WISK / WDEC

"Local News"

Tuesday July 29th, 2014

*UPDATE* 1

*UPDATE* 2

You may just be talking about the weather today as it will be less humid and therefore feel so much better that the last week. You will REALLY be talking about the weather tomorrow morning! Weather forecasters are saying we could have record-setting lows in the area tonight. The current predicted low is 63-degrees and that would be a new record low for this time of the year. Depending on what forecaster you watch, the previous low was 64 or 65-degrees. The next chance of rain returns by Friday and will be off and on through the weekend. Regardless this will be a pleasant break from the recent heat and humidity!

The Sumter County Board of Education will have a called meeting this evening at 6pm in the boardroom of the SCS Administration Building. The purpose of this called meeting is to adopt the final millage rate and 5-year tax digest, hear a student tribunal appeal and for personnel matters. The meeting is open for the public to attend.

Open House in the Sumter County School system is this Thursday July 31^st. Primary and elementary schools Open House will be from 5 to 7pm on Thursday and middle and high school from 6 to 8pm. At the Open House parents and guardians can get acquainted with the schools, meet your child’s teachers and get school supply lists for the upcoming school year. Students return to class for the new school year on Monday August 4^th.

There will be a school supply giveaway and Blessing of the Bookbags service tomorrow evening July 30^th at 6pm at 1^st United Methodist Church on S. Lee Street. Items will be distributed on a first-come, first-served basis. Students MUST be present. The entire community is invited. Students who do not need supplies and all educators are invited as well. The brief service will be a blessing for the new school year for all. This event is sponsored by 1^st United Methodist Church, the Junior Service League and CASA. For more information call the church at 924-3169.

If you’re preparing for back-to-school shopping or just shopping for you, Friday and Saturday August 1^st and 2^nd will be the Sales Tax Holiday in Georgia. There are many items on this year’s tax-free list. School supplies, paper, pens and pencils and such will be tax exempt. Computers and other related items will be tax-free. Most clothing items and shoes will be tax-free. You can shop and save for back-to-school or just for you and the family. For a complete of items on this year’s tax-free list go to the Georgia Department of Revenue’s website.

In case you haven’t noticed but for once the so-called experts seem to be right on point when they predicted earlier that the gas prices have peaked and they will continue to fall for the rest of the summer. Drivers have noticed each time they have filled up lately. For at least 3 straight weeks, gas prices locally have declined. Prices at one time were near $3.50 a gallon and today many are nearing $3.20 a gallon on the local level. Drivers have not seen prices this low since February and March and analysts say they should continue to drop.

Another auto was entered yesterday according to the Americus Police incident reports. An auto was entered at 541 E. Furlow Street but it may have turned out to be the break officers have needed. It seems the thief took a device that was GPS enabled and the device was turned on and led officers to the crook’s location. A suspect was taken into custody minutes before Local News arrived to get the incident reports and this arrest will be on a later edition hopefully today. In other police action from Monday, a criminal trespass occurred at 1205 1^st Montgomery.

A theft took place from 1205 S. MLK Boulevard.

A simple battery complaint was made at 115 Andrews Drive.

A child abuse case is under further investigation.

Euveka Shay Haugabook was arrested for shoplifting at 1408 E. Forsyth Street at Dollar General.

A burglary was investigated at 104-A Norman Cole Street.

Chiquita Banks was arrested for non-compliance at 104 Horton Drive.

A hit-n-run accident was reported at 133 J R Campbell Sr. Street.

There was 1 accident worked by officers yesterday with no reported injuries.

*UPDATE* 1

The Sumter County Sheriff’s Office reports the following are now housed in the Sumter County Jail: Tonisha Surnell Barron-failure to appear; Jatavius Billups-City contempt/ child support; Jamarious Terrell Bullard-City contempt; Braxton Jamal Cooper-City contempt; Euveka Shay Haugabook-felony shoplifting; Dexter Leon Leverette-City contempt; Talika Racquel Mefane- illegal possession of a controlled substance/ attempt or conspiracy to violate Georgia controlled substance act-Felony; Adam McGhee Peterson-burglary/ theft by taking; Melvin Eugene Sims-City contempt; Jessie Lewis Smith-City contempt; Wilbert Albert Williams-holding for United States Marshal Service; and Quinton Lamar Wilson-City contempt.

Deputies conducted 9 traffic stops around the County yesterday. On US 49 north, Courtney A. Hightower was arrested for speeding. On US 19 south, Kawaski W. Florence was arrested for speeding. On US 27, Sherri M. Hill was arrested for speeding.

Deputies investigated burglaries at 185 Lakeview Drive and 144 Charleston Drive. 2 domestic-related calls were answered. A damage to property complaint was made at 312 Ellis Road. A bad child complaint was made at 971 Brady Road Lot 8. A civil matter was reported. There were a total of 30 incidents worked by deputies yesterday.

*UPDATE* 2

Americus Police now have 3 suspects in custody that will probably clear up at least 60 entering auto cases. (3) 18 and 19-year olds were brought in earlier today and 2 search warrants were executed at 2 different locations. Plenty of items have been recovered but many guns and rifles that were taken will have to be tracked down since the trio sold them to various individuals over the past few months. If you are a victim of an entering auto case, you can contact Detective English soon and see if your items have been recovered. Detectives and officers are in the process of trying to track down the stolen guns this afternoon around the area. The arrest of these three culprits does not mean that you can leave items safely in your vehicles. It’s better to be pro-active than become a victim.