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BANKS COUNTY NEWS
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2023
Fire that destroyed Alto mobile
home possibly heating-related
A possible home heating fire destroyed the home of an
elderly woman at 425 Harrison Trail near Alto Monday
morning.
Habersham County E-911 dispatchers received a call
from a neighbor at 7:35 a.m. Monday reporting the fire.
The caller reported seeing flames and said smoke was
coming from the house.
Habersham County Emergency Services Engine 12,
Med 12, Tanker 13, Battalion 1, and Captain 1 responded,
along with Baldwin Fire Department Engine 42 and units
from the Habersham County Sheriff’s Office.
HCES Med 2 also responded to handle rehab.
Command on scene requested at 8:22 a.m. that Cornelia
Fire Department respond for manpower.
An investigator from Georgia Insurance and Safety Fire
Commissioner John F. King’s Fire Investigations Unit re
sponded to the scene.
The fire’s cause is listed as undetermined.
A space heater in the home was plugged into a power
strip at the time the fire started and cannot be eliminated as
a possible source.
The female resident and one dog escaped the fire, and
the American Red Cross was contacted to assist her with
immediate needs.
The 30-year-old, single-wide mobile home was de
stroyed, and the fire claimed the lives of at least two dogs.
1 *-
T
Firefighters arrived to find a 30-year-old mobile home well-in
volved by fire.
18 arrests reported by sheriffs office
The Banks County Sher
iff’s Office recently charged
18 people, including:
•Amber Wilmoth Redd
ings, 42, 133 Ridgeland
Court. Maysville, disorderly
conduct and animal control
violation.
•Shannon Lamar McDou-
gald, 40, 324 Hwy. 326,
Commerce, probation vio
lation.
•Cameron Lee Tipton, 40,
70 Belton Drive, Toccoa,
probation violation.
•Rashaad Lamar Hillian,
40, 4112 Villa Club Drive,
Winston-Salem, N.C., driv
ing while license suspend
ed or revoked, obstruction
of a law enforcement offi
cer, possession of cocaine,
possession of metham-
phetamine, possession of a
controlled substance, pos
session of marijuana and
crossing guard lines with
weapons, intoxicants or
drugs without consent.
•Brenda Hill Barker, 59,
1100 Berea Road, Com
merce, failure to appear.
•Adam Joseph Lee, 34,
399 Webbs Creek Road,
Homer, failure to main
tain lane, driving under the
influence of intoxicants
(DUI), obstruction of a law
enforcement officer, flee
ing or attempting to elude a
law enforcement officer and
possession of marijuana.
•Daniel Clark Neal, 40,
105 Sanford Drive, Nichol
son, probation violation.
•Adam Cecil Workman,
37, 359 Queen Road, Gills-
ville, probation violation
and aggravated assault.
•Mandy Marie Bales, 39,
122 West First Avenue, Col
bert, theft by taking.
•Dexter Lamonz Benson,
35, 400 S. Convers Street,
Spartanburg, S.C., driving
while license suspended or
revoked and speeding.
•Tammy Latrell Car
ter, 49, 221 Hebron Road,
Commerce, hindering the
apprehension of a criminal,
possession of methamphet-
amine and possession and
use of a drug-related object.
•Kathy Lee Grissom, 41,
221 Hebron Road, Com
merce, hindering the appre
hension of a criminal.
•Jonathan Keith Moore,
39, 526 Boxer Lane, Toc
coa, possession of amphet
amine and possession of a
drug-related object.
•India Monique Reid,
37, 152 Eisenhower Drive,
Commerce, burglary and
obstruction of a law en
forcement officer.
•Daisey Denee Watkins,
42, 3034 Watkins Wilkin
son Road, Oxford, N.C.,
speeding and driving while
license suspended or re
voked.
•Samuel Murillo-Villan-
ueva, 42, 501 Dixie Drive,
Anderson, S.C., driving
without a valid license and
speeding..
•Brent Allen Howing-
ton, 36, 2385 North Broad
Street, Commerce, simple
assault.
•David Shelton Tobey, 49,
170 Chandler Street, Bald
win, theft by taking.
Incidents reported to sheriffs office listed
Recent incidents reported 'pedestrian under the in- dress.
to the Banks County Sher- fluence of intoxicants at a
iff’s Office including:
West County Line Road,
•simple assault dining a Lula, location,
domestic dispute at Hem- 'domestic dispute at a
•battery and obstructing
an officer during a domes
tic dispute at an Apartment
Street, Homer, residence.
Drive, Alto, location.
•dispute at a Mt. Sinai
Road, Lula, address.
•damage to property at a
Hwy. 441, Commerce, busi-
bree Road, Maysville.
School Street, Homer, ad- 'simple battery at Walnut ness.
Maysville street project to
provide more parking downtown
By HANNAH CAUDELL
The Maysville City
Council addressed citizen
concerns at its October
meeting about the use of
the Local Maintenance and
Improvement Grant to ren
ovate Alley Street.
The council received a
Local Maintenance and Im
provement Grant to provide
more parallel parking along
Alley Street, but concerns
arose when the council pro
posed that the street go to
one way.
The proposed road will
go one way off of Georgia
Avenue and continue to
Brevard Street.
An issue also arose as
to the location of handi
capped parking along Short
Street and whether more
handicapped parking areas
should be provided along
Brevard Street.
The council plans to use
the Local Maintenance and
Improvement Grant in or
der to both help downtown
businesses with parking and
allow citizens easier access
to those businesses without
having to cross the road.
As of now, the Local
Maintenance and Improve
ment Grant will provide
$89,870 to the project, but
the council is also consid
ering the use of SPLOST
money.
The council is hoping to
get bids back for the project
before winter.
Julie Duncan also pre
sented to the council a bud
get for the funds from the
Piedmont Regional Library
for the Maysville Public
Library. The funds total
$8,823. Scott Harper mo
tioned to amend the library
budget, but the council has
decided to table the propos
al for next month.
OTHER NEWS:
•The council is still wait
ing for bids for the public
utility building.
•Mayor Richard Presley
discussed the potential use
of drones for search and
rescue operations, fire fight
ing, car accident reports,
and the like. The council
did not vote on such tech
nology, but the mayor did
sign a memorandum of un
derstanding.
•The estimated price for
the new pavilion in Mays
ville City Park is $33,485.
However, the council de
cided to table the project for
another meeting.
BOC split...
Continued from Page 1
•heard from Claydean Coker about conditions on Coker
Road and Derrick Williams about conditions on Grant
Mill Road. The commissioners agreed to look into these
issues and determine the options.
•approved the annual lease for Boy Scouts to use the
Uchee Lodge.
•heard from Cindy Levin, chief executive officer of Avi-
ta Community Partners about the services the organization
provides. There have been 211 Banks County residents
served by Avita in the past year. Carol Williams and Bo
Garrison represent Banks County on the Avita board of
directors.
•heard from Lonnie Robinson with the City of Com
merce about natural gas mains the city provides to the
county. He presented a comprehensive plan of services
provided.
•approved a request from Dianne McQuillan for a fami
ly subdivision of property on McDonald Circle. Commis
sioner Ausbum voted against this and said he wasn’t sure
the request was handled properly. He questioned wheth
er it should have gone before the planning commission.
Chairman Turk said the BOC hears hardship cases such
as this.
•approved a resolution urging the governor and General
Assembly to continue efforts to reform and improve men
tal health services for the citizens of the state.
•agreed to set a joint work session with the planning
commission to discuss their proposed code amendments.
The vote to do this was 4-1, with Garrison voting against
it.
•agreed to purchase a side-by-side ATV, with special
purpose local option sales tax revenue, for use by the pub
lic utilities department.
•held a closed session to discuss litigation. The meeting
lasted 15 minutes and no action was taken when it was
opened back up to the public.
Retired federal
employees to meet
The Northeast Georgia Chapter of the National Associ
ation of Active and Retired Federal Employees (NARFE)
will feature two of the area’s popular health benefits plans
in the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FE-
HBP) for the 2024 Open Season on Monday, October 16,
at 10:30 a.m. at the XFactor Grill in downtown Toccoa
on Doyle Street.
Representatives from AETNA and GEHA will be pro
viding information about the additions, changes, cover
age per option and cost at this important meeting. All ac
tive and retired employees as well as survivor annuitants
and spouses are welcome to attend. No reservation is re
quired. The program begins promptly at 10:30 a.m. and
the informational session will be completed by 11:30 a.m.
This timeframe was chosen to provide active employees
to attend by adjusting their scheduled lunch on this day.
The program will be followed by a dutch-treat lunch,
then a Questions and Answer session will provide time
for specific information.
Active and retired federal civilian employees do not
have to be a member of NARFE to attend. For more in
formation, contact the local president at mjfarmsl00@
aol.com.
The Banks County News
Homer, GA 30547
Founded 1968
The official legal organ of Banks County, Ga.
Mike Buffington
Scott Buffington
Angela Gary
Co-Publisher
Co-Publisher
Editor
BanksNewsTODAY.com
(SCED 547160)
Published weekly by MainStreet Newspapers, Inc.,
P.O. Box 908, Jefferson, Ga. 30549
Yearly subscription rate: $45 Regular Seniors £40
Periodicals postage paid at
Homer, Ga. 30547 (547-160)
Postmaster: send address changes to:
MainStreet Newspapers, Inc., PO Box 908,
Jefferson, Georgia 30549-0908
Banks Rotary Club sponsors Food 2
Kids Program for Banks County Schools
The Banks County Rotary
Club is sponsoring the Food
2 Kids Program in the coun
ty school system.
“School isn’t just a place
for learning,” organizers
state. “For some of our most
impoverished kids, it’s also
the only reliable source of
food in their lives.”
Food 2 Kids is a program
that helps bridge that gap
for some of the communi
ty’s neediest kids.
Sacks of kid-friendly
food—enough for at least
six meals—are handed
out every week to children
identified by school teach
ers, counselors and officials
as being most in need, orga
nizers report. The dispos
able sacks will have approx
imately seven to 10 pounds
of food—enough for two
days of meals. The food is
in easy-to-open packaging
and doesn’t require any
cooking. To donate or for
more information, contact
Becky Carlan at 706-540-
3828. Mail in contributions
for the program to: Banks
County Rotary Club Food 2
Kids, P.O. Box 54, Homer,
Ga., 30547.
PUBLIC MEETINGS ... FOR ONLY $5 PER MONTH
you can list your group’s meetings!
Banks County News • Jackson Herald
Madison County Journal • Braselton News
Call 706-367-5233 to list your meetings!
Sfc COMMERCE
IjP AMERICAN LEGION
Post 93 • Meets 2nd Thurs., 7:00 p.m.
Wayne Brown, Commander
Phone (404)310-7177
Commerce Civic Center, Commerce, GA
12971
MADISON COUNTY
DEMOCRATS
Meet Monthly
For Time, Date & Location:
Facebook:
MadisonC ounty GaDemocrats
Or mcgademocrats .wixsite .com/mcdp
JEFFERSON ROTARY CLUB
Meets Tuesdays 12:00 Noon
Jackson County
Historic Courthouse
85 Washington St., Jefferson
Traci Bledsoe, President
678-227-8417 i 26 2 6
4660
St. Catherine Laboure
Catholic Church
Mass Schedule: Sat. 4:00 p.m. Sun. 10:00 a.m, Tues. 12:10 p.m.
Mon,, Wed, Thurs. & Fri. 10:00 a.m, Spanish Sun. 8:00 a.m.
Website: www.stcatherinelabourega.org
706-367-7220
BANKS COUNTY 13004
HISTORICAL SOCIETY, INC.
Meets first Monday each month
7:00 p.m. in the Banks County
Historical Courthouse at
105 U. S. Hwy 441 North in
Homer, GA
12972
JL, ROCKWELL
7W\ LODGE F& AM
No. 191, Hoschton, GA
2nd Tues. at 7:30 p.m. • Dinner at 6:30 p.m.
www.rockwelllodgel91 .com
Two blocks behind Larry's Garage
West Broad at Hall Street
12969 .
Tri-County
J Shrine Club
3rd Thurs. of each month
7:30 p.m.
Rockwell Lodge 191
12619
JEFFERSON
fgp AMERICAN LEGION
Post 56 • Meets 3rd Tues, 6:30 p.m.
Joe Ruttar, Commander
Phone (860) 949-4037
309 Lee St., Jefferson, GA
KIWANIS
OF JEFFERSON
Meetings every 2 nd & 4 th
Monday at Noon
Cream & Shuga
Contact Darryl Gumz at
770-605-6656 for more info.
Pilot Club of Jefferson
Meets 3rd Tuesday of
each month, 6:30 p.m.
Jefferson City Clubhouse
706-367-9313 or
706-693-4715 12M5