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The ADVANCE, May 26, 2021 /Page 9A
New Amazon fulfillment center
in Savannah to bring 1,000 jobs
By Dave Williams
Bureau Chief
Capitol Beat News Service
Amazon will build a
fulfillment center in Savan
nah that will create 1,000
full-time jobs, Gov. Brian
Kemp announced Friday.
The 640,000-square-
foot facility, expected to
open next year, will use in
novative robotics technol
ogy to pick, pack, and ship
smaller customer orders,
such as books, toys, and
small household goods.
“I appreciate Amazon’s
continued commitment
to creating well-paying e-
commerce jobs for hard
working Georgians and
look forward to the posi
tive impact it will bring to
the coastal region,” Kemp
said.
“Georgia’s connectiv
ity, combined with smart
planning and investment,
has helped our state se
cure its spot as the No.-l
state for logistics and in
frastructure and enhances
our ability to attract major
investments from world-
renowned companies like
Amazon.”
Amazon currently em
ploys more than 21,000
workers in Georgia at op
erations across the state,
including a robotics ful
fillment center in Stone
Mountain that opened last
year. The company con
tributed $3.2 billion to the
state’s economy from 2010
to 2019.
“Amazon has found
an outstanding workforce,
strong local support, and
incredible customers in the
state,” said Melissa Nick,
vice president of customer
fulfillment at Amazon. “We
look forward to creating
these new, full-time jobs
starting at $ 15 an hour with
benefits on day one.”
Individuals interested
in career opportunities
with Amazon are encour
aged to visit www.Amazon.
jobs for more information.
Chief Operating Of
ficer Brittany Young rep
resented the Georgia De
partment of Economic
Development’s Global
Commerce Division in
landing the Amazon proj
ect, working in partnership
with the state Department
of Transportation, Savan
nah Economic Develop
ment Authority, Georgia
Ports Authority and Geor
gia Power.
FanDuel to open technology
campus in Midtown Atlanta
By Dave Williams
Bureau Chief
Capitol Beat News Service
Sports betting hasn’t
come to Georgia yet, but
the sports betting industry
is on its way.
FanDuel Group plans
to open a technology cam
pus in Atlanta, an invest
ment of more than $ 15 mil
lion that will create more
than 900 jobs during the
next five years, Gov. Brian
Kemp announced Tuesday.
The center will focus
primarily on supporting
the New York-based com
pany’s product develop
ment and IT operations.
“FanDuel’s decision to
open a tech hub in Georgia
is a testament to our world-
class universities and tech
training programs, as well
as the diverse ecosystem of
professional sports leagues
and teams we’ve cultivated
here,” Kemp said in a pre
pared statement.
As part of FanDuel’s
commitment to building
a diverse workforce, the
company will support a
training system that will
include the University Sys
tem of Georgia, the state’s
private colleges and Geor
gia’s Historically Black Col
leges and Universities.
FanDuel Group also
will establish partnerships
with community organi
zations across Atlanta to
provide resume-building
workshops, mock inter
view sessions and mentor
ship programs.
“This center will not
only expand the city’s digi
tal media and e-entertain
ment sectors, but it will
also provide new job op
portunities for more Atlan
tans in software develop
ment and other promising
fields,” Atlanta Mayor Kei-
sha Lance Bottoms said.
FanDuel’s 68,000
square foot tech center
will be located in Atlanta’s
Midtown area. New job op
portunities will be focused
on software engineering,
product development, in
formation technology, user
experience and user inter
face design.
“As we grow our busi
ness in a very competitive
industry, it’s critical we
have access to a diverse tal
ent pool needed to build
the most innovative plat
form in the sector,” said
Sarah Butterfass, FanDuel
Group’s chief product of
ficer.
“During this process, it
became clear that Atlanta
provided FanDuel with a
winning combination of
access to a thriving tech
cluster, respected educa
tional institutions we could
partner with and a diverse
and welcoming commu
nity.”
Founded in 2009, Fan-
Duel has grown into a port
folio of brands across the
gaming and fantasy sports
industries and boasts
America’s No.-l online
sports book. The company
has more than 12 million
customers across the na
tion.
At least for now, Geor
gians won’t be among Fan-
Duel’s sports betting cus
tomers. Legislation asking
Georgia voters to decide
whether to legalize on
line sports betting in the
Peach State failed to make
it through the General As
sembly this year for the sec
ond year in a row.
Grads
continued from page 1A
determination. This year’s
graduation ceremonies,
even with some protocols
still in place, have been a
vast improvement over
last year as the coronavirus
reshaped traditions and
either postponed gradua
tions or caused them to be
held virtually.
Several graduation
ceremonies were held Fri
day night and Saturday
morning throughout the
area. On Friday night, 59
Wheeler County High
School graduates received
diplomas at the high school
football field, and at Mont
gomery County High
School, 50 seniors gradu
ated at Brogdon Field. On
Saturday morning, 16 stu
dents graduated at Robert
Toombs Christian Acad
emy’s McLendon Field.
Also on Saturday, Vidalia’s
Heritage Academy held a
graduation ceremony for
11 students at First Baptist
Church. Toombs Coun
ty High School held its
graduation ceremony May
15 when 158 graduates
were awarded diplomas
at Booster Stadium (“The
Pit”).
Vidalia High School
will hold its graduation
ceremonies on Friday, May
28, at 7:30 p.m. The cer
emonies will take place on
Buck Cravey Field (weath
er permitting) with a rain
date of Saturday, May 29 at
9 a.m.
Each graduate will be
allotted 14 tickets, and a
ticket will be required for
each person attending re
gardless of age. Students
may share unneeded/extra
tickets with other class
mates if they are available.
Gates will open at 6:30
p.m. No one will be al
lowed to enter the stadium
after 7:25 p.m.
No guests will be al
lowed on the field at any
time. After the ceremony,
all spectators should make
their way to their vehicles
while graduates return to
the main building to pick
up their diplomas. Only
graduates will be allowed
inside the building after
the ceremony to pick up
their diplomas and other
awards. They will then join
friends and families for
photos and fellowship off-
campus.
The ceremonies
will be streamed live on
the “VHS Live” web
page https://vidaliaath-
letics.com/2020/09/22/
vidalia- sp orts-watch-live/.
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SHELBY PLOWMAN'S FAMILY — Jack Plowman (brother), Michael Plowman (father),
Shelby Plowman, Rachel Plowman (mother), and Austin Plowman (brother),
Faith Baptist Christian Academy
Announces Leon Stromire
Memorial Scholarship Recipient
On behalf of the Goy-
en Foundation and the
family of Leon Stromire,
Faith Baptist Christian
Academy in Ludowici an
nounced Shelby Plowman
as the recipient of the an
nual Leon Stromire Me
morial Scholarship.
“The scholarship is
dedicated to the memo
ry of our dear Christian
brother, Leon Stromire,
who unselfishly labored
to help Christian minis
tries such as Faith Bap
tist Christian Academy
in Ludowici, Georgia.
Through his efforts and
those of his dear wife,
Gail, many lives have been
influenced and impacted
for the cause of Christ.
It is in his memory that
this scholarship has been
established through the
Harry & Myrtle Goyen
Foundation,” says Pastor
Terry Sellars of Faith Bap
tist Church, Ludowici,
Georgia.
The scholarship is in
the amount of $10,000
and is awarded once per
academic year to a gradu
ating senior meeting the
scholarship criteria es
tablished by Faith Baptist
Christian Academy in co
operation with the Goyen
Foundation.
Shelby wants to thank
the Stromire family, the
Goyen Foundation, and
the Faith Baptist Chris
tian Academy for offer
ing this scholarship. “I
am simply overwhelmed
by this generous gift and
the opportunity it gives
me to attend the Crown
College of the Bible this
fall. I am grateful to the
Lord for His blessings on
my life and want to serve
Him in whatever way He
chooses.”
Uvalda Man Indicted for Malice Murder
By Deborah Clark
Regional Editor
dclarkadvance@gmail.com
A Uvalda man has
been indicted in a 2020 in
cident in which an elderly
woman was injured and
later died. Byron
Terrell Shinhoster, 34, was
indicted by the Toombs
County Grand Jury for the
alleged stabbing of Gloria
Rollins, who succumbed
to her injuries several
weeks after the September
1 attack.
Shinhoster is charged
with one count of mal
ice murder, one count of
felony murder, one count
of aggravated assault, one
count of aggravated as
sault on a police officer,
one count of false impris
onment and two counts
of possession of a knife
during the commission of
a felony, Middle Judicial
Circuit District Attorney
Tripp Fitzner confirmed
Friday.
The charges resulted
from a domestic incident
at a residence on Smith
Street in Vidalia. When
Vidalia police arrived at
the residence, they were
met at the door by an el
derly woman who told
them that Shinhoster was
behaving strangely and
that he had a knife. Once
officers entered the house,
they could see into the
kitchen where Shinhoster
was on the phone with
a knife in his hand. The
woman’s granddaughter
and a three-year-old girl
were also in the kitchen at
the time.
Shinhoster then no
ticed police had entered
the house and “started get
ting very agitated, stating
someone was out there,”
the police report said. The
suspect then grabbed Rol
lins “around the neck with
the knife in his hand.”
The responding of
ficers, who had called for
backup, were joined by a
third of
ficer and
all three
entered
the
kitchen
with
their
service
revolv
ers drawn and gave loud
verbal commands to the
suspect to drop the knife.
One officer reported that
he attempted to grab the
knife but was blocked by
the suspect who was hold
ing the woman in front of
him with the knife against
her neck.
A fourth police offi
cer arrived on the scene
and attempted to per
suade Shinhoster to drop
the knife, but Shinhoster
continued to ignore po
lice commands. “While
we were trying to talk to
or get close to Mr. Shin
hoster, he would stick the
knife into (Rollins) neck.
We had family members
on the phone trying to talk
to him but they were un
able to get him to comply,”
the police said.
Eventually, police
were able to edge closer
to Shinhoster and wrest
the knife from his hand
As the police took the
suspect into custody, the
woman was taken outside
the home and was latei
airlifted to an area medi
cal facility for treatment
The woman’s granddaugh
ter and the three-year-old
child were not harmed in
the incident.
As police attempted
to handcuff Shinhoster, he
started resisting arrest and
had to be stunned with a
taser. Once he was placed
in the back of a police ve
hicle, Shinhoster started
kicking the vehicle’s door
When police opened the
car door, Shinhoster posi
tioned his foot so that the
door could not be closed
He continued to resist
multiple commands to pul
his foot back inside the
unit and police had to use
a taser to stun him again.
Shinhoster was trans
ported to Meadows Re
gional Medical Center tc
be medically cleared and
then incarcerated in the
Toombs County jail and
charged. Shinhoster was
also facing felony warrants
in Montgomery Count)
for probation violations.
S UDO KU Solu,ion ’ pa9e ,4A
Fun By The
Numbers
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the moment you
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sharpen your
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Level; Intermediate
Here’s How It Works:
Sudoku puzzles are formatted as a 9x9 grid, broken down into nine
3x3 boxes. To solve a sudoku, the numbers 1 through 9 must fill each
row, column and box. Each number can appear only once in each row,
column and box. You can figure out the order in which the numbers will
appear by using the numeric clues already provided in the boxes. The
more numbers you name, the easier it gets to solve the puzzle!
8
6
3
5
2
4
9
7
8
5
9
3
6
5
3
2
6
7
9
1
5
3
2
4
Byron Terrel
Shinhoster
