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1 AWARENESS
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The Florida
Slavery Smear
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The Vidalia Advance Established 1901 The Lyons Progress Established 1894
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Vol. 126 No. 32
Your Newspaper - Toombs, Montgomery & Wheeler County, Georgia
75$ August 9, 2023
“A long habit of not
thinking a thing wrong
gives it a superficial
appearance of being
right.”
-Thomas Paine
News
BYTES
Touch A Truck
Downtown
Event
This month's Sweet
Saturday event, lo
cated in Downtown
Vidalia, will feature
the opportunity to
"Touch A Truck," al
lowing children and
the public to learn
more about the jobs
in our community.
This event will be
held from 11 a.m. un
til 3 p.m. on Satur
day, August 12. For
more information,
call the Downtown
Vidalia Association
at (912) 537-7661.
Higgston On the Grow
By Makaylee Randolph
Staff Writer
mrandolphadvance@gmail. com
The Higgston City Park
is getting a facelift after the
Mayor and City Council’s dis
covery that restrictions on the
use of American Rescue Plan
Act (ARPA) funds have been
relaxed.
These renovations to the
park began on Saturday Au
gust 5, as the members of the
Sons of Confederate Veterans
Battleground Guard Troop
5/Robert A. Toombs Camp
932 of Higgston and Rising
Sons Troop 5 Squad of Dublin
volunteered their time to as
semble and install new pieces
of playground equipment at
the park. According to Mayor
Jesse Ledford, this new equip
ment was the beginning of a
series of improvements to the
City Park which will be fund
ed with leftover ARPA money.
“The government started
broadening criteria of what
Please see Higgston page 3A
K
5LTTW
Photo by Makaylee Randolph
GROUP EFFORT - Volunteers from the Sons of Confederate Veterans Battleground Guard Troop 5/Rob
ert A. Toombs Camp 932 of Higgston and Rising Sons Troop 5 Squad of Dublin came together on Sat
urday to assemble and install the new playground equipment at Higgston City Park. Kneeling, L to R:
Nathan Coursey, London Johnson. Standing, Lto R: Mayor Jesse Ledford, Laine Ledford, Michael Tap-
ley, City Councilman Ed Wonn, John Bridges, Kenny Williamson, Steve-O Powell, Billy Lee, Jason Aldrich,
Daryl Hill, Bill Wood, Jeremy Powell.
The Wizard of
Oz
Franklinia Playhouse
will perform their ren
dition of The Wizard
of Oz at Southeast
ern Technical Col
lege at 7 p.m. on Au
gust 10-11, and 5
p.m. on August 12.
Tickets are available
online at the
Franklinia Playhouse
website or at the
door. For more infor
mation, call (912)
293-5060.
Grief Support
First Baptist Vidalia
and Community Hos
pice are partnering
to provide Grief-
Share, a grief support
group. Meetings will
begin on Tuesday,
August 15, at 5:30
p.m., at First Baptist
Church, 107 E. Sec
ond St., Vidalia. Ev
eryone is invited to
attend. For more in
formation, contact
JaLayne Coleman at
912-537-0063 orja-
laynecoleman@
gmail.com.
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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MoCo Commission Proposes Tax Increase
By Makaylee Randolph
Staff Writer
mrandolphadvance@gmail. com
The Montgomery County
Commission has proposed to
increase the county’s millage
rate by 0.50 mills, which will in
crease property taxes by 3.41%,
and will make the new millage
rate 15.160 mills.
This proposed millage rate
will create a $25.00 increase for
a home with a fair market value
of $125,000, and $10.00 for
non-homestead property with a
fair market value of $50,000.
According to the County’s
5-Year History of Levy, this tax
increase is the smallest increase
since 2019, as taxes raised
3.88% in 2020, 4.78% in 2021,
and 5.84% in 2022. This pro
posed millage rate will generate
$99,782 more net tax funding
than last year, creating a total
levy of $3,193,688.
This decision was made
after commissioners met on
Thursday, August 3, in a called
Please see MoCo page 3A
Toombs County Returns
Grand fury Indictments
UNIFIED APPROACH - Several offi
cers and deputies from the Lyons
Police Department and Toombs
County Sheriff's Office worked to
gether to locate and apprehend
the armed robbery suspect.
Kenny Battle
By Makaylee Randolph
Staff Writer
mrandolphadvance@gmail. com
The Toombs County Grand
Jury met on Thursday, August 3, and
returned 21 true bills to the Toombs
County Superior Court, including
the indictments of Kerri Samples
Monroe and Kenny Peardell Battle.
Monroe was indicted on five
counts of insurance fraud, as the
Georgia State Board of Worker’s
Compensation argues that Monroe
fraudulently issued fake certificates
of Worker’s Compensation insur
ance to five businesses. Monroe,
who previously owned and oper
ated The Monroe Agency, was first
arrested on July 25, 2022, on five
counts of felony identity fraud and
seven counts of felony reporting
and dispositions of premiums after
the Toombs County Sheriff’s Of
fice investigated a formal criminal
complaint for fraud and theft filed
against her on May 11, 2022.
The Toombs County Sheriff’s
Office was assisted in this investiga
tion by the Office of the Commis
sioner of Insurance and Fire Safety
and the Georgia State Board of
Worker’s Compensation. The next
step in the legal procedure will be
Please see Indictments page 5A
Lothridge Named Head ofRTCA
Courtesy of Robert
Toombs Christian
Academy
Robert Toombs
Christian Academy for
mally announced the
naming of Mike Loth
ridge as the new Head of
School.
Previously, Assistant
Head of School Lindsey
Moore acted in conjunc
tion with the Robert
Toombs Christian Acad
emy Board of Directors
as the school’s admin
istrative leader after the
resignation of former
Headmaster Travis Ab-
sher. During that time,
the Board accepted ap
plications for new head-
Mike Lothridge
masters until the position
was filled.
Having earned his
Educational Specialist
and Master’s Degree in
Educational Leadership
from Georgia Southern
University, Lothridge is
a veteran educator who
has served in many lead
ership positions. These
leadership roles helped
him to cultivate the skills
necessary to serve as a
Georgia Independent
School educational lead
er. In a formal statement,
Robert Toombs Chris
tian Academy shared that
it is Lothridge’s experi-
Please see RTCA page 3A
