Newspaper Page Text
Students at Edmund Burke Academy and Faith Christian
Academy were excited to re-enter their schools on Monday
morning after five long months away following a shutdown
due to the coronavirus pandemic. Pictured at left, Charlotte
Story couldn't contain her excitement as she found her desk
inside EBA's first ever K3 classroom, right, Aubrey Sanders,
Judson Burch and Gary Williams practice social distancing.
See our Facebook page for more photos.
Body found / no foul play suspected
DIANA ROYAL • jdianaroyal@gmail.com
A body was discovered near Beedy Branch Road last
Wednesday, but Burke County investigators say the victim
appears to have died from natural causes.
According to the Burke County Sheriff’s Office, the body
was discovered just after 9 a.m. on Aug. 5 by a crew of workers
making roadway repairs in the area. The deceased man’s
body was found along the wood line close to Highway 56
near Beedy Branch. The victim likely experienced a medical
emergency and died as a result, the report said.
Based on the Georgia Bureau of Investigation’s finding, it
appears that the male subject had been deceased only a short
period of time.
Investigators are still actively working to positively identify
the victim.
Worth $1 million
Two local men
arrested in Texas
on drug charges
ROY F. CHALKER JR.
rchalker@bellsouth.net
Two men with Burke County connections were arrested in
Mitchell County, Texas last Wednesday after marijuana and
cocaine worth approximately $1 million was found in their
pickup.
According to information published in the Colorado City
Record newspaper and from Mitchell County Sheriff Patrick
Toombs, District Attorney Investigator Billy Sides stopped
a Ford F350 with California license plates which had been
traveling eastbound on 1-20.
With the assistance of a drug dog from the Texas Department
of Public Safety, a secret compartment was discovered that
contained 600 pounds of high-grade marijuana, valued at
$700,000, and three kilos of cocaine valued at $300,000.
Arrested were brothers Calvin Lamar Kelley, 60, of Keysville
and passenger Wesley Kimball Kelley, age 50, who had a Decatur
address. Calvin Kelley was listed as the driver of the vehicle
and is the husband of Burke County Magistrate Judge Cynthia
Kelley, currently a candidate for Chief Magistrate.
Both men remain in the Mitchell County Jail charged with
possession of marijuana over 50 pounds but less than 2,000, a
second-degree felony. Bond was set at $50,000. The two were
also charged with possession of a controlled substance, cocaine,
over 400 grams which is a first-degree felony and bond was set
at $80,000.
Assisting in the investigation, according to Toombs, were
the district attorney investigators, DPS canine unit, FBI, DEA,
Homeland Security and the Mitchell County Sheriff’s Office.
COVID CORNER
The Georgia Department of Public Health showed
a total of 219,025 confirmed COVID-19 cases for
the entire state as of Tuesday afternoon. On Tuesday
alone, 2,440 newly confirmed cases were reported as
well as 32 deaths and 48 hospitalizations.
Locally, according to the B. Lamar Murray Public
Health Center, Burke County has reached a total of
532 confirmed positives, up 44 from the 488 reported
last week. The previous week, Tuesday-Tuesday, saw
an increase of 56, and the week prior to that had a
jump of 114. The county still sits at 7 deaths and has
had 60 hospitalizations.
More True Citizen pages are online
ROY F. CHALKER JR.
rchalker@bellsouth.net
Additional years of The True Citizen are
now available online thanks to the efforts of
the Burke County Genealogical and Historical
Society.
Society president Carol Jones said this week,
“I'm pleased to announce that we have digitized
more of the Waynesboro True Citizen and the
issues are now available and searchable online
on the Georgia Historic Newspaper (GHN)
website: https://gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.
usg.edu/lccn/sn89053289
The issues added during the project include
9,676 pages from the years 1902-1926.
The years prior to 1902, beginning at the
newspaper’s inception in 1882, were already
available on the website.
Jones added that, although the group hasn’t
been meeting recently, “we are continuing lots
of work behind the scenes, and we hope you
will continue to support these efforts
with your dues and donations. The
cost has been about 75 cents per page,
and we have a copyright release that
would allow us to digitize all available
issues, as funding becomes available.”
Donations can be sent to the Burke
County Genealogical Society at PO
Box 1522, Waynesboro, GA 30830.
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