Category: News

At Tuesday’s Stephens County Commission meeting commissioners were expecting to adopt a new tower ordinance, but after hearing from citizens Brian Dooley, and John Smith concerning the language used in the proposed ordinance, commissioners decided to revisit the language used in the ordinance and table a decision until their September meeting. Other actions taken during Tuesday’s meeting included: Approval of […]

A convicted sex offender from Stephens County has been arrested in North Carolina. Anthony Mike Lewallen was arrested last week in Fayetteville, North Carolina for failure to register as a sex offender. Stephens County Sheriff Randy Shirley tells WNEG news how the arrest was made. “July 30th my office received an anonymous tip through OFFENDER WATCH, a newly acquired program […]

Stephens County students return to school tomorrow (Friday) and the Stephens County Sheriff’s Office wants to remind motorists to slow down and remember basic safety tips when heading to and from school. Stephens County Sheriff Randy Shirley reminds drivers to drive defensively and be focused and aware. “Be on alert and expect the unexpected.” Says Shirley; “We want you to […]

It’s hard to believe that only ten years ago North Georgia Technical College opened the doors to a brand new, state-of-the-art branch campus in Stephens County.  Known as the Currahee Campus, the facility is located on a 50-acre site in the Hayestone-Brady Industrial Park on Highway 17 between Toccoa and Lavonia. In honor of this special milestone, North Georgia Technical […]

Toccoa’s City Commission keeps the millage rate the same for 2015. At Monday night’s Toccoa City Commission meeting commissioners approved the proposal to keep the millage rate the same as the last three years at a rate of 6 mills. Toccoa City Manager Billy Morse explains; “Taylor Business Systems, the software provider for property taxes, has scheduled our taxes to […]

The City of Toccoa and Toccoa City Commissioners celebrated a high ISO (International Organization for Standardization) rating at their meeting on Monday evening. Toccoa City Manager Billy Morse announced the accomplishment. “Very little is accomplished in life without good teamwork and I think that we have had that in our community in many ways.” Morse Said; “In this case the […]

At Tuesday’s Stephens County Commission Meeting Commission Chair Dennis Bell awarded plaques to fireman Michael Kloss, and Stephens County Sheriff’s Deputies Connie Morris, and Bruce Cleveland, for service above the call of duty. The three played huge roles in the saving of lives of a mother and baby that were trapped in a car on fire after an accident on […]

The Stephens County Board of Commissioners approved a motion to implement a single stream recycling program at all of the county’s convenience sites at their meeting on Tuesday morning. The plan is to hopefully begin by the end of this month collecting recyclables and then transferring all to Athens Recycling. Stephens County Commissioner Dean Scarborough says this new set-up should […]

The new school year in Stephens County begins this Friday. One of the concerns for administrators in the Stephens County School System is traffic congestion on the first day. Stephens County School Superintendent Bryan Dorsey says even though it is the first day of school, parents are urged to start their routine right off the bat. “Obviously that first day, […]

The Stephens County Sheriff’s Office has recovered a stolen vehicle taken from Oconee County, South Carolina. Last Thursday, August 6TH, at 10:50 P.M. while on routine patrol, Sheriff’s Deputies observed a Grey 1985 Dodge Truck driving erratically and crossing both centerlines on Highway 123 East toward South Carolina. Deputies attempted to pull over the vehicle. According to reports, the vehicle […]