News, Obituaries, & Sports

On January 30, 2026, a Spalding County jury convicted Kaomarion Lashaun Kendrick of Felony Murder, Aggravated Assault (2x), Possession of a Firearm during Commission of a Felony, Possession of a Handgun by Person Under 18 years of Age, and Violation of Street Gang Terrorism and Prevention Act (3x). The Honorable Benjamin D. Coker of the Spalding County Superior Court sentenced the Defendant to serve life in prison without the possibility of parole followed by eighty-five year

A Morrow man has been arrested in connection with threats that led to a lockdown at an Upson Lee North elementary school in Upson County, Sheriff Dan Kilgore said.   Demarcus Deon Spivey, 31, was taken into custody Sunday afternoon, Feb. 1, in Clayton County on warrants out of Upson County, the sheriff said.   Investigators say Spivey was responsible for threats made to Upson Lee North   Elementary School on the morning of Friday, Jan. 30. According to authorities, he called

The Spalding County Water Authority has issued a Do Not Consume Water Advisory as a precautionary measure due to a potential contamination of its water source. Earlier today, the City of Griffin, the sole water provider for the Spalding County Water Authority, was notified of a fuel spill originating near Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport that reached the Flint River. While initial information indicated the spill had not reached the area of Griffin’s water inta

At approximately 9:30 a.m. today, a threat was called in to Upson-Lee Elementary School. The anonymous caller reported being inside the school and claimed to be armed. Upon receiving the threat, school personnel immediately activated their Centegix safety system, and the school was placed on lockdown. The School Resource Officer and school staff took immediate action to secure students and staff. The Upson County Sheriff’s Office responded immediately, along with additional l

Silvertown Baptist Church invites all their friends and neighbors, new and old, to worship and fellowship with the church one last time. The service starts at 10:45am. Past deacon Jamey Grover is preaching, and former music minister Kim Grover will rejoin the praise team. Come celebrate what God has done and look forward in hope to what he is doing next. If you’re able, please let them know you’re going through their Facebook event so they are  prepared for the dinner afterwa

Georgia Department of Transportation employees in the west central district are preparing to begin brine operations as a snow event is expected to impact much of the state starting Saturday morning. They will begin brining all counties east of (and including) Coweta, Meriwether, Upson, Crawford, Peach and the northern half of Houston at 7 a.m. Friday and continue overnight. This will include Interstate 85 in Coweta County, I-475, I-75, and I-16. Brine will also be applied to

TOP TEN CORPORATE TAXPAYERS FOR UPSON COUNTY – 2025 TAX YEAR  NAME ASSESSMENT COUNTY TAX AMT %TOTAL LEVY  Interfor 39,909,064 $513,039 4.24  West GA Generating 34,850,574 $329,686 2.73  Southern Natural Gas 21,991,569 $276,901 2.29  Georgia Power 21,819,515 $256,876 2.12  Solo Cup 22,673,115 $226,799 1.88  Quad-Graphics 16,486,163 $194,758 1.61  Southern Mills 17,059,887 $114,356 .95  Wal-Mart 5,644,425 $53,396 .44  Upson EMC 4,107,448 $50,241 .42  Highline 3,824,735 $36,182

ATLANTA  – Today Governor Brian P. Kemp's office announced the following judicial appointments: Steven Blackerby to the Superior Court of the Brunswick Judicial Circuit, filling a vacancy created by the resignation of Judge Robert W. “Bert” Guy; Kristi Goodwin Connell, to the Superior Court of the Augusta Judicial Circuit, filling a vacancy created by the passage of Senate Bill 145; James “Jim” Kiger to the Superior Court of the Douglas Judicial Circuit, filling a vacancy cre

No candidate topped 50 percent in the six-county special election Tuesday night. LeMario Nicholas Brown and Steven McNeel are heading to a runoff in the special election for Georgia State Senate District 18, according to unofficial results posted Tuesday night by the Georgia Secretary of State. With all precincts reporting across the six-county district, Brown, a Democrat, finished with 36.93 percent of the vote, while McNeel, a Republican, placed second with 21.29 percent. B

BY  NOON  SUNDAY  CENTRAL  GEORGIA'S  SNOW  EVENT  WAS  MELTING  AWAY--A  BLANKET OF  SNOW  THAT  STARTED  EARLY  IN   SUNDAY  MORNING. UPSON  COUNTY  SHERIFF  DAN  KILGORE/COMMISSION  CHAIRMAN  DAN  BRUE AND  CITY  OF  THOMASTON  MANAGER  RUSSELL  THOMPSON  TOLD   101  NEWS  SUNDAY  MORNING   ALL    CITY   AND    COUNTY  OPERATIONS  WERE   WORKING  AS  USUAL.   CHANNEL  TWO   ACTION  NEWS  HAD  A  MOBILE  CRUISER  IN  UPSON  AND  PIKE  COUNTIES  AND  REPORTED  THE  ROAD  TEM

The Upson-Lee NJROTC rifle program delivered a strong performance at the Area 9 Championship held on January 10, 2026, in Anniston, Alabama. Both the Precision and Sporter teams earned third place finishes against top competition from across the region. Leading the way for the Precision team was highest shooter Jayla Smith (549) while Madison Jones (495) posted the top score for the Sporter team. With this accomplishment, the Upson-Lee NJROTC Precision team qualified to advan

Superintendent Announces Retirement Effective June 2026 Dr. Larry Derico, Superintendent of the Thomaston-Upson County School System, has announced his intention to retire, effective June 2026. Derico has served as Superintendent since June 2018. He joined the district office in 2005 after serving as a teacher and assistant principal in both the Meriwether and Thomaston-Upson school systems. At the T-U district office, he served as Director of Federal Programs from 2005-2010,

A sixteen year old male student was taken in custody by deputies this morning at Upson Lee High School after a Ruger .380 caliber pistol was located in his backpack by school personnel as he walked through the OpenGate detection system . The child has been removed from the school. The pistol is reported as “lost” from the Atlanta Police jurisdiction. This case is being actively investigated and the juvenile has been charged with Possession of a Weapon on school property, Poss

LaKeitha Thompson The City of Thomaston  council meeting, LaKeitha Thompson and Kathleen Thompson were recognized for their actions on the morning of December 13, 2025. Lakeitha Thompson was passing by a home that was on fire and immediately stopped to see if anyone was home. She made contact with an elderly female, dialed 911 and assisted with helping her out of the burning home. Kathleen Thompson Kathleen Thompson jumped into action assisting Lakeitha with the elderly femal

The Thomaston city councel appointed Ethan Evans and Emma Goen to the youth councel. Ethan Evans and Emma Goen

A 6th grade juvenile at Upson Lee middle school was killed and his brother a UL football star Jayden Skelton received serious injuries Tuesday afternoon when the Ford truck that they were riding in left the roadway and hit a tree on 74 West near the Upson County line in Pike County The Pike County sheriff's deputies said the juvenile a youth basketball player was deceased at the scene, and recent graduate Jayden was airlifted to a Macon trauma center reportedly with critical

A man was sent to the hospital after being trapped in an accident with a semi-truck trailer on the wrong side of the road in Upson County on Tuesday morning.  According to the Georgia State Patrol (GSP), around 6:20 a.m., a tractor-trailer was facing west in the right eastbound travel lane of State Route 36 at its intersection with Willis Road as it attempted to back onto the road to make a delivery at the top of a hill. As a Ford F-150 traveling in the opposite direction app

ERIK   FOSTER ACCORDING  TO  UPSON COUNTY  MANAGER  LONNIE  JOYCE--THE  NEW  THOMASTON-UPSON  RECREATION  DIRECTOR  IS  PIKE  COUNTY  COACH  ERIK   FOSTER   AND  HE  ASSUMES  HIS  DUTIES  FRIDAY. COACH   FOSTER    IS    A  MARINE  VETERAN   AND   IS  A  FORMER  ASSISTANT  COACH  AT  UPSON-LEE .

A special elections been set for January 20th to fill the 18th district state Senate seat of John Kennedy who resigned to focus on his run for Lieutenant governor among candidates are ex Forsyth Mayor Eric Wilson Macon  attorney Stephen McNeil former Senator Lauren Daniel and Eugene Allison from Thomaston, the election dates for Upson county January 20th special election December 29 th ,  8:30 AM to 5:00 PM and on Saturdays 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM January 3rd through January 10th