The Putnam County Family Connection Collaborative (PCFCC) met for its monthly meeting April 17 at The Plaza Arts Center reception hall, where approximately 15 community members involved in education, healthcare, local business, and more discussed rising rates of student absenteeism.

Four more arrests were recently made in connection with raids of businesses in January by area law enforcement, bringing the total number of arrests to 17 in Putnam County, according to authorities. Two of the arrestees were out of the country, yet turned themselves in at the sheriff’s office last week.

When the state of Georgia made consumer fireworks legal in July 2015, legislators also directed some of the new fireworks’ tax revenue be made available via grants to fire departments around the state.

The doors are closed right now at Eatonton’s favorite free attraction, the Georgia Writers Museum (GWM) and its accompanying bookstore on South Jefferson Avenue, just up the street from the historic Pex Theater and across the road from the iconic Putnam County courthouse.

High winds wreaked havoc in Putnam County last week, causing significant damage, man hours, and inconvenience. Local authorities and electric companies reported downed trees that caused power, cell phone, and internet outages, as well as several damaged vehicles on Thursday and Friday.

At 1:20 a.m. last Thursday, the Johnson family of Hickory Point Drive in northeast Putnam County lived through a nightmare that many others have no doubt considered but prayed never to experience.

An Eatonton man was found unresponsive in his vehicle in Milledgeville last week and authorities believe he died from some sort of medical episode, according to Milledgeville Police Department reports.

Last week’s Sunday at the Museum was more grand than usual at The Plaza Arts Center. Eleven local sports greats were honored April 7 at the unveiling of the Sports Wall of Fame.

Local residents have lost thousands of dollars due to scams recently, and Putnam County Sheriff Howard Sills says he is frustrated that it’s happening so often. “It’s why we don’t have bank robberies anymore,” Sills opined.

A high school student was reportedly ticketed for distracted driving after looking down at his cell phone, which subsequently caused a serious crash.