"White Elephant," one of Bruce Willis' last movies and partly filmed last year in Tifton, is scheduled to be released June 3 in select U.S. theaters and will be available on home streaming through AMC+.

Willis has now retired from acting after being diagnosed with aphasia, a condition that affects one’s ability to speak, write, and understand language, typically occurring after a stroke or a head injury.

"White Elephant" also includes the controversial explosion at Downtown Tifton's Golden Building, which was bigger than anticipated, causing some damage, and breaking out windows in nearby downtown buildings.

In addition to Willis, "White Elephant” stars Michael Rooker, perhaps best known for his roles in the movie “Guardians of the Galaxy” and TV series “The Walking Dead.” Former “Bond girl” Olga Kurylenko, who co-starred with Daniel Craig in the James Bond movie “Quantum of Solace,” is also in the film along with John Malkovich.

According to the film company, the movie details an assassination attempt witnessed by two cops; Gabriel Tancredi, an ex-Marine turned mob enforcer (Rooker), who is ordered by his ruthless mob boss (Willis) to eliminate any and all threats.

The action film is directed by Jesse V. Johnson and includes several Tifton scenes, many shot downtown, including inside a local restaurant.

Willis' film "Gasoline Alley," made entirely in Tifton last year, was released in February.

Approximately 515 Tift County High School seniors will cross the stage Saturday at Brodie Field as the Class of 2022 graduates.

The ceremony begins at 7:45 a.m. Saturday with the processional. The audience in the stands must be seated before 7:30 a.m. Gates at the stadium will open at 7 a.m.

The ceremony will be live-streamed here for viewing.

Hannah Walker is this year's TCHS class valedictorian; Erynn Allison is the class salutatorian.

Earlier this week, the Class of ’22 donned their caps and gowns and walked through their former Tift County elementary schools as the schools' current students applauded. The senior walk is a longtime tradition in Tift County schools.

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Millions of dollars are coming to Tifton and Tift County in the new state budget, state Rep. Penny Houston, R-Nashville, told members of the Tifton-Tift County Chamber of Commerce on Thursday.

Houston, state Rep. Clay Pirkle, R-Ashburn, and state Sen. Carden Summers, R-Cordele – all part of the Tift County legislative delegation – spoke to the Chamber about the recent session of the General Assembly.

"We hit a home run in rural Georgia," Summers said. "We're even getting the peanut put back up in Ashburn," referring to the large peanut statue that stood along the interstate and was knocked down during a hurricane a few years ago.

"It was a great legislative session," Houston said. "I want to tell you how well Tift County and Tifton did in the budget."

Among local allocations in the state budget are $3.7 million for water and sewer upgrades in the City of Tifton, said Houston, whose district covers much of Tifton.

She said Tift County schools will receive a total of $49,655,699 in education funding in the coming fiscal year, including $1.8 million to restore austerity reductions, $737,625 for student transportation, and $152,953 for school nurse services.

The General Assembly also approved a $1.5 million bond package for Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College, Houston said.

She also touted the Georgia Mental Health Parity Act approved in the Legislature requiring health-care insurance plans to provide coverage for mental health treatment and substance-abuse disorders.

Houston said that mental health disorders are "a disease and should be treated the same as if you have a broken arm."

Pirkle told the Tift Chamber that the Legislature took several initiatives to aid economic development in rural areas of the state, including adding incentives to expand and relocate businesses in rural communities, and increasing the rural hospital tax credit from $60 million to $75 million.

Pirkle said Georgians can designate their state tax payments toward aiding their local rural hospital. "That one program has saved as many rural hospitals as anything we’ve done," Pirkle said. "Nobody wants to lose their hospital."

Summers said the state has "put hundreds of millions of dollars in broadband in rural Georgia" to help citizens and economic development, and is looking at ways to extend the gas tax suspension, which ends May 31.

The state senator said he and other elected officials are sent to the capital "to have the wisdom and courage to do things" to help Georgians; “we're there to make it better."

Summers mentioned several new laws, including allowing parents to be involved in a school's curriculum, prohibiting transgender males from competing in girls' sports, and election reforms that he said strengthen the system.

"Last election, drop boxes were everywhere," Summers said. "Now, you’re going to have show your ID no matter how you vote. I assure you, we have an extremely tight election process."

Summers, who is currently seeking re-election and has opposition for the GOP nomination, apologized for the "dirty politics" he said is coming from some candidates.

"I don’t like it. We shouldn’t be that way; we should focus on how to better help our communities," Summers said.

Tift County's positive COVID-19 cases rose by four cases to 34 reported during the past two weeks, according to data from the state Department of Public Health (DPH).

Confirmed cases of COVID-19 were 18 within the two-week period, the DPH reported. There were no additional deaths in Tift County during the past two weeks.

Tift County’s total positive cases represent 83 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 4.3%, the DPH reported.

Tift has seen a total of 6,310 cases with 164 related deaths, the DPH said.

The state recorded a total of 1,970,507 confirmed cases and 31,754 related deaths, the DPH said. The state reports COVID-19 data once a week.

Dr. Rachael Price, an associate professor in the School of Arts and Sciences, has been selected as the 2022 recipient of the W. Bruce and Rosalyn Ray Donaldson Award for Teaching Excellence at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College.

The award continues a tradition of faculty recognition that began at ABAC in 1965. The award publicly recognizes superior instruction and exemplary service to the college. Price was honored with a recognition plaque and a monetary award.

A faculty member since 2016, Price holds bachelor of arts and master of arts degrees in English from the State University of New York, and a Ph.D. in English from the University of Arkansas.

One of Price’s references for the award said, “As a teacher, she is creative and thoughtful, with practices, activities, and assignments based on sound pedagogy and an empathy for her students' needs. She has shown a strong commitment to creating an inclusive classroom where students learn with hands-on experiences.”

Price was selected by the University System of Georgia as one of three ABAC faculty to be a Chancellor's Learning Scholar and was twice awarded Gail Dillard Faculty Enrichment Funds.

The Keep Tift Beautiful "Beauty Spot of the Month" has been awarded to Mary Ann Grant at 614 Rogers St. in Tifton, pictured here in her garden.

Keep Tift Beautiful is a city-county citizen advisory board working to preserve and improve the quality of life in Tifton and Tift County through litter clean-ups, recycling, community gardening, and beautification projects. 

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This Saturday, May 21, is National Armed Forces Day. The day is set aside to pay tribute to the men and women who serve across all six branches in the United States military.

"Cinnabon" is a sweet female ready 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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