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The Vidalia Advance Established 1901 The Lyons Progress Established 1894 Vol. 124 NO. 36 Your Newspaper - Toombs, Montgomery & Wheeler County, Georgia September 7, 2022 Experience is not what happens to you; it is what you do with what happens to you. - Aldous Huxley News BYTES Family History Workshop An African-American Family History Workshop starts Saturday, September 10, at 10 a.m„ at the Ladson Genealogical Library, 125 Church Street, Vidalia. The workshops continue on Saturdays, October 15, November 12, and December 10. Sponsored by SEEDS and Ohoopee Regional Library System. Instructor: Adam Paul. Call 912-537-8186 for information. Expungement Workshop Scheduled 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 Saturday, September 10, at the Toombs County Courthouse, from 9 a.m. until noon. Patriot Walk, 9/11 Memorial Observance A Patriot Walk and 9/11 Memorial observance will be held Saturday, September 10, in downtown Vidalia. Citizens are invited to convene at 8:15 a.m. the Vidalia Municipal Complex on First Street and walk to the Ronnie A. Dixon City Park for a program that begins at 9 a.m. IN THIS ISSUE Editorials Page 6A Obituaries Page 8A From the Record Page 5A Your Mind On Line Page 2A Sports Page 1 B SUBSCRIBE AND SAVE 30% OFF NEWSSTAND PRICES! Call 537-3131 (or delivery! GDOT Awards Contract For Lyons Roundabout By Makaylee Randolph Staff Writer mrandolphadvance@gmail.com Traffic will have a new flow at the intersection of SR 292/NW Broad Street and Oxley Drive in Lyons, as the Georgia Depart ment of Transportation (GDOT) has awarded a contract for the construc tion of a new roundabout in this area. This contract is one of 22 new roadway and infrastructure construc tion contracts that have been awarded by GDOT This project is a part of the Transportation Investment Act (TIA) funded proj ects in the Heart of Geor gia Altamaha region. The new roundabout will be a single lane roadway which allows traffic to continue to flow rather than the current two-way stop. This project was con tracted to McLendon En terprises for $1.4 million and is expected to be com pleted by the end of sum mer 2023. The start date for construction has not been announced. Prevention, Treatment, Recovery Program Gets $2 Million Grant ANNOUNCEMENT - Members of the consortium and staff that support the Toombs County Preven tion, Treatment and Recovery project gathered August 23 for the announcement that the pro gram had been awarded a $2 million federal grant, The project, whose objective is to combat the issues surrounding substance misuse in Toombs County, is now in its third year. By Deborah Clark Regional Editor dclarkadvance@gmail. com A $2 million federal grant has been awarded to a Vidalia-based program, now in its third year, whose objective is to combat the is sues surrounding substance misuse in Toombs County. The grant was allocated to Leigh-Anne White and Company, a for-profit business that administers the Toombs County Prevention, Treatment and Recovery (TCPTR) project. TCPTR was launched in 2020 after receiving a $ 1 million grant to fight Opioid Use Disorder in the community. Last year, the company Please see Grant page 3A Vidalia Police Nab Suspect In Burglaries Montgomery County BOE Straightlines Millage Rate NEW COUNTY AGENT - Montgomery County Agriculture and Natural Resources/4-H Agent Lauren Braddy Stanley (right) was introduced to the Montgomery County Board of Education by Southeast District County Extension Coordinator Cheryl Poppell (left), By Makaylee Randolph Staff Writer mrandolphadvance@gmail.com Vidalia Police arrested a suspect accused in a string of burglaries that occurred last week. James Darryl Davis was arrested on Wednesday, August 31, af ter being con nected with burglary and theft at a two downtown Vi dalia business es. He was also implicated in an attempted break-in at a Vidalia pack age store. VPD Investigator Ser geant Shannon Martin said that Davis was apprehended through a proactive patrol by officers who worked with the investigators to find the sus pect. Sweet Onion Consign ment Boutique on Jackson Street was broken into on August 20, and items taken included home goods, cloth ing, jewelry, and watches. The Police and Sheriff Press on First Street was burglarized on August 22, and only small household items were taken. The same suspect attempted to break into the Onion City Package store on Green Street on two different nights, August 22 and August 30, but was un able to enter the building. A golf cart was stolen from Southeastern Technical Col lege and recov ered in Raymonia Apart ments, where Davis resided, which led to his identification as a suspect. Once this iden tification occurred, police worked diligently to appre hend Davis. Please see Suspect page 2A By Makaylee Randolph Staff Writer mrandolphadvance@gmail. com At the regularly scheduled meeting on August 22, the Mont gomery County Board of Educa tion proposed to keep the millage rate at 15 mills, which will bring about a 4.49% net tax increase. The Montgomery County School System (MCSS) has kept the millage rate at 15 mills since 2017, as the Board said that this is the rate required by the state to avoid losing equalization funds for the schools. Increases in taxes with this rate did not occur until 2019, when taxes increased by 2.345, totaling $57,174. The next year brought an even smaller increase, Please see MoCo page 5A James Darryl Davis