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The Vidalia Advance Established 1901 The Lyons Progress Established 1894
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Vol. 123 No. 39
Your Newspaper - Toombs, Montgomery & Wheeler County, Georgia
September 29, 2021
It takes considerable
knowledge just to
realize the extent of
your own ignorance.
- Thomas Sowell
News
BYTES
Passing Stories
The art collection of
Katlyn Colley will be on
display at the Altama
Museum of Art and
History through October
30. For more information
visit www.Altama
Museum.org.
Tire Amnesty
Week
The City of Vidalia is
hosting Tire Amnesty
Week September
27-October 1. For more
information, contact
jkirby@vidalia.gov or call
537-7661.
Scarecrows
'Round
Downtown
The Downtown Vidalia
Association is sponsoring
Scarecrows 'Round
Downtown. Applications
are due September 29.
Setup is October 4-11.
For more information,
contact the DVA at 537-
8033.
Walk to End
Alzheimer's
A Walk to End Alzheimer's
is scheduled October 2 at
10 a.m. at Southeastern
Technical College.
Register free online at
http:ejchsadc,wixsite.
com/website.
Meadows
Offering
Vaccinations
Memorial Health
Meadows Hospital is
operating a public
COVID vaccination
clinic. Call 912-535-SAFE
(7233) to schedule a free
vaccination.
COVID Testing
Underway
Free COVID testing is
available at a mobile
site on the campus
of Memorial Health
Meadows Hospital. For
more information, visit
the Georgia Department
of Health website: www.
sehdph.org.
IN THIS ISSUE
Editorials Page 5A
Obituaries Page 7A
From the Record Page 10A
Your Mind On Line Page 11A
Sports Page 1 B
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PSC Approves £9.4 Million
Regional Gas Line Project
By Deborah Clark
Regional Editor
dclarkadvance@gmail. com
The Georgia Public Ser
vice Commission (PSC) has
approved a $9.4 million natu
ral gas line project that will tie
into recently completed lines in
Wheeler County and ultimately
impact several area counties.
The PSC gave approval to
Atlanta Gas Light (AGL) to
construct the second phase of
the multimillion dollar natural
gas line upgrade that will even
tually boost supply into Eman
uel, Montgomery Toombs,
Treutlen and Wheeler Coun
ties. The project connects a
Alamo Tap to Glenwood
Existing Phase 1, Approved Phase 2 & Future Phase(s)
. Atlanta Gas Light
[Future Phase(s)|
Wheeler
Approved Phase 2|
[Completed Phase 1
PROPOSED GAS LINE — This graphic shows the route of Phase 2 of
a natural gas line expansion project that will substantially increase
the capacity of the gas line running through Wheeler County, The
$9.4 million project will benefit several area counties.
Southern Natural Gas Co. inter
state pipeline, which crosses in
Wheeler County, to a tap line in
Alamo, and enables extensions
from this point.
The nearly 8-mile project
is estimated to exceed approxi
mately $30 million and will al
low for more economic devel
opment in this area. The work is
expected to be completed by the
end of 2022. The pipeline infra
structure in the Wheeler Coun
ty area is currently constrained
and will require upgrades with
in established easements or
rights-of-way that parallel State
Highway 280 between the cities
Please see PSC page 13A
Special Education Decision Focus of MoCo BOE Session
Photo by Makaylee Randolph
SPECIAL EDUCATION ISSUE — Jason Randolph listens as his wife, Stacie,
makes a statement to the Montgomery County Board of Education on
September 20 about a decision impacting Special Education students.
The Randolphs have a six-year-old daughter who attends Special Edu
cation classes in the Montgomery County Schools.
By Makaylee Randolph
Staff Writer
mrandolphadvance@gmail.com
The parents of a six-year-
old Special Education student
confronted the Montgomery
Board of Education last week
over a decision made during
a recent hiatus caused by CO
VID precautions.
Jason and Stacie Ran
dolph of Kibbee used the
public participation portion
of the Board’s regular session
on September 20 to voice
their dissatisfaction with an
administrative action. The
Randolphs took issue with
the school administration’s
treatment of Special Edu
cation students during two
weeks of virtual learning im
posed during a COVID shut
down of in-seat learning.
According to the pair,
the school administration
decided to allow elementary
Special Education students
to attend half-day, in-seat in
struction twice a week dur
ing the two weeks of virtual
learning rather than the five
days of class time the stu
dents normally receive. The
parents claimed the break in
classroom consistency was
not only disruptive, but a
potential setback to Special
Education students.
The students were to re
ceive services and specialized
instruction because of their
inability to utilize a Chrome-
Please see MoCo page 2A
Turning the
Comer With
COVID-19 Crisis
Elective
Surgeries
Resuming at
Meadows
By Deborah Clark
Regional Editor
dclarkadvance@gmail.com
Toombs County
and the surrounding
area may have turned
the corner with the CO-
VID-19 crisis. The num
bers are going down.
“It looks like we
might be on the other
side of this. We are very
excited,” said Dr. Karen
McColl, Vice President
of Medical Affairs and
Chief Medical Officer at
Memorial Health Mead
ows Hospital Monday
morning.
McColl said that
on Monday, the total
number of COVID posi
tive patients in house at
Meadows was 27, with
seven persons on venti
lators. Last week, Mead
ows was treating 34 CO
VID patients with 16
of the most critically ill
COVID patients on ven
tilators.
In the past several
weeks, the local num
bers were even higher,
and this area was in the
critical “red zone” on the
Georgia Department of
Health’s COVID update
dashboard. Meadows
was above capacity, with
no beds available. Ad
ditional personnel had
to be brought in to help
manage the patient load.
Please see COVID
page 4A
Three Mount Vernon Men
Charged in Drug Bust
Timothy Jermaine Deron Malik Jackson Taven Tyjae Johnson
Thomas
Officers from the Oconee
Drug Task Force, the Mount Ver
non Police Department, and the
Montgomery County Sheriff’s
Office arrested three suspects on
September 17 after executing a
search warrant at a residence in
Mount Vernon.
Seized in the search was a
large amount of cash, marijua
na, and firearms. Arrested were
Deron Malik Jackson, Taven Ty-
Please see Drugs page 4A
SEIZED — Law enforcement officers recov
ered cash, marijuana and firearms in a drug
bust in Mount Vernon.
The Real Squeal
BBQ & Music Festival
October 8 - Downtown Lyons
October 1 - Partin Park
www.therealsqueal.com
BB£ COMPETITIONS
• CAR SHOW
• STEAK COOKOFF
• STREET DANCE
• FIREWORKS
• ARTS & CRAFTS
• INDIAN ARTIFACT
SHOW
• MUSIC SHOWDOWN
