Oconee County
Reporting about Oconee County, Georgia. Some stories will be republished in The Oconee Enterprise as part of a news-academic partnership with Grady Newsource.
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Groundwork: Stories of Sustainability in Northeast Georgia
A team of 20 student journalists created a news special responding to the needs of Northeast Georgia counties. Reporters traveled to five counties, spoke with residents, uncovered environmental gaps, and highlighted the solutions communities are building. Watch to see what they discovered and the solutions taking root. This is Groundwork:…
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Disqualified Bishop Official Asks Town Council to Challenge Jurisdiction Dispute
Former Bishop Town Council member Hudson Holder urged council members during public comment at the Nov. 10 meeting to stand up for the town’s jurisdiction. “The county continues to tell Council where your lines are and who your citizens are, and that’s not their decision to make,” Holder said. Holder…
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Georgia Initiative Seeks to Open Up Conversation, Support High School Athletes’ Mental Health
Hayden Holland knows pressure. As a North Oconee High School volleyball player, she feels the weight of expectations and the time demanded of her. “I think it’s so looked down upon in sports; people don’t understand mental health is a big part of sports,” Holland said. Just so much to…
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Q&As Provide Look Into Lives of Public Representatives, Servants
Reporting I students each semester learn more about their beats — a special topic area of focus — by conducting research and interviews with community and student leaders, entrepreneurs, musicians, professors, performers and others. The nearly 80 students in the course conducted an interview on their beat in September. This…
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Bogart Takes Steps Toward New Public Comment Policy
Council member Greg Maddox questioned the process of public comment during the recent Bogart City Council meeting. The city plans to vote on a new policy at the next regular session meeting on Nov. 10. As long as we let the public speak, that is all I care about,” Maddox…
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Oconee Students Get Jumpstart on Broadcast Skills, Media Literacy with OCTV
At Oconee County Elementary, the adults aren’t the ones delivering the news of the day — it’s the students. Every morning, a group of fourth- and fifth-graders work together to interview, inform and create OCTV, the school’s in-house broadcast. Led by media specialist Rachel Carter, the students film birthday shoutouts,…
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Melissa Butler Named Superintendent of Oconee County Schools
The Oconee County Board of Education unanimously voted to appoint Melissa Butler as superintendent. The decision comes after an almost four-month search. “I am deeply honored by the opportunity to serve as the next Superintendent of Oconee County Schools,” Butler said in a press release. “Oconee County is a place…
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Rooted in Community: How Holte Gardens Blossomed Into Thriving Business
Seyoung Holte never planned on turning her backyard into a prosperous plant business. But when she and her husband, Daniel, found themselves outnumbered by foliage, they figured it was time to share. On a bright spring afternoon, Seyoung Holte led me through the winding paths of her woodland garden in…
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Young Female Farmers Encourages Healthy, Self-Sufficient Farming Practices
Since she was 4 years old, Margo Candelario has been working in the dirt and learning to farm. Coming from three generations of Black women farmers, Candelario started Young Female Farmers on three and a half acres in Bishop, Georgia, approximately 12 miles southwest of Athens, in 2006 as…
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Oconee County Schools Promote Sustainability Through Classroom Recycling Initiatives
In Oconee County, students are learning lessons about recycling and the environment that they’ll carry forward into the future, on the way to a greener county. The Keep Oconee County Beautiful Commission is an initiative that works with school districts and other public works around the county to raise overall…