The U.S. Forest Service, in partnership with the Appalachian Trail Conservancy and the Georgia Appalachian Trail Club, has completed a reroute of the Byron Herbert Reece Trail, so named years ago for the beloved poet, farmer and native son of Union County. Stakeholders celebrated the occasion with a public ribbon-cutting ceremony held on Saturday, June…
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Awake America celebrates 13 years praying in Blairsville
For 13 years, Awake America Prayer Meetings have been a staple at Blairsville City Hall. Over that time, the meetings have spread to surrounding cities and even other states while maintaining a constant presence in the heart of Program Coordinator Lydia Long’s community. Back in 2009, Long learned about the Awake America movement that was…
Rotary, law enforcement team up for gun safety
The Rotary Club of Union County gave community members a chance to anonymously turn in unwanted firearms on Saturday, May 30, during the county’s first ever Child and Firearms Safety Day Program, hosted in partnership with local law enforcement. People could surrender unwanted or nonworking firearms to the Blairsville Police Department from 10 a.m. to…
Early voting ends Friday for Primary Runoff Elections
Several state races and one federal contest failed to produce majority vote winners in the May 19 General Primary Elections and will therefore be heading to Primary Runoff Elections set for next Tuesday, June 16, with a short early voting period this week that ends on Friday. All in-person early voting is taking place from…
Local investigation ends in state prison drug bust
Local narcotics investigators have upended a major prison drug trafficking operation, resulting in more than 2 pounds of meth, 4.5 pounds of marijuana, 7 pounds of tobacco and other contraband being confiscated from a single inmate housed over 100 miles away at Hays State Prison. The ongoing investigation that culminated in the prison drug bust…