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Vol. 141, No. 44 - Waynesboro, Ga. 30830 Established in 1882 Wednesday, December 22, 2021 - $1.00
Pictured (L-R): Johnny Jenkins’ family members, Ethan Sanborn, Tracy Sanborn, Amy Nunnally, Donna
McClellan, and Sara Jenkins.
Johnny Jenkins Memorial
Scholarship inaugurated
Anew scholarship will award deserving seniors with
$ 1,000 to help with their endeavors after high school,
whether that be college, technical school or otherwise.
Superintendent Dr. Angela Williams, Chairman
Greg Chandler, Vice-Chairman Jackie Payton, Lynn
Crews, and Dr. Ruby Saxon-Myles, along with other
friends of Johnny Jenkins and supporters of public
education, placed a plaque in the Board of Education
office and inaugurated “The Johnny Jenkins Memorial
Scholarship” in his honor November 9.
Recipients of the award will also have their name
inscribed on a plaque to display in the Burke County
High School.
John “Johnny” Jenkins, late BOE chairman, dedi
cated 43 years of his life serving the Burke County
Public School System. In those years,he only missed
two board meetings and one of those was August 10th,
which would also be the last month of his life. Jen
kins “never overlooked any student or staff member
and was always the first to lend his helping hand,”
Williams said.
Along with his position as chairman, Jenkins took
part in the design and construction of every BCPS
facility, from the schools to the football stadium.
Donations to the scholarship are now accepted and
may be tax deductible. Checks should be made pay
able to the “Johnny Jenkins Memorial Scholarship
Fund and submitted to scholarship organizers Greg
Coursey, Emanuel Larkin, or Lynn Crews.
Three year-old killed
in fiery crash here
SHELLIE SMITLEY
thetruecitizen.shellie@gmail.com
A three year-old child was killed
and three other passengers were
injured in a fiery crash Monday after
noon. According to Captain Randall
Norman of the Burke County Sher
iff’s Office, a GMC Yukon travelling
south on Highway 25 ran into the
rear of a tractor trailer near the Burke
County Airport.
Norman said that when the vehicle
struck the tractor-trailer it overturned
and burst into flames. Several pass
ing motorists stopped at the scene
and helped extinguish the fire and
extricate the four occupants, includ
ing the driver, Davvy Overstreet, age
30 of Millen, Amber Overstreet, age
28, and two children.
Grayson Overstreet, age 3, was
pronounced dead at the scene.
Davvy Oversteeet, Jr., age 4, was
transported to Burke Medical Center
and later flown by helicopter to AU
Medical Center. Both adults were
also transported to AUMC with seri
ous injuries.
The accident shut ®EE
down both the north and CRASH
south lanes of Highway 3A
Keysville tackles the
leadership pipeline
SHELLIE SMITLEY
thetruecitizen.shellie@gmail.com
While leaders around Burke
County ponder ways to engage the
younger generation in local govern
ment, Keysville may already be onto
something.
Concerned Citizen James Neely
assisted in the implementation
of this year’s annual community
Christmas Dinner held at the Charles
Walker Building December 17. Ap
proximately 70 people attended the
event, held for the first time since
the pandemic.
“It had a very good turnout,” he
said. “The racial mixture and people
coming together, it was nice all
around.”
The Concerned Citizens of
Keysville group, officially a 501
(c) (3), also slowed down due to the
vims, but began picking up momen
tum again last summer. That’s also
when Neely, who is not an officer,
got re-engaged.
The members supported the annual
summer camp.
“We were instmmental in support
ing that,” Neely pointed out. The
group provided a waterslide for the
end-of-the-program celebration be
sides showing up daily in support of
the program’s teachers. Some of the
Concerned Citizens donated funds
to help pay the instructors’ wages.
Additionally, the Concerned Citi
zens worked with the city to des
ignate a half-acre plot on Martin
Luther King Rd. to
implement a commu- ®EE
nity garden. KEYSVILLE,
“We wanted to get 13A
Nominations being accepted
for Citizen, Business of the Year
The Burke County Chamber of
Commerce is now accepting appli
cations for Citizen of the Year and
Business of the Year.
These awards, which will be
presented at the Chamber Annual
Meeting in January, are awarded to
individuals and businesses in this
community who deserve to be rec
ognized for the contributions they
make. The deadline for nominations
is Friday, Jan. 7.
Nomination forms can be obtained
at the Burke County Chamber of
Commerce’s new office inside the
front doors of the Burke County
Historic Courthouse or by calling
706-554-5451.
Ashlley Roberts, Chamber presi
dent, said a committee of impartial
members will meet to discuss the
nominations received and to select
the recipients for each of the awards.
Jmqic of0UHstmm
This week’s True Citizen includes
our 43rd annual Magic of Christmas
edition. We appreciate the support
of the Burke County businesses that
make this special publication possible
and the families who took the time to
include photos of their children and
grandchildren in the issue.
This is a special time of year
when communities come together in
unique ways to celebrate long-held
traditions. We’re glad our Magic of
Christmas has become one of those
traditions.
We wish all of our readers a
Merry Christmas and the happiest
of holidays.
Judge hears Sheriff’s case against the county
(left to right) Commissioner Art Lively, Assistant County Manager Adam
Flakes, Board Chairwoman Terri Lodge Kelly and County Manager Merv
Waldrop wait in the Judicial Center hallway for the December 20 hearing
to begin
SHELLIE SMITLEY
thetruecitizen.shellie@gmail.com
Judge Jesse C. Stone heard
opening and closing arguments
Monday during the first hearing
regarding the Sheriff’s petition for
mandamus hied Nov. 18 against
the Board of Commissioners.
Attorney Barry Fleming, rep
resenting the BOC, argued for a
jury trial due to existing factual
disputes.
“Your honor, as you are aware in
a mandamus action when there are
factual disputes, both sides must
consent to not having a jury trial,”
Fleming said. “We have requested
in our answer a jury trial.”
Attorney Christopher Cosper,
representing the Sheriff, argued
for Stone deciding the case without
a jury trial stating that the Sheriff
was seeking only to exercise his
right to control the payroll of his
office. He pointed out that the
Sheriff is required to submit his
materials to the BOC in order
for them to define the amount of
money to be appropriated but after
that it is his discretion as to how
it is spent. Cosper claimed that the
BOC refused to sign an intergov
ernmental agreement, which was
to be signed by both parties and
enacted prior to October 1,2021.
In anticipation of that agreement,
the Sheriff took steps to hire a payroll
company.
“I believe Barry is trying to do
anything he can to get this to a jury
trial to postpone the issue, but back
to the fundamental question, can we
operate the payroll...I think that is
all you need to rule,” Cosper said.
Cosper went on to argue that the
Georgia Constitution created the
sheriff’s office as a separate entity,
protected by county government.
He argued that the county retains
the authority to audit and examine
the BCSO accounts and to make
the budget.
When Judge Stone pointed out
that BCSO assets and property be
long to the county and questioned
Cosper about where the line of
responsibility is drawn, Cosper
indicated that the law is not clear.
Fleming went on to point out
that the BOC made multiple
changes in
the oper-
ating pro- SHERIFF'S CASE,
cess in an 2A