News Around Us

Blakely - A Blakely woman has been jailed after trying to kill her two children by forcing them to drink bleach.

Kandice Nichole Collins, 22, was arrested at her Willis Cane Home apartment after authorities had been called to the emergency room where the children had been taken.

A friend, concerned with the way Collins had been acting, called and was told by Collins she was "tired of them kids messing up my life, so I'm gonna mess theirs up!"

Collins was also heard over the phone screaming, "Ashley, drink the bleach! Ashley, drink the bleach!"

When the concerned friends went to her apartment, Collins was found sitting on a couch in the dark. When asked where the children were, she said they were not there. However, the children, a nine-month-old male and a two-year-old female, were found crying and shaking in a closet with a strong smell of bleach.

Collins has been charged with several cruelty to children felonies.

Camilla - First United Ethanol, LLC's landscape took on a dramatic change as its first two grain silos and workhouse were constructed simultaneously over a seven day period. Completed on December 18, the silos now stand tall against the South Georgia sky.

Younglove construction of Sioux City, Iowa brought in 140 crew members on Tuesday, December 11 to pour the concrete into slip forms for two concrete silos measuring 74 feet in diameter by 150 feet tall and a workhouse measuring 35 feet in diameter by 150 feet tall.

The two corn silos are two of fivewhich will be constructed on site. Each silo will hold 500,000 bushels. The corn will flowthrough the workhouse where it is cleaned and ground into a finemill for use in the ethanol process.

Younglove anticipates completion of the remaining three corn silos as well as two silos for DDG storage by the end of March 2008.

The ethanol plant is located in Mitchell County between Camilla and Pelham.

Pelham - Teresa Rackley, a science and advance sciences teacher at Pelham Elementary School, has been named as Teacher of the Year for the Pelham City School System.

Dera Hawkins and Kimberly Wilkins were also in the running for the system wide honor after being named Teachers of the Year at their respective schools.

The announcement was made by Pelham City School Superintendent Dr. Paul Fanning. "We are proud of all of our teachers and we congratulate Mrs. Rackley on receiving this honor," he said.

The winner was announced during the annual teacher of the Year Breakfast which was held Monday, December 17, at 8:00 a.m. in the cafeteria of Pelham City Middle School.

Bainbridge - Bainbridge and Decatur County citizens are now being protected with two new pieces of equipment obtained by Bainbridge Public Safety and Decatur County Fire and Rescue, the agencies' chiefs announced.

Fire and rescue is now using a new rescue firetruck purchased by the Decatur County board of Commissioners for $152,000, Chief Charlie McCann said.

Demonstrating the truck's features to Board of Commissioners Chairman Palmer Rich, McCann said the new rescue truck is intended to replace an older one, primarily to accommodate a larger inventory of rescue gear but also because of mileage. The county's old rescue truck may be purchased by Bainbridge Public Safety, whose firefightershave shorter distances to travel to emergencies.

Rescue trucks are used when county firefightersrespond to vehicle accidents of any type of rescue operation, such as a plane crash. The county's new rescue truck sports a larger chassis and more powerful engine and has ample room for storing equipment. Rich said the new truck would help the county's firefightersprovide the best possible service.

Chattahoochee - The Jackson County Grand Jury returned an indictment on Thursday, December 31, 2007 in the case of the deaths of a Marianna woman and her three children. Wesley Williams, age 23, will be arrested and faces four counts of First Degree Murder. Williams is currently in custody on unrelated charges. He will be returned to Jackson County where he faces arraignment before a judge.

In 2005, Athena (Danielle) Baker, 19 and her three sons were found dead in her apartment in Marianna. Her daughter , who was two years old was found unharmed.

For over two years a combination of resources, both investigative and forensic, was meticulously applied to this complex and lengthy homicide investigation. These intensive efforts have resulted in Williams' indictment.

Havana - A Carlton man was hit and killed by a train near the Elbert County/ Madison County line on December 11.

Michael Scarborough, 38, of Carlton was pronounced dead at the scene by Elbert County Coroner Chuck Almond.

Scarborough was walking on a railroad trestle that spans the Broad River when a CSX train began to cross the trestle, Almond said.

Scarborough was caught on the trestle and struck by the train. The impact knocked him off the trestle and down 50 feet onto the Elbert County bank of the river.