Lake Oconee news. (Greensboro, GA) 199?-current, February 26, 2016, Image 1

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Lake Oconee news., February 26, 2016, Image 1

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Newspaper Page TextBulldogs win thriller; Lady Bulldogs advance to Elite Eight in playoffs juniafiMi ill! tli— J Lake Oconee News J Your official newspaper serving Greene, Morgan and Putnam counties in Georgia's Lake Country \ www.LakeOconeeNews.us FRIDAY FEBRUARY 26 2016 VOL. 18 75 CENTS HISTORIC CHURCH GOES ON THE MOVE community » B1 LADY GATORS ONCE AGAIN REGION CHAMPS sports » C6 STAY CONNECTED n facebook.com/ lakeoconeenews (ffilakeoconeenews ©lakeoconeenews index Calendar D2-3 Churches B4 Classifieds D4 Community B1 Obituaries A6 Opinions A4 Recipes D1 FRIDAY 52/30 Sunny WEATHER »D7 GREENE COUNTY BOE meeting results in violence, no vote Jackie Gutknecht jackie@lakeoconeenews.us Greene County Board of Educa tion left Monday night’s meeting with a split vote on the Lake Oconee Academy charter renewal application and threats of possible legal investigations and criminal charges. The meeting, which started with an agenda change that added a dis cussion item and moved the execu tive session item to the start of the meeting, did not pick up speed until nearly 45 minutes into it. The board This is illegal, this is unethical and this is immoral and I will tell you I will pursue this even up to the state bar level. - Greene County Board of Education member Leah Dukes exited the room for more than 30 minutes in executive session before returning to vote and talk about LOA - the only other agenda item. Greene County CFO Dean Ware was asked several questions during the discussion portion of the meeting regarding the proposed LOA funding model and mid-term allotment adjustments. He was also asked about the financial impact of a five-year charter versus a 10-year charter. BOE member Clarence Hunt also raised questions regarding students who receive priority en rollment into the charter school. LOA CEO Dr. Otho Tucker re sponded to the questions and ex plained the law that dictates the priority enrollment for charter schools in the state. Motion made Interim Superintendent Chris Houston made the recommenda tion for the board to approve the application from LOA with the SEE BOE » A5 New constructions on the rise Jeff Warren jeff@lakeoconeenews.us Residential housing starts are up in Morgan County, the county’s Planning & Development Director Chuck Jarrell told Morgan com missioners Tuesday, Feb. 16. The good news came during a county commission work session that evening. “New home starts last month were the best we’ve had since the downturn,” Jarrell reported. “It was good to see after so many months and years of one to three per month.” The county issued 10 building permits during January for con struction of new homes, Jarrell detailed after the meeting. If you add together the estimated value of each home, the total amounts to $2.5 million, he said. These are custom homes, Jarrell SEE HOUSING » A2 MORGAN COUNTY Opposition to new hospital continues Jeff Warren jeff@lakeoconeenews.us Even as Morgan Memorial Hospital celebrates $2 million in local pledges and donations to build a new state-of-the art inpatient hospital for Morgan County, some county residents still oppose the plan. Vocal for the opposition, Madison attorney Robert McCauley attends meetings of the county commission and hospital au thority, where he sometimes asks questions of local officials who support new hospital construction. The Lake Oconee News sat down with McCauley to hear some of his concerns. “There are some facts well known in healthcare today: the escalating rates of rural hospital failures; closures and repurposing for other than inpatient care facilities; the regulatory forces that are in effect at this time, primarily the federal government.” SEE HOSPITAL » A2 0 94922 87855 7 Published by Smith Communications Inc. PUTNAM COUNTY State calls Eatonton’s ViziTech a ‘Rock Star’ From staff reports Eatonton-based ViziTech USA was one of five Georgia companies named a “Small Business Rock Star” last week by the Georgia De partment of Economic Develop ment and the Georgia Economic Developers Association. The special recognition was one of the highlights of what Gov. Nathan Deal proclaimed as “Georgia Small Business Week.” “We are very honored to be chosen as the governor’s Rock Star company for 2016 in the small business category,” Stewart Rode- Commercial Education Government Healthcare Changing the Way nrntnfii ifrmrm iTfntririrri mi r Don Richeson/Staff SEE VIZITECH » A8 ViziTech USA's downtown Eatonton facility is at 103 E. Sumter St. Now Available at GREENSBOR i ^^eujuelexsy 118 N Main St • Greensboro, GA • (706) 453-9222 www.greensborogajewelers.com The Timeless Collection Made in America. Handcrafted in Rhode Island. www.JohnMedeiros.com All Rights Reserved © Copyright 2015, Tahoe Jewelry, Inc.