Tifton, Georgia
478-227-7126
tiftongrapevine.com
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FAMILIAR NAMES
ON BALLOT
FORMER MAYOR, STATE REP SEEK COUNTY COMMISSION SEATS; FORMER BOE CHAIR SEEKS SCHOOL BOARD POST
Several
familiar faces are running for
local elected office this year, with many of them facing
primary election
challengers.
Qualifying ended
Friday for the
May 22 primary election. Throwing his hat in the ring is
former Tifton Mayor Jamie Cater, who joined a crowded field for the
Republican nomination for the
District 4 seat on
Tift County Commission.
District 4 incumbent Stan Stalnaker is seeking re-election for that seat, and, in addition to Cater, is facing challenges from Jonathan Cassell and Ronald Norman as well. Cater lost his bid for a third term as mayor in 2015.
There are
four seats up for election this year on the
Tift County Commission, and
all four
incumbents are seeking
re-election and have primary
opposition. Former GOP state
Rep. Tony McBrayer is challenging incumbent
Robert Setters for the
District 3 seat on the County Commission.
A former member of the Tift County Board of Education, Lester Potts, is seeking the District 6 County Commission seat held by Greg Wood, who is also running for re-election as a
Republican.
In County Commission District 1, incumbent Donnie Hester is facing challenger Raymond Teal in the Democratic primary.
On the
Tift County Board of Education,
three of the
four seats up for re-election will be
contested; just
one incumbent is seeking
re-election.
District 2 incumbent
John W. Smith faces
no opposition in his race. Three other seats will be decided in the May
Republican primary.
In BOE District 4, former school board Chairman Richard Golden faces Jamie Hill. That seat is currently held by Keith Barr, who is not seeking re-election.
Golden was a controversial figure while serving on the school board in the past. While chairman in 2004, Golden was charged with pointing a gun and shooting up a vehicle, for which he received probation. Several years later, he was arrested again for an altercation at the Tift County Landfill. He also had been charged with illegally dumping commercial kitchen grease into the Tifton city sewer system.
In BOE District 5, Jarrett Haswell and Sam Wright are seeking the post. Marian Richbourg currently holds the seat and is not seeking re-election. In District 6, three candidates -- Jimmy Cargle, Rusty Harrelson and Jo Windom -- are vying for the seat held by Melanie Roberson, who is not seeking re-election.
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HOUSE BUDGET INCLUDES
TIFTON LIVESTOCK FACILITY
Local state representatives say a Tifton-based project they promoted has been included in the Georgia House of Representatives' $26 billion fiscal 2019 budget passed Friday.
The House budget includes $900,000 funding for a Food Animal Medicine Haul-In Facility in Tifton. Representatives whose districts include part of Tift County -- Penny Houston, R-Nashville; Clay Pirkle, R-Ashburn; and Sam Watson, R- Moultrie, say the facility will benefit the cattle industry throughout South Georgia.
The facility would serve as a referral center for veterinary services for livestock and would be used for procedures that cannot be performed on farms and/or are not being performed by local veterinarians. It would have specialized chutes and other equipment not normally available at many mixed animal practices because of cost and low return on investment for mixed animal practitioners, the lawmakers said.
Caseload from the facility, along with the additional food animal
clinical veterinarian located in
Tifton, would provide additional
training opportunities for
veterinary students in rural practice.
Nearest facilities of this type are in Athens; in Gainesville, Fla.; and in Auburn, Ala.
The proposed facility would better serve citizens and cattle owners in South Georgia by providing a facility for specialized, veterinary reproductive services for cattle and small ruminants -- services not currently available in South Georgia, the representatives said. Many cattle owners are not fulltime producers and rely on facilities such as this for those services.
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President Carter, fifth from right, with members off ABAC's Wildlife Society. |
COLLEGE WILDLIFE CLUB AIDS
JIMMY CARTER WITH DUCK BOXES
Students from the Wildlife Society at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College spent a recent morning with former President Jimmy Carter during the students' annual wood duck box cleanup on Carter's property in Plains.
"We were delighted to spend over an hour with President Carter on a personal tour of his newest pond as students scouted how many new boxes were needed," said Dr. Vanessa Lane, assistant professor of wildlife.
Lane said the club has had the honor of maintaining, repairing and replacing President Carter's wood duck boxes for many years. The morning consisted of unexpected entertainment when U.S. Secret Service members assisted in towing a van from the sandy soil.
"The most memorable experience for me was seeing Dr. Lane sink the van into the sand and having a member of President's Carter's detail hook up a tow strap and pull her out," said Christopher Terrazas, ABAC Wildlife Society president.
Students took notes of nesting success and determined what could be beneficial in the future. They cleaned old eggs, debris and wasp nests from the existing boxes and replaced old bedding with fresh cedar shavings.
"This event and any other that involves volunteer work helps students obtain field experience and improves understanding on the importance of volunteer work," Terrazas said.
The Wildlife Society currently has approximately 50 members who meet twice a month to discuss opportunities to conserve wildlife and natural resources.
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KIWANIS TO SHOWCASE
STUDENT CREATIVITY
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The
Kiwanis Club of Tifton's 2018
Arts and Music Showcase will be held at
6 p.m. Friday, March 16, in the
Tift County High School Performing Arts Center.
The showcase features
artwork and
musical performances from
fourth- through
12th-grade students across
Tift County and the
Tiftarea. The event is
free and open to the
public.
Kiwanis is a global organization of
volunteers dedicated to improving the world one
child and one
community at a time. For information, contact
Tom Shoup at
[email protected] or at
229-388-2142.
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SHERIFF'S OFFICE ARRESTS 94
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The Tift County Sheriff's Office arrested 94 people during February, Sheriff Gene Scarbrough says.
He said that
some of the
arrests were on
multiple charges. There were
30 property crime charges filed,
29 charges of parole/probation violation,
26 drug violation charges,
seven fraud charges,
six failure to appear charges,
three child support violations,
two
weapon charges and 10 other non-traffic charges.
Scarbrough said
traffic stops led to
25 charges of driving while license revoked or suspended,
three instances of driving under the influence,
three drug charges and the arrest of
three wanted people. D
eputies also completed 421 incident reports, 38 accident reports, issued 762 traffic citations, 135 traffic warnings and verified the addresses of 65 registered sex offenders
in Tift County.
Deputies conducted 1,463 business and property checks, 399 mobile home park and subdivision checks, conducted 21 school checks and answered 2,537 service calls. A total of
129 warrants, 80 civil papers and 326 subpoenas were served during the month.
Scarbrough said
deputies
handled
58
transports, totaling
141
hours and
4,270
miles.
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TIFTON ROTARY WRAPS UP 'VIETNAM MONTH'
Capt. Laurie Croft, left, wrapped up a successful "military campaign" during
February at the Tifton Rotary Club.
Croft spoke to
Rotary recently with combat tales of
a tour in
Vietnam
.
The Phoenix DIOCC (
District Intelligence Operations Control Center) director in the
Mekong Delta region, Croft often ran ambush patrols in the Phoenix mission to hunt down Viet Cong infrastructure
cadre.
Author and Vietnam veteran
Warren Robinson gave the prayer, and Vietnam platoon leader
John Ewing led the Pledge of Allegiance during the meeting.
Croft's talk ended a month of
Rotary programs on the
Vietnam War era.
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'DOING GOOD'
IN TIFTON
Patty Morris, managing director of
National Life Group in
Tifton, pictured at left, represents her company's vision to "
Do
Good, Be Good, and Make Good" by donating
$500 from the
National Life Group Foundation to Tifton's
"Save Our Pets" organization.
Receiving the check is Candice Hernandez.
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ABAC'S STUDENT NEWSPAPER, TV
WIN TOP AWARDS
Staff members of
The Stallion newspaper and
Stallion TV at
Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College dominated their division by bringing home a total of
21 awards
at recent conventions in Athens and Savannah.
"For years,
The Stallion was the
best college newspaper among
two-year colleges in
Georgia," said advisor Dr.
Thomas Grant. "But when
ABAC became a
four-year college, the students were challenged to
compete against many
larger, well-established colleges and universities. The fact that the staff of
The Stallion has managed to
rise to that challenge and be named the
best paper overall is a powerful sign of how well our students perform
academically."
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Displaying plaques from the Georgia College Press Association are, from left, Leila Baxter, Ariel Pridgon, Dalton Spangler, TeeKayy King, Danielle Long,and Ricky Rodriguez.
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At the Georgia College Press Association Conference in Athens, ABAC students brought home first place awards for General Excellence, Layout and Design, General Advertising, Overall Improvement, Best Campus Community Service-News and Best Campus Community Service-Features.
The newspaper received
second place in
Best Campus Community Service-Editorial and
third place in
General Photography.
"When The Stallion Editor
Dalton Spangler kept being called up again and again to accept top awards for the newspaper, I was extremely
proud for him and the entire staff," said Grant. "They do it
all themselves -- assign the stories, shoot the photographs and lay out the pages. Being named the
top paper demonstrates that they're taking what they learn in class and using it in practical ways as well as anyone in the state."
Students also had the opportunity to compete in
individual competitions against larger schools including the
University of Georgia, Mercer University and
Georgia Southern University.
Remington Miller, a writing and communications major from
Tifton, received
first place in Best Review Group II for her review of the "A Series of Unfortunate Events" Netflix series.
Ricky Rodriguez, a writing and communications major from
Tifton, received
third-place for Best Review Group I for his review of The Weekend's "Trilogy" mixtape.
Kevin Joachin, a history and government major from
Tifton, received
second-place for Best Photograph-News Group II for his photo of DACA protesters in Atlanta.
Dalton Spangler, a writing and communication major from
Groveland, Fla., received
third place in Best Photography-News Group I.
"I am
extremely proud of my staff and of the work they put forth every day to make this paper happen,"
Spangler said. "Many people do not realize the
hours and
hard work that go into the
newspaper-making process."
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Posing with awards from the Georgia Regional Press Institute are, from left, Billy Ray Malone, Tristin "Buck" Clements, Jack Jordan, Cindy Monroe, Kevin Joachin, and Lauren Slaughter.
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The Southern Regional Press Institute held its annual Press Workshop at Savannah State University, and ABAC brought home nine awards including First Place Best Overall Newspaper for
the third consecutive year and Second Best Overall Online Newspaper along with seven individual awards.
"ABAC's showing at the Southern Regional Press Institute was also impressive," Grant said. "
Competition came from
three states in the Southeast. Not only did
The Stallion win the
best newspaper among
small colleges, but it also
won the
top television awards among all schools."
Tristin "Buck" Clements, a writing and communication major from
Tifton, won
second place individual Video Production award for his story on the Red Cross Blood drive.
Walter Murphy, a writing and communication major from
Moultrie, won the f
irst place individual Video Production award for his "On the Road with Walter Murphy."
Hannah Robinson, a history and government major from
Purvis, Miss., won
first place for Sports Writing for her article following two ABAC tennis players.
Ethan Reddish, a writing and communication major from
Odum, won
first place in Editorial/Column Writing.
Kevin Joachin won
second place for individual Outstanding Feature Writing for his "Federal Plan to End TPS Threatens Immigrants" news article.
Ricky Rodriguez received
first place for individual Outstanding Feature Writing for his "ABAC opens doors to evacuees in Gressette Gym" after Hurricane Irma.
Spangler received
Best Photograph for his image of "Free Hugs."
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FRANK SAYLES JR.
Editor & Publisher
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478-227-7126
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