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County’s watershed lakes ‘a forgotten treasure’
Paul Nealey remembers working as a boy with his late father, Willard, at the old farmers co-op on the northern edge of town by the Ellijay River. “The water got so high when it flooded we had to move the feed and seed out of the way,” he recalled.
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Two charged after meth lab discovered
An active meth lab was found Friday morning north of Ellijay after Gilmer County Sheriff’s Office deputies trusted their instincts when arresting a man with warrants out of Tennessee, authorities said. Allen Ray Smith, 46, of 108 Northcutt Road, was charged with seven counts of manufacturing methamphetamine after a meth lab was discovered in a shack at his residence, according to the sheriff’s office. He has also been charged with parole violation, according to county jail records.
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Neighbors riled by sex offender in area
Kerri Henderson knew something was up when two strangers appeared in her neighborhood asking questions. “We had our antenna up,” said the mother of four girls. “One of the men asked the kids if their parents were at home, so when Jon (her husband) went out to talk to them they told him they were from the Department of Corrections and that a convicted sex offender wanted to live here.”
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Potential scams could involve court info
6/10/2013
Residents who get a phone call telling them they’ve missed jury duty, or a call or letter offering to get a property deed for them for a fee, should be aware it could be a scam, local officials say.
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Assessments in county up
5/3/2013
Real property values in the county have gone up 3.66 percent from last year, Gilmer County Chief Appraiser Richard Lamb told Board of Assessors members Mitchell Morgan, BJ Reece, Tom Porter and Darren Gaddis at their April 25 meeting.
“We’ve got quite a few properties that actually declined in value and we’ve got others that increased in value. But (the increase) was based on market sales. We (also) had a good many land transactions,” said Lamb.
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Suit filed over alleged pit bull attack on pet
4/25/2013
A Talona man has filed suit in Gilmer County Magistrate Court against two of his neighbors after he said his pet was attacked by their pit bulldog and another one of their dogs, court records show.
Howard Bradley Sr., of Talona Road, produced veterinary bills of almost $1,000 following the attack he said occurred April 11. He is requesting reimbursement of present and possible future medical bills in case his male dachshund, “Pokieman,” needs more surgeries.
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Kayakers rescued at night on Cartecay
4/25/2013
Rescuers in the mountains know navigating a whitewater river to find a lost boater can be both daunting and perilous.
But what about finding three kayakers on a rollicking mountain stream — in the pitch black dead of night?
That was the challenge facing Gilmer County Fire and Rescue team members Sunday night and early Monday morning after they got a report three boaters were missing on the Cartecay River somewhere below the Blackberry Mountain residential development.
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Ball Ground man dies in Cherry Log motorcycle wreck
4/19/2013
For the third Saturday in a row, a person has died as the result of a motorcycle or four-wheeler wreck in Gilmer County. A Ball Ground man died following a motorcycle wreck on Highway 515 near Cherry Log on April 13, authorities said.
David Earl Darby, 41, was in a group of three motorcycles traveling north toward Blue Ridge when they were passing by another accident sometime around noon, said Gilmer County Coroner Jerry Hensley. Darby looked at the existing wreck, then when he looked up saw he was about to hit one of the other motorcycles and locked down the brakes on his bike and lost control, he added.
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‘Obamacare’ reforms result in $60,000 tax increase to county
4/20/2013
The board of commissioners learned the health care reform act, or so-called Obamacare, is going to cost the county about $60,000 in the coming year for new taxes on health insurance. Matt Bidwell, an insurance broker, outlined the changes to the county commissioners during his overview of their insurance options at their work session last Thursday. Two new taxes associated with the health care act will be enforced on whichever insurance company handles the county’s health insurance.
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Local man dies in motorcycle accident
4/11/2013
An Ellijay man died Saturday afternoon when he wrecked his motorcycle on the Gilmer County side of Fort Mountain, authorities said.
Douglas Grover Kent, 70, of Cartecay River Estates, suffered fatal injuries and was dead on arrival April 6 at North Georgia Medical Center, according to Deputy Coroner Melissa Waddell. Gilmer 911 received the call just after 2 p.m., she reported.
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Teague given near 6-year prison term
4/11/2013
Former Ellijay banker Adam Teague was sentenced to almost six years in prison April 5 for his role in defrauding the bank he worked for, according to a U.S. Department of Justice news release.
Teague, 39, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Richard W. Story to five years and 10 months in federal prison, five years of supervised probation upon his release and was ordered to pay more than $5.8 million in restitution, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Russell Phillips.
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Endangered bat holds up millions in road projects
4/4/2013
The discovery of an endangered Indiana bat perched in a dead pine tree in the Rich Mountain Wildlife Management area in Gilmer County last summer has set off a major delay in road projects across north Georgia.
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Changes made to vehicle title tax law now in effect
3/19/2013
Though a new state law replacing annual ad valorem taxes for car buyers
with a one-time title tax went into effect March 1, the county’s chief appraiser
and a local automobile dealer confirmed state legislators may not be finished
rewording Title Ad Valorem Tax (TAVT) bill 386.
“I don’t think it’s went as smoothly as they thought it would. They’re changing
stuff daily,” said Ford dealership owner Ronnie Thompson of recent
amendments made to the title tax law.
Changes now in place House Bill 266, passed into law March 3, amends
the original bill by adding several new changes for car buyers and dealerships.
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Potentially explosive bottles an apparent ‘prank’
3/7/2013
The investigation into three suspicious bottles found in the yard of a Buckhorn Estates resident Wednesday morning has revealed they were likely amateur attempts to create minor explosive devices, authorities said.
Fire Chief Tony Pritchett said the bottles apparently contained muriatic acid, and there were also pieces of aluminum foil found at the scene that can be used as igniters.
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Wind damage felt across county
3/7/2013
Mini World Storage owner Susan James looks at an advertising billboard in front of her business that was knocked down by strong winds felt across the county Tuesday, Feb. 26. The same winds left almost 3,000 local customers without electricity and caused downed trees in multiple areas. “The wind was gusting here,” said James, who added that the owner of the truck on which the billboard landed was “very understanding and is finding some humor in this.”
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Ellijay man paralyzed in wreck
2/26/2013
A former Gilmer High student-athlete who was in a single-vehicle wreck Friday in White County that killed two people is partially paralyzed, his father reported Tuesday.
Charles Adam Jones, 21, was a passenger in a Toyota T-100 extended cab pickup truck whose driver veered off Asbury Mill Road Feb. 22 around 2:30 p.m., according to the accessnorth georgia.com website.
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Fugitive captured in Pleasant Hill area
3/5/2013
James Michael Stafford, a fugitive wanted in Gilmer County since the Feb. 10 shooting that left three people wounded on his property in the Cartecay community, was captured by sheriff’s office deputies on the late afternoon of Wednesday, Feb. 20. Officers immediately credited the department’s K-9 tracker dog, Daisy, with helping track down Stafford. Click headline to read more.
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Drug-related shooting leaves 3 wounded
2/15/2013
Ricky Silvers, 56, of 150 Berry Bennett Road in Murray County, was arrested Tuesday and charged with two counts of aggravated assault in the multiple shooting at 573 Simmons Drive last Sunday, authorities said. Silvers was initially taken to an Atlanta-area hospital with a gunshot wound. James Michael Stafford, 49, (shown here) of the residence where the shootings occurred, is still being sought by authorities. He is 5-foot-7, weighs 165 pounds, has red hair, blue eyes and some facial hair. He was last seen wearing blue jeans and a dark T-shirt with a design on the front. Anyone spotting him can call 911 or the Gilmer County Sheriff’s Office at (706) 635-4162. (Click headline to read full story)
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Swim sessions train Gilmer Fire dive team for busy spring, summer
1/8/2013
Though the scenario is a common one, the Gilmer County Fire and Rescue dive team isn’t called into action just to pull stranded swimmers or boaters to safety.
“We dive for weapons, cars, bodies. Even up to the point of somebody tossing a weapon into the water trying to conceal something,” said dive team supervisor Robert Flesher.
“Our primary goal is life safety, but the biggest thing in our mission (is often) providing closure for families,” he continued. “If we can’t make the save ... Read more
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