Times-Courier

In 1916, Ellijay was a mule-wagon and ox-cart town with two bitterly warring political factions and two newspapers, the Ellijay Courier and the Ellijay Times. The two political factions, called the "Simon Pures" and the "Slick Tails," roughly Democrats and Republicans, had been using the newspapers to voice their opposing views. With the Times-Courier's consolidation on Jan. 1, 1916, the new owner hoped to provide local news but avoid controversy by being non-partisan.

The Times-Courier was owned and operated by the Bunch family from 1967 to 2015, when it was sold to Community Newspapers Inc., which is proud to oversee the official news source of beautiful Gilmer County and the north Georgia mountains. CNI believes strong newspapers build strong communities. “Newspapers get things done!” Our primary goal is to publish distinguished and profitable community-oriented newspapers. This mission will be accomplished through the teamwork of professionals dedicated to truth, integrity, loyalty, quality and hard work.

The Times-Courier debuted a redesign of both the print edition and www.timescourier.com in 2016, with much more to come. Thanks for reading!

Times-Courier Publishing Co., Inc. The Official Organ of Gilmer County Courier Established in 1875

47 River Street | P.O. Box 1076 | Ellijay, GA 30540 Phone 706-635-4313 | Fax 706-635-7006 www.timescourier.com

CNI Awards

2016 Best Local News Coverage Best Overall Design Best of CNI Division A runner-up

Georgia Press Awards

2017 First place – Education writing, Whitney Crouch Second place – Lifestyle Feature Column, Whitney Crouch Third-place – Headline Writing, Robbie Bills Third place – Lifestyle Feature Column, April Teague

2016 First place – Lifestyle Column, Whitney Crouch First place – Feature Writing, Michael Andrews First place – Special Issues (2015 Apple Festival Edition), Times-Courier Staff

2015 First place – Feature Writing, Whitney Crouch

2014 Second place – Feature Writing, Whitney Crouch Third place – Education Coverage, Whitney Crouch, Staff

2014 Other Awards John Harrell Mass Media Award from the Georgia Extension Association of Family and Consumer Sciences

2013 First place – Humorous Column, Michael Andrews First place – Education Coverage, Whitney Crouch First place – Sports Writing, Robbie Bills Third place – Humorous Column, Whitney Crouch Third place – Special Section, Staff

2012 First place – Sports Column, Robbie Bills Second place – Sports Column, Robbie Bills Third place – News Photograph, Michael Andrews Third place – Community Service, Michael Andrews

2011 Second place, News Photo, Michael Andrews Second place – Feature Writing, Whitney Crouch Third place – Humorous Column, Whitney Crouch

2010 Second place – Feature Photograph, Michael Andrews Third place – Sports Column, Robbie Bills

2009 First place – Investigative Reporting, Becky Antworth Third place – Sports Column, Robbie Bills Third place – Sports Feature Photograph, April Teague Third place – Serious Column, Becky Antworth

2008 First place – Sports Photograph, John Peeler

2007 First place – Sports Photograph, April Teague

2006 Second place – Editorial Writing, Dub Joiner Second place – Sports Photograph, John Peeler

2005 First place – Editorial Page, J.C. Williams Trophy First place – Sports Column, John Peeler

2004 First place – Editorial Page, J.C. Williams Trophy First place – Humorous Column, Al Summers First place – Sports Photograph, John Peeler First place – Sports Column, John Peeler

2003 First place – Sports Column, John Peeler Third place – Hard News, Dub Joiner

2002 Second place – Sports Section, John Peeler

1990 Third place – Community Service, W. G. Sutlive Trophy