About The Islander. (St. Simons Island, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (April 29, 2024)
theislanderonline.com Published by Permar Publications ssislander@bellsouth.net April 29, 2024 Established in 1972 Vol 52 Issue 18 Welcome to Brunswick Upgrading Downtown - the photo, taken from the back side of the recently installed Mary Ross Park entrance sign, looks east down Gloucester St. into downtown Brunswick. The sign, commissioned by the City Commission, was built and installed by'Signs by Joey,’ of Waycross. Molina Construction built the brick columns and Swindell Construction Co. built the rest of the improvements including the sidewalk, road, curb and gutter, the storm drain and the brick plaza. The total project cost was $850,000 and was included in the 2016 SPLOST budget. The sign itself cost $39,000. Islander Staff Photo - Shierling Parents file lawsuit over social media information after St. Simons teen party incident Unusual Graves of Georgia: Southern Cemetery Series By Pamela Permar- Shierling Learning should be lifelong. If we keep an open mind, we can learn from pretty much anything, and what makes learning so much fun is the unusual. Hence the lead in to this ar ticle - Unusual Graves of Geor gia: Volume 1 of the Southern Cemetery Series. Jennifer Keene, author of Unusual Graves, was born in Blackshear, grew up in Way- cross and at one time lived on St. Simons Island. She graduated from Way- cross High, received her un dergraduate degree from Valdosta State University and her masters from Florida State University. Jennifer is interested, in fact passionate, about many things. Saving animals is one passion of hers; hiking and camping are two more. Another passion of Jenni fer’s is her interest in graves, especially old graves, as well as her love of learning. “I have always been inter ested in graves,” she said. “I was fortunate as a child to be able to travel with my fam ily and became interested in roadside attractions, historic buildings, then graves.” Cemeteries embody so much fascinating history, she said. “There is a miscon ception that cemeteries are spooky or haunted (most old time Islander’s remember scary midnight trips to Christ Church Cemetery). But that’s not true. Many cemeteries are tied into historic churches. Cemetery art can be local or brought in from around the world.” “Cemeteries are tied into communities and can give off Turn to Page 2 Unusual Graves The families of two minors have filed a lawsuit against several social media platforms and individuals involved in spreading what the suit terms false information stemming from a teen party last year on St. Simons Island. The suit claims defamation, libel and slander, invasion of privacy and false light against the defendants. Sarah Wray on behalf of JJW, a minor child; and Stacy and Michael Gowen on behalf of LG, also a minor child, filed the lawsuit last month nam ing the following people and companies in the suit: Matthew Blackstone, By Pamela Permar-Shierling Principal of Glynn Academy; Susan Sterling; William Mat thew Baskin; Rashica Cobb; Meta Platforms, Inc.; Snap, Inc.; Alphabet, Inc.; Tiktok, Inc.; FITSNews, LLC, Will Folks; blogger Adrian Harrold Wood; and 100 John and Jane Does. Folks is editor of FITSNews. The suit demands a jury trial and asks for $5 million in compensatory damages against the corporate defen dants Meta Platforms, Inc., Snap, Inc., Alphabet, Inc., and Tiktok, Inc. The suit asks that the jury determine and award punitive damages. On behalf of the minor children the suit asks the jury determine damages for their loss of ability to continue their high school education in Glynn County as well as dam ages to the Gowens for loss of substantial income and dam age to their businesses. Social media heated up last March after an incident involving an intoxicated 19 year old who was taken to the hospital by some of the young people at the party was made public. Prior to a complete Glynn County Police investigation Turn to Page 5 Lawsuit County-Wide News - Read County-Wide Page 3 - Train wreck Page 4 - On The Ball - Jeff Lane Page 6 - Twitty Park marks 100 years Page 8 - Pew Page 12 - Health Matters - Dr. Diane Bowen Page 13 - Sisters deliver babies on same day Page 14 - Obit - Hans Trupp Page 16- Back Talk Glyndale Dr. rezone deferred By Matthew J. Permar During their last regular meeting, (Thursday, April 18) the Glynn County Board of Commissioners (BOC) unani mously deferred an applica tion to rezone 125 and 127 Glyndale Dr. from OC Office Commercial to FC Freeway Commercial. The request was made by property owner Josh Kirkland who is seeking to bring the zoning into compliance with the current property use. According to the Communi ty Development Dept, staff re port, the existing development is non-conforming for the lot size and setbacks. Planner II Christopher Cary said, “This change will keep the same uses but reduce the lot and setback require ments making it conform to zoning.” Turn to Page 5 Glyndale Dr. State Court Solicitor candidates square off By Pamela Permar- Shierling Last Tuesday (April 24) in cumbent State Court Solicitor Maria Lugue and challenger Wrix Mcllvaine squared off against one another during a forum hosted by the Glynn County Republican Party. Candidates were asked questions by moderator Kevin Gough. One of the first questions asked was would you support local legislation to make the office of solicitor partisan? Lugue said it was up to the people. “I don’t object to solici tor being a partisan position.” Mcllvaine said, “I think if the solicitor is a partisan Turn to Page 4 Court Solicitor 0 9492229970 3
