Area News

The July 4th holiday will once again feature a big fireworks show for Cairo and Grady County on Wednesday evening, July 4th.  This will be the third year for the community event and this year promises to be even bigger and better. The celebration will be held at Cairo High School’s West Thomas Stadium. The stadium will open…

Grady County property owners should be on the lookout for assessment notices being mailed Wednesday by the Grady County Board of Tax Assessors. The annual assessments are not a tax bill, but are notices of the current taxable value of one’s property, according to the Grady County Board of Tax Assessors. The 2018 taxes that…

Citizens of Cairo are being encouraged to attend an important public hearing next Tuesday night, June 19 beginning at 6 p.m. in the city council chamber. The Cairo City Council is hosting the public hearing on the 2008 Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax Aquatic Center Project that was approved by local voters. The proposed…

Some local school buildings will soon have some new flooring finishes as a result of a little “horse trading” by Dr. Kermit Gilliard. The Grady County school superintendent outlined his recommendations to the Grady County Board of Education Tuesday night. Some cracking of new, polished concrete floors inside the new administrative building and media center…

If refinancing the county’s debt on Tired Creek Lake could extend the bond payments and reduce the need for a large tax increase this fall, some Grady County commissioners would like to learn more about their options. Last year, Clifford C. (Bucky) Kimsey III, of Raymond James & Associates told county leaders the county’s debt…

Questions about Grady County’s purchase of hay from a farm with connections to Grady County Commission Chairman Ray Prince were raised during Tuesday morning’s county commission meeting. Calling the discovery “troubling,” former commissioner Charles Renaud questioned what he described as approximately $5,000 in purchases from C&R Farms during 2017. Public records indicate that Grady County…

Issues regarding the alleged encroachment on Grady County mitigation sites in south Grady County and the growing legal bills associated with them were not discussed publicly during Tuesday’s Grady County Commission meeting. However, following the meeting Grady County Commission Chairman Ray Prince did answer some of The Messenger’s questions regarding the issue. “Actually there are…

Grady County commissioners have been questioning bills for legal services of one of its lawyers for the last three months and until only recently has it become public just what the attorney is working on. At the May 15 commission meeting, the board voted to approve payment of a $9,850.95 invoice from attorney Laura Benz.…

As Subtropical Storm Alberto was making landfall on the Florida Panhandle Monday, electric crews in Cairo were working to remedy a pair of unusual circumstances that left about two-thirds of the city without power, some for nearly six hours. Every utility lineman, apprentice and groundman for the city was called to duty, according to Rod…

The Grady County Board of Education got its first look at the proposed 2018-2019 operating budget Tuesday night. The total budget stands at $37,283,704. Increased state funding is growing the school system’s budget by $2,081,428 compared to the current budget. State funding for Quality Basic Education is increasing $1.2 million; austerity cuts of $472,425 have…