Jefferson County Emergency Management Director Lamar Baxley reported that while there were several wrecks in the county because of frozen roadways, there were no serious injuries.

“Everybody did good,” Baxley said. “We were ready and prepared. Everybody worked together real well including the road department, sheriff’s office, fire departments and EMS.”

Baxley reported that Jefferson County’s Road Department did put dirt on bridges and continually checked the county’s roadways throughout the winter storm Friday.

“We hauled a few people back and forth to work,” Baxley added. “We stayed on standby. We were prepared for the worst, but hoped for the best.”

As the snow began to fall, drivers began to slide.

“Starting out, there were about four or five little wrecks, but nothing major. After that it just sort of tapered off.”

Baxley said the next time the area gets a sprinkle of snow, citizens should stay home.

“They need to stay off the roads and stay home until it clears up,” Baxley said. “We know a lot of people want to go out and see the snow, but if they go out, use caution. Only get on the road if you have to.”

The Jefferson County School System followed suit with many area schools by closing its doors Friday for a snow day because of safety concerns in transporting the children to and from school. Glascock County students were on winter break at the time.

Some areas reported seeing snow in Jefferson County as early as 1:30 p.m. to 2 p.m., while Glascock County Sheriff Dean Couch said the snowfall began in their area around 3:30 p.m.

“We probably had about five to six inches of nothing but pure snow,” Couch said of the white flakes flying across Glascock County.

He also said there were no reported wrecks.

“Our road department salted the roads and bridges in the bad spots,” he said. “We had a couple of spots that were kind of icy, but there were no complications from it.”

Couch said some roadways were obstructed by falling trees, but the county’s road department cleared the roads in a timely manner.

“We did have to transport some people to and from the nursing home that could not get home, but it was no problem at all.”

One of the area’s power providers reported some outages in both counties. Jefferson Energy said in a press release Saturday night, 150 customers were affected by the snow and ice.

“Line crews are currently working to restore power to the affected areas,” the report stated Saturday. “Additional crews will be called as needed. Customer service personnel are presently working to handle the influx of additional calls.”

The report from Jefferson Energy stated that the heavy accumulation of ice and snow resulted in the falling of trees and breaking of tree limbs onto the power lines that caused the loss of power throughout their service territory.

Man shot in Wrens Quarters

By Carol McLeod
Staff Writer

Two men were arguing in Louisville Monday, Feb. 8, when one shot the other, an investigator with the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office said this week.

The men were identified as Stan Walker of Augusta and Floyd James Myers Jr., 22, of Louisville.

Walker arrived at Jefferson Hospital by private vehicle and was airlifted from there to a hospital in Augusta, said Carl Wagster, the county’s EMS director.

Myers shot the victim three times. At least one bullet lodged in the victim’s chest cavity, the investigator said.

“He’s in critical condition. We don’t know how it will end,” he said.

The investigator said the gun, a .380-caliber semi-automatic, was recovered the following day, Tuesday, Feb. 9.

JCSO arrested Myers Feb. 8 about 1:55 a.m.

He was charged with aggravated assault and possession of a firearm or knife while trying to commit crimes.

Wadley mayor orders officers, and police chief rehired

Carol McLeod
Staff Writer

In a called meeting held Friday, Feb. 12, Wadley city council met to set a pouring license fee and rehire the city’s police officers.

Wadley voters passed a referendum in November 2009 allowing the city to issue pouring licenses.

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Sallie Adams, the city’s clerk, told the council Sandersville charges $2,200, Emanuel County charges $2,300 and Midville charges $2,500. The cap is set at $5,000, she said.

Councilman Albert Samples made a motion to set the fee at $1,500.

Councilman Izell Mack seconded the motion.

“I think that’s too low,” said Councilwoman Edie Pundt.

“Those are cities of our size,” said Mayor Herman Baker.

“No, sir,” Mack said. “They are bigger than us.”

Councilwoman Dorothy Strowbridge abstained from voting on this issue.

“This is just the pouring license?” asked Councilman John Maye. The mayor said it was.

Maye also abstained.

Samples and Mack voted to pass the motion. Pundt voted against the motion.

As of press time Tuesday, it was unclear if the motion passed or if the two abstentions count as no votes, which would cause the motion to fail.

The second issue before the council was the rehiring of the city’s police officers.

Wadley formally rehires all city workers at the beginning of each year.

In its meeting in January, Samples made a motion, which passed, to rehire all city employees except the police department, deferring that until the council could meet with the officers.

During the called meeting last week, Samples said he made the motion in January only to defer rehiring the police officers.

“I had no intention of not rehiring nobody,” Samples said.

“I make a motion that we hire the police officers and the chief,” Pundt said.

Pundt and Maye voted for the motion; while, Samples, Strowbridge and Mack voted against the motion.

“By executive order, the police are rehired,” Baker said and ended the meeting.

As mayor, Baker has the authority to hire and fire city personnel subject to council approval.

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