Newspaper Page Text
Index
News 2, 3, 5, 7, 8
Obituary 3
Opinion 4
Calendar 10
Sheriff's Report 11
Legals 11
Sports 12-13
Inside
Senior Jake Turner set
a school record with
five touchdowns
in the Patriots'
56-0 victory over
ACS. He has 13TDs
and 744 yards rush
ing this season.
... Page 12
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The Oglethorpe Echo
Volume 150, Number 2
October 12, 2023 ??? Oglethorpe County, Georgia
$1
Bobcat attack victim faces recovery
Staff Report
Crystal Yamasato returned home on
Monday night, but faces more hospital
and doctor visits as she recovers from a
bobcat attack.
Yamasato, who is 3 years old, was one
of two children attacked in Winterville
last Friday afternoon. The first vic
tim was a 14-year-old boy whose inju
ries are unknown. He was transported by
his parents to Piedmont Athens Region
al Hospital.
Anita Scoggins, Yamasato???s grand
mother, said her granddaughter suf-
Gofundme Started
Anita Scoggins, the grandmoth
er of Crystal Yamasato, created
a gofundme page to help the
family with expenses from the
bobcat attack. To contribute, go
to gofundme.com/f/expenses-
during-crystals-recovery.
fered a fractured pinkie finger, mul
tiple wounds on her hand, scratches
on her body and a bite mark on her
back.
???She???s doing pretty good, but she???s
absolutely terrified to walk outside, of
course,??? Scoggins told The Oglethorpe
Echo on Tuesday. ???She just keeps cry
ing, ???the monster kitty??? or ???the big kitty.???
She???s had a hard time. The first couple
of nights she didn???t really sleep at all.???
The attacks were separate incidents
at residences near the intersection of
Melton Road and Williams McCurley
Road in Winterville.
See BOBCAT, Page 9
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Crystal Yamasato, 3, must undergo a series of
rabies shots after being attacked by a bobcat in
Winterville last Friday.
EMILY LUPO/THE OGLETHORPE ECHO
Melissa and Bud Godfriaux have pushed for improved bus stop safety in the county after the second near accident in front
of their residence on Veribest Road in the past two years. Skid marks from a quarry truck are visible after it swerved to keep
from hitting their children's school bus on the morning of Sept. 11.
A mother's concern
Godfriaux pushes for bus stop signs after two near accidents
By Emily Lupo
The Oglethorpe Echo
Melissa Godfriaux watched from the
front porch to make sure her children got
on the school bus safely on the morn
ing of Sept. 11. Just as the bus arrived, the
screeching sound of brakes sent her sprint
ing down her driveway.
A quarry truck came speeding around
the curve in front of her family???s home on
Veribest Road and swerved into the oppo
site lane for about 150 feet to avoid slam
ming into the bus that had stopped to pick
up her boys.
???You can???t imagine the horror as a parent
to witness a truck like that, going that fast,
fishtailing in front of you, and smoke from
its brakes so thick I couldn???t see the bus,???
Godfriaux said.
With decades of experience behind the
wheel, bus driver Teresa Saxon accelerated
the school bus and guided it into a culvert
on the side of the road.
All the children were safe.
???My family and I are grateful every day
for her superior driving skills and her ded
ication to the safety of the children she
drives to and from school daily,??? Godfri-
EMILY LUPO/THE OGLETHORPE ECHO
The Oglethorpe County Public Works
Department ordered four school bus
stop signs like this one for the area near
Melissa Godfriaux's home on Veribest
Road. The signs haven't arrived, but
director Adam Nation said they won't
take long to install once they do.
aux said.
That was the second time in two years
that a quarry track had nearly collided with
a school bus in front of her house, so God
friaux was determined to demand change
this time.
She voiced her concerns at the Board
of Commissioners meeting on Sept.
11, leading Oglethorpe County School
System Transportation Director Zach
Holtzclaw and Commission Chair Jay
Paul to take action, with help from
Adam Nation of the Public Works De
partment.
Two temporary bus stop signs are now in
place near Godfriaux???s home. Nation said
four 3 0-by-3 0-inch signs have been ordered
from Georgia Correctional Industries. The
cost was $218.
???The commissioner called me,???
Holtzclaw said. ???As soon as I called Mr.
Nation and went over to talk with him, he
had one of his guys out in the trailer look
ing for signs. It was a 30-minute turn
around, and they were on top of it.???
Godfriaux said a similar scenario had
occurred the second week of school in
2021. She said she and Saxon asked for
signs to be put up after that incident, but
because she didn???t ???stay on top of it like
a pitbull, it was ignored or forgotten.???
See SIGNS, Page 7
Chain in
talks to
buy Bell???s
By Jordan Long
The Oglethorpe Echo
Bell???s Food Stores in Lexington is in
the process of being sold to B&T???s Food
Fresh Market.
???Bell???s and B&T???s Food Fresh Mar
ket are in negotia
tions for B&T???s Food
Fresh Market to ac
quire Bell???s, and the
acquisition will take
place in the near fu
ture,??? said Ralph J.
Costa Jr., the corpo
rate secretary and di
rector of operations
for Bell???s.
Bell???s is the only
grocery store in Oglethorpe County. The
chain has four other locations in Georgia,
including Athens, Watkinsville, Jefferson
and Lincolnton.
The store opened in 1926 in a small
building in downtown Athens. Sever
al other locations in Athens followed, ac
cording to its website.
A few decades later, Bell???s expand
ed outside of Athens, and in 1973, a store
opened in Crawford on Highway 78.
That store remained until 2005, when
the current location was built across from
Oglethorpe County High School.
B&T???s Food Fresh Market is a small
chain based in East Georgia.
The company was founded by John
Triplett and Clark Brunson in the ear
ly 2000s, and there are five locations in
Georgia and South Carolina.
Costa said the deal is still in process,
and more details will be released after ne
gotiations are finalized.
EVAN SMOAK/THE OGLETHORPE ECHO
Bell's Food Stores, Oglethorpe
County's only grocery store, is in
negotiations to be sold to B&T's Food
Fresh Market, a grocery chain in East
Georgia.