Author: Charlie Bauder

Law Enforcement officials are still seeking information to identify the killer of a Franklin County businessman, as the three-year anniversary of his death approaches. Keith Ratliff, manager and co-owner of FPS Industries, Global, LLC, was found dead at his business in Carnesville, GA on January 3, 2013. Ratliff was discovered by an employee of the business in the early evening […]

Thanksgiving, for many, means cooking that big family meal. With that in mind, the National Fire Protection Association is offering some cooking safety tips for the holiday. The National Fire Protection Association says that Thanksgiving is the peak day for home cooking fires, noting that in 2013, there were 1,550 home cooking fires on Thanksgiving Day, 230 percent above the […]

North Georgia Technical College photography students were top winners at the Georgia Professional Photographers Association state convention in September held at Jekyll Island. Students Jordan Thomas received the Student Photographer of the Year Award and Frank Zayas earned second place in landscape. Meanwhile, North Georgia Technical College Professional Lab Assistant Georgia Zumwalt won first place in commercial and portrait of a woman; the Dick Dickerson Award for […]

Stephens County will contribute additional funding to the Mountain Judicial Circuit Public Defender’s office to add a new attorney’s position. On Tuesday, Stephens County Commissioners voted unanimously to provide the funding for the position starting in January. Chief Public Defender Drew Powell appeared before Stephens County Commissioners to make the request on Tuesday. He said that if his office does […]

A Stephens County woman is charged in connection with an alleged burglary in Martin this week. Stephens County Sheriff Randy Shirley said it started when deputies were summoned to a coin laundry on North Red Hollow Road in Martin in reference to a burglary in progress at about 11:20 p.m. on Monday. “Dispatch gave out a description of the suspect’s […]

Authorities are announcing a pair of drug arrests. According to the Stephens County Sheriff’s Office, the first arrest stemmed from the search for a fugitive earlier this month. Stephens County Sheriff Randy Shirley said that his office had been looking for 23-year-old William Brandon Vinson of Christine Circle in Toccoa for several weeks. Shirley said Vinson faced charges of hit […]

Stephens County Sheriff Randy Shirley said another person faces charges and his office has recovered additional stolen property in connection to an alleged residential burglary. In October, investigators with the Stephens County Sheriff’s Office arrested 42-year-old James Richard Gibson of Martinez, Georgia and charged him with a burglary on Shangri-La Drive. Initially, authorities recovered several thousand dollars of items that […]

Local governments are announcing their schedules for the Thanksgiving holiday this week. Both Toccoa City Hall and Stephens County government offices will close both Thursday and Friday in observance of the Thanksgiving holiday. In the city of Toccoa, routes for garbage and recycling scheduled to be picked up on Thursday, November 26 will be picked up on Monday, November 30 […]

Stephens County officials said they are still waiting to finalize a new County Registrar. According to officials, two finalists were interviewed in recent days by Mountain Judicial Circuit Superior Court Judge Rusty Smith, who will make the official appointment. Now, officials said it is a matter of finalizing an offer with the person that is offered the position. Stephens County […]

Liberty Elementary School art teacher Timothy Mitchell is this year’s Stephens County School System Teacher of the Year. The announcement came last week. Each year, the Stephens County School System selects its Teacher of the Year from a group of individuals named the Teacher of the Year at each Stephens County school. Besides Mitchell, who was also named the Liberty […]