TIFTON — Here is a look back at the top Tifton Gazette stories from 2017.

Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College merges with Bainbridge State College

The University System of Georgia announced Jan. 6, 2017 that the Board of Regents would consolidate Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College and Bainbridge State College.

ABAC President David Bridges and Bainbridge State College Interim President Stuart Rayfield held several press conference and town halls at ABAC to address concerns and questions.

Since that time, an implementation team with representatives from both BSC and ABAC has been working to iron out the details of the consolidation so that it can provide the best service for the region and the state.

BSC’s merger with ABAC was approved on Dec. 12 when the USG Board of Regents approved the prospectus for the merger.

Coupled with the approval of the prospectus by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) on Dec. 5, all current BSC students will become ABAC students on Jan. 1, 2018.

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Protests

Two Tifton sisters participated in the Women’s March on Washington on Jan. 23.

Stephanie Dorman and Elizabeth Holder liked that the march was a positive event and that it wasn’t billed as being explicitly anti-Trump.

The march, which focused on women’s rights, didn’t focus on one particular issue but rather highlighted a variety of issues that women care about.

Immigration protesters met to demonstrate at Senator David Perdue’s open office hours in Tifton on Feb. 20.

The protesters were mostly young and Latino, and most of them were afraid of how changes put forward by the Trump administration would affect them and their friends and loved ones.

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Local child calls 911, saves mother

Harmonii Dixon, 4, saved her mother’s life in February by calling 911 after her mother wouldn’t wake up.

Harmonii said that she called 911 because her mom had a headache and wasn’t waking up.

“The police was raising my mommy up because my mom had a headache and then my mommy didn’t wake up.”

Tift County Fire and Rescue and an officer from the Tifton Police Department responded to the call and were forced to break the door to gain entry, since Harmonii wasn’t able to reach the lock to unlock the door.

They found Dixon passed out on the couch with a bad case of the flu and transported her to Tift Regional Medical Center.

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Suspect arrested in Grinstead case

Ryan Alexander Duke, 31, was arrested Feb. 22 in connection with the 2005 murder of Tara Grinstead.

Duke was a student at Irwin County High School, where Grinstead taught.

An anonymous tip led authorities to Duke, who they said burglarized Grinstead’s home and used his hands to kill her inside the residence.

A second suspect, Bo Dukes, 32, was arrested March 3 in connection with the case. He was charged with concealing a death, evidence tampering and hindering the apprehension of a criminal in connection with the murder.

A judge issued a gag order on Feb. 28 prohibiting attorneys, law enforcement officers or relatives from discussing the case.

Judge Melanie Cross, who issued the gag order, said that statements made outside of court could undermine Duke’s right to a fair trial.

Georgia media organizations challenged the order, saying the judge acted too broadly.

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Five year old drives van into Welcome Station

A five-year-old girl drove a van into the Welcome Station in downtown Tifton March 2.

According to the Georgia State Patrol, the child took the keys while her grandmother was sleeping and drove the van from East 17th Street to the intersection of 5th Street and Main Street, where she tried make a right onto Main Street.

According to GSP, she took the turn too wide and hit a white car which was in the turning lane on Main, then drove the van towards the Welcome Station, where it hit and partially destroyed a bench.

No one was injured in the accident and there was no significant damage to the building or the vehicles, according to GSP.

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Pub reopens

The Pub reopened under new ownership in March after being closed for almost a year.

Paul Wright, owner, and Eddie Hoover, manager, took over the long-time local favorite.

They kept some old favorites, like the Lamplighter Stallion pizza, but added new items to the menu, like burgers, sandwiches and salads.

They also have the largest craft beer selection in town, according to Hoover.

The building was cleaned, renovated and rearranged while keeping the original footprint and some original details.

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School dress code

The school’s dress code caused controversy at the April 25 honors night.

Social media exploded with pictures of students being sent home, the majority of them female students wearing dresses.

Multiple parents and students who attended the event said that the standards were arbitrary and there was no consistency in who was deemed in compliance. They were angry because they viewed what happened as telling female students that what they look like was more important than their academic or intellectual achievements.

The high school made updates to their dress code to address the issues from Honors’ Night. Those changes are set to take effect for the 2018-2019 school year.

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Waffle House shooting

An Aug. 5 shooting at the Waffle House on 7th Street resulted in the death of employee Jesse Hall, 30.

Early reports indicated that the incident stemmed from an armed robbery gone wrong.

Waffle House offered a $5,000 reward for information leading to an arrest, and the City of Tifton offered $1,000.

On Nov. 21 Devonte Marquis Riggins, 21, of Tifton, was arrested and charged in connection with the murder.

Riggins was charged with two counts of murder, two counts of aggravated assault, two counts of conspiracy to commit felony armed robbery, criminal attempt to commit felony armed robbery and theft a taking.

He was subsequently charged on Nov. 22 with an additional murder charge as well as receipt, possession or transfer of a firearm by a convicted felon or felony first attempt, felony first degree burglary and criminal attempt to commit a felony.

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Hurricane Irma

Hurricane Irma hit Tift County head on beginning Sept. 11 after wreaking havoc in the Caribbean the week before.

Tift County’s Emergency Management Agency coordinated the around the clock monitoring and response from the beginning of the storm, which at its most dangerous was larger than the width of the state of Florida with sustained winds of up to 185.

The storm rolled up the west coast of Florida and the eye passed just to the west of the county.

The biggest impact of the storm was the aftermath.

Thousands of residents were without power for up to a week after the storm and clean up was ongoing for over a month.

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SPLOST fight between city, county resolved

A months-long scuffle between the Tifton City Council and Tift County Board of Commissioners about putting SPLOST on the November ballot was resolved after several meetings between officials from both governing bodies.

A list of proposed SPLOST projects was unanimously approved by all parties at a joint meeting of the Tift County Board of Commissioners and the city councils of Omega, Tifton and Ty Ty at a joint meeting held Sept. 7.

The commissioners approved putting SPLOST on the ballot at the Oct. 9 meeting.

The project list, which was drawn up by Tifton City Manager Pete Pyrzenski and Tift County Manager Jim Carter, lists the distribution allocation of SPLOST collections up to $60,700,000.

SPLOST passed on the November ballot by 86 percent with 820 votes in favor and 131 opposed.