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PATRIOT DAY WE WILL NEVER FORGET SEPTEMBER 11 The Vidalia Advance Established 1901 The Lyons Progress Established 1894 Autumn Days Were Meant'for Apple Cake with Praline Toppi"* See page 5A nre Vol. 126 No. 36 Your Newspaper - Toombs, Montgomery & Wheeler County, Georgia 75$ September 6, 2023 Yes, I am a pirate, two hundred years too late. The cannons don’t thunder, there’s nothin ’ to plunder. I’m an over-forty victim of fate. Arriving too late, arriving too late. - Jimmy Buffett News BYTES Coffee Before Hours The Downtown Vidalia Association will host its monthly Coffee Before Hours networking event from 8 a.m. until 9 a.m. on Wednesday, September 6, at Homemade on the Go, located at 201 NW Main Street. For more information, contact the DVA of fice at (912) 537-7661. Elder Fraud Forum Altamaha Bank & Trust is holding an Elder Fraud Forum Lunch & Learn to educate the public on protecting themselves and loved ones from common scams targeting senior citizens. This event will be held at the Vidalia Community Center on Thursday, September 7. Lunch will be served at 11:00 a.m., and the forum will begin at 11:30 a.m. To register, call Valerie McLendon at (912) 537-6624. Fiber Arts Fellowship The Dr. Mark and Tonya Spivey Public Li brary will host a Fiber Arts Fellowship event for all knitting, cro cheting, needlework, sewing, and other craftwork enthusiasts from 4:30 p.m. until 6:00 p.m. on Thursday, September 7. Attend ees are advised to bring their supplies to share patterns, tips, tricks, and advice with others. For more infor mation, call (912) 537- 9283. IN THIS ISSUE Editorials Page 6A Obituaries Page 8A From the Record Page 5A Your Mind On Line Page 4A Sports Page 1 B SUBSCRIBE AND SAVE 30% OFF NEWSSTAND Imi Call 537-3131 (or delivery! Vidalia Survives Idalia Winds & Rain Ravage Area HEAVY WINDS - It was the heavy winds ripping through the area that caused many trees to be downed, including this tree on Pinecrest Drive in Vidalia, By Makaylee Randolph & Deborah Clark Hurricane Idalia slammed the area with high-speed winds, power outages, and rain on Wednesday, August 30, as the storm ripped through the area. According to Altamaha EMC, a total of 10,345 meters experienced disrupted service after the strongest part of the storm. Georgia Power had a similar amount of disturbances, reporting just over 11,000 cus tomers without power, most of which lost service during the last hour of the storm’s moving out of the area. Montgomery County Emergency Management Agen cy Director Donnie Daniels shared that over 55 trees were reported down, and local fire departments and other fire re sponders were dispatched to Please see Storm page 4A Brand New Cruisers Coming for Vidalia Another GP Rate Increase Georgia Power agrees to limit cost recovery for Plant Vogtle reactors By Dave Williams Bureau Chief Capitol Beat News Service By Makaylee Randolph Staff Writer mrandolphadvance@gmail.com The Vidalia Police De partment will receive new po lice cruisers after the Vidalia City Council approved the purchase of two new patrol vehicles on Thursday, August 31. The Council previously sought bids from Woody Folsom of Vidalia, Woody Folsom of Baxley, and Jim my Britt Chrysler-Dodge of Dublin. Both Woody Folsom dealerships returned a price of $76,000 total — $38,000 Please see VCC page 3A United Way Prepares For Campaign Kick-off Georgia Power has agreed to spare the utility’s customers $2.6 billion of the $10.2 billion it’s costing the company to build two additional nuclear reactors at Plant Vogtle. Under an agreement be tween Georgia Power and the state Public Service Commis sion’s (PSC) Public Interest Advocacy Staff announced Wednesday, the company would pass on nearly $7.6 billion of the project’s cost to customers, with shareholders picking up the rest. If the PSC approves the agreement, the average resi dential customer’s monthly bill would increase by $8.95. The first of the new reactors at the plant south of Augusta, Unit 3, went into commercial operation late last month after years of delays and billions of dollars in cost overruns. Fuel loading has begun at Unit 4, which is expected to go into ser vice late this year or early next Please see Power page 5A Photo by Makaylee Randolph WORKING TOGETHER - During the training, Co-chairs Natasha Goss and Angela Lane led the attendees in a group discussion regarding their fundraising goals and strategies throughout the upcoming campaign. By Makaylee Randolph Staff Writer mrandolphadvance@gmail.com The United Way of Toombs, Montgomery, and Wheeler Counties held its annual training on Thursday, August 24, in preparation for the upcoming fundraising campaign kickoff, which will be held on September 21 at First Baptist Church of Vida- lia. This year’s campaign has a tropical theme to it, as Co-Chairs Natasha Goss and Angela Lane remind the public of the timeless lesson Please see Kick-off page 4A