Newspaper Page Text
Vol. 124 No. 44 Your Newspaper - Toombs, Montgomery & Wheeler County, Georgia ^ November 2, 2022
How strangely will
the Tools of a Tyrant
pervert the plain
Meaning of Words!
- Samuel Adams
News
BYTES
Community Fall
Festival
The Montgomery
County FFA will sponsor
a community fall
festival on November 3,
6-8 p.m. at the old high
school gym. Games,
prizes and concessions.
For more information:
brittanybraddy@
montgomery.kl 2.ga.us.
Veterans Day
Parade
Veterans are invited
to attend a lunch at
Vidalia Community
Center at noon
on November 11.
The lunch follows
a Veterans Day
Parade that begins at
Southeastern Technical
College at 10 a.m.
Parade applications
are available at Vidalia
City Hall, Downtown
Vidalia Association, or
at vidaliaga.gov/DVA.
Early Voting
Continues
Advance voting
in the Tuesday,
November 8, General
Election continues
through November 4.
Voters must visit the
registrar's office in their
respective counties to
complete advance
voting Monday-Friday,
9 a.m.-5 p.m.
Bridge Work
Scheduled
Bridge construction
on SR 4/US 1 over
Altamaha River at West
River Road (Appling
County) to George
Hill Road (Toombs
County). Daily lane
closures underway,
Monday-Friday, 7 a.m.
to 6 p.m. Completion in
December.
IN THIS ISSUE
Editorials Page 6A
Obituaries Page 8A
From the Record Page 5A
Your Mind On Line Page 3A
Sports Page 1 B
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Massive Crowd Turns Out
For Kemp in Mount Vernon
By Makaylee Randolph
Staff Writer
mrandolphadvance@gmail. com
Photo by Makaylee Randolph
MAN OF THE PEOPLE - Governor Brian Kemp focused his address on his work for fhe common man
during his first term as Governor, and reassured attendees of the October 24 rally that he would
continue to work for hardworking Georgians if reelected, Flere, Kemp speaks on his decision to
keep Georgia open during the pandemic, as U.S, Representative Rick Allen (right) looks on.
Governor Brian Kemp made a stop
in Mount Vernon last week as a part of
his reelection campaign bus tour across
the state. Property taxes, inflation, voter
turnout, and support of law enforce
ment were among the topics he ad
dressed.
On October 24, the parking lot of
the Mount Vernon Community House
was filled with individuals from Mont
gomery, Wheeler, Telfair, Toombs, and
Treutlen Counties, and even some at
tendees from as far as Bleckley County.
The turnout so exceeded the expecta
tions of Mayor Joey Fountain and other
event coordinators that original plans
to hold the event indoors were aban
doned.
Kemp was j oined on the tour by his
wife and daughters, U.S. Representative
Rick Allen, and a few others. “We are
the most secure state in the country in
which to vote,” Allen reassured attend
ees. “We’ve also made it easier for you
to vote. It’s easier to vote and harder
to cheat. We have great leadership in
the state of Georgia, and we have great
Please see Kemp page 2A
Vidalia Council Names
Golf Course Architect
It's Down to the Wire;
Election Day Nov. 8
By Deborah Clark
Regional Editor
dclarkadvance@gmail.com
On Tuesday, November 8,
voters will go to the polls to select
a new state legislature and all of
the state’s top executives in Geor
gia’s 2022 midterm election. The
state’s 14 U.S. House seats and
one of two U.S. Senate seats are
also up for election.
Across the State
Georgia voters continued to
hit record-breaking turnout on
Please see Vote page 5A
By Makaylee Randolph
Staff Writer
mrandolphadvance@gmail. com
The Vidalia City Council
approved the selection of Mike
Young Designs as the architect
for the construction of an 18-
hole golf course to be overseen
and operated by the Sweet On
ion Golf Authority, Mayor, and
City Council. The decision was
made at early-morning called
City Council meeting on Tues
day, October 25.
The golf course construc
tion was announced in August,
as the City has worked for five
years to get the grants and fund
ing needed to bring golf back to
Please see VCC page 2A
Failure to Yield
Causes Fatalhy
At Crossroads
By Makaylee Randolph
Staff Writer
mrandolphadvance@gmail. com
The October 20 wreck at the inter
section of Sawmill Road (Highway 292)
and State Route 15 (James Street) in
Higgston was caused by a driver’s failure
to yield to the stop sign posted along the
roadway.
According to the investigation con
ducted by the Georgia State Patrol (GSP),
Daisy May Taylor, 65, of Glenwood, was
travelling eastbound along Sawmill Road
when she entered the road’s intersection
with SR 15, which runs in front of Higgs
ton Baptist Church, without stopping at
the posted stop signs. Because drivers
traveling along SR 15 are not required to
stop, Edward Bell, 56, ofVidalia, collided
with Taylor upon her entry into the inter
section.
Bell was traveling north in a 2017
Ford F-250 Super Duty truck when he
hit Taylor’s 2016 Buick Enclave, as his
front bumper struck her passenger door
in the northbound lane of SR 15. Upon
Please see Fatality page 2A
Be on the Lookout for
Invasive Toxic Toad
BEWARE - An invasive, toxic cane toad has been discovered in Vidalia and wildlife biolo
gists are urging residents to be on the lookout for the unwelcome amphibian. This toad,
shown with a quarter on its back to demonstrate its size, was well out of its usual territory.
By Deborah Clark
Regional Editor
dclarkadvance@gmail.com
A most unwelcome
visitor surfaced recently in
a Vidalia neighborhood,
and wildlife biologists are
wondering how the critter
got this far north of its usual
territory.
The cane toad found by
a local resident in the yard
of his parents’ home is an
invasive species — and it’s
toxic.
“It definitely got some
assistance in getting here,”
Georgia Department of
Natural Resources Senior
Wildlife Biologist Dan
iel Sollenberger said in a
phone interview last week.
“What I suspect, or hope,
is that it was transported
accidentally from a Florida
nursery (where the toad is
prolific) in the root ball of
tree or in a box of oranges,”
he said. The wildlife biolo
gist said the Vidalia report
is only the second record of
a cane toad in Georgia. The
first report was from Cam-
Please see Toad page 9A