Alice Queen

A man who drove away from a gas station in a stolen heavy-duty semi-truck is wanted by the Newton County Sheriff’s Office.

Local residents and environmental groups have alerted the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (EPD) about unpermitted construction at VoltaGrid’s pop-up power plant and Serverfarm’s adjacent data center in Covington where the companies are working to install more than 40 methane gas and diesel-fired engines before getting required environmental approvals. After a neighbor drove by the site on June 19 and took photos showing that VoltaGrid had constructed at least six out of 33 methane gas-fired engines, Sustainable Newton, Altamaha Riverkeeper, and the Southern Environmental Law Center submitted a letter urging EPD to investigate and take enforcement action against the companies.

The city of Social Circle has requested a Development of Regional Impact review of its plan to build a new wastewater treatment plant on the Little River. City Manager Eric Taylor said the new plant will replace the existing plant on Vine Circle and will double the city’s current wastewater treatment capacity — from 666,000 gallons per day to 1.5 million gallons per day. The new facility will be designed to expand capacity in the future to 3 million gallons per day.

Discussion of whether or not to appoint members to a board of ethics ended with no clear decision at Covington’s City Council meeting Monday.

Covington is moving forward with the engineering and design phase for replacement of the sidewalk pavers in the downtown area. The project is part of the city’s ongoing downtown utility

Business was brisk at the Covington Farmers Market Saturday morning at Heirloom Park, with vendors selling fresh produce and homemade breads, jellies, sweets and more. The next farmers market is

Newton County is getting closer to identifying potential sites for the long-awaited westside youth facility and park.

Developers of a data center power plant on Hazelbrand Road have been ordered by the Georgia Environmental Protection Division to stop construction of a facility that includes 33 natural gas-fired

Renovations of the Newton County Historic Jail, which began 15 years ago, are moving into the final stretch.

Faithful Snapping Shoals Electric Membership Cooperative members came by the hundreds Thursday morning to the 88th annual meeting of the EMC.