Eight people were charged with drunken driving in Screven County last week, including a 15-year-old Sylvania girl without a license who scored twice the legal limit for alcohol and had six passengers, including two small, unsecured children. Trooper 1st Class R.M. Sowell of the Georgia State Patrol was conducting a license and registration check at 11:30 p.m. Friday night, Aug. 27, at Ogeechee Road and Highway 17 when he stopped a car driven by the girl.
Screven County has been besieged by clouds of lemon yellow butterflies. Experts say they aren’t sure, but a combination of warm, wet weather, plentiful food and a lack of predators may explain why there are so many this year. Several experts from the University of Georgia who viewed photos of the Screven County butterflies said they likely are Cloudless Sulphur butterflies – fancy Latin name “phoebis sennae.”
A resident of Sand Hill Lane was mowing her yard Monday when the mower hit something. She stopped to see what it was and discovered it was a handgun. She brought it to the sheriff’s department. Sgt. Brett Dickerson said it’s a Hi-Point .380-caliber semi-automatic handgun. Though the mower chewed off part of the gun’s handle, Dickerson said he thinks the gun would still fire. The magazine didn’t have any ammunition in it, but Dickerson wasn’t sure if that was caused by the mower. He said investigators will check to see if it was stolen or comes up in any crime records.
The Screven County Sheriff’s Department arrested two convicted felons Tuesday for possessing firearms. The two cases were unrelated, but resulted in similar charges being lodged against the offenders, said Sheriff’s Department Sgt. Brett Dickerson. “We just had a gun day,” said Investigator Michael Duncan. In the first case, the department received information that Warren Lewis “Pee Wee” Stafford, 35, had firearms hidden in his bedroom on Farmdale Road. Stafford gave officers permission to search and they found two rifles and two pistols.
Parent University started up for the 2010-2011 school year Sept. 2, starting at 5:30 p.m. at the former Performance Learning Center located on Pine Street with information about AYP. Food was provided to those who attended the event. Childcare was provided. The Tech Bus was available in the parking lot for children to play educational computer games. The class for the parents was on Adequate Yearly Progress or AYP. To answer questions about AYP, a part of the federal No Child Left Behind, were the principals from the elementary, middle and high schools.
A 2-year-old Newington boy running in the middle of Highway 17 Sunday afternoon was corralled safely by passers-by. Authorities said the boy’s father was asleep in a nearby house when the child wandered off. No charges had been filed against the father -- 23-year-old Anthony Taylor of Atlanta -- but the Department of Family and Children Services and the Screven County Sheriff’s Department were investigating and charges were possible, said Sgt. Brett Dickerson of the sheriff’s department.
Sylvania Telephone readers have gotten to know a handful of the dogs and cats rescued by Screven County’s new rescue group in its first year of business. There was Miracle, the pit bull who was frighteningly emaciated but after surgery and loving care filled out and became a beloved pet. Then there was Dee Dee, the puppy who cheated death twice – first by hiding at the county shelter while her mother and siblings were euthanized and later by surviving parvo virus she contracted there.
A counselor at AMIkids and his brother were arrested Aug. 19 and accused of planning to sell drugs to youths at the school. A staff member overhead some of the students discussing drugs coming into the facility that night and called authorities. The Screven County Sheriff’s Department and Sylvania Police Department worked with AMIkids staff to intercept the drugs and make the arrests.
David B. Buie has done something very few have or ever will achieve. He has pastored local churches for 50 years. Most Baptist ministers over time move around. Some never come close to five decades as a pastor and some churches make changes in who will lead their congregation. The current pastor of Little Horse Creek Baptist Church will be honored with a walk-through reception Aug. 29 between 3 and 5 p.m. at the church. Everyone is invited.
