Three opportunities for voters to meet with candidates whose names will be on the May 19 General Primary and Nonpartisan Ballot are scheduled for the week before or just as early voting begins on April 27.
Candidates for the contested Democratic and Republican primaries for Senate District 46 and the contested Republican primary for House District 120 have been invited to participate in the April 21 Candidate Forum at the Community Center in Oconee Veterans Park.
The Oconee County Board of Education has rejected two offers it received for 42.7 acres on U.S. 441 north of Bishop that the Board purchased in 2007 as a possible school site but that are now considered to be surplus property.
Board Chair Michael Ransom said on Thursday that the Board instructed Superintendent Melissa Butler to inform the two parties that had made the offers of the Board's decision after the Board’s work session on Monday night.
More than 300 people turned out at the Oconee County Administrative Building on Thursday to get close-up views of the three routes the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) is offering as alternatives for a truck bypass linking SR 15 with U.S. 441 south of Watkinsville.
The crowd started gathering at 4:30 for the 5 p.m. opening of the key exhibits in the Commission Chambers of the Administrative Building, and GDOT officials opened the doors to the Chambers 15 minutes early to accommodate the crowd.
The Oconee County Board of Education has decided to take the required legal step to issue $12.1 million in General Obligation Sales Tax Bonds to be retired by funds from the Education Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (ESPLOST) voters approved in November.
The bonds will be sold at interest rates not to exceed 5.5 percent per year, and principal is to be paid beginning in 2028 and running through 2032, or one year longer than the ESPLOST approved in November is scheduled to run.
The contest for the Democratic Party nomination for Congressional District 10 has become quite visible in recent weeks in Oconee County, as both of the active candidates have appeared before groups, each making the case that she is better able to flip the traditionally Republican district in November.
Lexi Doherty, who represented the party in the contest with incumbent Mike Collins two years ago, appeared before a group organized by residents of Presbyterian Village Athens at the Oconee County Library on Thursday afternoon. Doherty is from Athens-Clarke County.
The Oconee County Board of Elections and Registration has asked Gov. Brian Kemp to call a special session of the General Assembly to address the unresolved problem with the QR Code used to tabulate election ballots.
Elections and Registration Board Chair Jay Hanley said a copy of a resolution approved by the Board went out on Friday by regular mail and by email.
The Oconee County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday night voted unanimously to create the county’s own Emergency Medical Services (EMS) operation.
In addition to formally making that decision, and in support of it, the Board also voted unanimously to spend $1.1 million for five F-350 Ford trucks and $0.8 million to equip those truck as ambulances.
The Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) has identified three routes for the planned SR 15 truck bypass of Watkinsville that it will present at its Public Information Open House (PIOH) scheduled for 5 to 7 p.m. on April 16 at the Oconee County Administrative Building, 7635 Macon Highway, north of Watkinsville.
Listed as a First Alternative is a 1.76 mile route that is just south of the city limits of Watkinsville, involves 11 parcels, does not require the displacement of any structure, and has an estimated cost of $22.2 million.
Deferred Tax LLC will be back before the Oconee County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday night with its latest plan for development of the 46.9 acres it owns on the Oconee Connector between Mars Hill Road and SR 316 stretching to Virgil Langford Road.
This time, Deferred Tax is proposing a two-building, 26,000 square foot retail center with a restaurant on a 6.8 sub-parcel at the northwest corner of Mars Hill Road and the Connector.
Patrick Graham, owner of the Walton Tribune, announced on Friday that he has purchased The Oconee Enterprise from Oconee County businessman Mark Martin.
The purchase will take place immediately, and Graham said the Enterprise will not miss an issue.
A candidate forum for the contested state Senate District 46 and House District 120 races in the May 19 Party Primaries is scheduled for 5:30 to 8 p.m. on April 21 at the Community Center, Oconee Veterans Park, 3500 Hog Mountain Road, west of Butler’s Crossing.
Voters will have the opportunity to pose questions in one session to Republican candidates seeking the party’s nomination for Senate District 46 and in a separate session to the Democrats seeking the party nomination for Senate District 46.
Oconee County Schools released its official March 6 enrollment report on Friday, showing a decline in enrollments of seven students from the count on Oct. 7 of 2025.
Enrollment on Oct. 7, 2025, had been down by 192 students from Oct. 1 of 2024, and enrollment on March 6 of 2026 was down by 134 students from March 5 of 2025.
