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A man and woman were killed when the 18 wheeler they were in ran into a Dodge County trash truck. The accident happened at approximately 11:23 a.m. on Tuesday, September 26 at the intersection of the Chauncey Rhine Highway and the Milan Eastman Highway at Mt. Ararat Church. It appeared that the trash truck was headed toward Milan on the Milan Eastman Highway and failed to yield the right of way to the 18 wheel truck that was headed toward Chauncey on the Chauncey Rhine Highway at the stop sign at the intersection of the two roads. The man driving the 18 wheeler and a woman passenger were killed. The driver of the trash truck was injured and was taken to Dodge County Hospital by Dodge County Emergency Medical Services (EMS). The 18 wheel truck had a Randall Stubbs Trucking, Inc. logo on the door. The names of the deceased were not given out due to next of kin being notified. Dodge County EMS, the Chauncey Fire Department, the Milan Fire Department, Dodge County Sheriff’s deputies and the Georgia State Patrol responded to the accident. Full details of the wreck were not available from the Georgia State Patrol as of presstime. (Photo by Chuck Eckles)

Kencoa Group, LLC, a strategic aerospace holdings company, announced on September 15, 2017 that it has completed the acquisition of Heart of Georgia Metal Crafters, LLC (HGMC), an Eastman based tier-1 supplier of precision machined and sheet metal fabricated components for the aerospace industry. The acquisition was effective January 1, 2017 and moving forward, the company will be officially conducting business as Kencoa Aerospace, LLC.

HGMC began serving customers in 1998 with a vision of manufacturing advanced fabricated components for the aerospace industry and serving as an economic development driver for the Middle Georgia community of Eastman-Dodge County. Over that time, the company forged many long-term partnerships with customers such as Boeing Defense and Space, Lockheed Martin, Gulfstream Aerospace and many others requiring creative solutions, on-time service and quality excellence.

Commenting on the acquisition, Kencoa Aerospace President and native of Georgia, Jason Premo said, “As part of Kencoa Group, we are now able to further advance the vision to achieve even greater opportunities for our employees, community and most importantly, our customers. We intend to enhance and expand these relationships by further investing in our people, capabilities and capacity, providing even greater added value and extraordinary service.”

Kencoa Aerospace also collaborated with Georgia Economic Development to explore available incentive programs and has committed to adding 100 new jobs over a four-year period, in addition to $2 million in capital investment. At the time of this release, the company is ahead of schedule, having already hired 16 new employees and installed over $1.6 million in new advanced manufacturing equipment.

“Kencoa Aerospace has unlocked an incredible opportunity to capitalize on Georgia’s strong manufacturing and aerospace industries,” said GDEcd Commissioner Pat Wilson. “Aerospace products are the number one export from Georgia, and our leadership position in this sector will help maintain a competitive edge in the global market. I look forward to the success Kencoa will have in Dodge County.”

Tropical storm Irma made a large impact on Dodge County on Monday, September 11. High winds and stronger wind gusts toppled many trees and broke off limbs in Dodge County, including this large Oak tree at 5225 Main Street in Eastman that fell on an apartment house owned by Terry Niblett. Several other houses in the county also had trees fall on them. Many people were without power from early Monday into Tuesday. Before Irma arrived, people in Dodge County filled up their cars and cans with gas in anticipation of the storm, causing gas shortages. Many gas stations were out of gas. Grocery stores also ran out of many food items as people prepared for the worst. Power company and clean up crews were out Monday and Tuesday trying to get power restored and move trees and debris from roadways. (Photo by Chuck Eckles)

Eastman and Dodge County officials are asking that everyone stay at home and do not get out on the roads. There are many power lines down and it is dangerous if you encounter one. Please be safe and stay at home until the power companies can clear the downed lines.

Dodge County Schools will be closed on Monday, September 11, 2017 and Tuesday, September 12, 2017 for students and staff, due to inclement weather expected from Hurricane Irma.

The cities of Eastman, Milan and Chauncey recently held qualifying for elected positions in each city.

In the City of Eastman, the candidate qualifying for the city council seat for District 1 was incumbent candidate Sebrina Williams, whom is unopposed. Eddie G. Driggers qualified to oppose incumbent candidate Prince A. Dawson, who currently holds the council seat for District 5.

In the City of Milan, the mayoral position and five council seats are up for election. For mayor, the qualifying incumbent Jimmy Kirkland went unopposed.

There were six candidates qualifying for five council seats, including two left vacant by Cricket Williamson and Robin Ussery. The qualifying candidates were incumbent Glenda Taylor, incumbent Chad Puckett, incumbent Cyler Jones, William Keith Holt, Bruce Hampton and Neal Smith, Jr.

For the City of Chauncey, three council seats are available for election. Three candidates qualified for the three positions, including incumbent Theron McCranie, incumbent Stephen L. Shepherd and J.B. Carr. There is one open seat left by Aaron Howard, who did not qualify for re-election.

General elections for Eastman, Milan and Chauncey will be held on November 7, 2017 from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.

Early voting will begin on Friday, October 6 and will run through Friday, November 3.

By Becky Holland
The intersection of Seventh Avenue and Pine Street is set to become a four-way stop. The Eastman City Council approved the proposal made by councilman Buddy Pittman on Monday night at its regular meeting.

According to Pittman, “I had been approached by several members of First Baptist Church about the fast traffic near the new education complex…with the children coming and going, they were worried about a kid getting hurt.”

Pittman explained there were already two stop signs, but it didn’t seem to do anything to stop the situation. “I asked Jason (Eastman City Manager Jason Cobb) to look into the issue, about the possibility of putting two more stop signs, and making that intersection a four-way stop,” said Pittman.

“We just felt like this would stop and slow down that traffic,” he added. A motion was heard, and council approved making the intersection of Seventh Avenue and Pine Street a four-way stop.

City manager Jason Cobb assured the council, “We would take the necessary steps in notifying the public of the change…we would run a public notice in the paper and advertise on our social media that the intersection would become a four-way stop before we put the signs out there.”

Other agenda items discussed and approved Monday night included:
Council corrected and re-approved the agenda and the minutes of the August 14, 2017 meeting. After the agenda items were approved, an error was noted on item number six. The item involved the listing of the above-mentioned intersection to become a four-way as Sixth Avenue and Pine Street. [Full Story »] 

By Becky Holland
A large amount of scrap metal that has ended up in Dodge County at the landfill will be moved soon thanks to Johnson’s Recycling at four cents per pound.

The Dodge County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously Monday night at their regular monthly meeting, to award Johnson’s with the contract to get rid of the scrap metal.

Bobby Peacock, county manager, explained that a large amount of scrap metal, consisting of old appliances, pipe and other scrap, had accumulated at the landfill. According to Peacock, he approached some individuals to see what the cost would be to get rid of the sheet metal.

After that, bids were accepted. “Telfair Metal said they would take care of disposing of it for two and one-half cents a pound. Johnson’s Recycling said they would do it for fours cent a pound,” Peacock said. Johnson’s would also remove the scrap from the area.

“Do we know how much metal is out there?” commissioner Karen Cheek asked.

Peacock said, “I have no idea, but it is not 200 tons.”

Commissioner Terry Niblett asked Peacock if Johnson’s would remove the metal. “Yes, they said they would,” Peacock replied.

With that, Niblett made a motion to accept the higher bid, since Johnson’s would move the scrap from the property. After a second was made, the unanimous vote was taken.

Frank Erwin, a local certified public accountant, presented to the board, the 2016 Dodge County Audit. While hitting some high points of the lengthy audit, Erwin pointed out that in his independent audit report opinion, the county, as a whole, received a “good, clean opinion.”

“I didn’t find the county to be out of compliance,” Erwin stated. The board approved the audit so that Erwin could present the audit to the state on behalf of Dodge County.
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By Taelor Rye
Given the reported success of the Downtown Development Authority’s (DDA) façade grant program, the Eastman City Council has approved a transfer of $10,000.00 to the DDA in the form of a resolution.

Funds will be transferred from a budgeted line item for downtown development activities, which reserves $15,000.00. After the transfer, $5,000.00 will remain allotted for that purpose.

The façade grant program encourages improvements to downtown businesses’ storefronts by having the city match up to $1,500.00 toward renovations. Concerning the program, city manager Jason Cobb explained, “We have seen an overwhelming support from those in the downtown area.”

City council member Buddy Pittman added that the DDA has already matched funds for four businesses downtown and that the DDA already has funding for three more approved businesses. The total for those seven businesses is $8,985.00.

As of the DDA’s most recent meeting last Thursday, five more businesses have been approved, pending funding. The $10,000.00 transfer will fund those five businesses, with $2,500.00 to go toward other businesses that are approved in the future.

Cobb noted that the program has encouraged business owners to make improvements far beyond the $1,500.00 matched by the city, and he said that a total of 12 businesses have committed to participating.

“It’s really been a very good program,” Cobb added.

The city has also released applications for participation in the first quarterly downtown yard sale, allowing yard sale vendors and food vendors the opportunity to reserve 10-by-10 foot slots along Main Street.

The event is scheduled for Saturday, September 9, 2017. Booths must be set up by 8:30 a.m. and taken down by 5:30 p.m.

Pittman clarified that, on the day of the yard sale, Main Street will still be open to traffic, so as not to impede access to downtown businesses that are open on Saturdays.
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A 20 year old Eastman woman lost her life in a one vehicle accident on the Antioch Church Road at approximately 2:09 a.m. on Saturday, August 5.

Ashley Nicole (Nikki) Graham died from injures she sustained in the accident. According to the Georgia State Patrol report, Graham was driving north on the Antioch Church Road. She apparently lost control of the 2008 Honda Civic EX she was driving, ran off the east shoulder of the roadway and overcorrected. The car went back into the northbound lane of the roadway.

Graham then apparently overcorrected again causing the vehicle to begin to rotate clockwise and go off the east shoulder of the road. Once the vehicle ran off the road, it traveled 47 feet on the grass shoulder when the driver’s side of the Honda struck the passenger’s corner of a parked 18 wheel log truck at 1384 Antioch Church Road. Graham was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident.

She was approximately 1/4 mile from her home.

A 27-year old Eastman man is dead after he was hit by a vehicle on the Cochran Highway (Georgia 87).

A call came in to the Dodge/Wilcox 911 Center at approximately 3:07 a.m. on Tuesday morning, August 1, from a woman who passed by and saw a body lying in the roadway. She did not stop at the scene.

Dodge deputies were dispatched to the scene and when they arrived, they found that a Swift 18 wheel tractor trailer, that was headed north, had hit the body in the roadway. The driver of the truck told authorities that he saw the body and swerved, but could not avoid hitting it. The truck hit the body after the call to 911 was placed and the lady had left the scene.

Jahquil Dyshea Sudler, age 27, who lived about a half mile from the scene at 11 Barnett Court, was pronounced dead at the scene.

The body will be sent to the Georgia State Crime Lab for an autopsy to try and determine the cause of death. It was not clear at the scene if the man was killed by the tractor-trailer, another vehicle or by some other means.

By Taelor Rye
At the Eastman City Council’s regular meeting on July 24, 2017, city council member Buddy Pittman led discussion on the first date of the quarterly downtown yard sale, which the council approved for September 9, 2017.

The yard sale, an interest of Pittman’s for some time, is to encourage further visits to the downtown area. Interested citizens and food vendors who would like to set up booths will pay a fee that will go to support the downtown development authority in its endeavors, such as the facade grant for downtown businesses.

The council also approved a motion to fund repairs of a mixer at the wastewater treatment plant, at a cost of $7,675.00. The cost of a replacement would have been around $16,000.00.

“This particular mixer has had problems in the past,” city manager Jason Cobb said, “but it has also been at the plant since it opened.” Cobb also stated that, “according to the company doing the new repairs, the company that repaired the mixer last time did an inadequate job of sealing it correctly.” “However, this round of repairs will prevent any further damage,” Cobb said.

The repairs will come with a one-year warranty, and funding will come from the short-lived asset account.

Cobb additionally called attention to the continued work on repaving roads in town, commending the work and specifying that work on College Street and the area behind city hall is been done this week.

The city council also has a retreat scheduled for 3:00 p.m. on August 11, 2017 in the airport boardroom. If needed, the council will revisit on August 12, 2017, from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.

The council’s next regular meeting is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. on Monday, August 14, 2017.

By Taelor Rye
In response to the rise in opioid abuse throughout Georgia, the Dodge County Board of Commissioners put $1,000.00 toward providing first responders with Narcan, an opiate antidote, at its regular meeting on July 17, 2017.

The decision to spend money on this issue arose after Jeff Creech, of Dodge County Emergency Medical Services, discussed the prevalence and effects of Percocet-based drugs with the street names “yellow pill” and “grey death.” Creech noted that the grey death is particularly risky, as it is easily inhaled or absorbed through the skin, quickly entering the bloodstream of those who come in contact with it, therefore increasing the risk of an overdose.

“Grey death is 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine,” Creech noted. He also noted that first responders have already been advised to double-glove their hands and to wear masks when searching individuals, houses and vehicles for drugs to minimize potential exposure to the drugs.

Due to the rise in these drugs, Creech asked that the board of commissioners supply first responders, such as sheriffs and firefighters, with $1,000.00 to go toward purchasing doses of Narcan for every first responder and parole officer. The ultimate goal is to have one, maybe two, extra doses in every first responder’s vehicle in case they come in contact with a drug such as grey death.

Creech stated that Narcan currently costs about $28.40 and that insurance company WoodmenLife has already put $1,000.00 toward these efforts, covering around 35 doses. The $1,000.00 from the county will supplement these funds.

When county commissioner Brian Watkins asked if the drugs in question were of particular significance in the area, Creech explained that, while there has only been one recent incident in Dodge County, there were 13 incidents in one weekend in Houston County.

Additionally, news outlets such as the Atlanta-based CNN and WSB-TV have called attention to the increase in the use of these drugs over the past few months.

Addressing concerns of public safety, Creech clarified that naloxone, the medication branded as Narcan, cannot be abused, so having it in first responder vehicles virtually poses no risk of theft and abuse.
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