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Get tickets this week for the 30th annual Community Awards Banquet. It will be held at 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 31 at the Civic Center.

Tickets are $25 and can be purchased at the chamber office until Friday, Jan. 25. No tickets will be sold at the door.

The Chamber of Commerce sponsors two awards, the Outstanding Citizen and Businessperson of the Year. [Full Story »] 

A crowd of about 150 people gathered on the courthouse lawn Monday morning to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Most of them marched to the courthouse from the E.P. Roberts Center and back to East Mt. Sinai Church. [Full Story »] 

Monday, Jan. 21, 2013 is the day on which the birth and life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. will be celebrated. Again, the theme is, A Day On. [Full Story »] 

Ryan Jarred Lovick, age 19 of Milner, Georgia passed away on Wednesday, January 16, 2013.

Ryan was born in Riverdale, Georgia on August 23, 1993. He is preceded in death by his grandmother, Cornelia English. Ryan played baseball for his high school team, a travel team for Forsyth County, Lamar Trojan’s, Lamar Recreation Department, was an avid hunter and a member of Rock Springs Church.

Survivors include his mother, Susan English Lovick; father, Wiley Eugene “Jabo” Lovick; sisters, Tara Lovick, Sydney Lovick; step sister, Emily Chester; grandfather, Milton English; grandparents, Wiley and Carol Lovick; grandmother, Jean Howard; several aunts, uncles, and cousins.

Visitation for Ryan Lovick will be on Saturday, January 19, 2013 from 6:00pm until 9:00pm at Conner-Westbury Funeral Home. Funeral services will be conducted on Sunday, January 20, 2013 at 2:00pm at Rock Springs. Dr. Benny Tate will officiate. Interment will follow in Rock Springs Church Cemetery.

By Sherri Ellington

Jake Brennon McFarlan is the first baby of the new year in Lamar County.

Jake was born to Kathryn and Matt McFarlan, both 35, of Milner at 7:58 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 3, 2013 at Upson Regional Medical Center. [Full Story »] 

By Walter Geiger

Just days into his administration, Lamar County sheriff Brad White was crediting cooperation and good police work on the part of his staff for the arrest of a man investigators think is a serial arsonist who may have been setting fires in empty, foreclosed upon and marketed homes in Lamar and surrounding counties since 2007.

Travis Leroy Ball, 46, of 156 Carter Circle in Warner Robins was arrested at 12:15 a.m. January 8 as he allegedly fled into Lamar County after setting two fires in Upson County. [Full Story »] 

The family of Phillip Eugene Chigges, 69, who has been missing since before Christmas, is hoping he is found soon. He lived on Highway 19 north and would often walk down the road, but his disappearance before the holidays is a mystery.

UPDATE: Volunteers, including the Georgia Mounted Search and Rescue team, mounted a search Saturday morning to no avail.

"There is nothing new that arose from the search. We are following up on all information both old and new," sheriff Jimmy Thomas reported Saturday night. [Full Story »] 

Joshua Lively, 17, was shot at a home in a Williamson subdivision Wednesday, Jan. 9 by his step father Paul Johnson after Lively allegedly became aggressive while holding a knife. He passed away around 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 10. [Full Story »] 

The area's serial arsonist hit five more homes overnight Sunday.

UPDATE: Spalding also had two fires overnight. [Full Story »] 

Wide areas of Barnesville were without power early Sunday. SRE was reporting only one outage at 9:30 a.m.

The issue may stem from a transmission line problem that darkened Forsyth, Monroe County and parts off Bibb and Lamar Friday. The LCSO was reportedly without power.

UPDATE: Several people have reported hearing a transformer explode near downtown. So, the outage may be local. Power was restored in some areas at 9:48 a.m.

By Kay S. Pedrotti

A high school football team that nearly brought a state title to Lamar County, the loss of an iconic 30-year-old restaurant, several successful community events to meet needs of our citizens, accolades for students and others, watching the economy slowly climb up – if “good news, bad news” defined any year, it was 2012. [Full Story »] 

Sheriff Brad White reports a New Year's Eve meth bust is underway here. [Full Story »] 

By Walter Geiger

Another home was destroyed in a suspicious, late night fire here December 27 and investigators theorize it may be the 12th local blaze ignited by a serial arsonist.
[Full Story »] 

Sheriff-elect Brad White has invited the public to attend his swearing in ceremony which is set for Thursday at Antioch Baptist Church. [Full Story »]