EAST ELLIJAY, Ga. – Through COVID, school closures, and changing Superintendents, Gilmer Schools is continuing what is fast becoming a tradition in its Financial Department. Once again this year, the Financial Department, with Director and CFO Trina Penland, has received the Georgia Department of Audits and Accounts (DOAA) Award of Distinction for Excellent Financial Reporting. […]

PICKENS COUNTY, Ga. – Two months after their arrest in Pickens County, Georgia’s Attorney General, Chris Carr, has announced indictments against former Pickens County School Superintendent Carlton Wilson and his wife, Cynthia Wilson, on charges of Racketeering, one count of Theft by Taking, and two counts of Theft by Conversion. In April 2022, the two […]

ELLIJAY, Ga. – In a day reaching back to times gone past and idyllic tv shows with firemen retrieving a kitten from a tree, Gilmer saw a minor operation that reached major officials at the county courthouse today. A rescue operation was undertaken involving Fire Chief Daniel Kauffman, Sheriff Stacy Nicholson, Maintenance Director Eric Playford, […]

ELLIJAY, Ga. – Three units in the Gilmer Detention Center and another unit at the learning center connected to the Health Department have failed with no possibility of repairs for these systems. Gilmer’s BOC has previously bid out HVAC systems to fulfill needs amongst the courthouse and other facilities. However, they rejected the bid they […]

ELLIJAY, Ga. – Gilmer County’s election polls have closed and results are being tallied in the Probate Court Office of the Gilmer Courthouse. Polls closed at 7:00 p.m. and results are currently being tallied with Gilmer focused on the runoff for its Post 2 Commissioner position. With only one local race remaining on the ballot. […]

ELLIJAY, Ga. – A topic that that began last December when the Board of Commissioners heard options of potentially raising the county’s Hotel/Motel Tax will see its final stages of adoption in the next 30 days before the start date. June saw the final adoption of the change and implementation will move forward with a […]

ELLIJAY, Ga. – Gilmer Citizens are getting a little extra time to vote in this single early voting week before the primary runoff thanks to a decision by the Gilmer Registrar Office. Almost all of Gilmer is focused in on its Post 2 Commissioner election with the runoff between John Marshall and Tom Whatley. The […]

ELLIJAY, Ga. – For citizens with appointments or looking to conduct business in the downtown area this afternoon, a downed tree has put a major hurdle into that effort. With the heavy rainfall and wind in the last two days, the stress finally took down a tree on Logan Street according to the Gilmer Sheriff’s […]

ELLIJAY, Ga. – This weekend saw posts from the Gilmer County Sheriff’s Office and others sharing information about the implementation of downtown Ellijay’s newest traffic calming device being a four-way stop at the intersection of North Main Street, College Street, and North Avenue, right next to Ellijay Elementary School. In addition to these posts about […]

EAST ELLIJAY, Ga. – An ongoing problems in the majority of schools in America, Vape devices have become prominent in Gilmer’s schools as well as this year saw 47 incidents involving vapes in Gilmer High School, 51 incidents involving vapes occurred at the middle school level, and even 4 vape incidents occurred in elementary schools […]

EAST ELLIJAY, Ga. – With the school year ended and the Board of Education (BOE) looking to begin the new one, a special called meeting saw the board approve advertisement for the 2022-2023 Fiscal Year Tentative Budget. A $45,012,326 general fund budget, the BOE will advertise the budget before implementation on July 1, 2022. Adding […]

GILMER COUNTY, Ga. – FINAL RESULTS: With election night completed, Gilmer will be going into a June runoff for the County Post 2 Commissioner position. With 39.49 percent of Gilmer’s registered voters voting in the primary, the Gilmer Probate office issued the unofficial results of the 8,743 ballots cast. County Offices BOC Chairman Charlie Paris […]

GILMER COUNTY, Ga. – With the Hotel/Motel tax change well underway, May saw cabin owners requesting adjustments to the change with the public hearing and first reader in the BOC meetings. Questions arose among speakers asking the board to not go fully to eight percent right away, but instead staging a smaller increase and potentially […]

EAST ELLIJAY, Ga. – “I’ve never been asked ‘Do we need a refrigerated truck,’” said Gilmer Schools Superintendent Dr. Brian Ridley, “We might need one.” These comments were in response to a growing issue in food and nutrition for the school system. US Foods did not renew a food bid even after Gilmer revised the […]

GILMER COUNTY, Ga. – With election day for the primaries less than two weeks away, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp visited Ellijay to speak to supporters about the election and his campaign as the incumbent. Kemp visited BJ Reece Apple Orchard on May 12, 2022. Kemps stated that his campaign is a fight for the soul […]