About The Eatonton messenger. (Eatonton, Ga.) 18??-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 4, 2025)
PUBLISHED CONTINUOUSLY SINCE 1861 G County and City of Eatonton THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2025 »SEE PAGE B4 $150 JACKPOT PRIZE FOR PERFECT , RALLOTIN/ FOOTBALL A CONTEST MATT SMITH/Staff Traffic temporarily ground to a standstill last Thursday until a multi-car accident could be investigated and then cleared from the southbound lanes of Hwy. 441, near Walmart. 7-vehicle wreck stalls traffic at intersection Lynn Hobbs lynn@msgrnews.com There were seven vehicles, but only a couple of relatively minor injuries in a crash at the Walmart intersection at Hwy. 441 and Oak Street Thursday afternoon. “It’s a miracle no one was seriously hurt,” Eatonton Police Chief Howell Cardwell said. The police department received the call a few minutes before 2 p.m. regarding the accident, and Officer Carl Hudson responded to the scene. According to Hudson and Cardwell, 54-year-old Tammy Kilgore of Eatonton was driving northbound on Highway 441, and as she got to the intersection, she lost control of the gray— MORE WRECK » A6 Damaged vehicles temporarily blocked the southbound lanes of Hwy. 441 at Oak Street in the aftermath of an accident there last Thursday afternoon. Scan the QR code for traffic camera footage of the wreck. COURTESY OF EATONTON POLICE Know your Neighbor Tom Thompson Ian Tocher ian@msgrnews.com About a week before Tom Thompson turned 90 this June, he marked the milestone not with quiet retreat, but renewed vigor. Just days before his birthday, he was in a Gainesville hospital undergoing a robotic heart valve repair. He was back home in Eatonton less than 48 hours later. “I can walk for miles now,” Thompson happily reported. “I couldn’t before, but I can now, and I love being outside, working.” That resilience, with equal measures humor, curiosity, and practicality, has formed the back bone of Thompson’s life. A farmer, an innovator, a builder, and a civic leader, he has spent the better part of a century shaping not just his family’s land and legacy in Putnam County, but its schools, utilities, MORE THOMPSON » A3 BAILEY BALLARD/Staff Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp speaks on the sacrifice of veterans and their need for care. GWVH opens state-run veteran’s home Transitional Support Unit Bailey Ballard bailey@msgrnews.com The Georgia Department of Veterans Service (GDVS) opened the Transitional Support Unit (TSU) Sept. 2 at the Georgia War Veterans Home. The unit provides compre hensive physical, mental, and behavioral health services to Georgia veterans suffering from a variety of ailments, including PTSD, traumatic brain injuries (TBI), and limb amputations. According to a press release, it is the first state-run veteran’s home facility offering nursing care and comprehensive mental and behavioral health services. TSU was constructed through a combination of $11 million in federal funds and $6 million in state funds, with a total invest ment of $17 million. According to Gov. Brian Kemp, who was the keynote speaker, Georgia is home to over 700,000 veterans and their families. More than 200,000 of those veterans live with a service-connected disability. “These American heroes often have a unique need for care because of their service and sacrifice to our great nation,” said Kemp. “Each one of them represents a hero who puts the safety and security of others above their own. These are men and women who have earned the right to the care that they need after returning to civilian life.” Veteran patients at the TSU will have access to a range of therapies and services, for mental, physical, and emotional needs tailored to the individual. Shorthand long-term treatment MORE VETERANS A2 0 94922 87854 WEATHER 88 HIGH Thursday Mostly Sunny 66 LOW 0 Detailed forecast / C8 For breaking news or to subscribe, visit |www.msgrnews.com] or call 706-485-3501 SMITH COMMUNICATIONS Newspapers • Magazines • Printing Putnam County War Eagles drop UGA opens season with win » PAGE B2 PUTNAM to 1-3 after losing at home 46-6 to Laney High School on Friday. Next game is at Haralson County on September 6th. Zeke wonders how you get to Tallapoosa from here? Gatewood also lost 26-14 to Loganville Academy in an away game. But the Bulldogs corralled Marshal College's Thundering Herd 45-7 up in Athens on INSIDE THIS WEEK Classifieds D4 Public Record A7 Community C1 Opinions A4 Crossword Puzzle C5 Obituaries A6 Legal Notices D6 Sports B1 Saturday. Next up for the Dawgs is the Austin Peay "Governors." Sounds like another warm-up game for Tennessee. Saw Eatonton Post Office took a five-day Labor Day vacation last week. Had a sign on the door that said: "Closed — Computers Down." Hello! What happened to people working? Folks, you can't make this stuff up. I think Artificial Intelligence (Al) and computers will take over America. / 10 Maybe it's a foreign plot? George says it's apathy — or worse. BEAT LU- GAB EHLOB [nW
