Category: News

Stephens County Hospital has added Pediatrics to its Physicians Group. The hospital has organized a Morning at the Movies event to introduce Pediatrician Dr. Ebba K. Ebba, MD of Currahee Pediatrics, to the citizens of Stephens County. According to PR and Marketing Director Samantha Rickman, the event will be held at the Historic Ritz Theatre in downtown Toccoa. The Morning […]

Georgia students showed strong gains on the spring 2019 Georgia Milestones assessments. That’s according to the Georgia Department of Education, which announced that scores in all grades increased or held steady on 25 of 26 assessments. Specifically, the percentage of students achieving the Proficient Learner level and above increased or held steady on 25 of 26 End of Grade  and […]

Georgia high school students showed strong gains on the spring 2019 Georgia Milestones assessments. That’s according to the Georgia Department of Education, which announced that scores increased or held steady on 25 of 26 assessments. Specifically, the percentage of students achieving the Proficient Learner level and above increased or held steady on 25 of 26 End of Grade  and End […]

A fast-food worker from Franklin County is among those arrested by the GBI in a multi-agency child pornography sting. According to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation,  nine people were arrested over a three-day period beginning Thursday, July 25. They included 29-year old Fredrick Smith, of Royston, whose occupation is listed as fast-food worker/deliveryman. Smith and the other eight arrested were […]

Georgia continues to set records in job listings and employment, with more than 20,000 jobs added in the month of June. That’s according to State Labor Commissioner Mark Butler. He says the preliminary numbers showed year-over-year gains in employment and workforce. At the same time, claims for unemployment insurance were near record lows. Nationally, the unemployment rate inched up 0.1 […]

Application forms for the free or reduced school breakfast/lunch programs are being sent to parents and guardians of students for the 2019-2020 academic year. This week, the Georgia Department of Education School Nutrition Program released its policy for free and reduced price meals in schools. The School Nutrition Program is designed for families who are unable to pay the full […]

The Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax Intergovernmental Agreement between Stephens County and the cities of Toccoa, Martin, and Avalon has been approved by all parties. During the Stephens County Board of Commissioners’ special called meeting Tuesday, the board voted and approved the SPLOST VII agreement, finalized with the county receiving 68.25% and the City of Toccoa receiving 31.75%, after […]

The Stephens County Board of Commissioners will meet this morning to consider approving the SPLOST VII Intergovernmental agreement with the cities of Toccoa, Martin and Avalon. The County had initially proposed a 70%/30% split of the next Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax after the revenue shares for the Towns of Martin and Avalon were taken out. After weeks of […]

Ten construction projects were awarded to the Northeast Region in June that totaled just over $28 million, and Stephens County is on the list for some of those projects. CW Matthews Contracting in Gainesville was awarded the contract to resurface State Route 17 in Habersham and Stephens Counties between SR184 and SR365. The project has an estimated completion date of […]

Toccoa Police Chief Jimmy Mize is calling this month’s Operation Southern Shield a success with 11 arrests inside the City limits. Operation Southern Shield was a five-state summer initiative that ran the week of July 15 and was primarily designed to catch speeders and reduce the number of traffic fatalities. But Mize says he used the opportunity to turn it […]