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The ADVANCE, January 20, 2021/Page 10A
SWEARING IN CEREMONY — On December 29, 2020, Paul Calhoun was sworn in as
Solicitor-General of Treutlen County State Court by Chief Judge Donald W. Gillis of the
Dublin Judicial Circuit. Calhoun replaced J, Keith Pollette. L to R: his father, Paul W,
Calhoun, Jr., his wife, Hannah Marie Sumner Calhoun and Paul Calhoun. Judge Gillis is
seated in the rear.
Pineland Scholarship
Applications Now Available
The Foundation for
Rural Service (FRS), in
cooperation with NTCA -
The Rural Broadband Asso
ciation, seeks to sustain and
enhance the quality of life
throughout Rural America
by advancing an under
standing of rural telecom
munications issues. Since
its establishment in 1984,
furthering the education
of rural youth is one of the
foundation’s primary focus
es. Pineland Telephone Co
operative, Inc. is a member
of NTCA and is proud to
support FRS in this worthy
endeavor.
This year’s applica
tion process is completely
online. All schools in the
Pineland service area will
receive notification of the
scholarship award applica
tion. Additionally, the appli
cation link can be found on
the Pineland website - www.
pineland.net - under News.
The online application pro
cess and all associated doc
uments must be finalized
and uploaded no later than
March 5, 2021.
Should a student resid
ing and attending school in
the Pineland service area
be selected to receive one
of the $2,000 scholarships,
Pineland will contribute an
additional $500, bringing
the total one-time scholar
ship award to $2,500. In
addition to the FRS general
scholarships, students may
be eligible for one the fol
lowing named scholarships;
JSI Staurulakis Family
Scholarship, TMS Scholar
ship, Everett Kneece Schol
arship, Roger Alan Cox Me
morial Scholarship, Good
Neighbor Scholarship, or
the Herbert and Isabel Bitz
Memorial Scholarship.
During the online ap
plication process, students
must choose the correct
sponsoring company in the
service area in which they
are making application. Our
student applicants should
be sure to choose Pineland
Telephone Cooperative,
Inc. (11539). Please contact
the Pineland office at (912)
685-2121 during regular
business hours or via email
at info(a)pinelandtelco.com
with any questions.
Pineland is very excited
to bring this scholarship op
portunity to its local school
districts and wishes all ap
plying students the best of
luck!
Tillery: Week One Highlights
Week one of
the 2021 General
Assembly is under
way. One of the first
things I noticed was
all the new faces.
Out of 56 state sena-
J IK tors, 11 are starting
By Sen. Blake Tillery their first term. This
(R-Vidalia) represents an almost
20% turnover from
last session. The three pressing topics are
clear: (l) the state budget, (2) COVID-19
and (3) election integrity.
The budget is the only bill we are con
stitutionally required to pass. The con
stitution also requires that it is balanced.
Governor Kemp’s budget proposal hit
our desks Thursday. It includes no further
across-the-board reductions seen in last
year’s budget. It begins to fill some of the
holes last year’s budget created, as well as
adding over $650 million back to the Qual
ity Basic Education formula that funds lo
cal schools. The Governor also included
$30 million for broadband expansion into
rural areas.
The state is administering approxi
mately 11,500 COVID-19 vaccination
doses daily. But this number is highly
outpaced by demand for the vaccine. I’ve
heard the frustration from many of you.
The Governor is marshalling the Georgia
National Guard and Georgia Emergency
Management Agency to assist in further
distribution. To further assist in distribu
tion, the Governor has also waived state
laws via executive order to allow EMT’s
and Cardiac Technicians to administer the
vaccine as well. This year’s legislative fights
concerning COVID-19 will likely center
around allowing Georgia businesses to stay
open. Some expect the federal government
may wish to head in a different direction.
Governor Kemp and the legislature have
been clear - if a business can safely operate,
Georgians need their jobs and services.
In just four session days, there have
been at least six election reform measures
floating through the halls of the Capitol.
They range from requiring a photo identi
fication for absentee ballots to eliminating
drop boxes for absentee ballot collection.
I expect many more bills to be introduced
on this topic. Whether all these ideas re
main separate or roll into one large bill, the
message is clear - there will be election re
form and it will happen this year.
From January 19th to the 22nd, the
legislature will not convene for session
days so that the Appropriations Commit
tees of the House and Senate may hold
joint meetings with state department
heads and commissioners. These meetings
are streamed online and you are welcome
to tune in at www.legis.ga.gov. As always, if
you have a question about anything going
on at the Capitol, please don’t hesitate to
reach out to me directly. Thank you for al
lowing me to represent you in Atlanta.
Sen. Blake Tillery serves as Chairman of the
Senate Appropriations Committee. He
represents the 19th Senate District, which
includes Appling, Jeff Davis, Long, Montgomery,
Telfair, Toombs, Treutlen, Wayne, and Wheeler
counties and a portion of Liberty and Tattnall
counties. He can be reached by email at
blake.tillery@senate.ga.gov.
From the Record
THE BLOTTER
These are the reported
arrests from the Toombs
County Sheriff's Office,
the Vidalia and Lyons
police departments,
and the Montgomery
County Sheriff's Office
for the past week,
Incidents are taken
directly from police
files. All suspects are
innocent until proven
guilty.
In Lyons...
The Lyons Police
Department Police
Report was unavail
able at presstime.
In Toombs
County...
• Mathew
Darden, of Lyons,
was arrested on Jan
uary 10 and charged
with Failure to Main
tain Lane, DUI/Alco-
hol/Less Safe.
• Shauntez Ever
ett, of Statesboro,
was arrested on Jan
uary 16 and charged
with DUI/any Combi
nation of Alcohol/
Drugs/Toxic Vapor/
Less Safe, Speeding
in Excess of Maximum
Limits.
• Rogelio Garcia,
of Vidalia, was ar
rested on January 12
and charged with
Speeding in Excess of
Maximum Limits, DUI/
Alcohol/Less Safe.
• James Gregory,
of Vidalia, was ar
rested on January 14
and charged with
Terroristic Threats/In
timidation/Acts.
• Tina Griffin, of
Lyons, was arrested
on January 14 and
charged with TCDC-
Off Bond-Previous
Case.
• Katina Holt, of
Dublin, was arrested
on January 15 and
charged with Driving
While Unlicensed,
DUI/Alcohol/Less
Safe.
• Christopher
Iwanicki, of Harlem,
was arrested on Jan
uary 12 and charged
with Filing False Doc
uments, Out of
County Hold-Colum-
bia County.
• Matthew Knight,
of Soperton, was ar
rested on January 14
and charged with
Probation Violation-
Felony.
• Charles Phillips,
of Vidalia, was ar
rested on January 14
and charged with
Public Drunkenness,
Obstructing Police
Offense.
• Servontae Pow
ell, of Vidalia, was ar
rested on January 11
and charged with
Heroin - Purchase,
Possession, Manf, Dis
tribution, Sale - 3
counts.
• Ulises Ramaros,
of Tifton, was arrested
on January 10 and
charged with Driving
While Unlicensed,
DUI/Alcohol/Less
Safe, Open Con
tainer-Alcoholic Bev
erage-Passenger, Fol
lowing Too Closely.
• Jamie Springer,
of Lyons, was ar
rested on January 14
and charged with
Cruelty to Children-
3rd Degree, Battery-
Family Violence (1st
Offense), Parole Vio
lation.
• Jordan Thigpen,
of Cobbtown, was
arrested on January
10 and charged with
DUI/Alcohol/Less
Safe, Possession of
Drug Related Ob
jects, Methamphet-
amine-Purchase,
Possession, Manf, Dis
tribution, Sale.
• Lisa Wilson, of
Vidalia, was arrested
on January 16, and
charged with Simple
Assault-Family Vio
lence, theft of Auto
mobile.
In Montgomery
County...
The Montgomery
County Sheriff's Of
fice Police Report
was unavailable at
presstime.
In Vidalia...
• Ashley Jonee
Claxton, of Glen-
wood, was arrested
on January 11 and
charged with Tail/
Tag Light Require
ment / Suspended
Driver's License.
• Dorinda Lupe
Whitfield, of Vidalia,
was arrested on Jan
uary 12 and charged
with Theft by Shoplift
ing.
• Daniel Maurice
Williams, of Vidalia,
was arrested on Jan
uary 13 and charged
with Toombs Co. Pro
bation Warrant.
• Connie Dean
Halligan, of Ailey,
was arrested on Jan
uary 13 and charged
with DUI / Hit and Run
/ Open Container.
Smooth Transition Expected
With New Vidalia City Clerk
By Rebekah Arnold
Contributing Writer
The Vidalia City
Council began the new
year with a new City Clerk
and Finance Director. Amy
Murray began her duties
on January 4, replacing Bill
Bedingfield, who retired in
December after serving the
city for 13 years.
Bedingfield was pres
ent during the meeting
while Murray assumed her
new post and presided over
the financial report. Bed
ingfield will be available on
a part-time basis to assist in
the transition of duties to
Murray.
Murray commented,
“Mr. Bill has done a great
job for the City of Vidalia
and will leave big shoes
to fill; however, with his
assistance in my training
and combined with my
accounting and auditing
background, I expect a
smooth transition.”
Council members had
previously received notice
of appointments of the
city’s legal team, and May
or Doug Roper presented
this roster for the Council’s
approval. Appointments
approved were Justin
Franklin, City Attorney;
Macky Bryant, City Judge;
Daniel O’Connor, City
Judge; Paul Calhoun, City
Prosecutor; and Johnny
Vines, Public Defender.
Council members also
approved appointments
and reappointments for the
Library Board, the Con
vention and Visitors Bu
reau Board, the Recreation
Board, and the Develop
ment Authority Board.
City Manager Nick
Overstreet submitted a
proposal from the Streets
and Sanitation Commit
tee to place stop signs in
the area of Fifth Avenue
and Epstein and Symonds
Streets. These are needed
to increase safety as fami
lies move into refurbished
houses that will be built on
that block.
Roper thanked the
Committee for its proposal
and said, “I encourage any
of you to go by and see this
project that is a revitaliza
tion of almost an entire
city block. Six properties
have been purchased and
will be taken down to the
studs and rebuilt to make
affordable housing. It will
transform that block and
build enthusiasm within
the community.”
The Council approved
the placement of new stop
signs in conjunction with
this project.
Fire Chief Brian Sikes
reported that the fire de
partment is the lead opera
tor for Safe Kids Toombs
(SKT), a state-wide pro
gram that is funded by
Georgia businesses and
private donations. Captain
Robert Tillman coordi
nates SKT for the VFD,
which is in partnership
with the police department
in this program.
Police Officers Kelsey
Guerra and Alejandra
Abarca are certified car
seat installers. In 2020, the
two departments served
over 350 children and 265
adults by providing and in
stalling car seats. One way
this is achieved is when a
citizen is pulled over be
cause of a car seat viola
tion, the VFD is called to
install a car seat before the
offender is allowed to leave
the scene. Car seat classes
are also offered to instruct
the public on proper use.
The VFD continues
to actively pursue grants,
which are written by Till
man and Guerra. Grants
received for 2020 totaled
$24,429.30.
Police Commissioner
Brian Scott reported that
when he took his position
in August of 2019 the de
partment was 11 positions
short out of 35. There are
now five positions left to
fill. The 32,050 calls for
service in 2020 was an in
crease of over 23% from
2019.
Scott said, “It’s pretty
amazing that officers han
dled a 23% increase in calls
with us being short staffed.
I want to commend the of
ficers for doing the job they
do every day.”
Of the five homicides
in 2020, Scott is confident
that the four committed in
the last two months of the
year will be solved. They
are being actively investi
gated.
Matt Smith, Director
of the Recreation Depart
ment, recently attended a
Georgia Recreation and
Park Association (GRPA)
Please see VCC page
14A