Your official newspaper serving Greene, Morgan and Putnam counties in Georgia’s Lake Country \ www.LakeOconeeNews.us
VOL. 19 NO. 21 g FRIDAY MAY 26 2017 75 CENTS
GREENE COUNTY
Groome shuttle driver jailed for DUI
T. Michael Stone
michael@lakeoconeenews.us
A Greene County deputy arrested a
Groome Transportation shuttle driver
last week for DUI after an incident at
the Flying J truck stop in Siloam.
Andy David McNair, 47, of Grove-
town was observed sitting in the
door of a Groome Transportation van
staring at the ground and appearing
to fall asleep, according to an incident
report from the Greene County’s Sher
iffs Office.
Deputy Nicholas Hobbs had been
dispatched to the truck stop during
the afternoon of May 16 in reference
to a disorderly person.
Hobbs met with a shuttle passen
ger who told him that the driver had
picked him up in Thomson but arrived
15 minutes late. He also said the driver
failed to collect his luggage for the trip.
The passenger also reported that
McNair had left the roadway several
times.
According to the incident report,
Hobbs noticed a strong odor of alcohol
coming from McNair.
Greene County deputy Randy
Murphy was called in to assist Hobbs.
Hobbs reported that McNair was
slurring his words and appeared
confused.
SEE DUI » All
McNair
GREENE COUNTY
Trucker loses marbles; 1-20 blocked
Mark Engel
engel@lakeoconeenews.us
Orlando Guillen of Orlando,
Florida was maneuvering his Freight
Line Express flat-bed truck loaded
with sheets of marble westbound on
1-20 Wednesday morning, May 17.
It was hazardous driving both east
and westbound that day since the
road resurfacing project had reduced
traffic to one lane in each direction.
Guillen later told Greene County
Sheriff s Deputy Patrick Paquette that
he had crossed under the Greensboro
Road overpass at exit 130 when a car
trying to merge onto the expressway
cut in front of him.
Guillen said he had to hit the brakes.
A DOT workman told the Lake
Oconee News, that he heard a loud
SEE MARBLE » A10
Mark Engel/Staff
A truck lost its load of marble slabs Wednesday, May 17 on 1-20 west at mile marker 129. Road construction in the area left only one
lane in each direction open before the accident. Both westbound lanes were closed for about 45 minutes as work crews cleared pieces
of marble from one of the lanes.
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FRIDAY
78/65
Sunny
WEATHER »D6
0 94922 87855 7
Published by
Smith
Communications Inc.
Firefighters pet the puppy they pulled out of an abandoned well in Morgan County.
Contributed
Firefighters rescue dog from abandoned well
Fire fighters from Morgan County
Fire Rescue’s volunteer stations
No. 2, 3, 7 and 9 along with the
career fire fighters from Station
16 rescued a puppy from a well
located on property in Rutledge on
Monday evening, May 15. The
puppy, named Kane, isn’t quite a
year old yet.
The well was too narrow to lower
a fire fighter to the puppy and there
was a concern of the ground around
the well giving way. The fire fighters
were able to lower ropes fashioned
into a make shift harness and the
puppy maneuvered into the harness.
The quick reflexes of those manning
the harness allowed them to tighten
the harness around the puppy, so
they pull him out of the raise him
from the 16-foot well. Personnel also
used firefighting equipment that isn’t
SEE RESCUE » A12
MORGAN COUNTY
CURRENT
EVENTS
Madison joins
Thomson on
electric vehicles
T. Michael Stone
michael@lakeoconeenews.us
Georgia Power held a ribbon
cutting ceremony in Madison
on the morning of May 18
and another on in Thomson
later that afternoon to offi
cially open two electric vehicle
charging stations that will help
owners of electric cars navigate
Georgia roads.
The station is relatively
obscure at this point with only
a few electric cars on the road
in Morgan County but sales
of electric cars are increasing,
especially in urban areas. Ac
cording to Public Service Com
missioner Tim Echols who was
on hand for the event, said the
station in Madison is import
ant for owners of electric cars.
“If you look at my plug share
app and you have a car like I do,
which is a Kia Soul EV with a
SEE CURRENT » A12
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866 Harmony Rd.
Eatonton, GA
706-485-5456
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