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Commissioners Call for Study
on Cost of Judicial Circuit Split
Upson County Com
missioners voted unani
mously last week to draft a
resolution requesting a
study to determine cost of
splitting the Griffin Judi
cial Circuit which cur
rently includes Fayette,
Spalding, Upson, and Pike
counties.
The objective would be
to group Spalding, Upson,
and Pike counties to
gether, leaving Fayette as
its own judicial circuit, ac
cording to Chairman Nor
man Allen.
“We’ve had several dis
cussions among public of
ficials about splitting the
circuit,” Allen said. “We
need to determine what
the cost would be for the
counties involved. The
study, itself, will not cost
us anything.”
For a study to be con
ducted, Upson must sub
mit a request to the
Georgia Legislature, which
County, 4A
Lady Knights Win First Region Title
For the first time in Upson Lee history, the Lady Knights have won the region
championship. See the story on Page lB.
Ole Molly Finds Her Forever Home
TFD Welcomes Thomaston’s Original 1927Fire Truck
After more than three long decades of traveling into what seemed to he a hopeless rabbit hole, Jeff Sanders
stood proud last week as “Ole Molly,” a 1927 American LaFrancefire truck, was transported back to the
Thomaston Fire Department, the home it left nearly 55 years ago. Above, Upson Commissioner Paul Jones
andfirefighter Josh Akins rode Ole Molly off of a trailer and into the TFD. See more, Page 3B.
Chastain Reminds
Upson Taxpayers of
Exemptions for ‘21
Upson County Tax
Commissioner Andy Chas
tain has released a list of
the most common home
stead exemptions which
may benefit area residents
on their property taxes for
8 10499 02461 2
2021:
•Regular Homestead
Exemption: Anyone who
purchased a home prior to
Jan. l, 2021 in which they
reside should apply.
•L3 Exemption: Any
homeowner who turned
62 years of age prior to
Jan. 1, 2021 should apply.
•L4 Exemption: Any
homeowner who turned
65 years of age prior to
Jan. 1, 2021 should apply.
All applicants should
contact the Upson County
Tax Assessor’s Office to file
for homestead exemp
tions.
Important Qualifica
tion Notes:
See Exemptions, 3A
Upson Native Paves Way for
Mentee after Tragic Fire
Upson County Native Zac Hendrix jumped to action
after his 12-year-old mentee, Taeden Johnson, lost
his mother, sister, and grandmother in a tragic
house fire on Jan. 27. Hendrix has since spread
awareness across the nation, making national
headlines while he coordinated a GoFundMe page
that has raised more than a quarter million dollars,
accompanied Johnson to Superbowl LV, and as
sisted Taeden with any need. See the full story in
next week’s edition of The Upson Beacon.
District Attorney Marie Broder
Broder Elected DA
With 73% of Votes
Thomaston Native Carries
Upson 2,834 to 577
Republican Marie
Broder drew 73 percent of
the overall vote Feb. 9 to
defeat Democrat Dexter
Wimbish in a special elec
tion for district attorney of
the Griffin Judicial Circuit.
Broder picked up 83
percent of the vote in
Upson County (2,834 to
577), 91 percent in Pike
(2,923 to 281), almost 68
percent in Spalding (4,816
to 2,294), and slightly
more than 69 percent in
Fayette (10,722 to 4,714)
over the Griffin attorney.
“I am extremely grate
ful to the voters in Fayette,
Spalding, Pike, and Upson
Counties. Thank you for
believing in me, my
record, and my plan for
the future,” Broder said.
“Thank you to all of the
volunteers who made calls,
sent text messages, put up
signs and door hangers,
waved signs, and pushed
friends to the polls to vote.
Broder, 4A
Local Woman Arrested
for Cruelty to Children
Angela Denise Green,
34, of Thomaston, was ar
rested and charged with
first degree cruelty to chil
dren and reckless conduct
after throwing her two-
month-old baby out a win
dow of her Wiley Street
residence on Friday, Feb.
12, according to Upson
County Sheriff Dan Kil
gore.
Deputies responded to
a 911 call around 2:20 p.m.
and were told that Green
and the father of her child
had been arguing earlier
that day. Green placed a
partially used box of
diapers on the stove,
which the father removed
and took outside, Kilgore
said. Green took a bed
comforter to the stove and
caught it on fire, and the
father then took the com-
Angela Denise Green
forter outside to prevent
the house from catching
fire.
Seeing the father sit
down on the porch, Green
threw their baby out of an
open window, where the
child landed on its back
side. Green had broken ad
ditional windows in the
home.
The father picked up
Local Arrested, 5A
COVID-19 Update
No New Cases Reported
at Nursing Homes
Upson County reports
3,149 positive COVID-19
cases with 107 deaths as of
noon last Tuesday, accord
ing to the Johns Hopkins
University & Medicine Co-
ronavirus Resource Center.
Numbers reflect 60 new
cases (down from 78 last
week) and two new deaths
(down from five last
week) since Tuesday one
week prior. During that
time, Upson’s per capita in
fection rate increased from
11.8 cases per 100 residents
to 12 cases per 100 res
idents, more than i-in-10.
Pike County, at 10.5 per 100
residents, is the only Upson-
adjacent county exceeding
i-in-10 infection rate.
A consensus of online
sources report Georgia with
942,484 (up 22,706 for
the week) positive cases
and 15,451 (up 772 for the
week) deaths as of noon
last Tuesday.
Johns Hopkins lists the
following confirmed cases
for counties bordering
Upson: Monroe, 2,247 ( U P
45) cases with 86 (up three)
deaths; Pike, 1,964 (up 46)
with 30 (up one) deaths;
Lamar, 1,808 (up 29) with
43 (up one) deaths; Meri
wether, 1,789 (up 50) with
49 (up 10) deaths; Taylor,
732 (up 10) with 22 (no
change) deaths; Crawford,
599 (up nine) with 13 (no
change) deaths; and Talbot,
432 (up eight) with 15 (up
two) deaths.
Total number of positive
cases reported among res
idents and staff at local
See COVID-19, 4A
(0 Griffin Ob-Gyn
NOW SEEING PATIENTS IN THOMASTON
CALL TO MAKE AN
APPOINTMENT TODAY:
403 WEST MAIN STREET
TUESDAY-THURSDAY 8:30-4:30
(770)227.5505
(706)646.2888
Leigh Ann Story, CNM; Bryan Krepps. HO; Jim Dunaway, MD; Lou Hameli, MO; Holly Harrison, PA-C;
Nadine Nolting, CNH; Enid Lofters-Jones, MD; Hegan Potter. HD; Katya Brickman. CNM; Ashley Johnson, PA