Entries by Walter Geiger

[Full Story »] 

By Sherri Ellington

The school board has finalized extra supplemental pay for all athletic coaches whose teams go to the state championships. [Full Story »] 

By Walter Geiger

A trip to the Georgia Dome last week took me back in time and dredged up memories now nearly 50 years old. [Full Story »] 

By Kay S. Pedrotti

Children in the juvenile court system will have a new voice in their favor, the Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) program. [Full Story »] 

Other than isolated, unreported cases Southern Rivers Energy has restored power to all members.

"We pushed through it," SRE's Erin Cook said.

SRE workmen and those brought in to assist restored power to almost 9000 members during the 24 hours spanning 9 p.m. Thursday to 9 p.m. Friday.

All auxiliary crews have been sent home.

No, it wasn't Valentines Day passion, the earth really did move. [Full Story »] 

Due to the weather, solid waste authority trash pickups in Lamar County have fallen behind schedule. All trash should be picked up by Saturday, Feb. 15.

For information, call 770-358-5215.

SRE crews and additional personnel have restored power to more than 5300 members in less than two days. Less than 3500 outages remain as of 9:15 a.m. Crews have been working steadily around the clock trying to restore power across seven counties. Some individual outages will last into the weekend. Members with medical conditions that require a constant supply of electricity are urged to make other arrangements immediately.

Over 80 additional linemen and contractors are helping with the process but it is a daunting task based on the devastation. There is a method for restoring power safely and effectively so just because you have not seen a truck in your neighborhood does not mean they aren’t working on your outage. Crews must start working from the substation that feeds a circuit and work their way down to tap and service lines at residences.

Some areas in SRE’s territory are extremely rural with lines running cross-country. In many cases there are massive trees and limbs that have fallen across roads and rights-of-way that must be cut and removed before trucks can even get to the poles and lines that have been torn down. Clearing paths to the damage is extremely time consuming. Meriwether County in particular has been described as "Armageddon" because of the number of fallen trees and extensive damage to our system. Progress is being made now but some individual outages will go into the weekend. If individuals have damage to their equipment (meter base or conduit on the side of the house) or home, they are responsible for making those repairs before SRE can safely reconnect service.

Work is expected to continue through the weekend. The Civic Center in Barnesville and the Pike County Senior Center on Hwy 19 in Zebulon have been designated emergency shelters and will remain open as needed for anyone in need of relief. Residents in Pike County can call 770-567-3857 for transportation to the Senior Center.

Everyone’s patience and cooperation is appreciated. Members should continue using the outage hotline for first-time outage reporting: 1-866-244-4890. The operators are responsible for taking calls and reporting outages but they do not have access to information that allows them to give estimates on restoration times or dispatch schedules.

Fifty-year-old Kenneth Mitchell of Butts County was found dead during the ice storm and an autopsy will be done to determine if he died of hypothermia or other causes. [Full Story »] 

By Kay S. Pedrotti

High school junior Grant Kendrick says he loses himself completely in whatever he is singing. That’s how much he loves music. [Full Story »] 

By Walter Geiger

I’m not much of a TV watcher. I got into ‘Desperate Housewives’ but they cancelled it. That was the first show I had watched regularly since ‘Mork and Mindy’.

I’ve seen not one episode of ‘Seinfeld’. My male friends tell me that I missed a lot there. So be it. [Full Story »]