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Statesboro PD soon to be at full force for first time this decadeThis month, for the first time in nearly a decade, the Statesboro Police Department is set to have its fully authorized number of officers “on the roster” if not yet all on the street. The city administration halted hiring bonuses March 1, but improved pay based on a beginning officer salary of $55,476 remains in effect. That full roster will include the 79 sworn police officers of all ranks authorized by Statesboro City Council in its current budget. But City Manager Charles W. Penny has authorized Chief of Police Charles “Mike” Broadhead to “over hire” by up to four officers. Both the manager and the chief say the department has officers in training at the Georgia Police Academy and job offers now out to applicants sufficient to meet both milestones. In an interview last week, Broadhead indicated that a new hire arriving Monday, March 10, would become the 78th officer on the force. Meanwhile, the SPD command staff and city human resources office had made conditional offers to five people who will be hired provided that they pass required background checks, including polygraph testing and psychological evaluation.March 12, 2025 -
Statesboro Fire Department chief answers county officials’ claims about fire serviceAlthough city officials voiced no hope of changing county officials’ minds about ending the intergovernmental fire service agreement June 30, Statesboro Fire Chief Tim Grams spoke to City Council during Tuesday morning’s meeting to point out factual errors in statements made by county officials and to disagree with some of the county’s conclusions. One fact which emerged that was not previously part of the discussion is that the automatic aid agreement by which the Statesboro Fire Department, or SFD, and the Bulloch County Fire Department, or BCFD, automatically respond with at least one apparatus to each other’s structure fire calls is separate from the five-year Statesboro Fire District Agreement and is not expiring June 30. So to take City Manager Charles Penny’s advice that the city not provide automatic aid in the five-mile district after June 30, City Council and the mayor will need to make a decision and serve notice to the county.March 5, 2025 -
Protest in support of immigrants and their safety draws about 50 participantsAround 50 people gathered on the Bulloch County Courthouse south lawn Saturday to protest for the human rights of immigrants and in support of those experiencing fear and uncertainty because of the Trump administration’s threats and actions. It was the second of a series of Saturday protests regarding various aspects of the new administration’s policies. The Young Democrats of Bulloch County is one organizing group, but the Saturday, March 1, demonstration also involved volunteers from the recently formed Migrant Support Group of Bulloch County.March 4, 2025 -
City Council committee acknowledges two unintentional mistakes on conflict of interestAn investigative committee of Statesboro City Council, advised by City Attorney Cain Smith, has found that two council members erred when they failed to recuse themselves from two unrelated matters during the Jan. 28 meeting but that their actions – or an action and quick reversal in one instance and inaction in the other – were “unintentional and inconsequential.” The committee’s written findings also assign blame to Smith for giving one council member incorrect advice and commit the city’s attorney anew to “review every agenda moving forward for possible conflict of interest issues and continue to advise Mayor and Council on conflicts.” The mayor and council and staff members also are to review both the ethics section of the Statesboro Code of Ordinances and the recusal process at their annual strategy retreat, to be held March 14-15 in Augusta. Smith said this will be done to make sure that all of the officials are familiar with the rules, not with any thoughts of changing them.February 26, 2025 -
Bulloch commissioners update meeting rules, put public comments time before voting itemsFrom now on, citizens who wish to speak to the Bulloch County Board of Commissioners about a topic on their regular meeting agenda may sign up and do so during the general public comments time early in the meeting. That opportunity will now occur before the “consent agenda,” “old business” and “new business” portions of the meeting, so members of the public may have some input on topics before commissioners vote.February 19, 2025 -
County’s proposed budget changes reflect $16.8 million added spendingAs part of their Tuesday, Feb. 18 meeting, Bulloch County commissioners were expected to approve budget amendments with added expenditures totaling more than $10 million in the county government’s general fund, as well as $5.6 million and almost $1.2 million in two different sales tax funds. This regular, public meeting was set to begin at 8:30 a.m. in the North Main Annex Community Room, the commissioners’ usual meeting place. Local governments frequently adopt budget amendments, often to reassign unexpected revenue or money saved in certain departments to cover new or higher than expected costs for other items. But the amendments to the Fiscal Year 2025 budgets reflect larger than typical added costs.February 18, 2025 -
Statesboro Mayor’s ‘State of City’ and Bulloch County’s ‘Town Hall’ to overlap Tues., Feb. 25As of this report, the Statesboro city and Bulloch County governments both have events intended to inform and interact with the public scheduled, with a half-hour overlap, for the evening of Tuesday, Feb. 25. A “Town Hall Meeting” of the Bulloch County Board of Commissioners has recently been announced for 6 p.m.-7:30 p.m. that day in the Jones Love Cultural Center at Luetta Moore Park, 585 Martin Luther King Jr. Drive. Meanwhile, Statesboro Mayor Jonathan McCollar’s 2025 “State of the City” address has long been set for 7 p.m. Feb. 25, and will be held in the Emma Kelly Theater, 35 East Main St.February 12, 2025 -
Statesboro suspends massage parlor license 2 weeks because of prostitution-related arrestsStatesboro City Council, by a 3-2 vote Tuesday, suspended the massage parlor license of Lisa’s Therapeutic Massage for two weeks, awaiting a possible further decision by the council. The hearing was held as part of the council’s regular semimonthly council meeting after the city attorney issued a “notice of intention to revoke” the license because of two prostitution-related arrests last fall. Reportedly acting on citizen’s complaints that staff members at the business on Brannen Street were performing sexual acts in exchange for money under the guise of doing massages, officers with the Statesboro Police Department’s Impact Team conducted an undercover operation.February 5, 2025 -
Full updated story: Statesboro-Bulloch Chamber of Commerce celebrates with annual Meeting and AwardsAmid the festive trappings of a “Passport to Progress … Multicultural Celebration,” the Statesboro-Bulloch Chamber of Commerce saluted its best and most innovative businesses, employee-positive workplaces and influential leaders and mentors Tuesday evening.January 16, 2025 -
Now, a city election year, with Statesboro mayor’s office upStatesboro resident voters who think they catch a break after 2024 probably have another think coming. 2025 is a city election year with the mayor’s office and two council seats due for votes. In fact, City Council formally set the qualifying fees for candidates during its first meeting of the year, 9 a.m. Tuesday. After the meeting, all three incumbents with terms expiring this year said they will run again. Council’s vote was a legally required formality. The qualifying fees are prescribed by state law as 3% of the annual salary of an office. So the fees are $560 for candidates for mayor and $330 for candidates for City Council in District 1 and District 4, as stated in the resolution, which was approved 5-0, on a motion from District 1 Councilwoman Tangie Reese Johnson seconded by District 4 Councilman John Riggs.January 8, 2025