Newspaper Page Text
Vol. 123 No. 20
Your Newspaper - Toombs, Montgomery & Wheeler County, Georgia
May 19, 2021
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The Vidalia Advance Established 1901
The Lyons Progress Established 1894
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See page 11A
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Opportunity is
missed by most
people because it is
dressed in overalls
and looks like work.
- Thomas A. Edison
News
BYTES
Weekly Traffic
Interruption
Advisory
The Georgia Department
of Transportation has
issued a traffic interruption
advisory for Wheeler
County for May 15-21.
On Georgia Highway
19 (mileposts 18-27)
pavement preservation
work will be conducted
with daily lane closures for
asphalt overlay.
May Painting
Program at
Library
A May Painting Program
will be held at the Vidalia-
Toombs County Library
on May 22 at 11 a.m.
Attendance is limited to 15
persons. The $5 fee covers
paint and canvas. For
more information, call the
library at 537-9283.
VFW Auxiliary
Schedules
Memorial Day
Observance
The VFW Auxiliary of
Lyons/Vidalia will host the
Memorial Day program
for Toombs County at
Southeastern Technical
College on Monday,
May 31, at 3 p.m. Free
admission.
DFCS-PCS Youth
Summit Set
The DFCS-PCS 2021 Youth
Summit will be held
Saturday, May 22, from 10
a.m. until 2 p.m. Register
at: https://guideinc.org/
youthsummit. For more
information, contact the
area office of the Council
on Alcohol and Drugs at
912-523-5445.
IN THIS ISSUE
Editorials Page 5A
Obituaries Page 7A
From the Record Page 8A
Your Mind On Line Page 2A
Sports Page 1 B
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Workforce Shortage:
Is Help Finally on the Way?
By Deborah Clark
Regional Editor
dclarkadvance@gmail.com
A recent online post listed 55
area businesses—from corporate
giants to “mom and pop” opera
tions—as needing workers. Help
wanted signs are everywhere—in
the store windows of local shops
and posted along the roads, even
on restaurant marquees.
The local situation mirrors
what is going on around the coun
try. After COVID-19 restrictions
finally eased up people who have
grown dependent on government
checks aren’t in a hurry to get back
to work—at least until these checks
stop coming.
Most of the business repre
sentatives interviewed by The Ad
vance unabashedly blamed federal
r -j. j i WE'RE HIRING - A sign in front of Savannah Luggage on Flighway 297 in Toombs County solicits em-
su si les an unemp oymen en- p| 0 y ees . a recent online post listed 55 local businesses—from corporate giants to small operations—
that are looking for workers. Georgia will stop accepting federal unemployment payouts on June
Please see Work page 10A 26 and most business owners think that will have a positive effect on the worker shortage,
Cavannali j
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HIRING-
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Police Training
Error Causes
Embarrassment
A training error last
week caused embarrass
ment for the Lyons Po
lice Department and the
innocent woman who
was linked to a made-up
misdemeanor.
Lyons Police Chief
Wesley Walker said train
ing for new officers was
being conducted at the
police station when the
mistake occurred. He
said the officers were in
putting a test report into
the department’s com
puter system and inad
vertently used the name
of a real person involved
in a 2006 traffic accident.
Please see Lyons page 1OA
House Candidates
Outline Platforms
Wright Gres
By Rebekah Arnold
Contributing Writer
Three area resi
dents who have quali
fied to seek election to
the District 156 House
seat formerly held by
Greg Morris of Vidalia
were asked to provide
Leesa Flagan
candidate profiles to
The Advance. Morris
resigned in March fol
lowing his election to
the State Transporta
tion Board for the 12th
Congressional Dis
trict.
District 156 in
cludes Montgomery
Wally Sapp
and Toombs Coun
ties, and portions of
Appling and Jeff Davis
Counties. The special
election to fill the seat
has been set for June
15. Early voting begins
on May 24.
Please see Candidates
page 4A
BSN Program
Approved fo ■
Brewton-Parker
The Georgia Board
of Nursing voted unani
mously May 6 to allow
Brewton-Parker College
to offer a four-year Bach
elor of Science in Nurs
ing with the Junior year
nursing courses starting
in the Fall of 2022.
The effort to begin a
nursing program at BPC
first began with a vision
and formal proposal
from Dr. Helene Peters,
professor of biology and
chair of the math and sci
ence division. Dr. Peters
saw the great need for a
Christian college nurs
ing program that would
Please see BPC page 4A
The News Is Good, Financially
Speaking, From Wheeler Schools
Davis Gets Life in
2019 Murder Case
By Andrea Towns
Contributing Writer
Wheeler County Schools Super
intendent Suzanne Couey reported
that the school system’s current funds
from property taxes, SPLOST funds
(special-purpose local-option sales
tax), and TAVT funds (title ad va
lorem tax) are higher than they were
projected to be. Financially, this is true
for Wheeler County School System’s
funds as a whole.
Between wise money manage
ment prior to and since the federally
granted money through the CARES
Act (Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Eco
nomic Security), the school system is
in good shape to pay off the debt that
will be acquired with the construction
of the new school.
In its May 5 session, the School
Board discussed current Capital Out
lay Funds of $500,000 set aside in a
CD for a year for future pre-payment
toward the new school. “What we
plan to do is utilize [CARES] money
where we can for things we usually pay
for with general fund money, which
would allow us to build reserves in the
general fund to set aside more funds
Please see Wheeler page 3A
By Deborah Clark
Regional Editor
dclarkadvance@gmail.com
A Uvalda man has
been sentenced in a Feb
ruary 24, 2019, shooting
in Vidalia which claimed
the life of an Alamo man.
Zeary Davontae Da
vis, 27, entered a guilty
plea in Toombs County
Superior Court last week
and was sentenced to life
in prison for the malice
murder of Roderick Har
vey, said Middle Judicial
Zeary Davontae Davis
Circuit District Attorney
Tripp Fitzner. Davis will
be eligible for parole in
30 years. He will serve a
20-year sentence for ag-
Please see Davis page 3A
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