Your official newspaper serving Greene, Morgan and Putnam counties in Georgia’s Lake Country \ www.LakeOconeeNews.us
VOL. 19 NO. 11G FRIDAY MARCH 17 2017 75 CENTS
Mark Engel/Staff
The Greene County Board of Education discussed the College and Career Academy and other issues at the March 9 work session. (Left to Right) John Heinen (Dist. 4),
Clarence Hunt (Dist. 3), chairman Mike Lynch, Joe Bashore (Dist. 2), vice-chair Velicia Cobb (Dist. 1).
BOE approves bidding
millions for renovation
Mark Engel
engel@lakeoconeenews.us
The Greene County Board of Educa
tion Monday night authorized bids to be
let for a multi-million dollar renovation
of Greene County High School. Many of
the changes will be necessary upgrades
including bringing some bathrooms into
compliance with the Americans with Dis
abilities Act (ADA) and improved security
by redesigning the entrance to the school.
Some of the improvements will be to
modernize and upgrade four rooms to
be used for vocational training when the
school becomes a College and Career
Academy.
The board will review all bids that are
submitted before approving a contract for
the project. If everything goes smoothly,
work could be completed by Christmas,
according to construction manager
SEE GCHS» A3
Work includes implementing
college and career academy
State grant sought to cover construction cost
Mark Engel
engel@lakeoconeenews.us
Members of the Greene County Board of
Education unanimously approved seeking
bids as the county moves towards creation
of a College and Career Academy (C&CA).
At the BOE work session on Thursday,
March 9, construction manager Ralph
Boswell outlined improvements in the 36-
year-old building that the school system
feels are necessary to fix functionality,
provide general upgrades and modernize
the front of the building.
Other changes will be in line with
programs to be offered at the planned
College and Career Academy.
The construction work parallels the early
stages of planning for the direction and
specific courses to be offered at the C&CA.
Greene County was turned down last year
in its effort to seek a state grant to help fund
the construction costs. It was their first time
applying and they were only able to spend
SEE ACADEMY » A3
index
Calendar B5
Churches B8
Classifieds D3
Community B1
Obituaries A8
Opinions A4
Recipes D1
Sports C1
Sports C1
FRIDAY
63/45
Mostly Sunny
WEATHER »D6
03 Q
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Published by
Smith
Communications Inc.
T. Michael Stone/Staff
Traffic nearly comes to halt on I-20 just eat of the Seven Islands Road overpass after a tragic accident that
resulted in a fatality.
Chain reaction accident claims doctor's life on I-20
T. Michael Stone
michael@lakeoconeenews.us
A four-car chain reaction accident
near a work zone in the westbound
lanes of Interstate 20 in Morgan
County last Friday afternoon
resulted in a fatality.
According to Morgan County
coroner Adam Carter, Gayathri
Konchady, 44, of Acworth was pro
nounced dead at the scene.
According the accident report
obtained from the Georgia State
Patrol, all four cars were traveling
west in left lane on Interstate when
the accident occurred.
A 2004 Ford LGT convertible
driven by Justin Wayne Cash, 24,
of Rockmart came to a stop due to
traffic in the work zone. A 2012 Ford
Focus driven by Tyrence Leslie,
19, of Conyers also came to a stop
behind Cash.
The 2015 Honda Civic driven by
Konchady was slowing down in
traffic preparing to stop as well.
A 1998 Chevrolet Tahoe driven
by Bobby Snoddy, 18, of Woodburn,
Kentucky, was following too closely
according to the incident report and
failed to stop in time, impacting
Konchady’s vehicle and propelling
it forward into Leslie’s vehicle which
went into a spin and crashed into the
Ford driven by Cash. Cash’s vehicle
then spun counterclockwise and
SEE FATALITY » A10
MORGAN COUNTY
The show
must go
on in
Madison
T. Michael Stone
michael@lakeoconeenews.us
No need to take a trip to Hol
lywood to see stars anymore.
You might see a matinee idol
just walking down the street
in Madison these days with
so many television shows and
films being filmed here.
A television is pilot is already
underway and a new series to
star Reba McEntire will be in
town next week.
Life Sentence
If you thought Perk Avenue
was rebranding, it’s only tem
porary.
The local coffee shop, restau
rant and live music venue is
being used as a set for a pilot
being considered by the CW
network called “Life Sentence.”
It wasn’t that long ago that
Jack Black along with the cast
and crew of Goosebumps were
busy building sets on Jefferson
SEE SHOW » A10
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