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The ADVANCE, January 27, 2021/Page 10A
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...
• Michael Binion,
of Lyons, was ar
rested on January 22
and charged with
Burglary 2nd Degree.
• Bryne Collins, of
Lyons, was arrested
on January 17 and
charged with Aggra
vated Assault, Crimi
nal Trespass, Parole
Violation.
• Danielle David,
of Lyons, was ar
rested on January 17
and charged with
Open Container-Al
coholic Beverage-
Passenger, Speeding
in Excess of Maxi
mum Limits, DUI/AI-
cohol/Less Safe.
• Tyler Moore, of
Lyons, was arrested
on January 23 and
charged with Dis
charge of Firearms
on or Near Public
Highway, Reckless
Conduct, Cruelty to
Children-3rd Degree.
• Felicia Williams,
of Vidalia, was ar
rested on January 23
and charged with
DUI/Alcohol/Less
Safe, Driving while li
cense suspended or
revoked-Misd, Open
Container-Alcoholic
Beverage-Passen
ger, Failure to Main
tain Lane.
• Willie Williams,
Jr., of Lyons, was ar
rested on January 22
and charged with
DUI/Alcohol/Less
Safe.
In Montgomery
County...
The Montgomery
County Sheriff's Of
fice Police Report
was unavailable at
presstime.
In Vidalia...
• Emory Edward
Rix, of Glenwood,
was arrested on Jan
uary 15 and charged
with Theft by Shoplift
ing.
• Sylvia Mitchell
Beasley, of Vidalia,
was arrested on Jan
uary 15 and charged
with Driving while Li
cense Suspended.
• Briddarious Tre
maine Mills, of Vida
lia, was arrested on
January 16 and
charged with Posses
sion of Marijuana /
Possession of Drug
Related Items / Crim
inal Trespass.
• John L. Jack-
son, of Vidalia, was
arrested on January
17 and charged with
Driving while License
Suspended / No In
surance.
• Michael D. An-
thonty, Jr., of Vidalia,
was arrested on Jan
uary 18 and charged
with Criminal Tres
pass / Possession of
Methamphetamines
/ Poss of Marijuana /
Simple Obstruction.
• Dennis Domi
nique Durden, of Vi
dalia, was arrested
on January 19 and
charged with Bat
tery.
• Roderick R. Har
vey, of Vidalia, was
arrested on January
19 and charged with
No Driver's License.
• William P.
Moulton, of Vidalia,
was arrested on Jan
uary 19 and charged
with Possession of
Marijuana.
• Jordan Ryan
Thigpen, of
Cobbtown, was ar
rested on January 21
and charged with
DUI Less Safe Drugs /
Fail to Maintain
Lane/ Headlight Re
quirements.
• Julius McNeal
Simmons, of Vidalia,
was arrested on Jan
uary 21 and charged
with Battery / Giving
False Information /
Simple Obstruction
of an Officer.
• Christopher
Jackson, of Vidalia,
was arrested on Jan
uary 22 and charged
with Possession of
Marijuana / Fleeing
Attempting to Elude
/ Simple Obstruction,
Redlight Violation /
Stop Sign Violation
X9.
• Robert Bryant
Powell, of Mt. Ver
non, was arrested on
January 23 and
charged with Mont
gomery County War
rant.
• Isis Cordreese
Bryant, of Glenwood,
was arrested on Jan
uary 23 and charged
with Criminal Tres
pass / Simple Ob
struction.
• Miranda Mi
chelle Moore, of
Baxley, was arrested
on January 23 and
charged with No
Driver's License.
Alamo Council OK’s Strategic
Planning Committee
Ahead of City Hall Project
By Andrea Towns
Contributing Writer
On January 19, Alamo
Mayor Pamela Lee opened
the City Council meeting
with a moment of silence
honoring Alamo Police Of
ficer, Art Villegas. At age 59
and with 21 years of service
in law enforcement, Villegas
passed away on January 10
after battling COVID-19.
Villegas began his ca
reer in law enforcement in
2000 with the Lyons Police
Department After serv
ing briefly with the Oak
Park Police Department,
he joined the Alamo Police
Department in 2019. His
funeral was held January 15
in Lyons.
The City is still in the
process of renovating the
Old Recreation Depart
ment site and is awaiting
news about a grant applica
tion that would fund these
improvements. The site’s
basketball courts have been
cleared and are being re
built, and fencing around
the courts will be installed
soon. Other plans, for which
the grant is intended, would
further expand develop
ment at the site.
City Manager Jeffery
Floyd presented to the
Council a Property Main
tenance Ordinance that will
be reviewed by the Council
and voted on in its Febru
ary meeting. This ordinance
provides a procedure “to
declare as a public nuisance
properties improperly
maintained, procedures for
hearings and appeals, abate
ment of the nuisance, and
fines and penalties for viola
tions of the ordinance.”
Also on the Council’s
agenda was the recently ap
proved 2021 Local Main
tenance and Improvement
Grant that will be used to
repave and stripe the end
of 1st Street and Lucille Av
enue.
Councilwoman and
Mayor Pro Tern Patricia
Woodard proposed the de
velopment of a Strategic
Planning Committee to aid
the Council in the enhance
ment of Alamo City Hall.
The Council fisted several
reasons for future action,
whether renovating or re
building City Hall: safety
and security of City Hall
and its employees; water
damage; building sanitation
(COVID-19) issues; build
ing usage issues; the lack of
handicapped accessibility;
as well as the overall aesthet
ics of the building.
The proposal to estab
lish this Strategic Planning
Committee was approved
and will consist of four citi
zens, two members of coun
cil, and the city manager.
The committee will meet
weekly or biweekly to devel
op a plan of action as to how
these structural problems
can best be resolved. Citizen
members of the committee
will be chosen through an
application process and se
lected at the Council’s Feb
ruary meeting. Applications
are available at City Hall.
The Council renewed
the city’s contract with Re
public Services for trash
disposal. Due to the city’s
inclusion of limbs and leaves
in the aforementioned ser
vices, beginning February
1, the monthly rate will
increase from $10.50 to
$12.50. All leaves are re
quired to be in trash bags
or boxes, per the city ordi
nance.
Police Officer Ken Patel
gave a report of the depart
ment’s December activities:
the department responded
to 344 calls; filed 15 inci
dent reports; and issued 15
citations and three warn
ings, the fines for which
amounted to $3,546.00. The
proceeds from automated
speed enforcement in the
school zone amounted to
$1,608.75. Officer Patel also
expressed the department’s
dire need for an additional
full-time employee and a
part-time employee.
In other business, Paul
Calhoun was approved
to continue as City Court
Judge.
Legislative Report From the People's House
The 2021
Legislative Session
of the Georgia
General Assembly
has begun. Four
legislative days and
four days of budget
hearings are behind
us. Three items are
out front in priority.
1. Budget/
Economy. Passing a
Mid-Year and 2022 budget are
Constitutional requirements for the
Legislature to pass in the Session.
Remember the mid-year budget is for
adjusting to needs in the current 2021
budget. Mostly for increased enrollment
for K-12 education and sometimes for
cuts if revenue has declined. The 2022
budget will take us from July 1 of this year
to June 30, 2022.
Despite the pressures from Covid -19,
Georgia's economy continues to show
signs of improvement. Tax collections in
December, for instance, were up 7.7%
over last year's same month numbers. For
this fiscal year that began in July 2020, tax
collections are up $ 722.5 million. You
may recall the Legislature cut this year's
budget 10% last year out of fear Covid
would hurt revenues. Education was hit
hardest with cuts of $950 million to K-12
schools. Governor Kemp's budget plan
would provide an extra $1.2 billion for
Georgia schools in fiscal year 2021 and
2022. The Governor's plan calls for $27.2
billion in state spending for, among other
things, public safety, providing healthcare
to 2 million citizens, building roads and
bridges, state salaries and pensions for
retired state employees.
2. Covid-19 Crises. The rollout of the
Covid vaccine has been very frustrating to
watch. I'll give you the best information I
have. For January Georgia expects to
receive 120,000 doses of vaccine per
week. 40,000 doses automatically go to
the Federal Long Term Care Facility
Partnership Program. This is the program
that CVS and Walgreen are vaccinating
residents and staff of long-term care
facilities. The other 80,000 doses are
allocated to enrolled vaccine providers
that are administering the vaccine to
healthcare workers, law enforcement, first
responders, and seniors 65 and older. I
hear “who is next?” and that really depends
on how much vaccine arrives. But the next
phase will be teachers and other essential
workers. I will do my best to keep you
informed on an ever moving and elusive
solution to vaccine delivery.
3. Election Reform. I know the
controversy surrounding the November
election and the January runoff is very
much on your mind. It is on mine as well.
I never like to make predictions on
Legislative sessions and what might pass.
I've been proven wrong so many times in
the past. I feel though I can assure you
some measures to change the way Georgia
conducts elections will pass. Some of the
measures being considered are, but not
limited to, photo id for absentee ballots,
ending no excuse absentee ballots,
abolishing drop boxes for ballots, and the
length of early in-person voting. Speaker
Ralston has appointed a special legislative
committee to study and recommend
election law changes. This is not a study
committee. It will function as a standing
committee that will produce specific
legislation to remedy any issue that
prevents Georgia citizens from
participating in free and fair elections.
The committee will be headed by Rep.
Barry Fleming of Columbia County. I
have complete confidence in his ability
and desire to produce good and effective
legislation that will stand the test of the
inevitable court challenges to common
sense election reform.
Call me at 912-293-0725 or email me
at greg.morris(a)house.ga.gov if you have
any questions.
By Rep. Greg Morris
(R-Vidalia)
Butler: Generous unemployment
benefits keeping jobless Georgians home
By Dave Williams
Bureau Chief
Capitol Beat News Service
Some Georgia employ
ers are having a hard time
filling job openings because
generous unemployment
benefits are encouraging
them to stay home, state
Commissioner of Labor
Mark Butler said Thursday.
Before $600 weekly
unemployment checks au
thorized by Congress dur
ing the early stage of the
coronavirus pandemic ran
out last year, unemployed
Georgians receiving maxi
mum state and federal
benefits were bringing in
$50,180 per year, Butler
told state lawmakers during
a House Appropriations
subcommittee meeting.
Even those receiving
minimum state and federal
benefits were taking home
the equivalent of $34,060 a
year, he said.
At the same time, about
90% of Georgians receiving
state unemployment ben
efits were earning $30,000
or less before being laid off,
Butler said.
“Companies are having
to increase entry-level pay”
to compete, he said.
Butler said generous
unemployment benefits
also are making it difficult
for the labor department
to hire the additional staff
the agency needs to cope
with the massive increase
in unemployed Georgians
seeking benefits since CO
VID-19 shut down the
state’s economy last March
and forced businesses to lay
off workers.
The labor department
has paid out nearly $17.3
billion in state and federal
unemployment benefits to
more than 4.3 million job
less Georgians since the
virus struck, more than
during the last nine years
combined.
“We’ve been working
seven days a week pretty
much since this started,”
Butler said.
Butler said the agency
has brought back retirees
to help with the increased
claims workload, hired
temporary workers and re
directed current staff from
other duties into handling
claims. The number of em
ployees working claims has
more than doubled from
330 to about 700, he said.
Butler said some of
the more recent economic
numbers give him reason
for optimism that an end is
in sight.
Georgia has gained
back 82% of the jobs lost
since the pandemic first
gained a foothold in Geor
gia last March, the labor de
partment reported Thurs
day.
The state’s unemploy
ment rate fell by a slight
0.1% last month to 5.6%,
while the number of jobs in
December grew by 44,700
to 4.56 million.
“December is yet an
other month where we
have seen job growth
throughout the state,” But
ler said. “We more than
doubled our job growth
from November, which is
very promising, consider
ing how challenging of a
year this has been.”
First-time unemploy
ment claims in Georgia
were down last week after
increasing significantly
last month. Unemployed
Georgians filed 35,912 ini
tial claims last week, down
1,127 from the previous
week.
However, that followed
a 19% increase in initial un
employment claims filed
last month compared to
November.
During the week end
ing Jan. 16, the job sector
accounting for the most
first-time unemployment
claims in Georgia was ac
commodation and food
services with 8,132 claims.
The manufacturing job
sector was next with 5,040
claims, followed by admin
istrative and support ser
vices with 3,726.
More than half of the
more than 170,000 jobs
currently listed on Employ-
Georgia advertise annual
salaries above $40,000.
Resources for reem
ployment assistance along
with information on filing
an unemployment claim
can be found on the labor
department’s webpage at
dol.georgia.gov.
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