Russell Edwin Clark of Alto has been charged with sexual assault and violation of oath of office by the Georgia Department of Corrections. (Habersham County Detention Center)
A Lee Arrendale State Prison (LASP) lieutenant has been charged with sexual assault and violation of oath of office by the Georgia Department of Corrections. Both charges are felonies.
According to a press release from Habersham County Public Information Officer Rob Moore, Russell Edwin Clark of Alto was arrested on Wednesday, May 1, and booked into the Habersham County Detention Center early Thursday.
Clark is accused of improperly touching and kissing a female inmate over whom he had disciplinary authority and willfully and knowingly violating his oath of office. The incident allegedly occurred in the stairwell of the main dormitories.
Clark bonded out of the Habersham County Detention Center on Thursday, May 2, on a $5,600 bond.
BabyLand General in Cleveland, GA. (BabyLand General)
Today, collectors from across the United States and around the globe will be in Cleveland, Georgia, on Friday, May 3, at BabyLand General Hospital. It is the 2024 Spring Collectors Event at the home of the Cabbage Patch Kids® and Licensed Patch Doctors and Nurses. It has been almost five years since such an event has been held due to COVID.
Margaret McLean, Director of Corporate Communications for BabyLand said the 2020 Spring Event was cancelled due to COVID. It has been almost 5 years since the collectors gathered together at BabyLand General.
Collectors from around the world will be in Cleveland, GA today at BabyLand General. (BabyLand General)
McLean said the event began in 1987. McLean says “Carrying their Cabbage Patch Kids or Little People, many of our members come a week early or stay longer to visit their favorite places, to find new ones, or to learn more about the historical Southern roots of their newest family member.”
The Cabbage Patch has always delighted collector club members with a very special handmade Little People® baby available exclusively for registered event attendees. Because of all the excitement, the Cabbage Patch began delivering a second baby that affectionately became known as the “Side Kick,” offered first to event attendees, collector club members, and then the general public.
McLean said she is hopeful the Azaleas will be in full Bloom — for all who attend.”
Immigrant rights advocates rally near the State Capitol May 1. 2024 in opposition to HB 1105 which requires law enforcement to check inmates’ citizenship status. (Amanda Andrews / GPB News)
Advocates for immigrant rights across the state are organizing a third day of action in response to Governor Brian Kemp signing a new law requiring law enforcement to check inmates’ citizenship status.
House Bill 1105 requires law enforcement to enter what ‘s called a 287(g) agreement with U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement. Under the new law which Gov. Brian Kemp signed, officers who don’t check immigration status could face misdemeanor charges and uncooperative cities could lose state funding.
Georgia immigrants’ rights organizations are wrapping up three days of action, the first of which took place at Legacy Park near the Georgia Capitol.
A group of about 70 people gathered to speak against the HB 1105 and urge Gov. Kemp not to sign it.
Meanwhile, Kemp went to the Georgia Public Safety Training Center in Forsyth to sign a group of nine bills relating to law enforcement. He said HB 1105 will make Georgia stronger.
“This bill, the Georgia Criminal Alien Track and Report Act, became one of our top priorities, as the speaker mentioned, following the senseless death of Laken Riley at the hands of someone in this country illegally who had already been arrested,” he said.
Jose Ibarra, a citizen of Venezuela, was arrested in connection with the murder of Laken Riley in March.
Research from Stanford University shows that overall, immigrants are 60% less likely to be incarcerated than people born in the U.S.
Eduardo Delgado works with the nonprofit Migrant Equity Southeast. He said during the rally near the state capitol Wednesday that this bill is retaliatory and discriminatory.
“This kind of entrapment is made to cause panic throughout immigrant households,” Delgado said. “Because of that, advocates like ourselves must change the narrative and rally our communities behind opposing this bill for what it is: xenophobic, radical legislation.”
Advocates with the Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights also led a march to the Governor’s mansion on Tuesday. GLAHR Political Associate Jennifer Lopez said the immigrant community in Georgia matters and they have rights.
“Without them, Georgia would have no farmers, caretakers, lawyers, architects, doctors,” Lopez said. The list goes on and on and on. Immigrants drive this Peach State. Immigrants get this job done.”
GLAHR’s final event for the days of action will be conducting public outreach in locations around Atlanta, Savannah, Dalton and Athens.
This article comes to Now Habersham in partnership with GPB News
Hall Area Transit (HAT) launched the Gainesville Trolley service in 2022. (City of Gainesville/Facebook)
After a successful second season, the city of Gainesville has announced the return of the Gainesville Trolleys for the summer of 2024. The service will run from May 4 to Sept. 7, and will connect two routes – Dixon and Glenwood/Riverside neighborhoods.
The trolleys will operate from 5:30 to 10:30 pm Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. The first pick-up will take place at 5:30 pm in front of Kilwins located at 106 Spring St. SE in the Gainesville Renaissance development. The last pick-up will occur at 10:30 pm at the same location.
The trolleys transported nearly 19,000 passengers in 2023. That’s a near 100% increase over its launch year, according to Gainesville-Hall County Community Service Center Director Phillippa Lewis Moss, who oversees Hall Area Transit.
Soon after the trolleys hit the road this year, Moss said the city will share details surrounding additional routes for spring/summer 2024. ”We are looking forward to continuing this successful offering and connecting even more people to the city’s thriving and vibrant downtown, which has become a popular destination for many in North Georgia,” Moss said.
For information on Gainesville Trolley schedules, fares, and route maps visit the City of Gainesville website or contact Hall Area Transit (HAT) at 770-503-3333.
FILE PHOTO - The Alto Spring Festival and Parade will be held on Saturday, May 4, 2024, from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. in downtown Alto. (NowHabersham.com)
The threat of bad weather has forced the town of Alto to move its annual spring festival to this summer.
The 18th annual Alto Spring Fling Festival and Parade will now be held on Saturday, June 1, according to town officials. The event was to be held this Saturday, May 4, but waves of rain are expected to roll through Northeast Georgia beginning on Friday.
The forecast calls for showers Friday night and Saturday with a line of storms expected to develop and push across the region. There is a chance that some of these storms could be severe with damaging winds being the main threat.
Since the festival has been postponed, Alto is still accepting applications from vendors and those who would like to participate in the parade. Forms may be downloaded from the town’s website.
The Sautee Nacoochee Center is located at 283 Highway 255 North in Sautee near Helen, Georgia. (Sautee Nacoochee Center photo)
The Sautee Nacoochee Center has adopted a “brand” new identity. At its annual board meeting in April, the Center unveiled a new logo and tagline. It’s part of a rebranding effort to draw more visitors and encourage them to learn about the area.
Needed a refresh
Board member Cindy Grace worked on the project with the Center’s marketing committee for more than a year. She describes when she realized the brand needed a refresh.
“I was going to download the Center’s logo to use in some decorations for an event, and I realized that the Center was using several different logos interchangeably. After 40 years in advertising, I immediately knew that this breaks the cardinal rule of good branding,” says Grace.
Grace’s friend, Dr. Jennifer Griffith, teaches the combined public relations and advertising campaigns class at UGA’s Grady College of Journalism. Griffith agreed to take on the Center as a client for the winter semester in 2023.
The students did extensive research and identified several issues. They found the Sautee Nacoochee Center was not well recognized outside of White County despite being the only organization of its kind in Northeast Georgia. They also discovered that the Center used various names in its communications, which was confusing. Finally, the students concluded that the Nacoochee Valley Indian Mound, which had been central to the Center’s logo since its founding in the 1980s, was being mistaken for Hardman Farm State Historic Site.
The Center’s marketing committee set out to change these perceptions.
New logo
Nationally recognized designer Tom Sapp created the Sautee Nacoochee Center’s new logo.
One of the biggest issues the committee tackled was the logo redesign. They decided the Nacoochee Schoolhouse, which was built in 1928 and is unique to itself, best represents the Sautee Nacoochee Center. The new logo gives a nod to the Center’s original logo, designed by Sam Williams of Sautee.
“We are so lucky to have Tom Sapp design our new logo. Most people are familiar with his work if they’ve ever seen the Chick-fil-A logo or know Hairy Dawg, the University of Georgia’s mascot,” says Grace.
Since none of the various iterations of the Center’s name indicated that it was regional, the committee determined that it would be known as the Sautee Nacoochee Center with the tagline “A Regional Cultural and Environmental Destination.”
The committee expects the consistent use of one name will make the Center more readily identifiable. Adding “regional” to the tagline shows that the Sautee Nacoochee Center is for everyone, not just residents of the Sautee Nacoochee Valley community.
‘Crackerjack marketing team’
“It is thrilling to see the hard work of our crackerjack marketing team come to fruition,” says Grace. “It is a new look for the Center that we feel is vibrant and more accurately reflects who we are and what we mean to our members and those who live in and visit the area.”
The Sautee Nacoochee Center will use the new branding in advertising, emails, the website, and signage. The organization hopes it will generate new business and help preserve the area’s history and culture for future generations.
TFC Head Cross Country Coach Tanner Wold (Toccoa Falls College)
Cross Country returns to Toccoa Falls College this fall, and Tanner Wold has been hired as head coach for both the men’s and women’s teams.
Tanner first came to TFC in August of 2023 and currently serves as an Admissions Counselor.
“I can’t wait to take on a new challenge coaching cross country. I have always loved sports and am thrilled to get back into athletics here at TFC,” said Tanner.
The Cross Country program officially launches in the fall of 2024.
Georgia Public Service commissioners, from left, Fitz Johnson, Tim Echols, Tricia Pridemore, Lauren "Bubba" McDonald Jr., and Jason Shaw. (PSC livestream image May 2023)
The Georgia Public Service Commission is charged with ensuring that Georgians have access to safe, affordable, reliable electricity. They hold the key to our clean energy future, which is critical to our health and safety. Just five people regulate Georgia Power’s monopoly of electricity generation for most of the nation’s eighth-largest state.
In a time when the worldwide medical and scientific community is calling for rapidly eliminating the use of fossil fuels for electricity generation, Georgia Power and the PSC staff have agreed to new methane gas turbines and extended use of coal, which will emit dangerous air pollution associated with heart attacks and other heart disease, asthma and emphysema, and other lung diseases, dementia, strokes, cancer, and premature birth.
As pediatricians, we recognize that phasing out the burning of fossil fuels is critical to protecting the health of today’s children. We have spoken at several hearings in the last few years to educate PSC commissioners about the health effects of climate change and air pollution caused by burning fossil fuels like coal. During those hearings, we have heard many Georgians express their concerns about climate change. We’ve seen mothers tear up with worry about their kids’ future, citizens concerned about soaring electricity costs, and young people express unease about bringing children into this world because they are fearful about the future.
Despite the fact that the PSC‘s function is to ensure safe and reliable power for Georgians, and public hearings are an opportunity for them to hear from their constituents, these commissioners have openly and repeatedly responded during the public comment period by discrediting the very people they are sworn to protect. Citizens’ requests to require more renewable energy over fossil fuels have been met with deflection, disparaging comments, and disrespect. This is all a matter of public record.
Through their questions, commissioners insinuated that the constituents’ concerns were invalid and irrelevant when nothing could be further from the truth. Climate change is considered the greatest threat to human health, and youth especially will be forced to bear the health consequences over their lifetime in a warmer and more erratic climate. Youth deserve to be concerned and heard because decisions made today will affect their safety and health over their lifetime.
Already, the current generation is faced with a higher lifetime risk of extreme weather exposure from climate change. Survey data indicate that most Georgians are, in fact, concerned about a changing climate and think the governor and local officials should do more to address climate – 73% believe that carbon dioxide emissions should be regulated as a pollutant. PSC commissioners are supposed to be guarding the safety of the sources of electricity for the public interest. In fact, however, they openly minimize and dismiss constituents’ legitimate concerns, allowing Georgia Power to make record profits at the expense of all of our health.
For the safety of all Georgians, it is imperative that our Public Service commissioners heed the medical and scientific community in saying that fossil fuels are not safe for human health. They should include climate scientists and health experts on their staff to address one of their core missions, which is to ensure that Georgians have safe electricity sources.
A South Carolina man was critically injured in a wreck in Hart County.
According to the Georgia State Patrol, 38-year-old Jose Jesus Flores of Iva was driving a Harley Davidson north on GA 8/Anderson Highway. The motorcycle ran off the road near Rhodella Road east of Hartwell, overturning several times and striking a tree.
Flores was transported to AnMed Health Medical Center in Anderson with life-threatening injuries.
Troopers from Post 52 in Hartwell investigated the crash around 8:35 p.m. Wednesday, May 1. They say charges are pending.
Stephens County High School wins first place award at state FFA. (Stephens County High School)
The Stephens County Future Farmers of America (FFA) participated in multiple state-level competitions during the annual Georgia FFA Convention held April 24-27, 2024, in Macon, Georgia.
Parliamentary Procedure team
Amelia Housley State FFA winner for Stephens County High School. (Stephens County High School)
The Parliamentary Procedure team won first place. Two Stephens County High School (SCHS) Seniors, Amelia Housley and Teeghan Jameson won first-place honors for their proficiency projects.
These state winners earned the opportunity to compete at the National FFA Convention and Expo in October 2024 in Indianapolis, Indiana.
The Parliamentary Procedure contest is a six-man team consisting of one chairperson, and five debaters, including the secretary.
Once the contest starts, the team walks in, reads the prompt, and has one minute to prepare. In this prompt, the team is given a main motion topic to discuss and extra motions they must complete.
Teeghan Jameson State FFA winner for Stephens County High School. (Stephens County High School)
No one can be fully prepared because the topic is unknown until one minute before the debate begins.
Students work as a team to follow parliamentary procedures to conduct an official business meeting while handling business and entering mock debates, which must address and follow the criteria of the prompt.
This debate is then followed by oral questions to display the students’ knowledge of Robert’s Rules of Order, in addition to performing a team activity that is part of a test that dives into the knowledge about parliamentary procedure and different rules of order.
The Stephens County FFA Advisors and Agriculture Teachers are Josh Brown, Hannah Dinkins, Ethan Holton, and Madison Holton.
SCHS students on the Parliamentary Procedure team are Wyatt Hammons, Teeghan Jameson, Arwen Bratten, Emma Hornick, Kerragen Craig, and Emma Dean.
Emma Hornick State FFA winner for Stephens County High School. (Stephens County High School)
Proficiency project awards
Proficiency project awards are awarded to FFA members who have excelled in their Supervised Agricultural Experience (SAE) in their chosen interest in agriculture. Each year a student works to maintain the SAE project for a grade. Students who have exemplary projects maintain the same project for multiple years.
Amelia won first place in the Agricultural Communications Proficiency and was also awarded a $1,000 Georgia Ford Dealers Scholarship. In addition to being on the state-winning Parliamentary Procedure team, Teeghan Jameson earned first place in the Environmental and Natural Resource Proficiency.
Highest honorary degree at state level
Nine students from the Stephens County FFA earned the State FFA Degree. This is the highest honorary degree students can earn at the state level. It demonstrates the effort FFA members apply toward their supervised agricultural experience (SAE), outstanding leadership abilities, and community involvement through their FFA career.
The 2024 State FFA Degree recipients included Wyatt Hammons, Addison Canberg, Emma Hornick, Leah Bradshaw, Grace Ellis, Elijah Sweat, Carissa Smith, Anna Glaze, and Grant Ware.
Stephens County High School wins first at state in Parliamentary. (Stephens County High School/Facebook)
Emma Hornick was recognized during the Georgia FFA Convention for winning the Mr. Warren Wilkinson Memorial Washington Leadership Conference Scholarship presented by Mr. John K. Wilkinson. Hornick was selected to represent Stephens County in Washington, DC, this summer as part of this exclusive national leadership and service experience.
Superintendent Dr. Connie Franklin adds “Congratulations to the Stephens County FFA members and advisors on this exceptional showing at the state level. These students represented Stephens County well and are prepared for future leadership positions in all areas, not just agriculture. We are proud of them for their ongoing pursuit of academic success and leadership excellence.”
On Thursday, authorities arrested a third suspect in connection to a March shooting that left a three-year-old dead in Athens. Desmontrez Mathis, 18 years old, was arrested in Augusta, Georgia, by law enforcement with help from local law enforcement agencies, according to the Athens-Clarke County Police Department.
Authorities charged Mathis with two counts of murder, four counts of aggravated assault, and violation of the Georgia Street Gang Terrorism and Prevention Act. He also faces a federal charge for unlawful flight.
3-year-old Kyron Zarco was killed while watching TV with his brother inside the family’s mobile home in Athens on March 8, 2024. (GoFundMe photo)
A fourth suspect in the shooting, 18-year-old Dakious Echols, is still at large and police are asking for your help finding him. If you have any information about where he may be, you are asked to call Sergeant Black at 762-400-7058 or email [email protected].
The fatal shooting happened on March 8 at the Hallmark Mobile Home Park on Spring Valley Road in Athens. Kyron Zarco was killed, and his 9-year-old brother was injured when bullets flew into their home as they sat watching television.
Crime Stoppers is offering up to a $2,000 reward for information leading to additional arrests in this case. Anonymous tips may be made by calling the Crime Stoppers Tip Line at 706-705-4775.
Public Service commissioners ignore Georgians asking for safer, clean energy future
The Georgia Public Service Commission is charged with ensuring that Georgians have access to safe, affordable, reliable electricity. They hold the key to our clean energy future, which is critical to our health and safety. Just five people regulate Georgia Power’s monopoly of electricity generation for most of the nation’s eighth-largest state.
In a time when the worldwide medical and scientific community is calling for rapidly eliminating the use of fossil fuels for electricity generation, Georgia Power and the PSC staff have agreed to new methane gas turbines and extended use of coal, which will emit dangerous air pollution associated with heart attacks and other heart disease, asthma and emphysema, and other lung diseases, dementia, strokes, cancer, and premature birth.
As pediatricians, we recognize that phasing out the burning of fossil fuels is critical to protecting the health of today’s children. We have spoken at several hearings in the last few years to educate PSC commissioners about the health effects of climate change and air pollution caused by burning fossil fuels like coal. During those hearings, we have heard many Georgians express their concerns about climate change. We’ve seen mothers tear up with worry about their kids’ future, citizens concerned about soaring electricity costs, and young people express unease about bringing children into this world because they are fearful about the future.
Despite the fact that the PSC‘s function is to ensure safe and reliable power for Georgians, and public hearings are an opportunity for them to hear from their constituents, these commissioners have openly and repeatedly responded during the public comment period by discrediting the very people they are sworn to protect. Citizens’ requests to require more renewable energy over fossil fuels have been met with deflection, disparaging comments, and disrespect. This is all a matter of public record.
Through their questions, commissioners insinuated that the constituents’ concerns were invalid and irrelevant when nothing could be further from the truth. Climate change is considered the greatest threat to human health, and youth especially will be forced to bear the health consequences over their lifetime in a warmer and more erratic climate. Youth deserve to be concerned and heard because decisions made today will affect their safety and health over their lifetime.
Already, the current generation is faced with a higher lifetime risk of extreme weather exposure from climate change. Survey data indicate that most Georgians are, in fact, concerned about a changing climate and think the governor and local officials should do more to address climate – 73% believe that carbon dioxide emissions should be regulated as a pollutant. PSC commissioners are supposed to be guarding the safety of the sources of electricity for the public interest. In fact, however, they openly minimize and dismiss constituents’ legitimate concerns, allowing Georgia Power to make record profits at the expense of all of our health.
For the safety of all Georgians, it is imperative that our Public Service commissioners heed the medical and scientific community in saying that fossil fuels are not safe for human health. They should include climate scientists and health experts on their staff to address one of their core missions, which is to ensure that Georgians have safe electricity sources.