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CM K £ Baldwiniff Bulletin VOLUME 18 ♦ ISSUE 52 ♦ www.BBnews.today THURSDAY, DECEMBER 27,2018 ♦ 75C Your hometown newspaper for Milledgeville and Baldwin County, Georgia. » LAKE SINCLAIR High level of toxins found in Plant Branch's wells COMPILED BY SHANNON SNEED shannon@bbnews.today Areport by Earthjustice and the Environmental Integrity Project released on Dec. 13 found that cobalt exceeds safe levels in five PlantHarllee Branch wells, with concentrations up to 50 times the health-based standard. Cobalt harms the heart, blood, thyroid and other parts of the body. “Releases of these pollutants to the environment are partic ularly troublesome because once they leach into ground- water, the harmful pollutants do not go away or degrade over time,” the report states. Federal coal ash regulations passed in 2015 require utilities to be more transparent, so last March, utilities began publicly reporting groundwater-moni toring data on their websites. According to the report, MORE TOXIN »A5 A photograph taken by the Waterkeeper Alliance Dec. 9,2015, shows "contaminated" groundwater seeping out of the banks and into Lake Sinclair, near Plant Harllee Branch. CONTRIBUTED » BALDWIN COUNTY WIL PETTY/Staff Solicitor General J. Skye Gess looks to the audience next to her husband John (left) as Baldwin Probate Judge Todd Blackwell (right) signs paperwork confirming the appointment. Baldwin County has a new solicitor general WILPETTY wil@bbnews.today On Thursday, Dec. 20, J. Skye Gess was officially sworn in as Baldwin County’s Solicitor General. The ceremony took place at the Baldwin County Courthouse, with community leaders, law enforcement and other officials throughout the Ocmulgee Judicial District on hand to watch the ceremony occur. Gov. Nathan Deal named Gess to the position on Dec. 7. Gess is filling the solicitor general vacancy left by the honorable Maxine Blackwell, who passed away earlier in the year. “As I was organizing my new office, there was a picture of the scales of justice. It hung on the walls of Maxine’s office and will remain in my office,” Gess said. MORE GESS »A2 » SUPERIOR COURT Probation revoked, man sent to prison STAFF REPORTS The man accused of stealing from the Boy Scouts and a local funeral home has been sentenced to prison. Ernest Greene, 43, was arrested in September in connection with the theft of a utility trailer from Williams Funeral Home, the theft of a utility trailer belonging to Boy Scout Troop 87 in Milledgeville, as well as a slew of other thefts around Baldwin and Putnam counties. The Boy Scout Troop’s trailer was filled with camping equip ment and was valued at $5,800. Meanwhile, Williams Funeral Home had a large apparatus inside of its trailer that is used to move coffins, and its value was placed at $39,000. MORE GREENE >A7 Ernest Greene » MILLEDGEVILLE CRIME » CENTRAL STATE PROPERTY Summer fatality likely to be heard by grand jury CSHLRA receives update on rebranding, website STAFF REPORTS A large crowd converged around a dead body in the Graham Homes neighborhood on the afternoon of Friday, Aug. 24. Now, as the calendar prepares to turn to 2019, there has yet to be any legal resolution in regards to the case. Oscar “Pookie” Dennis, 47, was pronounced dead at the scene following the incident. The coroner later concluded that Dennis died “as a result of blunt force trauma to the back of the head as a result of striking the pavement,” according to an MPD press release. “No other significant injuries or broken bones were found to indicate the weight of the vehicle ever covered the victim’s body,” added the press release. This piece of information was significant, as rumors had been going around that Dennis was run over by a vehicle more than least once. The other man involved in the incident was identified as Gar’trell Bernard Ford, 28. Ford’s jail history at the MORE FATALITY » A3 WIL PETTY wil@bbnews.today In what was its final meeting of the year, the Central State Hospital Local Redevelopment Authority received an update on its efforts to re-brand the properties as a way to bring in additional businesses and revenue to the old campus. Russ Walden, who is a represen tative of the rebranding committee and member of the Authority board, provided the update to the other members on the progress of “Renaissance Park.” “We have held two meetings so far,” he said. “One of the things when you start getting into rebranding, is there are parts that absolutely have to go together.” Walden said the committee had been looking at how to create the website for the new branding, as well as coming up with a logo to use with the event. Regarding the website, Walden said they intend to use local developers to MORE UPDATE»A3 0 1 4 0 2 3 2 " 6 5 5 3 6 l- "4 59 HIGH Thursday Scattered Showers Forecast» Page B8 52 LOW BULLETIN BOARD A6 COMMUNITY B1 CROSSWORD PUZZLE ,...A6 OBITUARIES A5 OPINIONS A4 PROPERTY TRANSFERS ,.A7 SERVICE DIRECTORY A8 SUDOKU A6 YEAR IN REVIEW COMMUNITY » B1 # 995 MILLEDGEVILLE RD. EATONTON • 478.746.0001 (1 MILE NORTH OF THE LAKE ON 441) 115 GRAY RD. EATONTON • 706.229.6950 (NEXT TO DAIRY QUEEN) OutdoorOptions.c NS.COM 1
