Category: News

A storm this afternoon in Stephens County causes some damage in areas. The storm moved through during the noon hour. Stephens County Sheriff Randy Shirley said that extremely high winds led to many fallen trees in the eastern side of Stephens County. That includes the Shorewood area along Lake Hartwell and South Red Rock Road. Shirley said at one Shorewood […]

July 1 means a host of new laws take effect. Among the most prominent is a change in the state of Georgia’s gasoline tax. Earlier this year, the Georgia General Assembly passed the Transportation Funding Act of 2015, which goes into effect today. The measure will convert the current sales tax on gasoline to an excise tax, which would amount […]

By MJ Kneiser, WLHR Radio, Lavonia With a new law going into effect today in Georgia that legalizes the sale of fireworks, one northeast Georgia county is going to look at regulations that take the new state law into effect. Hart County Commissioner Ricky Carter said that Hart County needs to begin looking at how to best regulate the use […]

Former Toccoa Finance Director Vickie Neikirk has resigned from her position in Hall County. Accessnorthga.com is reporting that Neikirk stepped down as Hall County Finance Director earlier this week. No details regarding the decision were offered, according to the report. Neikirk served as the Finance Director for the city of Toccoa from May 2010 to October 2011, when Hall County […]

The American Red Cross is issuing a call for blood donations to make up for an expected shortfall due to the Fourth of July holiday. A Red Cross survey shows that more than 40 percent of Red Cross blood and platelet donors plan to travel around July 4th, meaning they may be unavailable to give. Also, the Red Cross says […]

By MJ Kneiser, WLHR Radio, Lavonia The Food Bank of Northeast Georgia in Athens is spearheading a new program that would allow some backyard gardeners and family farms to earn some extra income by selling their produce and products to retailers. Food Bank President and CEO John Becker said the program, called the Food Hub, is now out of the […]

The Stephens County Commission declares the old Stephens County Jail as surplus property. County commissioners unanimously passed a motion officially doing that at their meeting last Tuesday. Stephens County Administrator Phyllis Ayers said the motion also authorizes staff to sell scrap from the demolition of the old jail on Scenic Drive and place the money from those sales in the […]

North Georgia Technical College sees a change on its board of directors. At the June Board of Directors meeting, Mark Rasmussen completed his three-year service and was recognized for his contributions. Ron Barden will be stepping up to represent Rabun County on the Board beginning in July. He began board certification training in May and spent some time in a […]

Stephens County Sheriff Randy Shirley is warning area residents of a new possible ploy being used by criminals around people’s homes. Shirley said he received the first report of it recently in this area from a resident. He said it tends to happen during the late night or early morning hours. According to the sheriff, the woman who reported this […]

Main Street Toccoa is once again offering a Summer Drama Camp for area children next month. This year’s Summer Drama Camp is coming up during the week of July 27 through July 31 at the Schaefer Center in downtown Toccoa. It is for children in the first grade through fifth grade. Times are from 9 a.m. to 12 noon each […]