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The ADVANCE, June 16, 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...
• Lamont Harris,
of Dublin, was ar
rested on June 13
and charged with
DUI-.08 or More.
• Kyondra Polke,
of Lyons, was ar
rested on June 8 and
charged with DUI
Combination 1-3,
Failure to Dim Head
light, Willfully Obstruc
tion of Police Officer
Simple/Verbal, Pos
session of Marijuana
Less Than Ounce.
• Joseph Mathew
Cooper, of Glennville,
was arrested on June
14 and charged with
DUI-Less Safe-Alco
hol.
In Toombs
County...
• Hope Colson, of
Lyons, was arrested
on June 11 and
charged with Bat
tery-Family Violence
(1st Offense).
• Pamela Cook,
of Uvalda, was ar
rested on June 6 and
charged with Disor
derly Conduct.
• Willie Edwards,
of Vidalia, was ar
rested on June 6 and
charged with Proba
tion Violation-Felony,
Cruelty to Animals-
Misdemeanor.
• Michael Hall, of
Columbus, was ar
rested on June 9 and
charged with Failure
to Appear-Misde-
meanor.
• Hunter Over-
street, of Douglas,
was arrested on June
6 and charged with
Theft by Taking.
• Curtis Perry, of
Vidalia, was arrested
on June 8 and
charged with Parole
Violation.
• Christina Rober
son, of Brunswick,
was arrested on June
10 and charged with
Probation Violation-
Felony.
• Jesse Swiatko,
of Reidsville, was ar
rested on June 7 and
charged with Civil
Child Support Arrest
Order.
• Ashley Tant, of
Lyons, was arrested
on June 10 and
charged with Theft
by Deception, Failure
to Appear-Felony,
TCDC-Out of County
Hold.
In Montgomery
County...
• Johnnie Lee
Tighe, of Ailey, was
arrested on June 8
and charged with
Battery (Family Vio
lence), Criminal
Damage to property-
2nd.
• Christopher Ray
Wills, of Hazlehurst,
was arrested on June
8 and charged with
Wilkerson County Fel
ony Warrant Served.
• Chad Tillman
Turner, of Uvalda, was
arrested on June 11
and charged with
Felony Probation Vio
lation.
In Vidalia...
• Fabian Ramon
Holloway, of Blue
Ridge, was arrested
on June 7 and
charged with Driving
on Suspended Li
cense.
• John L. Jackson,
of Ailey, was arrested
on June 9 and
charged with Bat
tery.
• Kenneth R.
Scott, of Mt. Vernon,
was arrested on June
9 and charged with
DUI Less Safe Drugs.
• Jalin Laquan
Harris, of Lyons, was
arrested on June 9
and charged with
Possession of Mari
juana with intent to
Distribute.
• Kevin Edward
Byrd, of Moultrie, was
arrested on June 9
and charged with
Simple Assault.
• Fabin Laterrie
Kelly, of Vidalia, was
arrested on June 10
and charged with
Possession of Mari
juana < loz / Posses
sion of Drug Related
Objects / Possession
of a Controlled Sub
stance (4 Counts) /
Trafficking of Meth-
amphethamines.
• Charlie Edward
Glisson, of Uvalda,
was arrested on June
11 and charged with
Possession of Mari
juana / Possession of
Drug Related Ob
jects / Possession of
Controlled Sub
stance (2 Counts) /
Suspended License /
Warrant Served (Jeff
Davis County).
• Wesley Ira
Carnes, of Glennville,
was arrested on June
13 and charged with
Seatbelt Violation /
Possession of Mari
juana.
• Tony D. Ander
son, of Vidalia, was
arrested on June 13
and charged with
Possession of Con
trolled Substance /
Possession of Meth /
Warrant Served
(Toombs County).
• Nina Hall Smith,
of Vidalia, was ar
rested on June 13
and charged with
Battery / Possession
of Marijuana.
Your
Mind
ONLINE
Got a complaint? Got a
compliment? Call Your
Mind On Line at 537-6397
and let us know what's
on your mind, Quotes are
printed exactly as they are
called in and are not nec
essarily factual, but rather,
callers' opinions. Libelous,
slanderous, personal at
tacks, and unfounded ac
cusatory or lengthy com
ments will not be printed.
Two calls per week per
caller, and calls should
not exceed 30 seconds,
please.
“Our Mainstream
Media love to throw
stones. Why just re
petitively show videos
of law enforcement
blunders? Why not
show videos from hos
pitals and nursing
homes? Human traf
ficking and drug
dealing? CEOs and
congressmen hatch
ing illegal and unethi
cal deals? The masses
at the border? We
know why - manipu
lation of public opin
ion."
“I have a com
plaint. Will you please
start having the obitu
aries in color again? It
will make the families
and loved ones feel
much better. Thank
you.
"Every time I see
trash on our streets or
in our parking lots, it
lets me know that we
have stupid people,
and there's a lot of
stupid people."
“It sure would be
nice if the City of Vi
dalia would get the
red lights set up at
Jackson St. and 1st St.
like the red lights at
Church St. and 1st St.
and you wouldn't
have to sit through so
many red lights to
make a turn off of
Jackson onto 1st. St.,
the one-way."
“Do you know the
difference between
Dr. and God? God
never thinks He's Dr.
Fauci."
“The Biden admin
istration’s one goal is
to sabotage America
because he's taking
his orders from China.
This critical race the
ory comes straight
from China. If our
American leaders
can do anything,
they need to do it
now because we are
losing our country."
“I highly urge ev
eryone to read the
guest commentary
by Vernon Jones
about Stacey
Abrams, who is re
sponsible for the loss
of business in the At
lanta area. I also rec
ommend the article
by Star Parker about
our government fund
ing abortions. She has
a great article every
week. Thank you, The
Advance, for the
June 9 paper."
“Sunday night the
NASCAR all-star race
is on. I noticed that
Bubba Wallace is not
in the all-star race.
Can't imagine what
happened."
“I purchased gas
Saturday at Circle K in
Baxley for $2.45. The
same gas at a Circle
K in Vidalia is $2.68.
There is something
wrong with that pic
ture. Some stores are
getting rich and oth
ers are helping the
public."
“As a taxpayer, it
would be great if the
school boards of this
area would post their
plans of action con
cerning the install
ment or cancellation
of critical race theory
in our local schools."
“I think it is a shame
and disgrace that for
two years in a row we
do not have flags out
in the City of Vidalia
on FLAG DAY! Come
on, people, where is
your patriotism?"
Montgomery County BOE
Hires New Personnel
By Makaylee Randolph
Contributing Writer
The Montgomery
County Board of Educa
tion met in a called session
Monday, June 7, to renew
its five-year facilities plan,
approve the purchase of a
vehicle for the agriculture
program, and to authorize
recent personnel changes.
The Board adopted a
resolution approving the
Georgia Board of Edu
cation’s continued assis
tance in developing the
Montgomery County
School System’s five-year
facilities plan. The agree
ment between the local
system and the state was
due to expire June 30,
2021. The resolution ex
tends the agreement until
March 15, 2022.
After hearing from
Interim Superintendent
Mark Davidson about the
need for a work truck to
support the school’s grow
ing agriculture program,
the board voted in favor
of purchasing the $60,000
vehicle with an extended
warranty.
The remainder of
the meeting was devoted
to the approval of vari
ous personnel changes
throughout the school.
All personnel changes
were approved unani
mously, except for the hir
ing of Carmen Gay Suttles
as an elementary school
teacher, for which Board
Member Debra Gay re
cused her vote due to fa
milial tie.
The remaining per
sonnel changes were as
follows: Candace Keen
was made the Assistant
Principal of the elemen
tary school and Eagle
Academy; Pamela Callo
way was hired as a Special
Education teacher for the
high school and as a so
cial worker for the school
system; Nick Peterson
was hired as a high school
English teacher; Karly
McDonald was hired as an
elementary school teach
er; Travis Clark was hired
for a position with the
high school; and Kime-
thia Robinson and Kelsey
Helms were both hired as
paraprofessionals at the
elementary school.
Resignations were
also accepted from Janeth
Coleman, former high
school English teacher,
Ashley Tanner, former
bus driver, and Johnny
Culver, former alternative
school administrator.
Superintendent Da
vidson shared that the
personnel changes were
the imperative matters
which led to the called
meeting, as these educa
tors needed to begin set
tling into their classrooms
and offices.
Baseball sued over moving
All-Star Game out of Georgia
By Dave Williams
Bureau Chief
Capitol Beat News Service
A small business advo
cacy group is suing Major
League Baseball for mov
ing next month’s All-Star
Game out of Georgia.
In a lawsuit filed Mon
day in federal court in
New York, Job Creators
Network is seeking either
an immediate return of
the game to Truist Park
in Cobb County or the
payment of $100 million
in damages to local and
Georgia-based small busi
nesses.
Major League Base
ball moved the All-Star
Game to Denver in re
sponse to passage of con
troversial legislation by
the General Assembly last
March putting new restric
tions on the voting pro
cess in Georgia.
The law replaces the
signature-match verifica
tion process for absentee
ballots with an ID require
ment. It also restricts the
location of drop boxes and
prohibits non-poll work
ers from handing out food
and drinks within 150 feet
of voters standing in line.
Critics say the law
will disproportionately
affect minorities and low-
income Georgians. Sup
porters say it will restore
public trust in elections.
“MLB robbed the
small businesses of At
lanta - many of them mi
nority-owned - of $100
million,” said Alfredo Or
tiz, president and CEO of
the Job Creators Network.
“This is a knee-jerk, hypo
critical and illegal reaction
to misinformation about
Georgia’s new voting law.”
While the $100 mil
lion projected economic
impact of losing the game
has come into question as
potentially overblown, the
plaintiffs say previous All-
Star games have generated
$37 million to $190 mil
lion for their host commu
nities.
Besides losing rev
enue from ticket sales and
concessions, more than
8,000 hotel room reserva
tions were canceled.
“Small businesses in
this community had valid
contracts relating to the
All-Star Game and other
events, the result of two
years of planning,” Or
tiz said. “All of that was
ripped away by fear and
misinformation spewed
by political activists.”
Ortiz said Colorado
and many other states
have more restricting vot
ing laws than Georgia.
MoCo
continued from page 1A
Judge Sanders, who
has overseen elections in
Montgomery County for
20 years, shared her hopes
that the transition will help
elections to run smoother
throughout the county.
“Throughout my years
of working elections, the
election systems have dras
tically changed: we began
with paper ballots before
moving to Diebold ma
chines, which we used for
18 years,” she said.
Last year, Montgom
ery County switched to
new election machines
created by Old Domin
ion, which required ex
tensive time and training
to master. Judge Sanders
explained that because of
the constant progression
of election system technol
ogy, elections have become
“too big” of a job to be add
ed to the Probate Judge’s
other responsibilities.
To solve this issue
of the responsibility be
ing overwhelming for the
Judge, the Montgomery
County Commission is
discussing the creation
of a Board of Elections.
County Manager Bran
don Braddy is currently
studying the logistics of
this board through the re
cent creation of a Board
of Elections in Wheeler
County. Like the gov
erning body in Wheeler
County, the Montgomery
County Board of Elections
would be composed of
board members appointed
by the County Commis
sion. Wheeler County has
three board members, but
the number of members
for Montgomery County
could vary as it is currently
undecided, Braddy said.
The board is also com
posed of an Election Su
perintendent who serves
as the Chairman of Board
of Elections. This position
is a hired position that is
chosen by the Board of
Elections and oversees all
events regarding elections
from registration to elec
tion day activities. Both
Judge Sanders and Braddy
noted that the person in
this position must be very
knowledgeable and confi
dent in working with the
election machines. The
pair stated that a few cur
rent election workers in
the county are prime can
didates for the position.
Montgomery County
Commission Chairman
Leeland Adams shared
Judge Sanders and Brad-
dy’s enthusiasm for the
change and the benefits
it presents to the county
“Having registration, test
ing, training, and over
sight of elections handled
by a department that only
focuses on elections will
provide confidence in the
election process in Mont
gomery County,” he said,
adding, “With continuing
changes and challenges oi
the election process, it is
important to have a dele
gated team to keep up with
the changes in laws and
rules.”
Montgomery County
will continue to further
prepare to propose this
change in local legislation
in the state General As
sembly session in January
2022. During this session,
the proposal to accomplish
the change in government
agencies will be presented
by one of the area’s state
representatives. Once
passed by the General As
sembly, the Board of Elec
tions will have two years to
organize, as the elections
in 2022 will be conducted
under the current authori
tative structure and there
are currently no elections
scheduled for 2023. There
fore, this change will not
be evident to the commu
nity until the presidential
race of 2024.