The Cairo City Council got its first look at the proposed 2015-2016 operating budget Monday night and, if it stands, city rate payers will be paying a little more for water and sewer, but no other rate hikes are proposed or property tax increases. Cairo City Manager Chris Addleton is proposing a $2 per month…

The Grady County Board of Education took another step toward finalizing the issuance of $7 million in general obligation bonds to fast track school construction projects. Clifford C. (Bucky) Kimsey III, senior vice president of Raymond James & Associates appeared before the board Tuesday night to report on the bond placement. Kimsey told board members…

The Cairo City Council has backed away from moving forward with privatizing the collection of solid waste. At the April 27 council meeting, the council authorized City Manager Chris Addleton to negotiate a contract with Advanced Disposal and the contract was to have been put before the council for a vote on Monday night of…

United National Bank is gearing up for the celebration of its 15th anniversary later this month and shareholders in the bank will have a little more to celebrate after it was announced this week the bank will be paying a dividend of $1.25 per share to all shareholders of record as of June 1, 2015.…

The Grady County Commission is soliciting help from south Grady County residents to help locate a suitable site for garbage dumpsters to be placed. The owners of the Parkway Junction property in Beachton have notified county officials they want the dumpsters removed from their property as soon as possible. A small delegation of Beachton residents…

The Grady County Board of Education will likely hire five assistant principals and a new Cairo High School band director if all goes according to plan. Superintendent-elect Dr. Kermit Gilliard said this week that interviews for five assistant principal positions began last week and are wrapping up this week. He reported that interviews for CHS…

After 21 months of evaluating and researching by Grady County Administrator Carlos Tobar, the Grady County Commission accepted this week his recommendation to purchase new, Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) telephone equipment. Commissioners met Tuesday with Paul Odum of Odum Telecommunications, Inc. of Thomasville to discuss his low bid for the phone equipment. The only…

The city of Cairo is opening its landfill on Saturdays, once again, for the convenience of local residents. After a decline in use, the landfill had been shuttered on Saturdays but, beginning this month, the landfill will open on the first and third Saturdays of each month until further notice, according to Dana Barfield of…

Students at four Grady County schools are out of ice cream options for at least this week after the nationwide Blue Bell recall. Each principal said a Blue Bell representative was at her school before 8 a.m. Monday to retrieve any of their products still in the cafeteria’s ice cream freezers. Blue Bell voluntarily recalled…

Recent legislation makes it easier for Georgia consumers to finance solar systems and the city of Cairo is wasting no time in putting a policy in place to govern city residents who install solar or wind generation systems at their homes. The city council unanimously approved the new policy as recommended by City Manager Chris…