About The Eatonton messenger. (Eatonton, Ga.) 18??-current | View Entire Issue (June 12, 2025)
PUBLISHED CONTINUOUSLY SINCE 1861 ("bwww.msgrnews.com The fatonton dessenuer ) C Official organ of Putnam County and City of Eatonton V . Locally Owned by Smith Communications Inc. 4/ GCELLEV GIA o G PA Cz 0 0 SPCIAC GNEWS VOLUME 164 • NO. 24 THURSDAY, JUNE 12, 2025 Death of Eatonton man ruled natural causes Lynn Hobbs lynn@msgrnews.com An Eatonton man whose body was discovered in his vehicle last week died of natural causes, authorities say. Around 10 p.m. Tuesday, June 3, a passerby along the 100 block of Crooked Creek Drive noticed a 2015 Nissan Titan down in the woods off the roadway and called Putnam County Sheriff’s Office. When deputies arrived, they found 35-year-old Nicholas Justin Dempsey in the driver’s seat; he appeared to have died a few hours earlier, said Putnam County Sheriff Howard Sills. “It looks like his truck clipped a mailbox before it ran off down in the woods,” Sills said the next day. “But the damage to the vehicle and the impact shouldn’t have killed him.” Putnam County Coroner Hollis Harrison took Dempsey’s body to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation Medical Examiner’s Office for an autopsy. The autopsy results revealed Dempsey died from a medical episode, Harrison said. Dempsey was a landscaping superintendent at Yellowstone Land scape in Eatonton, according to his obituary. He loved camping, hunting at Oconee Wildlife Management Area in White Plains, and fishing on Lake Sinclair with his family. His family is holding a celebration of his life Sunday, June 15, at Williams Funeral Home. The obituary can be viewed on Page A6 of this week’s edition. 39.0 7 IAN TOCHER /Staff 2025 Dairy Festival Queen Presley Moss brightened up Saturday's annual parade in Downtown Eatonton. SEE FULL / COVERAGE / » PAGE B1 / CHIEF WILLIAMSON/Contributed The fire in this single-wide was reportedly caused by a window unit air conditioner plugged into an extension cord. Residential, vehicle fires extinguished Lynn Hobbs lynn@msgrnews.com Eatonton and Putnam County fire fighters were busy last week battling four different fires on homes and a vehicle. Eatonton Fire Chief Jamey Williamson and Putnam County Fire Chief Thomas McClain said no one was injured in any of the incidents. Harbor Drive On Tuesday, June 3, a couple smelled smoke inside their home on the 100 block of Harbor Drive around 1:40 p.m. and called Putnam County 911. ‘When they smelled smoke, they went and investigated and they saw fire on the back MORE FIRES » A2 City considers permits, food service, secret compartments Ian Tocher ian@msgrnews.com The Eatonton City Council held its first of two regularly scheduled monthly meetings June 3, led by consideration of extending the time limits on two certificates of appropriateness (COA) for making alterations to historical properties at 300 N. Madison Ave. and 303 N. Lafay ette St. “The code says the COA is void unless construction is commenced within six months of the date of issuance and the COA shall be issued for a period of 18 months,” City Adminis trator Gary Sanders explained of the expired permits. He added, however, that since COAs are renewable, no hard time limit exists to prevent extending the terms. Lyn Romine, chair for the Eatonton Historic Preservation Commission, also was present to give counsel and she approved of both a new roof and installing handicap rails on the porch of the Madison Avenue home and for work to be done on the windows, porch, and exterior siding of the Lafayette Street property. With five of seven members present, the existing council voted unanimously to approve both COA continuances. Next, the council unanimously approved an application from Eatonton Main Street for a temporary street closure from 2-10 p.m. on Thursday, June 26, on North Madison Avenue in front of the Blackwell’s series of shops near the intersection of Marion Street. A temporary Farmer’s Market is planned for that stretch of road during the Evening in Eatonton shopping event that day. The council then wholly approved Mayor John Reid attending as the city’s official representative at the annual business meeting of the Georgia Municipal Association, June 22 at the Savannah Convention Center. At Reid’s suggestion, the council also unanimously approved of Councilmember James Gorley also attending as Eatonton’s official flag bearer for the meeting. The councilmembers next considered the need for explicit rules and directions regarding MORE CITY » AS 0 94922 87854 WEATHER 88 HIGH Thursday Few Showers 70 LOW Detailed forecast / C8 For breaking news or to subscribe, visit lwww.msgrnews.com] or call 706-485-3501 SMITH COMMUNICATIONS^ Newspapers • Magazines • Printing War Eagles still looking to fill spots for golf tourney » PAGE Bl INSIDE THIS WEEK Classifieds D1 Public Record A7 Community C1 Opinions A4 Crossword Puzzle C5 Obituaries A6 Legal Notices D3 Sports B1 Congratulations to the Pilot Club of Eatonton on a successful 63rd Annual Dairy Festival. Roger had a good time beating his PUTNAM best time in the 5K road race. I I Weather was OK, but a bit H I H hot. George says it should be I N a Fall Fest in October celebrating Dairying, Artisans, Putnam's rich heritage, world-famous writers and local industry. Just don't put it on a Georgia football Saturday. Maybe the week before the Georgia-Florida game. Zeke finished reading local author Randall Harmon's book on "Saving our 250-year Brillant Experiment." It is an interesting story of a man with strong convictions that lost friends and family over his political beliefs. Zeke even wears his 20/20 for 2024 ball cap. Garden is coming along with blossoms on most of my crop. Crows keep digging up my corn before it sprouts. Budweiser is no help guarding the garden. WWW LEES an GIB OUBEMG LUES BEAT Lu
