Newspaper Page Text
Vol. 123 No. 34
Your Newspaper - Toombs, Montgomery & Wheeler County, Georgia
August 25, 2021
No act of
kindness, no
matter how small,
is ever wasted.
-Aesop
News
BYTES
Meadows
Offering
Vaccinations
Memorial Health
Meadows Hospital is
operating a public
COVID vaccination
clinic. Call 912-535-SAFE
(7233) to schedule a free
vaccination.
DOT Schedules
Roadwork
The Georgia
Department of
Transportation is
conducting bridge
construction activities on
SR4/US1 overAltamaha
River in Appling and
Toombs counties.
The area affected
includes West River
Road (Appling) to Bob
Cato Road (Toombs)
Daily Lane closures will
occur Monday through
Friday, 8 a.m.-6 p.m.
through August 31.
Book Sale at
Library
The Friends of the
Vidalia-Toombs County
Public Library will be
conducting a book sale
fundraiser at the library
through August 31. In
addition to paperback
and hardcover books,
also offered for sale are
puzzles, audio books
and DVDs. Proceeds
benefit the library.
Food Giveway
September 2
Mayfield Zion AME
Church is holding a free
food distribution on
September 2 at 11 a.m.
at the Wheeler County
Recreation Center, 125
Snowhill Baptist Church
Road, Alamo.
IN THIS ISSUE
Editorials Page 5A
Obituaries Page 7A
From the Record Page 8A
Your Mind On Line Page 10A
Sports Page 1 B
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Toombs County High School
Implements Unique Pathway
By Makaylee Randolph
Contributing Writer
Beginning this semester, Toombs
County High School will implement
a unique pathway option for students
through the creation of the new Heavy
Equipment Operations program. This
Career, Technical, and Agricultural
Education (CTAE) program is the
first of its kind in Georgia and makes
Georgia only the third state in the
country to have this option for stu
dents.
Toombs County Superintendent
of Schools Barry Waller shared his
excitement for the opportunity to of
fer the pilot program for the state of
Georgia, as well as being a part of the
partnerships this program will build.
“An opportunity like this is truly
once in a lifetime to be able to create
WORKFORCE NEEDED — Local industries, such as McLendon
Enterprises, are in need of heavy equipment operators to con
tinue projects, such as the U.S, Highway 1 improvements that
McLendon is currently conducting during the national work
force shortage. A pilot program being launched at Toombs
County High School may provide the solutions employers like
McLendon are seeking.
a new educational option that fur
ther prepares students for life after
high school. Also, this would not be
possible without the support and en
thusiasm from local industry, such as
McLendon Enterprises,” he said.
The goal of this program is to
equip high school students with the
skills to operate heavy machinery
and equipment. These skills will al
low graduates to enter the workforce
prepared to be avaluable accessoryto
industries and to earn good salaries.
“In essence, where normal students
entering the workforce after high
school will make around $30,000,
students who complete this path
way will be able to make upward of
$40,000 to $50,000 per year,” Waller
Please see TCHS page 10A
Qualifying Held for
Nov. 2 Municipal Elections
Roper, Johnson to Face Off Again for Mayor’s Post
By Deborah Clark , Qualifying
Regional Editor for the Novem-
dclarkadvance@gmail.com her 2 munici
pal elections
was held across the area last week with most
candidates facing no opposition and with re
matches in two races.
In the City of Vi-
dalia, qualifying began
Monday and ended
Wednesday for Mayor,
two City Council seats
and two School Board
posts. Qualifying for
three spots on the Ly
ons City Council began
Monday and ended Fri
day. Qualifying for one at-large seat on the
Santa Claus City Council was extended un
til Tuesday at 5 p.m. because no one has an
nounced for the seat.
In Montgomery County, incumbents in
the cities of Mount Vernon and Ailey are un
opposed and Jennifer Sikes, Election Superin
tendent, Mount Vernon, cited Georgia Code
21-2-291 to issue a no
tice to cancel those elec
tions. In the City of Ala
mo in Wheeler County,
the qualifying period
was extended through
Tuesday because no one
qualified to seek one of
three posts up for elec
tion on the Alamo City
Council. Alamo resi-
Please see Elections page 3A
COVID Hits Area
Hard; Peak of
Epidemic Nears
By Makaylee Randolph
Contributing Writer
The spread of the COVID-19 Delta
variant continues to plague the area as
doctors and local government officials
attempt to protect citizens.
As of Monday, August 23, Memo
rial Health Meadows Hospital reported
that 44 patients were being treated at that
facility for COVID. Of this number, 13
were on ventilators. There have been no
COVID-positive children admitted thus
far.
Slowing the wave of COVID was an
intense topic in community meetings last
week as both the Vidalia City Council
and Toombs County Commission ad
dressed the subject during monthly ses
sions.
Please see COVID page 3A
Gregory Johnson Doug Roper
Police Make Arrest
in 2020 Death of
Vidalia Doctor
Seven Indicted in “Ace in
the Hole 2” Drug-Trafficking
Conspiracy in Toombs
By Deborah Clark
Regional Editor
dclarkadvance@gmail. com
Lyons Police Chief
Wesley Walker said
Monday morn
ing that an arrest
has been made
in the 2020
death of Vidalia
physician Nancy
Shaw.
Gregory Van
Mosley, 65, of
Lyons has been
charged with in
voluntary man
slaughter after evidence
received recently from
the State Crime Lab al
lowed authorities to
pursue prosecution in
the case, Walker said.
Mosley was taken to
Greg Mosley
the Toombs County Jail
for processing where he
posted a $5,000 prop
erty bond and awaits ar
raignment.
The body
of Dr. Shaw,
62, was dis
covered in
a ditch on
Skyline Bou
levard in Ly
ons around 3
a.m. May 7. A
Lyons police
man was on
routine patrol
when he encountered
a vehicle parked on the
wrong side of the road
with its engine running
and the driver’s door
Please see Shaw page
4A
ACE IN THE HOLE 2 — This file photo documents the
roundup of suspects in the "Ace the Hole" drug traf
ficking conspiracy in Toombs County in January 2020.
Last week, U.S. District Court in Statesboro announced
the indictment of seven additional suspects in the
second phase of the case that targeted the distribu
tions of heroin and fentanyl-tainted heroin in Vidalia
and the greater Toombs County area.
Seven defendants are
accused of participating
in a major drug traffick
ing conspiracy in an in
dictment newly unsealed
last week in U.S. District
Court in Statesboro.
The investigation
into “Operation Ace in
the Hole 2,” under the
Organized Crime Drug
Enforcement Task Forces
(OCDETF), targeted
the distribution of her
oin and fentanyl-tainted
heroin in the Vidalia and
greater Toombs County
area, said David H. Estes,
Acting U.S. Attorney for
the Southern District of
Georgia.
Each of the defen
dants is charged with
Conspiracy to Possess
with Intent to Distribute
and to Distribute Heroin,
Eutylone (bath salts),
Fentanyl, and Metham-
phetamine, a charge that
carries a statutory penalty
Please see Ace page 2A
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