Judge James Hardy has sentenced Colquitt County resident Parker Giles to serve six years in prison, a drug treatment program and 24 years of probation. The methamphetamine labs found on property belonging to a Giles relative on more than one occasion brought a guilty plea and the resulting penalties.

The office of the Georgia Attorney General has fined the Valdosta-Lowndes County Hospital Authority $500 and ordered the authority to undergo training in open government with the Office of the Attorney General. These actions were the result of a complaint that led to an investigation of the violation of the Georgia Open Meetings Act. An advertised meeting scheduled for 9:30 a.m. on February 17th was actually preceded by an executive session. The Georgia Open Meetings Act requires governing bodies to meet in an open, public meeting after proper notification before voting to go into executive session.

The Texas-based Kinder Morgan Company that was planning to build a $1 billion pipeline to carry gasoline and diesel fuel from Belton, S.C., to Jacksonville, Fla., has announced on its website that it has “suspended further work” on the project. It blames action by the Georgia General Assembly which passed legislation this month keeping the company from seeking environmental permits or other licenses until July, 2017. Supporters of the moratorium bill said it was aimed at stopping the pipeline.

Kinder Morgan is one of the nation’s largest gasoline-pipeline companies and already has miles of pipe in Georgia serving terminals in Albany, Athens, Atlanta, and Columbus as well as in South Carolina. The company had sold contracts to transport fuel in the pipe once it was built and operating.

Mayor John Gayle and members of the Valdosta City Council will meet in regular session at 5:30 p.m. in council chambers at City Hall. That meeting is open to the public and citizens are encouraged to attend.