REVIEW
Editor’s note: This review covers July through December. The first half of 2023 was covered in last week’s edition.
July
A called meeting of the Board of Education July 20 ended with the announcement of two new principals for Jones County schools less than two weeks before the start of the school year.
Dennis Woolfolk was appointed principal of Jones County High School and Stacey Carr principal of Clifton Ridge Middle School. The moves happened less than two weeks before the new school year was to begin. The catalyst for the appointment was the resignation of JCHS principal Lance Rackley, who was named assistant superintendent for personnel and operations of Monroe County Schools July 18.
Miracles appear to occur annually in Jones County thanks to Dairy Queen owner Justin Kelly. Three years ago, Kelly made the decision to make a real difference in the lives of sick children in Middle Georgia, and a community bought into his vision.
With the $91,813 raised in the July 27 Miracle Treat Day, Dairy Queen of Gray has given one-quarter of a million dollars to the Beverly Knight Olson Children’s Hospital.
The DQ Miracle Treat Day is a franchise-wide event across the nation that contributes at least $1 for each blizzard sold on the chosen date. Kelly does a little more than that. He donates 100 percent of the money taken in by his restaurant to the Macon Children’s Hospital that treats children from all over Middle Georgia.
August
City council members approved the adjustment of boundaries for Main Street Gray’s Downtown Historic District during their Aug. 7 meeting. The new boundaries are from Washburn Drive to Pinewood Drive and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard to Forest Street.
Roberson said topic came up during the agency’s annual accreditation review with the state office, and the change was at the suggestion of the Georgia Office of Downtown Development.
Jones County said goodbye to an educator who served as Jones County School Superintendent for 30 years. Reuben Linton Jordan died Aug. 9 at the age of 93.
District Attorney Wright Barksdale received an award Aug. 9 from the Association of Government Attorneys in Capital Litigation for Outstanding Advocacy in Capital and Complex Homicide Cases. The award was presented at the agency’s annual conference.
Before the trial could begin, the defendant in the trial for the murder of Trentarius Green entered a guilty plea. Rashand Anthony Lay, 27, entered a negotiated plea Aug. 24 to the charge of voluntary manslaughter and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. He received a sentence of 25 years to serve in prison.
The maximum sentence Lay was facing if convicted of the murder charge was life without parole. The shooting that took the life of Greene took place Oct. 4, 2022, in Haddock.
Details of the plight of Gray Mayor Ed Barbee were released in an Aug. 31 story, but the saga began with a May 4 routine outpatient procedure. Barbee went into septic shock following the procedure and ended up in ICU fighting for his life. The drugs he received during that fight resulted in the cutoff of circulation to his extremities.
Barbee has since lost all the fingers on his left hand. His thumb remains on his right hand as do stubs of his fingers to his first knuckle. He lost two-thirds of both feet.
Almost unbelievably, Barbee was back to call the Oct. 2 meeting of the City Council to order. He has limitations, but like a true Marine, he is facing each one as it comes.
Tri-Co Go celebrated bringing internet to more than 1,800 locations that are currently unserved or underserved in the county with a groundbreaking and pizza party at Nature’s Walk Aug. 24. The effort was made possible when commissioners decided to utilize $5 million an American Recovery Act funds.
September
Main Street Gray received exciting news that it had been selected as the Main Street of the Month by the Georgia Main Street Program.
Jones County High School’s JROTC program held its first Raider Competition Sept. 16 featuring six events including, an obstacle course that featured the high step, wall, monkey bars, and low crawl sand pit, in what is anticipated to be an annual occurrence.
The Greyhound Raider Team won seven awards that included a third place over all trophy for the team. The female raider team won awards for placing second on the cross-county rescue, second for the team run and third for the raider fitness challenge.
The male raider team placed first for the obstacle course, third place for the one rope bridge and third place for raider fitness challenge.
October
Gray Police Chief Adam Lowe was honored by the Central Georgia Council of the Boy Scouts of America with the receipt of the Golden Eagle Award. The event was held Oct. 12 at Butler Hall. Lowe has been in law enforcement since 1995 and has served as Gray’s Chief of Police since 2006.
Two Jones County veterans were selected for the Oct. 14 Middle Georgia Honor Flight to Washington D.C. Korean War veteran Bobby May and Vietnam veteran Don Rooks said, although it rained most of the day, the event was extraordinary and urged all eligible veterans to sign up for the flight.
The Georgia Sheriff’s Salute was held Oct. 19 at the Walnut Creek Shooting Preserve with this year’s honoree Jackson County Sheriff Janis Magnum, the Georgia Sheriff’s Association Sheriff of the Year. The keynote speaker for the event was Lt. Gov.
OCTOBER
Burt Jones.
November
Jones County once again turned out to honor its veterans during the Nov. 11 Veterans Appreciation Ceremony. The day started with the Col. Allen Carr 5K Road Race that had 60 runners who were undaunted by the cool and rainy weather.
The 11 a.m. ceremony was pushed inside but continued on with patriotic music and the recognition of all veterans present, led by Veterans Committee Chairman Ret. Col. Richard Combs.
The keynote speaker for the event was JROTC Battalion Commander Cadet Col. Isaiah Denis.
WWII Veteran George Thornton also spoke, giving a short history of his service and thanking Jones County for appreciating its veterans.
A Nov. 16 fire on Sand Creek Trail took the life of the homeowner, 64-year-old Brenda Jo Kelly.
Jones County Fire Chief Don Graham said firefighters ascertained upon arrival at the scene of the possibility of an occupant inside the residence. He said the singlestory modular home was 60 percent engulfed in flames when they arrived on scene, and they immediately engaged in an aggressive search.
The chief said firefighters were able to quickly knock the fire down and gain control of the blaze and located a female victim, who had perished, on the floor of the master bathroom.
Graham said the Jones County Sheriff’s Office and the Coroner’s Office were notified to assist.The chief added that Georgia Fire Marshall’s Office was also notified, and the cause of the blaze was still under investigation.
Law enforcement officers experienced a bit of déjà vu with the Nov.
28 arrest of Neremiah Johnson when he was arrested again for auto theft. Just as it happened Jan. 27, Johnson took a car from a convenience store. He was eventually taken into custody and charged with fleeing or attempting to elude officers, obstruction of law enforcement officers, unlicensed driver and additional traffic offenses in addition to the auto theft.
His second arrest involved a similar high-speed pursuit by officers that ended in a foot chase.
December
A double fatality occurred on Gray Highway Dec. 5 at the intersection of Howard Roberts Road. The accident took the lives of Rhonda Lynn Kennedy and Hazel Wallace who were both from Wilcox County.
The final trial of 2023 concluded with Anthony Vijay Whisler found guilty of rape and sentenced to a mandatory 25 years to serve in prison and a lifetime of probation.
The trial spanned the entire week, but not all of it was spent in court. It started Dec. 4 with jury selection and continued the next day. The proceedings for Wednesday and Thursday however were cancelled due to the sickness of the defense attorney and did not resume until Friday.
District Attorney Wright Barksdale prosecuted the case, and the defendant was represented by defense attorney Floyd Buford.
Chief Superior Court Judge Brenda Trammell presided over the case.
The jury got the case at 5:20 p.m. Friday and deliberated for three hours before bringing back the guilty verdict.
The year ended on a festive note with the annual Live Nativity at Gray Methodist Church Dec. 7-8 and the Christmas Parade Dec. 12.
