Newspaper Page Text
ahc iRmiticcUii Knm
Our Second Century Serving the People of Monticello and Jasper County
VOLUME 149—NUMBER 2 MONTICELLO, GEORGIA 31064, THURSDAY, JANUARY 11, 2024
Official Organ
City of Monticello
And Jasper County
PRICE—$1
Three Qualify for
City Council Seat
Three individuals quali- day is a federal holiday,
fied for the Monticello and the rest of the Court-
City Council District 2,
Post 1 seat, left vacant by
the death of Councilman
David Wease, for which
an election will be held
March 12.
Those qualifying for
the seat include Zach
ary Middleton, Melissa
Watson Strozier, and Tim
Womack.
The special election
will be held in conjunc
tion with the Presidential
Preference Primary on
March 12. Early voting
will begin February 19 in
the basement of the Jasper
County Courthouse. That
house will be closed, so
voters will need to enter
through the basement
door.
Voters must be regis
tered to vote by February
12, to be eligible to vote
in the March 12 election.
Early voting will begin
February 19, and end on
March 8. During that time
persons can vote from 9
a.m. to 5 p.m., daily, in
cluding Saturdays Febru
ary 24 and March 2.
Should a runoff be re
quired, it will take place
on Tuesday, April 9.
Law Enforcement Serves Warrants for
Alleged Illegal Gambling, THC Vapes
Eight Are Arrested
DEPUTIES SERVE A SEARCH WARRANT AT NEW AMOCO ON FORSYTH
DEPUTIES SEARCH MONTICELLO MARKET ON GREENE
Jasper County deputies
were joined by deputies
from Putnam and Jones
Counties Wednesday
morning to execute search
warrants on six establish
ments—five in Monticello
and one in Hillsboro.
Law enforcement of
ficers hit the stores after
a nearly year-long inves
tigation into illegal THC
vapes and illegal gam-
Continued on Page 6
THC VAPE
GAMRLING MACHINES AT STORE ON SHORT STREET
Bruce Henry Is Named Chair
By KATHY MUDD
Bruce Henry was
elected chair of the Jas
per County Commission
when it met for its regular
meeting Monday in the
upstairs Courtroom at the
Courthouse. The meeting
was scheduled to be held
downstairs in the commis
sioners meeting room, but
an overflow crowd forced
it to be moved.
District 2 Commission
er Henry served as chair
previously, but for the last
year, District 3 Commis
sioner Don Jemigan has
served in that role, with
District 1 Commissioner
Sheila Jones serving as
vice-chair. After Commis
sioner Henry was named
chair, Commissioner
Jermgan nominated Ms.
Jones to continue as vice
chair, but only he and she
voted for her. District 5
Commissioner Steven
Ledford was named vice
chair.
Commissioner Led
ford made the motion for
Commissioner Henry to
be chair, and it was sec
onded by Commissioner
Asher Gray. It passed
unanimously. Commis
sioner Gray nominated
Commissioner Ledford
for vice-chair, and that
motion passed.
After the election of
chair and vice-chair, Ms.
Jones said they need to
get a system where per
haps the vice-chair be
comes chair, and there is
a natural flow. She said
that previously the board
members said she was too
new to serve as an officer,
but what is the reason
ing now. She said she is a
certified County Commis
sioner and was clearly un
happy with how the vote
was. After Ms. Jones had
her say, Commissioner
Jemigan and District 4
Commissioner Gray had a
heated exchange.
The firm of Fleming
and Nelson was approved
to remain interim county
attorney until the county
produces a request for
proposal (RFP) and seeks
bids from several Anns.
Several commissioners
expressed their pleasure
Continued on Page 2
In Light Crime Week
It was a light week for
crime as no one on the ar
rest booking is facing any
drug charges. There are
some alcohol charges, but
no illegal drugs, some
thing that is sort of unusu
al for an arrest booking.
There was some excite
ment this week, as officers
responded to a false alarm
at the Magistrate’s office
at the Courthouse. The
alarm went off, and im
mediately several officers
resopnded.
And the same thing
happened one evening at
the hospital where depu
ties responded in force.
Persons who were
booked into the Jasper
County Jail during the
week included:
•Danny Levi Richard
son, 26, Covington—flee
ing or attempting to elude
police officer; speeding;
failure to maintain lane;
driving without license;
no tag or expired tag;
reckless driving; no insur
ance
•Tavorian Marquez
Jackson, 17, Monticel
lo—theft by taking
•Joshua Vernon Chris
tian, 27, Monticello—
hold for Spalding Co S.O.
•Martha Faye Hollo
way, 56, Newborn—here
to serve three days
•Adrain Adonis Battle,
42, Covington—willful
obstruction of law en
forcement officers by use
of threats and acts; fail
ure to wear safety belt;
obstructing intersection;
open container violation;
DUI - driving under the
influence of alcohol
•Freddy De Jesus Leal
Arape, 57, Duluth—open
container violation; driv
ing without a valid license
•Jason Matthew Ratzel,
45, Monticello—failure to
appear for a fingerprint-
able charge
•Matthew David Can-
up, 35, Monticello—DUI
- Driving Under the In
fluence of Alcohol; when
lighted headlights and
other lights required.
THE NEWS
ON
VACATION
Colton Murell, Brody
Murell, Jaime Murell (front
row, left to right), Jim
Thiele, Lorie Thiele, Mcken-
zie Murell, and Jake Murell
all live together on the farm
in Monticello and wanted to
enjoy the snow over Christ
mas in Wyoming. Jim and
Lorie are Jaime’s father
and mother...Jake is their
son-in-law. The three kids
are theirs—meaning they
are their three wonderful
grandkids. Unfortunately,
we had frigid temperatures
(-12 was the lowest) but not
much snow. It dusted us on
Christmas Eve with less than
an inch. We were still able to
go dogsledding, snowmobil-
8 "^0 4879 33136"
ing, skiing, tubing, and
an incredible wildlife
excursion. Because of
the lack of snow, the
elk didn’t descend to
the elk preserve. In
stead, we were able
to get very, very close
to a moose herd that
would have ordinar
ily been out of reach
because of the snow.
Overall, great experi
ence and we met a lot
of folks from Georgia
while there. Santa
Claus was able to find
the grandkids which
was super important.
Have you been on va
cation? Share a photo
with us. It’s winter...
everybody is ready
to at least daydream
about travel. We’d
love to feature you.
Are you going on va
cation? If so, take a
copy of The News with
you, snap a photo, 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.
STORMS DOWN TREES, CAUSE FLOODING
More Photos, Story, Page 10
