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An unidentified driver drove an older model Ford Ranger through a building late Saturday night on Veterans Parkway. [Full Story »] 

Interviews are underway this week as the school system administration and leadership at LCHS strive to find a head football coach.

The position was vacated in mid-December when Jeff Sloan stepped down after two seasons leading the team. Sloan remains at LC as assistant principal and athletic director.

School superintendent Dr. Jute Wilson reported last week approximately 65 candidates have applied for the position. “We are very pleased with the number and quality of applicants,” Wilson said. [Full Story »] 

From Anna Lewis, MCSO:

The Monroe County Sheriff's Office is currently looking for Gregory Allen Jones after he was reported to be at the Red Roof Inn in Forsyth. Deputies went to the Inn to serve warrants and approached Jones after he left his room and entered his vehicle. Jones refused to leave the vehicle and fled the scene. Deputies then shot at the tires of the vehicle, but Jones continued to flee. Deputies gave chase and Jones wrecked behind the church Daysprings Presbyterian on Highway 41 and Thornton Road. Jones fled the vehicle on foot.

As a precaution, all Monroe County Schools have been put on Code Red lockdown with multiple Deputies at each school.

Jones is wanted on multiple felony warrants. Jones is 5"8", approximately 240 lbs, brown eyes and a shaved head. We are asking the public if they see Jones to please call 911 immediately. Do not approach Jones as he is considered armed and dangerous.

UPDATE: To clarify, we received a tip that Jones was located at the Red Roof Inn as Jones was featured on America's Most Wanted.

Multiple agencies are currently involved in the manhunt. Forsyth Police Department, Georgia State Patrol (including aviation) and Department of Corrections.

UPDATE 2: FUGITIVE CAPTURED

We have just received word that Gregory Allen Jones has been captured and arrested in Anderson, SC.

Anderson County Sheriff's Office identified the stolen vehicle and a chase began. The chase ended in a wreck and Jones rolling the vehicle.

South Carolina State Troopers are working the wreck.

At the last minute, organizers have decided to go ahead with a Martin Luther King Day observance today at 11 a.m. at the courthouse.

Masks will be required and social distancing will be practiced.

For more information, contact April Smith.

The annual Martin Luther King Day observance set for Jan. 18 has been cancelled. Leaders of the Lamar County chapter of the NAACP made the decision to call off the event.

The MLK breakfast, march and worship service have been a tradition here for many years and the hope is it will return in 2022.

Sheriff Brad White reported Wednesday morning his investigators and GBI agents are working hard on solving the murder of 17-year-old D'Shaunti Kyanni Hunter whose body was found in the Unionville Church cemetery here Sunday.

Hunter was shot at least once. The working theory is she was shot elsewhere and the body brought here.

"We're working it hard. We should have some news soon," sheriff White said.

The Lamar County Sheriff's Office and a GBI crime scene team are investigating a death on High Falls Park Road.

Visitors in the area discovered the body in the Unionville Church cemetery near I-75 about 2:30 p.m., according to sheriff Brad White.


UPDATE: The victim has been identified as D'Shaunti Kyanni Hunter, 17, of Ellenwood. [Full Story »] 

The Centennial Monument on the courthouse square was unveiled Friday morning in a ceremony that was curtailed due to bad weather and COVID-19.

Lamar County was approved by the state legislature in August 1920 and opened for business on Jan. 1, 1921

Lamar County schools have been shut down through Jan. 19 due to COVID-19 concerns and precautions.

From school superintendent Dr. Jute Wilson:

Good afternoon Trojan family,

We apologize for the inconvenience, but an increase in quarantines in our district has positioned us to dismiss Lamar County Middle School and Lamar County High School at 2pm today. Our goal is to dismiss the primary and elementary school at 3pm.
All Lamar County students will switch to remote learning today and will be eligible to return Tuesday, January 19. Staff will report to their buildings for normal work hours and will provide remote instruction each day.
5-Day meal boxes will be available for pickup Monday, January 11. You must sign up by this Friday at noon.

Thank you for your patience and support this afternoon, as we work to get our children home safely. Delays are likely. Anyone who can pick their child up from school this afternoon would help us tremendously. We are very short bus drivers.

Please be safe and follow recommended safety guidelines, so we can resume the school year as soon as possible.

THIS WAS TODAY'S UPDATE ON CASES/EXPOSURES FROM THE SCHOOL SYSTEM:

We have been informed of the following COVID-19 related cases since December 18:
12 Primary school students and 3 staff members meet the "exposed" guidelines. Per our policy, they have been quarantined.
3 Primary school staff members tested positive for COVID-19. They have not been in attendance since the holiday break.
10 Elementary school students and 2 staff members meet the "exposed" guidelines, Per our policy, they will/have been quarantined.
2 Elementary school staff members and 2 students have tested positive for COVID-19. They have not been in attendance since the holiday break.
14 Middle school students and 1 staff member met the "exposed" guidelines. Per our policy, they will/have been quarantined.
2 Middle school staff members have tested positive for COVID-19. They have not been in attendance since the holiday break.
2 High School students tested positive for COVID-19. They were last in attendance on Tuesday, January 5, 2021. In addition, 24 students and 4 staff members meet the "exposed" guidelines. Per our policy, they will be quarantined.
7 High school students and 3 staff members meet the "exposed" guidelines. Per our policy, they have been quarantined.
1 High school staff member tested positive for COVID-19. They have not been in attendance since the holiday break.
2 Transportation staff members tested positive for COVID-19. They were last in attendance on Tuesday, January 5, 2021. In addition, 7 staff members meet the "exposed" guidelines. Per our policy, they will be quarantined.
1 Central office employee tested positive for COVID-19. They have not been in attendance since the holiday break.
1 Central office employee met the "exposed" guideline. Per our policy, they will be quarantined.
1 Maintenance employee tested positive for COVID-19. They have not been in attendance since the holiday break.

Lamar County voters go to the polls today to cast ballots in the general primary runoff with Georgia’s two US Senate seats on the line.

VoteAmerica, The Arc Georgia and James Butler will help the disabled get to the polls. Call Butler at 404-308-8982.

Incumbent Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler is being challenged by Democrat Raphael Warnock. Sen. David Perdue, another Republican incumbent, faces off with challenger Jon Ossoff.

Lamar has 12,846 voters who are registered to vote in today’s runoff. Of those, 3358 have already voted either in advance or by absentee ballot. Early voting ended Dec. 31 at noon. As of Monday, elections supervisor Anita Reid and her staff had mailed out 1746 absentee ballots of which 1311 had been returned.

Polling places are open throughout the county today from 7 a.m. - 7 p.m. Those polling places are District 1: Barnesville library; District 2A: Parker Branch fire station; District 2B: Senior Citizens Center; District 2C: Redbone Community House; District 3: Lamar County Service Center; and District 4: Milner library.

For up to the minute local results tonight, monitor barnesville.com.