Area News

PYE HARRISONJuly 27, 1925-Oct. 20, 2008Services for Elwood (Pye) Harrison, 83, Cairo, will be held at 2 p.m. Thursday, October 23, 2008, at Pine Level Baptist Church. The Rev. Jim Weaver will officiate and interment will follow at Pine Level Cemetery.  Pallbearers are Ron Harrison, Eric Harrison, Timothy Allen, Bruce Brown, Walt Sellars, Chris Lovin,…

Grady County Tax Commissioner Phyllis Gainous and Cairo City Clerk Carolyn Lee both reported this week that tax bills have been placed in the mail and taxpayers should begin receiving them immediately.The county tax commissioner got off to a head start mailing a large batch Friday and then delivering the remainder to the post office…

The county’s auditors are calling for the closure of two bank accounts maintained by the Grady County Sheriff’s Office.County Auditor Tom E. Carmichael, Jr. of the Tifton firm of Bowen, Phillips & Carmichael, wrote to commissioners in a letter dated October 8, that two bank accounts maintained by Sheriff Harry Young’s office had not been…

A delegation of constitutional officers and county employees led by Chief Magistrate Larry Bearden staged a protest Tuesday night before the county commission over double digit pay raises authorized for employees of the clerk of court office in the 2009 operating budget.The county commission included the raises ranging from 13.6 percent to 22 percent for…

J. Patrick Ward, 67, passed away in Flagstaff, Ariz., on Sunday, October 12, 2008. Memorial services were held at 2 p.m. on Sunday, October 19, 2008, at the Pine Park Baptist Church. Visitation was held immediately following the service for family and friends.Mr. Ward was born in Thomasville, Georgia, on January 29, 1941, to the…

The Grady County Board of Commissioners officially nixed the idea of housing the new Grady County Sports Hall of Fame at the county courthouse Tuesday.Prior to adjournment of a special called meeting Commissioner Charles Norton made a motion to deny the request of the Sports Hall of Fame board to place the hall of fame…

Cairo Firefighter Mark Paytee, a 15-year veteran with the Cairo Fire Department, has raised the bar for his peers and other aspiring firefighter candidates by becoming Cairo’s first firefighter to earn a fire science technology diploma.Driven by a goal to become a shift supervisor, Paytee has made the trek to Valdosta Technical College (VTC) in…

Tuesday’s radio political forum featuring the two candidates for district attorney was marked by personal attacks and charges of fiscal mismanagement.Challenger Ryan Cleveland, a former assistant district attorney and Republican candidate, went on the offensive against his former boss with three weeks remaining until election day.Incumbent D.A. Joe Mulholland, a Democrat, challenged Cleveland to share…

A delegation representing the organizers of the new Grady County Sports Hall of Fame petitioned the county commission Tuesday to house the new hall of fame on the walls of the lower level of the courthouse, but commissioners were divided in their response.Cairo Mayor Richard VanLandingham, chairman of the hall of fame board of directors,…

Shots rang out at Cairo High School on Monday afternoon when Cairo Police Department (CPD) patrol officers and investigators wearing protective helmets, neck guards and bullet proof vests engaged intruders in a simulated hostile takeover attempt at CHS.After receiving classroom instruction in the morning, officers and intruders carrying Glock pistols loaded with nonlethal ammunition played…