Local

The Blotter

The Blotter

The Blotter

The Hart County Sheriff’s Office made the following arrests:   Aug. 23 •Emmanuel Brown, 40, of Toccoa, was arrested and charged with probation violation, reckless driving, failure to maintain lane and open container.
The Hartwell Sun

The Hartwell Sun

City data: Spending by downtown visitors up $15 million in 2021

Over the last 12 months, the city of Hartwell has seen a “substantial increase” of people visiting its downtown area, according to the city’s commercial statistical tracking tool Nextsite. The number of “visits” to downtown Hartwell in the last 12 months is 1.
Photo submitted Vickery, pictured above, after winning the statewide “Main Street Hero” award last week.

Photo submitted Vickery, pictured above, after winning the statewide “Main Street Hero” award last week.

Hartwell Main Street coordinator honored with statewide award

During the annual awards ceremony of the Georgia Downtown Conference, the Georgia Downtown Association recognized Peggy Vickery with an Award of Excellence in the Organization category, naming her this year’s Main Street Hero.
Morris

Morris

Grand jury indicts Hart Co. man on child exploitation charges

Staff reports A grand jury at Hart County Superior Court indicted Stephen Clay Morris, 22, of Hart County, on five felony counts of sexual exploitation of children on August 17. Each felony stemmed from Morris allegedly watching child pornography that he had downloaded online with his computer.
Photo submitted Schaper working on her recovery during physical therapy at the Shepherd Medical Center in Atlanta, GA just months after her accident.

Photo submitted Schaper working on her recovery during physical therapy at the Shepherd Medical Center in Atlanta, GA just months after her accident.

‘Miracle’ recovery has Hartwell woman back on feet after wreck

By Emma Vick Contributor On a January morning on her way to drive her two sons to visit their grandparents’ house on the lake, Hartwell resident Loren Schaper looked down at some paperwork in the passenger seat, which led to a car accident, months of recovery and a drastic change to her life.
Dan Hunt/The Hartwell Sun

Dan Hunt/The Hartwell Sun

Bell YMCA opens playground

Several years of planning a playground for young members of the Bell Family YMCA and its programs came to fruition on Monday, Aug, 29 as YMCA director Mandy Floyd and others cut the ribbon on the new area, which contains a jungle gym, mulched center and grass perimeter.
The Hartwell Sun

The Hartwell Sun

Tax digest up by $253 million

Hart County’s gross tax digest is up by 19.99 percent from 2021, according to figures released by the Hart County Board of Education on August 30. The digest increase, up $252,992,447 to $1.519 billion, is the largest by both percentage and dollar amount in the past five years.
Photo credit: JV

Photo credit: JV

The Dawg Bark: NIL a good thing for college football?

It was fall of 2014 at the University of Georgia and the upcoming football games were my motivation to get me through the week of classes. Todd Gurley, then a junior in what many thought would be his final year in college, was going off.
Emilee Sanders winds up a pitch against Elbert County.

Emilee Sanders winds up a pitch against Elbert County.

Lady Diamond Dogs get revenge on Elbert

The Hart County High School softball team beat Elbert County on Tuesday after losing to the Devils a week prior. After taking their first loss to Elbert last week, the Lady Diamond Dogs started playing with a new ferocity.