Highlights of 2007
By Deborah Bennett Millen News Editor

Highlights of 2007 from files of The Millen News are as follows:

• Retiring Jenkins County Commissioner J.C. Douglas is recognized.

• City of Millen appoints Planning and Zoning Commission.

• Jenkins County Mental Health and Addictive Disease Outpatient Clinic is closed due to lack of funding.

• Martin Luther King Jr. Day is observed with parade and other activities.

• The Millen Rotary Club sponsors park project on Cotton Avenue

• Jenkins County High School Principal Diane McNeely is named Director of Educational Services at board of education central office.

• Jenkins County High/Middle schools cafeteria is recognized for nutrition standards.

• "Facing the Giants" actor speaks at West Millen Baptist Church.

• Possible remnant of Camp Lawton is unearthed at Magnolia Springs State Park.

• Jenkins County High School (JCHS) graduate Arthur Lamont Milton Jr. is wounded in Iraq.

• City of Millen receives $200,000 Brownfields Assessment Grant.

• Jenkins County receives state's 10th "Scenic Byway" designation.

• Megan Lane and Marsha Madray are JCHS's STAR student and teacher, respectively.

• Jenkins County Board of Education (BOE) approves transfer of school principals. Dr. Joey Kirkland is named JCHS principal and Nicole Washington is named Jenkins County Middle School principal.

• Deceased, longtime extension agent Harold Brantley is inducted into the Agriculture Hall of Fame with his family accepting the award on his behalf.

• County adopts Public Nuisance Ordinance.

• Tracy Harley pleads guilty to murder of husband Steven Harley.

• Jockey International announces closing of Millen facility.

• Millen/Jenkins County Chamber of Commerce receives $25,000 grant from the Georgia Department of Labor.

• Morgan Johnson is named "Miss JCHS" during the school's scholarship pageant.

• City of Millen bans "boot drives" in the city. • Easter freeze does extensive damage to local crops. • Dr. R. Hunter Rackley Sr. died April 18.

• Thomas G. Harris is recognized by former students.

• Jenkins County Commission and Jenkins County Hospital Authority meet to discuss county support for the construction of a new emergency room.

• Megan Lane and Jessica Herrington are named JCHS 2007 valedictorian and salutatorian, respectively.

• Chester Joyner is selected as a Governor's Honors finalist to participate in a six-week instructional program at Valdosta State University.

• Rico Walker is found guilty of the murder of Steven Harley.

• Jenkins County receives "Entrepreneur Friendly" designation.

• Jenkins County school system implements Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps (JROTC).

• Jenkins County Magistrate Court initiates "Five o'clock Court" to handles littering, bad checks and mobile home citations.

• Jenkins County Forestry Service aids Waycross fires.

• Search for missing Millen man Gregory Joyner begins. He is later found at a residence at Rogers Landing.

• Jenkins County ranks second in state in unemployment.

• Construction on train viewing platform at the Millen/ Jenkins County Chamber of Commerce begins.

• County budget reveals no property tax increase.

• Millen Police Chief Dennis Simmons retires.

• Jenkins County Recreation Department Mite Girls place fifth in state tournament.

• Jenkins County BOE adopts new electronic device policy.

• The 2007 "Kids Count" Data Book, funded by the nonprofit Annie E. Casey Foundation, indicates that more Jenkins County children are living in proverty.

• Marsha Madray is named "Teacher of the Year" for Jenkins County. Lyn Rhodes is named Jenkins County Middle School

Teacher of the Year" and Eleanor Jackson earns the title at Jenkins County Elementary School.

• Domestic dispute ends in the death of William Clarence Hurt by his wife Jill Marie Clayton. No charges are filed.

• North Jenkins County Volunteer Fire Department receives

132,516 grant for the purchase of a brush truck and breathing air packs.

• City of Millen adopts Curfew Ordinance. • Millen/Jenkins County Fire and Rescue receives fire safety grant for the Buzzly Fire Safety Program to be taught in local schools.

• Cavalier Home Builders announces the termination of 124 jobs.

• City of Millen receives $500,000 Community Development Block Grant for utilities improvements.

• Kasey Arnold Lane is killed in farm accident.

• Jenkins County school system makes Annual Yearly Progress.

• Georgia Department of Transportation cracks down on highway signs, notifying several local businesses that they must remove their signs.

• City of Millen announces it will organize a Department of Public Safety that will combine its police and fire departments.

• Jenkins County BOE proposed 49.52 percent tax increase and holds three public hearings on the matter. Later adopts 35.28 percent tax increase.

• MI Windows and Doors announces closure of two of its Millen plants.

• Mayor King Rocker and city councilmen Darrel Clifton and Lee Ward Williams are reelected.

• Don Eddie Galbreath is recaptured in Effingham County after escaping from the Jenkins County Jail.

• Jenkins County Commissioners consider construction of lake on Big Buckhead Creek.

• Adam Lanier is selected for U.S. Armed Forces Honor Guard.

• City Administrator Al Knight resigns for "personal reasons."