News from JacksonHeraldTODAY

Following Tuesday night’s Pendergrass City Council meeting, a quorum of council members left the Depot building and walked across the street to Mayor Monk Tolbert’s private real estate office. The move was an apparent attempt by the mayor and council members to hold a closed door meeting out of the public domain, which under Georgia law is ... [Full Story »] 

There’s not much hope for the redemption of the city government of Pendergrass. That much became clear Tuesday at the town’s city council meeting where the town’s mayor and elected officials faced a slew of angry citizens. For about 45 minutes, the good citizens of Pendergrass — around 85 people in attendance — confronted their ... [Full Story »] 

Refinancing its 2008 economic development bonds will be one part of the Jackson County Board of Commissioners’ efforts to address an anticipated $3.3 million shortfall in the 2010 budget. In a called meeting Monday, the BOC agreed to refinance the bonds through Merchant Capital. The action will save the county approximately $2.6 million. ... [Full Story »] 

Pendergrass Mayor Monk Tolbert said Tuesday night that the GBI probe into his town had ended. The probe was called by District Attorney Brad Smith late last week, but was reportedly limited in scope. Tolbert said at the town's council meeting that the GBI found no criminal action in either the city court or in how the city handled SPLOST funds. ... [Full Story »] 

For the first time since three whistleblowers in the City of Pendergrass came forward in late July, the Pendergrass City Council is slated to meet Tuesday night. The meeting will be held at 6:30 p.m. at the Depot. Some expect a large crowd to show up to complain about some of the allegations from the whistleblowers that the city had misused ... [Full Story »] 

A number of key records in Pendergrass City Hall are “missing,” town leaders claim. In addition, the city apparently didn’t pay any payroll taxes for a number of employees who worked as “contract labor,” nor did the city issue 10-99 tax forms to the employees. In responding to an open records request made by The Jackson Herald last ... [Full Story »]