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Smith Communications Business Manager Cassandra Fowler is announced as the 2022 Employee of the Year by President and CEO A. Mark Smith Sr. IAN TOCHER/Staff

Smith Communications Business Manager Cassandra Fowler is announced as the 2022 Employee of the Year by President and CEO A. Mark Smith Sr. IAN TOCHER/Staff

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Fowler named employee of the year for Smith Communications

Ian Tocher
Thursday, April 20, 2023
Smith Communications, the parent company for The Eatonton Messenger, Lake Oconee News, The Baldwin Bulletin, and The Jones County News, held a company-wide business meeting on April 14, at Rock Eagle’s Founders’ Lodge, where Smith Communications Business Manager Cassandra Fowler received the...
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

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Greene County receives two top association recognitions

Maureen Stratton
Thursday, April 20, 2023
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.

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Man arrested in connection with shooting on Highway 44

Lynn Hobbs
Thursday, April 13, 2023
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

News Staff
Thursday, April 13, 2023
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.

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PGH offers high-tech healthcare in Eatonton

Ian Tocher
Thursday, April 13, 2023
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

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Rich: A Yankee saves a bit of The South

Ronda Rich
Thursday, April 13, 2023
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.

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LOA board approves charter renewal application

Mark Engel
Thursday, April 13, 2023
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

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Former Sheriff Ricky Brown dies

T. Michael Stone
Thursday, April 13, 2023
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’

Lance McCurley
Thursday, April 13, 2023
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

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Second STR town hall meeting covers waterfront

Rufus Adair
Thursday, April 6, 2023
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.
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