Newspaper Page Text
1w WIBE0RA8S
Wednesday, January 17,2024
ASHBURN,GA, 31714
VOL 109 - No. 3 • 750
www.thewiregrassfarmer.com
^Around Town'
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Call 567-3655
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.
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.
Obituaries
Gregory Wendell Hudgins,
83, Sycamore
Complete obituary
information Page 6
HOMETOWN NEWS SINCE 1902
Parent demands firings
See the BOE meeting @TheWiregrassFarmer
on YouTube. Meetings are now LIVE!
Ronnie Buchanan got
his say last week at the
Board of Education
meeting. He did not get
to speak at the Decem
ber meeting. He said he
filled out the needed
paperwork at that time.
At last week’s meeting he
leveled criticism at the school
superintendent, an unidentified
coach and an unidentified stu
dent. Board Chair Sandra Blue
said Mr. Buchanan was not al
lowed to mention names in his
speech.
He presented a written re
port to the Board and asked if
they would read it.
“You can read what is on
there. I’d like you to read out
each of my complaints,” he
said.
Board Attorney John Hol
land said Mr. Buchanan was
there to speak and the Board
was there to listen.
Mr. Buchanan then started
going over the papers he
brought. He said the incident
was in 2023. When he went to
a parent meeting with Superin
tendent Craig Matthews, re
garding Mr. Buchanan’s
daughter, Ms. Blue stopped
him.
“You cannot use the names
of the people involved,” she
said.
Mr. Buchanan said he
would try to not use names
henceforth.
The matter was over the use
(See FIRE Pge 2)
City booze deadline missed
Each January, the Ash
burn City Council votes
on renewing various al
cohol licenses in the
City.
This year several businesses
either outright missed the
deadline or did not get all the
paperwork done in time for the
Council’s first meeting of the
year. As such, no license for
them.
During discussion, Mayor
Sandra Lumpkin started to
read off the list of those who
did not meet the deadline. City
Manager Daryl Hall said the
Mayor should probably not
read those. She read the list of
businesses which had met the
deadlines and were recom
mended for approval.
The City provided the list of
businesses with current li
censes and those who intended
to apply for a new license. The
list also showed businesses
which did not get their paper
work in order for the January
meeting.
Among the not approved
were a new restaurant going
into the old Shoney’s building
and a liquor store planned for
the west side of town.
Those who submitted all the
paperwork on time were unan
imously approved.
The 2023-24 JROTC Rifle Team.
Rifle Team ready for region tournament
The Turner County
High School Rifle team
is enjoying a strong
start to their 2023-2024
season, posting a 7-1
record so far.
Under the expert guidance
of coaches SFC Lee and SFC
Young, the team has already
notched two big wins against
rivals Tift County.
As a smaller public high
school program, the rifle team
depends on community sup
port to fund equipment, travel
to matches, and range fees.
Donations from local busi
nesses and supporters help
make their success possible.
(See SHOOT Page 2)
A question of jurisdiction on 1-75
See the Ashburn meeting on YouTube
@TheWiregrassFarmer. Meetings are now LIVE!
Vuzeda Rudgles, a for
mer Ashburn Police Of
ficer, says her
relationship with the
APD is part of the rea
son the department re
fused to do anything
about a semi that ran
her off the road on 1-75
recently.
The recording at the 911 de
partment shows something a
bit different.
No one is arguing about
what happened on the major
road. The dispute is over how
things were handled.
Ms. Rudgles said she fol
lowed the semi and started
making calls to get help from
law enforcement. The first call
was to the Crisp County Sher
iff’s department and no help
was sent.
Then she called the Turner
County 911 center. Whether
she dialed 911 or called the
center’s direct number was
never said.
In her call, Ms. Rudgles
said she was near Mile Marker
92. She was southbound. MM
92 is in Crisp County and she
was run off the road in Crisp
County. The APD has no au
thority in Crisp County, unless
a chase starts in Ashburn and
heads north, in which case the
“hot pursuit” laws give an of
ficer the right to continue a
chase.
This is the law that allows
the APD and Sycamore Police
Departments to catch someone
speeding on the Interstate
through the City Limits and
issue the ticket outside the City
Limits.
Sheriff’s Department
deputies in Georgia have
statewide authority. The Turner
County SO could have re
sponded. Ms. Rudgles spent
little time criticizing the
(See ROAD 2)
2BTHANNUAL FIRE ANTFESTIVAL
EVERY 4TH WEEKEND IN MARCH • ASHBURN, GA
2024 Fire Ant Festival T-shirts will soon go on on sale.
Call 567-3436 to pre-order. Fridays are FAF T-shirt days.
FAF committee gets ready
The ANTvengers are coming to town March 22-
23, the 4th weekend in March.
This year’s new activity is a car window painting. While de
tails are still being worked out, the idea is some volunteers will
set up a stand in downtown Ashburn on a day before the annual
event. For a small contribution to the Fire Ant Festival, the driver
can get the car windows painted.
The paint is easy to remove yet will be durable enough to stand
up to a few rains.
BBQ JUDGING
Want to try the best
BBQ you’ll ever sink
your choppers into?
Sign for the BBQ
judging class,
The Georgia BBQ
Association is hosting
a Judge Training Class
on Saturday at the
Turner County Ele
mentary School Cafe
teria. If you would like
to be able to judge the
BBQ at the Fire Ant
Festival, take this
class. Once completed, you can judge any GBA contest in Geor
gia!
Link to sign up: https://bit.ly/fireantbbq
Your fee covers the cost of the class and 1 year’s dues to the
GBA.
BINGO
Come to the Fire
Ant Festival's Annual
Bingo Night! This
event ALWAYS sells
out quickly!
Thursday, February
22, 2024, from 5:3-7
p.m. at the TCES
Lunchroom. Please
enter from Gorday
drive at the front of the
school.
Tickets are on sale
now!
Stop by the Wiregrass Farmer, Perry Funeral Chapel, South
Georgia Banking Company, or the Ashburn-Turner County
Chamber of Commerce.
It's sure to be a great time full of lots of fun, a few good-
hearted rivalries, and delicious food!
Admission is $7 and in
cludes a BINGO card + a
delicious meal! Extra cards
are available for $2.00/card.
Supper is sponsored by
South Georgia Banking
Company.
GOLF SCRAMBLE
Come join us for our
first annual Fire Ant Festi
val Golf Scramble. This 4
(See FAF Page 2)
FIRE ANT FESTIVAL
GObF
SCRAMBLE
4 MAN SCRAMBLE
S200/TEAM
SATURDAY, MARCH 16, 2024
0 8:00am-12:00pm
£ Breakfast included!
Wanee Lake RV & Golf
SIGN UP TODAY!
G 229-567-9696
FIRE ANT BINGO
TICKETS ON SALE NOW!
Stop by the Wiregrass Farmer, Perry Funeral Chapel, South Georgia Banking
Company, or the Ashburn-Turner County Chamber of Commerce
8 66670 00023
750 - tax included
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567-3655
Cold is merciless. It shows you where you
are. What you are. Wim Hof
What you're supposed to do when you don't like a thing is change it. If you can't change it, change the way
you think about it. Don't complain. Maya Angelou
