LUCILLE LANNIGAN: The Albany Herald introduces new focus on Calhoun County

EDISON – Along with recent changes to The Albany Herald’s printing schedule, the editorial staff also is introducing new sections highlighting different parts of the southwest Georgia community. One of those will highlight Calhoun County and some other surrounding rural counties.

I started working at The Albany Herald in July. In my first week, I covered a youth art show at the Albany Museum of Art and an Albany Area Chamber Military Affairs Banquet. By the second week, I was reporting on a financial crisis unraveling in the small town of Edison.

I started attending Edison council meetings regularly alongside residents who had been tracking the city’s financial situation for months prior, submitting public records requests and trying to hold city officials accountable.

I watched as major changes became part of citizens’ bills, and the city’s leadership was transformed into one that prioritized transparency with city residents. I reported on the challenges Edison and its residents faced as well as the resiliency and dedication new leadership and citizens displayed in working toward the city’s recovery.

My reporting in Edison allowed me to tell other Calhoun County stories as well. I got to report on the Dirty South Bucks Youth Football Team and the opportunities it presented for young boys in Calhoun County. I attended the 65-mile yard sale and chronicled its history and significance to the county. Now, The Albany Herald plans to do even more in Calhoun County.

We are introducing a full section dedicated to Calhoun news, but we need your help in covering it. If you have a story to tell or a person, business, organization, local student or teacher you think needs highlighting, please reach out. We want to focus on the good to go along with the bad. We want to keep highlighting this region in Georgia.

I’ve enjoyed getting to know the Edison community despite the backdrop of its financial crisis. It’s been a journey, and I’m grateful for all of the residents and city, county and state individuals who continue to give me their time and have let me into the close-knit community.

I’ve learned how to navigate Edison without GPS before I learned how to navigate my home base of Leesburg and Albany. Thank you to those who gave me late-night driving advice to watch out for deer, wild hogs and bumps in the roads. I’d like to keep telling your stories … if you’ll let me.