Oconee County, GA Politics

At a special session on Thursday, the Oconee County Board of Education approved the recommendation of Superintendent Jason Branch to appoint Tony McCullers principal of Colham Ferry Elementary School, and Jennifer Adams principal of Oconee County Primary School. McCullers replaces Keith Carter, who will assume the role of principal at  New principals named at Colham Ferry Elementary and Oconee County Primary

Oconee County Observations: In Reversal Of A Year Ago, House And Senate Confer... : Cowsert Key A year ago the budget conference committee of the Georgia House and Senate stripped the funding for the Bogart Library renovat...

Oconee County Observations: In Reversal Of A Year Ago, House And Senate Confer... : Cowsert Key A year ago the budget conference committee of the Georgia House and Senate stripped the funding for the Bogart Library renovat...

Animal Welfare group gives certification to Oconee's Wagon Wheel Ranch

Local Football teams to be challenged in 2016 : According to recently released football schedules by the Georgia High School Association, North Oconee and Oconee County won’t have to wait too long to renew their region rivalry on the football field.

Ex-deputy sues sheriff, county, alleging discrimination : A former female deputy has sued Sheriff Scott Berry and Oconee County, claiming that a “secret derogatory file” was used to unfairly criticize her job performance.

AMC is urging Georgia Governor Nathan Deal to reject a bill currently awaiting his approval that many have deemed to be anti-gay. “As a company, AMC Networks believes that discrimination of any kind is reprehensible,” the company said in a statement Wednesday. “We applaud Governor Deal’s leadership in resisting a previous version of this divisive legislation and urge him to reject the current version as well.” The company, which shoots AMC’s zombie mega-hit “The Walking Dead” in Georgia, did not go so far as to say that it will pull production of the series if Deal signs the bill into law. - See more at: http://www.thewrap.com/walking-dead-network-amc-urges-georgia-governor-to-veto-anti-gay-bill/#.dpuf AMC is urging Georgia Governor Nathan Deal to reject a bill currently awaiting his approval that many have deemed to be anti-gay. “As a company, AMC Networks believes that discrimination of any kind is reprehensible,” the company said in a statement Wednesday. “We...

Ex-deputy sues sheriff, county, alleging discrimination : A former female deputy has sued Sheriff Scott Berry and Oconee County, claiming that a “secret derogatory file” was used to unfairly criticize her job performance.

State budget includes Bogart Library expansion : The Georgia General Assembly passed a budget early this week that includes the Bogart Library expansion project.

Artwork enhances downtown Watkinsville : Fifty-four years of marriage is symbolized in a welded steel sculpture situated at Ashford Manor.

Festival founders in tug of war over website : A Watkinsville company says that a former partner is trying to sabotage its plans to host a music festival in August near Oconee County.

Variety of new businesses open in Watkinsville : The father-son cooking team of Jeff and Brandon Hutchins had decades of catering barbecues. But they had never handled point-of-sale equipment.

Responding to reports on the possibility an ethics probe into his possible misuse of public funds could be relaunched if he is re-elected to Congress, Paul Broun on Tuesday called the investigation “a political witch hunt, which ... never went anywhere and never will.” Broun, who did not return a Monday telephone call seeking comment for a Tuesday story on OnlineAthens.com/Athens Banner-Herald regarding his use of congressional office funds to hire a communications consultant for his 2012 re-election campaign and his unsuccessful 2014 Senate bid, issued a statement Tuesday through a campaign spokesman. “An anonymous ethics complaint started the investigation,” the statement reads, in part. “I was beyond cooperative the entire time. I waived my Congressional immunity under the Speech and Debate Clause, providing access to my office and home, and even allowed my computer to be taken and examined for three days. I did this all completely voluntarily. Ethics probe is ...

Glad that a few enlightened suburban Georgia Republicans have finally realized that gay people vote too Georgia's 'religious liberty' bill shows Gay Belt in suburbs

Mike Strickland of Watkinsville, Ga. finished in second place fishing the upper part of the lake as well. He caught a total of five fish weighing 21.03 pounds, using lipless crankbaits and a topwater bait. Stanfill, local fishers finish strong in Clarks Hill tournament | Outdoors | Index-Journal : Bobby Stanfill of Greenwood won the ABA Division 96 tournament this weekend on Clarks Hill reeling in five fish with a total weight of 23.47 ...

A citizens’ group in Oconee County is urging the Georgia Department of Transportation to stick closely with a nearly 20-year-old plan whenever a bypass along U.S. Highway 441 is built around Bishop when the widening of the highway begins possibly in six years. “For the sake of Bishop we want the bypass because there is a lot of traffic coming through Bishop,” said Lisa Douglas, spokeswoman for Positively Oconee that had its first meeting last fall. A plan for the widening of Highway 441 was originally laid out in 1997, but the federal project never materialized. Now the state has taken over the project which expects to four-lane the major highway from Watkinsville to Madison in Morgan County. The original plan called for locating the Bishop bypass to the west of Greenbriar Creek, but later a second route was proposed that placed it to the east of the creek and further away from Bishop. But DOT officials said Friday there is no current route because the design for the...

n fact, North Oconee coach Terry Tuley estimates they turned down 40 potential participants. “It’s a great venue and high school teams that go and play, this will be one of their tougher tests,” Tuley said. The tournament, held by the Athens Area Junior Golf Tour , features 27 teams from multiple classifications, including the boys and girls teams from North Oconee, Athens Academy and Oconee County. Prince Avenue Christian’s boys team will also participate.The tournament will be played at the University of Georgia golf course. North Oconee, Oconee County golf teams among participants in first Athens Classic

AARP Foundation Tax-Aide: 12:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. Monday, Oconee County Library, 1080 Experiment Station Road, Watkinsville. All programs are free and open to the public. For more information, visit aarp.org/taxaide. Storytime: 10 and 11 a.m. Tuesday and Wednesday, Oconee County Library, 1080 Experiment Station Road, Watkinsville. Storytime is for preschool aged children and their caregivers. Come for stories, songs, movement, crafts, and fun!. Women in Business - Fox’s Pizza Den: 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wednesday, Fox’s Pizza Den, 2971 Monroe Highway, Watkinsville., (678) 661-0220 Chess Club: 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday, Oconee County Library, 1080 Experiment Station Road, Watkinsville. Interested in chess? Play at the library! All experience levels (including beginners) welcome. Ages 7 and up. Free and open to the public. For more information, please call 706-769-3950 or visit www.athenslibrary.org/oconee. ¡Aprende Español! Semana Uno: 7 p.m. Wednesday, Oconee County L...