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Vol. 124 No. 34 Your Newspaper - Toombs, Montgomery & Wheeler County, Georgia August 24, 2022
The world has
become too absurd
to be satirized
- GK. Chesterton
News
BYTES
Public Hearings
on Tax Hike
The Toombs County
Board of Education
invites citizens
to attend public
hearings concerning
a proposed increase
in 2022 property taxes.
The hearings will be
held at the Toombs
County High School,
500 Bulldog Road,
Lyons, on August 25,
at 5 p.m. and on
September 1, at 11
a.m. and 6 p.m.
Toombs County
Tailgate Event
A tailgate event will
be held in downtown
Lyons on Friday,
August 26, from 4
until 6 p.m. Citizens
are invited to shop
and dine prior to the
Toombs County High
School football game.
Roadwork on
SR56 Toombs
County
The Georgia
Department of
Transportation
announced that
State Road 56 from
Paul Lockley Road to
Underwood Road in
Toombs County
will have daily lane
closures from 6:30
a.m. until 7 p.m.
through August 31 as
resurfacing continues.
Expuna
Workshop
Scheduled
ement
How to restrict public
access to certain
criminal records will
be discussed in a
workshop sponsored
by Middle Judicial
Circuit District Attorney
Tripp Fitzner, Toombs
County Sheriff Alvie
"Junior" Kight, and
Toombs County
Clerk of Court Nancy
Pittman on September
10, from 9 a.m. until
noon.
IN THIS ISSUE
Editorials Page 6A
Obituaries Page 8A
From the Record Page 5A
Your Mind On Line Page 5A
Sports Page 1 B
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Photo courtesy of the Tattnall County Fire Dept.
WAREHOUSE DESTROYED - Firefighters from throughout the area responded
to a massive fire early Saturday morning at the David Jarriel farm in Tattnall
County. The onion warehouse was destroyed in a blaze that is believed to
have started in onion drying equipment located in the back room of the
structure.
Fire Claims
Legacy Farm
Warehouse
By Deborah Clark
Regional Editor
dclarkadvance@gmail.com
An early morning fire
destroyed the Dry Branch
onion packing facility lo
cated on Hub Jarriel Road
in Collins on Friday August
19.
The 88,000-square-foot
facility housed office space,
cold storage, onion drying
and packing equipment for
the David Jarriel farm. The
fire is believed to have start
ed in an onion dryer located
in the back of the ware
house, said Tattnall Fire/
EMA Director Walt Rogers.
The state fire marshal and
insurance investigators were
on the scene this week to of
ficially determine the cause
and origin of the blaze, as
well as the extent of damage.
Ten fire response units
from as far way as Dodge
County, including 5 prison
fire units from the area, re
sponded to the scene at 2:30
a.m. Saturday. The building
was fully engulfed when fire
crews arrived, and after ex
tinguishing the blaze, crews
returned to douse hot spots
that continued to flare up
through Sunday afternoon,
Rogers said.
The fire was fed by
thousands of flammable
plastic storage containers
used in onion production.
“We were able to protect a
cold storage facility about
10 feet away from the main
warehouse,” Rogers said.
The fire was discovered
by workers living near the
Please see Fire page 4A
Neurosurgeon Joins
Meadows Medical Staff
By Deborah Clark
Regional Editor
dclarkadvance@gmail.com
With the addition of a
neurosurgeon to its medical
staff, Memorial Health Mead
ows Hospital is making history
once again.
Dr. Ryan Lingo, who is
currently practicing at the
Neurological Institute of Sa
vannah and is affiliated with
Memorial Health University
Medical Center, is now visit
ing Vidalia on a biweekly basis
to see patients and to perform
surgery. Memorial Health and
Meadows are regional health
care partners through their
parent company, HCA Health
care.
Dr. Lingo, who is an ex
pert in brain, skull base, spine
and peripheral nerve surgery,
including minimally invasive
spine and cranial procedures,
is Meadow’s first neurosur
geon. He has been perform
ing surgery at Meadows since
April and sees patients every
other Wednesday at Meadows’
Lucy Pierson Building.
Dr. Lingo graduated from
Mercer University School of
Medicine in 2012 and com
pleted his neurosurgery resi
dency at the University of Ten
nessee Health Science Center
and the Semmes Murphy
Clinic in Memphis, Tennessee.
He is on the medical staffs of
both Memorial Health and St.
Joseph’s Hospital in Savannah.
A native of Columbus, Dr.
Lingo and his family now live
in Savannah. He said he wel
comed to opportunity to prac
tice in Vidalia because the city
reminded him of the commu
nity where he grew up. “Obvi
ously, it is a good market for
health care providers to build
a practice and the Meadows
facilities are fantastic."
Please see MHMH page 2A
Kiwanis Club of Vidalia Enters
Its Second Century of Service
Photo by Makaylee Randolph
TELLING HIS STORY - Famous running back and fellow Kiwanian Herschel
Walker spoke at the Kiwanis Club of Vidalia's centennial celebration and
encouraged attendees through his life story,
By Makaylee Randolph
Staff Writer
mrandotphadvance@gmait.com
The Kiwanis Club of Vidalia
entered its “second century of ser
vice” on Friday, August 19, as the
group celebrated a centennial an
niversary at a special meeting.
Guest Speaker Herschel Walk
er, former University of Georgia
Running Back and fellow Kiwan
ian, held a photo-opportunity
with attendees before speaking to
the group on hard work and suc
cess by sharing his life story.
Please see Kiwanis page 3A
Toombs County Schools
Set Millage Rate, Approve
Partial Rollback
By Makaylee Randolph
Staff Writer
mrandolphadvance@gmail.com
The Toombs County
Board of Education has of
ficially approved their new
millage rate, which will pro
vide taxpayers with a partial
rollback from last year’s 14.6
rate.
“Previously, we had
moved the millage rate up
to 15 to be competitive with
other districts and fund sev
eral new programs for our
students. Then we accepted
the rollback rate last year,
which moved the millage
rate to 14.6 mils, and we
will accept the rollback rate
again this year, which
will move the rate to
14.3 mils,” Superintendent
Barry Waller explained.
Though this proposed
millage rate is less than the
previous year’s rate, it is
larger than the current roll
back rate, which is set at 13.6
mils because of inflation.
Waller said that the Toombs
County School System can
not adhere completely to
this set rollback rate because
of a national law regarding
state equilization funding.
“By state law, if the school
system sets the rate below 14
mils, we will lose state equal
ization funding, which totals
around $3 million,” Waller
remarked. “It would then
take raising the millage rate
Please see Toombs page 2A