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Your Newspaper - Toombs, Montgomery & Wheeler County, Georgia Lyons Progress The VHS Senior Receives B Scholarship See page 3A The Vidalia Advance Established 1901 nee Established 1894 SHUMAN Named Grower Of The Year See page 4A March 24, 2021 What I am looking for is a blessing not in disguise. -Jerome K. Jerome Digital School Superintendent Fired; Stunned Community Reacts GREMLIN The Advance Evans Wins City Council Ward 2 Race One-Vehicle Wreck Claims Life of VHS Freshman experienced a digital gremlin that struck our server and several staff computers and is be lieved to be the cause of an error in last week's Blotter. Portions of a picture cutline from one page were inad vertently transposed into the copy of the Blotter on another page during the pdf conver sion process. The misprint was brought to the attention of The Advance staff by our loyal readers, The people involved in the error are among our most out standing citizens and above reproach. The error was certainly not intentional and The Advance apologizes for any confusion the digital glitch may have caused, News BYTES By Deborah Clark Regional Editor dclarkadvance@gmail. com Montgomery Coun- tians were in shock Friday morning after waking up to the news that the Board of Education had voted to ter minate popular School Su perintendent Hugh Right. As the day continued, an increasing number of out raged parents and students carrying signs and chanting “Fight for Right” staged a protest about the decision in front of the Board Offices in Mount Vernon. Right’s termination took place in a called meet ing held Thursday March photo by Deborah Clark 18, at the Board offices. Dur- STUDENTS PROTEST - Following a 3-2 vote by the Montgomery County Board of Education to terminate Su perintendent Hugh Kight on Thursday, March 18, students left class the next morning to stage a protest in ... „ . front of the Board offices in Mount Vernon. Please see Kl 9 ht P a 9 e 2A Food Drive for Seniors Tri-County Connection is accepting donations of non-perishable food for Senior Citizens Centers in Treutlen, Montgomery and Wheeler Counties through April 16. For more information, call 478-697- 3782, Spirit Cheer Glow Run 5K Brewton-Parker College in Mount Vernon is sponsoring a Spirit Cheer Glow Run 5K on Saturday, March 27. Call 912-583-2241 for more information. Virtual Compassion Fatigue Training Heart of Georgia Healthy Start is offering free Virtual Compassion Fatigue Training starting March 31. Contact Latosha Elbert at 478-274-7616 or by email at latosha.elbert@dph. ga.gov. IN THIS ISSUE Editorials Page 5A Obituaries Page 7A From the Record Page 8A Your Mind On Line Page 9A Sports Page 1 B Businesswoman Jen nifer Evans won a ma jority of the votes cast March 16 in a bid for the Ward 2 seat on the Vida lia City Council. She won 79.36% of the 373 votes cast, defeating Carmela Spikes Williams, who won 20.64% of the total. Evans will be the only female serving on the Council. “I am very thankful for all of the citi zens that live in Ward 2 that came out to vote in this special election. It is a privilege and honor to be elected and serve a com munity that I love. I look forward to working with The acquisition of Vi- dalia’s Meadows Health by Hospital Corpora tion of America (HCA) is moving toward a pro jected April 30 comple tion. The transaction will not be finalized, however, until a public hearing is held and the proposed merger gains a nod from Georgia’s State Attorney General. That public hearing has been scheduled for Thursday, March 25, at 2 p.m. at Southeastern Technical College. Com ments may also be made virtually or by mail. (See Jennifer Evans the Council and continu ing their good work,” Ev ans said in a statement issued Monday morning. Of the total votes cast, 190 were cast in ear- Please see Evans page 4A box accompanying this article.) Since MRMC is a community-owned, not- for-profit facility being sold to a for-profit entity, the hearing and state’s approval are part of the process for assuring the community that the transaction is being han dled in a fair and trans parent way, said MRMC CEO Alan Rent. Meadows Health Alliance, Inc., (MHA) the parent company of Meadows Regional Med- Please see HCA page 12A Hearing on Meadows-HCA Merger Set for March 25 A one-vehicle accident claimed the life of a Vidalia High School fresh man in Vidalia Saturday night. The Georgia State Patrol is inves tigating the mishap and has not issued a report on the incident, but one news source stated that Wesley Simpson, 15, was ejected from the front passen ger seat of the vehicle that flipped on top of him. The accident occurred at approximately 8:30 p.m. on Rigsbee Drive. Reportedly, the other passen- Please see Fatality page 4A Greater Vidalia Chamber Debuts New Name, New Brand Photo by Deborah Clark FORGING AHEAD - Chamber Chair Steven McComas talks about the Cham ber's newest initiatives during the annual meeting last week. The Chamber has a new name—Greater Vidalia Chamber—a new logo, and a new agenda, GREATER VIDALIA CHAMBER Rooted in every layer of business www.greatervidaliachamber.com By Deborah Clark Regional Editor dclarkadvance@gmail.com The Toombs-Mont- gomery County Cham ber of Commerce has a new name and a new brand. The Greater Vi dalia Chamber made its debut at a festive annual meeting at Hawk’s Point in Vidalia Thursday night. Steven McComas, 2021 Chamber Board Chair, said, "The new name is part of a holistic Please see Chamber page 15A SUBSCRIBE AND SAVE 30% OFF NEWSSTAND PRICES! Call 537-3131 (or delivery! Restore. Repair. 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