Category: News

Today is the final day to cast an early ballot for the Primary Run Off election in Stephens County. According to Stephens County Registrar Eureka Gober early voting will run today from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. at the Stephens County Historical Courthouse. Gober says anyone who plans to vote by absentee ballot must submit an application for one no […]

The suspect who fled on foot Wednesday after being chased into Stephens County from Habersham County has been apprehended. According to Stephens County Sheriff Randy Shirley, Calvin Martin White, 32, of Missouri, was apprehended Thursday morning. White is wanted in Missouri for four felony charges. He is also facing numerous traffic related charges in Habersham and Stephens Counties. The search […]

The Stephens County Sheriff’s Office made arrests in three separate incidents on July 30. According to Stephens County Sheriff Randy Shirley, the first arrest came after investigators initiated a traffic stop on a vehicle on Georgia Hwy 17. He says during the traffic stop investigators could smell the odor of marijuana coming from inside the vehicle which led to a […]

The Georgia Department of Community Health has released a Long-Term Care Facility COVID-19 report this week. The report shows COVID-19 cases in licensed nursing homes, assisted living communities and personal care homes of 25 beds or more based on data reported by the facilities to the Georgia Department of Public Health. In Stephens County, Pruitt Health, in Toccoa, has 133 […]

The Historic Ritz Theatre will hold its second installment of its Saturday Matinees this weekend in downtown Toccoa. According to Ritz Theatre General Manager Tami Mayhugh, throughout the month of August, the theatre will be screening films on Saturday mornings at 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. She says the films being played in August were originally scheduled for the first […]

The following message was sent to WNEG and local media from Stephens County Schools Superintendent Dr. Daniel Oldham: Big A Elementary School had eight staff members sent home from Covid-19 exposure. The start day for Pre-K and PREP will be postponed until August 17th. Kindergarten will be on its regularly scheduled start date of August 12th. The school has scheduled […]

The Georgia Department of Public Health is reporting another death in Stephens County, bringing its total to 11 fatalities and 579 cases of COVID-19. The Department of Public Health is reporting that Habersham County has 48 fatalities due to the virus and 1,089 positive cases of the virus. Locally, Stephens County Hospital and its facilities have tested 4,184 individuals for […]

The Stephens County Sheriff’s Office has made an arrest in a sexual offense case. According to Stephens County Sheriff Randy Shirley, on July 28, a parent contacted investigators advising that an adult male was contacting their daughter, who was under the age of 18, using a social media site. Shirley says in these communications it appeared to the parent and […]

By MJ Kneiser, WLHR After a year of petitions, protests and complaints to county leaders, the burning of creosote coated railroad ties to generate power is now illegal in Georgia. This afternoon, Governor Brian Kemp signed House Bill 857, which passed unanimously in the Senate in June. “We’re thrilled. We are over the moon,” said Madison Clean Power Coalition member […]

Stephens County Sheriff Randy Shirley tells WNEG News that the man hunt has been called off by the state. He says the K-9’s lost the track of the suspect. As WNEG News reported earlier, the Stephens County Sheriff’s office along with the Georgia State Patrol set up a perimeter to catch a suspect that had fled on foot near Davis […]