Entries by Mike Buffington

Power has been restored to most areas of Jackson County officials of Jackson EMC said Wednesday morning with only 354 customers in the area still without electricity.

In Madison County, some 4,386 JEMC customers remain without power Wednesday morning, down from 8,000 Tuesday afternoon. Madison County was hit hard by Sunday's snow storm and school was again canceled Wednesday.

According to JEMC, 30 work crews are in Madison County Wednesday. Some 70 broken power poles were rreported in the county with 17 remaining to be fixed. Mud has been a major problem in restoring power, officials said, as trucks get bogged down and have to be pulled out of the mire.

Most of the feeder lines have been restored in Madison County, JEMC officials said Wednesday morning and work in both Madison and Jackson is now focused on restoring power to individual homes.

A mistrial was declared Thursday in the trial of former Arcade Mayor Joe Sikes after a jury deliberated for approximately 10 hours. Sikes was on trial on charges that he made terroristic threats against Arcade officials in 2005. After the hearing, prosecutor Ashley Wright of Augusta said she would retry the case. Presiding Judge John Ott of the ... [Full Story »] 

A student from East Jackson Comprehensive High School was killed and two other people, including another teen, were injured Tuesday afternoon when a truck hit a car broadside on Hwy. 129 in the South Jackson community of Redstone.

The wreck happened at the intersection of Hwy. 129 and New Kings Bridge Road around 4:20 p.m. The driver of the car — Kason Dubose, 17, Commerce — was pronounced dead at the scene.

The second teen — Brandon Garrett, 17 — and the driver of the truck — Kenneth Owens, 45, Comer — were transported to Athens Regional Medical Center. Garrett was said to be in "critical" condition while the truck driver had non-life threatening injuries.

Units from South Jackson Fire and Rescue, Jackson County EMS and the Jackson County Sheriff's Office responded to the scene. Hwy. 129 was closed on the southbound side for around 30 minutes.

BRASELTON WRECK
Also Tuesday afternoon, a Winder woman who taught school in Hall County was killed in a wreck on New Cut Road in Braselton.

The Georgia State Patrol said Maria Cabel, 54, was driving along New Cut Road when she crossed the centerline and tried over-correcting her Toyota Corolla.

Cabel later crossed over Hwy. 53 and drove into a ditch, where her vehicle was overturned, according to the state patrol.

Cabel was ejected from the passenger side window, troopers said. Reports from the scene said the vehicle landed on the driver and she was pulled from underneath by bystanders.

Cabel was taken by helicopter to Grady Memorial Hospital.

Hwy. 53 was closed temporarily during the accident.

The State Fire Marshall’s Office is investigating a fire that destroyed a home early Monday morning in Maysville. The double-wide mobile home owned by Tony Smith was totally destroyed in the blaze.

Smith was out of town at the time of the fire and no injuries were reported.

Units from the Maysville, Commerce and Jackson County Correctional Institute fire departments responded to the call at 844 West Freeman Street around 6:30 a.m.
Jackson County Emergency Services Director Steve Nichols said the house was fully involved when firefighters arrived on the scene.

Several of Smith’s neighbors reported hearing explosions at the time of the Monday morning blaze.

Smith and his home were in the news in August 2008 after he caught a man in the act of burglarizing his home. After three consecutive burglaries at his home, Smith was waiting for the burglar, who he “knew” was a neighbor.

James Welch, 28, West Freeman Street, allegedly jimmied the front door of Smith’s residence with a plastic card, entered the house where Smith confronted him with a pistol. Welch lives two doors down from Smith. Smith held Welch at gunpoint until police arrived.

The City of Winder government reorganized its government and laid-off 30 full-time employees Wednesday due to a financial condition that has “significantly worsened.” A press release issued Wednesday afternoon did not list the names or titles of the affected employees. However, the cuts apparently affect some supervisors, utility workers, ... [Full Story »] 

Milk and muffins in the classroom every morning? That’s a possibility under one proposal being considered by the Jackson County School System for the 2009-2010 school year. The district is looking at ways to revamp its transportation system — and one of its goals during the process is to find a way to add more instructional time to the ... [Full Story »] 

A rollover wreck of a large SUV at the Jefferson exit on I-85 closed the southbound lanes of the interstate around 1 p.m. Tuesday.

Leila Carson, 28, Stone Mountain, and Deon Miller, 25, Stone Mountain, were both ejected from the vehicle and died from their injuries.

The wreck happened just north of Exit 137 in the southbound lanes. The vehicle was headed south when the driver lost control and the vehicle overturned. Traffic was being rerouted up the exit ramp at the interchange and back onto I-85 on the other side.

The Kenny Lumpkin family of Winder are in Washington D.C. for Tuesday's Inauguration of Barack Obama as the nation's 44th president. For story, click here.

In an attempt to curb losses that have already hit $1 million halfway through this fiscal year, BJC Medical Center is laying off approximately 45 employees.

For full story, click here.