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The ADVANCE, Jonuary 10, 2024/Page 2A
Brianna Hosbruck and Maria Gibase have opened Downtown Barre at 105 Meadows
Street in downtown Vidalia and invite anyone to give the Barre fitness experience a try
by offering the first class at no charge.
Downtown Barre Opens in Vidalia
Now open in down
town Vidalia, Maria Gibase
and Brianna Hasbrouck
have joined forces to bring
The Downtown Barre to
Vidalia. Barre is a fitness
class that combines pilates,
dance and yoga concepts.
It is a low impact workout
that focuses on small mus
cle movements using the
ballet barre as a support.
Classes are typically 50-
55 minutes and increase
strength, balance and flex
ibility. All age groups are
welcome and no dance ex
perience is required.
Maria Gibase has sev
eral years of formal ballet
training and teaching ex
perience. She is certified
through American Barre
Technique.
Brianna has several
years of dance and coach
ing experience and is cer
tified as a group fitness
instructor. Brianna’s barre
certification is through
Barre Above.
Classes are offered
Mon-Fri. at 105 Meadows
Street next to Tres Chicas.
For more information,
drop by the studio at 105
Meadows Street between
8:30-4:00 or call 912-293-
0531 or via email at down-
townbarrevidalia(a)gmail.
com.
U.S. Marshals & GBI Capture
Vidalia Murder Suspect
Courtesy of the
Vidalia Police Department
The U.S. Marshals
Service - Southeast Re
gional Fugitive Task Force
and Georgia Bureau of
Investigation (GBI) have
captured an individual sus
pected to have murdered a
Vidalia man in November.
Azirian Wright, 23,
of Vidalia, was captured
on Washington Street in
Vidalia on December 28.
Wright is charged with
Murder, Aggravated As
sault, and Possession of a
Firearm or Knife During
Certain Crimes in con
nection to the murder of
Ladarius DeVonte Cobb,
31, of Vidalia, which oc
curred on November 8.
According to Vidalia
Police, officers responded
to reports of a shooting in
the 700 block of Georgia
Street at approximately
7:26 p.m. on November 8.
Upon arrival, authorities
found Cobb unresponsive
with a gunshot wound. He
was pronounced dead at
the scene.
The GBI was request
ed to aid in the investiga
tion and helped Vidalia
officers gain information
from witnesses and family
members to try to solve the
case. Once Wright was de
termined to be the suspect,
the U.S. Marshals Service
was requested to assist his
capture.
Vidalia Police Chief
James Jermon extended his
gratitude to the U.S. Mar
shals Service for their help
in apprehending Wright
and the GBI - Eastman Of
fice for their hard work and
dedication in the investiga
tion.
Anyone with infor
mation about the case is
asked to call the VPD In
vestigative Services Divi
sion at (912) 537-4123,
Crimestoppers at (912)
386-4480, or the GBI,
Eastman Office, at (478)
374-6988. Tips may also
be submitted anonymously
by calling 1-800-597-TIPS
(8477), online at https://
gbi.georgia.gov/submit-
tips-online, or by down
loading the See Some
thing, Send Something
mobile app.
TCSO Investigates
Alleged Sexual Battery
By Makaylee Randolph
Staff Writer
mrandolphadvance@gmail.com
The Toombs County
Sheriff’s Office (TCSO)
is investigating a case of
sexual battery that is sus
pected to have occurred
on December 30.
According to depu
ties, law enforcement was
dispatched to 295 Henry
Wolfe Road in the unin
corporated county area, to
a report of alleged sexual
battery at 12:46 p.m. Upon
arrival at the residence,
the female caller explained
that she was an employee
at the Pop’s Store located
on U.S. Highway 1 South.
According to the woman,
the business’s owner, San-
jaykumar Patel, asked her
to come to the cooler area
with him during her shift
at around 11:55 a.m. on
the same day.
Once having reached
the cooler area, the caller
said that Patel handed
her a small plastic bag of
marijuana, which she took
and began to walk away.
The woman told officers
that before she could walk
away from the area, Pa
tel grabbed her from be
hind, placing his hand on
her breast, and began to
kiss her ear and neck. The
woman said she told Pa
tel to stop, but claimed he
replied, “Give me some, a
little won’t hurt.” She said
she had to physically pull
away from Patel, and im
mediately left the store.
The caller told depu
ties that there is surveil
lance footage in the area,
and that the incident
should be on video. The
investigation was turned
over to Investigator Chris
Clark, who is continuing
to probe the case.
All accused remain in
nocent until proven guilty,
as the investigation is still
active.
PUBLIC NOTICE
The Board of Commissioners of the
Housing Authority of the City of
Lyons will hold their Annual Meeting
on Thursday, January 18,2024 at
6:00 P.M. for the purpose of electing
officers for 2024-2025. Please call
912-526-8504 for more information.
MONTGOMERY COUNTY RECOGNIZES EMPLOYEES — The Montgomery County Com
missioners recognized several employees for their years of service at the County Em
ployee Christmas Luncheon on December 21, 2023, L to R: Bobbie Carpenter - 30
years, Renee Cason - 20 years, Evelyn Carpenter - 5 years, Braxton Parks - 5 years,
Brandon Braddy- 10 years, and Thad Williamson -25 years. Not pictured: Justin Phillips
- 10 years, Archie Graham - 15 years, and Jessi Joyce - 5 years.
Judge rejects voter intimidation charges
against conservative group in Georgia
By Dave Williams
Bureau Chief
Capitol Beat News Service
A federal judge has
ruled in favor of a Texas-
based conservative group
in a lawsuit over its effort to
lodge more than 364,000
challenges to Georgia vot
ers’ eligibility.
U.S. District Judge
Steve Jones, the same ju
rist who upheld state’s new
congressional and legisla
tive district maps last week,
declared Tuesday that True
the Vote’s actions did not
constitute illegal voter in
timidation as alleged by
Fair Fight Action, the vot
ing rights group found
ed by Democrat Stacey
Abrams.
True the Vote filed
challenges in December
2020 ahead of two run
off elections that vaulted
Democrats Jon Ossoff and
Raphael Warnock into the
U.S. Senate, claiming the
affected voters appeared
to be ineligible to vote be
cause of changes in resi
dency. Local elections of
fices rejected most of the
challenges.
Jones found that the
groups’ actions did not rise
to the level of violating the
Voting Rights Act.
“This decision is mon
umental,” said Jake Evans,
lead attorney for True the
Vote in the case. “It vindi
cates True the Vote in to
tality and establishes that
eligibility challenges under
Section 230 (of the federal
law) are a proper method
to ensure voter rolls are ac
curate.”
But other portions of
Jones’ ruling criticized the
organization’s process for
challenging voters.
“As the federal court
weighed the evidence
presented about True the
Vote’s tactics in the 2021
runoff elections, it did not
hold back its criticisms of
the Texas group’s meth
ods,” said Cianti Stewart-
Reid, Fair Fight’s executive
director. “To the contrary,
the 145-page opinion ex
pressly states the court ‘in
no way is condoning (True
the Vote’s) actions in fa
cilitating a mass number of
seemingly frivolous chal
lenges.’ "
A sweeping overhaul
of state election law the
General Assembly passed
in 2021 after the Senate
runoffs and after the law
suit was filed allows indi
viduals to file an unlimited
number of voter eligibility
challenges.
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