Vol. 17, No. 23
Wednesday, June 5, 2024
upsonbeacon.com
219 Thomas Street, Thomaston, Ga. 30286 • 706.646.2382
75 Cents
BEACON
Shining Light & Keeping Watch on Our Community
* * VOTE ✓
. THANK YOU!
HANNAH ELLINGTON
ARNETTE
JUSTICE
SERTICED
IVITH
INTEGRITY
I am asking for your support in the upcoming election runoff for Upson County Chief Magistrate Judge.
Here are some key highlights of my experience and commitment:
■ Lifelong resident of Upson County, deeply connected to our community.
• Six years of experience in the Superior, State, and Juvenile Courts for the local Griffin Judicial Circuit.
• Over a decade of legal experience, dedicated to the judicial system.
■ Committed to upholding values of fairness, integrity, and justice.
■ Focused on collaborating with community stakeholders for transparency and impartiality in our legal system.
Your vote is crucial in this runoff election. Please come out and support me to ensure a fair and just legal system for Upson County
RUN OFF ELECTION JUNE 18
PAID FOB BY THE t TO ELECT HANNAH APNETTE
Newsline
June 5. 2024
BOE Budget
Hearings Set
June 11 & 25
The Thomaston-Upson
Board of Education will
hold two public comment
sessions for the proposed
2025 fiscal year budget, ac
cording to a release from
school officials.
Public hearings are
scheduled for 6 p.m. Tues
day, June n and 7:30 a.m.
Tuesday, June 25 at the TU-
BOE office, 205 Civic Center
Drive in Thomaston. The
board is scheduled to adopt
the final budget at the June
25, 7:30 a.m. meeting.
Upson County residents
are encouraged to attend
the hearings, which are
scheduled to provide an op
portunity for public input
on the proposed budget.
The budget is available for
review on the district’s web
site at www.upson.k12.ga.us
or at the office at the above
address during operating
hours.
Upson Observes
Planning Group's
30th Anniversary
A reception will be held
at 4 p.m. Monday, June 10,
at the government complex
to commemorate the 30th
anniversary of establish
ment of the Upson County
Planning Commission, ac
cording to Director Doug
Currier.
The celebration will be
hosted for all current and
past planning commis
sioners prior to the regular
planning commission
meeting, which occurs at
5:30 p.m. the second Mon
day of each month. The
government complex is lo
cated at 106 East Lee Street
in Thomaston.
“I always encourage cit
izens to be involved and
educated on what is hap
pening in our community,”
Chair Alicia McKinley said.
“It is great to see growth,
but we also want to make
sure Upson County grows
in a way that is beneficial
See Anniversary, 5A
8
10499 02461 2
Griffin Man Charged with Murder in Fentanyl Death
Roderick D’Anglo “Frog” Stargell Tied to Overdose of 18-Year-Old Upson County Woman
Roderick D’Anglo “Frog” Star-
gell of Spalding County has been
charged with felony murder in con
nection with the November 2023
fentanyl overdose death of 18-year-
old Upson County resident Amelia
Jennings, according to a statement
from Upson Sheriff Dan Kilgore.
On Thanksgiving morning,
Nov. 23, Upson 911 dispatched an
ambulance to a Smith Road res
idence for an unresponsive female,
later identified as Jen
nings. Witnesses told
UCSO Deputy Zach
Spillers that Jennings
had ingested a 30 milli
gram Percocet tablet
around 2 a.m.
EMS transported
Jennings to Upson Re
gional Medical Center, where she
died the next day, and her body was
sent to the Georgia Bureau of In
vestigation Crime Lab
for autopsy and toxicol
ogy. Cause of death was
determined to be fenta
nyl overdose from the
counterfeit Percocet pill.
Two days later,
UCSO was notified that
a second female, age 17,
was hospitalized at URMC for a
drug overdose. The juvenile told Lt.
Heath Eppinger she had taken a
Percocet 30 tablet she obtained
from a man named “Frog,” accord
ing to the statement.
Further investigation revealed
that the counterfeit Percocet pill
taken by Jennings was also pur
chased from 49-year-old Stargell.
Both victims used Stargell’s cell
phone number for contact and
used the CashApp website to pay
See Murder, 6A
Roderick D. Stargell
Kenny Collins, right, accepts the Emancipation Award from Rev. James McGill at the second annual Heritage
Awards Banquet. Andrew Carroll/Upson Beacon
ECU Hosts Second Annual
Heritage Awards Banquet
Andrew Carroll
Sports Editor
acarroll@upsonbeacon.com
The Emancipation Commit
tee of Upson presented the sec
ond annual Heritage Awards
Banquet at the Thomaston-
Upson Senior Center on May 29.
The banquet celebrates
members of the community who
have been essential in the fight
for civil rights in Upson County.
The event follows the Emancipa
tion Day Parade, hosted the
weekend prior.
During the event, the com
mittee honored Qua’Narious
Walker and Quintrez Daniel as
the two recipients of the Youth
Alive Scholarship. Both young
men will be junior counselors for
See Heritage, 5A
Hannah Arnette Cecil Hutchins
Early Voting
in Local Runoff
Starts Monday
Arnette versus Hutchins
for Upson Chief Magistrate
Early voting begins Monday in a runoff
between Hannah Ellington Arnette and Cecil
Hutchins for Upson County Chief Magistrate
Judge, according to the local board of elec
tions.
Neither Arnette nor Hutchins secured the
required 50 percent plus one vote in the May
primary, which featured multiple qualifiers
vying to fill the position to be available upon
the retirement of current Chief Magistrate
Jan Streetman.
Also on the ballot will be U.S. House of
Representatives District 3 competitors Mike
Dugan and Brian Jack.
See Runoff, 6A
BOC Approves 3% Increase
for Staff Health Coverage
Includes ‘Small Increase’ in Employee Contribution
Bridge Turner
Editor in Chief
bturner@upsonbeacon.com
Commissioners voted last week to ac
cept a bid from Oakbridge Insurance for a
three-percent increase through Cigna for
Upson County employee health insurance
renewal.
The renewal will increase the county’s
annual cost from approximately 2.7 million
to 2.8 million, according to County Man
ager Jason Tinsley, which includes a “small
increase” in employee contributions.
“We looked at the options, and we rec
ommend accepting the three-percent re
newal with Cigna,” an Oakbridge
representative told board members. “It’s
below the market trend of about 10 percent,
so it’s relatively good news.”
Initial estimated renewal hikes were be
tween 25 and 30 percent, according to Oak-
See BOC, 8A
Local Woman Killed
in One-Vehicle Crash
Donna Allison Coe of
The Rock was killed May
26 in a single-vehicle crash
on Jugtown Road near the
intersection of Stewart
Road, according to a re
port from Georgia State
Patrol Post 26 in Thomas
ton.
Coe, 61, was negotia
ting a curve traveling
south on Jugtown Road in
a 2007 Dodge Ram 3500
pickup truck when the ve
hicle left the roadway on
the shoulder, the report
stated. The truck over
turned multiple times and
Coe was ejected in the
northbound travel lane of
Jugtown Road, then the
truck came to rest on the
northbound shoulder on
its top, facing northeast.
Emergency medical
services responded to the
fatal crash, which occurred
at approximately 9:15 a.m.
Renovations Under Way at Matthews Field
Andrew Carroll
Sports Editor
acarrotl@upsonbeacon.com
As soon as the com
mencement ceremony for
Upson-Lee’s Class of 2024
was complete at Matthews
Field, equipment rolled in
to signal the start of a new
era for the stadium.
On Saturday, May 25,
free sod from the stadium
was offered to residents
wishing to take home a bit
of history - and what history
that sod contained.
From the state cham
pionship-winning football
team in the 1988 R.E. Lee
Rebels, who won the title on
that very sod, to the biggest
comeback win in U-L his
tory last year when the
Knights overcame a 23-
point deficit to defeat Sa
vannah Country Day, to the
retirement of the jersey of a
number-one overall draft
pick in the National Foot
ball League, the grass at
Matthews Field had seen it
all.
Once remarked as one of
the best grass fields in the
state, when the Knights re
turn to action in fall 2024,
See Renovations, 4A
Andrew Carroll/Upson Beacon
(0 Griffin Ob-Gyn
Holly Harrison, PA-C
Nadine Noelting, CNM
Abby Gibbs, CNM
Accepting New Patients In Thomaston
403 West Main Street • Thomaston
CAU {706)646-2888 or (770) 227-5505 for an appointment.
