About Lake Oconee news. (Greensboro, GA) 199?-current | View Entire Issue (July 21, 2017)
Your official newspaper serving Greene, Morgan and Putnam counties in Georgia’s Lake Country | unvw.LakeOconeeNews.us VOL. 19 NO. 29 g FRIDAY JULY 21 2017 75 CENTS GREENE COUNTY Pair arrested with 32 T. Michael Stone michael@msgr.com Greene County deputies arrested two people on marijuana trafficking charges on July 13 after they discovered a bag containing 32 pounds of the stuff during a traffic stop on 1-20. According to an incident report obtained from the Greene County Sheriffs Office, Deputy Robert McCannon was monitoring traffic near the Greensboro exit when he noticed a Chevrolet Tahoe with dark on its windows. According to McCannon, the tint was so dark “you could not see into the vehicle.” McCannon stopped the Tahoe near mile post 132 eastbound and made contact with the female driver, later identified as Tequelia Frails, 36, of 2515 Corbin Place, Augusta. McCannon said he could smell the odor of raw marijuana as soon pounds of pot as the window came down. The male passenger, later identified as Ricco Marcel Wright, 36, of 1946 Hwy 23 South, Waynesboro, seemed to be breathing heavily and would not look at McCannon. McCannon told Frails that SEE POT»A10 Wright Frails GREENE COUNTY MORGAN COUNTY UPSA seeks merger with LOA Mark Engel engel@lakeoconeenews.us In a stunning move, the Union Point STEAM Academy (UPSA) govern ing board has voted to not apply for a charter renewal. The current charter expires in June 2018. The board also unanimously voted to seek a merger with the county’s other charter school, Lake Oconee Academy (LOA). It happened at a July 13 special called meeting and ignited a large crowd of angry and disappointed parents and teachers in attendance. Union Point Elementary school was converted to a charter school in 2012 and teaches Georgia’s STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) curriculum. UPSA begins the fifth year of a 5-year SEE UPSA » A3 Mark Engel/Staff Mike Lynch, chairman of the Greene County Board of Education, faces a tough decision on Union Point STEAM Academy. BOE OKs $ 15M bond for middle school T. Michael Stone michael@lakeoconeenews.us The Morgan County Board of Ed ucation approved a supplemental bond resolution to issue $15 million in general obligation bonds during Monday night’s meeting. The bonds were issued to cover the cost ofbuilding and equipping the new middle school. According to Bryce Holcomb of Citybank, the school system is getting an excellent interest rate on the loan SEE BOND » A10 index Calendar B4 Churches B8 Classifieds D3 Community B1 Obituaries A8 Opinions A4 Recipes D1 Sports C1 Sports C1 FRIDAY 95/76 Partly Cloudy WEATHER »D6 0 94922 87855 7 Published by Smith Communications Inc. MORGAN COUNTY Morgan County School System cuts ribbon on new transportation facility Leila Scoggins/Staff Buses in the new shop at the MCCSS Transportation center prepare for the coming school year. Leila Scoggins leila@lakeoconeenews.us A large crowd gathered at the new Morgan County Charter School System’s Transportation Center on Tuesday, July. 18 to celebrate the ribbon cutting for the facility. Pupil transportation manager Alicia Lord welcomed the group to the new center, which is a joint effort between the school system SEE MORGAN » A2 LAKE COUNTRY Smith Communications purchases The Baldwin Bulletin Josh Lurie josh@lakeoconeenews.us Eatonton-based Smith Com munications Inc. has expanded its footprint in Georgia’s Lake Country with the purchase of The Baldwin Bulletin, which was an nounced July 14 in Milledgeville. The family-owned company currently publishes The Eatonton Messenger, Lake Oconee News and Messenger Weekend, in addition to a number of magazines. Griffin Lovett, former pub- SEE BULLETIN » A10 Former and current owners gather to close the sale of The Baldwin Bulletin to Smith Communications. Pictured are, from left, former Executive Editor DuBose Porter, incoming General Manager Matt Smith, Smith Communications President A. Mark Smith Sr., and former Publisher Griffin Lovett. Wil Petty/Staff OUTDATED HEATING AND COOLING SYSTEM CLEANING OUT immk, m inii mm\mm\ m m m m CALL WILSON BRYANT • Commercial • Residential • Maintenance • New Install 866 Harmony Rd. Eatonton, GA 706-485-5456 www.bryant-air.com * BBB
