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Vol. 141, No. 46 - Waynesboro, Ga. 30830 Established in 1882 Wednesday, January 5, 2022 - $1.00
Restoring power
Thousands of local residents were affected by damaging high winds and rain early Monday morning. Plant
ers EMC crews worked for more than 30 hours until all power was restored to members. During the peak
of the outage, Planters EMC had around 5,000 meters out of power with 3,121 being in Burke County. “We
appreciate the patience of members as power was restored,” said Randy Hill with Planters EMC. “We have
a tested and tried power restoration process that gets the lights back on as quickly and safely as possible.”
Planters EMC is an electric membership cooperative providing electricity and related services to 12,700
member-owners in Bulloch, Burke, Effingham, Emanuel, Jenkins, Richmond and Screven counties. Georgia
Power has restored power to more than 200,000 customers impacted by high winds and saturated ground
after storms crossed the state overnight. As of 5:30 p.m. Monday, the utility was still working to restore
power to approximately 12,000 customers who remained without power.
2021 - A Year In Review - Part Two
Compiled by
Roy F. Chalker Jr.
JUNE 2
The Attorney General’s office offi
cially approved the leasing of Burke
Medical Center to Burke Hospital
Company May 27.
In the Report of Findings by the
Office of the Attorney General, the
hospital’s deterioration of patient
volume was attributed to a lack
of referrals and a lack of special
ists practicing medicine in Burke
County.
Burke Hospital Company co
owners Dr. John George and Michael
Kleinpeter pledged to invest $2 mil
lion into the facility effective on the
starting date of the lease
Gov. Brian Kemp suspended
Waynesboro Mayor Gregory Car-
swell Friday by way of executive
order.
The order addresses Carswell’s
December 2020 indictment on one
count of identity fraud, one count of
theft by taking, one count of theft by
deception and one count of forgery
in the second degree.
Obituaries included Halee Mi
chelle Kitchens, Geraldine Kittles
and Manton Franklin Horton, Jr.
JUNE 9
After requesting to hire an assis
tant chief during city council’s May
meeting, Waynesboro Police Chief
James “Willie” Burley rescinded
his request and said he’d like to add
more patrol officers to the city.
Gun Violence Awareness Day be
gan June 4 with Acting Mayor James
Chick Jones proclaiming the day as
an official observance.
Approximately 60 people gath
ered in front of the Burke County
Judicial Center, most dressed in
orange or wearing orange ribbons,
as a symbol of the value of human
life. The color is inspired by the use
of the color by hunters.
Obituaries included Wayne Gais-
er, Richard Wayne “Rick” Dixon,
Roumelia V. Osborne and Isaiah
Styles, Jr.
JUNE 16
Member Lucious Abrams and
Chairwoman Terri Kelly spoke out
during the June 8 county commis
sion meeting about funding to be
appropriated to Columbia County
after the judicial split.
Abrams pointed out that up until
the split, Columbia County had
been part of the circuit for 150 years
with no problems. He insinuated
the move to split the counties was
racially motivated.
Abrams pointed out that the state
appropriated millions of dollars to
ward the new Columbia County cir
cuit through the amendment which
was supported by Burke County
attorney Barry Fleming.
Obituaries included Joyce Smith
Hendrix, Harvey Lee James, Robert
Vaughn, Dwight Eisenhower Ste
vens and Rev. Jerome Lewis.
JUNE 23
Georgia’s COVID-19 vaccina
tion rate is among the lowest in the
nation with only 37% of Georgians
fully vaccinated, according to the
state Department of Public Health.
Burke County is consistent with
those statistics. According to the
DPH dashboard June 21, only 30%
of Burke County residents are fully
vaccinated.
“There clearly is no denying that
vaccination is effective,” said Burke
County Health Department Nurse
Manager Gina Richardson. “The
importance of vaccination is simply
this; the higher the level of commu
nity immunity, the larger the benefit.
What we do know is that population
immunity makes it more difficult for
the disease to spread.”
Obituaries included Sidney Bynes,
Charlene Ward, Robert Watson, John
C. Hankinson, Jr., Lillian H. Godbee,
Genet Holiday, Elder Jerome Lewis,
Pastor Doris Mae Kirkland, Mother
Johnnie Mae Dukes, Jerome Conrad
and Miss Kahlis Mobley.
JUNE 30
Burke County has been selected
as the most recent Archway com
munity.
“Archway
works as a part- SEE
nership between YEAR IN REVIEW,
a community in 3
Burke County braces
for Omicron surge
SHELLIE SMITLEY
thetruecitizen.shellie@gmail.com
The number of local COVID cases
has drastically increased along with
the rest of the state and across the
nation.
The Georgia Department of Public
Health reports 91 new cases in Burke
County during the 2-week period
prior to January 4. That compares to
only 17 cases in the prior two week
period. The vaccination rate includes
54% of Burke Countians having
received at least one dose and only
49% fully vaccinated. Thirty-two
percent are fully vaccinated with an
additional booster dose.
Officials say the actual number of
cases is likely much greater because
Omicron symptoms are often milder
and may not be tested or reported.
Burke County Public Schools
reported Monday two new cases
among their faculty/staff and none
in the student population, set to
return to face-to-face
instruction January 4. SEE
The school system con- OMICRON
tinues to monitor the 14
From left, Paul Thigpen and Anthony Miller purchased William Mizell Ford last month.
Local dealership
sees bright future
SHELLIE SMITLEY
thetruecitizen.shellie@gmail.com
Burke Countians may have no
ticed that William Mizell Ford has
changed its name to Paul Thigpen
Ford of Waynesboro. That’s because
the dealership has new owners.
Anthony Miller and Paul Thigpen
officially took over the dealership
December 15 after approximately
two months of negotiations.
“It happened pretty quick,” Miller
said and mentioned that William
Mizell decided it was time to retire.
Miller is originally from central
Florida but moved to Vidalia, Ga.
after he began pursuing automotive
ventures there.
Miller initially pur- SEE
chased the Ford deal- THIGPEN,
ership in Thigpen’s 2
Amid controversy,
crime rate goes down
SHELLIE SMITLEY
thetruecitizen.shellie@gmail.com
Burke County is beginning the
new year with a reduction in vio
lent crimes.
The Burke County Sheriff’s
Office reported the significant
decrease in the crime rate in a
January 3 press release.
“A review of our crime statistics
reveals a 57% decrease in crime
when compared to 2020 data and
a 60% decrease when compared to
2017, my first year in office,” said
Sheriff Alfonzo Williams.
Williams, who has filed a peti
tion for mandamus against the
county asking for control of the
department’s payroll, attributed
the reduction to the BCSO’s fo
cus on recruiting, hiring, training,
and retaining the best-qualified
deputies the county can afford. Ad
ditionally, he said the department
has changed the way “solvability
factors,” historically left to follow
up investigators, are approached
by on-the-scene deputies.
“Our deputies are committed to
faster response times, and once on
scene, they thoroughly and timely
investigate leads utilizing techno
logical and scientific advances,
which increase the likelihood of
solving cases,” he said. He pointed
to social media, doorbell and
business cameras, neighborhood
canvassing, pinging cell phones
and community relationships and
partnerships as deputy level tactics
used to help solve crimes.“While
we are aware that certain condi
tions and community factors play a
role in crime data, the significance
of a decrease this large must not be
downplayed.”
According to Williams, many
times deputies are out-numbered
and out-gunned by criminals who
play by a different set of rules.
Still, he pointed to the inability of
the department to arrest their way
out of crime but instead, values
concepts like restor
ative justice and com
munity partnerships
that offer alternatives
SEE
CRIME,
7