While the numbers of virtual learners in the Vidalia City School System continue to go down as students return to the classroom, the administration has approved a way to protect those in-home students as well as those in the classroom from computer interruptions. According to Ginger Morris,
...
Robert Toombs Christian Academy held it's School Level GISA Middle School Spelling Bee on Thursday, January 14, 2021. Seventh grader Autumn Moore, and eighth grader, Kylie Acosta, were the top two scorers and will advance to the Area GISA Middle School Spelling Bee. This will be a virtual event
...Three local school systems have released their updates as of Friday, January 22, for COVID-19 cases. Those results are:
VIDALIA CITY SCHOOLS: 3 students testing positive; 54 students in quarantine; 2 staff members positive; and 14 staff members in quarantine.
TOOMBS COUNTY SCHOOLS: 5 students
...
Last week consumed days one through four of the 40 day legislative session. This week, the legislature “recessed” to focus solely on the state budget. Most department and agency heads appeared before the joint House and Senate Appropriations Committees to speak for the dollars they currently
...
A large crowd was on hand for the Ribbing Cutting and Grand Opening celebration of four local businesses at 201 East First Street in Vidalia on Thursday afternoon by the Toombs-Montgomery Chamber of Commerce, the Paul Thigpen Automotive Group, and the Downtown Vidalia Association. The businesses included
...
Robert Toombs Christian Academy celebrated their 100th day of school on January 21, 2021. Kindergarten students celebrated the day by dressing up as old men and women and also made a poster with 100 items of their choice. First grade students arrived at school with their poster of 100 items as
...Vidalia Police Department reports the following arrests.
Thigpen, Jordan Ryan - W/M - 26 YOA - 323 Mossy Banks Rd Cobbtown Ga. DUI Less Safe Durgs / Fail to Maintain Lane/ Headlight Requirments
Simmons, Julius McNeal - B/M - 40 YOA - 519 Jenkins St Vidalia Ga Battery / Giving False Information /
...The Toombs county Commissioners did some “trash talking” at their first meeting of the new year – literally.
At the January meeting of the Toombs County Commissioners Tuesday night, Chairman David Sikes said the Commissioners’ Office had recently received a call from a Toombs County resident
...
The Vidalia High School Wrestling team secured a spot in the GHSA AA State Dual Championships as they swept Northeast Macon and Bremen on Friday at H. Ralph Parsons Gymnasium. With the win, the Indians qualified for the State Duals, which will be held on Saturday at Lamar County High School.
The
...January 25---Here are the latest sports schedules and scores for the week.
Monday, January 25
Basketball: Bacon County at Vidalia 6:00pm (WTCQ-FM, 97.7, Classic Hits, 98Q)
Dooly County at Treutlen 6:00pm
Wilcox County at Montgomery County 6:00pm (Boys Only)
Citizens Christian Academy at RTCA 6:00pm
...Due to members of the Jeff Davis high school basketball program being quarantined for COVID, the games between the Vidalia Indians and the Jeff Davis Yellow Jackets scheduled for tonight have been postponed and will be made up at a later date to be determined.
Hall of Famer, former home run leader, and Atlanta Braves legend Henry Louis “Hank” Aaron has passed away at the age of 86.
Aaron completed his career with 755 home runs, an all-time record that stood until Barry Bonds passed him, finishing with 762 home runs. Aaron remains baseball’s RBI leader
...
Fresh off their Area 2 Dual Championship performance, the Vidalia High School Wrestling team will host the 2021 GHSA Quad Sectionals, Friday afternoon at H. Ralph Parsons Gymnasium.
The Indians who took down Toombs County, Washington County, East Laurens, and Swainsboro en route to their
...
January 20—The RTCA Crusaders basketball teams opened region play with a sweep of the Twiggs Academy Trojans at home Tuesday night. The Lady Crusaders defeated the Lady Trojans 32-21 with the Crusaders winning 78-51.
The Crusaders had the lead at the end of the first quarter 16-15, 38-30 at the
...2021 Vidalia Recreation Department
Teeball, Coach Pitch Teeball, Coach Pitch 8U Baseball and Softball, Pitching Machine 10U Baseball and Softball,
Live Pitch 12U and 14U Baseball and Softball
The Vidalia Recreation Department is excited to announce registration for our teeball, baseball, and
The Vidalia Wrestling team took down the Toombs County Bulldogs en route to a 4-0 record on Friday to win the Area 2 Duals Title at H. Ralph Parsons Gymnasium. The Indians, who had never defeated the Bulldogs in the Duals (began in 2002) before Friday, slipped by Toombs 40-39 despite the Bulldogs
...
Robert Toombs Christian Academy played Thomas Jefferson on Monday, January 11. The Lady Crusaders lost to the Lady Jaguars 30-28. Leading scorers were freshman Ansley Akins with 16 points and eighth grader Meredith Durden with four points. "Ansley had a great shooting night and Meredith was a big
...LYONS RECREATION DEPARTMENT
2021 TEEBALL, BASEBALL, & SOFTBALL REGISTRATION
Physical Address: 168 Miot St Phone: 912-526-3084
Lyons, Ga 30436 Fax: 912-526-4832
E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
2021 Vidalia Recreation Department
Teeball, Coach Pitch Teeball, Coach Pitch 8U Baseball and Softball, Pitching Machine 10U Baseball and Softball,
Live Pitch 12U and 14U Baseball and Softball
The Vidalia Recreation Department is excited to announce registration for our teeball, baseball, and
...Below is a list of upcoming blood drives in the area. Please give the gift of life if you can. For more information and to register to donate blood, visit www.redcrossblood.org
Ailey
1/19/2021: 1 p.m. - 6 p.m., Higgston Baptist Church, 512 James St
Lyons
1/22/2021: 1 p.m. - 6 p.m., Grace Community
...Coastal Plains Charter High school is now actively enrolling students. We offer many locations throughout GA to better serve your secondary educational needs including our location at 413 Pete Phillips Drive (SECCA Bldg.), Vidalia GA. Coastal Plains offers numerous advantages to help your student
...
While the numbers of virtual learners in the Vidalia City School System continue to go down as students return to the classroom, the administration has approved a way to protect those in-home students as well as those in the classroom from computer interruptions. According to Ginger Morris, Assistant Superintendent, the system has approved the installation of software called Go Guardian that will prohibit pop-up ads and distractions from presenting themselves on the school-provided ChromeBooks.
As of Friday, Vidalia City School has a student enrollment of 2,446 with 324 students still taking lessons online according to Communications Director John Koon. Morris said the school staff is working diligently to get those virtual learners back for face-to-face instruction.
"We're doing all we can," Morris said. "We invite our parents to come to the schools and observe what we're doing to ensure their child's safety. There's no replacement for a teacher. We love our students and we want them back in the classroom as soon as possible."
Robert Toombs Christian Academy held it's School Level GISA Middle School Spelling Bee on Thursday, January 14, 2021. Seventh grader Autumn Moore, and eighth grader, Kylie Acosta, were the top two scorers and will advance to the Area GISA Middle School Spelling Bee. This will be a virtual event hosted by Memorial Day School on February 4, 2021.
Last week consumed days one through four of the 40 day legislative session. This week, the legislature “recessed” to focus solely on the state budget. Most department and agency heads appeared before the joint House and Senate Appropriations Committees to speak for the dollars they currently receive and to make other strategic and specific requests.
Here are a few highlights that affect our area:
State Economic Outlook
Agriculture
K/12 Education
Augusta University
Dept. of Corrections
Dept. of Transportation
Dept. of Family and Children Services
While this week has been solely devoted to the budget, those not on the budget committee began work on elections integrity matters. I expect you will see multiple bills dropped on this topic next week and will wait until we see their final drafts to discuss them in more detail.
Many of you have also reached out to me this week about COVID-19 vaccinations. The state does not have a stockpile of the vaccine it distributes to others. Rather, the state’s role is to order the vaccine directly from the manufactures based on medical provider requests. The Moderna vaccine ships straight from the manufacturer to packaging with a McKesson distribution center in Tennessee, then straight to medical providers. The Pfizer vaccine ships straight from the manufacturer in Kalamazoo, Michigan, to medical providers. The state has already cut restrictions to allow more medical providers to give the vaccine. Our biggest issue right now is getting enough of the vaccine to medical providers. Some medical providers have never received a shipment, while others have received more than they have currently used. The Governor mentioned getting his pickup truck to redistribute the oversupply of some providers if not used quickly. We’re working on this issue now.
In a radio broadcast this week, a constituent asked about Georgia’s high demand fields, where the state of Georgia pays the full tuition for Georgia residents who commit to studying fields deemed to be in high demand in the Technical College System. To qualify for this program, residents must be in good standing on all student loans, not have previously exceeded the award limit for any HOPE program, and maintain a 2.0 GPA while pursuing their studies. These in-demand fields include:
More information on these programs can be found on the Technical College System of Georgia’s website- https://www.tcsg.edu/free-tuition/.
I look forward to sharing more with you next week and, as always, thank you for allowing me to represent you in Atlanta.
Sen. Blake Tillery serves as Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee. He represents the 19th Senate District, which includes Appling, Jeff Davis, Long, Montgomery, Telfair, Toombs, Treutlen, Wayne, and Wheeler counties and a portion of Liberty and Tattnall counties. He can be reached by email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Three local school systems have released their updates as of Friday, January 22, for COVID-19 cases. Those results are:
VIDALIA CITY SCHOOLS: 3 students testing positive; 54 students in quarantine; 2 staff members positive; and 14 staff members in quarantine.
TOOMBS COUNTY SCHOOLS: 5 students positive; 41 students quarantined; 2 employees positive and 6 employees quarantined.
MONTGOMERY COUNTY SCHOOLS: 4 students positive; 73 students quarantined; 9 staff/teachers positive and 3 staff members quarantined.
The school systems will continue to release their COVID reports on Friday of each week throughout the pandemic.
A large crowd was on hand for the Ribbing Cutting and Grand Opening celebration of four local businesses at 201 East First Street in Vidalia on Thursday afternoon by the Toombs-Montgomery Chamber of Commerce, the Paul Thigpen Automotive Group, and the Downtown Vidalia Association. The businesses included Farmers Insurance, J. Leigh Hair Studio, Georgia Peach Clothing Company and Edward Jones Investments.
Grady Ray Cammack, age 66 of Soperton passed away on Wednesday afternoon, January 20, 2021 at his home in Soperton, Georgia. A native and lifelong resident of Treutlen County, he was one of seven children born to the late Grady James and Jessie Lee Gilreath Cammack. Grady and his siblings grew up in... 
Mrs. Ella Jean Mimbs Carter, age 91 , beloved wife of the late Hershel T. Carter of Soperton, passed away on January 20, 2021 at her residence with her family by her side. Mrs. Carter was a lifelong resident of Treutlen County, born on July 8, 1929. She was one of eight children and the last... 
Mrs. Carol Kight, age 73, of Lyons, died Wednesday afternoon, January 20, 2021 at Community Hospice of Vidalia. She was a native and lifelong resident of Toombs County. Carol was an LPN at Meadows Regional Medical Center for many years and later worked as a social worker with Toombs County... 
Mrs. Dora Snow Williams, age 53, of Adrian, Georgia passed away on Tuesday afternoon, January 19, 2021 at Fairview Park Hospital in Dublin, Georgia. Born in Fernandina Beach, Florida, she was the eldest daughter born to the late Kenneth Leroy Drury and Peggy Faye Snow. She grew up in Fernandina... 
Mrs. Eva Connell “Jack” Coleman, age 97, beloved wife of the late Leland Elwyn “Shotgun” Coleman of Tarrytown passed away on Monday evening, January 18, 2021 at the home of her son in Tarrytown. A native and lifelong resident of Montgomery County, she was the eldest of ten children born to the late... 
Mrs. Wanda Kale Shank, age 81, of Lyons, died Monday, January 18, 2021, at her residence after a brief illness. She was a native of West Virginia and lived in Ohio for many years before moving to Georgia in 2011. Wanda was retired from Walmart after 18 years of service and loved gardening, making... 
Funeral services for Mr. Johnny Wayne Lanford will be held Wednesday, January 20, 2021 at 1 PM in the Chapel of Higgs Funeral Home in Soperton. Burial will follow in the Beasley Cemetery in Treutlen County. Reverend Allen Green will officiate. Mr. Lanford died Saturday, January 16, 2021. Mr... 
Michael McAfee Thigpen, 92 of Rockledge passed away on January 16, 2021, at Dublin Place after a brief stay. Mike was born in Rockledge, Georgia on February 25, 1928, to Marvin Jack Thigpen and Neva Lillian Williford Thigpen. He was one of four children. He attended Laurens County School located in... 
Mr. Noah Dale Boyette, age 59, of the Five Points Community of Soperton passed away on Friday morning, January 15, 2021 at Meadows Regional Medical Center, with his wife and daughters by his side. Born in Chatham County, he was the eldest of four children born to Noah Arthur Boyette and the late... 
January 31--East Gordon Street Baptist Church in Lyons is hosting a "Getting Back to the Basics" Missions Event, Sunday January 31st at 5:00 with guest speaker Missionary Marty Youngblood. Come enjoy a soup & salad supper. Bring a dish if you'd like. There is plenty of room to social distance and everyone is welcome to wear a mask. 
Thank you for using Church News on WVOP 970 AM and 105.3 FM, and southeastgeorgiatoday.com. Submit your church events to us at least 2 weeks ahead of time for best results. Include the name of the church, the church address, name of the event, date & time of the event, location of the event if other than the church, and any special speakers involved. Email jperry @ vidaliacommunications.comFax 537-4477 Meet The Staff
