About The Advance. (Vidalia, Ga.) 2003-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 14, 2022)
Vol. 124 No. 50 Your Newspaper - Toombs, Montgomery & Wheeler County, Georgia December 14, 2022 Thinking is one thing no one has ever been able to tax. - Charles Kettering News BYTES God f s Storehouse Collecting Toys God's Storehouse in Vidalia is collecting new toys for children aged 9 and under as Christmas gifts. Drop off contributions at 2200 Center Drive, or send a donation check to God's Storehouse, P.O. Box 1214, Vidalia, GA 30475. For more information call (912) 538-1730. Youth Rally in Alamo A Youth Rally will be held in downtown Alamo on Saturday, December 17, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Games, rides, music, special speakers. Sponsored by Faith Community of Alamo, the Council on Alcohol and Drugs, and the Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities. Be a Secret Santa Drop off toys, clothes, canned foods and/or financial contributions for needy families and individuals at the Salvation Army on Mose Coleman Drive, M-F, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Deadline is December 19. Christmas Toy Drive Little Rock House of Prayer and Alamo Mayor Pam Lee are teaming up to collect contributions of new toys, clothing or cash donations for needy community children, newborn to age 12, for Christmas. Drop off location at City Hall in Alamo. IN THIS ISSUE Editorials Page 6A Obituaries Page 8A From the Record Page 5A Your Mind On Line Page 10A Sports Page 1 B SUBSCRIBE AND SAVE 30% OFF NEWSSTAND PRICES! Call 537-3131 (or delivery! Heavy Equipment Operations Pathway MarksHHm First Graduation ON SITE - Heavy Equipment Operations Pathway students traveled to a site in Toombs County to complete capstone projects as a final test of the skills gained during the course, Left to right: Brayden Helms (student), Christian Ford (student), Noah Boyett (student), Brent Holcomb (McLendon Enterprises), Jeremy Whitaker (CW Matthews-Atlanta), Trevor Miller (student), Clayton Porras (student), Tom Brodnax (instructor), Al Skinner (Instructor), and Blake Huey (Student), By Makaylee Randolph Staff Writer mrandolphadvance@gmail.com The inaugural Toombs County High School (TCHS) Heavy Equipment Operations Pathway class celebrated the first-ever completion of the course last week, as several stu dents passed the capstone proj ect. On Tuesday December 6, and Wednesday December 7, students enrolled in the “Intro to Heavy Equipment” course dem onstrated their operator skills on Caterpillar 323 and 326 hydrau lic excavators, as well as a Cater pillar D5K bulldozer. Students were judged on several areas, such as walk- around pre-trip inspections, bench loading two dump trucks, bucket placement, raking the green to grate, trenching, back filling, grading and filling holes, Please see TCHS page 12A Traffic Flow Changes Occur In Toombs and Montgomery LANE SHIFT - Signage warns southbound drivers on U.S. Highway 1 of the lane shift near Toombs Central. (Inset) The road way connecting State Route 130 with State Route 135 has been reconfigured by GDOT, as drivers must now stop at a stop sign at the intersection of State Route 130 and Petross Road, By Makaylee Randolph Staff Writer mrandolphadvance@gmail. com Motorists should pay attention to all roadway signs, as the traffic flow on U.S. Highway 1 and the intersection of State Routes 135 and 130 has changed. U.S. Highway 1 Starting December 15, U.S. Highway 1 will shift southbound travelers to the Please see Traffic page 4A Man Killed In One-Car Accident An early morning accident last week claimed the life of Jayson Kole Carter, 24, of Toombs County, near the intersection of J.L. Thompson Road and U.S. Highway 1. An investigation completed by the Georgia State Patrol, revealed that Carter was traveling south on U.S. 1 at 6:12 a.m. Thursday, December 8, when his car left the roadway and ran onto the east shoulder of the road. The vehicle continued for 204 feet before yawing for 126 feet. The car then partially over turned on its left side, striking a piece of heavy machinery from the recent road construction with its top and right side. The car stopped upon impact, upright and facing south. It is unknown what caused the car to leave the roadway. Carter leaves behind his fa ther, Jay Carter, of Cedar Crossing and mother, Debra Taylor, of Johnson Cor ner, along with his brothers, grandpar ents, and several aunts, nieces, neph ews, and cousins. Vidalia Poljce Battling Rash Of Catalytic Converter Thefts By Makaylee Randolph Staff Writer mrandolphadvance@gmail. com The Vidalia Police Depart ment (VPD) is battling a rash of catalytic converter thefts. It takes a thief with the right tools approximately 90 seconds to separate a catalytic converter from the underside of a vehicle. The thief can sell the converter to a scrap yard for $ 100 to $350, while it can cost the victim $800 to $5,000 to replace it, depend ing on their insurance cover age. On Monday, December 5, Captain Roger Calloway stated that citizens had reported over 10 thefts of catalytic convert ers throughout the city. He ex plained that thieves took these converters for monetary gain, as these parts contained chalk with pieces of precious metals inside of them. “A lot of these thieves are targeting later models of vehi cles, because they are the ones that contain these precious metals,” Calloway remarked. “Also, we are seeing that trucks and vans are targets of this theft more often than cars, because Please see VPD page 4A
