Headlines

Miraculously, there were only minor injuries Friday night when a small car collided with a log truck on Veterans Parkway at about 6:45 p.m.

Witness reports indicated the car was traveling too fast to avoid the truck as it made a turn.

One person in the car was hurt but details are sketchy. The truck driver was unscathed.

Saturday is Dec. 13, 2014 or 12.13.14.

There will be no 13.14.15, so make the best of this special day. Host a party or a wedding or by a sequential date themed lottery ticket.

You won't get another chance until the next century.

By Kay S. Pedrotti

Do you take for granted your ability to make cell phone calls in Barnesville and Lamar County? Think about what makes that happen and you may want to thank your local governing bodies.

There are 12 cell towers here, three in the city and nine in the county, all serving multiple providers with Verizon coverage being predominant. Company officials have told local 911 dispatchers, who may get calls about tower lights not burning, that their network is mapped and computerized to enable them to locate lights-out immediately anywhere in the world. [Full Story »] 

Teams of law enforcement officers searched the high school and middle school Monday looking for drugs and other contraband.
[Full Story »] 

A former Towaliga Circuti public defender has won over $100,000 and an order reinstating him to his post the Atlanta Journal Constitution reports. [Full Story »] 

The folks at Georgia High School Football Daily and MaxPreps consider the Lamar County Trojans to be a considerable underdog in their second round playoff game Friday night in Norcross.

The #10 Trojans battle the #1 Greater Atlanta Christian Spartans. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m.
[Full Story »] 

By Sherri Ellington

With the Empty Stocking Fund and Toys for Tots concentrating on making Christmas happen for Lamar County children under age 12, the school system is stepping up to help make the holidays happy for teenagers.

“Christmas assistance is going to keep me busy,” said school social worker Kiana Battle. [Full Story »] 

As part of the Farm City Week observance, the film 'Farmland' will be screened Nov. 21 and 22. at the Upson-Lee Fine Arts Center.

The film will begin at 7 p.m. Doors open at 6:15. Admission is free but donations to support local FFA and 4-H clubs will be appreciated.

For more information, call Darlene at the cooperative extension service office at 770.358.5163

The tax commission office has changed its payment system to Envision Payment Solutions. The only requirements to present a check for payment is the taxpayer’s name, physical address and a valid telephone number.

“I apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you; this was not our intention,” said tax commissioner Andrea Anthony.

With the deadline to pay property taxes falling on Saturday, the tax commission office is open on Saturdays, Nov. 15 and 22 from 8 a.m. to 12 noon. Due to this, the office has postponed the 1% interest on late payments from Nov. 20 to Dec. 1. Another 1% will be added Dec. 20. After that the 1% accrues on the 16th of every month.

The office is accepting postmarks on payments mailed in.

The office will be closed for Thanksgiving Nov. 26-28; for Christmas Dec. 24-26 and Jan. 1 and 2 for New Year’s.

A Polar Express Christmas Illumination Celebration will roll into town at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 26, at the Barnesville Depot. It is being hosted by the Chamber of Commerce. [Full Story »] 

Herald Gazette subscribers will not receive their printed editions of the newspaper in the mail until Wednesday.

Post offices nationwide are closed Tuesday in observance of Veterans Day.

Spalding sheriff Wendell Beam reports he and his investigators are working a case in which a man with a gunshot wound to the head was found on Bolton Pkwy. (Hwy. 16) Nov. 6. [Full Story »] 

By Kay S. Pedrotti

At the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of the year, many will gather to remember, salute and honor those veterans of the United States Armed Forces who served, were wounded and paid the ultimate price for American freedom.

The ceremony will be held in front of the Veterans Memorial area at the Barnesville-Lamar County Library on Thomaston Street. [Full Story »]