Sharp skater

See how cities in Columbia County kicked off the holiday season.

The following accounts were taken from Columbia County Sheriff’s Office incident reports:

Man scammed at Wal-Mart

A man shopping at a Martinez Wal-Mart said he was scammed by someone who sold him a store gift card.

The 34-year-old man said he was shopping at the store on Bobby Jones Expressway at about 5 p.m. on Saturday. A stranger approached him offering to sell a gift card worth $386.03. The stranger said he needed rent money and was willing to sell the card for $125. The stranger confirmed the card was loaded with the $386.03 and the man bought it.

The man said he believes that after they confirmed the amount on the card that the stranger switched it for a similar-looking card with no value. When he realized the card was worthless, the man called authorities.

Burglar enjoys cookie and rum

A Martinez woman called authorities Thurs-day and said someone broke into her home and enjoyed items in her kitchen.

The woman said she came home at about 4:30 p.m. and found cookie dough on the kitchen counter and some rum missing from a bottle in the kitchen.

The woman’s son said he got home about an hour before she did and the dough was on the counter then.

Christmas gifts under the tree, cash on the counter and electronics were not taken and nothing else was disturbed in the house.

Woman’s porch is vandalized

A Martinez woman said Friday that someone vandalized her porch while her family was out of town.

The 45-year-old woman said she returned from a week-long vacation at about 6 p.m. Thursday, but she went inside through the garage and didn’t see the porch. At about 4:30 p.m. Friday, the woman found her front porch in disarray.

Someone turned porch furniture upside down, threw swing cushions across the porch, broke a statue in half and shattered a glass table top. The glass was thrown across the porch.

The woman said her husband is out of town working and her children went with her out of town.

A deputy checked with nearby residents, but none saw anything unusual. They did say animals often come close to homes in the area, but the deputy noted that the damage was not consistent with an animal.

Nothing stolen during storage business break-in

The manager of an Evans self-storage business told deputies Friday that someone broke into several storage units, but stole nothing.

The manager of Evans Self Storage at 4731 Washington Road said between 8 p.m. and midnight the previous night, two men wearing dark clothes and hoodies cut the chain link fence on the back side of the gated business and clipped the locks off and went into five storage units on the back of the property. The burglars were caught on video, but the video images were blurry.

The men then left through the same hole they cut in the fence. The manager and a maintenance employee discovered only one piece of one of the five locks removed from storage units. Pieces of the cut fence were found laying in the opening.

Fake bill used
for steak dinner

The manager at an Evans restaurant called authorities Sunday after she said a man trying to use a fake bill ran out with his order.

The manager of the Ruby Tuesday’s restaurant in Mullins Crossing said a man called in a take-out order for a steak and loaded baked potato at about 8:45 p.m. When the man came to pick it up at about 9 p.m., he gave the manager a $100 bill for the $21.58 tab. The manager said she’d be right back.

When the manager returned to tell the man the bill was fake, he was gone. She went outside to get a description of the vehicle he was in, but didn’t see the man anywhere.

The entire transaction was captured on the restaurant’s video surveillance system.

Parents of Columbia County schoolchildren will have two opportunities next month to express their views on the school system’s proposed rezoning plan.

School board trustees agreed Dec. 9 to dates for public meetings on the plan, with the first scheduled for Jan. 8 at Grovetown High School and the second Jan. 20 at Greenbrier High School.

Both meetings will begin at 6 p.m.

“Following these meetings we will take into account all the public feedback that we get and republish the rezoning proposal for your consideration at the next (school board) meeting,” schools Superintendent Sandra Carraway told the board.

Carraway wants to have the rezoning issue settled by the end of January so school administrators can begin planning for the 2015-16 school year.

Officials have already made revisions to the
preliminary plan, which was released Nov. 11. Carraway said some numbers have been adjusted, as has the schedule for implementing some shifts of students between zones, which will take place over the next three school years.

In all, 16 schools will be affected by the rezoning, which officials say is being brought on by rapid growth in the county, primarily in the Grovetown area.

Ground zero for the growth is Baker Place Ele­mentary.

The school has an official capacity of 900 pupils, but currently has more than 1,150. Officials have moved children into 10 portable classrooms on the campus to accommodate the swelling enrollment.

Carraway also reviewed the latest projections for next year’s enrollment, and more children are expected. Officials estimate another 712 children will enroll next fall, with about 150 set to go to Baker Place under the current zoning.

“If the rezoning goes through we can bring Baker Place down to a very manageable 935,” Carraway said.

Current zoning will also increase Greenbrier High School’s enrollment to more than 1,860 students, surpassing Evans High as the county’s largest school. Under the rezoning plan, about 200 of those students will be shifted to Lakeside High, moving its projected enrollment above 1,800.

The rezoning proposal can be viewed on the county schools’ Web site: www.ccboe.net.

Sounds of the season

Lights of South

6-10 p.m. daily through Dec. 30, 633 Louisville Road, Grovetown; $8.95, $5.95 ages 4-17, ages 3 and younger admitted free; lightsofthesouth.com

Forestry Pageant

Columbia County Forestry and Pine Seedling Scholarship Pageant – 5:30 p.m. March 14, Evans High School, 4550 Cox Road, Evans; queens will serve as hosts at the Miss Georgia Forestry Pageant in Tifton, Ga.; all contestants receive a trophy; winner and three runners-up in each age group – Baby Miss birth to 23 months, Teeny Miss 2-3 years, Tiny Miss 4-6 years, Little Miss 7-9 years, Junior Miss 10-12 years, Teen Miss 13-16 years, Miss 17-24 years; $85 for Baby Miss through Teen Miss, $100 for Miss entries; optional categories of Prettiest Dress, Prettiest Smile, Photogenic, Prettiest Face, Best Personality and Photogenic $15 each; (706) 664-5010, columbiacountyforestry@gmail.com; facebook.com/ColumbiaCountyGa
ForestryPageant

Hospice help

Volunteers sought for Hospice Advantage’s Georgia office, 2824 Hillcreek Drive; training provided; flexible opportunities; (706) 651-9841, hospiceadvantage.com

Christmas Gala

Fatty Marsha’s fifth annual Christmas Gala 7 p.m. Friday, Dec. 19, Sacred Heart Cultural Center, 1301 Greene St.; toy drive for those with HIV; dinner, drinks; semiformal; tickets at Pyramid Music and by phone; $20 single, $35 couple; (706) 449-4315, facebook.com/events/1544969542387829

Benefit soccer

Jenny Clark Memorial Scholarship Alumni Soccer Game, 2 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 20, Lakeside High School Stadium, 533 Blue Ridge Drive, Evans; annual alumni soccer game open to any player, male or female, who graduated from any high school; $25 – includes game, T-shirt and lunch from Fatz Cafe after game; public invited to watch, free

Bird counts

Augusta count, 7:30 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 20, those without previously assigned areas meet at Popeyes, corner of Walton Way and Gordon Highway; call Anne Waters to be assigned, spotters needed, (706) 793-2788; Aiken count Wednesday, Dec. 24, Aiken County, call Calvin Zippler to participate, no experience required, spotters needed, (803) 295-7460; augustaaikenaudubon.org

Dedication

St. Teresa of Avila Catholic Church dedication of new church, 10 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 20, 4921 Columbia Road, Grovetown; Rite of Dedication; Gregory J. Hartmayer, speaker; free; st-teresa.com

Rabies clinic

Low-cost rabies clinic for dogs and cats, Noon-3 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 20, Augusta Animal Services, 4164 Mack Lane; microchipping $15, one-year rabies vaccination $5; cash or Richmond County address checks only; open to all area residents; (706) 790-6836

Christmas event

11 a.m. Sunday, Dec. 21, Canaan of Galilee Baptist Church, 5830 Clarks Hill Road, Appling; free; (706) 541-0851

Fencing classes

Introduction to foil fencing classes begin Monday, Jan. 5, Augusta Fencers Club, 4648 Greene St.; registration open for the 10-week course; meets one hour each week; $175 through Dec. 22, $195 after – all competitive equipment provided; separate courses and times for ages 6-9, 10-13 and adults; (706) 722-8878, augustafencers.com

New Year’s Eve

10 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 31, Canaan of Galilee Baptist Church, 5830 Clarks Hill Road, Appling; with Piney Grove and Crawford Grove Baptist churches; breakfast served; free; (706) 541-0851

BMX race

First race at Blanchard Woods BMX Track 6:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 10, Blanchard Woods Park, 4600 Blanchard Woods Drive, Evans; open to the public; spectators free; one day free membership for new riders; blanchardwoodsbmx.com

5K run/walk

9 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 7, Lakeside High School, 533 Blue Ridge Drive, Evans; 3.1 mile course, mostly flat, one hill; $20; register at panther5k.com or run day registration 8 a.m. in Lakeside cafeteria; benefits Lisa Meitin Memorial Scholarship Fund and the Ovarian Cancer National Alliance

YuchiKiokee

11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday, March 21, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday, March 22, Evans Towne Center Park; 7016 Evans Town Center Blvd.; celebrating Columbia County’s art, music, dance and heritage; performances by Columbia County Choral Society, Musical Theatre Workshops, Company of Job, Columbia County Orchestra Association with finale featuring excerpts from Columbia County Ballet’s Roar of Love; $5 March 21, free March 22; (706) 312-7194, vatkins@columbiacountyga.gov, evanstownecenterpark.com

ONGOING

Christian singles

6:30-10:30 p.m. Saturdays, Ballroom Dance Center, 525 Grand Slam Drive, off Evans-to-Locks Road; dance lessons 6:30-7:30 p.m., dance 7:30-10:30 p.m.; refreshments; Augusta Christian Singles; $8 members, $10 others; Barbara Nash (803) 640-2075, christiandances.org

Eyeglass help

Financial assistance for qualifying Grovetown residents’ eyeglasses; Grovetown Lions Club; Grovetown Lions Club Eyeglass Program, P.O. Box 248, Grovetown, GA 30813

Farmers market

4:30-7 p.m. Thursdays through Oct. 30, Columbia County Amphitheater, 7022 Evans Town Center Blvd.; Evans Towne Farmers Market; local farmers committed to all-natural growing practices, children’s activities, cooking demos and vegetable gardening education; kim@augustalocallygrown.org, evanstownefarmersmarket.com

Fire information

Advice on fire dangers for Columbia County residents; presented by Georgia Forestry Commission, Columbia County; (706) 556-3962

Food pantry

10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday-Friday, 1959 Appling Harlem Highway, Appling; Columbia County Cares Food Pantry; (706) 541-2834

Hospital classes

Variety of classes each month; Doctors Hospital; (706) 651-2450, doctors-hospital.net

Live wrestling

Live action first Saturday every month; doors open 7:30 p.m., belltime 8 p.m., Patriots Park Gymnasium, 5445 Columbia Road, Grovetown; $10 front row, $7 general admission, 5 and younger free; flatlineprowrestling.com

Meditations

4:30 p.m. Wednesdays, Mindbody Stress Reduction Programs, 4210 Columbia Road Suite 4A, Martinez; Mindfulness and Expansive Meditations; experience deeper awareness and stress reduction through guided meditations; $15, $5 students with ID; (706) 496-3935, mindbodystressreduction.com

MOMS Club

MOMS Club of Augusta meets 10 a.m. first Wednesdays (except December); chapter includes Augusta, Martinez and North Augusta; e-mail for location; membership@momsclubofaugusta.org, www.momsclubaugusta.org

Orchestras

Columbia County Orchestra and Columbia County Youth; weekly meetings; musicians needed; information can be found online; columbiacco.org

Public speaking

7 p.m. Mondays, University Hospital Education Wing, third floor, room 3; Riverwalk Toastmasters Public Speaking and Leadership Club; Sharma Pogula (706) 855-1081,
7106.toastmasterclubs.org

Scholarships

Barbara C. Beazley Memorial Scholarship, sponsored by The Columbia County Foundation for Children; must be a Columbia County resident and intend to enroll or are currently enrolled in a college or technical school; applications available from school counselors’ offices and online; grants are need-based; deadline to apply and submit documents May 30; ccfchildren.com

Survivors

Fort Gordon’s Survivor Outreach Services, for families of deceased soldiers; (706) 787-4767, myarmyonesource.com

Volunteers

• Grovetown Senior Center; volunteer drivers to deliver meals to shut-ins needed; (706) 210-8699

• Regency Hospice; training provided; Nancy Browning (706) 868-4422 • Golden Harvest Food Bank; help sort donations; (706) 736-1199

ATLANTA — Former Columbia County Tax Commissioner Kay Allen lost her bid for $1,300 in attorney’s fees for defending a complaint against her that was dismissed by the state campaign finance commission.

The commission on Wednesday voted 3-1 to deny her motion to order reimbursement of the fees from her former deputy, Dwight Johnson, who had filed the dismissed complaint.

Johnson filed the complaint in February with the Georgia Government Transparency & Campaign Finance Commission, alleging that Allen failed to list on her personal-financial disclosure a business relationship.

The Ethics in Government Act requires that each candidate and public official disclose all businesses, nonprofit positions and personal investments.

Johnson’s complaint didn’t specify what relationship Allen omitted or the document it was left off. As a result, the campaign finance staff dismissed the complaint in July.

Allen had contracted with Grovetown and Harlem to collect taxes on their behalf, and she kept what she was charging them for the service.

State law allowed tax commissioners to charge local governments for collecting taxes until a 2007 change prohibited it in counties with more than 50,000 parcels, unless the county commission approved.

Columbia County reached that size two years later, but Allen continued to charge Harlem and Grovetown without requesting the OK of the county commission.

She resigned in March after holding the post for more than 30 years.

The law allows candidates and officials who are the subject of frivolous complaints to get attorney’s fees, but neither the law nor the campaign finance commission has specified what constitutes “frivolous.”

The fact that the staff found no basis to the complaint isn’t reason enough to consider it frivolous, finance commission Chairwoman Hillary Stringfellow said Thursday.

“It is not a word that is defined in any rule that we have,” she said.

The commission has never awarded attorney’s fees unless both parties agreed beforehand.

Allen’s resignation brought an end to the county’s dispute about more than $160,000 in fees she was paid by the cities since 2009 for providing tax collection services.

The county commission contends the money should have been remitted to the county.

In the settlement agreement approved by the county commission, Allen returned half the money to the county – $80,650 – and submitted her resignation to Gov. Nathan
Deal.

The county agreed to allow Allen to retire with her state benefits intact and to withdraw its letter to the governor seeking her removal from office.

Allen’s husband, District 3 Columbia County Commissioner Charles Allen, also resigned as part of the agreement. Over the past two decades, Kay Allen had collected thousands in additional pay for providing tax services to the two municipalities.

The contracts with Grovetown and Harlem gave her a 2 percent cut of all property taxes billed.

The payments came under the scrutiny of law enforcement after authorities were made aware of them in October
2013.

Ron Cox tried his best to save his Evans home when it caught fire Friday morning.

“I went in and tried to fight it, but....,” Cox said after firefighters arrived and took over the battle.

Cox said he was in his backyard workshop just after 8:30 a.m. when the power cut off. He called his wife, Judy, on the cell phone to see if she’d also lost power inside the house. She told her husband that she heard an “explosion,” lost power and the house was filling up with smoke.

He ran inside, told his wife to call 911 and used fire extinguishers to fight the blaze, which he said was “smoking like mad”. When he’d exhausted the extinguishers, Cox said he tried to use a water hose.

“I shouldn’t have stayed in there as long as I did,” Cox said. “But I had to do what I could.

“Your instinct is to protection yourself and your possessions.”

His wife, who called 911, told the dispatcher her home was on fire and she was on the roof.

“There was black smoke,” she said. “I couldn’t see a thing.”

She escaped through a second-floor door leading to the roof over the front porch. Firefighters arrived and retrieved her from the perch.

Firefighters quickly extinguished the blaze.

Cox said his home is old and doesn’t have breakers, just fuses. He suspects the fuse box was the source of the fire.

Columbia County Fire rescue Batt. Chief Brent Willis said the fire appears to be electrical.

The back wing of the home was badly burned and the rest of the house was damaged by smoke, Willis said.

Cox and his wife have insurance and children who live close by.

An Augusta man was not seriously injured after flipping his SUV and setting fire to a power box Friday afternoon.

Christian Davis Krausnick, 20, was driving his Jeep Grand Cherokee on Holiday Drive in Martinez just after 2 p.m. when he was distracted and hit a curb near Bahama Drive, according to Georgia State Patrol Sgt. Christopher Wright. Krausnick’s vehicle then hit a power box, which caught surrounding grass and shrubs on fire.

Krausinick was taken to Doctors Hospital with what did not appear to be life-threatening injuries. He will be cited for failing to maintain lane, Wright said.

Sixth Grade A

Arman Ahmadipour, John Arciero, Mackensie Arrington, Phoebe Bagby, Nahom Bekele, William Bissell, Ben Blake, Gabrielle Branch, Faith Brosnahan, Carlton
Carter, Samuel Choi, Breyanna Collins, Rose Edenfield, Avery Evans, Shelby Folger, Marisa Gallo, Kritika Gowda, Robert Green, Ella Guinn, Sandy Ha, John Hansen, Emma Head, Matthew Hensel, Elias Hergott, Preetam Jain, Mallory James, Christopher Johnson, Fyfe Johnstone, Rintaro Kojima, Sena Korkaya, Shivum Lal, Virginia Lammie, Tri Le, Kayla Lett, Charles Li, Ella Lockamy, Ava Maiorana, Claire
Maloney, Anna Marriott, Skylar Martin, Jackson Matthews, Christian McIntyre, Kaliq Naffouj, Kendall Newsome, Isabella Ngo, Ivan Nguyen, Dhruv Patel, Mili Patel, Pranay Patel, Michelle Pi, Ananya Pillai, Natalie Plantamura, Kennedy Powell, Muhib Qadeer, Joslyn Reed, Jacob Reese, Amelia Rehman, Jeremy Rolls, Jackson Roper, Saahil Saxena, Elijah Seehusen, Chloe Sligh, Lauren Smith, Neel Smith, Kathleen Squires, Katelyn Surrao, Olivia Tarkenton, Zachary Thomas, Rachel White, Jackson Widener, Nikhil Young, Andrew Zhou and Yayang
Zhou.

Sixth Grade A/B

Dawson Alexander, Joy Babatope, Anaamika Balan, Ella Beal, Zachary Bedell, Shaun Bellmer, Jonathan Boggs, Zyikhia Bryson, Abby Bumgardner, Dylan Cardwell, Brett Chafin, Calvin Chance, Jessica Chong, Barbara Claridge, Jake Cook, Samantha Cruz, Caleb Dockal, Mason Doss, Alexa Drewry, Julian Eackloff, Griffin Farrell, Michael Fisher, Elijah Gibson, Emily Gilbert, Natalie Gillion, Anna Guinn, Gavin Guion, Brayden Hartz, Najam Hassan, Mary Hollan, Ryan Holleran, Thomas Horner, Madelin Jeffares, Malaysia Jones, Rachael Joslow, Caroline Kilchenstein, Jeung Kim, Andreas Koni, Nicole Lewkowiez, Sydney Lovelace, Catherine Lue, Quinn McDonnell,
Dakota Mellick, Joshua Miao, Shweta Mistry, Sofiyan Monga, Hunter Morgan, Mckenzie Morgan, Jacob Murray, Katherine Oester, Jenna Olson, Laura Polglase, Aurora Pool, Andrew Proctor, Kylie Pruett, Anoshay Rahim, Nicholas Ramirez, Carson Ratley, Luis Rodriguez, Sebastian Romanello, Madeline Sahm, Zachary Savage, Emma Schappell, Caroline Schmidt, Sydney Screws, Maxwell Shaffer, Asya Smith, Austin Smith, Carson Smith, Mitchell Tanner, Ja’den Taylor, Grace Thexton, Christopher Turner, Daphne Walker, Bailey Widener, Cooper Williams, Danielle Williams and Matthew
Yu.

Seventh Grade A

Rishab Agarwal, Caleb Arrington, Joy Babatope, Natalie Badir, Pierce Bagby, Nikhil Balan, Molly Bembry, Sara Bledsoe, John Brownfield, Emory Burch, Elizabeth Chen, Ansley Colvin, Lauren Culbreath, Owen Frye, Jenisa Gandhi, Ryan Hoang, Kevin Irwin, Madelin Jeffares, Elisia Jimenez, Andrew Johnson, Austin Joshua, Katherine Kane, Zoe Krenz, Jennifer Lee, Sijia Li, Sabrina Liu, Brittany Matthews, Mary Murray, Eric Parviainen, Shriya Patel, Joseph Rumbaugh, Eric Shi, Jillian Wahus and Louie Yang.

Seventh Grade A/B

Mehreen Ahmad, Jakelia Baker, Lynlee Barnard, Charlotte Beachum, Carter Bertram, Collin Bertram, Andrei Bitere, Kate Blake, Kathryn Blumenthal, Emilie Bobinger, Erika Bondar, Colden Carnes, James Carter, Thomas Cartledge, Addison Claridge, Davis Cook, Grace Cross, Kimberly Cunningham, John D’Amelio, Nicholas Dai, Sarah Daniels, Mitchell Davis, McKenna Eavenson, Chelsea Exume, Meyers Ezzell, Sadie Farr, Justin Finn, Ian Gallo, Malik Gibson, Mary Gilbert, Tucker Gilbert, Lauren Gillam, Ansley Gomez, Hannah Graham, Avery Harris, Xavier Hawkins, Elizabeth Head, James Hedrick, Andrew Hixon, Zachary Hood, Mary Horner, Kyndall Hullum, Jayla Jackson, Walkers Jeffers, Dalton Johnson, Robert Johnson, Greyson Jones, Sushant Kainth, Cameron Keech, Addison Kernaghan, Ansh Khurana, Paul Kriikku, William Lawrence, Joseph Lepak, Jihun Lim, Taylor Lyons, Hanna Mabery, Bilal Madi, Chloe Maiorana, Brogan Maloney, Jackson Marshall, Jaylen Mason, Callie Matthews, Sarah Maxwell, Caleb Medders, Krishan Mistry, Jericho Montgomery, Emily Munger, Brian Ngo, Clark Oetting, Karsyn Olson, Kendall Owen, Trevor Pickens, Alexis Rumbaugh, Joshua Sailors, Erin Schmidt, Sydney Schutte, Maisie Shaw, Andrew Shedd, Robley Shingleton, Sagar Singhal, Katelyn Smith, Grace Sprayberry, Luke Squires, Hudson Staton, Kalli Stewart, Jackson Strickland, Piper Swanson, Jared Szabo, Nadia Talebi, Chase Tarkenton, Jakobi Tatem, Cora Taylor, Caleb Terronez, Alyssa Thompson, Brooke Thurmond, Rachel Tom, Ivy Tran, Kolja Valerius, Eliza White, Jason Wolfarth, Emma Wright and Adrianna Wynn.

Eighth Grade A

Jakelia Baker, Alexander Bates, John Berman, Joseph Berman, Carter Bertram, Kate Blake, Aakil Bodian, Devin Brosnahan, Emily Brownfield, Colden Carnes, Claire Cox, Nicholas Dai, James Dawson, Blythe Fincher, Justin Finn, Benjamin Fisher, Mary Gilbert, Tucker Gilbert, Edward Gildea, Samuel Glass, Ansley Gomez, Josue Gomez, Hannah Graham, Avery Harris, Stephen Hedden, Laura Hergott, Sarah Holloway, Grace Huff, Katherine Irsik, Grace Iverson, Steven Kelly, Andrew Kent,
Bilal Madi, Jackson Marshall, Callie Matthews, William Matthews, Peyton McClure, Alyssa Monroe, Emily Munger, Jack Nesley, Thomas Newell, Tyler Newton, Catherine Nguyen, Anna Parviainen, Felix Pei, Trevor Pickens, Jace Poole, Zuha Qadeer, Srikrishnan Raju, William Rich, Ron Saler, Brittany Saxon, Amanda She, Lauren Shiver, Madison Shivers, Niranjana Sivaji, Luke Squires, Carter Stacy, Julia Stager, Aditya Subramanian, Jiong Sun, Nadia Talebi, Cora Taylor, Samuel Taylor, Casey Tom, Saurabh Wakade, Angelamarie Weitz, Mark White, Jayant Yagnick and Yangqi Zheng.

Eighth Grade A/B

Kathleen Alford, Roman Ammar, Courtney Baldridge, Samuel Basta, Brandon Bedell, Parker Blincoe, Julia Boyd, Natalie Burrows, Kyle Capell, John Chavous, Daniel Ciamaichelo, Summer Cooper, Jacob Craven, Andrew Cronin, Jakobe Crumbley, Carlie Dismuke, Anabel Duncan, Dylan Edmonds, Sterlin Geiger, Andrea Gonzalez, Dasia Hatcher, Lauren Heal, Virginia Herman, Seyonah Hobley, Jackson Hogan, Robert Hollands, Ethan Hood, Chase Hovis, Zariah Howard, Joshua Ivery, Tyler James, Alexander Jester, Keneisha John, Raghav Joshi, Jessie Justice, John Lawrence, Michael Leonard, Emma Lowe, Matthew Lowry, Gabriel McCardle, Kyla McGann, Alexandria Moore, Neal Morgan, Tillman Peavler, Lauren Pierce, Anna Prescott, Muhammad Rahim, Parker Ray, Sara Rojas, Erin Rush, Kinsey Savage, Angelynn Scarbary, Noah Shaw, Parker Simpkins, Chandler Spence, Emma Thexton, Caroline Torrance, Jordan Trotter, Yvonne Tu, Mason Wagaman, Riley Wagaman, William Wells, Anslee Williams, Parker Wingard and Thomas Wren.

Third Grade A

Cheyenne Bell, Tucker Combe, Elizabeth Crawford, Aaron Farley, Lindsey Hays, Joslyn Johnson, Nayeli Mendez-Vazquez, Tyler Oliver, Tobby Partridge, Samantha Reyes and Dustin Rowell.

Third Grade A/B

Keeghan Anderson, Isabella Bascomb, Ciera Brakefield, Kyra Butcher, Anthony Carroll, Lilian Carter, Rachel Fitzgerald, Amerson Guy, Jeremiah Hamilton, Nathan Hardin, Carden James, Miken Jones, Danielle Maskell, Mason Mays, Autumn McDermott, Dedrick McTier, Tucker Meadows, Sara Rodgers, Antoinette Selby, Jamya Shannon and Parker Thompson.

Fourth Grade A

Taylor Allen, Olivia
Carn, Tyshira Coleman, Mason Crozier, Jalyhia Germany, Taylor Gilchrist, Aniyah Greene, Niamari Gordon, Gracyn Gurley,
Abby Irwin, Katherine Johnson, Erin Jones, Emma McDaniel, Daniel McGaha, Heavensent Moncibaiz, Carmen Reyes, Holden
Rippe, Jordan Seraphin, Raymond Simmons, Logan Starnes and Johnnie
Tucker.

Fourth Grade A/B

Kobie Banks, Madisyn Banks, Jocelynne Bourassa, Maggie Chriswell, Mason Cooper, Maddy Coxville, Wesley Estes, Joshua Gary, Aleksander Helpingstine, Nathan Irby, Mikayla Johnson, Janay Jones, Delaney Knoeferl, Landen Lewis, Jessica Martin, Justin May, Tryston McCladdie, Paris McElroy, Lucas Morgan, Isaiah Payne, Tucker Payne, Jared Thigpen, Sarah Vance, Patrick Wagner, Jason Williams and Xavier Williams.

Fifth Grade A

Mariana Alejo, Abriana Asterita, Cali Bish, Destini Brantley, Landon Brown, Payton Byrd, Devin McNair, Cody Peterson, Jaden Seraphin, Cristin Smith, Joshua Thomas, Evan Vasquez and Jasmin Williams.

Fifth Grade A/B

Grace Adams, Autumn Archer, Ivey Clark, Maddison Coffee, Dalton Dodgen, Alexa Everett, Bryan Ferguson, Kayleigh Fox, Travis Griffin, Tabitha Howell, Harlee Knoeferl, Riley Lane, Hannah Lanoue, Tamya McCord, Michael McGaha, Matt McGahee, Courtney Pressley, Brianna Ray, Sarah Thompson, Tamia Ware, Tanner Whitman and Avery Wood.

Third Grade A

Nicholas Aquilina, Kylee Arrington, Abigail Bias, Luke Bielinski, Jordan Boffen, Margaret Borden, Kellen Broach, Jeremiah Brown, Caroline Cadden, Renee Cruz, Cassidy Dickerson, Joshua Dodd, Yusuf Erb, Abigail Fullerton, Jesko Handrick, Mary Hayenga, Daniel Herberlein, Owen Hughes, Mylee Huskey, Max Jaremski, Tyler Jones, William Laircey, Lottie Lawson, Maya Leshnov, Mary Lumpkin, Carly McLeod, Alexis McNitt, Grant Miller, Zaliiah Moy, Katelyn Neely, Alexandria Painter, Nolan Panzella, Kapil Patel, Jackson Perry, Ava Grace Powell, Eli Quesnel, Talen Rabun, Mason Rauschuber, Peter Robinson, John Rosell, Clifford Russell, Alyssa Sosa, Sophie Strickland, Lillian Wilkinson, Reed Williams, Nathan Wohlford and Benjamin Wolhford.

Third Grade A/B

Abigail Abod, Nate Ames, Whitney Bowles, Addison Brewer, Christopher Brown, Elise Chaggee, Yevon Cratic, Salma Elsalanty, Kaelyn Harris, Sydney Hice, Jessica Holliday, Skylar Howard, Lucas Hurd, Kyralee Hyatt, Drew Keefer, Jhordan Key, Jaley Laney, Rebecca Lindler, Sydney Lloyd, Jacob Ludwig, Sebastian Melendez, Cole Movius, Roman Mullens, Kayla Nixon, Parth Patel, Lillian Pond, Knox Sheppard, Coley Shiver, Braden Smith, Audrey Traphagan, Annalise Webber, Madyson Widener, Lauren Williams, Alana Wimberly, Cody Wolfe and Kirin Yatsko.

Fourth Grade A

Neo Alemar, Christopher Aquilina, Blake Bias, Gracie Blacksone, Jeb Bradford, Ashley Butler, Chris Cardullo, Jennah Dabrowski, Andrew Davis, Elizabeth Davis, Oliver Ellison, Luke Frain, Hannah Garrett, Madison Griffin, Georgia Harris, Will Hattaway, Caroline Holleran, Rachel Johann, Noah Lovekamp, Tanner Moore, Josh Moxley, Leah Mundy, Megan Norton, Robert Payne, Canon Porterfield, Ali Punshon, Abigail Rainier, Morgann Savage, Jack Simonds, Nathan Stewart, Kelly Sullivan, Sarah White, Ava Wilson and Bryan Wood.

Fourth Grade A/B

Nicholas Black, Asani Bolton, Savannah Brooks, John Brown, Lexi Bush, Lena Cruce, Jean de Lavaissiere, Trever Dollander, Maya Duncan, Stephen Edmonds, Julia Finch, Payton Flanders, Nolan Hajek, John Hollan, Isabel Holliday, Hannah Huff, Gaines Johnson, Leanna Joiner, Malakai Kikuchi, Emily Kruckow, Michael Lanham, Parker Leiter, Jun Lim, Emily Little, Bryson Lynce, Jayson Maschmeier, Autumn McDowell, Kaylee McGrew, Ethan Miller, Devon Nur, Brittney Odoms, Noriana Onate, Nathanael Orr, Khush Patel, Adam Pennington, Malaya Posey, Jack Rolls, Clayton Sabo, Julia Sadlowska, Morgann Savage, Sara Kate Schock, Sophia Seehusen, Grayson Taylor, Erin Thompson, Brinkley Vaughn, Emerson Voelp, Molly Waldon, Caroline Wiggins, Nathan Wilkie, Garrett Witten and Tianyi Zhu.

Fifth Grade A

Karthik Arora, Matthew Ashley, Jack Avant, Connor Burnett, Caleb Corder, Ryan Cortez, Lauren Coughlin, Sierra Davis, Mariam Elsalanty, MJ Garland, Mary Guinocor, Lawson Harper, Katie Heberlein, Sydney Himmelbaum, Emorie Holland, Emma Grace Iseman, Orion Kotas, Kaitlyn Mullins, Ella Perry, Blaine Pounds, Averie Pugh, Carley Robinson, Andrew Ruffin, Kennedy Sheppard, Grant Tanner, Parker Taylor, Patrick Whitaker, Alex White, Lilly Williamson, Drew Wilson and Alexandra Wimberly.

Fifth Grade A/B

Diego Aguilar, Jacob Beler, Owen Billingslea, Skyler Bradley, Kamoria Broadwater, Jennaclare Calhoun, Adam Chadli, Pierce Chaffee, Evan Coleman, Matthew Cruz, Ethan Degregorio, Reilly DeLoach, Jacob Evans, Braeden Griffin, Jacob Gurzi, Ginger Hall, Michael Hall, Trenton Hamilton, Mary Hargrove, Aleks Hatzigeorgiou, Hayes Herndon, Wyatt James, Cooper Johnson, Will Keogh, Joshua Kinsler, Taylor Lawson, Austin McCoy, Abbie McKelvain, Rebecca Miller, Cameron Moore, Macie Nunley, Addison Orr, Tramell Parker, Pratham Patel, Wyatt Perron, Cadence Pilson, Riley Anne Rabun, Lauren Roberson, Hannah Rowe, Tyler Sampson, Reanna Schmalz, Samantha Schweitzer, Leah Sera, Aliyah Sivertson, Connor Spies, Tanner Strickland, Andrew Sujka, Andrew Thompson, Arden Vickers, Sydney Wilson and Mckayla Wirt.

Sixth Grade A

Bailey Aber, Michael Ajo-Nehring, Emily Arnold, Vansh Arora, Ansley Aufiero, Richard Bratcher, Damian Cady, Zack Canuette, Bre Cascino, Abbi Childers, Matthew Coley, Maylis de Lavaissiere, Jacob Hada, Joshua Jenkins, RJ Jesudas, Elizabeth Lines, Jacob Lyda, Riley Morrison, Kara Newton, Amanda Painter, Clinton Quarles, Aaron Stone, Mackenzie Stroud, Mara Suddeth, Bailee Thompson and Arilyn Williams.

Sixth Grade A/B

Kaylen Allison, Seth Annis, Elijah Asmann, Alyssa Bedenbaugh, Savannah Black, Alexis Brown, Burke Butler, Mariangel Carroz, Andrew Clements, Aliana Deberry, Victor DeHoyos, Rachel Eastman, DJ English, Natalie Fort, Hayden Grace, Jade Hamilton, Leia Hand, Ian Hayes, Hannah Hester, Kinsley Holt, Amaya Hooper, Michael Hornsby, Gracie Howell, Stormi Hubble, Evan Hutchinson, Cari Jeffcoat, Morgan Johnson, Elijah King, Cindy Kwak, Cynthia LaFever, Paul Lee, Samara Liu, Kristen Manuel, McKayla Mappin, Alexis McBurney, Ezra McCranie, Madison Meyers, Hunter Moody, Christopher Neff, Dan Nguyen, Tiffany Nguyen, Viet Nguyen, Anna Ogletree, Taylor Parrish, Sophia Pfeifer, Sarah Powell, Autumn Rawlins, Tyler Reynolds, Emma Rose, Lily Rowe, Emma Salemi, Chaneya Sampson, Shana Sewell, Titan Shearer, Gracie Sidener, Jonathan Smail, Josh Smith, Brantley Smith, Anish Sondhi, Taran Tate, Ethan Taylor, Amaya Taylor-Williams, Kayla Tolbert, Elizabeth Tucker, Safi Ullah, Carter Usry, Tyler Videtto, Teresa Wade, Bryce Wall, Railen Walter, Aubrie Weathersbee, Layla Williams, Daniel Wise and Joseph Yechou.

Seventh Grade A

Kessiah Apple, Johnathan Arneman, Meredith Blanchard, Meghan Blitchington, Nora Bowman, Julianna Boyd, Ethan Clack, Melanie Coley, Trevor Creagon, Sarah Cundey, MacKenzie Dawes, Breauna Dent, Charles Dickenson, Brendan Dugger, Josephine Eclavea, Jaylyn Elam, Josiah Garrard, Jazmyne Greene, Erica Hargis, Samuel Hopkins, Jordyn Hughes, Anastasia Hunt, Oran Hurst, Josiah Lane, Thomas Mai, Aryana Morales, Emily Mung, Deavian Pitt, Katherine Powell, Anne Marie Roy, Kyah Sheppard, Harrison Stahler, Olivia Strickland, Abigail Tapley, Kelsie Vinson, Khushi Walia, Mckenna Welly and Angela Wright.

Seventh Grade A/B

Cameron Bell, Jacob Black, Connor Bowles, Dyane Bunch, Brynna Cannon, Waylon Cawley, Kohl Chambers, Chandler Corley, Alma Cortez, Alex Dellinger, Evan Deyoe, Thomas Edwards, Takai Evans, Kamari Evans, Clay Frost, Dylan Fulmer, Alexes Gibson, Zoe Gibson, Emily Hansard, Jessica Hlavaty, Amber Holden, Kayla Hutchinson, Brianna Jacobs, Bennett Klein, Joseph Lyda, Alexis McCray, Wesley McIntosh, Aaron Mims, Alex Miniweather, Tinsley Mobley, Bryana Nix, Cole Perryman, Issy Pruin, Marielena Rodriguez, Patrick Rogers, Haleigh Rosier, Makai Ross, Lloyd Rowe, Thomas Samaroo, Aaliyah Shearer, Kevana Sloan, Joey Stine, Carter Strader-Lee, A’nyla Tatayon, Miranda Taylor, Brianna Walker, Kayon Walker, Raygan Watkins, Christopher Welch, Christian White, Owen Whitehead, Alayah Wilborn and Abidjan Yond.

Eighth Grade A

Keeley Apple, Megan Bergfield, Andrew Canada, Carlo Casas, Sean Dugger, Meghan Ferguson, David Fulcher, Olivia Hada, Eric Hu, Zachary Hubble, Malachi Locke-Primus, Megan Manuel, Tori McKinley, Charles Merritt, Isaiah Paige, Raeven Ribot, Elise Roberson, Tony Rodriquez, Isaac Smith, William Tate and Lillian Wolfe.

Eighth Grade A/B

Mckenzie Alford, Deja Archer, Cole Ballantyne, Thomas Beauford, Victoria Blanchard, Isaiah Borel, Isaiah Borel, Davion Bratcher, Julian Broughton, Akhir Bullock, Daniel Cantwell, Dylan Castillo, Matt Childers, Brigham Clark, Bella Cooter, Joshua Curry, Jada D’antignac, Danielle Dawes, Gabriel de Lavaissiere, Dejawn Dean, Dayana Dean, Bailey Edenfield, Jazzlyn Elam, Abby Ellis, Russell Evans, Fabian Farrow, Trent Faulkner, Cheyenne Franco, Madison Garnett, Hannah Gray, Justin Gray, Celeste Gray, NyAsia Green, Brendan Gribek, Anastasia Guerrero, Rakshita Gupta, Anthony Ho, Kiera Holden, Zachary Houserman, Shamar Joe, Grace Jones, Ben Jordon, Georgia Keller, Monica Kim, Hanae Liu, Kevin Lovering, Vince Mandarini, Titus Manning, Jackson Marshall, Karina Martinez-Resendizdiz, Griffin McClain, McKenzie McCray, Trey McCrickard, Brody McLaughlin, Tony McMillen, Yadiel Mercedes, Christopher Miniwether, Kate Moore, Christopher Mung, Kerry Munoz, Emily Munson, Kyle Mussman, NuNu Page, Cheyenne Parker, Kelley Pendlebury, John Pinion, Andrew Powell, Mallary
Powell, Zack Pye, Carson
Rago, Alex Ransom, Will Rawlins, Justin Reeves, Colton Reville, Nick Robitille, Dana Roebuck, Shealynn Seamann, Fasih Shaikh, Jimmy Smith, Issac Smith, Daniela Sotelo, Torrie Surney, Sam Tallent, Joseph Tudor, Jordan Turman, Carson Watkins and Kaleb Worku.

Third Grade A

Ashlyn Atchinson, Warren Bethel, Tiana Binoop, Nathan Boyd, Emily Kate Broad­­water, Tristin Fiocchi, Andrew Fong, Diya Garrepally, Rob Gault, Andrea Guider,
Ellie Hopkins, Ayaan Hussain, Salma Irfan, Caleb Jackson, Eli John­son, Alayna Jones, Camilla Jones, Azad Khan, Paula Lagasse, Henry Lines, Raine Loney, Fu’aad Martin, Jacob McCallister, Elliot Miller, Utsab Mondal, Aubrey Munsell, Gabby Muro, Kennedy Myers, Rachel Nguyen, Brantley Odum, Ben Salley, Charlie Salley, Cole Scott, Courtney Shafer, Kunsh Sharma, Madison Skinner, Aubrey Smith-Walker, Kendall Sneed, Mattie Stewart, Suparna Suhag and Mia Tiller.

Third Grade A/B

Lincoln Allred, Jaden Asmann, Rania Babar, Yelena Bailey, Phoebe Boudreaux, Addison Brennan, Christopher Brown, Jack Cook, Savana Cooper, Gabe Foster, Lily Fromal, Aylee Fromal, Sarah Guzman, Michael Hallman, Liliana Hanner, Yasmeen Hegazy, Camden Hill, Noah Hinds, Grace Hubbard, Mohammed Ibrahim, Adelei Jay, Micah Johnson, Ben Johnson, Logan Kuntz, Emily Lagasse, Siya Lal, Averie Lundy, Annie Luong, Connor McQuistor, Anna Newsome, Tyler Pak, Kervin Paras, Timmy Peterson, Kaden Rollins, Teresa Schnee, Braylon Springs, Riley Stewart, Jai’Ana Stokes and Thomas Wynn.

Fourth Grade A

Aidan Eclavea, Emily Edmunds, Harrison Hubbard, Baxter Jay, Laura Makala, Jayda McClendon and Zoe Morrison.

Fourth Grade A/B

Alya Akhtar, Tesia Antompietri, Cody Areneman, Joey Aufiero, Bella Baker, Christian Bow, Serenity Brown, Avery Campbell, Oscar Casas, Daniel Chong, Gracie Flowers, Victoria Good, Trent Heyman, Rehma Irfan, Jacob Lima, Eli Miller, Colton Moak, Jaedan Mullins, Kaden Newton, Brooke Nichols, Sarah Roy, William Salinas, Aidan Silman, Ryan Smail, Alana Theia, Isaiah Thomas, Takari Vandiver, Carly Whitehead and Anika Yagnick.

Fifth Grade A

Jake Abrahani, Shareen Ahmad, Audrey Baker, Laura Baker, Aidan Blair, Andrew Brege, Emma Douglas, Ashlyn Dugger, Tara Dzin, Maria Edwards, Victoria Garcia, River Good, Tess Hotchkiss, Micah Jordan, Dominique Lizama, Bethany Maclaury, Trinity McIntyre, Audra Mendiola, Avery Miller, Anyindem Morfaw, Cooper Parrish, Kate Peterson, Manna Philip, Dylan Polanco, Ayanna Rabano, Mira Ryu, Dylan Salazar, Nika Shekastahband, Kathleen Sneed, Anusha Subramanian, Christian Truelove and Xuejian Xu.

Fifth Grade A/B

Caleb Adams, Faith An, Josh Bailey, Gregory Barlow, Michael Bates, David Bell, Kevin Bevill, Carson Brennan, Alaina Caley, Hailin Cao, Nova Cole, Carlee Ann Cox, Nicole Davis, Emma DeLoach, Gracie Edenfield, Lauren Ellis, Anna Joy Garrard, Ansley Gibson, Sara Goodfellow, Jeremiah Hubbard, Sydney Hughes, Heather Johnson, Brianna Jones, Wesley Jones, Jackson Kaminski, Kennedi Lasley, Jackson McBride, John McDaniel, Garrett McKinnon, Nathan McMillen, Caroline Moak, Aidan Nichols, Joanie Olson, Mia Oswald, Helen Pak, Kesha Patel, David Ryan, John Salley, Brianna Sewell, Saira Smith, DeWayne Tolbert, Lauren Troup, Gavin Turrell, Armaan Walia, Tyson Whitaker, Hy’Cei White, Dannika Wooden and Sean Young.

The following accounts were taken from Columbia County Sheriff’s Office incident reports:

Woman robbed in Martinez

A woman called police Monday to report she was robbed over the weekend.

The 58-year-old woman said she was walking on Braddock Street at about 10 a.m. on Dec. 12, headed to the nearby Walgreens to buy cigarettes. The woman said a man approached her from behind and demanded she turn over whatever she had in her pockets.

She pulled out a pack of cigarettes and the stranger said he wanted what was in her other pocket, which was a pill bottle containing 60-70 Methadone pills.

The woman said her attacker poured the pills into his hand and threw the pill bottle into the shrubbery. He ran away west on Braddock Street.

She didn’t know the man or how he knew she had the pills.

Woman claims harassment

An Evans woman said she was recently harassed and threatened by someone who had an indecent photo of her.

The 23-year-old woman said Dec. 15 that she received several messages via SnapChat from someone with the online name of jager.bombs. The messages, from someone she doesn’t know, were cordial at first, but began to scare the woman when the sender disclosed information about where she worked and where to find her.

The messages appeared for only a few seconds, so the woman couldn’t get a screenshot. When the sender asked for her phone number, the woman said she provided it so deputies could track the sender more easily. The sender, who identified himself as “Taylor” and said he lives in West Lake, immediately started sending messages to the woman’s cell phone, including a photo of her partially nude.

The photo was five years old and she had only sent it to her then-boyfriend.

The man then threatened the woman by demanding she send three more similar photos or he’d post the picture on social media, she said.

The woman said he said he was from a prominent Augusta family and could ruin her reputation.

The woman said she feared for her safety and stopped communicating with Taylor.

Evans woman’s car is keyed

An Evans woman told authorities Tuesday that she’s being harassed by someone she believes is her boyfriend’s ex-girlfriend.

The 22-year-old woman said that at about 4:30 p.m. Monday, a woman taped a letter to her door.

Whe she got to the door, the woman was in a black Lexus and said, “Make sure he gets that letter, and I’m pregnant,
too.” The woman went back inside.

The woman said she got into the shower at about 7 p.m. and heard her car alarm go off. She found a word scratched into the trunk and the car was keyed.

The woman said she’d received calls and text messages, but was not sure who sent them. In July, the same woman came to her home and tried to get inside, she said.

Note left inside car

A woman said someone left a note inside her car in a Martinez parking lot Tuesday.

The woman said she went inside Wal-Mart on Bobby
Jones just before 10 a.m. to return an item. When she returned to her car, she found a note in her car that read, “You better watch out you.”

While in the store, the woman said she realized she’d left her phone in the car. She found the note on her note pad sitting on top of the phone. She’s not sure if she locked the vehicle.

Shoes are taken in burglary

A Martinez woman said Monday that a burglar stole her son’s shoes.

The 33-year-old woman said when she left for work at about 9 a.m., she didn’t lock the door because her son had left his keys when he went to school two hours before.

When he came home at about 6:30 p.m., the woman said her son discovered that nine pairs of shoes were missing from his closet.

He said the shoes were there when he left for school and the woman said she saw them in the closet after her son left.

Nothing else appeared to be missing.

The group behind an effort to establish Columbia County’s first charter school is moving ahead on plans to purchase property and prepare for the construction of a school next year.

Todd Shafer, a Martinez Elementary School teacher and founding member of Columbia County School for the Arts, said he hopes the group will be able to make a public announcement of the future site for the school by Feb. 1.

“We will be building a new facility,” Shafer said, explaining that the site will be centrally located to allow for the proposed school’s county-wide attendance zone.

Shafer said the intention is to gain approval for the charter school application by mid-summer and begin construction not long after. If all goes as planned, the school would open its doors to students in August 2016, he said.

The school will offer and an arts-infused curriculum to about 700 children from kindergarten through eighth grade in its first year. The school intends to add a grade each year until it becomes a K-12th grade school with a capacity for about 1,100 students.

The group’s first attempt to seek approval of its charter application was rejected by the Columbia County Board of Education in July and then turned down by the state charter school commission in August.

The state charter commission staff recommended denying the group’s petition for three reasons. It said the proposed school’s governing board, while passionate and knowledgeable, “did not demonstrate that it would be able to assert authority, management, and oversight over the school leaders.”

The commission also said the proposed Columbia County school lacked a clear plan to be ready for the 2015-16 school year and did not articulate a strategy for acquiring a facility for students in that time frame.

Shafer said the group has been working on the state commission’s recommendations over the past few months, establishing an independent board and working on a facility plan that can be ready to go if the state regulators approve the new application.

Shafer said the state’s rejection was disappointing, but it will serve to create a better school in the long run.
“This gives us an opportunity to make sure the school that opens up in 2016 is going to be serving the best interests of parents and students,” he said. “It will be something the county can be proud of.”