Newspaper Page Text
members of the PCHS Fishing
Team win big in MLF Open.
See page 7 A
PIKE COUNTY
RNAL REPORTER
ONE DOLLAR
www.pikecountygeorgia.com
WEDNESDAY, MAY 10, 2023
FINAL FOUR!
The Pirates swept the third round
and will host Harlem this Saturday.
See page 7A
New king
celebrated
locally
Although William
son, GA is home for
Carol Austin now,
watching the Corona
tion of Prince Charles
helped her and other
family members renew
their connections to
the traditions and
culture of their home
land, England. Carol
lives in Brown Station
subdivision and flew a
large banner in honor
of Prince Charles’
coronation in the
weeks leading up to
the big event. She got
an early start on the
big day, waking up for
the coverage which
started around 5 a.m.
“It was a comforting
continuity of the royal
family. I was born just
before the late queen’s
coronation and in her
grandmother’s hospi
tal so for us, it repre
sents a continuation
of the traditions of
royalty and monarchy
that have been ongo
ing since 1066 and
before. I’m so happy
to see it and God Save
the King,” she said. “1
most looked forward
to the coronation itself
and the pomp and cir
cumstance that leads
up to the king entering
Westminster Abbey.
The crowds were so
huge, it was more
enjoyable watching
from a distance in the
company of your own
home with your own
family.”
See KING page 3A
First budget reading; more changes planned
Pay raise for employees, animal shelter funding unknown
Pike commission
ers approved the first
reading of the county’s
proposed budget with
no employee pay raise
at their May 2 hearing
but there will be several
changes before the third
hearing and approval.
Commissioners must
decide whether or not to
return the animal shelter
donation of $225,000 or
return it if there are no
plans to open the shelter.
A special workshop to
discuss the budget will
be held at 8 a.m., before
the regular morning
meeting May 10.
The second reading of
the budget is set for 6:30
p.m. Thursday, May 25
in the main courtroom of
the courthouse.
The third reading and
final adoption of the bud
get is set for 5:30 p.m.
Tuesday, May 30.
County manager
Brandon Rogers noted
the funding required to
operate an animal shelter
will be discussed at the
next commission meet
ing which will be held
Wednesday, May 10 at 9
a.m. in the main court
room of the courthouse.
Other budget changes
could include having
employees contribute
2% to retirement starting
July 2023. Rogers said if
employees start paying
the 2%, it would be a
contribution of around
$200,000 which would
help pay the county’s
$600,000 retirement
costs.
Rogers said there is
an increase in property
tax and that will prob
ably be around $860,000
if there are no changes in
the digest. He said there
are changes in the digest
that happen every year
and the budget will have
to be finalized based
on that. Commissioner
James Jenkins asked
about the prior year’s
revenues which were
$530,000.
Commissioner Jason
Proctor asked when the
county will have num
bers on insurance costs.
Rogers said they are hav
ing issues with Aetna and
he anticipates the county
will have the information
in about two to three
weeks.
SPECIAL PHOTO
Members of the Lady Pirates golf team who are believed to be the first to ever compete at
state include (l-r) Katie Ballard, Bowen Yarbrough, Macey McElwaney, Avery Maddock and
KK Foster. They will play 18 holes May 22 and May 23 in the state tourney in Columbus.
PCHS girls golf team makes
school history, heads to Columbus
The Pike County High
School girls golf team
will head to the state
competition in Colum
bus May 22-23, making
school history as it is
the first time the girls
golf team has made
it to the state tourna
ment. The Lady Pirates
finished third in region
1-AAA behind Columbus
and Upson-Lee. Only
the top three teams in
the region advanced
to state. The girls golf
team has been coached
by John Kovzel for four
years and he is excited
to see the girls compete
at the state level.
“The girls have really
progressed better than
expected,” said coach
Kovzel. “They are young
and getting better.”
The girls golf team
includes juniors Macey
McElwaney, Avery Mad
dock and Katie Ballard,
tenth grader Bowen Yar
brough and ninth grader
KK Foster. They will play
18 holes Monday, May
22 and 18 holes Tuesday,
May 23.
Bestselling southern
author visit Zebulon
The J. Joel
Edwards Pub
lic Library will
host bestselling
author Susan
M. Boyer for a
Books and Bites
event Tuesday,
May 16 at 5:30
p.m.
Her new
est release, Big
Trouble on Sullivan’s
Island, is the engaging
first book in the Carolina
Tales series. Readers
who like strong heroines,
quirky sisterhoods and
plenty of Southern
charm are sure to
love this wonder
ful whodunit,
a novel about
family and
secrets and
the lengths
we’ll go to in
order to pro
tect both.
Boyer
is the
author of
the USA
TODAY
bestsell
ing Liz Talbot
mystery series.
She was blessed
with a quintessential
small-town childhood
and has had a life-long
love affair with books.
Susan is grateful to have
been gifted with
an over-active
imagination. She
was one of those
children whose
teachers were
always telling her
mamma that her
talents needed to
be “channeled.”
She’s been mak
ing things up and
writing them down her
whole life.
She loves beaches,
Southern food and small
towns where everyone
knows everyone, and
everyone has crazy rela
tives - and all of the
above will be
found
in her
novels.
She lives
in North
Carolina
with her
husband and
an inordinate
number of
houseplants.
Books will
be available for
purchase at the
event, which is
free and open to
the public.
For more information,
follow the J. Joel Ed
wards Public Library on
Facebook or call 770-567-
2014.
SUSAN BOYER
PGFD reminds citizens
of burn ban, website
The Pike County
Fire Department wants
citizens to be aware of
the burn ban that is in
effect from now until Oct.
1. The PCFD’s website at
pikecofd.com has been
online for 10 years now
and can help citizens
with burn ban info as
well as disaster pre
paredness, a calendar of
local events and oppor
tunities to volunteer.
Last year, require
ments changed so that
no permit is required
for hand-piled natural
vegetation and yard de
bris - meaning leaves and
limbs only - but there
are still restrictions on
burning in 54 northern
Georgia counties - includ
ing Pike - under the En
vironmental Protection
Division summer burn
ban from May 1 through
Sept. 30.
For more, go to pike
cofd.com/ and click on
the Outside Burning tab.
DAVID ALDERSTEIN, APALACHICOLA TIMES
A local man was killed when two boats collided in Apalachicola, Fla. recently. Above is the
boat Dorsey Metts, 56, was riding in when it was struck by another boater in a narrow cut.
Milner man among two killed in Florida boat crash
A 56-year-old Milner
man was among two
people killed when two
boats collided in a nar
row cut in Apalachicola,
Fla. April 29.
Dorsey Metts, 56, a
Pike County native, was
dead at the scene. Ruth
Diaz, 69, of Griffin was
mortally injured and
died sometime later at
Bay Medical Center in
Panama City.
Metts and Diaz were
aboard a 21-foot K-2 Ma
rine flats boat operated
by James Maxwell, 49, of
Apalachicola. Maxwell
was using the cut to go
from Scipio Creek to the
Apalachicola River when
his craft was struck by a
23-foot Parker flats boat
piloted by Austin Finch,
23, also of Apalachicola.
Finch’s boat went
over the top of Max
well’s boat, sinking it.
Two other passengers
were aboard Maxwell’s
craft at the time of the
collision. Jennifer Davis,
34, was injured and
required surgery. James
Davis, 37, was shaken
but not seriously hurt.
Maxwell and Finch
were not seriously hurt.
PHOTO BY BEHIND THE LENS PHOTOGRAPHY
The Pike County Fire Department has a website which helps
citizens with burn permits, disaster preparedness and more.
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