Newspaper Page Text
The Pirates soccer team is ranked
second in the state in AAA at 10-1-1.
The Lady Pirates are seventh. Senior
Night for both teams is this Friday.
See page 5B
JOURNAL
PIRATES PREVA
Despite a tough start to the season
as they faced 5A and 7 A teams,
the Pirates are undefeated in
the region play with a 4-0 record.
See page 5B
ONE DOLLAR
www.pikecountygeorgia.com
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 24, 2021
PIKE'S PEEK
COVID-19
cases still
dropping
Confirmed COVID-19
cases in Pike continue
to drop, with 15 cases
over the past two
weeks, compared to
22, 24, 28, 41, 89 and
93 in the previous two
week periods. Pike
County has had 1,006
confirmed cases since
last March with 23
deaths, 11 probable
deaths and 67 hospital
izations.
Pike County schools
have seen consider
ably fewer cases of
COVID-19 in the past
several weeks as well.
See COVID-19 page 2B
Grand jury
returns True
and No Bills
The March 2020
Term Grand Jury con
vened March 10 and
returned the following
presentments. A no bill
is a legal procedure
dismissing charges
against a defendant
because the grand jury
does not find enough
evidence to charge the
defendant with violat
ing a law. A true bill is a
bill of indictment found
by a Grand Jury to be
supported by sufficient
evidence to justify the
hearing of a case. Spe
cial presentments are
when the District Attor
ney obtains a warrant
or charges a suspect
by taking those charges
directly to a Grand Jury
without an initial arrest
on that specific charge.
TRUE BILLS:
Javier Chaves-Guer-
rero, child molestation,
aggravated identity
fraud, special present
ment child molestation.
See GRAND JURY page 3A
Fiber internet likely to take 4-5 years
Southern Rivers Energy
recently announced a
formal partnership with
Conexon, a full-service
broadband consulting
firm, that will provide
high-speed internet to
every SRE member across
its nine-county service
territory, including around
5,000 accounts in Pike.
“The project in Pike
includes more than 460
miles of fiber for a total
investment of more than
$12.5 million. We are
still working out details
with Conexon including
the network design and
construction timeline
but will share those
details as soon as they
are available,” said Erin
Cook, SRE’s director of
marketing and member
services. “We are also
in discussions with Pike
County and the Develop
ment Authority about
how they may be able to
assist with the project.”
Conexon Connect, the
internet service provider,
will offer two symmetri
cal (same upload and
download speed) inter
net speed packages: 100
Mbps for $49.95/month
or 1 Gigabit for $79.95/
month. Information on
how to pre-register will
be available soon. Mem
bers can find updates at
SouthernRiversEnergy.
com or ConexonConnect.
com or follow Southern
Rivers Energy and Conex
on Connect on Facebook
and Twitter.
Fiber construction for
high-speed internet in
Pike is expected to begin
in mid-2021. Services
will be offered through
Conexon Connect in col
laboration with SRE.
The project will
provide new broadband
service to more than
15,000 unserved loca
tions in SRE’s service ter
ritory where, currently,
there are no options for
connectivity. SRE will
invest approximately $53
million to construct more
than 2,100 miles of fiber
that will strengthen their
electric grid and improve
reliability. Conexon will
invest a total of $6.5 mil
lion in electronics to pro
vide broadband service
to all of SRE’s members.
SRE will own the fiber
and lease excess capac
ity to Conexon which has
agreed to serve every
SRE member with fiber-
to-the-home internet with
speeds up to 1 gigabit per
second. The internet ser
vice will be powered by
EMC fiber, but Conexon
Connect will provide the
retail service to homes
and businesses, managing
account set-up, customer
service and billing.
Those who are not
SRE customers cannot
change electric providers
unless they move into an
other provider’s territory
but according to Cook,
some non-SRE members
will be able to receive
service depending on
where they live.
See INTERNET page 3A
PHOTOS COURTESY OF KEITH EDMONDSON
This painting by Keith Edmondson shows the single-lane bridge that spanned Flat Shoals prior to the 1950s when a newer
bridge was built. He hopes to help preserve memories of Pike County places and history through his artwork.
Paintings preserve Pike history
This painting by Keith Edmondson shows Barnesville Street in Zebulon in the 1920s, including
the current Pike County Journal Reporter office (left) on the southeast corner of the square.
BY RACHEL McDANIEL
news@pikecountygeorgia.com
Scenes from Pike’s
past are being recreated
and the area’s history
preserved by local artist
Keith Edmondson who
decided to focus more
of his time on paint
ing after the pandemic
postponed his concert
photography career.
His most recent his
toric painting shows the
old bridge at Flat Shoals
that spanned the widest
part of the shoals before
the state built a new
bridge in the 50s. The
painting features two
boys on the bank near
the bridge. One boy has
a dog by his side and
the other has a slingshot
in the back pocket of his
overalls as their bob
bers float in the Flint
River.
“When the pandemic
hit, concerts stopped and
that’s when I picked up a
paint brush again and it
just kind of took off. The
old Flat Shoals bridge is a
lost Pike county treasure.
The state built a new one
just north of the old one
in 1955 and the original
one-lane bridge was dis
mantled. The only thing
that remains are the ce
ment and stone founda
tions,” said Keith who
credits his family and his
upbringing for mixing art
and history. “I’ve been
painting ever since I was
little and I learned how to
mix paints at my aunt’s
ceramic shop. Even as a
kid, I always loved hang
ing around with older
people and listening to
their stories and that’s
one reason I love to rec
reate historic scenes.”
Keith and his wife
Darlene moved to Pike
around five years ago
and their neighbor Ken
neth Clarke has lived in
the area since the 40s,
with family ties back to
the mid-1800s in Pike.
See HISTORY page 2A
100,000
eggs get
dropped
April 2
Many traditional Eas
ter celebrations will be
held again this year after
most were cancelled due
to the pandemic, includ
ing the biggest egg drop
event in middle Georgia,
hosted by Christ Chapel
Community Church on
Friday, April 2. The egg
drop will include several
areas sectioned off for
different age groups and
100,000
eggs
will be
dropped
from a
helicop
ter as
children
watch
and wait
to scoop them up.
“We are just trying
to be the light in our
community and show
Jesus to those around
us, even through an egg
hunt event. It’s been
kind of a dark year for
everyone and we want
to do whatever we can
do for the community to
be the light they need,”
said Christ Chapel’s Chad
Loyd. “Seeing people
smile and families enjoy
ing time together is a big
deal and we are choosing
to shine that light!”
Egg hunt participants
are asked to be lined up
and ready for the egg
drop at 6 p.m. on Friday,
April 2 at 68 Old Zebulon
Road. Age groups will
be separated for tod
dlers through fifth grade
and there will also be a
special needs area. The
event is completely free
and all are invited.
Lowery
enlists in
U.S. Army
Pike County senior Trayvis
Lowery recently enlisted in
the U.S. Army with a special
signing ceremony held at Pike
County High School.
SUBMITTED PHOTO
At right, pictured are (front row l-r)
PCHS teacher Kayla Dennis, se
nior and enlistee Trayvis Lowery,
PCHS teacher Stephanie Faulkner
(back row l-r) American Legion
Post 197 commander Bryan D.
Richardson, 1st Lieutenant Nieves,
Staff Sergeant Hansen, Staff Ser
geant Ponce, 1 st Staff Sergeant
Maize and PCHS assistant princi
pal Mandy Osbolt.
