The Baxley News-Banner

B. J. and I had spent a fabulous week on the amazing Hawaiian isle of Oahu. We had made two wonderful visits to Pearl Harbor, dined in the officer’s club at Hickam Field, swooned in the glow of Waikiki under a full moon, feasted at a fundelicious Hawaiian luau while beholding the big blue-green surf roll in from the Pacific, scaled famous Diamond Head and relished some of the finest food in some of the best restaurants in the world. [Full Story »] 

For weeks there has been tremendous discussion over several issues that voters will go to the polls on Tuesday, March 15, and decide. The first is the countywide Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) issue. The second is a decision on whether or not to close Fourth District Elementary School. [Full Story »] 

Bessie Thelma O’Berry Heath Arnold, 86 of St. Mary’s, passed away February 25, 2011 in St. Vincent’s Medical Center, Jacksonville, Florida. [Full Story »] 

Ethel Mae Shaw Coley died Saturday, February 19, 2011. Mrs. Coley was born Sept. 9, 1935 in Hoboken to the late Henry and Mamie Lila Perry Shaw. She was educated at Telmore Consolidated School in Telmore and Northside School in Waycross. Ethel Mae was married to the late Jake Coley, who preceded her in death in 1981. She was the mother of 12 (seven girls and five boys). One daughter, Janice, preceded her in death along with seven brothers: James, Robert, Willis N., Lewis A., John D., Walter and Harold N. Shaw. She was a good faithful member of Saint James A.M.E. Church for many years, where she served faithfully on the Usher board. Aside from working in the church, she was a domestic engineer, caregiver, and one of the world’s best pound cake bakers. Mrs. Coley was known for her kindness, generosity and loving personality. Mrs. Ethel Mae Shaw Coley was a devoted mother, grandmother, sister and church member. [Full Story »] 

Ava Rose Strickland Lightsey, 46, of Raybon Community of Nahunta, died Saturday, February 26, 2011 at her residence. Funeral services were held at 11:00 a.m. on Tuesday, March 2 at First Baptist Church of Brunswick with the Rev. Thomas McMillan and William “Chip” Strickland officiating. Interment followed in New Hope Cemetery in Hickox with Kent Thomas, Kirk Thomas, Chuck McMonigle, Curtis Tumlin, Chad Bass and Eric Raulerson serving as pallbearers. Honorary pallbearers were Brantley Telephone Company Employees and adult choir of First Baptist Church of Brunswick. [Full Story »] 

Eugenia Pareigis Virusky, 92, of Crescent, formally of Baxley, died Tuesday, March 1, 2011 at Southeast Georgia Medical Center in Brunswick. Mrs. Virusky was born in Crescent, PA to the late John Huston and Alice Belski Pareigis. She was a graduate of St. Frances School of Nursing. In 1952, Mrs. Virusky moved to Baxley with her husband, Dr. Edmund J. Virusky and served as his nurse and office manager. After Dr. Virusky’s death she resided in Appling and McIntosh counties. [Full Story »] 

By Jamie Gardner

The Appling County Board of Education (BOE) met on February 28 at the BOE office located on Highway 15 South. During the meeting Superintendent Scarlett Copeland gave an additional update concerning the system’s ongoing accreditation probation status with the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS). [Full Story »] 

The Appling County Board of Commissioners held their regularly scheduled meeting on Tuesday, March 1 at the Appling County Courthouse Annex with the meeting starting at 5:30 p.m. During the meeting County Manager Lee Lewis informed the Commissioners that the previously approved purchase of the GPS monitoring on the road graders was not activated due to the system only updating twice a day. Lewis informed the commissioners that a new cell based system had been released that would update every 60 seconds. The new system would cost around $2,450.00 per machine to update and would cost $400.00 per month for monitoring of each machine. A motion was made by Commissioner Jasper Tomberlin to scrap the monitoring idea with a second by Commissioner Sarah Boatright. After some discussion the motion was approved unanimously. [Full Story »] 

By Tommy Smith

The pace at the Capitol has quickened as we have now worked past the halfway point of the 2011 legislative session. There were several important issues that the House voted on last week. Five of these included subjects about which I have received a large amount of correspondence from constituents. These include the HOPE Scholarship funding, pre- Kindergarten funding, billboards, education and immigration. [Full Story »] 

By Jamie Gardner

Despite ongoing Medicaid billing issues that play a role in cash flow problems, Appling HealthCare’s CFO Ferrell Turner reported to members of the Baxley-Appling County Hospital Authority that the healthcare system had a good January. The authority met on February 25 for a monthly meeting. [Full Story »] 

Sheriff Benny DeLoach would like to report the following activity of the Appling County Sheriff’s Office. [Full Story »] 

By Jamie Gardner

On Tuesday, March 15, the voters of Appling County will go to the polls to decide the fate of two important issues. These two important decisions include the continuation of the countywide Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) and the fate of Fourth District Elementary School. [Full Story »] 

Daylight Savings Time begins on Saturday night, March 12, when you go to bed, don’t forget to set your clocks ahead by one hour. [Full Story »] 

The Webelos Scouts of pack 472: Noah Clegg, Joshua Darsey, Brody Cauley, Noah Gardner and Jerome Sikes enjoyed a three-mile hike in Moody Forest. [Full Story »]