Author: MJ Kneiser

A judge has set Monday, January 28 as the date to take up a second lawsuit filed by Dan Gasaway, this time contesting the results of the December 4th Special Primary. Last May, Gasaway lost to Republican businessman Chris Erwin by 65 votes and in June he filed a lawsuit claiming some voters in Habersham County had been given the […]

Newly elected State House Representative for District 28 Chris Erwin will join State Senator John Wilkinson for a pre-legislative coffee in Toccoa this week. Both Wilkinson and Erwin will discuss some of the larger issues facing the Georgia General Assembly when the session opens January 14. In addition to adopting a new budget for fiscal 2020, law makers will hear […]

Stephens County Sheriff Randy Shirley is thanking members of the community who offered their support to emergency and law enforcement personnel Monday and Tuesday as they searched for the driver of a pick up that plunged into Lake Hartwell. “It really makes you feel good to live in a community like Stephens County,” he said Wednesday. “They rally around you. […]

2019 is bringing with it some new and amended laws that went into effect on January 1st. Locally, the Town of Martin has changes in its charter that are now law. House Bill 1011, which was sponsored by State Representatives Dan Gasaway and Alan Powell and passed in both the House and Senate on May 8th changes the provisions related […]

A Toccoa resident has been appointed to serve on a State board. Bruce Carlisle is the Chief of Police in Lavonia, but lives here in Toccoa. According to a report in the Franklin County Citizen, Carlisle was recently appointed by Governor Nathan Deal to the State’s Board of Public Safety. Working under the Georgia Department of Public Safety, the Board […]

Lake Hartwell is beginning the new year almost two feet above full pool and some five feet over the winter draw down level of 656 ft above mean sea level. All the rain we’ve had the past two months has Corps of Engineers water managers scrambling to keep the lake from overflowing its reserve. Savannah District Corps Spokesman Jeremy Buddemeier […]

Authorities have released the name of the driver of a pick-up truck that drove off the  Broken Bridges in Stephens County and plunged into Lake Hartwell on New Year’s Eve. Tuesday evening, Stephens County Sheriff Randy Shirley identified the driver as 49-year old William Norton of Royston. Shirley said Norton was often seen at Stephens County park. “A retired deputy […]

As we continue our look back at the local events of 2018, the level of violent crime seemed to rise in Toccoa- Stephens County this year with what autorities believe were gang and drug-related shootings. One of those shootings resulted in a death. In February, two suspects allegedly involved in an early morning shooting in January were arrested by Toccoa […]

If you missed them the first time they were here, you will want to make your plans to see the Malpas Brothers this Friday night. The North Carolina-based duo will be in concert at the Ritz Theatre as part of the Night at the Ritz series. Christopher and Taylor Malpass have toured with the late Don Helms, former steel guitarist […]

New Year’s Eve is a time when many in our area will welcome 2019 with fireworks. While it is now legal to set off fireworks in Georgia, there are some restrictions. Georgia law allows fireworks to be set off until 1a New Year’s Day. But the law also allows local municipalities to set their own guidelines under their noise or nuisance […]