Georgia
This Is The Friendliest Small Town in Georgia
Every April since 1922, the whole town of Thomasville turns out for the Rose Show and Festival, with flower floats rolling past the 1858 courthouse, classic cars lining the square, and local chefs sneaking rose petals into cupcakes and cocktails. On the second Saturday of every month, the arts center throws its doors open for free. The 345-year-old Big Oak in Elizabeth Ireland Poe Park has a gazebo beneath it where people gather to sit, talk, and take each other’s picture (the camera mounted on a phone pole across the street will email it to you for free). Thomasville makes a strong case as the friendliest little town in Georgia, and the case rests on how much of life here happens together.
Downtown Thomasville
Downtown Thomasville turns on the Thomas County Historic Courthouse, an 1858 Greek Revival building that anchors the central square. The courthouse plays its biggest role each April during the Rose Show and Festival, a two-day community gathering that sets the social calendar for the year. The festival’s signature events run on volunteers and neighbors recognizing each other across booths: rose displays from local growers, three additional flower shows, live music, and an artisan market where most of the vendors come from a few counties over.
The Orchids on Parade kicks the weekend off with floats from schools, clubs, churches, and small businesses. The Show and Shine Car and Truck Show fills the square with more than 100 vehicles, most of them shown by their owners, who stand around answering questions all afternoon.
The festival pulls in restaurants and shops the same way. Because roughly 90% of the roses grown locally are edible, businesses around the square work them into the menu for the weekend. Liam’s Restaurant Lounge and Cheese Shoppe, a New American spot with European leanings, mixes a Rose City Cocktail with rose water and vodka. Sweet CaCao Chocolates, which uses local ingredients across its seasonal lineup, layers vanilla cupcakes with rose petal icing and turns out vanilla-rose macarons. None of this is mandated by the festival board. It just happens, the way most things happen here, because everyone is in on it.
Historic Landmarks That Bring People Together
The Big Oak does most of the work for itself. Standing at the corner of Crawford and East Monroe Streets, the southern live oak (registered with the Live Oak Society in 1936 as the 49th member) reaches 68 feet tall, has a trunk circumference of 26.5 feet, and a limb span of more than 165 feet. It dates to around 1680, which makes it older than the town. The tree sits in Elizabeth Ireland Poe Park with a Victorian gazebo beneath it, and most days you’ll find people sitting on the bench, taking pictures, or watching strangers take pictures. A camera mounted on a telephone pole across the street will email a snapshot to anyone who calls the posted number, and that small detail is part of why people end up chatting with whoever’s there.
The Jack Hadley Black History Museum holds 4,669 artifacts of African American history, with exhibits running from slavery and the Buffalo Soldiers through Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The museum runs guided tours and educational programming designed to bring small groups through together. Scavenger hunts pull families and visitors into the same conversation, and the docents lean into that, because the museum’s whole approach is built on people processing history out loud rather than reading panels in silence.
The Thomasville History Center, founded in 1952, is one of the oldest historical societies in the state. Its main building is the historic 1923 Flowers-Roberts House, with eight buildings spread across 3.3 acres. Tours and educational programs run six days a week, all of them free, which makes the center one of the easier places in town to walk in alone and walk out having met someone.
Thomasville’s Arts Scene
The Thomasville Center for the Arts opens its galleries free of charge year-round. The work on display rotates through local, regional, and state artists across multiple media, and the center programs around community engagement deliberately. Free 2nd Saturday is the most visible piece: every second Saturday of the month, the doors open with themed activities, art stations, and hands-on crafts that draw families, retirees, and first-time visitors into the same room. There is no admission charge and no expectation that you stay for any particular length of time, which is part of why it works.
The center’s annual Due South benefit concert, held each April at the Ritz Amphitheater downtown, has run since 2012 and brings performing, visual, and culinary arts together for one evening. The Thomasville Antique Show, which celebrated its 37th year in 2026, draws exhibitors from across the country to show antiques, fine art, and contemporary design alongside design lectures and hands-on workshops.
Friendliness in Thomasville is the kind of thing the town has built infrastructure around. The Rose Show pulls in restaurants, schools, clubs, and chefs in a structure where everyone has a part. The arts center keeps the doors open without charging at the threshold. The Big Oak gives strangers a reason to stand still in the same spot for a few minutes. Each of these is a small mechanism, but stack them together and a town that knows how to talk to itself is what comes out the other side. That is the version of Georgia that Thomasville is actually selling.
ATLANTA – Georgia voters will head to the polls Tuesday to cast their ballots in a highly competitive primary election that features several races for top state offices.
What we know:
The Georgia Secretary of State’s office reported that more than 550,000 people have already cast early ballots in the state. This early turnout represents more than 7% of the state’s 7 million active voters, with Democrats seeing a higher early turnout by more than 50,000 votes over Republicans.
Several of the most powerful positions in the state are completely open because there is no incumbent running in the race.
Gov. Brian Kemp is limited by terms, leaving his seat open, while Lt. Gov. Burt Jones is running for that office alongside former Atlanta Democratic Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms.
In the Senate race, three Republicans are competing for the chance to challenge Sen. John Ossoff, who faces no Democratic challengers. Other major offices on the ballot include attorney general, agricultural commissioner, and insurance and fire safety commissioner.
SEE 2026 ELECTION REPORTING
What we don’t know:
It remains unclear how total voter turnout on Tuesday will compare to early voting numbers or if election day will alter the current turnout balance between political parties. Officials have not yet indicated how quickly final ballot counting will be completed after polling places close for the evening.
What they’re saying:
“The thing that we really want to do is help elect enough women and men who are Democrats to flip at least one chamber of the House or Senate,” Melita Easters of the Georgia Gang said.
“We want to see a big turnout for Republicans on the day of Tuesday so that we can even that number out, because we know that it’s it’s about a 50-50 state,” Martha Zoller of the Georgia Gang said.
What you can do:
Polling sites will open at 7 a.m. and close at 7 p.m. on Tuesday. Voters are being asked to double-check their polling site locations and look over a sample ballot before arriving to make sure they are prepared.
The Source: The information in this story was gathered from FOX 5 reporter Annie Mapp, who spoke live from Midtown Atlanta regarding data from the Georgia Secretary of State’s office, as well as on-camera interviews with Georgia Gang political commentators Melita Easters and Martha Zoller.
Former Glynn County, Georgia Police Chief Scott Ebner, now a finalist for the Honolulu chief job, has been under investigation for months over allegations of inappropriate behavior with a subordinate but apparently failed to mention that to a hiring consultant who recommended him as a top candidate for the Honolulu job.
When asked directly about the ongoing investigation last week by Civil Beat, Ebner professed not to know anything about it and denied he was under investigation.
“That’s not the case,” he said.
Civil Beat confirmed a complaint was filed in early August against Ebner alleging inappropriate conduct between him and Stephanie Oliver, an assistant chief, who he had promoted. Civil Beat also confirmed an independent investigator was hired by Glynn County a month later and that both Ebner and Oliver were notified of the complaint and investigation, which is still open.
Ebner resigned as chief and public safety director in December, about four months after the complaint was filed and less than two years after he had taken the top role at the Glynn County Police Department. In a Dec. 22 press release, county officials said he was moving into a transitional role to “support continuity of operations and leadership planning” at the end of that month. He is set to leave that position on June 30.
A Note On Anonymous Sources
Ebner has said he left the chief job simply because it was time to move on. He had his eye on the chief job in Honolulu by then and knew a search would be starting soon. During his interview with Civil Beat he pointed to a glowing letter of recommendation from the Glynn County Board of Commissioners and asked why the board would write such a letter if he had left under a cloud of suspicion.
Oliver did not respond to messages left seeking comment. An email sent to her police department email address bounced back.
The allegations were first made public in Georgia on a local news organization’s Facebook page in December.
However, Honolulu Police Commission Chair Laurie Foster said commission members did not know about the allegation against Ebner before selecting him as a finalist. Now that they are aware of it, she said they are investigating, adding that commissioners are doing deep background research on all three of the finalists.
“We’re looking into all sorts of rumors, and they come up every day,” she said. “And we continue to investigate rumors and allegations that come up.”
Screened By Consultant
Ebner, who was also a finalist for the chief position in 2022, was named as a finalist last week by the Police Commission, along with David Lazar, a retired assistant chief from San Francisco, and Mike Lambert, director of Hawaiʻi’s Department of Law Enforcement.
Before advancing, Ebner was interviewed and screened by the executive search firm, Public Sector Search & Consulting Inc., which specializes in law enforcement executive hiring. The city is paying the company $121,900 to conduct the chief search.
When asked if she thought the consultant should have uncovered the allegation about Ebner’s investigation and warned the commission, Foster said she didn’t know yet.
“I’m not going to respond to that right now,” she said.
Starting with a pool of more than 40 candidates put forward by the consulting firm in April, the commission chose six semifinalists, who were interviewed by four panels of stakeholders, including top city and state officials, first responders and community organization leaders.
Based on the results of those interviews, commissioners then advanced Ebner, Lazar and Lambert, who have been making the rounds of media outlets for in-person interviews and were interviewed on a PBS program on Thursday evening.
They are scheduled to meet privately this week with Mayor Rick Blangiardi, who wants input into who becomes chief, followed by closed-door interviews with only two police commissioners at a time. If more than two commissioners participated in each interview, the meetings would have to be open to the public under Hawaiʻi’s Sunshine Law.
On Wednesday, the full commission is scheduled to hold a public session with each finalist, then decide later in the meeting who will get the job.
‘I’ve Never Been Disciplined’
The Glynn County Board of Commissioners did not mention an investigation or any allegations of misconduct when it announced Ebner was leaving the chief’s job in December. The press release contains quotes from commissioners praising Ebner’s leadership and his achievements as chief, including improving staffing levels by 25%, implementing salary increases for personnel and championing technological improvements in the department.
“On behalf of the Board of Commissioners, I want to thank Chief Ebner for his dedication to Glynn County,” commission Chairman Walter Rafolski said, according to the press release. “His work to elevate public safety standards and support the men and women who serve our community every day is sincerely appreciated.”
Rafolski did not respond to a call seeking comment. Other commissioners either declined to comment or did not respond.
During his interview with Civil Beat, Ebner said if an investigation had been opened into him prior to his departure from Glynn County, he wasn’t aware of it.
“Unless something’s happened that I don’t know about, which is always possible,” Ebner said at the end of the interview.
Civil Beat confirmed that Ebner was notified of the complaint and investigation several months before he left the police department and that an outside investigator hired by the county had begun conducting interviews.
Asked specifically about the allegations that he was having an affair with a subordinate, Ebner replied: “You’re always going to have people that file allegations … And then, like I said, if I had done anything wrong, I don’t think they would have let me leave or continue to pay me until June.”
He pulled the letter of recommendation from the Glynn County Board of Commissioners and signed by Rafolski out of his briefcase and gave it to a reporter.
“That’s who I work for, directly,” he said. “That’s what they gave me when I left.”
His recommendation letter also is from Rafolski and covers some of the same ground as the press release. It says the county saw improvements in public safety and emergency preparedness under Ebner’s leadership.
“Mr. Ebner has raised public safety standards in Glynn County through his dedication, integrity and commitment to excellence,” Rafolski says in the letter. “I give my highest recommendation and I’m confident he will excel in future roles.”
The letter says Ebner improved staffing, got strategic grants for the department, built public trust and prioritized transparency. The department also achieved state police certification, established an Office of Professional Standards and Accountability and acquired new technology and modern equipment under his leadership, it says.
“I’ve never been disciplined, I’ve never been verbally counseled or written a reprimand, I never had to be retrained or go over a policy because I did something wrong,” Ebner told Civil Beat. “And that’s kind of an anomaly with almost 35 years of law enforcement. That’s how seriously I take my job.”
County spokeswoman Brittany Dozier did not respond to calls and emails seeking comment.
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BRIGHTON, Mass. – No. 3 Georgia Tech (45-9, 25-5 ACC) closes out its record-breaking regular season with a 15-2 (7) run-rule victory over No. 23 Boston College (36-20, 17-13 ACC) on Saturday afternoon at Harrington Athletics Village in Brighton, Mass. The Yellow Jackets scored five runs in the first inning and kept the Eagles off the board for the final six innings of play for yet another dominant victory, securing the most lopsided sweep over a Top 25 opponent in program history (38-3) and 25 Atlantic Coast Conference victories, tied with 2015 Louisville for the most ever recorded over a 30-game conference season.
All nine hitters reached base with six recording multiple hits. Kent Schmidt led the team with three hits (3-for-3) while Vahn Lackey led the way in with three RBI in another complete offensive effort. On the mound, Jackson Blakely settled in after allowing two runs (one earned) in the first inning, delivering four scoreless innings over his 5.0 IP before handing the ball to Cooper Underwood and Justin Shadek to complete the run-rule victory.
QUICK HITS: TEAM
- The Jackets improve to 45-9, the best regular season record, by winning percentage, since going 16-2 back in 1920..
- Tech finishes 25-5 in ACC play, tied with 2015 Louisville for the best 30-game conference record in ACC history.
- This is only the 2nd time Georgia Tech has won at least 45 regular season games in program history, and first since 1987 (47).
- The Jackets have swept six ACC series and nine series overall for the first time in program history.
- The Jackets are now 14-3 against Top-25 opponents, the best win % against ranked teams in program history. Seven of the 14 wins vs. Top 25 teams have been by a margin of at least 10 runs, including tonight.
- Tech has scored 578 runs this regular season. The most runs scored through 54 games in program history and the most scored by any Power 4 team through 54 games in the BBCOR era.
- GT’s 578 runs are a new program BBCOR era record and tied for the 6th-most ever recorded in a single season at GT.
- The Jackets hit two home runs tonight, for a season total of 114 – the 4th most in program history. Tech is eight homers away from the program record (122 – set in 2010).
- GT is outscoring its opponents 578-255, that +323 margin is the highest in program history.
- Tech’s offense is currently on pace to set program records in batting average (.357 – record is .347), on-base percentage (.468 – record is .434), slugging percentage (.626 – record is .575) and runs-per-game (10.6 – record is 10.3).
- Tech pitching finished with an ERA of 4.36 in ACC games, the best in the conference.
- This was the 31st game of the season in which Tech has scored double-digit runs (57.4 % of all games).
- The Jackets scored five runs in the first inning, the 36th inning with at least five runs scored (8.4% of all innings).
- Tech finishes their ACC schedule with a 69-6 combined score over the last five games.
- The Jackets have held their opponents to two or fewer runs in each of the last five league games.
- Georgia Tech has won back-to-back ACC regular season titles for the 2nd time in program history and the first time since 2004/2005
- Georgia Tech is the first back-to-back ACC Regular Season Champion since UVA in 2010/2011 (15 years)
- This is GT’s 11th Regular Season ACC Championship and 8th outright season title.
- Tech has won nine ACC Regular Season/Division titles this century, the 2nd most in the conference behind only Florida State (11)
- James Ramsey becomes the first ACC Coach to win a Regular Season Title in his first season since 1994 (Jack Leggett at Clemson) and the first coach to win the ACC regular season in his first season as a head coach since 1958 (Bill Wilhelm at Clemson).
- GT is the first program in ACC history to win back-to-back ACC championships with two different coaches, securing the conference title with Danny Hall in 2025 and James Ramsey in 2026.
QUICK HITS: THE BATS
- Junior Jarren Advincula extended his hitting streak to a career best 22 games, tied for the 8th longest in program history and the longest since 2005. He recorded his 100th hit of the season today, becoming the 14th Yellow Jacket in program history to record 100 hits in a single season and the first since 2005 (Wes Hodges & Tyler Greene).
- He went 2-for-5 with two singles. He has gotten a hit in 37 of his last 38 games dating back to March 10 and 50 of 54 games this season.
- He is the first Division I player to reach 100 hits this season after also being the fastest to 80 and 90.
- His batting average now stands at .441 for the season, the highest in Power 4 and the 2nd best in the nation. It is the 4th highest in program history. He has the highest batting average of any Tech player since 1979, when Doug Ibele went 52-for-112 (.464)
- Should the season end today, Advincula would have the highest batting average of any Yellow Jacket with at least 200 ABs – a record currently held by Jay Payton (.434) from back in 1994.
- This was his 35th multi-hit game of the season, the most on the team.
- Junior Vahn Lackey extended his hitting streak to a career best 11 games, going 2-for-2 with a home run, a triple and two hit-by-pitches. He led the team in runs scored (four) and RBI (three).
- He hit his 15th HR of the season in the fourth inning to break the game open.
- He has scored 72 runs this year, 13 more than his career total over his freshman and sophomore seasons.
- This was his 25th multi-hit game of the season, his 23rd game with multiple runs scored and his 19th game with multiple RBI
- He hit his team-leading 3rd triple of the season, a new career high, giving him career-bests in doubles (16), triples (3) home runs (15), RBI (69), total bases (145) and walks (43) this season.
- He has driven in 69 RBI this season, the second most on the team.
- Junior Carson Kerce reached base four times, going 2-for-3 with a home run, a triple and two walks, finishing with two RBI and three runs scored.
- He has now hit eight home runs this season, surpassing his career total from his freshman and sophomore seasons (six).
- He leads the team with 39 extra base hits this season.
- Junior Drew Burress extended his on-base streak to 17 games with a pair of doubles, getting an RBI and a run scored.
- He has now scored an ACC-best 74 runs, bringing his career total to 224, the 5th most in program history and eight away from Darren Bragg (1988-91) for 4th.
- His 224 runs scored is the most among active Division I players
- He produced his 3rd game with multiple doubles this season, giving him multiple hits in 12 of his final 16 regular season games dating back to April 19.
- Junior Kent Schmidt went 3-for-3 with two walks and two RBI. It was his fifth game of the season with at least three hits and his 11h game with multiple RBI.
- He finishes as GT’s ACC season leader in RBI, with 36.
QUICK HITS: THE ARMS
- Sophomore Jackson Blakely made his 10th consecutive weekend start, pitching 5.0 innings with one earned run allowed and five strikeouts with five hits and three walks surrendered.
- The Jackets have won each of Blakley’s last nine starts.
- His ERA stands at 2.75 over 55.2 innings, the lowest among all regular starting pitchers on the roster and the second lowest ERA overall on staff.
- He stands at 61 strikeouts this season, the second most on the roster, and 55.2 innings pitched, also the second most, both behind Friday night starter Tate McKee.
- Blakely would get credit for the win, bringing his record to 7-1 for the season and joining Carson Ballard (7-0) for the second most wins on the staff, behind McKee (8).
- He is currently on pace to be the first Tech pitcher with an ERA under 3.00 since 2016 – Brandon Gold 2.48 ERA over 105.1 IP.
- Freshman Cooper Underwood produced a quite 6th inning, recording a pair of outs around a walk before Drew Rogers threw out a would-be base stealer from BC.
- This was his fifth appearance out of the bullpen this season and his 11th overall He owns a 1.04 ERA over 8.2 innings out of the bullpen this year, allowing only three hits with 10 strikeouts.
- R-sophomore Justin Shadek made his 14th bullpen appearance of the season and his 16th He pitched a scoreless seventh inning recording two of his three outs via strikeout.
- He has struck out 40 batters over 23.1 innings this season, a K/9 of 15.43, the most on the team among pitchers with at least 10.0 innings.
Up Next
The Jackets will turn their attention to the ACC Tournament at Truist Field in Charlotte, N.C. As the No. 1 seed, the Yellow Jackets will play the winner of the No. 8 seed vs. the winner of the No. 9/16 seeds on Thursday, May 21 at 3 p.m.
Full Steam Ahead
Full Steam Ahead is a $500 million fundraising initiative to achieve Georgia Tech athletics’ goal of competing for championships at the highest level in the next era of intercollegiate athletics. The initiative will fund transformative projects for Tech athletics, including renovations of Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field (the historic home of Georgia Tech football), the Zelnak Basketball Center (the practice and training facility for Tech basketball) and O’Keefe Gymnasium (the venerable home of Yellow Jackets volleyball), as well as additional projects and initiatives to further advance Georgia Tech athletics through program wide-operational support. All members of the Georgia Tech community are invited to visit atfund.org/FullSteamAhead for full details and renderings of the renovation projects, as well as to learn about opportunities to contribute online.
For the latest information on the Georgia Tech baseball team, follow us on X (@GTBaseball), Facebook, Instagram (@gt_baseball) or visit us at www.ramblinwreck.com.
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