Newspaper Page Text
Index
News 2,5,8,12
Obituaries 3
Opinion 4
Around the County 6
Calendar 9
Sheriff's Report 10
Legals 10
Sports 11
Big night for Pittard
It was a milestone night for
Javaun Pittard. He scored 27 points
to surpass 1,000 for his career in
Oglethorpe County's season-open
ing 66-30 victory over Southwest
Atlanta Christian on Monday. Pittard
also had 12 rebounds.
... Page 11
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The Oglethorpe Echo
Volume 150, Number 8
November 23, 2023 ??? Oglethorpe County, Georgia
$1
GABRIEL JIMENEZ/FOR THE OGLETHORPE ECHO
Gabriel Jimenez takes a photo of himself and some of the turkeys at Caribe United Farm in Crawford.
Jimenez andTamita Brown, his wife, have raised turkeys, specifically forThanksgiving, there since 2019.
Husband, wife raise
Thanksgiving turkeys
Caribe United Farm owners say sales are down this year
By John James
The Oglethorpe Echo
Gabriel Jimenez and Tamita
Brown faced a steep learning curve
when they started raising turkeys at
Caribe United Farm in 2019.
The biggest obstacle was per
haps the most important ??? health.
Brown said she and her husband
lost many turkeys early in their
farming days due to the birds???
poor immune systems.
???They???re very susceptible to
diseases,??? Brown said. ???They
could get sick one day and just
die. You need to have a cool, dry
place. If you don???t have enough
space, it can be a challenge.???
Jiminez and Brown worked to ac
commodate their turkeys by build
ing and modifying chicken houses
for them at their property in Craw
ford. The houses serve as places
where they have room to spread out
and live without being clumped to
gether with their fellow birds.
Now, four years later, Brown
and her husband get up as early as
5 a.m. to start feeding and water
ing their 350 turkeys. For the re
mainder of the day, the birds for
age for themselves, eating grass,
bugs and other critters.
Caribe United isn???t alone in
navigating the difficulties of tur
key farming, especially during the
Thanksgiving season.
The U.S. raised 217 million
turkeys in 2021, according to a
report from the U.S. Department
of Agriculture. That???s more tur
keys than the entire human pop
ulation of Brazil, and it amount
ed to nearly $6 billion in profits.
Shaun Terry of Grateful Pas
tures Farm in Mansfield, Georgia,
is also loading up for the Thanks
giving turkey rush.
He and his wife have run
Grateful Pastures Farm since
2015, serving the Athens area.
They run their poultry farm simi
lar to Caribe United, allowing the
birds space to roam and explore.
He said one of the biggest chal
lenges of raising turkeys occurs as
a result of the Thanksgiving turkey
boom.
See TURKEYS, Page 2
Obstacles to
development
Lexington leaders begin meetings
to hash out plan for downtown
By Tyler Blount
and Elena Acosta
The Oglethorpe Echo
Buildings in disrepair, truck
traffic and community apathy are
all barriers to Lexington???s ability
to flourish, according to its lead
ers.
These were among the issues
discussed at the City of Lexing
ton Downtown Master Plan Kick-
Off Meeting at the Presbyterian
Manse on Nov. 14.
The meeting included the
leaders from the Northeast Geor
gia Regional Commission, the
Lexington Downtown Develop
ment Authority, the Lexington
Historic Preservation Commis
sion and Lexington City Council.
Together, they hope to solve
the problems facing the city and
put plans in place to move for
ward.
Abandoned buildings
Local business owners and
residents have long taken issue
with the five derelict buildings
at 110, 112, 114, 116, and 118
Main Street, and one dilapidated
structure on North Gilmer Street,
all of which have been owned by
Richard ???Rick??? Hawkins for al
most 30 years.
Glynn Segars, owner of Com
munity Cigar and member of the
Lexington DDA, said two weeks
ago that the downtown stretch of
buildings is ???a concern for public
safety, it???s a concern for business
development and it???s a concern
for historic preservation.???
Mayor Craig Snow acknowl
edged the issue has been a slow
process, and he shared what he
could about the situation.
???We now have an internation
al maintenance code and we now
know the way the fines are struc
tured, all of it,??? he said. ???It took
months and months to get it, and
now it's currently in litigation.???
He didn???t disclose the num
bers due to the litigation.
???We now have a ballpark figure
of what the worth is and apprais
al for all of the properties,??? Snow
said.
Hawkins has been accepting
bids to repair the buildings since
January, and the five storefronts
are for sale for $350,000, more
than twice their estimated value,
according to public records. The
buildings are not for lease.
Hawkins has also bought ads
in The Oglethorpe Echo seeking
repair bids the past two weeks.
See DEVELOPMENT, Page 3
ELENA ACOSTA/THE OGLETHORPE ECHO
Glynn Segars, owner of Community Cigar and member of the
Lexington Downtown Development Authority, points out the
notice on the window in a building along Main Street in down
town Lexington. "It's a concern for public safety, it's a concern
for business development and it's a concern for historic preser
vation," he said.
Broadband preparation continues along Wolfskin Road
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EMILY LUPO/THE OGLETHORPE ECHO
By Emily Lupo
The Oglethorpe Echo
Broadband internet instal
lation continues to progress in
Oglethorpe County. A representa
tive with Spectrum confirmed last
week the internet service provider
is on the ground in the county.
The update comes just a week
after residents living near Wolf
skin Road and Lake Oglethorpe
Drive had questions regarding an
above-ground and underground
cable being run in their neighbor
hood.
???We first saw some guys run
ning wires on top of the poles that
run above the road,??? said Debbie
Hardegree, who lives near Wolf
skin Road. ???When we asked them
about running the wires up there,
I believe they told us it was for
Spectrum. Shortly after that they
came out and started digging, and
they had big rolls of that orange
pipe that holds your fiber optic ca
ble.???
Hardegree said within the last
two weeks, the workers have also
started digging trenches down
Deerfield Street.
???Everybody's curious about
what it's going to be and whether
it's going to be an improvement,???
she said.
A Spectrum representative said
the company is doing work in the
county, and specifically in the
area near Wolfskin Road. Howev
er, Spectrum won???t install broad
band cables until early to mid-
2024.
See BROADBAND, Page 7
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