Approximately 75 people turned out in the extreme heat on Sunday to unveil a memorial marker on the north side of the Oconee County Courthouse in Watkinsville to recognize the lynching of nine individuals on that site 120 years ago.
The marker lists the names of the eight persons who lost their lives to the mob violence–one miraculously survived–and notes that the 1905 lynching was one of the deadliest such events in Georgia history.
More than 40 people were in the Commission Chamber as the Oconee County Planning Commission began the first of three public hearings on requests for zoning changes for three commercial developments in the county on June 16.
Four of those audience members spoke in opposition to the request by CK Capital to rezone 14.9 acres on Mars Hill Road at Bell Road so developer Chad Keller can build a nine-lot commercial development.
Oconee County has completed replacement of the 1,000 feet of forced main sewer line that produced three major spills in a year into a tributary to McNutt Creek that separates Tanglebrook subdivision and the Pinewood Estates South mobile home park.
As work was being completed on the new forced main replacement line, and before the switch to the new line, a minor spill occurred resulting from a break in the old forced main line.
Oconee County Democrats will have to return to the voting booth in four weeks to decide who will represent the party in the November election for District 3 Public Service Commissioner as none of the three candidates on the ballot on Tuesday received a majority.
In Oconee County, Robert Jones received 36.9 percent of the vote, with Peter Hubbard getting 35.9 percent, and Keisha Sean Waites receiving 27.2 percent.
Leading up to election day voting on Tuesday, only 2.0 percent of Oconee County’s eligible voters had cast a ballot in the special Democratic and Republican Party primaries for Districts 2 and 3 on the state Public Service Commission.
Reflecting the more competitive nature of the Democratic race than normal, 36.2 percent of the ballots cast were in the Democratic Party primary, with the remaining 63.8 percent cast in the Republican Party Primary.
The Oconee County Planning Commission on Monday (June 16) is scheduled to review requests for three separate commercial developments, one on Mars Hill Road, one on nearby Lenru Road, and the third on U.S. 441 at Spartan Lane.
The county planning staff has recommended approval of all three requests, but it is asking the Planning Commission and the Board of Commissioners to eliminate proposed B-2 (Highway Business) Zoning for one lot in the commercial development on Mars Hill Road.
A crowd of more than 2,400 filled College Square across from the Arch in downtown Athens on Saturday, braving at times heavy rain and a thunderstorm, to protest against the way Donald Trump is wielding his power as president.
Part of the national No Kings protest, the Athens event was organized by a coalition of seven local groups, including the Oconee County Democrats.
