Author: Charlie Bauder

School districts in Georgia will get flexibility to decide whether or not to make up school days from when they were closed due to inclement weather in recent weeks. The State Board of Education passed the resolution Thursday. Under the resolution, local school boards are now authorized to depart from the strict interpretation of the terms “school year” and “school […]

The Toccoa-Stephens County Chamber of Commerce held a ribbon cutting ceremony Thursday for Stephens County Hospital’s new Wound Care Center on Falls Road in Toccoa. Hospital Administrator Ed Gambrell said the wound care center will specialize in treating chronic wounds that some patients have. He said such chronic wounds can result from a number of different conditions or situations. Such […]

The civil trial over the 2009 shooting death of Lavonia pastor the Rev. Jonathan Ayers in Toccoa is now in the hands of a jury. Closing statements took place Wednesday in front of a packed courtroom in U.S. District Court in Gainesville. During their closing, attorneys for the Rev. Ayers’ widow, Abigail Ayers, called this a case of a wrongful […]

A Habersham County man will challenge incumbent Dan Gasaway for the 28th District seat in the State House representing Stephens County. Stacy Hall made his candidacy official at a campaign kick-off event in StephensCounty on Tuesday. Hall is currently the Athletics Director at Truett-McConnell College.  He has also worked in sports marketing for a number of universities, as well as […]

The FDIC is suing former leaders of a one-time area bank. In a suit filed February 14 in U.S. District Court in Atlanta, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation filed a civil lawsuit against eight former executives and officers at Habersham Bank. Those eight former bank officers are David D. Stovall, Edward D. Ariail, Bonnie C. Bowling, Michael C. Martin, Michael […]

An area bank is getting a name change. South Carolina Bank and Trust announced earlier this week that its name will be changing to South State Bank. In Stephens County, South Carolina Bank and Trust operates as Community Bank and Trust. Community Bank and Trust, along with four other bank brands in three states, will all switch to the name […]

By MJ Kneiser, WLHR Radio, Lavonia A Canon man and a Habersham County woman both face charges in Franklin County after leading deputies there on a high-speed chase. Franklin County Sheriff Stevie Thomas said it happened Tuesday morning in the Sandy Cross community. ” Franklin County Sheriff’s deputies were patrolling the  highways in the Sandy Cross Community when they attempted […]

Closing statements are expected to take place this morning in the civil trial in connection to the 2009 shooting death of Lavonia pastor the Rev. Jonathan Ayers. Testimony concluded Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Gainesville in the trial of the wrongful death lawsuit filed by the Rev. Ayers’ widow, Abigail Ayers. Tuesday morning, former Mountain Judicial Circuit N.C.I.S. Drug […]

Progress continues on the search to fill two prominent positions in the Stephens County School System. Updates were provided on both the search for a new School Superintendent and a new Head Football Coach for Stephens County High School on Tuesday. During Tuesday’s Stephens County Board of Education meeting, School Superintendent Sherrie Whiten updated the school board on the football […]