Commercial Truck Insurance in Milledgeville, GA

Fortunately, the much-hyped "potent storm" that began Monday night ultimately wasn't as potent as previously predicted.

Conditions were ripe for a tornado, but Baldwin County never experienced any tornado-like winds, according to Emergency Management Agency Director Wayne Johnson. However, the winds were strong enough to down enough trees to cause prolonged power outages. Roughly 3,000 local customers were without power at various points of the day, according to Johnson.

Creeks rose following heavy rain. Three floodgates opened at the dam. Several Baldwin2k reported receiving three inches of rain, while two readers counted closer to five inches in their respective rain gauges.

There have been three confirmed torandoes in Baldwin County in the last seven years, including the one that barrelled along Martin Luther King Jr. Drive and Barrows Ferry Road last April. Last spring's seven-mile-long tornado, according to the National Weather Service, began in the Wray Homes/West End projects before widening out and barreling past the new health department and Atrium Health Navicent Baldwin. The tornado, which was roughly 250 yards wide at its widest point, then followed along Martin Luther King Jr. Drive and over North Jefferson Street. After battering parts of the Graham Homes/Boddie projects and Barrows Ferry Road, the tornado crossed the river and across Lake Laurel Road and Black Springs Road. The National Weather Service classified the tornado as an EF-1, which equals wind speeds between 86-110 miles per hour. An EF-1 is the second-lowest category behind EF-0. The scale goes from 0-5, with an EF-5 tornado equalling wind speeds of 200-322 miles per hour.

A piece of sheet metal hangs from a telephone poll in front of CVS at the corner of North Jefferson and MLK following last April's tornado.

The restaurant sign in front of Ms. Stella's took a topple in the storm following last April's tornado.

A home on West Mitchell Street took a hit from a hardwood tree following last April's tornado.

One of the gas pumps at the convenience store across from Goodie Gallery was completely uprooted following last April's tornado.

Multiple roofs at the Northside Baptist Church property were compromised following last April's tornado.

The restaurant has been built out. Hiring is underway. At this point, there's only a few more building inspections and then WNB Factory will be ready to open here in Milledgeville.

Located in one of the corner parcels in the Big Lots Shopping Center, WNB Factory will offer a relatively wide variety of menu options, including cheesesteaks, fried rice, numerous plant-based menu items and, of course, "wings n burgers." At its core, though, the franchise is a "craft burger kind of concept," according to Robert Bales, the company's vice president and chief operating officer.

"It's all certified angus beef. We do smash burgers. We like to think of our burgers as 'upper-scale burgers,' but we also try very hard to keep our price points in line with the other restaurants in town," he said, adding that "the burgers will start at $5.99."

One of the franchisees of the Milledgeville WNB Factory is Allisha Gray, who's probably the best female basketball player ever to come out of this part of Georgia. Gray was a middle Georgia basketball legend at Washington County High School, where she only lost four games during her entire high school career and averaged 32 points per game during the 2010-2011 season, leading Waco to a state title. Gray then went off to college and won a college national championship at South Carolina and was the fourth overall pick in 2017 WNBA draft. She also is an Olympic gold medalist.

Off the court, meanwhile, Gray also is making history, as she will become one of only a small handful of African-American female restaurant franchisees in Georgia.

The local WNB Factory is a family affair. Brother A.J. Gray also is one of the other franchisees and will oversee the Milledgeville restaurant. A.J. Gray also was an elite athlete, once scoring five touchdowns in the first half against Baldwin while quarterbacking the Golden Hawks. Gray then went on to start in the secondary in college for Georgia Tech. Meanwhile, the third franchisee is Tim Mangum, Jr., who is Allisha's boyfriend.

Al Bundy once scored four touchdowns in one game against Andrew Johnson High, while A.J. Gray once scored five touchdowns just in the first half against Baldwin High!

WNB Factory is targeting Sept. 19 for a "soft opening" in Milledgeville, although nothing has been set in stone. The restaurant will seat 45 and eventually will file for a "beer and wine license" with the city government.

It's not immediately clear if the franchise's Milledgeville location will have the exact same prices as its two in Macon. For whatever it's worth, however, HERE is the Macon menu and prices.

WNB Factory also will offer carryout and direct delivery, while also partnering with all of the different third-party delivery services here in Milledgeville, according to Bales.

Whatever some members of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity at Georgia College had planned for Alumni Weekend, it definitely wasn't this.

The Ocmulgee Drug Task Force, assisted by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation's Middle Georgia Gang Task Force and local law enforcement, executed a search warrant at 321 West Montgomery St. last Friday night, which coincided with the start of Alumni Weekend at GCSU, always one of the biggest party weekends of the year.

The large home isn’t technically affiliated with the national chapter of the fraternity, although around here it’s the de facto “Pike House.”

Certain drug busts involve long hours and weeks of planning, while others just sort of fall into law enforcement's lap. The latter happened here, as a representative from one of the parcel services reportedly tipped off law enforcement about a possible large delivery of drugs to the residence at 321 West Montgomery St. Law enforcement rallied, raiding the house and locating "a large amount of suspected marijuana, THC Vape cartridges, THC gummies, THC wax, and suspected mushrooms (Psilocybin)," according to a GBI press release.

Drew Charles Courtenay, 19, easily is facing the most serious charges – possession of a Schedule I or II Controlled Substance with intent to distribute, as well as possession of marijuana with intent to distribute. Courtenay, pictured at top and on the left, was listed with an address in the 400 block of West Montgomery. Joseph Lombardi, 20, was booked on one count of possession of a Schedule I or II Controlled Substance. Lombardi, pictured at top and in the middle, was listed with a nearby West Montgomery Street adress. Meanwhile, Noah Petrick, 21, was charged with possession of cocaine. Petrick was the only one who lived at the frat house, according to arrest reports.

"Further arrests are pending," added the GBI press release.

Added the release: "If anyone has information about this investigation, please contact the Middle Georgia Gang Task Force at 478-414-5997 or the MGGTF Macon Office at 478-207-1301.Tips can also be submitted by calling 1-800-597-TIPS(8477), online at https://gbi.georgia.gov/submit-tips-online, or by downloading the See Something, Send Something mobile app."

Voters have approved a TSPLOST referendum by nearly a 3-to-1 margin.

Turnout was predictably low. Out of the 25,904 registered voters in Baldwin County, 23,039 of them didn't vote. The final tally was 2,120 "yes" votes (74.07 percent) and 742 "no" votes (25.93 percent).

The new TSPLOST goes into effect on April 1, 2024, which is when the local sales tax will increase from 7 cents to 8 cents.

Baldwin County has had a "school SPLOST" and a "local government SPLOST" for more than 30 years now, although the new "transportation SPLOST" will be a new concept around here. TSPLOST is expected to raise roughly $45 million over a span of five years for road repairs and other transportation projects.

TSPLOST revenues will be divvied between the county commission and the Milledgeville City Council. The county government previously released its list of "county roads" that would benefit from TSPOST, hitting many of the high notes, like Lake Laurel Road and Log Cabin Road. County Manager Carlos Tobar said that the goal is either to resurface every road on the list and in some cases repair the road base prior to resurfacing.

"You have to make sure that the base is solid before you resurface," he said.

Below is the list of county roads...

It's an ambitious list, but Tobar said that he's "pretty confident" that every road on the list can be completed within the five-year timeframe. Tobar added that the county also would utilize Local Maintenance & Improvement Grant (LMIG) money from the state, which is basically a 50-50 match from the Georgia Department of Transportation.

So, which roads on the list would be fixed first? If TSPLOST passes, Tobar said that the county commissioners will "prioritize" the list. Tobar added that it likely would be "prioritized" by some combination of the most traveled roads and the roads most in need of repair.

THE "CITY" LIST

CLICK HERE to view City Hall's most recent "street resurfacing ratings" list, which was compiled by an engineer and recently released to the public. It's an especially long list (11 pages worth), and there's a lot to read. While perusing, keep in mind that the higher the "rating number," the sooner that that stretch of road would be repaired.

In July, Governor Brian Kemp signed an executive order to demolish three buildings at Central State Hospital: the Green, the Jones, and Walker buildings.

MILLEDGEVILLE, Ga. — It’s had many names. The State Lunatic Asylum, The Georgia State Sanitarium, The Milledgeville State Hospital, and finally Central State Hospital.

The campus opened in 1842 becoming the world's largest mental hospital. The state closed it officially in 2010 and now some of it will disappear.

In July, Governor Brian Kemp signed an executive order to demolish three buildings on campus: the Green, the Jones, and the Walker building.

Former interim Executive Director of the Central State Hospital Redevelopment Authority says the state Green Building is a shame. But not just because of the broken windows.

“It's a shame that such a historically significant and architecturally significant building has been left to the elements,” Walter Reynolds said.

Reynolds says the place runs in his DNA.

“I'm actually the fourth generation of my family to work on this campus,” Reynolds said. “My great-grandfather worked in the steam plant, both of my grandmothers were nurses, my great-uncle was the photographer for the campus, and both of my parents worked with the Department of Corrections.”

He says the Green Building is just one piece of the hospital's history.

“It was actually one of the first buildings completed immediately following the Second World War. This would've been open around 1946 and it served as a patient dormitory,” Reynolds said.

He says it was named after the hospital's second superintendent, Dr. Thomas Green.

Credit: 13WMAZ

The plaque describing the Green building can no longer be found in front of it

“They really put an emphasis on making sure the people weren’t unnecessarily restrained or otherwise limited in their ability. They really wanted people to act as normal as possible and really enjoy a quality of life here,” he said.

For around 12,000 patients on campus, there were large dorms, bunk beds, showers, and activity spaces.

“For patients to come and go with relative freedom,” he said.

However, between the 1960s and the 90s, Reynolds says there was a move towards deinstitutionalization.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled people could not be confined just because of a mental illness.

"So, the state was beginning to get out of the mental health care business at that point,” Reynolds said.

Although the building was briefly used in the 90s by the Baldwin School District to teach Head Start, the number of patients decreased and the wings were closed.

“30 years on, there's been no serious maintenance effort for this building,” Reynolds said.

Water damage, decay, graffiti, vandalism, and asbestos have taken over the building.

Reynolds says it's a shame.

“There were so many people that walked these halls. The state had let this go on so long that this building is practically beyond salvage."

Now, he says it's a shame to tear it down because it was once great.

“These tell the story of not only Central State Hospital but Milledgeville as the former capital city. It tells the story of so many individuals who were touched by the mental health care system in this county. Building demolition is a travesty because it means we failed to do something in time,” Reynolds said.

On Monday, 13WMAZ spoke with the State Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disorders, who own the buildings.

They said their next step is to talk to the Georgia Department of Community Affairs' Historic Preservation division, which is required in the demolition order regarding historic preservation.

They said they will not be moving forward with demolition until they get recommendations back.

Reynolds says if you're concerned about the preservation of Central State Hospital's campus, he encourages folks to reach out.

If you'd like to learn more about the buildings and join the community surrounding the campus, the Friends of Central State Hospital Facebook group has almost 12,000 followers.