GHSA establishes new regions for 2016-17; Lake Country schools affected
Lake Oconee News
Your official newspaper serving Greene, Morgan and Putnam counties in Georgia's Lake Country \ www.LakeOconeeNews.us
FRIDAY JANUARY 1 2016
VOL. 17 NO. 53
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Calendar B10
Churches B4
Classifieds D3
Community B1
Obituaries A8
Opinions A4
Recipes D1
Sports C1
FRIDAY
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WEATHER »D6
MORGAN COUNTY
Driver dies in wreck at Apalachee River bridge
Jeff Warren
jeff@lakeoconeenews.us
The head-on collision Tuesday,
Dec. 22, of a tractor-trailer rig and
Ford Fiesta at the U.S. Highway
441 river bridge between Morgan
and Oconee counties took a life and
backed traffic for hours afterward.
Based from Georgia State Patrol
Post 32 in Athens, Corporal C. E.
Parker worked the accident. Parker
identified the fatality as Douglas
Paul McGrath, 49, of Watkinsville.
Parker said McGrath’s small
southbound Ford crossed the center-
line and was struck by a northbound
commercial truck, a vehicle of Brown
Trucking out of Lavonia in Franklin
County. Impact happened atop the
bridge in the northbound lane near
8:20 a.m. Parker said. McGrath was
the Ford’s only occupant.
No citation was issued to the truck
driver, Parker said, as McGrath
would be deemed at fault for crossing
into the wrong lane. Asked what
might have placed McGrath’s vehicle
on the wrong side of the road, Parker
said, “I don’t believe speed is going to
be a factor. I don’t know his medical
history.”
“He was unrestrained and was
ejected from the vehicle,” Parker
SEE WRECK » A12
SEE MORE PICTURES OF
THE YEAR, PAGES A6-7
of the
i r
2015 Photo
Celebrity Chef Paula
Deen visits with
participant Wesley
Morrison during her visit
to Putnam County in
August. Deen who was
in town to raise money
for The Eatonton-
Putnam Arts Foundation
held a handful of sold-
out events over the Aug.
7-8 weekend.(Photo
featured in the Aug. 14
edition)
Leigh Lofgren/Staff
Contributed
Mentavious Jackson is facing
murder charges for shooting
unarmed Christopher Reid.
Murder
suspect
nabbed
Jeff Warren
jeff@lakeoconeenews.us
Top 10
1 Halloween
Car Crash
Donald and Crystal Howard
were returning home from buying
last minute candy and face paint
for their four children when, ac
cording to the Georgia State Patrol
report, their car traveling “to fast
for the conditions” left the road
and started spinning sideways.
The SUV hit a ditch, flew up into
stories
the air, came down on the driver’s
side and slid through the grass. The
passenger side of the car slammed
into a large tree, the momentum
causing it to flip and rotate on the
driver’s side before coming to rest
just past the tree, 277 feet from
where it left the road. Both Donald
and Crystal were killed instantly.
GSP Trooper First Class Nathan
Bradley realized that someone
would have to break the news
of their parents passing to the
of 2015
children. After contacting the chil
dren’s paternal grandmother, who
lives in Florida, Bradley decided to
follow the grandmother’s wishes
and take custody of the four
children until she arrived.
Bradley spent Halloween with
the children. The next morning,
the children’s grandmother
arrived and broke the news of their
parent’s death to them.
SEE HALLOWEEN » A2
Mentavious Jackson, 21,
of Madison, remains in the
Morgan County jail after
being charged with murder
in connection with a shooting
Dec. 20. Killed was Christo
pher Reid, 44, of Madison. The
shooting happened behind a
residence at 515 Burney St.,
north of the railroad near
downtown Madison.
“There was a dispute during
a gambling incident,” said
Detective Wes Thompson of
the Madison Police. Several
SEE MURDER » A10
0
94922 87855 7
Published by
Smith
Communications Inc.
2015 People of the Year
GREENE COUNTY
Dr. Olho Tucker
Lake Oconee Academy CEO
fter receiving the National Blue
Ribbon honor in 2014, Lake
Oconee Academy CEO Dr.
Otho Tucker has not stopped working to
provide the best education possible for
the students in Greene County.
With a background in developing charter
schools in other states, Tucker, and the rest of
the LOA staff, are constantly looking at new
opportunities to provide students, including
SEE TUCKER » A3
MORGAN COUNTY
Dr. James Woodard
Morgan County Charter
Schools Superintendent
M organ County Charter School
System Superintendent Dr.
James Woodard was chosen
by the Lake Oconee News staff to
represent Morgan County as Person of
the Year for a number of reasons the first
being his devotion to bringing a college
and career academy to the system.
SEE WOODARD» A10
PUTNAM COUNTY
Bob Landau
E ach and every month of 2015,
some 300 families in Putnam
County received more than
seven tons of food from the LifeSource
Food Distribution Program coordinated
by Bob Landau.
In addition, those 300 families received
vital services addressing a myriad of problems.
Landau is quite proud of, but also humbled
by, his considerable community service to his
neighbors in Putnam County. However, the
completion of Phase II of the Veterans Wall of
SEE LANDAU » A10
