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Official Organ
City of Monticello
And Jasper County
Our Second Century Serving the People of Monticello and Jasper County
VOLUME 148—NUMBER 52 MONTICELLO, GEORGIA 31064, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2023 PRICE—$1
A Look Back at the Pages of the News of2023
By HANNAH HINESLEY
Since 2023 ends be
fore the next publication
of this newspaper, I have
been tasked with present
ing a recap of the year
2023 and all of the hap
penings in Monticello and
Jasper County that have
appeared in these pages
over the last year.
As many of you know,
and some of you may not,
I am the daughter of Kathy
Mudd, the editor of this
newspaper. Most people
that see me around town
ask about the newspaper
and I often get, “how’s the
News,” or “how is your
Mama and/or Aunt,” as
they both work in the of
fice.
These questions used
to bother me some, as I
have not been officially
employed at The News for
over 10 years. I have cov
ered meetings, and I do
TOM SATTERLEY
T. Satterley
Seeks Office
Of Coroner
Tom Satterley announc
es his bid for election of
Jasper County coroner.
Tom and his wife have
four children and one
granddaughter.
Together they are long
time members of Trinity
Praise Center. Mr. Satter
ley was a student of the
Jasper County School Sys
tem and has farthered his
education as an EMT and
paramedic. He worked as
an EMT for seven years
before farthering his ca
reer into becoming a
paramedic. He worked
at Piedmont Newton for
seven years, with the later
part of his time serving
as Captain. During his
time with Piedmont New
ton he was a recipient of
the Meritorious Service
award for contributing to
the life saving measures
Continued on Page 5
some of the tasks at The
News, but as for being in
the office daily and know
ing all things local—I am
no longer in the know.
As the years have
passed, I often also get
asked when I am going
to take over the business
for my Mama. To which
I often respond that I will
not, print media seems to
be dying, and that I am not
interested. I see how hard
and how many hours my
Mama puts in to make this
weekly publication hap
pen, and while I am not
afraid of hard work, I have
not seen the payoff long
term. It makes me even
more appreciative of our
amazing businesses that
continue to support this
mainstay.
Ad revenue is the main
funding source for the
newspaper, so supporting
those businesses which
still support the news
paper is important. And,
businesses can reap the
benefits of advertising,
as we do still have many
faithful readers.
In looking through the
newspapers over the last
year and knowing what
the pages contain as I still
try to skim weekly, I had
a renewed sense of what
this newspaper shares
with its readers. I appreci
ate the pages that include
all things business: coun
ty, city, school, sports,
crime, people, church, and
community.
Community is the over
arching theme of every
edition of this newspa
per. The staff goes above
and beyond to cover what
they can, being small in
number and often having
to rely on contributors
to send in the news that
make it to these pages.
In mentioning staff, The
News had Evan Newton
intern much of this year.
You have seen his name
on a number of articles,
and he has been a great
“younger” addition to The
News staff bringing his
knowhow of technology
and social media as an as
set to The News offerings.
He also absorbed some of
the later nights for Kathy
covering meetings and re
porting on those as most
of the public meetings are
held on the same nights
each month.
Evan was a great asset,
and really improved the
paper’s digital offerings.
But, he has taken a full
time position elsewhere,
and he is sorely missed.
(Some of you who have
MAN IS KILLED IN JANUARY WRECK THAT RESULTED IN CRIMINAL CHARGES
$10 MILLION JAIL RENOVATION/ADDITION MOVING ALONG
TORNADOES CAUSE DAMAGE
searched the website late- There was one fatality as a
ly are well aware.)
Below are the high
lights of The Monticello
News for 2023!
While storms and de
bris were few this year,
2023 began with a di
sastrous tornado tearing
through the northern part
of the county with the
most damage occurring in
the area of Conley Ditch
Road, Dallas Trail and
Yancey Road, and then
up off County Line Road
towards Newton County.
m
THE NEWS ON VACATION
Gavin Williams, Niall
Alhasi, and Chris An
glin recently went on a
camping trip to Sequoia
and Yosemite National
parks. We took pictures
in front of the General
Sherman tree (largest
tree in the world) and
the tunnel view in Yo
semite. Are you going
on vacation? If so, take
a copy of The News with
vou, snan a nhoto, and
submit to editor@the-
monticellonews.com to
be featured in a future
newspaper. Include lots
of info about the trip or
just a little. The News
loves this feature, and so
do our readers.
result of the tornado, and a
number of residents with
out power for more than a
week, with trees downed
and properties damaged.
Some of the damage can
still be seen to date, but
the majority of the clean
up took weeks to start
and months to complete.
During this time the com
munity came out to assist
and support those people
and communities. Several
local organizations and
volunteers searched resi
dences for people trapped,
others donated food, wa
ter, physical labor and
time to do whatever was
needed.
Also early in the year,
the R-2 Zoning, which
was carried over from
2022, was discussed be
tween the County Com
mission and the Planning
and Zoning Commission.
The two met to discuss
the change in zoning to
review lot size and house
size for the county.
This was a topic that
would continue through
out the year. In review
ing the Commission ac
tions and meetings there
seemed to be a resistance
against growth with sev
eral citizens commenting
on their displeasure on the
zoning at the meeting last
January.
There was also much
buzz surrounding the re
signing of former County
Commissioner Gerald
Sfankel and the special
election to fill his seat.
The vacancy ultimately
Continued on Page 2
DEER FESTIVAL REAUTIES
FREQUENT PLACE FOR WRECKS
HEAVY RAINS WASHED OUT ROADS
