About Lake Oconee news. (Greensboro, GA) 199?-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 25, 2017)
Friday, August 25, 2017 Lake Oconee News Page A7 PUTNAM COUNTY Grant offered to help offset loss of coal power plants Shannon Sneed shannon@lakeoconeenews.us The U.S. Economic De velopment Administration will award Assistance to Coal Communities (ACC) funds to assist communities severely impacted by the declining use of coal, and local officials have begun the application process to bring some of those funds into Putnam County. After receiving the request from Putnam County Board of Commis sioners Chairman Dr. Steve Hersey for sponsorship, the Putnam Development Au thority agreed unanimous ly Aug. 14 to petition the Middle Georgia Regional Commission to supply tech nical assistance in applying for the grant. The 2017 ACC “is one of the grants the feds created to help communities that have been distressed by either coal manufacturing plants or anything related to coal,” PDA Director Terry Schwindler said. According to the U.S. Economic Development Ad ministration, through ACC 2017, they will designate a portion of EDA funding to support communities and regions that have been neg- PUTNAM COUNTY Manhunt ends with two men arrested THB INSPIRED ARTISTS - AMAZING ART Lynn Hobbs lynn@lakeoconeenews.us A manhunt that lasted about three hours on and around Twilight Shores Road Friday ended with the arrests of two Milledgeville men, according to a report from Putnam County Sher iffs Office. One of those men was caught by PCSO K-9 Aska and her handler, Dep. Chris Donovan. Sgt. Charles Riley was the first to respond to the call around 8 a.m., in which a neighbor reported people were on the property next door who were not supposed to be there. The neighbor said her landlord, who she had called, owned the property and had told her no one was supposed to be there. A vehicle’s engine “being revved up very loud” could be heard on the property, according to the report. When he got over to the property, Riley reportedly saw a pickup truck with the driver’s side door open and a man walking away from him, about 40 feet away. The engine was still being revved. The man, and another man who had been sitting in the truck, ran away from the officer and into the woods. No one else was inside the truck, which was a Chevrolet. Another truck, a Dodge, was nearby, and its license plate was covered with a washrag, according to the report. Donovan and Aska arrived and began tracking the scent of the men through the woods, over a barbed wire fence and onto a power line clearing. Aska continued up the clearing until it ended at Twilight Shores Drive. She then went back into the woods to a 5-foot tall chain link fence. Donovan lifted Aska over the fence, followed her himself, and they con tinued around the yard, where Aska stopped by a pile of debris. Donovan reportedly saw a man’s leg sticking out of the debris pile, and the man complied when the deputy ordered him out. Detective Darrell Turk, who was with Donovan and Aska, handcuffed the man, whose name is Joseph Andrew Blizard. Riley identified Blizard as the man he had seen running from him. The search continued for the other man, but Aska needed a break and was taken to Donovan’s patrol vehicle to cool off and recu perate. Meanwhile, roads exiting the neighborhood had been blocked by other deputies and detectives. Detective Chris Harper was manning a checkpoint on McDade Road when he learned that Blizard had been caught and was sent a photo on his cell phone of the other man, identified as Chad Ervin Lowery. Close to noon, a small red pickup truck with two men in it arrived at the checkpoint. The detective recognized Lowery as the passenger of the truck and immediately arrested him. The driver of the truck, a resident of Twilight Shores Road, said Lowery had asked him for a ride to the store and paid him $20 for gas. The man said he no longer wanted the money and turned the $20 bill over to the detective. Joseph Andrew Blizard, 30, of 121 Gerald Dr., Milledgeville, was charged with one count of misde meanor obstruction of an officer, one count of misde meanor criminal trespass ing and one count of felony criminal attempt theft by taking, auto. Chad Ervin Lowery, 28, of 176 Bass Rd., Milled geville, was charged with parole violation, one count of misdemeanor obstruc tion of an officer, one count of misdemeanor criminal trespassing and one count of felony criminal attempt theft by taking, auto. 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After the impact to Putnam and surround ing counties by the closing of Georgia Power’s Plant Branch, the funding of those programs could benefit the entire community. PDA Attorney Kevin Brown advised the grant would not be just for people who worked for the coal industry and was displaced, but for the communities that were impacted. “It is whole industry impacted,” said Brown. “For instance, not just for em ployees, but for vendors... and to suppliers for em ployees. Anybody who was affected by a coal-using entity which is no longer in production. It’s a displace ment grant. “That was 35 percent of our economy,” said PDA Board Member Bill Sharp. “There are 22,000 people in our county, so 22,000 people should be eligible because everybody in this county was affected.” PDA Board Chairman Lynward Lindsey noted that local officials have previously applied for coal grants and have been denied. “This is a slight varia tion,” said Scwindler. “They changed the requirements.” Swindler noted Putnam County officials have not applied for the grant before; so, it being a new process, it will be appropriate for the MGRC to administer. The grant funds are spe cifically identified under economic development plans that have been collab- oratively produced by local and regional stakeholders, including economic devel opment organizations, local governments, state and local workforce agencies and institutions of higher education and other job training and adult educa tion providers. “We are going to explore what we can do,” said Schwindler. “A training program and building and construction trades, and trying to develop that work force.” According to the EDA, ACC 2017 funds are desig nated for communities and regions that can reasonably demonstrate how changes in the coal economy have resulted and/or are antici pated to result in job losses and layoffs in any coal-re liant commercial sector or sectors. “These are the people who are unemployed or under employed,” said Schwindler, “who cannot even get a job.” Scwindler said she has been working with Central Georgia Technical College to create a program for construction trade. The partners have come up with a general outline for the program after gathering input from local industries and they have an idea of the skill sets needed for a competitive workforce in Putnam County. “We’ve been having a hard time finding money for it,” said Scwindler. “This will help us with that funding.” Lake Country Fine Arts Show Application/Entries accepted June T* - August 31 st DualVision: Art Through Different Eyes September 23 rd - October 6 th Thursday-Friday 11-5 • Saturday 10-3 110 West Marion Street • Eatonton 15TH ANNUAL Perspectives Georgia Pottery Invitational 1 August 26 - September 13 Watkinsville, Georgia 10am - 5pm, Free Admission offiF /Shorn TOP TWENTY EVENTS £2 SOUTH EAST TOURISM SOCIETY 706-769-4565 • ocaf.com
