'The Record' wins 7 GPA Awards

The Toccoa Record won seven awards in the Georgia Press Association (GPA) Better Newspaper Contest including one of three given for general excellence. The Toccoa Record won first place for best sports section and third place in general excellence. The winner in the general excellence category is determined by the number of points totaled in first through third places in the 25 individual categories that make up the contest. The prestigious J.W. Williams Trophy for first place in best editorial page was given to The Record. They won second place in the Page One category which judges the newsworthiness of the publication's front page; along with second place in the layout and design category which deals with the overall design and attractiveness of the newspaper.

Two Record staffers were honored for individual work. Jessica Water's photograph of a Stephens County High School tennis player won third place for best sports photo and publisher Tom Law's column about being marooned on the roof of his house took second place honors for best humorous column.

Stephens County Hospital is recognized by the Georgia Hospital Association

WNEG 630 announced that Stephens County Hospital has been named to the Georgia Hospital Association's Partnership for Health and Accountability Quality Honor Roll. Stephens County is one of just 16 hospitals to be acknowledged in the Chairman's category, the highest on the list.

The honor roll is based on clinical data provided by the federal Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services. The data was collected from January 2009-December 2009 and demonstrates how well a hospital’s caregivers adhere to the clinical processes of care to patients who have suffered heart attacks, heart failure, and pneumonia.

Georgia Hospital Association President Joseph Parker said this is a great accomplishment for Stephens County Hospital.

Groundbreaking for Hayestone Brady

The Stephens County Development Authority broke ground Tuesday June 8 for improvements to the Hayestone-Brady Business Park. The Hayestone-Brady Business Park is on Highway 17, between Toccoa and Martin, and currently is home to Caterpillar and the Currahee campus of North Georgia Technical College.

The project consists of building a road that will pass through the park and connect the current Georgia Highway 17 to the future route of four-lane Highway 17. The project will consist of some site work and the implantation of water and sewer facilities to ready the park for business.

Several city and county leaders were on hand to celebrate the occasion. Officials from local industries were present, as were state Sen. Jim Butterworth and state Rep. Michael Harden.

The Development Authority is receiving $7 million through SPLOST V (special purpose local option sales tax), approved by voters, to complete the infrastructure improvements that will make Hayestone-Brady ready for development.

Work has already begun on the project and is expected to be completed by late fall.

Click here for more photos from the ceremony: Groundbreaking photos

Click here to view video clips from the ceremony: Groundbreaking Videos