Tifton Talks

In this episode of Tifton Talks, we sit down with Deannia Clements, President of Wiregrass Georgia Technical College, to explore how one of South Georgia’s premier educational institutions is embracing the rapid rise of Artificial Intelligence and automation. President Clements shares fascinating insights into how Wiregrass is moving beyond traditional teaching methods to ensure their graduates ar...

Housing shortages are hitting Tift, Cook, and Berrien counties hard, part of a massive statewide gap of 365,000 homes. Worth County’s downtown revival in Sylvester is gaining steam, but worker shortages and empty storefronts linger. The Georgia Board of Education has unfrozen $48 million for after-school programs just in time for the new school year. Governor Kemp declared August “Shooting Sports...

A Georgia Public Policy Foundation report finds Tift, Cook, and Berrien counties among 94 in the state facing housing shortages, part of a statewide deficit of more than 365,000 homes. Georgia has added over a million residents each decade since 1980, but housing construction never recovered after the Great Recession, with growth in the 2010s at just 7.9%. The largest shortages are in Fulton, DeKa...

Donovan dives into everything from downtown ribbon cuttings to billion-dollar rail mergers. A new waxing salon has landed in Tifton, the state’s trying to fix its nursing shortage with a new college agreement, and 8,600 Georgia students are getting Promise Scholarships for alternative education. Lawmakers are back at it with gambling proposals, and the Port of Savannah just had a monster year—than...

Donovan brings you the top stories from Tifton, Georgia, and beyond: STD Rates Soar in Georgia – The state ranks 4th nationally, with high rates of chlamydia, gonorrhea, and HIV. Experts call for more education and preventive care. Camilla Mayor Suspended – Kelvin Owens faces charges of election interference. Some residents support the suspension, others defend his actions. Georgia’s Economy Shine...

A Tift County grand jury has returned a massive indictment against cemetery monument sellers accused of defrauding grieving families. ThunderCon 2025 is set for September 13 at ABAC with voice actors, vendors, cosplay, and more. Irwin County Hospital officials dispute a report claiming they’re at risk of closure. Georgia’s Main Street programs brought in over $824 million in investment last year,...

Tift County updated its ordinances to stop landlords from cutting off utilities or removing tenants’ belongings without a formal eviction. The school board reviewed preparations for the new school year, including staff training, facility updates, and a plan to delay fixing the canning plant’s boiler. Georgia Tech is getting $20 million to build a new AI supercomputer called Nexus. State regulators...

Covered in this packed episode: Georgia lost 260,000 sq. ft. of federal office space this year, part of ongoing Trump-era government downsizing. CSX train delays are backing up traffic daily in South Georgia. Operation Southern Slowdown cracks down on speeders after a spike in highway deaths. Atlanta pizza boxes accidentally became recruiting tools for Border Patrol — and sparked protests. Folksto...

On this Tifton Talks News Roundup: Georgia saw 6 deaths and 70+ injuries over the July 4th weekend, with 400+ DUI citations. Feral hog hunters can now win $3,500 traps through a new DNR program. Georgia warns beekeepers after Africanized bees found in Alabama. Student caregivers through CareYaya are stepping in where the state ranks last in elder care. UPS may cut 20,000 jobs amid restructuring—Te...

In this episode of Tifton Talks, Donovan serves up your pre-Fourth of July rundown of headlines you didn’t know you needed—but just might thank him for. From smoother skies at Atlanta’s airport to one-man elections in Tifton, we’ve got your local, state, and national news in one shot. Highlights: ✈️ Flight delays ease at Hartsfield-Jackson after weekend chaos 🗳️ District 5 Commission seat filled w...

From new Georgia laws to national headlines, this week’s episode breaks down what’s happening across Tifton, the state, and beyond — with just the right mix of snark and substance. 🗞️ In This Episode: A Georgia audit questions the impact of a $30M child wellness program New state laws: trans athlete bans, digital IDs, tax cuts, human composting & more Over 1.4M Georgians are getting surplus ta...

In this episode, the discussion focuses on the recent cancellation of nearly $50 million in federal contracts between USAID and Mana Nutrition, a Fitzgerald, Georgia-based nonprofit that produces fortified peanut paste to combat global malnutrition. Despite losing a critical funding source that previously accounted for 90% of its sales, Mana has managed to keep all 135 employees on staff. CEO Mark...

This week on Tifton Talks, we covered important news for Tifton and beyond:1. **Property Appeals:** Tift County has settled over 1,100 property value appeals out of more than 5,000. The appeals were made after property values went up. Once all appeals are done, the county might lower property tax rates, but this process is delaying tax bills.2. **Phone Outage:** TruVista's phone service in Tifton...

In this episode, host Donovan Adkisson discusses the recent town hall meeting regarding significant increases in property assessments in Tifton. Mayor Julie B. Smith encouraged property owners to appeal their new assessments, which were carried out by an external firm (GMAS) due to the county's property values falling below state ratios. The last reassessment was conducted over 20 years ago, affec...

This is the audio extracted from the live Facebook feed of the town hall meeting the City of Tifton had on July 13, 2024 to discuss the recent revaluation of property for tax purposes in 2024. We attempted to clear up and make the audio as good as we could considering the event was not properly mic'd for streaming/recording purposes. Get full access to Tifton Talks at tiftontalks.substack.com/subs...

In this episode of Tifton Talks, Donovan welcomes Lisa Davis from Sylvester. Lisa finds herself at the heart of a controversy surrounding a mural on a building she recently purchased and renovated for a new business. Not realizing the significance of the mural, Lisa proceeded with her plans to revitalize the building, only to face a storm of criticism. Lisa shares her background, emphasizing her d...

In this episode, we've got Brandon Gandy from the Tifton Talks Facebook group. Brandon's been around, did web design for a bit, then switched to driving for Uber and Lyft all around. After the pandemic, he returned to Tifton, where the ride business is a bit different. He discussed the challenges of making a living with Uber in Tifton, mentioning the shutdown of another local cab service. Brandon’...

This episode has our first Business Spotlight segment which is an interview with Ron Branch of Century 21 Smith Branch & Pope . Ron provides insights into the housing market in 2023, the ups and downs, what challenges perspective home buyers may face, especially with the continuing rise in interest rates across the United States. Before we get into the interview, I share our current membership...

Introducing the Tifton Talks Podcast for Tifton, Georgia and the surrounding region! Get full access to Tifton Talks at tiftontalks.substack.com/subscribe Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/tifton-talks--6578576/support . --- Voicemail:  https://tiftontalks.com/voicemail Email:  podcast@tiftontalks.com Text:  229-234-1307 Get full access to Tifton Talks at tiftont...