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WEDNESDAY, JULY 26,2023
Homer, Banks County, GA 30547 • A Publication of MainStreet Newspapers, Inc. • 12 Pages, 1 Section Plus Supplements
Vol. 57 No. 32
Baldwin
mayor’s
seat to be
on ballot
By KARLEE CALDWELL
Baldwin’s city council
agreed Monday night to post
the Mayor Seat as vacant
for the upcoming special
election. This position is
required to be filled for the
remainder of the unexpired
term, which is set to expire
on December 31, 2025.
The mayor seat is tem
porarily being occupied by
acting mayor Alice Ven
ter, who was voted in after
former mayor Joe Elam re
signed effective immediate
ly on February 7, 2023.
The special election will
take place on November 7,
2023. The qualifying period
for each candidate to file a
notice of candidacy regard
ing this election will be Au
gust 21, 2023, through Au
gust 25, 2023, and will have
a $35 qualifying fee.
In other business at Mon
day night’s meeting, the
council agreed to revise
Baldwin’s Cemetery Reg
ulations and Fees. There is
currently no record of this
document being presented
to or approved by a previ
ous council. The council
plans to bring this to a vote
at their council meeting on
Monday, August 18, 2023.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
•The Piedmont Library
System Pop Up Rolling Li
brary will be set up at the
Baldwin Farmers’ Market
from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. this
Friday for the last time this
summer. Those attending
the Rolling Library with
children will receive food
bags courtesy of the Food
Bank of Northeast Georgia.
•The Baldwin Back to
School Bash will be Satur
day, July 29, from 4 p.m. to
8 p.m. at Life Chinch. Ev
erything at this event will
be free of charge, including
food, activities, school sup
plies for children present in
grades K-12, and haircuts
from local hairdressers.
Contact City Hall to donate
supplies.
•Shop with a Hero tickets
are available for purchase
to enter in a raffle on July
31 for a Pit Boss Grill. All
proceeds go towards giving
local kids an unforgettable
Christmas, local elderly
support, and community
outreach and engagement.
Tickets are $10 each and
can be purchased at City
Hall, Baldwin Fire Dept,
and Baldwin Police Dept.
MAILING LABEL
Banks deputy, K9
assists in two captures
BY ANGELA GARY
A Banks County Sheriff’s
Office deputy and K-9, Bec-
ka, helped track a suspect
who fled the scene of two
incidents in neighboring
counties in the past week.
On Friday, Banks County
Deputy Josh Pressley and
K9 Becka responded to the
area of 1-85 at Exit 140 to
help the Jefferson Police
Department track a suspect
who had fled into a wooded
area after abandoning a ve
hicle.
After K9 Becka detected
the suspect’s scent from the
vehicle, the K9 team began
a search through steep hills,
and alongside a creek.
The suspect was spotted
jumping a fenced-in area of
trailers.
After securing the perim
eter with Deputy Pressley,
K9 Becka helped identify
the suspect’s hiding spot by
attempting to climb into the
correct trailer.
EARLIER
CAPTURE
Three days earlier, Dep
uty Pressley and K9 Becka
responded to a call to assist
Franklin County in locating
a female suspect who had
fled the passenger seat of a
vehicle that was involved in
a chase.
After arriving on the
scene, Dep. Pressley col
lected a scent article from
clothes that the suspect had
dropped on the shoulder of
1-85. Pressley presented the
scent to K9 Becka, a scent
and she trailed into the
woods, running parallel to
the interstate for about 200
yards.
The trail crossed a small
creek before leading back to
the shoulder of 1-85.
The suspect was found
hiding on the shoulder lay
ing in the tall weeds.
Pressley could still see the
blue lights at the scene from
where the suspect was hid
ing. The trail was just under
a half mile and took 15 min
utes to locate the suspect.
“Pressley and K9 Becka
did a great job of utilizing
their advanced K9 trailing
skills to find the suspect
fast in a mix of hard surface
and wooded environments,”
stated Scent Evidence K9
CEO, Paul Coley. -
Deputy Pressley has been
with the Banks County
Sheriff’s Office for eight
years. Deputy Pressley was
assigned K9 Becka January
10, 2022.
Deputy Pressley has re
ceived advanced training
in woodland operations
and land navigation from
the Georgia Army National
BECKA
Guard. Deputy Pressley also
received training and certifi
cation in scent discriminate
K9 trailing from Scent Evi
dence K9, LLC.
K9 Becka was trained by
Scent Evidence K9, LLC,
which is a national leader in
scent discriminate K9 trail
ing.
K9 Becka and Deputy
Pressley have continued
training in scent discrimi
nate trailing in woodland,
urban, and commercial set
tings.
On December 6, 2022,
Deputy Pressley and K9
Becka achieved the SEK9
Master Handler Certifica
tion from Scent Evidence
LLC..
Open house set
at Banks schools
Students to
return to
classroom
Aug. 1
By ANGELA GARY
School starts in less than
one month and open house
has already been set at area
schools.
“It has been an awesome
summer for our Banks
County families and staff,”
school system public rela
tions director Angie Bowen
stated.
She adds, “Our school
administration has been
busy this summer getting
things ready for the 2023-
2024 school year. We want
to remind our families to
please complete the Annu
al Student Record Update
prior to our Open House
dates. Please contact your
student’s school if you need
help completing the online
form.”
OPEN HOUSE
SCHEDULE
The open house schedule
is as follows:
•Banks County Primary
School, 10 a.m. to noon and
4 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Friday,
July 28.
•Banks County Elemen
tary School, 10 a.m. to
noon and 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.
on Monday, July 31.
•Banks County Middle
School, 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.,
Thursday, July 27.
•Banks County High
School, 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.,
Monday, July 31. The
Freshman Pounce (students
only) will be held from
8:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. on
Thursday, July 27.
BOG to set millage
rate on Aug. 8
The Banks County Board of Commissioners will meet at
6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 8, to set the millage rate.
The proposed millage rate is 6.354, down from the cur
rent 7.012.
The meeting will be held at the Courthouse Annex meet
ing room, located at 150 Hudson Ridge, Homer.
The BOC has reduced the millage rate for the past five
years, beginning in 2018 when it was 8.9.
BASKE TBALL CAMP HELD AT RECREATION DEPAR TMENT
Photo by Hannah Caudell
Gavin Reed, Addam Lassiter, Azzam Hill, and Husni AbdusSabur perform a team exercise at basketball camp at the Banks County Recreation Department.
See story and more photos on Page 12.
Banks BOE approves personnel
items as new school year approaches
Republican women to
meet Aug. 1 in Homer
By ANGELA GARY
The Banks County Board
of Education approve sev
eral personnel items at its
meeting on Thursday, in
cluding:
•hiring Jaime Chapman,
school/food/nutrition as
sistant; Holly McDaniel,
school/food/nutrition as
sistant; April Brock, para-
professional; Amy Hayes,
teacher; Mallory Lipsey,
teacher; Daniel Oldham,
part-time finance director;
and Noel Ventrice, comp
troller.
•accepting the resignation
of Peyton Hart, teacher.
OTHER BUSINESS
In other business at the
meeting, the BOE:
•approves a request from
Banks County Primary
School - NGHS to utilize
BCPS as home base for
Richie Alford Memorial 5k/
Fun Run with proceeds go
ing to the family.
•approved a request from
BCPS to sponsor a Fall
Fundraiser for the sale of
candy, snacks, etc., August
2 - October 31.
•approved a request from
BCPS to sponsor Kona Ice,
August 2 - May 31, 2024.
•approved a request from
Banks County Middle
School to sponsor sale of
apparel, tv ads, calendars
and miscellaneous mer
chandise, sponsor car wash
and 50/50 raffle, July, 2023
- July, 2024.
The Republican Women of Banks County will meet on
Tuesday, August 1, 2023, at Homer City Hall. The social
gathering will be held at 6:30 pm., with the meeting to start
at 7 pm.
Reagan Box, 2026 U.S. Senatorial Candidate, will be
the guest speaker. A woman of multi-hats from marine
research, foreign missions, to horse trainer/breaker/show
horses, Box has decided to put on a new “hat” and run for
US Senate in 2026. She said that realizes that our elected
officials must stand for “We the People.”
Homer City Hall is located at 943 Historic Homer High
way, Homer.
For more information, contact president Martha Ram
sey, 706-654-6263 by text or mgramsey@winstream.net
by email.
