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BASKETBALL: Morgan girls still on top in region; boys in second
Lake Oconee News
Your official newspaper serving Greene, Morgan and Putnam counties in Georgia's Lake Country \ www.LakeOconeeNews.us
FRIDAY DECEMBER 25 2015
VOL. 17 NO. 52
75 CENTS
LETTERS
TO SANTA
INCLUDED
THIS WEEK!
»SPECIAL SECTION
MORGAN
FFA HOLDS
CHARACTER
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Published by
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Communications Inc.
Contributed
LIGHTING AT THE LAKE: The Ritz-Carlton, Reynolds Lake Oconee, launched its holiday celebrations with the Lighting at the Lake event
Nov. 25. Featuring special guests Holly Williams and Santa Claus, the 35-foot Christmas tree was lit for the first time during the holiday season.
MORGAN COUNTY
$ 25M agreement
Jeff Warren/Staff
Commissioner Ellen Warren, from left. Chairman Andy Ainslie and Commissioner
Philip Clack before a commission vote to approve an intergovernmental agreement
between the county and hospital authority.
County approves funding for hospital
Jeff Warren
jeff@lakeoconeenews.us
The Morgan County Commission
has voted to approve an intergovern
mental agreement with the Morgan
County Georgia Hospital Authority that
binds the county to pay the authority $1
million yearly for 25 years, provided a
new hospital is built. The measure passed
with Commissioners Donald Harris and
Ellen Warren voting in favor and Com
missioner Ronald Milton voting against.
Commissioner Philip Clack abstained.
The vote came in a special called meeting
that followed a regularly scheduled
work session for the commission 5 p.m.
Tuesday, Dec. 15.
Some county residents concerned over
the arrangement helped pack the com
mission meeting room, a full house as the
vote took place. After the vote, during a
break before the commission entered
into a secret executive session to discuss
a separate matter, some county residents
in opposition to the agreement moved
SEE HOSPITAL » A3
GREENE COUNTY
Union Point
dodges bullet
on 911 services
Mark Engle
news@lakeoconeenews.us
Union Point Police
Chief Edward Sanders
sits at his desk, fiddling
with his hand-held walk
ie-talkie as the minutes
count down to 2 p.m.
It’s Tuesday, Dec. 15,
and Greene County
has given Union Point
a deadline to pay up or
lose 911 and other police
services the county
provides to the city.
“I think it’s extremely
dangerous,” Sanders said,
“I just know that if they
cut the radios off, the
citizens and the officers
for Union Point are going
to suffer.”
Sanders and his seven
officers depend on the
county radio system to
communicate with each
other. It’s also used to
talk with Greene County’s
dispatchers who answer
Mark Engle/Contributed
Union Point Police
Chief Edward Sanders
depends on the county
radio system to
communicate with his
officers.
and relay information
from 911 calls from within
Union Point. The county
also provides access to
police databases to check
records and backgrounds
SEE SERVICES » A2
PUTNAM COUNTY
Gatewood wins second straight clay state crown
The Gatewood Shotgun Team
dominated the tournament in
Savannah at Forest City Gun Club
on Dec. 4-5 with 29 targets over sec
ond-place Westwood Academy.
The Gators back-to-back state
championship also saw Jasper
Copelan win his third High Overall
Shooter Award in a row, with a total
of 287 hit out of a possible 300.
The 242 shooters who attended
the event shot IOO targets in all three
of the American Clay Target dis
ciplines: Skeet, Trap and Sporting
Clays.
After Friday’s competition
Gatewood had a strong 13-target
lead. Saturday’s event concluded
with a strong showing in the trap
division, which sealed the victory.
In addition, Gatewood placed
four shooters on the GISA All-State
Team: Jasper Copelan, Aaron
Copelan, Taylor Hyatt and Nash
Sinclair.
Gatewood had two other shooters
that were only four targets out of the
All State Award, Baylor Garland and
Hank Hall.
Other individual highlights for Sporting Clays third place Indi
vidual. Copelan, Will Dutton, Jackson
In the girls division, Ansley Embry, Graham Eubanks, Baylor
Wallace finished third high overall, Garland, Brice Garland, Hank Hall,
second in trap and fourth in skeet. Taylor Hyatt, Marshall Johnston,
The Shotgun Team consists of Austin Matysiak, Nash Sinclair,
15 Varsity Shooters who attended Reese Waddell, Ansley Wallace and
the event: Aaron Copelan, Jasper Weston Wallace.
Contributed
Gatewood seniors, from left, Austin Matysiak, Jasper Copelan and Brice Copelan bask in the sun in
Savannah at Forest City Gun Club.
include: a straight 100 skeet hits
by Aaron Copelan, along with 97
out of 100 sporting targets; Jasper
Copelan had a 99 out of 100 Skeet
Targets with 97 out of 100 on trap;
and Hyatt won an exciting shoot off
