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Not lost in all the political rhetoric at Sunday night’s Emmy Awards show were accolades showered on director Jean-Marc Valle and his limited series ‘Big Little Lies’.

Vallee spent part of this past summer in Barnesville directing the upcoming HBO series ‘Sharp Objects”.

Vallee got the Emmy for best director of a limited series. “Big Little Lies, won best limited series. The stars of the series also reaped awards including Nicole Kidman, best lead actress; Alexander Skarsgard, best supporting actor; and Laura Dern, best supporting actress.

Lamar County property owners should have received their tax bills by mail last week. Local government anticipates income from tax payments in the amount of $13,224,888.54.

Lamar County tax commissioner Andrea Anthony reported her office mailed 10,230 bills. Taxes are due Nov. 15.

After that date, delinquent taxpayers will be charged interest in the amount of five percent every 120 days with a cap of 20%. Properties on which taxes have not been paid by March 9, 2018 will be subject to fi fa liens and sold at public outcry on the courthouse square.

The final millage rate increase was almost non-consequential. A person with a $100,000 property on which the assessment has remained the same will pay 12 cents more than last year.

NOTE: This story in the 9.20.17 print edition of The Herald Gazette has an error on the date taxes are due. Nov. 15 is the correct due date. The Herald Gazette regrets the error.

The weather was perfect and downtown Barnesville was packed with throngs of home folks and visitors alike Saturday afternoon for the annual Buggy Days Parade which went off without a hitch. There was no evidence of Irma's visit earlier in the week and a good time was had by all.

As an expert on local history and assistant city manager, Tim Turner is all about Barnesville. For the past 10 years, he has been all about Buggy Days as well, having taken over as chairman of the event for Dick Esco.

He is retiring from that position after this year’s festival. The chamber board of directors will have its hands full finding a replacement. [Full Story »] 

From Erin Cook, Southern Rivers Energy at 11 a.m.:

Crews have been working all across our system since before daylight assessing damage and making progress. Power has been restored to approximately 1247 members but there is still have a long way to go with 11,867 still out. Five additional crews bringing a total 26 extra linemen are on the way from North Carolina to assist in restoration efforts as soon as they can get here today with 12 more linemen from Indiana scheduled to arrive tomorrow morning.

Members with a medical situation requiring a constant power supply are encouraged to make other arrangements in the event that it takes multiple days to fully restore power.

Crews are assessing damage in each county and should have a better idea of about how long full restoration will take. At least six broken poles have been reported so far, each of which takes several hours to replace. The help of the additional crews will definitely expedite progress but with roughly 70 percent of the system down, it will still take some time.

As of 10 a.m. today the total number of EMC (electric membership cooperatives) members without power across the state was 428,000 and Georgia Power reported 870,000 or roughly half of the residential customers.

Work will continue around the clock in an effort to restore everyone as quickly as possible.
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From Holly Crawford at Georgia Power at 11:30 a.m.:

Georgia Power damage assessment teams are currently out in communities across the state evaluating widespread destruction from Hurricane Irma as part of the company’s first phase of the restoration process. Georgia Power must wait until conditions are safe for crews to begin power restoration and additional heavy rain or high winds may impact efforts. Additional challenges faced today include downed trees, blocked roads and bridges that must inspected by the state following flooding. The company advises customers that they could experience extended outages for days or weeks due to the vast damage from the storm and that regional and statewide restoration estimates will be available as soon as assessment is completed.

There are nearly 770,000 Georgia Power customers currently without power.

More than 8,500 cases of individual damage or trouble (including broken poles and lines) the company is working to repair.

Damage and outages are widespread and across the state with the hurricane impacting service to customers around Savannah, Columbus, Metro Atlanta and beyond.

Rebecca Vaughn, a senior at LCHS, was crowned Miss Buggy Days at the pageant held all day Saturday at the Fine Arts Center. Queens of the 13 divisions are:

Miss Buggy Days Rebecca Vaughn

Golden Miss Buggy Days Rochelle Kantner
Silver Miss Buggy Days Karen Newman
Diamond Miss Buggy Days Rebecca Estes
Teen Miss Buggy Days Faith Branham
Junior Miss Buggy Days Makayla Padgett
Tween Miss Buggy Days Kiley Corley
Sweetheart Miss Buggy Days McKenzie Smith
Little Miss Buggy Days Lanie Fowler
Tiny Miss Buggy Days Adilyn Rayban
Toddler Miss Buggy Days Amber Whisby
Baby Miss Buggy Days Mila Lawson
Infant Miss Buggy Days Jordan Whitaker;

Buggy Days 2017 gets underway Saturday with the Buggy Days beauty pageant featuring the largest number of contestants in recent years.

There will be 128 naturally born females competing in 13 categories ranging from infants to senior citizens. The three youngest divisions – infants, babies and toddlers – have the most contestants. [Full Story »] 

Pinta Lodge #88 F&AM will sponsor its third annual Buggy Days Golf Outing to benefit the Masonic Children’s Home and other local charities.

The event is set for Monday, Sept. 13 at Morgan Dairy Golf Club.

Registration begins at 8 a.m. with a shotgun start at 9 a.m. Lunch will be served at 1 p.m.

There will be multiple door prizes and longest drive and closest to the pin contests.

The fee for a four-person team is $300. Sponsorships are also being sought.

For more information, contact Brad White at 770-358-5377 or Phillip Bell at 770-358-1108.

Georgia’s dove hunting season opens Saturday at 12:01 p.m. The dove opener traditionally kicks off the fall hunting season.

“Dove season is a fantastic reason to introduce someone new to hunting. It brings a lot of joy to participants and is a great kick off to the fall hunting season,” said John W. Bowers, of DNR’s game management. “Georgia has more than 50 public dove fields, including opportunities on private land made available to the public through a new USDA habitat incentive program.”

The 2017-2018 dove seasons are Sept. 2-17, Oct. 14-Nov. 2 and Nov. 23 - Jan. 15. Shooting hours are noon until sunset on opening day (Sept. 2) and one-half hour before sunrise to sunset for the remainder of the season dates.

Dove hunters 16 years of age and older must possess a Georgia hunting license and a Georgia migratory bird stamp. This stamp is required for all migratory bird hunters (doves, ducks, geese, woodcock, snipe, coots, rails, or gallinules), even if a hunting license is not required. Use of the stamp is how Georgia participates in the federal harvest information program. Some licenses allow the holder to get the stamp at no cost. Stamps are only valid for a single season (March to February). Hunters must obtain a new stamp each season.
[Full Story »] 

Buggy Days is just around the corner and the 2017 commemorative t-shirt pays homage to Barnesville’s conversion to Wind Gap this summer for filming of HBO’s ‘Sharp Objects”.


The shirt was designed by local artist Andrew Patrick Henry who also did the Wind Gap murals downtown.

The John Flath era officially dawns Friday when the Lamar County Trojans host the Northeast Raiders of Macon at Summers Field. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m.

The Raiders are also breaking in a new coach in Ashley Harden, formerly of Twiggs County.

LC went 6-5 last season before getting walloped by Chattooga in the first round of the playoffs. Northeast went 2-8.