Newspaper Page Text
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The ADVANCE, December 28, 2022/Page 5A
From the Record
THE BLOTTER
These are the reported
arrests from the Toombs
County Sheriff's Office,
the Vidalia and Lyons
police departments,
and the Montgomery
County Sheriff's Office
for the past week.
Incidents are taken
directly from police
files, All suspects are
innocent until proven
guilty.
In Lyons...
• Jonathan Lee
Smith, of Westgreen,
was arrested on De
cember 19 and
charged with Driving
While License Sus
pended or Revoked
(First), No Insurance
1st, Operating a Ve
hicle While Registra
tion is Suspended.
• Ronnie Elvis
Huylett, of Glen-
wood, was arrested
on December 21
and charged with
Headlight Require
ments, Driving While
License Suspended
or Revoked (First).
• Tony Colt Kight,
of Lyons, was ar
rested on December
23 and charged with
Warrant Service.
• Jaquille
Devonte Nunnally, of
Claxton, was ar
rested on December
23 and charged with
Loitering or Prowling.
In Toombs
County...
The Toombs
County Sheriff's Of
fice police report
was unavailable at
presstime.
In Montgomery
County...
The Montgomery
County Sheriff's Of
fice police report
was unavailable at
presstime.
In Vidalia...
• Shamekia
Lewis, of Vidalia, was
arrested on Decem
ber 19 and charged
with Driving while Li
cense Suspended.
• Johnnie Ray
Harper, of Tarrytown,
was arrested on De
cember 20 and
charged with War
rant Served (Toombs
County).
• Julian Javier
Marin Vital, of Lyons,
was arrested on De
cember 22 and
charged with Driving
Due Care Hands
Free / Possession of
Marijuana.
• Paul Jolly, of Vi
dalia, was arrested
on December 24
and charged with
Criminal Trespass.
• Dariunte
Keyvon Massey, of
Vidalia, was arrested
on December 24
and charged with
Defective Equip
ment / Fleeing and
Eluding / Reckless
Driving / Stop Sign
Violation / Possession
of a Firearm During
Commission of a
Crime / Possession of
a Controlled Sub
stance / Possession
of a Firearm by a
Convicted Felon.
Head-On Collision Leaves Three Injured
By Makaylee Randolph
Staff Writer
mrandolphadvance@gmail.com
Vidalia Police De
partment (VPD), Vidalia
Fire Department (VFD),
Toombs-Montgomery
EMS, First Responders,
Cooper’s Towing and Dee’s
Wrecker Service all worked
in unison on Monday, De
cember 20, to clear a head-
on collision that left three
Your
Mind
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cusatory or lengthy com
ments will not be printed.
Two calls per week per
caller, and calls should
not exceed 30 seconds,
please.
“You must read the
latest issue of Commu
nity Living Magazine
featuring Diane Born
and Wee Care/Cor
nerstone School. "Miss"
individuals hospitalized at
Memorial Health Univer
sity Medical Center.
William Palmer, 59,
and Crystal Williams, 46,
were traveling opposite di
rections along the Orange
Street Extension near the
city limits when their vehi
cles collided, leaving both
drivers, as well as Williams’
juvenile passenger, severely
injured. According to in-
Diane is an incredibly
wonderful person
whose work has
touched the lives of so
many people, espe
cially young people.
Diane Born is truly a
jewel in this commu
nity."
“Amber Nagle’s
sharing the story about
her husband locating
his birth family in Texas
has been very inspir
ing. It is wonderfully
uplifting right here at
Christmas."
“The Wellness Cen
ter across from the
hospital no longer cov
ers SilverSneakers.
Getting rid of the old
folks so they can be
just another 24 hour
gym."
“What would it take
to get all the employ-
vestigation by the VPD,
this crash may have been
contributed to by speed
and wet road conditions.
VPD Chief James Jer-
mon spoke of his gratitude
for the responding parties
to the event. “These servic
es all worked in unison to
work a very bad crash, treat
and transport the injured,
and clear the roadway.”
ers in town to teach
their employees good
customer service skills
— how to smile at their
customers and clients
and how to be polite
and considerate with
true kindness?"
"Oh my, Amber Na
gle’s story in the Dec.
21 newspaper was the
most heartfelt and
well-written account
of a family finding
each other ever! No
emotion was omitted
— tears, laughter, joy!
Such happiness for
Amber, her husband,
and his/their family.
Truly a Christmas mira
cle! Thank you, Amber.
God bless you."
“I’ve been calling
for 2 months about the
trash on Orange St.
and can't get them to
do anything."
“Now that Biden has
been pushing electric
cars and promising a
charging station on
every corner, did any
one wonder how they
were going to pay for
it? Just look at all these
rate increases electric
companies are going
to put on us for the
next 2 years."
Rate
continued from page 1A
request of $2.9 billion - will
raise the average residential
customer’s bill by $3.60 per
month startingjan. 1. That’s
down significantly from the
$14.90 monthly increase
customers would have seen
next year under the origi
nal front-loaded three-year
request the company pro
posed in June.
Instead, customer rates
will go up by 4.5% in 2024
and again in 2025 under the
agreement between Geor
gia Power and the PSC’s
Public Interest Advocacy
Staff.
The commission set
the return on equity (ROE)
for the utility at the staff-
recommended level of
10.5%, down from the 11%
the company sought.
But commission Chair
Tricia Pridemore amended
the upper limit of the “earn
ings band” - the range with
in which the utility can earn
profits for its sharehold
ers without sharing them
with customers - to 11.9%,
slightly below the 12%
Georgia Power requested
and currently receives. The
PSC staff had recommend
ed reducing the upper limit
to 11.5%.
“In the current en
vironment of increasing
interest rates and record
inflation, it is important to
hold the company close to
current band levels in order
to maintain the company’s
financial integrity and the
efficiency incentives to ul
timately benefit customers,”
Pridemore said.
The commission de
feated an alternative amend
ment McDonald proposed
to follow the staff’s sug
gestion and set the upper
limit of the earnings band at
11.5%.
“All those revenues
inside the band go to the
company, not the ratepay
er,” McDonald said.
MoCo
continued from page 1A
the County Code regard
ing nuisance animals. The
amendment provides more
detailed definitions of ani
mals covered in the code.
The Commission also
adopted a resolution to au
thorize the Montgomery
County Health Depart
ment to charge an admin
istrative review fee and
inspection fee on mobile
food service establish
ments that request autho
rization to operate. This
action was taken in compli
ance with a state law that
takes effect on January 1.
Appointments
The Commission ap
proved the following ap
pointments:
Tony Baker, incum
bent, to the Montgomery
County Development Au
thority to represent Dis
trict 1 Militia District for a
five-year term;
Eric Williams to the
Heart of Georgia Altamaha
Regional Commission for
a one-year term;
The commission did
approve one customer-
friendly amendment Pride
more introduced increasing
the percentage of revenues
the company brings in
above the earnings band
that are refunded directly
to ratepayers from the 10%
contained in the agreement
to 40%.
Commissioner Fitz
Johnson proposed an
amendment to provide 65%
of the $81 million Geor
gia Power had sought for
EV charging stations. The
agreement had cut that al
location to just 10% of the
original request.
The PSC also passed
another Johnson amend
ment to charge residential
customers participating
in Georgia Power’s com
munity solar program $24
for every “block” of power
generated and charge com
mercial customers $25 per
block. That’s less than Geor
gia Power wanted but more
than the PSC staff recom
mended.
“Pricing at this level
will allow participating cus
tomers the opportunity to
support the development of
clean energy as well as the
opportunity to realize fuel
savings,” Johnson said.
Finally, the PSC ap
proved an amendment pro
posed by Commissioner
Jason Shaw to increase
payments to participants in
Georgia Power’s rooftop so
lar program for the electric
ity they generate beyond
what they use.
“This change will im
prove the economics of
rooftop solar for [participat
ing] customers and encour
age the adoption of more
solar in Georgia,” Shaw said.
However, the commis
sion did not lift the current
5,000-customer cap on the
utility’s pilot rooftop solar
program, which solar in
dustry advocates have com
plained threatens the finan
cial health of their business.
Alex Fountain to the
Montgomery County
Board of Health to com
plete the unexpired term of
the late Mildred Tuck;
Braxton Parks to the
Montgomery County
Board of Health.
Consent Agenda Items
The Commission ap
proved the renewal of the
County Worker’s Com
pensation with ACCG-
GSIWCF in the amount
of $53,405, and a prelimi
nary engineering cost re
imbursement agreement
with the Heart of Georgia
Railroad in the amount of
$8,675 to perform an engi
neering review of improve
ments for a railroad cross
ing near the proposed EMS
building site on Earthsaver
Road.
Also approved by the
Commission was a renewal
of the emergency medical
services agreement in the
amount of $236,903.47.
Other Matters/Reports
The County approved
a request from Samuel Bak
er to rename a segment of
Bob Sharpe Road as Baker
Environmental groups
also criticized the PSC for
not expanding the rooftop
solar program, particularly
when Georgia Power cus
tomers will face a series of
other rate increases over the
next couple of years.
“Georgia Power cus
tomers should brace them
selves because electric bills
are on the rise,” said Jill
Kysor, senior attorney in
the Southern Environmen
tal Law Center’s Georgia
office. “Customers need
more options to control es
calating costs, like access to
rooftop solar. By faihng to
expand [that] program, the
commission missed an op
portunity to let folks lower
bills and to create new local
Georgia jobs.”
Chris Womack, Geor
gia Power’s chairman,
president, and CEO, said
in September the company
expects to file a request in
February for unrecovered
fuel costs to account for the
volatility of the energy mar
ket resulting from factors
including rising natural gas
prices and the impacts of
the war in Ukraine.
The utility also will be
looking to the PSC to re
cover the costs of bringing
into service the two new
nuclear reactors being built
at Plant Vogtle.
Womack said Tues
day the commission's deci
sion struck a good balance
between Georgia Power's
needs and those of its cus
tomers.
“Since the start of the
rate request process, we
asked the PSC to set rates at
a level that supports the es
sential, critical investments
needed to meet our state’s
evolving energy needs,” he
said. “Today’s decision does
that while also balancing
affordability needs for cus
tomers."
This story is available
through a news partnership
with Capitol Beat News
Service, a project of the
Georgia Press Educational
Foundation.
Road pending any objec
tions from residents who
reside on the road.
EMS Director Drew
James reported that his
department answered 85
calls during November. He
also announced a car seat
class that will be offered
to Montgomery County
residents on January 10-
12 at the Higgston Fire
Department on 310 James
Street in Higgston. There
are 10 slots available and
those interested in attend
ing are asked to register by
calling 912-403-9882. Ihe
event is being sponsored
by Safe Kids Toombs, the
Georgia Department of
Public Health, the Higgs
ton Fire Department, and
the Toombs-Montgomery
EMS.
EMA Director Don
nie Daniels reported that
his agency answered 17
fire calls during the previ
ous month, and is in the
process of completing up
grades to the department’s
rescue boat.
Public Works Director
Milton Fountain reported
that the county’s annual
scrap tire collection had
a slow start on its first day
of operation, but he ex
pects the collection rate
to climb by the end of the
campaign. He said county
crews will collect discarded
tires on county roads. He
also told Commissioners
that the County Board of
Health is in the process of
building a tornado shelter
on its premises. The shelter
was funded through a state
grant and will accommo
date 6 to 8 people.
TO THE PATIENTS OF:
Memorial Health Meadows
Physicians - ENT Care
1707 Meadows Lane, Suite C
Vidalia, GA 30474
(912) 537-3384
Our team at Memorial Health Meadows
Physicians - ENT Care extends our sincere
appreciation for allowing us to serve as your
healthcare provider.
Our practice will be closing on
January 1, 2023.
Please know that your healthcare needs
continue to be our top priority. If you have
questions or need help finding another
physician and/or practice, please contact our
Consult-A-Nurse referral service at (912)
584-6240 or your primary care physician.
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