Tuesday, Oct. 2, 2018
Tifton, Georgia
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COPS NAB BANK ROBBERY SUSPECT
TIFTON BANK ROBBED; NO ONE INJURED
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A local
man
was
apprehended
within an
hour and a half
this morning (
Tuesday
) after
South Georgia Banking Co.
was robbed at
725 W. Second Street
in
Tifton
, authorities say.
Randy Angelo Hill
of
Tifton
is being held in the
Tift County Jail
, said
Sgt.
Daniel Ray
of the
Tifton Police Department
. The
money
was
recovered
, no one was
injured
, and the
suspect
was taken into
custody
without
force
,
authorities said.
The
robbery
occurred at
9:13 a.m.
, and the robber
fled
on
foot
across
Second Street
, police said.
Law enforcement
officials from the
Tifton Police Department, Tift County
Sheriff’s Office
and
Ga. Department of Natural Resources K-9 unit
responded.
During a
search
of the surrounding area, the
suspect
was found
hiding
in a
drainage ditch
off
Magnolia Drive
. He was taken into
custody
at
10:43 a.m.
The suspect has been in
Tifton
for approximately
two months
, having arrived from
Florida
, officials said.
Both
Eighth Street Middle School
and the
Tift County School System's Central Office
were
temporarily
on
lockdown
while the
robbery suspect
was
at large
.
The
Federal Bureau of Investigation's Valdosta office
is assisting in the
investigation
.
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TIFT SUPT SEARCH ADVANCES
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The
Tift County Board of
Education
is continuing its
search
for
the next county
school superintendent.
Board members have been reviewing
27
applications that were submitted and are working to pare down the list. Board members will meet again soon to
schedule
the
first round
of
interviews
, according to the
Tift County School System
.
The
interviews
are tentatively scheduled to begin in
late October
.
The
school board
is seeking a
successor
to current Superintendent
Patrick Atwater
(pictured at right),
who has
previously
announced
his intention to
retire
on
June 30
after the current school year ends.
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STUDENTS LEARN – AND HELP TEACH
Schools
are places where children go to learn, but sometimes, even younger students are the ones doing the teaching. Just ask Tifton Police Officer
Jonathan Toledo
and his canine co-worker
Kimba
.
Kimba has been a member of the local
K-9 Unit
. Toledo, who has been with the
Tifton Police Department
for two years, has been working with
Kimba
for about six months. She’s
a
German shephard
who is trained to search for illegal substances, but also to find missing people.
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Kimba
and
Toledo
have been regularly visiting
elementary schools
in
Tifton
so she could learn to be more comfortable with crowds.
And that’s something elementary students have been helping
Kimba
overcome.
“We talked with some of our students and asked them if they had ever been nervous around lots of people or when they visited a new place,” said
Stacey Beckham
, Tift County Schools’ chief communications officer.
“They immediately told us they had, and we even talked about their
first day
of school. We told them that’s exactly how
Kimba
felt, and she needed their help to feel better.”
The
students
immediately became the
caregivers
, talking to Kimba and
petting
her.
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“I was excited to see Kimba because I've never seen a
police dog
before,” said
Lily McKellar
, a first grader in
Kim Jacobs’s
class at
G.O. Bailey Elementary School
.
“She is a highly trained officer, but
Kimba
is still young,” said
Toledo
, “Having her around students is helping her to grow and get better at her job. It also helps show children that
police officers
are people, too, and allows us to build good relationships.”
Kimba
was just the beginning of this partnership. While she is going to work in
Dooly County
, new
dogs
are joining the
Tifton Police Department
and will continue to visit with
students
.
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GEORGIANS ASKED TO BEWARE OF VOTER SCAM
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Georgians
are asked to be aware of a possible
voter registration scam
underway in some states, says the
Ga. Secretary of State's Office
.
"We have been notified of a
potential scam
in some states involving telephone calls attempting to
register people
to vote over the
telephone
. Some of the callers are supposedly from
TurboVote
, but TurboVote is not responsible for these calls," says
Chris Harvey
with the
Secretary of State's Office
.
"Of course, one
cannot register
to vote over the
phone
in
Georgia
, and attempting to do so could cause the applicant to reveal
personal identifying information
to an
unknown source
over the telephone."
If anybody receives such phone calls, they are asked to
contact
the Secretary of State's office. The
South Georgia office
in
Tifton
can be reached at
229-391-3732
.
"We are
not aware
that this is happening in
Georgia
as of this time, but
forewarned
is
forearmed
," Harvey said.
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AREA TECH STUDENTS COMPETE
IN SKILLS COMPETITION AT SRTC
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The
Industrial Drive Campus
of
Southern Regional Technical College
(SRTC) hosted
23
participants last week as they
competed
against the clock during the
Ideal National Championship
skills challenge.
The student
tradesmen
competed in a timed wiring trial that required both
skill
and
technical
knowledge.
The top finishers’ scores will be added to the statewide leaderboard. In
December
, the
top competitors
will converge in
Orlando
for the
Ideal National Championship
. There, they will compete for
cash
and
prizes
totaling more than
$600,000
.
Among the
fastest finishers
in Moultrie were
student
electricians
Luis Gallegos, Anthony Bryant and Fernando Angeles
of SRTC’s
Tifton campus
, and
Derrick Sprayberry, Brandon Hiers, and Ada Anderson
of SRTC’s
Industrial campus
in
Moultrie
.
Industry leaders
A. West, Ace Electric, Metro Power
and
Lowe Electric Supply
provided sponsorship and support for the event.
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ONE-CENT T-SPLOST GOES INTO EFFECT
Residents within an
18-county
South Georgia
region
, including
Tift County
, began seeing an
additional 1-cent sales tax
this week as the
T-SPLOST
went into effect
Oct. 1.
T-SPLOST
– the
Transportation Special Purpose Local Option Sales
Tax
– was
approved
on the
ballot
in the region during
May
. It is expected to raise more than
$500 million
to fund about
150 transportation projects
across the region.
Voters
within the
18
counties
approved
the
T-SPLOST
by a total
vote
of
19,975 to 17,731
.
Tift countians
approved the
measure
by a
vote
of
2,698 to 1,560
.
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DEPUTIES ARREST 90 DURING AUGUST
Tift County Sheriff
Gene Scarbrough
(
pictured
at right)
reports that deputies
arrested
90
people during
August
.
Some of the people were arrested on
multiple charges
, he said. There were
57
charges of parole /probation violations,
30
drug violations,
25
domestic reports,
21
crimes against persons charges,
15
suspended or revoked driver’s licenses,
14
obstruction charges,
11
property crimes charges,
six
charges of driving under the influence,
three
fraud charges and
10
other non-traffic charges.
Deputies conducted
2,666
business and property checks,
722
mobile home park and subdivision checks with
71
school checks and answered
2,890
calls for service.
The sheriff said
deputies
served
180
warrants,
108
civil papers and
171
subpoenas, and
completed
519
reports,
35
accident reports, issued
882
traffic citations and
149
traffic warnings, patrolled
73,715
miles and verified the addresses of
63
registered
sex offenders
living in
Tift County
.
Deputies
also provided
76
transports, totaling
221
hours and
7,985
miles, the sheriff said.
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LA FIESTA del PUEBLO
FILLS FULWOOD PARK
The
22nd Annual La Fiesta del Pueblo
– the
largest
celebration of
Hispanic culture
in
South Georgia
– attracted
thousands
of folks to
Fulwood Park
on
Saturday
.
Families
and people of
all ages
from throughout the
region
braved
hot weather
and intermittent
late-afternoon
showers
to enjoy
music, dancing, traditional
Latin foods, craft vendors
and
children's activities
.
Organizers
said the
community festival
was a great
success
.
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FARM SUMMIT FOCUSES ON BUSINESS
The
Southern Farm Summit
will be held at the
UGA Tifton Campus Conference Center
on
Monday, Oct. 15,
from
4-9 pm.
The
Summit
is about the
business side
of a
farming
operation. It will focus on taking control of the circumstances and conditions that could affect the
success
and continuation of a farm, family and its future.
All
farmers
, their
families
and
partners
may attend. There is a registration fee.
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VOLUNTEER GROUP MEETS MONDAY
Family Promise of Tift Area
will meet at
6:30 p.m. Monday, Oct. 8,
at Tifton's
First United Methodist Church.
The church is located at
107 12th St. W.
The
volunteer
organization is working to aid
local homeless families
helping them to achieve
sustainable independence
. More volunteers are needed, and the group is seeking the
assistance
of additional
local churches
.
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SALVATION ARMY SEEKS HELP 'RINGING IN' SEASON
The local
Salvation Army
organization is seeking
bell ringers
for the annual
Red Kettle
campaign
during the
upcoming
holidays
.
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Red Kettle season begins
Nov. 23
(the day after
Thanksgiving
) and concludes
Christmas Eve
.
If you are interested in
signing up
or are a member of a
civic, church or school organizatio
n that would like to participate, contact the
Salvation Army
at
229-386-1503
or email
Kelley Bedore
or
Dolores Bradley
.
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PROMOTE YOUR WEEKEND YARD SALE
The
Tifton Grapevine
will begin publishing a
list
of
yard sales
on
Fridays
. The
yard sales
will be
text
only,
no photos
, and will be part of a
list
linked from the
Grapevine
edition to our
web page
.
The
cost
will be
$1 per word
, and
yard sales
must be
paid in advance
via
credit card
or
PayPal
.
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299 George Paulk Lane, Willacoochee, GA
MLS# 128914
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This property has it all! A beautiful two-bedroom home with a large, separate guest house on 6.27 acres.
Includes a large, fully stocked catfish pond with deck, exquisite gardens, pine trees and gazebo. Guest home is equipped with full amenities, 3 bedrooms and more than 1,900 square feet of living space.
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Tifton Grapevine
e-published every Tuesday and Friday
Frank Sayles Jr.
Editor & Publisher
Bonnie Sayles
Managing Editor
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A Service of
Sayles Unlimited Marketing LLC
, Tifton, Georgia
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