The City of Tifton is continuing to look at establishing recycling convenience centers within the city for household recyclables. In April, Tifton suspended curbside recycling for city residents.

City Solid Waste Director Ricky Hobby told Tifton City Council on Monday that a couple of sites are under review for the recycling centers. He said one could possibly be located at the city public works complex and another at a Ryland Environmental office in the city.

"This is a beginning proposal," Hobby said.

"We haven't solidified plans," added City Manager Pete Pyrzenski.

Ryland Environmental, which has the city's solid waste collection contract, will furnish compactors for the recycling, Hobby said.

He suggested that residents could take their recycling to a city complex convenience center between 1-5 p.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, and that the center would need to be manned. He said a potential Ryland office site could be open Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, and Ryland personnel would man that location.

Hobby said Ryland is looking at the possibility of transporting the recycling to a Macon collection facility twice a month. The estimated annual cost of the proposal is $36,000.

Vice Mayor Jack Folk questioned both the estimated cost and the suggested hours of operation for local recycling convenience centers, saying the proposals need more discussion.

City Council had suspended curbside recycling because it said there was no area market for single-stream recyclables: The Cordele recycling collection facility – where Tifton recyclables had been taken – had closed and that recyclables would need to be shipped farther away. The additional long hauling expense along with curbside recycling collection wasn’t feasible, officials said.

In the interim, city officials directed Tifton residents to take their recycling to the county recycling center on Pecan Street.

Tifton native Nate Taylor, a star linebacker on UGA's 1980 national championship team and who Coach Vince Dooley called the "Tifton Termite," is facing personal challenges with the same tenacity and optimism that landed him on the Georgia team as a walk-on.

Taylor, the former Tift County High Blue Devil who played at UGA from 1979-82, has lost a leg from a blood clot caused by diabetes and is on dialysis because his kidneys have stopped functioning. He is seeking a kidney transplant.

"Even though I've had a rough go of it, I think I'm still in the fight. I get up every morning and it's a new day to explore," he told John Frierson, UGA's assistant sports communications director, in a recent profile for the UGA Athletic Association.

"I'm in full renal failure. I have no use of my kidneys at all, and that's due to diabetes," Taylor, said.

Taylor ranks fifth on UGA's career tackles list with 390, and his 187 solo tackles rank ninth. He also had five fumble recoveries. When he left Tift County High, he was considered too small at 5-foot-10 and 195 pounds to be a college linebacker.

But he won a spot with the Bulldogs as a walk-on, making 18 tackles off the bench against South Carolina and earning a scholarship. Coach Dooley said Tifton's Taylor was “the biggest surprise of my coaching career.”

To read Frierson's full profile of Taylor, Click Here.

The Exchange Club of Tifton has presented the Tift County Sheriff’s Office Officer of the Year Award to Deputy Dewayne Gardner.

Gardner joined the Sheriff's Office in September 2020. From his first day, his positive attitude and drive to succeed distinguished him from among his peers, officials said.

He currently serves in the uniform patrol division and is a member of the sheriff’s High-Risk Warrant Team. Gardner is scheduled to attend the field training officer course this summer. Once completed, he will serve a key role in acclimating, mentoring, and training new deputies.

An Ashburn resident who admitted breaking into two Cordele gun stores, stealing multiple firearms and selling or distributing them in the community, has been sentenced to nine years in prison, says the U.S. Department of Justice.

Demetri Lott, 44, of Ashburn was sentenced June 1 to serve 108 months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release, after previously pleading guilty to two counts of firearm theft from a licensed dealer, the Justice Department said.

There is no parole in the federal system.

“Our office is committed to prioritizing prosecutions of those responsible for the greatest gun violence in our communities, including those who illegally traffic in firearms,” said U.S. Attorney Peter D. Leary.

According to court documents, Lott broke into Wells Hardware & Supply in Cordele on Nov. 12, 2020, stealing 11 firearms. While the case was under investigation, Lott burglarized another gun store in Cordele, Evans Outdoors, on Jan. 2, 2021. A rifle was stolen as well as trail cameras, scopes, and several boxes of ammunition.

A concerned citizen contacted the Sheriff’s Office soon after the theft to report information about the stolen rifle, the Justice Department said. A second anonymous tip helped law enforcement locate Lott, who was arrested hiding inside an attic crawl space in a Cordele residence.

Lott told agents he was responsible for breaking into and stealing firearms from both businesses. He also admitted to selling stolen firearms for cash and drugs, later returning to the person’s home that same day to find that all of the firearms had been distributed to other people. Lott said he gave the rifle to an acquaintance. He has had multiple prior felony convictions, including convictions for aggravated battery, robbery, and burglary, authorities said.

The cases were prosecuted as part of the joint federal, state, and local Project Safe Neighborhoods Program, the centerpiece of the Justice Department’s violent crime reduction efforts.

Tift County's positive COVID-19 cases continue to rise, according to data from the state Department of Public Health (DPH).

During the past two weeks, total positive cases rose by 18 for a total of 97 cases; that includes rapid tests and confirmed PCR tests. These numbers represent only those results reported to the health department and do not include at-home testing.

Within the past week alone, total cases rose by 14, according to DPH data.

There were no additional related deaths in Tift County reported during the past two weeks.

Tift County’s total positive cases represent 238 cases per 100,000 population, the measure used across the country to compare case rates among communities and states. Tift's testing positivity rate for the period was 9.6%; previously, it was 4%, the DPH reported.

Tift has seen a total of 6,325 cases with 164 related deaths, the DPH said.

The state recorded a total of 2,007,615 confirmed cases and 31,885 related deaths, the DPH said. The state reports COVID-19 data once a week.

For Information, Click Here!

Advance voting begins Monday for the June 21 primary runoff election for the Tift County Commission District 1 seat.

Democratic incumbent Donnie Hester and challenger James E. Burroughs Jr. will face off. No candidate received more than 50% of the vote in the recent general primary election.

Only District 1 residents may vote in that runoff.

Voters who participated in the May 24 primary must vote in the same party during the primary runoff. Registered voters who skipped the primary can vote in either party’s runoff.

Statewide runoffs on the Democratic ballot are:

There are no GOP runoffs on the local ballot.

Tift County early voting will be from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday at the Tift County Board of Elections office.

For More Information, Click Here!

TIFTON ROTARIANS GET UP CLOSE & PERSONAL WITH CHEHAW PARK

When a guest speaker is from Chehaw Park & Zoo in Albany, you have to expect the unexpected, and Wednesday’s Tifton Rotary Club meeting was no exception. 

After Chehaw director Morgan Burnette told the club all about the new Artesian Alliance, a partnership among the three largest attractions in Albany – Chehaw, Thronateeska Heritage Center, and the Flint Riverquarium – she let the extra guest out of the bag.

It was a corn snake, identified by its belly pattern resembling Indian corn.

“This is often confused with the copperhead,” which is venomous, she said. Of the 46 species of snakes in Georgia, she said only six are venomous – the Eastern diamondback rattlesnake, pygmy rattlesnake, cottonmouth water moccasin, copperhead, coral snake, and timber rattler. 

While walking the snake around the room for closer looks and touches, Burnette told the club about a Facebook group, Snake Identification, which can give a definitive answer for types of snakes in 30 seconds. Another group, National Snakebite Support, links the top venomologists in the country for quick snakebite treatment.

The only treatment for a venomous snakebite is anti-venom, Burnette said.

“Go to the hospital as quickly as you can. Benedryl does nothing. Keep it elevated as high as possible. Don’t use a tourniquet, or try to suck the venom out. Attempt to slow your heart rate. Don’t put a tourniquet on it.” She said that isolates the venom to the area bitten, and you may lose a hand.  

About Chehaw, an active Albany park since the 1930s, Burnette said, “We’re still here. If you can do it outside, you can do it at Chehaw.” The park is 800 acres with a zoo, a remote control car track, a BMX track, and a disc golf course.

“We have a really nice zoo with cheetahs, rhinos, meerkats – all kinds of animals that you don’t get to see in South Georgia,” she said. “There’s hiking, biking, camping, and horse trails.” 

The park had 96,000 visitors last year.

Instead of competing for resources, staffing, and visitors, as they have for years, the three Albany attractions are now in a partnership as the Artesian Alliance. They share staff such as an education director and have more weight when asking for funding from the city and county.

“It’s hard to say we’re not making an impact in our community,” she said, when the combined attractions brought 175,000 visitors to Albany last year. “It’s a lot harder to say no to that.” 

All three organizations promote nature conservation. “That often comes down to education or comes through as entertainment.” 

“We are giving something to the community that they want to support. The locals don’t always realize what we have. Tourists love Albany, we have a zoo, a science museum, and a Riverquarium.”

"Under the Stars" is a fundraiser at Thronakeesta that will be a block party at 6-10 p.m. Saturday, June 18, with dinner and dancing on the bricks in front of the heritage center. Flint River Keepers has a fundraiser at Chehaw this Saturday, June 11, called the "Knobby Knees Music Festival."

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Today, Friday, June 10, is National Iced Tea Day, celebrating a popular year-round beverage especially favored in the summertime. While iced tea is now available in many exotic flavors, any real Southerner knows that true iced tea is merely standard brewed tea with sugar, iced in a tall glass with a slice of lemon – simple and classic!

"Astro," a young male pooch, is ready for a forever home. Astro is available for adoption at the Tift County Animal Shelter on Highway 125 South between 1-6 p.m. Mondays through Fridays. For additional information, call 229-382-PETS (7387).

205 Belmont Ave., Tifton, 229-382-6055  

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