News

Chuck Wooley, center, and the staff of the Planning & Zoning department were awarded for by the Georgia Soil and Water Conservation Commission. CONTRIBUTED

Chuck Wooley, center, and the staff of the Planning & Zoning department were awarded for by the Georgia Soil and Water Conservation Commission. CONTRIBUTED

Greene County receives two top association recognitions

Two of Greene County’s key services – emergency medical and planning and zoning – were the recipients of special organization awards recognizing their contributions to their fields of community service.
Danny Rodriguez Rivera, 37, of Lena Lane, Eatonton, was arrested on April 8 and charged with one count of making false statements (felony) – Greene County, one count of making false statements (felony) – Putnam County, and one count of driving without a license (misdemeanor), according to jail reports.

Danny Rodriguez Rivera, 37, of Lena Lane, Eatonton, was arrested on April 8 and charged with one count of making false statements (felony) – Greene County, one count of making false statements (felony) – Putnam County, and one count of driving without a license (misdemeanor), according to jail reports.

Man arrested in connection with shooting on Highway 44

An arrest has been made in connection with an early February shooting in Putnam County, but no one has been charged for the shooting itself, Putnam County Sheriff Howard R. Sills said. The victim, 67-year-old Ralph Rella, was a night manager at the Ritz-Carlton, Reynolds Lake Oconee.
Bulldogs Battling Breast Cancer raises $250,000

Bulldogs Battling Breast Cancer raises $250,000

Bulldogs Battling Breast Cancer raises $250,000

Bulldogs Battling Breast Cancer (BBBC) and their partners at St. Mary’s Health Care System came together on Feb. 21 at Chops and Hops in Watkinsville to celebrate BBBC’s donation of $250,000 to St. Mary’s breast health services, the most the 20-year-old BBBC has ever raised in a single year.
PGH Radiology Director Tina Cooper stands at the controls of a nuclear camera that can detect bone cancers, heart disease and gallbladder problems, among many other internal conditions.

PGH Radiology Director Tina Cooper stands at the controls of a nuclear camera that can detect bone cancers, heart disease and gallbladder problems, among many other internal conditions.

PGH offers high-tech healthcare in Eatonton

When Tom Thompson arrived back home in Putnam County, barely out of his teens after being drafted and serving overseas during World War I, he returned to what once was a small but profitable family cotton farm reduced to a shell of its former self by the boll weevil infestation.
Ronda Rich/Columnist

Ronda Rich/Columnist

Rich: A Yankee saves a bit of The South

There are many compliments that I can give to my husband, Tink. Firstly, he is a devoted man of God. He rises early each morning to spend two hours in Bible study. Daddy would be proud of that. And that he reads the King James Bible, albeit the New King James.
Greene County Board of Education Chairman Perry Lee studies a financial report while attending the LOA Board of Governors meeting Monday night.

Greene County Board of Education Chairman Perry Lee studies a financial report while attending the LOA Board of Governors meeting Monday night.

LOA board approves charter renewal application

The Board of Governors of Lake Oconee Academy has approved a draft application for the renewal of LOA’s charter with the Greene County and Georgia Boards of Education. LOA’s current charter expires in June 2024. At Monday night’s LOA board meeting, CEO Dr.
Ricky Brown/CONTRIBUTED

Ricky Brown/CONTRIBUTED

Former Sheriff Ricky Brown dies

Former Greene County Sheriff Ricky Brown has passed away. Brown served as the Greene County Sheriff in the 1990s and ran again for the office in 2016. Brown most recently served as the Chief Deputy at the Hancock County Sheriff’s Office.
Carlton Lewis served as the police chief of Union Point from 1976 to 1986. CONTRIBUTED

Carlton Lewis served as the police chief of Union Point from 1976 to 1986. CONTRIBUTED

‘Policing Greene’

Nearly three decades ago, Tom Lewis sat down with his late father Carlton Lewis, a former policeman in rural Greene County, and recorded conversations with him about his job and old cases.
Lake Oconee News/File Photo

Lake Oconee News/File Photo

Second STR town hall meeting covers waterfront

The Putnam Board of Commissioners’ second town hall-type hearing to consider short-term rentals (STRs) on the county’s two large lakes drew a crowd Tuesday morning almost as large as the first a couple of weeks ago.