Entries by Walter Geiger

By Mike Ruffin

It was about this time of year in 1977 that I returned to Mercer University for my senior year. A girl named Debra Johnson returned for her junior year. She came back to Macon wearing the engagement ring I’d given her the month before as we’d stood beside the Towaliga River below High Falls. [Full Story »] 

The committee designated to search for and screen applicants to fill the presidency at Gordon State College will hold two public sessions this week to get input from the public.

Citizens are encouraged to attend and offer insight on qualities they would like to see in the next president and expectations for the person filling the vacancy.

Hour-long sessions are set for Sept. 21 at 4:30 p.m. and Sept. 22 at 8:30 a.m. in room 123 of the nursing building.

Current president Dr. Max Burns will retire at the end of the year.

It's homecoming week at LCHS with events ongoing throughout the week. The annual homecoming parade will wind through downtown Barnesville this afternoon at about 4:30 p.m.

The 2017 homecoming queen will be crowned during halftime festivities during Friday’s matchup with Morgan County. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. at Trojan Field.

Seniors on the homecoming court are Ashley Haddock, Alyssa Maisonet, Ja’Kyra Shannon, Kevoni Summers and Cheyenne Wyatt.

The court is rounded out by underclass representatives including junior Kamya Foster, sophomore Hope Stone, and freshman Faith Branham.

The flagpole dedication originally set for September 11 but disrupted by Hurricane Irma will be held at noon Wednesday at the civic center. The remembrance is sponsored by the local Woodmen Life chapter.

In addition to honoring the 9-11 victims, law enforcment officers, firefighters and other first responders will be celebrated.

“Woodmen Life is proud to salute America’s heroes in this special way on the 16th anniversary of an event that forever changed our nation,” local chapter president Maxine Gibson said.

Billy Joe Giles of Barnesville, Georgia born June 13, 1930 in Atlanta, Georgia, passed away August 11, 2017.  [Full Story »] 

Barnesville’s transformation to Wind Gap over the summer for filming of HBO’s ‘Sharp Objects’ may have been prophetic as Hurricane Irma battered the area in the days leading up to the vent, forcing the cancellation and postponement of several events.

But the weather has cleared and will remain clear for the main event weekend that gets underway today with the annual street dance Ritz Park at 6:30 p.m.
[Full Story »] 

FROM ERIN COOK, SRE:

Crews are steadily making progress with only 322 still affected at 5 p.m. but progress will likely slow through the night as they are encountering more broken poles and downed lines that serve a small number of homes or individual houses. They will continue working to get as many restored as possible but some may remain out tomorrow.

Breakdown by county:
Bibb – 48
Crawford – 31
Lamar – 17
Meriwether – 48
Monroe – 49
Pike – 90
Upson – 16

We appreciate our employees' hard work as well as all the help from additional crews and thank our members for their patience and cooperation throughout the week.

FROM NIKI SAPPINGTON, CITY OF BARNESVILLE:

The remnants of Hurricane Irma moved into the city early Monday morning bringing tropical storm force winds and driving rain. The city received the first call reporting power outage at 6:30 a.m. As weather conditions deteriorated, calls of power outages, downed trees and dangerous conditions increased. By Monday evening, the city was experiencing widespread power outages affecting 46 streets throughout the city.

City utility, public works, police department and fire department personnel braved the hazardous conditions to restore operations of the city. “Barnesville is fortunate to have excellent employees who work together in difficult times. Each and every employee was vital to the recovery. They went beyond their obligations to restore power to our customers,” city manager Kenny Roberts said.
[Full Story »] 

As of 9 a.m., Thursday morning 2313 members remain without power. We have 106 linemen working to restore power across our entire system. Yesterday morning we started with 7109 outages and crews restored power for approximately 4796 members. We hope to make a lot of progress today at which point we should be able to make a better prediction about when we expect full restoration to occur. Crews are encountering countless trees on lines in areas that are difficult to reach with bucket trucks and broken poles, each of which takes an average of four hours to replace.

Breakdown by county:
Bibb - 304
Crawford - 148
Lamar - 401
Meriwether - 171
Monroe - 266
Pike - 746
Spalding - 109
Upson - 41

Mr. Don Nicholson, 54, of Barnesville, passed away Wednesday, September 13, 2017, at the home of his cousin, Sheila Nicholson surrounded by family in the Piedmont community. [Full Story »]