Editor’s note: We have compiled the top stories of 2022 as we prepare for another year serving Milledgeville and Baldwin County. This is the second of a two-part series. The months of January through June were featured last week.
JULY
July began with heartfelt loss as the city council of Milledgeville unanimously approved an ordinance that allowed for a special election to fill the Alderman of District 5 of the City of Milledgeville position. The seat was left vacant after former Alderman Richard “Boo” Mullins Jr. passed away on April 23.
The Baldwin County Board of Education hosted its first Fine Arts Summer Academy in June which was recognized in the July 8 issue. The Fine Arts Summer Academy was the first summer camp to incorporate dance, visual arts, music classes and musical theatre into a four-week camp.
Milledgeville Main Street hosted the Adopt a Planter program and worked with the community to adopt out all 52 planters in downtown. The program was first opened to downtown businesses and then opened to the public. Adopting a planter allowed the adoptee to pick the plants, plant them, and submit photos for the Milledgeville Main Street social media pages.
USA softball secured the gold medal at the world games after taking down the Japanese national team in a 3-2 nail-biter.
Georgia College hosted the Young Scientists Academy Internship Research Program over six weeks with seven high school participants. The program allows high school students to explore university-level research while working side by side with GC faculty and mentors. This year the academy was taught by Dr.
Catrena Lisse and undergraduate mentors Callie Miller and Cole Smith.
August
Georgia College & State University’s Center for Health and Social Issues reached beyond Baldwin County to impact areas around Georgia. The five areas of collaboration are Baldwin County, Oconee Heights, Coopers, Hardwick and Harrisburg.
In these communities, the center works with partners to provide health care services, screenings, educational opportunities and be proactive in preventing chronic illnesses.
Georgia Military College Prep School’s Danica Resha was chosen to attend the United States Military Academy - West Point’s STEM Camp.
Resha was 1 in 120 applicants chosen out of the 1,200 rising ninth and tenth grade students from across the country that applied. The camp program offered hands-on learning activities in the areas of science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
Krystle C. Stanley was appointed as the new assistant principal at Oak Hill Middle School. She began teaching at Oak Hill Middle School in 2007 as a sixth-grade English and Language Arts teacher.
She served in this position for 11 years before becoming an instructional coach in 2019. These experiences prepared her to become an assistant principal.
On Aug. 13, Georgia’s Old Capital Heritage Center at the Depot and the Ocmulgee Archaeological Society (OAS) hosted Milledgeville Archeology Day. The Depot had two activity rooms inside and a pottery workshop on the front porch. The stations were split by Native American lifeways, artifact identification, and pottery-making.
On August 19, Georgia College & State University formally inaugurated Cathy Cox as its twelfth president. The 3 p.m. ceremony was held at the Centennial Center followed by a community reception.
Victoria Gordon, Georgia College & State University’s Coverdell Visiting Scholar, worked with students on a proclamation for Women’s Equality Day that was announced at the Aug.
23 Milledgeville City Council meeting. This proclamation was a project that went in-hand with Gordon’s lessons about women and politics.
Oak Hill Middle School hosted its annual Fast Start Music Camp after school on Aug. 24. The camp kicks off fourth through sixth graders in the band program by allowing them to learn the basics of their instruments including: opening the case, assembly of the instrument, how to care for the instrument, how to hold the instrument, sound practice and note practice.
September
On Sept. 7, The Baldwin County School District (BCSD) met with the Superintendent’s Student Advisory Council and discussed their annual anti-bullying campaign.
The council is made up of student representatives from all Baldwin County schools, from primary to high school. Students defined bullying and were given the chance to discuss ways to prevent bullying within the schools.
Baldwin High School created a partnership between the Baldwin County School District and Helms College.
Through this partnership, students are eligible to receive a scholarship of up to $10,000 to join the Culinary Operations in Resorts and Clubs program at Helms College. In addition, students are given the chance to earn high school credits and transfer them as college credits.
The Baldwin County School District was the only district in Georgia to be awarded a $50,000 Farm to School Turnkey Grant from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). The Farm to School program is a part of the BCSD Wellness Initiative and works to inform students about agriculture and to incorporate gardening in STEAM classes.
After nearly two years of development, the Early Learning Center (ELC) held its ribbon cutting ceremony on Sept. 20 for the Splash Pad. The Splash Pad is a way of introducing children to water play in a safe environment. Play on the splash pad is treated as a field trip, with students receiving special permission from their parents to participate.
On Sept. 21, Georgia Military College Preparatory School of Milledgeville was part of an international art and literacy project, Pinwheels for Peace. Six years ago, this project was started locally by art teacher Paige Barlow in Baldwin County. Her Middle and High School Art Clubs were the main coordinators of the project this year and created about 375 pinwheels that had peaceful messages written on the front side and peaceful drawings on the backside. On the International Day of Peace, students “planted” their pinwheels in the early morning on the west lawn of the GMC campus between Sibley Cone Library and the Old Capitol Building.
Georgia College & State University Soccer defender Katelyn Smith claimed the Peach Belt Conference (PBC) Defender of the Week honor.
Law enforcement began investigating the homicide of Chavonta Chavez Braddy. On Sept. 27, they were dispatched in reference to a deceased person on the 100 block of South Edwards Street lying on the floor with blood visible under him inside his residence. Both his home and a vehicle in the yard were observed to have been struck by gunfire. The victim appeared to have been shot multiple times.
October
The weekend of Sept. 30 was heavy with panic after two reports of drive-by shootings. On Sept. 30, a homeowner on North Clark Street located shell casings in their driveway with the suspicion that someone fired at her home. Twelve bullet holes were noted on the east side of the residence and inside damage was noted in the dining room walls, kitchen ceiling, guest bathroom, bathtub, toilet, and walls and spare bedroom walls.
Several projectiles and bullet fragments were also found in the kitchen area and bathroom. Then, on Oct. 1, the Milledgeville Police Department released a press release about a drive-by shooting that occurred near West Montgomery Street. A brief foot pursuit with assistance from the Georgia Department of Corrections K-9 unit, Baldwin County Sheriff’s Department, Georgia College Public Safety and troopers with the Georgia Department of Public Safety led to the arrest of three of the four suspects involved in the shooting.
In the Oct. 14 issue, staff writer Bailey Ballard highlighted Baldwin County’s federally-funded $400,000 Community HOME Investment Program (CHIP) grant received this year. The purpose of the CHIP grant is to provide safe and affordable housing in Georgia. Locally, the funds are being used to rehabilitate owner-occupied homes in the census tracts and blocks in the unincorporated areas identified in the grant application. On Sept. 13, interest meetings began for residents interested in applying. On Oct. 6, at the Collins P. Lee Community Center on Harrisburg Road in Milledgeville, GCSU hosted a property title seminar to help educate residents so they may understand what a ‘blighted’ home is and how they may qualify for grant money to salvage or demolish unsightly homes they own.
In the Oct. 21 issue, staff writer Bailey Ballard highlighted the new aquatic center announced to be built at Walter B. Williams Park. The center will be built in two phases. Phase one will include the pool and the overall building.
Phase two will include all added features to the waterpark including examples such as a lazy river, a splash pad, etc.
The Baldwin County School District (BCSD) was announced to have achieved a graduation rate of 88.5 percent exceeding the overall state average of 84.1 percent as reported by the Georgia Department of Education.
Deep Roots made its official return, since COVID, for its 19th year.
According to Frank Pendergast, one of the event co-organizers, an estimated 18,000 to 20,000 people attended the event overall. With its return, Deep Roots allowed free admission during the day for attendees to walk around downtown. After 6 p.m., only ticket holders could access the concert area.
On Oct. 29, Lisa Marie Williams, of Harrisburg Road, Milledgeville, pled guilty to three counts of vehicular homicide in the second degree.
Ocmulgee Judicial Circuit Judge Alison T. Burleson sentenced Williams to 36 months, with the first 24 months to be spent in the Baldwin County Jail and the remainder on probation. The charges stemmed from an April 2, 2019 crash in Milledgeville in which Williams was the driver and three people were killed.
November
Baldwin High School’s Career Technical Instruction (CTI) program received a donation of $2,000 from the Georgia Power Foundation. The funding helps to send students to conferences and competitions in the Fall and the Spring of 2022 and 2023.
Midway Hills Primary School’s kindergarten students participated in a learn-to-ride pilot program through CREATE In-School Cycling. Once a week, during physical education periods, kindergartners were introduced to the bikes. They began by using balancing bikes (bikes without pedals) to teach balance and confidence. The goal was after five sessions, students would have the ability to balance on their bikes and transition into pedal bikes.
Larry Moore was inducted Nov. 4, into the Georgia College and State University (GCSU) 2022 J. Whitney Bunting College of Business and Technology Hall of Fame.
Moore is a significant figure within the business college and the Baldwin and Putnam County communities. Induction into the Hall of Fame is bestowed upon alumni or friends of J. Whitney Bunting College of Business and Technology who have distinguished themselves within their profession, have been actively involved with GCSU, and who have made a positive impact on the local community as well as the region, state and beyond.
Georgia College & State University volleyball was named the No. 4 seed for the Peach Belt Conference Tournament after finishing its regular season with a 7-8 record.
GCSU alumni and students celebrated 133 years of GCSU during Charter Day on Nov.
8. Charter Day is a commemoration to the day that the legislature authorized the creation of Georgia College.
Oak Hill Middle School science teacher Susan Curtis was named the 2022 BCSD Teacher of the Year on Nov. 10 during the annual District Teacher of the Year Banquet in the Magnolia Ballroom at Georgia College.
John Milledge Academy made history on Nov.
18 after setting a new Georgia high school football state record with its 42-7 victory over the Heritage School. JMA (11-0) had won 48 straight games. That mark was previously held by GHSA’s Buford, which won 47 straight from 2001-04.
December
The Milledgeville Police Department (MPD) received a chilling call reporting an active shooter at Baldwin High School. A lock- down was initiated at Baldwin High School.
When law enforcement arrived, they entered the building and did a search of the entire school.
However, no threat was determined to be present.
The call was ultimately determined to be part of a national active-shooter hoax.
John Milledge Academy Trojans shutout the Deerfield-Windsor Knights 49-0, and the win marked the program’s 50th straight victory and fourth consecutive state championship. The win also marked head coach JT Wall’s fifth state championship since he took over at John Milledge Academy in 2011.
Baldwin County School District’s Ola Scott-Little was selected as School Social Worker of the Year for District 10 by the Georgia School Social Worker Association.
District 10 comprises 18 counties in Georgia. She is the only social worker serving the Baldwin County School District and, according to her, has helped at least 1,000 kids through her service to the county.
GMC’s Corps of Cadets Glee Club performed Dec.
6 in front of 4,000 people at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta during the Southern Association of College and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) annual conference.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigations (GBI) continues to investigate an officer-involved shooting that occurred in Milledgeville at Antioch Primitive Baptist Church on Old Monticello Road.
On Dec. 13, Deputy Greg See and Sgt. Ernesto Lopez responded to a burglary in progress at the church. While inside, a woman identified as Fiesta Lattina Murphy attacked one of the deputies with a hammer. In response, the deputies fired their service weapons, hitting Murphy. She was grazed by one bullet in the head and shot in the backside and the thigh. Both deputies rendered aid on scene until EMS arrived and Murphy was taken to Atrium Health Navicent in Macon. Upon her release from the hospital, Murphy was charged with burglary, arson, and aggravated assault.
The Sembler Project, a commercial development company headquartered in Florida, announced the building of a shopping center called Lakeside Commons in Milledgeville. Lakeside Commons is described as a “Publix Super Market- Anchored Shopping Center” and will be located at the intersection of US 441 and Log Cabin Road. It is expected to be completed by 2024.
Law enforcement secured a stolen vehicle out of Bibb County filled with drug-related objects Dec. 24. In the vehicle, law enforcement located a silver container with suspected methamphetamine inside, a container of suspected marijuana, multiple (possibly 100 or more) empty bags commonly used to package illegal narcotics, a magazine containing 9mm bullets, two scales commonly used to weigh drugs prior to distribution and a loaded Taurus 9mm pistol. Warrants for possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute, possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, possession and use of drug-related objects, possession of a firearm in commission of certain crimes were secured for the driver Winfed Felts.
Additionally, he received a citation for failing to maintain insurance. Passengers Travis Briscoe and Alexis Horn were charged with possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute, possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, and possession and use of drug-related objects. The vehicle was taken into possession by Old Capitol.