Newspaper Page Text
Rosh Hashanah & Jewish celebrations
A rabbi explains, Page 4
Wednesday, January 3, 2024
ASHBURN,GA, 31714
VOL 109 - No. 1 • 750
www.thewiregrassfarmer.com
^Around Town'
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Call 567-3655
Blood drive
Red Cross blood drive at
the Civic Center January 4th
from 2:00 to 6:00. Please do
nate as supply levels are ex
tremely low. It is so very
important.
Meetings
County Commission, last
and 1st Tuesday of the month.
Ashburn Council, 1st
Thursday of the month.
Sycamore Council, 2nd
Thursday of the month.
School Board, 1st and 2nd
Monday of the month.
All meetings are at 6 p.m.
Teddy bears
The Kiwanis Club is col
lecting teddy bears for public
safety to give to children. The
bears are to help frightened
kids. New bears may be
dropped off at The Wiregrass.
Stray dogs
Ashburn residents are re
minded that pets must have a
collar and current rabies tag.
Animals without tags will be
collected by Animal Control.
A copy of the City's animal
ordinance is available at City
Hall and the Police Depart
ment. Animal control number
is 567-0313.
HOMETOWN NEWS SINCE 1902
Demanding answers from the Post Office
Missing mail. Mail deliv
ered weeks to months
late. Mail delivered after
a critical deadline. Vital
medicine not delivered
on time, if at all.
These are issues a dozen of
Georgia’s Congressional De
mocrat and Republican repre
sentatives are asking the US
Post Office to address. Con
gressman Austin Scott, repre
senting Central Georgia from
lill
1
Mail drop boxes, like these outside the Ashburn Post
Office, have disappeared in many places as the Post Of
fice removes them.
Death ruled drowning
The autopsy results on David Cameron Spears,
33, are back.
His death is ruled an accident due to drowning.
Mr. Spears was found in a pond off S. Railroad and Blanchard
Road in September.
County Coroner Jim Lumpkin said GBI scene investigators
were not called to scene.
The GBI medical examiners office in Macon performed the
autopsy. The investigating agency was the Turner County Sher
iff’s office.
Monroe County north of
Macon to the Florida line has
signed the letter. Rep. Scott
serves Cook, Irwin and Turner
County in Washington.
Rep. Scott and Rep Sanford
Bishop (D-Albany) issued a
joint press release about the
letter.
“The U.S. Postal Service
should strive to provide the
best possible service to every
family and business in Amer
ica, even those whose ad
dresses are located in remote
areas and rural communi
ties,” said Congressman
Bishop. “Any proposed
changes to postal operations in
Middle Georgia should take
into account the unique chal
lenges faced by rural Ameri
cans, especially our seniors
who often rely on USPS for the
delivery of bills, checks, and
prescription drugs.”
Years back, the Post Office
had regional sorting facilities.
These got condensed. The Al
bany center was closed and
mail was sent to Tallahassee or
Jacksonville, FL, for sorting
and forward
ing to rele
vant Post
Offices. Mail
for Turner
County is
now sent to
Jacksonville,
FL.
Rep. Scott
and Rep
Bishop say following the clos
ings of the Columbus, Albany,
and Valdosta Customer Service
Mail Processing Centers
(CSMPCs) in 2012, Middle
and Southwest Georgia lost
(See PO Page 2)
Read the Congressional Letter to the
Post Office, Page 2
As a part of our atten
dance incentive pro
gram for the 2023-2024
school year, a bicycle is
being awarded to one
lucky student each 9-
week period. The names
of all of the students who
had great attendance for
the 1st Nine Weeks were
entered into a drawing
and the student whose
name was drawn to re
ceive the bicycle was
4th grader Lauryn
Spikes in Ms. Winter’s
homeroom! Congratu
lations Lauryn!
2023, a look back at what happened in Turner County
Separate debris
If you pile leaves and
limbs at curbside, please sep
arate limbs from the leaves
and pine straw. The City's
street vac can pick up the
leaves and straw.
The boom truck can pick
up limbs. When you separate
the leaves and limbs, pick up
goes faster and takes fewer
employees.
Siren Test
The Turner County
weather warning siren is
tested the first Wednesday of
the month, good weather per
mitting, at noon. If weather is
bad, the system will be tested
at noon on the next clear day.
County website
The County Commission
has a website, www.tumer-
countygeorgia.com .
Commission meeting
minutes and other items
about Turner County are
posted on the website.
The look back at 2023 picks
up with August Week 2. Janu
ary through the 1st week of
August appeared in last
week’s edition.
August
Week 2
Turner County got
a clean opinion from
its annual audit, but
the numbers also
show the County over
spent. A clean report
means the CPA firm
doing the audit found the
books to be in order.
Week 3
Citing problems with the
Turner County E911 dispatch
center, 2 in particular, the
Sycamore City Council is
going to have the Irwin County
911 Center handle Police De
partment dispatching.
In order to improve security
at the schools and school
events, the Turner County
School Police Department is
considering adding equipment.
The School PD is a full police
department with Willie James
Thomas as the chief. The
School PD is not connected to
Sheriff’s
Department nor the Ashburn
PD.
Stop signs and speed bumps
are going up on S. Lee and Old
Main Street in hopes of slow
ing down speeders. A speed
bump is also planned for
Whatley at the request of a res
ident.
The Turner County Airport
Authority is working hard to
get its hands on $150K a year
in federal aviation money.
In hopes of lowering the
monthly bill and getting better
Internet service, the County
Commission is looking at
changing service providers
for landline phone and In
ternet service.
Lady Titans dominat
ing the diamond with
massive victories
against Monroe, 17-3
and 18-3. In the game
against Pelham on
Wednesday they tied 7-
7.
In football Turner
County Titans opens
against Worth County Rams
in Sylvester Friday night.
Week 4
The School Board is getting
another half million in state
funding for the new middle-
high school construction. FTE
funding has changed the
GADOE’s construction fund
ing projection. A final con
struction cost is not ready, but
the cost has risen from $33
million and last estimate was
$39 million. A final price is ex
pected soon.
Ashburn’s street sweeper
repair may cost $11,000 but the
Council is divided on getting it
repaired.
Ashburn’s compliance de
partment has gotten some
properties cleaned up and has
at least one property owner in
court to force a cleanup.
Bryce Johnson, the Tiftarea
District Attorney, is offering to
take over the prosecution role
in Turner County State Court.
For quite some time, the
Sycamore City Council has de
manded answers on why the
City’s sewer treatment pond
work is not moving forward.
At the August meeting, they
got the answer. It was not what
they expected.
The engineering company
said the EPA, the federal
agency with oversight on envi
ronmental matters, is holding
matters up.
The Turner County Titans
opened the season Friday night
over in Sylvester against the
Worth County Rams. It was
one of the more exciting sea
son openers for Turner County
in recent years and head coach
Ben Simmons said he couldn’t
be any prouder after a thrilling
22-21 victory.
Turner County Varsity Lady
Titans victorious over Ameri-
cus 18-9.
Week 5
Sycamore Police Chief Bill
Ryder said he recently overre
acted to issues at the County
jail and the 911 center. 911 will
continue to handle radio traffic
for the Sycamore Police De
partment and we will continue
to house inmates at the jail.
Sheriff Andy Hester said the
matter is settled.
The Turner County High
School Class of 1973 recently
held its 50th class reunion.
The Turner County Titans
fall to Fitzgerald Purple Hurri
canes 43-19.
Lady Titans fall to Lanier
Dawgs 12-0
September
Week 1
Turner County got off light
in the face of last week’s Hur
ricane Idalia. East Georgia was
not so lucky.
New jail agreement for
Sycamore and the County for
housing inmates at the County
jail. The new agreement is for
2 years and does not have a 30-
day cancelation clause.
(See YEAR Page 2)
8 66670 00023
750 - tax included
Wed Cloudy Thur Partly Cloudy
Some rain
Weather for Turner Co
Fri Mostly Sunny
Sat Cloudy with Sun AM showers
showers Cloudy
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Mail your packages early so the Post Office can lose them in time for Christmas. - Johnny Carson
Let's turn inflation over to the Post Office. That'll slow it down. - Mo Udall
