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The News to record, show BOC meetings
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The Newton County Board of Commissioners’ meetings will now be recorded on video and placed on The Covington News’ website, CovNews.com, where they can be viewed in their entirety for free by the public.

The two regularly scheduled monthly meetings of the board will be recorded by The News and posted at CovNews.com/section/188, a special webpage set up to host the recorded meetings. The page can also be accessed by going to the CovNews.com main page, scrolling over the “Local” tab in the top, left corner and then clicking on “BOC Media” in the drop-down menu that will appear.

Tuesday’s meeting will be the first regularly scheduled meeting to be recorded. The video recordings will be uploaded by 4 p.m. Wednesday.

The cost of the recording will be covered by The News and project sponsors Newton Federal Bank and the Covington-Newton County Chamber of Commerce.

Historically, the board’s meetings have been recorded on audio, but those recordings were never publicly posted.
County Chairman Keith Ellis said he hopes to have a line item in next fiscal year’s budget for video recording, so that the county can pay a company for the work.

“We do want to help defray the cost of recording. You have the cost of a camera, someone to do the recording, setup and all the things necessary,” Ellis said. “The other thing is that we want to try to get the video on our website and work it out with the city of Covington to make sure its broadcasted on cable.”

Ellis said he wants the meetings to be recorded and be made publicly available to fulfill a campaign promise he made. He mentioned the county was looking for a partner in the project at a Rotary Club of Covington meeting, and The News stepped up to fill the void.

“It’s a public service. We’re just doing what a community newspaper should do,” said The News’ general manager T. Pat Cavanaugh.

Eastside High School announces Top 10 graduates for Class of 2025
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Eastside High School has announced the names of the top ten graduates of the Class of 2025. Leading the way are valedictorian, Ian White, and salutatorian, Malachi Scharf. Each of the top ten graduates have exciting prospects ahead of them as they prepare for life after high school.

Eastside High School’s 2025 Top 10 Graduates are:

• Ian White—The valedictorian, Ian plans to attend college and obtain a doctorate in chemical engineering. He selected Mr. Elijah Clark as his top teacher.

• Malachi Scharf—The salutatorian, Malachi plans to major in chemical engineering at Georgia Tech. He chose Mr. Michael Poor as his favorite teacher.

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Malachi Scharf (left) and Ian White (right) are Eastside High School’s 2025 Salutatorian and Valedictorian. - photo by Courtesy of Newton County School System

• Kaiden Blazina—Kaiden plans to attend Georgia College and State University to study biology with plans to become an anesthesiologist or a missionary. Kaiden selected Mrs. Haley Dawkins as his honored teacher.

• Abby Malcom—Abby will be attending Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College in the fall to major in agribusiness. Her goal is to run a floral business. She selected Ms. Sara Beth Hammond as her top teacher.

• Shelby Moore—Shelby plans to attend Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College to pursue a degree in agricultural education. She selected Ms. Alisa Echols as her top teacher.

• Annalie Parker—Annalie will attend Georgia College & State University with plans to obtain a doctorate and pursue a career in the scientific field. She selected Dr. Catrina Pollard as her favorite teacher.

• Chandler Shurtz—Chandler plans to attend Georgia Tech to study industrial engineering. He selected Mrs. Kelly Elder as his honored teacher.

• Robby Thomas, Jr.—Robby will attend Georgia Tech to study aerospace engineering and astrophysics. His goal is to work for NASA. Robby chose Ms. Kayla Stoddard as his honored teacher.

• Anna Underwood—Anna is attending Georgia State Perimeter to study her core classes with plans to transfer to the University of Georgia. Her career goal is to become an elementary school teacher. She selected Mr. Eric Adams as her top teacher.

• Benjamin Weaver—Benjamin is attending Newberry College to play soccer and study in their pre-vet program before moving on to veterinary school. He selected Mr. Caleb Watson as his honored teacher