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VOL. 105, NO. 30, FEBRUARY 11, 2009 LEGAL ORGAN OF JENKINS COUNTY MILLEN, GEORGIA • 75 CENTS BOE considers Williams for superintendent The Jenkins County Board of Education (BOE) in a special called meeting Wednesday, Feb. 4, named interim superintendent Melissa Williams as the person under consideration for appoint ment as Superintendent of Schools and authorized the chairman and vice chairman to enter into contract negotiations with Mrs. Williams with the un derstanding that final action with regard to the selection and appointment of the superinten dent and approval of a contract would take place at a later meet ing. The BOE released the follow ing statements. “Mrs. Williams has filled the position since Oct, 1, 2008, and has demonstrated the skills and knowledge to continue the pro gressive movement of our school system. Her central of fice experience and professional maturity are outstanding at tributes. She is described as be ing dedicated, loyal, patient, personable and articulate. She displays many leadership quali ties and is always respectful to her peers and colleagues.” Mrs. Williams was educated in the public schools of Candler County before entering Georgia Southern University in Statesboro, where she received a bachelors degree in business education and a master’s degree in educational leadership. Her 25 years of varied experiences include that of a Title I reading/ math classroom teacher at Reidsville High School in Tattnall County for one year, a schools are staffed by highly Mrs. resides in Metter with business education teacher at qualified teachers and that fund- husband, Stevie and one son, Metter High School for 17 ing is commensurate with stu- Tyler, who is a student at Geor- years, and six years at the Can- dents and services provided. gia Southwestern, dler County Board of Education where she was the program su pervisor for technology, voca tional and personnel. She came to the Jenkins County School System in July, 2006 as Director of Instructional Services. Under her leadership, this department has accom plished many positive goals, in cluding the assurance that our Interim School Superintendent Melissa Williams is W- T being considered for position of Superintendent by r V J the Jenkins County Board of ^ Education. STAR student, teacher shine at JCHS By Deborah Bennett Millen News Editor Two new STARs are shining brightly at Jenkins County High School (JCHS). Chester Joyner, son of Jeff and Judy Joyner, re cently received the STAR stu dent designation for 2009. He chose as his STAR teacher. Dr. Ivis DeLoach, Spanish teacher at JCHS. To obtain STAR nomination, high school seniors must have the highest score on one test date on the three-part SAT and be in the top 10 percent or top 10 stu dents of their class based on grade point average. Chester is dually enrolled at JCHS and Georgia Southern University where he is a sopho more majoring in biology, pre veterinarian. He is a participant in the GSU Honors Program and has been named to the president’s list for two semesters. His other accomplishments in clude: Interact Club vice-presi dent, two years; Governor’s Honor Program 2007; Georgia Certificate of Merit Scholar; Augusta State Certificate of Achievement; multiple highest average awards at JCHS; and ACCEL award. Commenting on his selection of Dr. DeLoach as his STAR teacher, Chester said, "Dr. Deloach was and still is a won derful Spanish teacher. She taught me something that I have used on a daily basis with my job and in life. She also helped to inspire me to obtain a global per spective of the world, which is imperative to have when the world is so closely interrelated. Thanks to Dr. DeLoach’s inspi ration, I will, hopefully, be trav eling to a Spanish-speaking country to go to school within the next year. Many students will benefit from her teaching and inspiration in the future. Thank you Dr. DeLoach.” “Also, I would like to say ‘thank you’ to all of the teachers at JCHS for helping me succeed, and I will always remember them,” he added. Dr. DeLoach has taught Span ish at JCHS for 17 years. She holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in finance from GSU; a Master of Education in Spanish from GSU; and a doc- Jenkins County High School’s 2009 STAR student, Chester Joyner, is shown with his STAR teacher, Dr. Ivis DeLoach. (Staff photo by Deborah Bennett) torate in curriculum and instruc tion from Argosy University. She is a native of Panama and resides in Statesboro. Dr. DeLoach is married to Montie DeLoach Sr. and they have two children, Montie Jr. and Elena. “Teaching our students is a team effort, and to be chosen by a student like Chester is such an honor. Of the many things that I admire about him, two charac teristics are his dedication in ev erything he does and his respect for his teachers. Chester has worked very hard for this honor, and I am very proud of him. He has a natural gift for Spanish and is very fluent with the language. He is a joy to teach because he is so self-disciplined and fo cused,” Dr. DeLoach said. Touch screen voting for the Special Election is now underway at the Jenkins County Courthouse. (Staff photo by Deborah Bennett) Touch screen voting available for Special Election By Deborah Bennett Millen News Editor Touch screen voting of absen tee ballots for the March 17 Spe cial Election is now underway at the Jenkins County Court house. Voters do not have to give a reason for voting absen tee when voting in person or by mail. A photo I.D. is required when voting in person. Forms of ac ceptable I.D. are: a Georgia driver’s license, even if expired; any valid state or federal gov ernment issued photo ID, in cluding a free Voter ID; card is sued by county registrar or Georgia Department of Driver Services; valid U.S. passport; valid employee photo ID from any branch, department, agency or entity of the U.S. Govern ment, Georgia, or any county, municipality, board, authority or other entity of this state; valid U.S. military photo ID or valid tribal photo ID. Applications for absentee bal lots by mail may be made in the office of the Jenkins County Registrar at the Jenkins County Courthouse until Friday, March 13. A photo I.D. is not required when voting by mail. However, first time registrants who are making an application for a bal lot by mail must provide one of the following as a form of iden tification: current utility bill, current bank statement, govern ment check or paycheck, valid government document with name and address, Georgia’s driver’s license, valid I.D. card by any state or U.S. with photo, valid U.S. passport, valid gov ernment employer photo I.D., valid U.S. military I.D. card with photo or valid tribal I.D. card with photo. Anyone who is not already registered to vote may do so until Tuesday, Feb. 17, in the office of the Registrar. The Special Election will de termine whether or not the present one-cent Education Spe cial Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (ESPLOST) levied by the Jenkins County Board of Edu cation should be renewed for an additional five years. County considers changing due date for taxes By Deborah Bennett Millen News Editor Local citizens could see a little more “jingle” in their pockets at Christmastime this year if the due date for prop erty taxes is changed. The Jenkins County Commission ers agreed to consider the matter during their Tuesday, Feb. 3, meeting. County Administrator Carol Cates reported that she had received several requests for a change in the due date from local citizens who complained that paying the taxes around Christmastime was difficult. Property taxes are normally due Dec. 20 each year. The commissioners agreed for Chairman James Henry to investigate the legality of the matter, check state re quirements and discuss it with the Jenkins County Tax Ap praiser. Chairman Henry will report his findings to the board at a later date. In other matters, the commissioners reviewed, revised, discussed and adopted goals for the coming year with seek ing additional industries and businesses for the county be ing named as a top priority. Establishing incentives and the need for land use planning as related to economic de velopment were also discussed. Commissioner Pam Dwight suggested that the county coordinate with the City of Millen on enforcement of Nui sance Ordinances to improve the appearance of both the county and city. The suggestion was approved with Dwight asked to meet with city officials to discuss the matter and report back to the board. The possible effects of state budget cuts on local pro grams and agencies were addressed with the commission ers noting that the county would not be financially able to pick up the slack. Other actions taken by the commissioners included: • Agreed to ask the University of Georgia to do a profes sional color design for the recently approved county logo at a cost of $150-$175; and • Approved a state and local bond for the Jenkins County Tax Commissioner, as required by law. City to put ‘bite’ in dog ordinance By Deborah Bennett Millen News Editor The City of Millen’s dog ordinance will soon have a little more “bite” to its contents. An increasing number of stray dogs/cats and animals that have been allowed to roam freely by their owners prompted Millen City Council to consider revisions to the ordinance during its Tuesday, Feb. 3, meeting. Issues discussed included determining the number of ani mals an individual may own, kennel locations, charges for daily maintenance, fees for animals picked up by the ani mal control officer, dogs/cats running at-large and proof of rabies inoculation. A schedule of fees and a proposed ordinance will be considered at the next meeting of council. The purchase of an emergency generator for the Mu nicipal Building was approved at a cost of $52,342.74. Approximately $35,000 of the amount will be funded through a FEMA grant. Council accepted the low bid from United Air of Swainsboro for replacing the heating/cooling unit in the E-911 Center and Millen Police Department at a cost of $3,950. Also approved was the expenditure of $5,900 in Spe cial Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) III rev enue for work that must be done on Cotton Avenue prior to resurfacing of the street. The expenditure of $1,000 was approved for a survey of the Westside Cemetery existing boundaries and three additional acres that are to be purchased. Approval was given for renewal of the city’s designa tion as a Tree City, and the mayor was authorized to sign the recertification application and proclamation declaring Feb. 20 as the city’s observance of Arbor Day.