Newspaper Page Text
December 28, 2022
• Reporter pg ge 7a
New conservative majority on BOE
BOE District 1
SOULE
BATTLE
HEAD
MIXON
VARNADOE JENKINS
BILDERBACK LANFORD
EMAMI
DANIEL
142 585 538 461 371 721 710 693 1035 533
Voters gave a new conser
vative majority control of
the Monroe County Board
of Education on Tuesday.
“I hope to make some
very magnificent changes
in the future,” said Greg
Head upon his re-election
to the school board.
“Thank you to the voters.”
Head has fought a some
times losing battle against
masking and COVID
shutdowns in his first term
on the board. The BOE has
long had a majority with
deep roots in a public edu
cation system with Demo
crat leanings. That changed
on Tuesday. Head was nar
rowly re-electied over PTO
president Melissa Mixon
by 77 votes. Robert Jenkins
ran as a conservative and
easily beat Bibb County
teacher Kristi Varnadoe
by over 300 votes. He will
replace Nolen Howard. The
new majority will not take
office until January 2023.
2022
Continued from page 3A
syth, a 1.7-acre tract between Dairy
Queen and Taco Bell on Lee Street,
was sold on April 15 to real estate
developer Dale Washburn for $1
million. There has been much
speculation that a popular chain
restaurant may locate on the prop
erty but Washburn said the tract is
still available as the year ends.
• Monroe Countys development
authority meets behind closed
doors on April 18 to discuss the
county being a finalist for a man
ufacturing facility that could bring
1,000 jobs to the county. The com
pany, later identified as Hyundai,
was interested in the 845-acre tract
off Hwy. 41 near the Lamar County
line to make batteries for electric
cars. However after nearby resi
dents organize against the project,
Hyundai locates the plant and jobs
in Bartow County.
• Monroe County Board of
Education candidates shared their
thoughts on COVID masks and
closures, CRT and how to protect
students from predator teachers
during a 90-minute debate on April
29. BOE candidate Kristi Varna
doe gets visibly flustered when her
opponent Robbie Jenkins questions
whether she can make objective
decisions since she’s a teacher.
Jenkins wins the election and will
take office in January, replacing his
cousin, long-time BOE member
Nolen Howard.
May
• The Forsyth Walmart hopes
to reopen its entire store May 6
after removing $2 million worth
of merchandise lost to smoke and
chemicals following last weeks
suspected arson. A quick-thinking
Walmart manager and an off-duty
fireman used 15 fire extinguishers
to stop the blaze before it did more
damage. Police say Jasmine Miley,
31, of Forsyth, a masked mother of
four with a record of legal troubles,
set the fire in the back corner of
the store, in the hardware section.
Miley was captured after fleeing
to the Days Inn and faces multiple
felony charges.
• Ashley Cohran is named Mon
roe County’s Mother of the Year for
2022 in May. She was nominated
by her daughter Jasmyn Porter, a
senior at Mary Persons. Jasmyn
noted that her mother didn’t have
the best life growing up and had
her when she was just 17. Yet she
doted on her daughter, left a life
surrounded by drugs, earned an ac
counting degree and has provided
a stable family life for her and her
brother.
• A Monroe County man nar
rowly escapes serious injury when
a log truck backs several giant logs
through his windshield and into his
cab at a 4-way stop on May 9. Eric
Mobley, 44, told the Reporter he
had stopped at a stop sign on Ze-
bulon Road at Estes Road when a
log truck in the intersection started
backing up toward him. Mobley
said as the logs kept getting closer
to his 2001 Ford Ranger, he started
blowing his horn but the log truck
driver wouldn’t stop. Finally the
logs burst through his windshield
and past his head. Mobley, who had
glass shards all over himself, said
he went underneath the logs and
was able to get out of his passenger
door. The log truck driver, Walter
Wellons, 62, of Roberta, said he
never saw Mobley behind him. “I
don’t know what he was doing back
there,” said Wellons.
• It appears that Monroe County
residents will be able to get their
driver’s license or even their CDL
without leaving Forsyth next year.
The Industrial Development Au
thority (IDA) of Monroe County
on May 10 unanimously approved
a letter of intent to lease 7 acres in
its Hwy. 18 industrial park to the
state of Georgia for a new driver’s
license office. In December the au
thority selects ProForm Construc
tion of Forsyth to build the $1.1
million facility, which is expected to
open in the fall 2023.
• Three men were charged with
illegally spearfishing at Lake Juliette
on May 15. The Department of
Natural Resources (DNR) said
the men used diving masks and a
speargun to harvest 18 bass and
bream in the clear waters of Lake
Juliette without a fishing license.
One of the bass weighed about 4
pounds.
• Monroe County may need to
be wary of another wild animal
after a 7-foot alligator was photo
graphed on Shi Road last on May
19. A Monroe County teenager
was driving south on Shi Road
around 11 p.m. when she noticed a
large animal blocking the roadway
just before the intersection with
Maynards Mill Road. The gator
was thought to be passing from one
pond off Zebulon Road to another
on Shi Road.
• Voters gave a new conservative
majority control of the Monroe
County Board of Education on
May 24. “I hope to make some very
magnificent changes in the future,”
said Greg Head upon his re-elec
tion to the school board. “Thank
you to the voters.” Head has fought
a sometimes losing battle against
masking and COVID shutdowns
in his first term on the board. The
BOE has long had a majority with
deep roots in a public education
system with Democrat leanings.
That changed as Head was narrow-
See 2022 Page 8C
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