Celebration kicks off GICA opening
06.29.09
• Commission Tony Thaw honored
"I was led to do this."
These heartfelt words from Glynn County Commissioner Tony Thaw, who spearheaded the effort that resulted in the creation of the Golden Isles Career Academy (GICA), kicked off last week's celebration of the technical school's official opening which included local and state officials.
Thaw acknowledged, "I did not do this alone. Every time we hit a stumbling block, the right person would show up and doors would open."
Thaw thanked The Facility Group which brought construction of the Career Academy in under budget and on time; GICA CEO Andy Lundell; Dr. Ralph Gornto, Director of High School Programs, who worked on GICA from the beginning; attorney Jim Bishop for his legal help plus Board of Regent assistance; Russ Moore of Seamless Education Consultants; Randal Morris of Georgia Pacific; Tony Sammons of Georgia Power; Steve Swan, Seaboard Construction; Gary Colberg, Southeast Georgia Health System; Bill Jones III and the Sea Island Company; Brunswick Golden Isles Development Authority which provided the land; the Brunswick Golden Isles Chamber of Commerce and Woody Woodside; Lorette Hoover, President of Altamaha Tech; Dr. Valerie A. Hepburn, President of Coastal College of Georgia; Georgia's governor Sonny Perdue; members of the Georgia legislature Rep. Jerry Keen and Rep. Roger Lane.

Traffic flow for Gateway project to change July 6
06.29.09
The St. Simons Island Gateway project will enter a key phase of construction this week and the flow of traffic on and off the island will be rerouted on Sunday, July 5, 2009.
On July 5 the portion of Kings Way, which has been closed to through traffic since March, will be reopened to allow traffic traveling onto the island to use Kings Way.
It will be the only incoming route to the island. Traffic will no longer use Demere Road to travel east onto St. Simons.
Beginning Sunday morning July 5th at 6:00 a.m., the contractor will begin work in the area where Demere Road meets Kings Way. Upon completion of this work, all island bound traffic will be redirected to Kings Way.

Special Guest Speakers for Independence Day Tea Party on St. Simons Island
06.01.09
Tea Party Patriots will once again be assembling on July 4th at Gascoigne Park/Bluff to protest government fiscally irresponsible spending and over-taxation of the American people. The event will be held from 11am – 3pm with food vendors, games for the kids, and a program beginning at 12:30pm that will feature special guests Barry Farber, legendary radio talk show host, and Jim Gossett, political comedian and satirist. We encourage everyone to bring your signs and come out to celebrate America as we take a stand for freedom and liberty.

CASA board holds annual meeting
06.29.09
Court Appointed Special Advocates Glynn (CASA) held their annual meeting last Tuesday, June 23 and along with receiving the year end financial report heard comments from guest speaker Lee Owen, the Executive Director of Communities of Coastal Georgia Foundation.
Owen was very supportive of the CASA volunteers, saying, " I want to thank you for what you do for the children of this community and this country. Dorothy in the “Wizard of Oz” may have said that “there’s no place like home, but it’s not so for a half a million children in the Unites States who are currently in the court system because they are not safe in the one place whose name should be synonymous with safety and refuge - home."
Continuing, Owen said, " Those in the court system are poked and prodded mentally by the police, judges, lawyers, therapists, and social workers because it is their job. But there is one person - the CASA volunteer, perhaps the only constant as the child is pushed through the legal pipeline - who is there for one reason and one reason only - because he or she cares about the child."