The News-Reporter

07/24/2026

https://www.thejournalmessenger.com/2026/07/24/mccormick-elections-board-meets-10am-tuesday-july28/

MCCORMICK BOARD OF ELECTIONS MEETS 10AM TUESDAY, JULY 20

McCormick Elections Board meets 10am Tuesday, July28 By Editor | July 24, 2026 | 0 The July McCormick Voter Registration and Elections Board Meeting will be held at 10:00 a. m. on Tuesday July 28, 2026. The meeting will be at the McCormick County Administrative Complex Conference Room, 610 South Min...

05/28/2026

Page A5 of this week’s Washington News-Reporter has a glaring snafu consisting of a blank spot that was reserved for coverage of the Washington Square Memorial Day Observance. Since the observance was held at 11am Monday, and our deadline to submit to our printer is shortly after lunch, we held the spot open until the event could be submitted, and added to the paper before printing. Unfortunately, it was printed without the last minute addition. Please find attached the correct page including the event.

05/20/2026

MAY 19 PRIMARY ELECTION RESULTS: 100% OF WILKES PRECINCTS REPORTING
(WILKES COUNTY, Ga.) — Wilkes County voters cast 2,144 ballots in the May 19 primary election for a turnout rate of 34.17% among the county’s 6,274 registered voters, according to unofficial and incomplete election results.

Incumbent Sam Moore received 1,000 votes in the Republican primary for Wilkes County Commission chairman. Democrat Charles Jackson received 270 votes in the Commission District 3 race, while Republican Ed Holton received 332 votes in District 4.

Wilkes County Board of Education races also appeared on the ballot. Horace Jordon received 420 votes in District 1 and David Chatin received 487 votes in District 2.

Wilkes County voters approved continuation of the 1% Educational Sales Tax. The measure received 2,094 total votes, with 1,318 voting yes and 776 voting no.

05/01/2026

BIG SECTION I-285 CLOSED BOTH DIRECTIONS ALL WEEKEND
read the full story: https://www.thejournalmessenger.com/2026/05/01/big-section-of-i-285-both-directions-closed-all-weekend/

04/09/2026

BIDDING OPEN FOR WASHINGTON WATER SYSTEM IMPROVEMENTS
INVITATION TO BID

COMPETITIVE COST SEALED BIDS
Sealed bids for construction of the S. Pecan St. Water System Improvements for the City
of Washington/Wilkes County will be received until May 6, 2026 at 2:00PM local time.
Bids must be submitted electronically through QuestCDN.com. No paper submissions will
be accepted. Base Cost of all Bids shall be published to the QuestCDN website no later than
30 minutes after the closing time. Any bid received after said time and date will not be
considered by the Owner. No bid may be withdrawn after the closing time for the receipt
of bids for a period of sixty (60) days except as specifically may be provided in the
Instructions to Bidders and/or by State law.
SCOPE OF WORK
The Work to be completed shall consist of furnishing all labor and equipment to install
approximately 3,900 LF of 6" and 2" PVC/DIP water main including, but not limited
to fire hydrants, valves, driveway replacement, earthwork, grassing,soil erosion and
sedimentation control measures, and appurtenances necessary to provide a complete
installation. The Owner will provide materials for this Contract.
Time allotted for completion of work is 150 consecutive calendar days. All Work shall be
completed in accordance with the plans and specifications. The Work will be awarded in
one (1) Contract.
PLANS, SPECIFICATIONS AND CONTRACT DOCUMENTS
Complete digital specifications and contract documents are available at
www.QuestCDN.com. Bidders may view the digital plan documents for free by entering
the Quest project number 10129750 on the website’s project search page. Bidders can
download the digital documents for a fee of $100.00 payable through the website. Bids
must be submitted electronically at QuestCDN.com. There will be an additional $42.00
submittal fee. Please contact QuestCDN customer support at 952-233-1632 or
[email protected] for assistance in membership registration, downloading and working
with digital project information. All other questions may be directed to the issuing office,
Carter & Sloope, Inc., Watkinsville, GA, 706-769-4119. All other questions may be
directed via email to Patricia Rice at [email protected].
FUNDING SOURCES
Funding is to be provided by local funds. No Federal requirements apply such as BABA
or Davis-Bacon.
RESERVATION OF RIGHTS
Owner reserves the right to reject any or all Bids, including without limitation, the rights to
reject any or all nonconforming, nonresponsive, unbalanced or conditional Bids and to reject
the Bid of any Bidder if Owner believes that it would not be in the best interest of the
Project to make an award to that Bidder, whether because the Bid is not responsive or the
Bidder is unqualified or of doubtful financial ability or fails to meet any other pertinent
standard or criteria established by the Owner.

04/09/2026

CITY OF WASHINGTON
COUNCIL MEETING AGENDA
Monday, April 13, 2026 @ 6:00 p.m.
Edward Pope Conference Center
48B Lexington Avenue
Washington, GA 30673

I. Call to Order by Mayor Bruce Bailey
II. Invocation and Pledge of Allegiance
III. Consideration of Ethics Complaint – Angela Novelli
IV. Approval of March 9, 2026, Regular Council Meeting Minutes
V. Approval of Meeting Agenda
VI. Committee/Board/Authority Reports Review
a. Included in Packets
VII. City Attorney Discussion/Action Items:
a. Present the Derelict Property Ordinance to be voted on.
b. Present an Ordinance to amend the Code of Ethics to be voted on. (5)
c. Under Article 2-231(b)-Add wording that says while in the public view, to be voted on.
d. Ordinance change for additional language to address social media and public address as
part of the Decorum, under which members can be fined $150.00 by the mayor and
council to be voted on.
VIII. City Administrator Topics:
IX. Mayor Discussion/Action Topics:
X. Council Discussion Topics:
a. Councilwoman Susan Branan: (1.) Brief report on Home Buyer Seminar for residents.
Thank you to Crystal Martin for coordinating this seminar.
b. Councilman Calvin Wiggs: (1.) Update on the charter review process.
c. Councilman Newton Gunter: (1) The Negativity of Social Media
d. Councilwoman Kimberly J. Rainey: (1.) Updates – Habitat for Humanity/YMCA/Town
Hall Meeting. (2.) Why wasn’t the city awarded any of the most recent water grants?
(3.) Wall Street on Whitehall, Food Giveaway (4.) Give all city employees the Good
Friday holiday.

XI. Public Forum to Address Council (Sign up. Limit comments to 3 minutes.)