Jasper County's first charter school will open in August in what used to be the West Hardeeville School.
Royal Live Oaks Academy of the Arts & Sciences Charter School co-founders Karen and Les Wicks hosted an informational meeting last week.

A small Hardeeville congregation has been worshipping at a church not their own ever since a fire in December ripped through a strip mall. The Seventh-day Adventist Church and four businesses were gutted at 12252 Speedway Blvd. (U.S. 17) just off Interstate 95 at Exit 5, destroying the church's interior and rendering the structure unsafe in a fire that has been ruled an arson.

Get ready for the Jasper Jamboree.
This year's Jamboree, an annual three-day field trial competition sanctioned by the Professional Kennel Club (PKC) of Indiana and sponsored by the Jasper County Chamber of Commerce, begins Thursday.
An estimated 350 dogs (with their hunting partner/owners) from 40 states and Canada will descend to the area.
It's likely residents will hear the haunting sounds of a coonhound in full hunt carrying through the night air - a sound that is dear to the hearts of many who have been raised around this particular breed of dog.

She's been a Jasper County School Board member for years, and has decided that her talents are needed elsewhere. She's tired of not getting anywhere with the school board and wants to try her hand with the County Council.
Running as a Democrat, Barbara Clark has her sights set on the Hardeeville seat on the County Council currently occupied by LeRoy Blackshear. A longtime resident of Jasper County and a grandmother of children who attend the Hardeeville school, she's devoted to the county and its future.

A descendent of Mary Jane Chisholm from the Charleston area, Lawrence Bowers is a third-generation resident of Jasper County. A former member of the elections committee, Bowers serves on the county's Board of Zoning Appeals.
As 1960 graduate of Jasper High School, Bowers has seen a lot, both inside and outside of the county.

In an attempt to dispel any qualms residents had about their children attending the county schools and the graduation rates that have been discussed at council meetings, school district officials fired back at Monday's Jasper County Council meeting.

The Greenery and Mazzanna's Lawn Service have joined forces.
Ridgeland resident Gary Mazzanna has owned his lawn service since 1994, but recently The Greenery bought his company. As of Feb. 1, all but one of Mazzanna's 47 employees has been working for the employee-owned company. Mazzanna works with the company as an operations manager.
"Our philosophies are very similar," said Mazzanna, who has lived in Ridgeland since 2006.

The 19,000 motorists that cross the Savannah River every day on U.S. 17 shouldn't see any major disruptions in their commute when construction begins on a new Back River Bridge.
The replacement of the 58-year-old bridge, a project that has been in the planning phase since 2007, will go out to bid in June, said Georgia Department of Transportation spokeswoman Jill Nagel.

A 5-year-old Ridgeland Elementary School child was dropped off at the wrong bus stop after school last week and was left wandering the neighborhood crying.
Amy Williams said on Jan. 23 she was with her son at a doctor's appointment on Hilton Head and had arranged for her daughter to be dropped off after school at the bus stop near her daughter's babysitter's house instead of their Sisters Ferry Road home.

There are electrical and sinkhole issues at Ridgeland's school campus. At last Monday's school board meeting, Jasper County School District Chief of Staff Darryl Owens presented information regarding the sinkholes at Ridgeland's campus and about electrical issues that have damaged several of the newly installed security cameras. The electrical issues, power outages and surges are being examined.