Livestock growers eligible for assistance due to drought

MOULTRIE, Ga. — Livestock producers in Colquitt County have suffered due to drought conditions. Colquitt County received a D-3 Drought Designation by the U.S. Drought Monitor which means that they could be eligible for assistance under the Livestock Forage Program. The Livestock Forage Program provides compensation to eligible livestock producers who suffer grazing losses for covered livestock due to drought on privately owned or cash leased land or fire on federally managed land. The FSA Colquitt County Committee will accept a completed Form CCC-853 from eligible livestock producers along with other required documents no later than Jan. 30, 2017, for losses on native and/or improved pasture used for grazing. For more information about LFP, please contact the Colquitt County FSA office at (229) 985-6509 or visit www.fsa.usda.gov.

Decar Scaff’s display of Christmas cottages takes place Friday and Saturday

JENNINGS, Fla. — Decar Scaff’s display of Christmas cottages will take place Friday and Saturday from 1–7 p.m. on both days. The display will also be available for viewing any time throughout the Christmas season. The Christmas cottages will be located in the Gingerbread House next to Decar and Eileen Scaff’s home at 7337 NW CR 146, two miles west of the S&S on SR 6. For more information, call 386-792-2459 or 386-397-5859.

John Berry Christmas coming to Tift Theatre

TIFTON, Ga. — John Berry and his band are bringing their Christmas tour to the Historic Tift Theatre Dec. 20. Part of Berry’s “O Holy Night” Christmas tour,  Berry and the band bring songs from Berry’s career such as  “Your Love Amazes Me”, “Kiss Me in the Car”, and “Standing on the Edge of Goodbye” along with Christmas favorites. The tour comes on the heels of Berry’s new album, “Christmas.” The 10-track album covers holiday standards from “Blue Christmas” to “O Holy Night.” Doors will open at 7 p.m. Tickets are available at at www.FreshTix.com/events/johnberry.

Laptop stolen at local coffee shop

MILLEDGEVILLE, Ga. — An officer met with a man in the Milledgeville Police Department lobby at about 5 p.m. on Dec. 9 in reference to a theft. The man stated that he had been playing music at Blackbird Café the previous night and left his backpack containing a laptop, a calculator, and a textbook next to a nearby staircase. He said that when he was finished playing, he returned to where he had left the bag only to find it missing. The man was unable to provide a serial number for any of his stolen items but told the officer he intended to try and find them.

Wildcats heading to Texas 

VALDOSTA, Ga.  — The state champion Valdosta Wildcats football team has been invited to play in the 2016 GEICO State Champions Bowl Series on Dec. 23 in The Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas., against the Arizona Interscholastic Association Class 6A state champion Chandler Wolves. According to the GEICO Bowl Series website, The 2016 GEICO State Champions Bowl Series will feature high school football state champions competing against one another in a doubleheader event. Games will be played at 6 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. EST and televised live on ESPNU. Valdosta plays Chandler in the first game of the doubleheader at 6 p.m. in the state-of-the-art, 510,000 square-foot indoor athletic facility shared by the Dallas Cowboys, the City of Frisco, and Frisco Independent School District high schools, The Ford Center at The Star. The 9:30 p.m. contest would pit the Florida High School Athletic Association Class 7A state champion St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale) against Bingham (South Jordan) the Utah High School Athletic Association Class 5A state champions.