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20 Pages, 2 Sections
A Publication of MainStreet Newspapers, Inc. Winder, Barrow County, Georgia $1.00 Copy Wednesday, December 21, 2022
State Representative-elect
Danny Rampey
Rep-elect
Danny
Rampey
arrested
Danny Rampey, the
District 116 State Rep
resentative-elect was
arrested Dec. 15 and
charged with burglariz
ing a residence he man
ages at Magnolia Estates
of Winder Assisted Liv
ing Center.
According to Barrow
County Sheriff’s Office
(BCSO), Rampey, 67,
of Statham, broke into
the residence and took a
quantity of a controlled
substance from the unit.
Rampey has been
charged with one count
of each of the following:
• Unauthorized distri
bution or possession of a
Controlled Substance
• Burglary
• Exploitation and in
timidation of disable
adults, elderly persons
and residents
BCSO was made aware
of suspicious activity
involving missing med
ications within the last
two weeks and initiated
an investigation into the
allegations. Surveillance
operations were used to
assist in the collection of
evidence of stolen medi
cations.
The residence was not
occupied by the resident
at the time of Rampey’s
arrest and no one was
injured during the bur
glary.
The investigation into
this case is ongoing and
additional charges may
be forthcoming.
If anyone has an in
formation regarding this
case, they may contact
Baiiow County Sheriff’s
Office Criminal Investi
gations Unit at 770-307-
3080 ext. 3083.
MAILING LABEL
Ben McDaniel receives Star
of the Community award
“Because he’s genuinely that nice”
By Morgan Ervin
Ben McDaniel, Barrow County
Economic Development coordina
tor and lifelong Winder resident, is
the recipient of the 2022 Star of the
Community Award, presented and
sponsored by Move Realty Co.
Stephanie Gober-Bramlett, owner
of Move Realty and member of the
Barrow County Board of Education,
started the Star of the Community
Award in 2021 in honor of her late
father Rodney Gober, a Barrow
County funeral director, deacon
and community servant for over 25
years.
McDaniel is the second recipient
of the award after Barrow County
Lt. Faye Spalding was the award’s
first recipient last year.
In an ambush-style surprise to Mc
Daniel at his office in the Barrow
County Historic Courthouse Tues
day, Dec. 20, the group at Move Re
alty, along with others fond of Mc
Daniel, were able to successfully
pull off the critical surprise element
incorporated into its presentation.
“We give it to somebody we feel
like makes the community brighter,
somebody that’s a community ser
vant, somebody that just makes this
place better,” said Gober-Bramlett.
“This year when we thought of
who that recipient should be, we
couldn’t think of anybody better
than you,” Gober-Bramlett told Mc
Daniel.
“You remind me in so many ways
of him.”
“If you ever seen Ben dance and
you saw my dad dance you would
know why Ben reminds me so much
of my dad,” she joked, adding that
there’s “some serious similarities”
with the Carlton dance.
“He’s a phenomenal dancer,” said
McDaniel.
McDaniel was given a $500 check,
a gift basket filled with goofy
socks, graphic t-shirts, gift certifi
cates, event tickets and othe various
goodies selected especially with
McDaniel in mind. He also received
a custom-made trophy.
“Your dad coached me twice
in baseball,” McDaniel told
Gober-Bramlett in a heartfelt trip
down memory lane.
“He was the first person I ever
heard that expected ‘yes sir’, ‘no
sir’, ‘yes ma’am’, ‘no ma’am’, and
not just believing, but setting the
expectations higher than what was
currently being set for me and I just
always appreciated that.”
BCSS earns Leading Edge Award
for Barrow Literary Partnership
Photo submitted
Pictured are BCSS literacy content specialist Beth
McMichael, BOE members Jordan Raper and Lynn
Stevens, BCSS superintendent Chris McMichael and
The Barrow Coun
ty Board of Education
was selected by the
Georgia School Boards
Association (GSBA)
for the Leading Edge
Award for the second
year in a row. This
year, BCSS received
the recognition for
Teaching and Learning
in the Early Learning
and Student Success
category.
The nomination for
the GSBA Leading
Edge Award high
lighted the innovative
partnership with the
Barrow Literacy Part
nership and its focus
on improving early lit
eracy outcomes in the
community.
The path to litera
cy starts at a young
age. Research shows
that students who do
not read proficient
ly by third grade are
four times more likely
to drop out. While the
district’s graduation
rate has increased by
19 percentage points
in the last 8 years, the
school system began to
see concerning trends
in kindergarten readi
ness during that same
time.
In the spring of 2021,
BCSS was awarded the
Literacy for Learning,
Living, and Leading
(L4GA) grant from the
Georgia Department of
Education. As part of
the L4GA initiative,
the district developed
specific literacy goals
for young children. The
first goal is focused on
supporting literacy de
velopment of children
aged birth to 5 years
through community
See BCSS, page 2A
inside:
SEE PAGES 12A & 4B
Georgia International disaster relief:
UKRAINE PROJECT
PHASE TWO
Barrow feeds Ukraine
• Culminates Dec. 26, when Winder-based
founder B.J. Barnette and his wife fly back to
Romania and Ukraine.
• For this trip, Barnette is committed to docu
menting the delivery of the first few tons of food
so donors can see their dollars at work.
• To follow on the Barnettes’ journey, search
Georgia International Disaster Relief on
Facebook. Donations can be made to the Geor
gia International Disaster Relief fund throgh its
Facebook page or contact B.J directly via email
atBJ@GIDRelief.com
LOST approved
On Friday, Dec. 16, the Winder City Coun
cil unanimously authorized Mayor David
Maynard to sign the Local Option Sales Tax
Distribution Certificate, following the Bar-
row County Board of Commissioners autho
rization of chairman Pat Graham to sign on
Tuesday, Dec. 13.
The following are distribution percentages
for the county and its six municipalities:
• Auburn 8.116
• Bethlehem 0.798
• Braselton 2.241
• Carl 0.233
• Statham 3.140
• Winder 20.472
• Barrow 65.00
This decision follows the suggestion of a
delegation of state legislators seeking to help
protect LOST in Barrow.
According to Maynard, the 20.472 percent
age of the LOST the city will receive rep
resents a slight decrease in percentage from
the 2012 certificate, however, despite the
lower distribution percentage number, dis
cussions at the council table were in favor of
agreeing to the county’s proposed LOST per
centages, to continue the benefits of the con
sumer-based tax.
“Agreeing to this is in the best interest for
our constituents and the other municipalities,
we need to approve this and put this behind
us,” said Winder councilman Travis Singley.
Mavis Tire,
Hertz Car Rental
coming to Winder
The Winder City
Council approved the
following items during
its Dec. 6 voting session:
•Design standard cov
enants for the Stone
Haven Retail Village
Outlets, located on
Gainesville Hwy., near
the new Publix, was ap
proved 5-1 with council-
woman Stephanie Brit
opposed. The council
also approved 5-1, with
Brit opposed, two con
ditional use request for
separate parcels in the
Stone Haven Retail Vil
lage. The first was for
a 2.65-acre parcel to
allow for an indoor cli
mate-controlled self-ser
vice storage facility. The
See Winder, page 2A