Author: Charlie Bauder

The North American Aerospace Defense Command, or NORAD, is getting ready for Santa to arrive Thursday night. Starting at 12:01 a.m. Thursday, people can go to www.noradsanta.org and watch Santa make preparations for his flight and NORAD’s “Santa Cams” will stream videos on the website as Santa makes his way over various locations. Then starting at 6 a.m., trackers can […]

Toccoa Vice-Mayor Evan Hellenga will slide over into the mayor’s chair in 2016. Monday, Toccoa City Commissioners voted unanimously for Hellenga to take over as Mayor for the next 12 months starting on January 1. Toccoa’s commissioners traditionally rotate the mayor’s seat among themselves on a yearly basis. Hellenga replaces Terry Carter, who served as Mayor in 2015. He said […]

Stephens County Hospital Administrator Ed Gambrell attends his final Hospital Authority meeting as Administrator. The authority met Monday night and for Gambrell, it was the last meeting for him before his retirement at the end of the month. As the longest-tenured hospital administrator in Georgia, Gambrell has attended hundreds of authority meetings. He said it is amazing how time has […]

A building that has served as a downtown Toccoa landmark for generations receives national recognition. Toccoa’s Schaefer Center has officially been added to the National Register of Historic Places. City and state officials made the announcement in the last few days. The National Register of Historic Places is the country’s official list of historic buildings, structures, sites, objects, and districts […]

The Georgia Department of Transportation is trying to help clear a path for travelers on the state’s highways over the Christmas holiday. DOT Spokesperson Teri Pope said that all scheduled and ongoing construction-related lane closures on Georgia highways will be suspended from 5 a.m. Wednesday through 10 p.m. Sunday. “We want you to know that we will be out of […]

By MJ Kneiser, WLHR Radio, Lavonia A Franklin County school receives a special designation. Lavonia Elementary School has been chosen as a Title I Highest Progress Reward School based on its achievement scores in 2013-14. Title I schools are designated by the State as schools with higher than average poverty levels and are eligible for free, federally funded school breakfasts […]

Toccoa City Commissioners will wrap up their year with one final scheduled meeting later today. The city commission is set to meet at 5 p.m. at Toccoa City Hall. City commissioners moved this meeting up one week to make it prior to the Christmas holiday. Only a few scheduled items are on the commission’s agenda for tonight. First, Senior Judge […]

As the holiday travel season picks up over the coming days, law enforcement is preparing for a busy couple of weeks. With that in mind, the Georgia Governor’s Office of Highway Safety has started its “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over” campaign in conjunction with the national effort. It started last Wednesday and continues through the start of 2016. Governor’s […]

People looking for employment can take advantage of a mobile unit coming to Toccoa today. The Georgia Mountains Regional Commission Workforce Development Mobile Career Coach unit will be at the Toccoa-Stephens County Library from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The Toccoa-Stephens County Library is located on West Savannah Street in Toccoa. This is a mobile unit that is an extension […]