By RICK NOLTE Staff Writer
For a few weeks early in 2024, Waycross became associated around the globe with an act of terrorism against our nation’s military.
City native Kennedy L. Sanders, 24, was among three U.S. Army reservists killed — all from Georgia — in a January 28 drone attack on their base in Jordan.
The news of the death of the former Ware County High School athletic standout and the following tributes to the fallen soldier brought the eyes of the nation and world to Waycross and Ware County. She was laid to rest with full military honors February 17.
In December, two men were arrested in Massachusetts on federal charges they exported sensitive technology to Iran used in the drone attack that killed the soldiers and injured 47 others.
In the months in between, new District 5 representative Alvin Nelson was seated on the Waycross City Commission, later removed by a judge’s order in a lawsuit challenging the 2023 election’s outcome, but then returned by order of the Georgia Supreme Court later in the year.
The city commission also lost its longtime representative in District 1 with the April death of Norman E. Davis, but wasn’t able to seat a successor until after a special election in November and a runoff in early December.
see 2024, Page 4 Melba Fiveash, Ware County Clerk of Superior Court since 2001, and employed in the Clerk’s office since 1968, announced in March she would retire at the end of her 2024 term.
2024 in review
Continued from Page 1 The primary election in May saw a change in two seats on the Ware County Commission as well as in the courthouse for Clerk and Probate Judge, whose officeholders ended long careers in those seats by announcing their retirements.
Following is a monthby- month look at the news highlights of 2024.
January
Mayor Michael-Angelo James was sworn in to his second term on the first day of 2024 to preside over meetings for a commission that was in a state of flux most of the year. Alvin Nelson, a commissioner in 2012-15, was also sworn in after edging Henry Strickland by 18 votes, which Strickland contested in a lawsuit filed in Ware Superior Court citing the use of incorrect maps to determine voting districts.
News of Sgt. Kennedy L. Sanders’ death and those of her comrades in a drone attack circulated on social media before the State Department officially released the names of the fallen soldiers, which included Sgt. William Rivers, 46, of Carrollton, and Spc. Breonna Moffett, 23, of Savannah.
Sanders’ parents, Shawn and Oneida, received a phone call from President Biden two days after the attack with the news she was being promoted from specialist to the rank of sergeant.
February
Waycross received building plans for two Wawa convenience stores to be located on South Georgia Parkway at George Street in the west and the intersection of Memorial Drive and South Georgia Parkway in the east. The stores are part of the Pennsylvania company’s entrance into Georgia, which also includes outlets in Jesup, Hinesville and Brunswick.
The city began distributing the last of the $650,000 in American Rescue Plan Act funds dedicated to citizens and businesses for property improvements. Nearly 170 applicants were approved for the third and final installment of the program’s funding.
Waycross celebrated Sanders’ life with a 90minute home going service in the packed 1,200-seat Ware County Middle School Auditorium before she was laid to rest with a 21-gun salute and taps in Oakland Cemetery.
A portion of Eads Street, where Sanders grew up, was renamed in her honor in a short ceremony a few days after her funeral. Her name also was added to the city’s memorial to fallen veterans in another ceremony.
Probate Judge Calvin Bennett announced he would not seek a sixth term and would retire when his current term expired at the end of the year. His retirem ent ended 54 years of government service that inc luded time in the U.S. Air Force, Georgia State Patrol and 20 years as judge.
Bennett
March
A 23-year-old man became the city’s first murder victim of the year following a shooting March 10 on Myers Street near Ann Street. Tyler Austin Fromknecht succumbed to gunshot wounds while being treated in a Florida hospital. Two juveniles were arrested on multiple charges, including murder.
Three people were arrested and charged March 26 with a variety of drug offenses when the Ware County Sheriff’s Office Drug Enforcement Unit concluded an ongoing investigation into a suspected drug distribution operation in Ware and Pierce counties.
The bust netted more than six pounds of methamphetamine, Ware Sheriff Carl James said.
April
Senior Judge Gary Mc-Corvey heard about six hours of testimony from seven witnesses during a hearing April 3 on Henry Strickland’s lawsuit challenging the outcome of his District 5 race with Alvin Nelson in the 2023 election.
McCorvey, retired from the Tifton Circuit, was appointed by the Waycross Judicial Circuit to hear the case, which incumbent Strickland filed citing incorrect maps being used to determine voting districts.
The Ware County Board of Education terminated Transportation Director Joe Meadows April 15 after
discovery of an open envelope of receipts found in the hallway of board offices led to an investigation by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
Meadows had served as Transportation Director since June 15, 2015. According to information obtained through an Open Records Request, the BOE stated Meadows disregarded the Ethics Standards 5 and 6 and also violated the district’s Fraud, Waste, Abuse, and Corrupt ion (Handbook pp. 44-45).
Norman Davis, who represented District 1 on the commission since January 1, 2006, died April 20 at age 83. He had last been present for a commission meeting April 2.
The city charter says a commissioner’s seat must be filled through election should he/she not be able to finish his term. The city aimed to hold an election during the May 21 Primary, but there was no quorum during a called meeting Monday, April 22 to consider a resolution for that purpose. The deadline to officially inform the board of elections was therefore missed.
The city also was seeking an attorney after Rick Currie announced his retirement effective April 30 after nearly 10 years in the post.
Davis
May
McCorvey ordered a new election May 2 for District 5 and removed Nelson from the seat until it could be held. County election officials said the earliest date would be during the November 5 General Election.
A former Brooklyn, N.Y., man with prior bank robbery convictions has been sentenced to 14 years in federal prison for robbing a Waycross bank.
Matthew McCloskey, 34, of Waycross, was sentenced to 168 months in prison after pleading guilty to robbing the Ameris Bank on Memorial Drive, September 9, 2022.
Longtime Ware County Coroner Atha Lucas died May 13. A Registered Nurse, Lucas had served in the role since 1993.
She was on the Republican Primary ballot facing challenger David Jordan at the time of her death. Jordan won the seat.
The primary results led to runoffs between incumbent Jerry Pope and Jon Tindall for the District 2 Ware Commission post, Steve Barnard and Janet Thrift for Probate Judge, and incumbent Buster Tyre and Albert Bussey for the District 3 Board of Education seat.
The GBI arrested a 19year-old Waycross man in connection with the May 26 shooting death of another teen. Austin Pittman, 19, was arrested and charged with felony involuntary manslaughter and misdemeanor reckless conduct in the death of Landon Bashlor, 18, in the 3400 block of Albany Highway.
June
Commuters driving east toward Blackshear and west to Waycross along U.S. Hwy. 84 experienced bottle necked traffic at the Pierce County/Ware County line crossing the Satilla River as work replacing the bridges began at the first of the month.
The project is expected to take three years for completion.
Waycross City Manager Ulysses “Duke’ Rayford presented a budget totaling $42,688,650 for Fiscal Year 2024-25 to city commissioners. The ledger showed an increase of about $4.7 million over the FY 2023-24 with most of that to cover inflation, Rayford said.
Waycross requested a place on November’s General Election ballot to fill the vacant District 1 seat on the city commission.
The three commissioners who comprised the Waycross City Commission — Sheinita Bennett, Katrena Felder and Diane Hopkins — failed to vote June 18 on a FY 24-25 budget meaning the city will operate on its current budget after the new fiscal year starts July 1. Bennett made a motion to approve the budget, but received no second to permit a vote.
Tindall (commission), Thrift (probate judge) and Tyre (school board) were the winners in the June 18 runoffs.
The Ware County Commission approved a budget of $49,066,800 for FY 24-25.
July
Rayford reintroduced the FY 24-25 budget during a commission meeting July 16.
An Alabama developer proposed building a multifamily- unit complex on
WJH FILE PHOTO
property in Ware County with the aim of having it annexed into the Waycross city limits. Vantage Development asked the city to bring water and sewer to the 11.75-acre tract just off the Brunswick Highway at the company's expense in the first step toward annexation into the city.
Willie E. Oliver, Shawn L. Roberts, and Jené E. Walker qualified to run for the vacant District 1 seat while Nelson and Strickland will vie for the District
5 seat in special election.
Ware County Schools Superint endent Bert Smith announced his retirement
Smith
effective November
30.
August
Impact was minimal from the remnants of Hurricane Debby early in the month. Sporadic power outages, mostly from fallen trees in city neighborhoods, flooding on outlying dirt roads and a delay in opening school were the major issues the city and county experienced from tropical storm Debby.
Commissioners voted 21 against approving the $42.668 million FY24-25 budget August 13.
Taylor Bristow, a former member of Ware County and Waycross law enforcement, died August 25 from injuries suffered after being shot five days earlier while attempting to serve a warrant at a residence in Carroll County. Bristow, 30, an investigator with the Carroll County Sheriff’s Office, was a 2012 graduate of Ware County High School who worked for both local agencies before moving to Carroll County in September, 2018.
September
Dr. Lynn Barber, Assistant Superintendent of Ware County Schools, was named “sole finalist” to replace Superintendent Bert Smith.
The Ware County Board of Education selected the lifelong county resident during its meeting September 10.
Waycross impaneled a Citizen Board of Ethics to consider a complaint filed by Clayton Nelson against Felder. The charge alleged
see 2024, Page 5 Continued from Page 4 improper credit card charges by Felder during a trip to Atlanta for city business as well as attending a partisan event while on city business.
2024
Nelson returned to his District 5 commission seat and the special election was removed from the General Election ballot by order of the Georgia Supreme Court. Nelson’s appeal of McCorvey’s ruling was scheduled to be heard by the high court in November. It has not yet been heard.
Hurricane Helene blew through the area at month’s end causing extensive wind damage and power outages which lasted more than a month for some people. Schools were closed for over two weeks as the results of winds which reached 71 mph.
October
Rayford reintroduced the FY 24-25 budget during a commission meeting October 8.
With much of the area still recovering from Helene and some areas still without power, Hurricane Milton gave a glancing blow to the area with minimal wind and rain.
Ware County Manager Scott Moye abruptly resigned October 14 behind a closed-door, executive session of the commission that lasted nearly three hours.
Neither Moye nor commissioners commented on the departure, which was effective immediately. Moye remained, on the payroll until December 31. County Clerk Melinda Brooks was named Interim County Manager.
The four-person city commission unanimously passed the FY24-25 budget in a meeting midmo nth.
November
Roberts and Walker headed to a runoff to decide the District 1 seat on the Waycross City Commission after voting November 5. Neither candidate received more than 50 percent of the 795 votes cast.
The District 1 voting was part of an impressive 71.95 percent turnout of the county’s 20,137 register ed voters.
December
Roberts took the oath of office December 6 to represent District 1 after winning the runoff against Walker, 143-59. His appearance at the commission’s called meeting December 9 marked the first time in 2024 all five commissioners were present.
A father-son duo from Waycross was arrested December 12 for the October 17 murder of Kimberly Guess of Blackshear.
Tracy Lee Bryant, Sr., 53, and Tracy Lee Bryant, Jr., 30, were charged with Malice Murder and Felony Murder in connection with Guess’s death. The Bryants were already in the Ware County Jail on drug charges when served with the murder warrants.
On December 13, the Waycross Ethics Board recommended prosecution by a city court as the penalty for Felder after the investigation of Nelson’s complaint.
The board’s 3-2 vote in a meeting in City Hall came after a 5-0 vote December 5 stating there was validity to the allegations.
The recommendation was presented to the city commission for review and possible action. A second Citizen Ethics Board voted December 19 to dismiss a complaint filed by Shawn Sanders against Felder and Hopkins.
Shawn Roberts (left) takes the oath of office as District 1 City Commissioner. He was sworn in by Acting City Attorney Huey Spearman (right) while Mayor Michael-Angelo James looks on.
Photo By RICK NOLTE
Moye
