a bid package for roads, water and sewer in a sub-division off Aimwell Road being built by Massie McIntyre of Vidalia.

Torrance also reported the city spent $42,000 in support of this year's Onion Festival. And there was discussion about this year's move of the street dance to Southeastern Tech and combining it with opening ceremonies on Friday night. From a safety and security standpoint, police chief Frank Waits said the STC location was much better than downtown. However, Mayor Ronnie Dixon said the council probably has two years before it has to consider the issue.

May 9, 2006---- A fourth defendant in a Vidalia drugs-for-sex case has been sentenced to prison. Twenty-four-year old Victoria Mead Oliver of Toombs County was sentenced to three years in prison and seven on probation for possession of cocaine and marijuana. She was one of four people arrested in December, 2004 when police raided a Shoney's motel room. Officials said Oliver and Kim Joyner of Vidalia were caught in the room with two men and 120 bags of cocaine. Also caught were three-time loser Calvin Gassett of Vidalia and Tony Gillis of Lyons. Records say Gillis used cocaine as an inducement to engage in sex with a cocaine addict. He and Gassett got jail time and Joyner was sent to a detention center.

May 9, 2006---- U.S. Senators Johnny Isakson and Saxby Chambliss delivered ten-pound boxes of Sweet Vidalia Onions to all 100 Senate offices Tuesday in Washington. The onions came from Bland Farms in Tattnall County. John Conley of Reidsville, secretary-treasurer of the Georgia Peace Officers Association, drove the onions from Georgia to Washington.

May 8, 2006---- The Southeastern Technical College Foundation wants to raise $100,000 for the college in 2006. Foundation volunteers met at the college in Vidalia Monday morning to organize the annual effort which is used to help buy items for the college which are not funded by the state. From left to right, they are Dennis Ingley, Mike Gay, Susan Murray, Bill Ward, Mae Jones, Ulma Lee Anderson, Chairperson Ann Todd, and Mark Thompson. To contribute to the 2006 campaign, call 912-538-3157.

May 5, 2006---- The Montgomery County commission says it will support a county-wide property revaluation this summer in order to have a "fair and equitable" tax digest on the books for the fiscal year 2007 tax billing. Last month the county's Board of Equalization ruled that the county's 2002 revaluation was not done "uniformly" and violated state revenue department guidelines.

The county's Board of Assessors refused to attend a Thursday night meeting of the county commission and the Board of Equalization, but sent a letter saying it would not appeal the Equalization Board's decision on the 2002 revaluation and is prepared to conduct a new county-wide revaluation of all parcels. The revaluation is expected to cost the county almost $200,000.

Dr. Ronnie Smith, whose appeal of the 2002 revaluation sparked a lengthy legal battle, is now a member of the county commission and he agrees it's time to move forward with a new revaluation. However, he wants to be excused from paying interest and penalties which have accrued while his case was under appeal. Dr. Smith said it would bankrupt the county if it had to repay property taxes which were collected since the flawed tax digest went into effect in 2003.

Commission chairman Charles Truett says its obvious mistakes were made in the past, but he wants to make sure the new revaluation is fair "to the poorest and the richest man in the county."

County attorney Mackey Bryant is drafting an agreement between the county commission and the Board of Assessors regarding the revaluation.

May 4, 2006---- A 42-year-old Montgomery County man died Thursday in a traffic accident. Toombs County Sheriff Junior Kight reports Scott Sigler of Ailey died when his vehicle overturned on the Oakey Grove Church Road off Highway 86 in Toombs County.

May 4, 2006---- Georgia's most senior active Superior Court judge is retiring. Seventy-seven year old Judge Walter McMillan of the Middle Judicial Circuit says he will not seek re-election in November. Judge McMillan has been on the bench for the past 40 years.

Candidates for the judgeship will qualify the last week of June. Toombs County State Court Judge Mackey Bryant confirms he will seek the office, and several others in the five-county circuit are reportedly considering qualifying. The Middle Judicial Circuit is made up of Toombs, Candler, Jefferson, Emanuel and Washington counties.

May 3, 2006---- There's a bumper Vidalia sweet onion crop this year. That's good news and bad news for farmers in the 22-county area of south Georgia who grow the multimillion dollar crop.

John Shuman of Reidsville, chairman of the Vidalia Onion Committee, reports high yields and good quality this year. However, he notes prices are falling. When the onion market opened last month, farmers were getting $16 per 40-lb. bad of jumbos. This week, Shuman says they're getting between $10 and $12. "Some of our customers around the country are trying to get us below $10, but we want to hold the line there if we can," he says.

As always, farmers are watching the weather. "If we get some really hot temperatures, like 95 degrees, for several days this month, that could cause us a problem in getting the onions out of the field in time before they're damaged," Shuman reports. "Vidalia onion can't take prolonged high temperatures, and we could lose some of the crop if it gets too hot," he says.

May 2, 2006---- A Statesboro construction company has submitted the apparent low bid to build a new Lyons Upper Elementary School. T.Q. Constructors submitted a bid to the Toombs County school board for $8,115,000, about $300,000 less than the only other bid submitted which came from McDonald Construction Company of Vidalia. The Toombs County board of education will consider the bid at its meeting May 11. If approved, the company says it can complete the project by July, 2007.

May 2, 2006---- The Montgomery County commission has awarded a contract to build a new Head Start Center in Mount Vernon. The contract for $459,918.00 was awarded to Charles Lewis Construction Company of Douglas.

In other actions at its May meeting Tuesday, the commission hired a Hazlehurst man to serve as the county's service coordinator. David Herring will be in charge of the county's emergency management, coordinating volunteer fire department service, and enforcing county ordinances on mobile homes and sub-divisions.

The commission also approved a recommendation from county tax commissioner Loretta Lane to write off non-collectable personal and property taxes. The write-offs total nearly $10,000 covering a period from 1987 through 2004.

And Montgomery commissioners are planning to meet with the county's Board of Assessors and Board of Equalization to discuss a county-wide property tax revaluation. The Board of Equalization ordered the action last month after ruling the 2002 revaluation was not done uniformly and violated state guidelines. The meeting is tentatively set for Thursday night at seven o'clock at the county commissioners' office in Mount Vernon.

May 2, 2006---- A North Carolina company has selected Emanuel County for a $200 million plant. The state announced Tuesday that Huber Engineered Woods of Charlotte is expanding its "oriented strand board" business in the new plant which will employ up to 150 new jobs in the area. Once approved by the company's board of directors, the project is slated to start in 2008. Huber makes wood products which are used for flooring, walls and roofs in houses.

May 1, 2006---- Officials at Plant Hatch south of Vidalia initiated a "Notification of Unusual Event" to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission early Monday morning. Carrie Phillips, a spokesperson for Southern Nuclear Operating Company, says a small wire to one of the plant's cooling units overheated and burned at 4:28 a.m. Monday. She says the plant reduced power and the incident was over within ten minutes. There was never any danger to the plant nor to the public, according to Phillips.