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VOLUME 164 • NO. 37
PUBLISHED CONTINUOUSLY SINCE 1861
("bwww.msgrnews.com
Gatonton dessenuer
V . Official organ of Putnam County and City of Eatonton V - Locally Owned by Smith Communications Inc. 4)
County and City of Eatonton
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 2025
G
PA
SPCIAIL
GNEWS
Family survives house fire thanks to passerby
Lynn Hobbs
lynn@msgrnews.com
A passerby who alerted resi
dents that their home was on
fire may have saved their lives.
However, the family’s pets
perished in the housefire early
Saturday morning.
“It was two cats and one dog
that didn’t make it,” Eatonton
Fire Chief Jamey Williamson
said. “And their car burned up,
too. But the family said they
were thankful someone let
them know to get out.”
The good Samaritan was
driving by about 7 a.m. and
noticed flames and black smoke
billowing through the roof of
the brick ranch-style house on
the 800 block of Monticello
Road.
“Whoever it was pulled into
the driveway and called 911
and kept blowing their car horn
trying to make sure everyone
woke up and got out of the
house,” Williamson said.
Inside at the time were
a mother and two teens,
according to Williamson, who
said the woman’s husband was
at work at the
Itime. Williamson
CHIEF WILLIAMSON/Contributed
Smoke and flames can be seen on the back of the house as City of Eatonton and Putnam County
MORE FIRE » A6 firefighters begin to battle the blaze.
IAN TOCHER/Staff
L-R: Indy Brennan, marketing director for "Sanctified," was joined by writer, director and producer Javon Johnson, and
Jarvis Wingfield, who stars in the show making its debut this Saturday night in Eatonton.
Gospel musical Sanctified
at The Plaza this weekend
Ian Tocher
ian@msgrnews.com
This Saturday night, The Plaza
Arts Center in Eatonton will host the
premiere of Sanctified, a new gospel
musical comedy. Written, directed,
and produced by Atlanta-based Javon
Johnson, familiar to many as a recur
ring cast member and writer on Tyler
Perry’s The Oval, the show blends
heartfelt storytelling, comedy, and a
wide range of church music traditions.
“Sanctified” depicts a small
Southern church grappling with
change. A young interim pastor
arrives determined to rejuvenate a
dwindling congregation by involving
younger voices and modernizing the
MORE PLAZA » A5
Employee takes
more than $10k
in copper wire
Lynn Hobbs
lynn@msgrnews.com
When a local busi
ness manager noticed
copper wire myste
riously disappearing
from the company’s
inventory, he installed
surveillance cameras.
What he saw on the
Gus Davis
security videos prompted a call to
Eatonton Police Department.
Eatonton Police Officer Tommy
Williams responded to the call at
Lone Star Tire and Axle Company
on Industrial Boulevard on Aug. 27,
where the manager reportedly told
Williams about the cameras and
provided footage.
The videos show one of Lone
Star Tire and Axle’s employees,
Gus Davis, taking the copper wire
from a box, then using a company
forklift to put the wire into a barrel
in the back of a pickup truck he was
driving. The theft was occurring
after business hours, according
to Eatonton Police Chief Howell
Cardwell.
After reviewing the video footage,
Williams and EPD Investigator
Hargrove Jones went to Hallman
Recycling Center and learned that
MORE THEFT » A7
Council considers vape shops, mail service, county contracts
Ian Tocher
ian@msgmews.com
Eatonton City Council held its
first of two routinely scheduled
monthly meetings Sept. 2, at
the county commission building
north of downtown alongside
Hwy. 441.
The first order of business led
to unanimous approval for a
special event pouring license for
the annual “Taste of Eatonton”
event scheduled and orga
nized by the Eatonton-Putnam
Chamber of Commerce for Oct.
6 on the front lawn of The Plaza
Arts Center on North Madison
Avenue.
The council then voted to
renew the city’s participation
in the Low-Income Home
Energy Assistance Program,
administered by the Georgia
Department of Human
Services. City Administrator
Gary Sanders explained that
the program provides one-time
heating payments to qualifying
residents during the winter.
Community action agency
Overview, Inc. will continue to
screen applicants and distribute
funds.
A series of funding agree
ments with local organiza
tions followed. The council
authorized a memorandum of
understanding with the Down-
town Development Authority,
approved a contract with The
Plaza Arts Center for cultural
programming, and reaffirmed
a tourism promotion part
nership with the Chamber of
Commerce. That agreement
dedicates 62.5 percent of the
city’s hotel-motel tax revenues
MORE CITY » A6
0 94922 87854
WEATHER
87
HIGH
Thursday
Sunny
61
LOW
Detailed forecast / DX
For breaking news or to subscribe, visit
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COMMUNICATIONS
Newspapers • Magazines • Printing
War
Eagles
defeat
Rebels
» PAGE Bl
George thinks the Department of
Transportation needs to rethink its grand
plan of widening Highway 44 at Lake
Oconee. They are five years too late. And
starting in Greensboro means they
have to address the I-20 bridge. That
could take years. The real problem is
between Carey Station Road at St. Mary's
Hospital in Greene County and Old Phoenix-
Harmony Road at the Pyramid in Putnam
County. Throw in another 4,000 homes and at least
five retail developments now under construction and you have a recipe for
disaster. The Plan was fumbled from the kickoff. I think DOT is also the folks
PUTNAM
INSIDE THIS WEEK
that turned loose a vertical tree eating Bush Hog on the Putnam side of 44.
Looks like Atlanta after Sherman blew through and burned everything. Surely
there is a better way to trim bushes and trees. See Lake Oconee Academy lost
Classifieds D2 Public Record A7
Community C1 Opinions A4
Crossword Puzzle C5 Obituaries A6
Legal Notices D4 Sports B1
43-0 to Brentwood last week, Greene County lost 62-20 to Morgan
County, and Gatewood is 0-4 after losing 28-25 to Southland Academy. But
Putnam County War Eagles won 16-14 over Haralson County.
Good football weather. Understand University
of Florida may cancel their season? nely
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