Looking BACK, Looking FORWARD
Last year was a one of change for Cass County. It saw Travis Ransom resign as Mayor of Atlanta and James Brooks elected in. Ransom was then elected as County Judge. Cass County moved into District One, with Louie Gohmert becoming our new representative, and Jill Crocker became the president of the Atlanta Chamber of Commerce. In the same race that saw Ransom win, firsttime runner Kim Cullins defeated longtime incumbent Micki Henderson for District 3 Judge.
Additionally, Atlanta ISD Superintendent of Schools, Sidney Harrist, announced his retirement effective February 1, 2022. He was then replaced by Jason Harris following a special meeting Monday, January 3, 2022. In August it was announced that Danica Porter would replace David Cockrell as Atlanta City Manager after 13 years Atlanta and Linden hired new ADs/ head football coaches for their programs. Both coach Tyler Morton – Atlanta and Jarrick Farmer – Linden. lead their respective programs to the playoffs in their first year.
After several police walked out in Linden, an extensive search took place, On April 26, the City of Linden welcomed David Dulude to be its new police chief. In Atlanta, Atlanta Police/Fire Chief Robin Betts retired. Robin served the city of Atlanta for nearly 35 years. Replacing Bett, the city hired within to make Assistant Fire Chief Ricky Draper, and Assistant Police Chief Greg Restelle his replacement.
Both Linden-Kildare CISD and Atlanta ISD made structural changes to their facilities. Linden completed their Elementary building and Atlanta ISD’s entrance to Atlanta Primary School, the new baseball and softball fields, and the CTE Building.
The City of Linden probably made the biggest splash last year when they approved funding for new roads and finalized the funding for their infrastructure leaving 2023 to be an even bigger year for the City of Linden.
Probably the biggest name to continue to come up in Cass County for notorious reasons was Charles Sprayberry who was prosecuted for Murder, and Assault separately and managed to escape the Cass County Jail.
The biggest story was probably the heartbreaking news of the three Atlanta girls found in a pond. No arrests or news have been reported for the three sisters: Zi’Ariel Robinson Oliver, 9, A’Miyah Hughes, 8, and Te’Mari Robinson Oliver, 5.
In Atlanta, Kate Stow, volunteers, and community leaders organized a celebration for Atlanta turning 150, called Founders Day. At the celebration, there was a parade, popups, and dancing among a variety of other events. Associated with the event, Atlanta unearthed the 50-year time capsule and replaced it with a new one. Those in the community placed important personal artifacts in the box.
This past year has been impactful at the Journal-Sun too. We have introduced a new branding called Journal- Sun Media to reflect the digital direction we continue to move in. We plan to continue to keep our classic, nearly 150-year newspaper going strong, but also plan to further delve into video, web, and social media. This last year we filmed dozens of new videos including a brand new three-minute coaches show called two-minute drill.
In our news office, we also had changes. Former reporter and bookkeeper, Jamie Jeans left, we then welcomed Heather Butler as our new bookkeeper and Emily Sanders as our new news reporter.
This year we also welcomed local artist Vernon Gross. He produces the new weekly comic strip Bud and is beginning to video a new pastor’s show.
Our newspaper office lost three known former employees this year: Amy York, Patricia Buster, and Brenda Bedgood Brown. We want to honor their work here at the paper and wish their families our condolences.
Publishers Notes: Looking Back, Looking Forward pt. 1 looked back at 2022. Next week we will peek into the future of 2023.
Thank you to Melanie Rhyne, Chase Lambert, Jamie Jeans, Vernon Gross, Raydeen Edwards, Heather Butler, Kate Stow, Tim Emmons, and Emily Sanders for your work at the newspaper. It couldn’t be done without you! I also want to say a special thanks to Tim Emmons for his tenyear anniversary with the paper. If you see him on the street please tell him how much you appreciate his work.