American Legion Post 13 was the site of a meeting of various organizations that advocate for veterans. The discussion centered around the development of a community board and associated committees to provide centralized assistance and help with veterans benefits. Lowndes County would become the central site for the board that would be charged to serve as many as 36 thousand veterans in a 24 county area through a partnership with the Veterans Administration.
An announcement coming from the Chairman of the Valdosta-Lowndes Hospital Authority-Sam Allen, made public the plan for the construction of a 25 million dollar health care building to be constructed on the campus of Wiregrass Georgia technical College. Designs for the structure have been completed and the next phase of the development is an effort to locally raise 5 million dollars. The hospital authority has pledged one million dollars towards that goal.
In addition to the charges faced by Justin Thornton, Alexis Griffin, and Clayton Bradley Zimmerman, in connection with the armed robbery and beating of Moultrie resident Jose Jimenez new charges have been filed. The trio is charged with criminal gang activity, kidnapping and other violations-all of them felonies. A fourth suspect Joseph Fender is still sought.
A Norman Park female identified as 53 year old Patricia Cooper lost her life in a tragic vehicular accident. She was pronounced dead at the scene of the incident by Colquitt County Coroner Verlyn Brock. Her mini-van was struck by a truck as she entered oncoming traffic.
19 year old Travis Island a senior at Thomasville High School was scheduled to graduate, but he lost his life early Thursday morning in a crash on Highway 319. His passenger Ajia Williams age 18, Island the vehicles’ driver fell asleep at the wheel and when awakened he over-corrected and crashed. Williams was taken to Archbold Hospital for treatment.
More meetings are planned in the upcoming months across the state for the Georgia Health Care Reform Task Force. State lawmakers joined by Lt. Governor Casey Cagle and experts from the health-care field discussed ways to create a better and more affordable health-care system for the state of Georgia.
Tangela Hill the owner of H&P Financial Services in Albany has been arrested along with her business partner Wayne Phillips. The charges against them include filing fraudulent tax returns. The arrests were handled by officers from the department of revenue and the district attorney’s office. Homes belonging to Hill and Phillips were also to be searched. According to the investigators the business duo has been filing false tax returns for a number of years. Their office is next door to the Department of Revenue; an undercover operation was set up to uncover their criminal practices.
Dougherty County residents and citizens from the surrounding areas are invited to the 10 a.m. May 23rd ribbon cutting for the medical College of South Georgia student housing center in Albany. The Flagstone housing center which cost 8 million dollars is near the Phoebe Memorial Hospital main campus.
Students at Thomasville and Thomas County Schools have much to be proud of. The raised over $6 thousand dollars over the past year in their Coins for Critters campaign to benefit the Thomas County Humane Society. A fund matching check was presented by officials from the Thomas County Federal Bank.
Caseita Jenkins of Fort Valley, Jennifer Wilson, Tonyal Loud and Oceana Pace of Moultrie were all sentenced for participating in a fraudulent check cashing scheme. According to reports from the Department of Justice the women had targeted the Walmart store in Moultrie for their criminal activity. The Lowndes County Sheriff’s Department and the Sheriff’s Department in Colquitt County assisted in the investigation. Oceana Pace and Tonyal Loud of Moultrie were employed at the Walmart store; Pace was given a sentence of 36 months of probation-Jennifer Wilson and Tonyal Loud were sentenced to 30 months in prison and Caseita Jenkins was sentenced to serve 37 months in prison. Restitution for each of the defendants is just over 206 thousand dollars.
With nationwide Hands Across the Sand this weekend Suwannee Riverkeeper will “Say NO to dirty fuels and YES to clean energy. The public is invited to join the four hour outing four hours this month down the Suwannee River from Woods Ferry Tract Launch to Suwannee Springs. Start time is at 9AM. For more information call 850-290-2350 or 229-242-0102.
Valdosta Mayor Pro Tem Alvin Payton Jr. and Public Works Director Richard Hardy honored Crew Leader Robert Hamilton, Crew Leader Harry Bowdren and Maintenance Worker C.W. Shaw as the May 2017 Employees of the Month at the May 11 City Council meeting. Hamilton, Bowdren and Shaw received a framed certificate and a check for $200, and their names appear on a plaque displayed in City Hall.
The City of Valdosta will observe National Public Works Week, on May 22-26, with a variety of activities that will highlight the services provided by the staff of the city’s Public Works Department. The national observance, sponsored by the American Public Works Association (APWA), was instituted in 1960. This year’s theme is “Public Works Connects Us,” which showcases the ways public works provides, maintains, and improves the structures and services that assure a higher quality of life for our communities and allows our communities to grow and prosper.
