The City of Millen's TE-grant project on Cotton Avenue is starting to show visible results on the west end of the street. New sidewalks and greenery are in place, improving the appearance of the area and giving us an idea of what the street will look like when the project is completed.

It is going to be a great improvement, well worth the inconvenience experienced now.

Businesses on Cotton Avenue are open and front entries to them have been provided, despite the construction taking place. Also, many can be entered from the rear of the stores.

Hopefully, the project will be completed by the end of the year, as planned.

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Construction of the Savannah River Parkway through the City of Millen also has Highway 25 "torn up" pretty bad, and traffic is sometimes congested. It's difficult right now to imagine what that highway through the city is going to look like when this project is finally completed. Hopefully, two advantages will be that traffic will move smoother, and the area will be improved in appearance.

Until then, we will just have to "grin and bear" the road work.

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Happy birthday this week to: Vickie Cook, Coley Clifton, Heather Godbee, Ahmaya Gardner, Bruce T. Grier, Cade Oglesby and Geraldine Alligood.

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Celebrating wedding anniversaries this week are: Mr. and Mrs. George Hall and Mr. and Mrs. Chris Adams.

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Military Active Duty List: PV2 Brianna Joiner, U.S. Army National Guard, Ft. Leonardwood, MO; PV2 Jeremy Johnson, U.S. Army, 59th Quartermaster Company, Ft. Carson, Colorado; Ronnie Perryman, Charlie Troop, 108th Calvary Division, 4th Platoon, Afghanistan; Lance Cpl. Adam Lanier, U.S. Marines, 8th & I Marine Barracks, Washington, D.C.; E-4 Sr. Airman Roy Davis, U.S. Air Force, RAF Molesworth, United Kingdom; Lance Cpl. Patrick Barnette, U.S. Marines, Baharia, Iraq; Sgt. Adam Demshar, 44th Signal Battalion, Baghdad, Iraq; Cpl. Lee Ogden, U.S. Marines, Camp Pendleton, CA; E5 Petty Officer 2nd Class Eric B. Kelsey, U.S. Navy, NSA Naples, Italy; Senior Airman Charles F. Woods, Moody Air Force Base, Valdosta, GA; Stuart Burrus, U.S. Air Force, Osan AFB, Korea; SPC 4 Travis D. Motes, 1st Calvary Division, T. Hood, Texas; Capt. Donald Slade Burke, 735th Air Mobility Squadron Detachment 1 Commander, Richmond Royal Australian AFB, Richmond, Australia; Staff Sgt. Gilbert C. Sheppard III, 48th Brigade, 118th Field Artillery, Iraq; Petty Officer 3rd Class Jamie A. Yager, U.S. Navy, Marine Corps Base Hawaii; Petty Chief Officer Andy D. Crosby, U.S. Navy, Elroy Destroyer, Norfolk, Va.; Stephanie Crosby, R.N., U.S. Navy, Lafayette Destroyer; Jimmy Cooper, U.S. Army National Guard, 878th Engineering Battalion-Augusta, Persian Gulf ; 1st Lt. J.R. Taylor, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, Iraq; SPC. Daniel Stuart, 18th MEDCOM, 121 General Hospital, Seoul, Korea; Jeffrey Sweat, U.S. Navy, USS Kauffman, MM3 59/ E-Division, A-Gang, Norfolk, Va.; Cpl. Larry Lamont Clark, U.S. Marine Corp, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C. Bagdad, Iraq; Khan Young, U.S. Navy, U.S.S. Kitty Hawk, Persian Gulf; Robert Milton Jr., E-3, U.S. Army, Ft. Stewart, Hinesville, Ga., Mission Kuwait; Arnold R. Mosley, 2nd Lt., U.S. Air Force, Randolph AFB, Texas; and Debra A. Mosley, Tech. Sgt., U.S. Air Force, Randolph AFB, Texas; and SPC Charles "C.J." Amerson, U.S. Army, Camp Adder, Iraq.