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The Central Georgia Soil and Water Conservation District held its 54th Annual Conservationist-of-the-Year program on Thursday, April 14, 2016, at the First Baptist Church in Cochran, Georgia. This annual program is sponsored by the local banks of the Central GA District, which is comprised of Bleckley, Dodge, Laurens, Twiggs, Johnson, Washington and Wilkinson counties.

Seaborn “Clint” Williams, of C Williams Family Investments, LLC, was selected as the 2016 conservationist of the year for Dodge County.

Clint developed a deep appreciation and love for land, agriculture and forestry. C Williams Tree Farm consists of 1,500 acres of timberland currently, which is owned by Clint Williams and his brother Chip Williams. Their operation started out in 2005 with 600 acres of land inherited from their grandfather, S.C. Cadwell. Since 2006, they have added 900 acres to their land base. Clint and Chip have done it all from selling the timber, spraying the cutover sites and burning the tracts, to replanting the seedlings with all their own equipment. The land consists of Loblolly pines, Long Leaf pines, and Slash pines.

Clint has participated in many different programs through NRCS and the Georgia Forestry Commission. He is also in the process of enrolling in the Tree Farm Program. He has specifically been a part of the CSP program for the last seven years, which has allowed him to do many activities on his property. [Full Story »] 

By Dr. Melinda Dennis
Dodge County school superintendent
The Eastman Rotary Club, in conjunction with the Dodge County School System, announced the 2016-2017 Teacher of the Year at their meeting on Friday, April 15, 2016.

The nominees were introduced and their many accomplishments read by the principals of the respective schools. Teacher of the Year plaques were presented to each nominee. The nominees included: Wendi Camp, Dodge County High School Teacher of the Year. She graduated from the University of West Georgia in 2006 with a B.A. in French and obtained her M.Ed. in 2009 from Georgia College and State University. Mrs. Camp has been teaching at Dodge County High School since 2006 and is currently teaching French. She believes her greatest accomplishments in teaching include bringing cultural awareness to her students and instilling the importance of a positive and optimistic attitude. Mrs. Camp quoted French novelist Marcel Proust, “The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeing new lands but in seeing with new eyes.” Mrs. Camp stated in her philosophy of teaching that she believes in holding high expectations for each of her students, as well as giving them the knowledge on how to achieve the expectations she sets for them. She also believes that in order to hold high expectations for her students, she must also hold high expectations for herself as a teacher and be willing to go the extra mile to help students who are struggling.

Dr. Melinda Dennis named Camp Dodge County System Teacher of the Year. She is a model of optimism and positive attitude, hard work and determination and has created a classroom culture that is safe-haven, inviting students to take risks in their acquisition of knowledge. She wants students to realize their true potential and sets high expectations for both herself and her students. She is a continuous learner and has taken it upon herself to visit students who are homebound or hospitalized so they don’t fall behind. She utilizes email to keep her parents informed of student progress and to provide study tips.

Camp also realizes that a student’s home life influences school behavior and achievement. She quotes Nicholas Ferroni: “Students who are loved at home, come to school to learn, and students who aren’t, come to school to be loved.” She reminds herself of this as she attempts to truly know and understand her individual students.

In a letter of reference, a former student stated: This teacher “uses all of her experiences to help teach her students greater life lessons. She taught me that it is okay to get knocked down as long as I put everything I have into getting back up. She taught me that success isn’t always getting the right answer, or being the best, but rather, that success is learning from mistakes and improving from there.” Aren’t these the real life lesson we want all our children to learn?

Not only is this teacher dedicated to her professional life, she is also very involved with church activities and even volunteers in a neighboring school district when our school days don’t align.

Rachel Godfrey Spires, Dodge Pre-K Teacher of the Year. Spires graduated from Georgia Southwestern State University in 2011 with her B.S. in Early Childhood Education. She worked as a kindergarten paraprofessional at North Dodge Elementary for a year and a half before joining the faculty of Dodge Pre-K as a teacher. Spires says that watching her students get excited about something they have learned is what she enjoys most about teaching. Her philosophy of teaching is that her students should feel that it is “my” classroom and not Mrs. Spires’ classroom. Her personal goal is to make every child want to come to school every day.
[Full Story »] 

It was a beautiful day on Saturday as a huge crowd enjoyed all the festivities that were available at the annual Pondtown Festival in Rhine this past weekend. (Photos by Cindy Eckles)

By Taelor Rye
At the most recent meeting of the Dodge County Board of Education on Thursday, April 14, Dodge County Superintendent Dr. Melinda Dennis announced her retirement, which the board approved, effective June 30.
In a letter to Dodge County Board of Education employees, Dennis outlined her decision and plan for the remaining two and a half months of her contract.
Dennis wrote, “When I was selected as Superintendent of Dodge County Schools, I stated that it was my desire to retire here. That time has come.”
Praising employees for their hard work during her time as superintendent, Dennis continued, “Before my final days as superintendent, we still have some major tasks to accomplish: updating our Strategic Plan, renewing our E-SPLOST, completing the FY17 budgeting process, beginning the renovations at both elementary schools, celebrating the accomplishments of our present students, planning for next year, and graduating the Class of 2016.”
In closing, Dennis stated, “I challenge you to continue doing the right thing because it’s the right thing to do, fighting the good fight on behalf of students, and expecting excellence from yourself and all those around you. Serving with you and working on behalf of the Dodge County Schools and this community has truly been one of my life’s highest honors.”
At an earlier meeting on March 21, the board also approved the resignation of Angie Pritchett, a former math teacher at Dodge County High School (DCHS). At the same meeting, board members moved to advertise the now empty position as well as to provide other math teachers covering Pritchett’s classes with extended day pay until the end of the year.
At the March 24 called meeting, the board approved Kristi Brewer’s resignation as DCHS history teacher, again approving to advertise the position for the upcoming school year. Additionally, the board approved a leave request from Ashley Dixon, an employee at Dodge County Middle School (DCMS).
Further personnel actions followed the approval of Dennis’s retirement at the April 14 meeting. Specifically, the board approved the resignations of Cassandra Hamilton as DCHS softball coach, Lorine Mosely – who works with maintenance – and Shawn White, a teacher at South Dodge Elementary School (SDES). Joan Maddox was granted a leave of absence.
White was approved as a DCHS math teacher, and Hamilton was approved as the head coach for girls basketball at DCHS.
Further, JD Carter was approved to be the DCHS head wrestling coach, and Meghan McCranie was approved as the assistant coach for DCHS softball; Jerry Thomas was approved as a bus driver.
In addition, Amy Barron and Amanda Dupree were approved as new teachers at North Dodge Elementary School (NDES), and Kenneth Cofer was approved to teach health and physical education at NDES.
[Full Story »] 

City of Eastman officials announced the city will be celebrating “Georgia Cities Week” April 17-23. The city will be holding a variety of events throughout the week, including: A State of the City meeting, “Business after Hours” and a Council Work Session. The theme of this year’s Georgia Cities Week is “Go to Town,” showing the importance of a central gathering place for people and communities.

This is the 17th year Georgia Cities Week has been celebrated in the state and the third year the City of Eastman has participated.

“We’re very proud of our city and the services we provide that make it attractive to residents and visitors,” said city manager Jason Cobb. “Cities provide the services and infrastructure to help businesses grow, and set the stage for events where families and individuals can gather as a community.”

Events planned for the week are: State of the City, Monday, April 18, 2016, 6:30 pm at Magnolia Theatre; Business after Hours, Tuesday, April 19, 2016, 6:00 pm at Roy’s, 234 Main Street and council work session, Thursday, April 21, 2016, 3:30 pm at Dodge County High School.

Cities across Georgia will be celebrating Georgia Cities Week, sponsored by the Georgia Municipal Association (GMA), to showcase and celebrate cities and the many services they provide. Based in Atlanta, GMA is a voluntary, non-profit organization that provides legislative advocacy, educational, employee benefit and consulting services to its 521 member cities.

Fire completely destroyed a singlewide mobile home on Saturday, April 2 at approximately 4:10 p.m. The trailer was owned and occupied by Mary Oxley. The trailer was a total loss. The trailer was located at 366 Bill Hambrick Road. The cause of the fire has not yet been determined. No one was at home at the time of the fire.

Outstanding members of the community deserve recognition for their contributions to the community. The Pondtown Festival committee is pleased to announced that Sybil Williamson will be the grand marshal of the 2016 Pondtown Festival Parade. “Williamson’s many years of dedicated service to the Rhine community make her more than worthy of this honor,” says Jennifer White, a member of the Pondtown Festival Committee.

“It’s really an honor,” says Williamson, “I love Rhine, it’s my hometown. I moved here in the fourth grade, and I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else; Rhine is my Mayberry.”

Williamson “loves the festival. It is good for the town for people to come and see it. I am really excited for all of the festivities that the festival brings. It also brings back people to Rhine that haven’t been in a while, and it brings new people into the community as well.” Williamson says.

Williamson is the widow of Lynn Williamson. The couple were married for 34 years before he passed away in October of 2015. They began the tradition of the Rhine Christmas Parade. Williamson fought cancer in 2015 and early 2016, but is now happy to be able to say that she is cancer free.

Williamson is a devout member of Rhine Baptist Church, and has worked at the Rhine branch of CB&T since 1998. Williamson has two dogs, Coco and Fancy. She enjoys reading, connecting with people on Facebook, and completing word searches.

The Pondtown Festival will be held this Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. The parade will begin at 2:00 p.m. with lineup at 1:00 p.m. at the old school. Buddy Jewell will perform beginning at 8:00 p.m.

With the election season under way in Dodge County, many candidates will be advertising their candidacy with signs placed in different locations throughout the county and on personal vehicles.
Recently, several reports have been filed that signs from private property and on personal vehicles have been stolen. Sheriff Lynn Sheffield reminds citizens that it is illegal to remove candidate signs from private property or from a vehicle without the owners’ consent. If a citizen is caught removing those signs from private property, they can be charged with theft by taking and/or criminal trespass and will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
In other news from the sheriff’s department, Daniel Gaultney, age 24, of Cochran was charged with financial transaction card fraud.
Brenton Antwan Gibson, age 32, of Chester was charged with pedestrian under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
Denis Osmary Guerrero Flores, age 25, of Bowlinggreen, KY, was charged with knowingly driving motor vehicle on suspended, canceled, or revoked registration expired or no drivers license.
James Thomas Manus, age 41 of McRae was charged with probation violation.
Brian Lee Miller, age 41, of Eastman was charged with parole violation.
Devonte Miller, age 24, of Loganville, GA, was charged with expired or no drivers license.
Tammy Pirkle, age 50, of Eastman was charged with entering automobile or other motor vehicle with intent to commit theft or felony and burglary- 1st degree (felony).
Rivero Sara Ramirez, age 52, of Hawkinsville was charged with driving without a valid license (felony) (fourth or subsequent offense).
Robert Kyle Rowland, age 40, of Eastman was charged with simple assault- family violence.
Socorro Sanchez, age 36, of Eastman was charged with DUI- driving under the influence of alcohol, expired or no drivers license, and failure to maintain lane.
Latred Gregory Spikes, age 23, of Eastman was charged with affray (fighting) and possession of marijuana less than an ounce.

The inaugural Dodge County Farmer’s Market was held on Saturday, April 2 on the Dodge County Courthouse grounds. The market was a huge success. Sharon Cobb Flanagan, of the Dodge County Farmer’s Market Development Authority, said that several vendors sold out early and left, and the Future Farmers of America had to make roughly six trips back to the greenhouse to restock plants that they were selling at the farmer’s market. In all, over 500 people were estimated to have attended the opening day of the farmer’s market. The open-air market will be open from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. every Saturday from April 2, 2016, to December 17, 2016 on the Dodge County Courthouse grounds, except in cases of severe weather.

Officers were called to shots fired on Cooper Avenue on Sunday, April 3, 2016 at approximately 10:20 p.m. Upon arrival on Cooper Avenue, officers found evidence there had been shots fired.
At this time 911 notified the Eastman Police Department that a subject came into the Dodge County Hospital Emergency Room with a gunshot wound to the leg.
According to the victim, Thomas Luke Taylor, age 20, of Eastman, he was on Cooper Avenue when he was stopped by a subject in the street. The subject told him to hand over his money and the keys to his truck. When Taylor refused, he was shot in the leg by the subject. Taylor then drove himself to the hospital.
He was later transferred to a hospital in Macon.
In other news from the police department, Tammy Pirkle, age 50, 958 McRae Highway of Eastman was charged with entering auto with intent to commit theft.
Jimmy Hayes, age 29, of 525 Plaza Drive Apt. H-47 in Eastman was charged with financial transaction card theft.
Eldon Little, age 35, of 5016 Page Street in Eastman was charged with possession of ounce or less of marijuana and drugs to be kept in original container.
April McTier, age 23, of 5016 Page Street in Eastman was charged with possession of ounce or less of marijuana and drugs to be kept in original container.
Sherri Purvis, age 50, of 1248 Friendship UMC Road in Eastman was charged with driving while license suspended/revoked and no insurance.
Angela Mullis, age 42, of 5210 Clay Street in Eastman was charged with driving while license suspended/revoked.
Jacraig Stanley, age 23, of 96 Sage Circle in Eastman was charged with theft by receiving stolen property less than $500 value and driving while unlicensed or expired/new resident.
Curtis Rushing, age 22, of 126 3rd Street in Rhine was charged with theft by receiving stolen property less than $500 value, marijuana possession less than 1 ounce, and open container violation.
Barry Dennis, age 23, of Eastside CT Drive, Apt 57 in Eastman was charged with public drunkenness.
A juvenile, age 15, of 5823 Dorough Street in Eastman was charged with unruly, battery (family violence), cruelty to children in third degree, criminal trespass-private, and littering.

By Taelor Rye
Senior Superior Court Judge H. Frederick Mullis, Jr., visited the Dodge County Board of Commissioners at its April 4 meeting to provide contextual information regarding the use of the Drug Abuse Treatment and Education (DATE) fund for the impending area drug court.
The DATE Fund, or the drug fund, was discussed at the board’s last meeting, and Mullis sought to clarify the fund’s intention.
Mullis stated that the Oconee Judicial Circuit is “on the verge of establishing a drug court,” one of the last circuits in the state to do so; he added that rural circuits have generally been more reluctant.
Mullis also said that the local money required to support such a court has been here all along and is not taxpayer money but rather money from the DATE fund, set aside by the governor for local input.
Mullis provided board members with information regarding a skeleton budget for the upcoming drug court – “a type of alternative treatment rather than sending someone who’s accused of a drug crime to court. The governor’s interest is to keep people out of prison. Prison’s no place to rehab drug offenders. I know that; everyone knows that.”
The proposal of this budget contracts with the Community Service Board of Middle Georgia (formerly the Community Mental Health Center of Middle Georgia) in Dublin, who will “provide the testing, the counseling… We want to use a combination of mental health and drug court for drug offenses and those offenses that involve mental health. There’s a good bit of crossover there,” he added.
The local share required of the county is approximately 10 percent, with the rest funded strictly by grant money. Anticipated costs range between $175,000.00 and $190,000.00. The local share is designated under Georgia Code § 15-21-101, which states, “Moneys collected pursuant to this article and placed in the “County Drug Abuse Treatment and Education Fund” shall be expended by the governing authority of the county for which the fund is established solely and exclusively for drug abuse treatment and education programs relating to controlled substances and marijuana.”
A resolution similar to the one that Mullis presented the board with was also presented to Telfair County, where – Mullis stated – a previous sheriff used drug fund money to “pay for the sheriff’s toys. That was clearly not what was anticipated for the drug fund.” Upon adoption, Telfair’s DATE fund is well into six figures, Mullis relayed.
The resolution allows the court to have an equal say-so on how the DATE funds are therefore spent. Specifically, the text of the resolution states “that any person or entity who desires that the Dodge County Board of Commissioners expend monies from the Drug Fund must obtain an Order from the Chief Judge of the Dodge Superior Court directing the board of commissioners to make such disbursements.”
County attorney John Harrington added that it is better for the county to pay any required fees from the drug fund rather than from general funds, which come from taxpayers rather than “moneys arising from fines and forfeited bonds,” as Georgia Code states.
The board voted unanimously to approve the resolution.
Sharon Cobb Flanagan of the Dodge County Farmer’s Market Development Authority revisited the board to restate the farmer’s market’s purpose, which she stated to be among the following items: to provide fun for family on a recurring basis, to provide local farmers a venue wherein to sell products that they grow, to allow craftsmen and cottage food suppliers to sell their products as well, and to provide regular entertainment, among other reasons. Every objective was proven successful at the inaugural farmer’s market on Saturday, April 2, Flanagan stated.
The measure of success is graded not only by word of mouth from those who attended and regulated the event but also by the fact that several vendors sold out early and left, Flanagan said. In fact, the Future Farmers of America had to make roughly six trips back to the greenhouse to restock plants that they were selling at the farmer’s market.
Additionally, Flanagan relayed that craft vendors typically stated that their sales were better at the farmer’s market than at many other venues and that the meat vendor reported sales to be better than expected.
All in all, over 500 people were estimated to have attended the opening day of the farmer’s market, even with the irregular rain patterns of the day.
Lastly, Flanagan formally requested county funding for the farmer’s market. The board moved to provide sponsorship at $1,000.00. [Full Story »]