Gilbert Miller/For Effingham Now
Senior members of the Rebel basketball team were recognized at a banquet held on Monday night. Seniors pictured are: Jay Wright, Ryan Wilkins, Jakeel Bartley, T.J.Johnson and De’Aundray Rhett. Wright, Wilkins, Johnson and Rhett were presented plaques in honor of their naming to the Region 3AAAAA All-Region team.
The Effingham County Lady Rebels soccer team beat Groves on senior night, 4-0.
Senior Jillian Nance scored 2 goals and freshman Mackenzi Rogers scored 2.
Nance also scored her 20th goal for the season last Thursday in a loss to Glynn Academy, 5-1.
The Rebels were scheduled to host Bradwell Institute on April 24 for a makeup game. This will be the last regular game of the season.
The Coastal Georgia Affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure recently awarded a record-breaking total of $345,000 for community services that will fund everything from educational programs to screening mammograms. This brings the total investment in the local community to over $1.3 million dollars since the Affiliate’s inception.
Susan G. Komen for the Cure has awarded eight grants to programs providing breast cancer services in the Coastal Georgia area. One of the recipients is Effingham Health System, receiving funding for a breast health education and screening program. “Through our grants program, we are able to provide life-saving services to Coastal Georgia residents that might otherwise fall through the cracks,” said Beth Desloges, executive director of the Coastal Georgia Affiliate. “This year we focused our funding on increasing access to care for underinsured women, particularly rural, African American and Latina populations.”
Effingham Health System will be hosting six breast health education forums at area churches over the next six months, and women in attendance will have an opportunity to receive a free clinical breast exam in addition to information on self exams and risk factors. Education will be offered in both English and Spanish as needed, and an interpreter will be on hand to assist with questions and family history collection.
“Our mission is to reduce the undetected breast cancers that threaten the women of our community,” said Melissa Waller, Community outreach coordinator at Effingham Health System. “There are women out there who have never had an exam, much less a mammogram. We want to be sure that these women get information, and the needed services, regardless of their uninsured status.”
Grant funding is generated through a number of Affiliate fundraisers held throughout the year, the largest of which is the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure which was scheduled for April 13.
APRIL 9, 2001
A proposal to create an at-large chairman for the Effingham County Commission has been delayed for at least a year.
Commissioners tabled the proposal because the county is currently under a “pre-clearance order” by the U.S. Justice Department that would require a lengthy and complicated process to change the board’s composition.
The county was given that designation nine years ago when a proposal to change the Commission’s makeup was opposed by local minority leaders, whose appeal was upheld by the Justice Department, County Attorney Alex Zipperer said.
“The pre-clearance order is in effect for 10 years and will end next year,” Zipperer said. “By waiting until next year, it will be a lot easier for the commissioners to change to an at-large chairman, if that is what they desire to do.”
The at-large chairman was proposed by Commissioner Homer Lee Wallace and backed by Chairman Phillip King.
Source: Savannah Morning News
APRIL 3, 1990
Effingham County commissioners on this day agreed to build a 48-bed jail. The estimated cost was $2 million. Commissioners delayed selecting an architect until they could interview additional prospects.
Source: Savannah Morning News
APRIL 11, 2003
Guyton City Council members have arranged to meet with Sheriff Jimmy McDuffie to discuss crime after residents complain the issue is getting out of hand. Crime has been a bone of contention between the municipality and Effingham County officials for more than a decade, mostly centering around who should provide police protection in an incorporated municipality.
Source: Savannah Morning News
APRIL 13, 2000
Congregates of First Baptist Church of Rincon recently watched as the steeple was raised on their new $2.7 million church facility at Ga. 21 and Sixth Street. The church has been holding services since 1901, when members first began meeting in the home of J.A. and Jesse Wall at the corner of West Sixth Street and North Carolina Avenue. Members subsequently met at St. John’s Lutheran Church, then in 1902 built their first church at Ga. 21 at Ninth Street, where the building presently houses a lighting store. Members then built a chapel where services have been held since 1959. The new sanctuary will seat more than 900 people and will be dedicated in June.
Source: Savannah Morning News
APRIL 19, 2000
Workers have almost finished installing white siding on the exterior of the Treutlen House’s first cottage, the first of what organizers hope will eventually become 10 cottages on an 8-acre tract at New Ebenezer. Once the green shutters go up, it’ll look like a 1930s farm house, construction supervisor Harvey Kieffer said. Inside, although there are exposed boards where the walls will be, the foster care facility that’s being built within a stone’s throw of Georgia’s first orphanage will be ready to open in early July. The first cottage will house about 10 boys. Work will begin on a similar facility for girls as soon as money is available, Treutlen House board chairman Jerry Smith said.
Source: Savannah Morning News
“I felt sorry for those people in Boston who were locked in their homes and didn’t have guns.”
“I am thankful for the Second Amendment in case something happens here like what happened in Boston.”
“I am sick and tired of hearing about Boston. Every other word out of the reporter’s mouth was Boston.”
“I bought a used car from a guy and when I went to buy the tag, Effingham County charged me sales tax on the car. That can’t be legal.” (Editor’s note from the tax commissioner, “Vehicles purchased on or after March 1, 2013 and titled in this state will be exempt from sales and use tax and the annual ad valorem tax, also known as the “birthday tax.” These taxes will be replaced by a one-time tax that is imposed on the fair market value of the vehicle called the title ad valorem tax fee (“TAVT”).”
“Please remember as the temperatures rise, don’t leave pets or people in your car while you shop. They will suffer or die in the heat.”
“WTOC is also gone from my TV until they stop misspelling so many words on their news reports.”
DART:
Word that emergency radios don’t work well in our schools came as a surprise to us — and apparently to school officials.
The problem hasn’t yet caused an issue so far as we know, but heaven forbid a school shooting or other disaster occur at one of our schools and law enforcement officials not be able to talk to one another.
We can imagine chaos could ensue if officers couldn’t report their status, or that of a bad guy, during an emergency.
We’re not quite sure why this information hasn’t come to light before now. But, now that it is known, it’s high time to just get it fixed.
Radio reception in any big building can be problematic, especially metal buildings covered with brick or blocks.
Radios aren’t the only electronic with communication problems in the schools. Cell phone signals are almost nonexistent at both high schools. Relying on cell phones in an emergency at the schools isn’t the answer.
The radio fix, an amplifier of sorts, could be as inexpensive as $5,000 a building. None of the county’s 13 schools has amplification devices, and a $65,000 price tag seems a small price to pay to ensure emergency personnel can communicate if there’s trouble.
We’re glad to see Sheriff Jimmy McDuffie and School Superintendent Randy Shearouse are tackling this issue.
Now’s the time to pull out the checkbook and get this done.
LAUREL:
It’s been a tough 10 days or so across the nation. We had the horrific bombings and their aftermath in Boston, an explosion at a fertilizer plant in West, Texas, the poison ricin sent to the president and a senator, and the failure of universal background checks in the U.S. Senate.
We watched with the nation Friday night as crowds lining the streets of Watertown, Mass., cheered law enforcement officers after the successful live capture of Boston Marathon bombing suspect, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.
It was an amazing moment that followed what appeared to be great job by federal and state officials. We send a laurel to the residents of Watertown for thanking those who are rarely thanked. And, of course to law enforcement for doing their jobs.
DART:
This isn’t a popular opinion, most likely, in our neck of the woods, but we have to throw a big dart to those in the U.S. Senate who voted against expanded background checks for gun purchases.
The bill would have made it harder for criminals and the dangerously mentally ill to purchase guns. It would have required background checks for online and gun show sales.
It’s something polls show 90 percent of Americans support.
Sounds simple.
And it was until nasty politics got in the way.
From many reports, it appears some Senators were spooked by the National Rifle Association and the gun lobby. A furious Gabrielle Giffords, the former Arizona Congresswoman shot in the head at point-blank two years ago, said it best in an op-ed piece she wrote for the New York Times: “Senators say they fear the NRA and the gun lobby. But I think that fear must be nothing compared to the fear the first graders in Sandy Hook Elementary School felt as their lives ended in a hail of bullets.”
Giffords, and many others, pointed at misinformation thrown around before the vote.
The myth was that the bill would lead to a national database of gun owners. Federal gun registry is already forbidden in current law and a section of this bill also barred the database.
Yes, we know background checks would not have stopped the Newtown massacre. But they could very well stop another parent from planning a child’s funeral.
And that shouldn’t be politics as usual.
BOYS GOLF
Late Monday
The South Effingham High School Mustangs shot a team score of 312 to finish runner-up in Monday’s Region 4-AAAA tournament in Waynesboro.
Tyler Shepard led the Mustangs with a 75, while Ben Brennan (77), Harrison Stafford (78) and Christian Parker (82) rounded out the team’s score.
ARC of Augusta shot a team score of 299 to take the region championship. By finishing second, SEHS now qualifies for the May 6 sectional tournament held at Waynesboro CC. The top teams will advance to the State Tournament May 20 in Dalton.
The Lady Rebel soccer team lasted through two over times on Wednesday night, defeating Bradwell Institute 4-2 (3-1 in penalty kicks).
The win puts the team in the playoffs. They will travel to Lakeside High School on April 30, game time is 5:30 p.m.
Lady Rebel Katie Brown scored early in the first half against Bradwell Institute.
Penalty kicks came from Jillian Nance, Aby Youmans and Taylor Poore
Stacy Burgstiner had 3 saves in the PKs.
Both the boys and girls Effingham County High School tennis teams were winners in round 1 of the 3-AAAAA playoffs.
The boys played on Tuesday and defeated Grovetown High School. The boys won 4-1.
The girls won 3-1 in play against Jones County High School. One match didn’t finish.
Head tennis coach for both teams, Patty Onorato, said in playoff matches the team that takes the first 3 points wins.
“Sometimes teams will continue to play all of the matches and sometimes they will opt out and not complete the match,” Onorato said.
Both teams will face Starr’s Mill High School in round 2 of the playoffs on April 29 at the Peachtree Tennis Center.
The following players were winners during Tuesday’s playoffs:
Girls:
#1 singles -Maddie Evans
#2 singles - Annabeth Helmly
#3 singles - Emily Schroeder
#1 doubles lost -
#2 doubles - split sets and were up in third but it was not finished.
Boys: Winners for the guys
#1 singles -Logan Fowler
#3 singles - Harrison Joyner
#1 doubles - Levi Smith and Peter Waltz
#2 doubles - Luke Smith and Adam Patrick
An Effingham County Middle School student will take the mound at Turner Field on Monday night.
Blake Lee, 12, will throw the first pitch in the Braves game against the Washington Nationals.
Lee is being sponsored by SunTrust Bank.
Lee is the son of Kellie Lee and Richard Lee. Kellie Lee is a teacher in Effingham County and Richard Lee is the president of Cargo Group in Port Wentworth.
Kellie Lee said her son is excited about the trip.
The family is also taking this opportunity to focus attention on Alzheimer’s disease and Lewy Body, a type of dementia.
“We will all be wearing Alzheimer’s t-shirts,” she said.
Both of Blake Lee’s grandfathers died within the last year of Alzheimer’s and one also had Lewy Body, Kellie Lee said.
Game time is 7:10 p.m.
Jail records show Effingham County-raised country music singer William Matthew "Billy" Currington was booked into the Chatham County jail Thursday.
Currington, 39, was booked about 5 p.m. after a bench warrant was issued for his arrest by Chatham County Superior Court Judge Penny Freesemann on Wednesday following the singer's indictment on charges of making terroristic threats and elder abuse.
SLIDESHOW: Billy Currington over the years.
VIEW: Currington's incident report from police.
On April 15, read the indictment, Currington made the threats against 70-year-old Tybee Island resident Charles Harvey Ferrelle “with the purpose of terrorizing” him.
According to a Savannah-Chatham police report, Ferrelle, who was identified as a charter boat captain, told officers he had two paying fares on board for a tour about 1 p.m. April 15 when a man began screaming at them from 159 San Marco Drive.
Currington owns a home at that address in a gated community near Tybee Island.
When Ferrelle came back by the property, the same man followed him to AJ’s, a dockside restaurant, got out of his boat and threatened to harm him, Marine Patrol Officer Daniel Walker reported.
The following day, Ferrelle told police he “feared for his life” because of the incident and that he would have to pass the property again the next day.
Ferrelle also told Walker he did not know why the suspect was “yelling threats and profanity” at him, but that “If I hadn’t gotten into my slip fast enough I believe he (Currington) would have run me over,” the report said.
Walker also reported he was told by Julie Muscleman on April 16 that she was the caretaker for an elderly man at the San Marco Drive address who, on April 15 “while on his dock,” was almost knocked into the water when a boat went by.
On April 17, Currington went to his Twitter account and said: “harrassing artists often at their home by boat should be illegal. thas all i know. (sic)” He does not say if he is addressing the April 15 incident.
But Currington did address that incident Wednesday, when he tweeted: “hey guys, I wanted to thank everyone for the huge amount of support that I have received already. Unfortunately, I can’t comment on this situation as this is an ongoing legal matter. It means a lot to me to have your support during this time”
According to the Grammy nominated artist’s website, Currington’s top 10 hits include “Pretty Good At Drinkin’ Beer,” “That’s How Country Boys Roll” and “People Are Crazy.”
Photo courtesy of Effingham Sunrise Rotary Club
Joe Tallent, president-elect of the Effingham Sunrise Rotary Club, recently received the Paul Harris Fellow designation from Rotary International, for his contributions to the Rotary Foundation, for the cure and eradication of Polio. Tallent is the Occupational Medicine Coordinator for Effingham Hospital. The Effingham Sunrise Rotary Club meets every Tuesday for breakfast at 7:30 a.m. in the Christian Center at Guyton Christian Church on Third Avenue in Guyton, guests are welcome.
For more information please contact, David Skadeland, membership chair by email at David@DavidSkadeland.com
Effingham Health System is hosting a benefit golf tournament on Friday, May 17.
The tournament will be held at Lost Plantation Golf Club in Rincon.
The tournament will benefit several local groups including Historic Effingham Society, Habitat for Humanity, Jim Long Memorial Scholarship Fund, Treutlen House and Faith Equestrian Therapeutic Center.
Welcome and registration will be held from 10:30 a.m. until 11:30 a.m. Lunch will be served from 11 a.m. until 11:45 a.m.
Shotgun tee off with a captain’s choice format is at noon.
Sponsorships are: Gold, $400, foursome with company sign at a tee box; Silver, $350, foursome with company sign at a green; Bronze, $250, foursome; tee box sponsor, $125, sign at tee; green sponsor, $75, sign at green.
For more information contact: Michael Murphy at Effingham Health System, P.O. Box 386 Springfield, GA 31329. Phone contact is 912-547-9075, email to murphmi@effinghamhospital.org. or the Chamber of Commerce at 754-3301.
Photo courtesy of Effingham Chamber
A ribbon cutting was held on April 22 for Westcott Martial Arts Academy in Rincon. They are in the old LaDeeDa loction off of Goshen and Ga. 21. They specialize in adult and junior Taekwondo, self defense, cardio kickboxing and more. Chamber Ambassadors joined the Westcott family in the ceremonial opening.
Effingham Health System receives Rural Health Clinic designation
Effingham Health System has announced that three of its primary practice locations have received designation by Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services as Rural Health Clinics.
In 1977, Congress passed the Rural Health Clinic Act, or Public Law 95-210, to address the lack of access to primary medical care in rural communities. In addition, this law focused on increasing the utilization of mid-level practitioners in underserved areas.
Each of these office locations, Rincon, Goshen and Springfield, will have a full-time nurse practitioner or physician assistant, as well as a physician available to see patients during regular office hours.
They will continue to accept Medicare, Medicaid, PeachCare, AmeriGroup, WellCare and Commercial insurances. Medicare patients will be subject to their Part B Medicare deductible.
To learn more about the Rural Health Clinic Program, visit www.cms.hhs.gov.
Visit Effingham Health at www.effinghamhealth.org.
An Indie-alt-folk female group of four classically-trained sisters ages 12-18 from Alpharetta, called von Grey, will be performing in Springfield at the Mars Theatre on May 4.
The group will perform as part of the Fox Theatre Institute’s Revival Tour, from 5 to 8 p.m.
The Fox Theatre Institute (FTI), an Atlanta-based outreach program created by The Fox Theatre, will showcase three of its latest theatre restoration projects during the special three-day tour. The tour began on May 2 and will help to raise awareness for each of the historic venues and bring vitality to the towns by strengthening their performing arts.
Other theatres on the tour are The Schaefer Center for the Performing Arts in Toccoa and the Knox Theatre in Warrenton.
The Jimmy Wolling Band will perform earlier in the day at 12:30 p.m. They are from Effingham and play at the Mossy Oaks Blue Grass Festival. Another local group, the Pace Brothers will also perform.
There will be food, a Chinese raffle and beer.
Von Grey have appeared on the David Letterman show and Conan.
The classically trained girls play 4 to 5 instruments each.
You can check out their Letterman performance online at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_4LdZarNp0.
Ten churches in Effingham County have agreed to take turns housing and feeding homeless families as part of a non-profit effort to address homelessness.
At least three more churches are needed for the venture to get started. Volunteers who have been meeting since December say they think there’s enough interest to create a local affiliate of Family Promise’s Interfaith Hospitality Network.
Family Promise has 181 affiliates in 41 states and the District of Columbia, including one in Savannah, with dozens more in development.
Each congregation agrees to host up to five families, with a maximum of 14 people, for a week at a time four or five weeks a year.
The families stay in classrooms, offices or large halls at churches. The congregation is responsible for all meals, linens and basic supplies such as toys and soap. The church must provide two bathrooms – one for men and one for women.
At least two volunteers stay with the families overnight, at the church. During the day, children go to school and the adults spend time at a day center, getting help finding jobs and housing.
The day center has computers, a play area for children and showers.
The affiliate would need to raise about $90,000 to pay for the day center, someone to staff the day center, beds that would be moved to the participating churches each week and a van for transporting the families. About a third of that money would be needed before the affiliate begins operation.
Affiliates take from 10 to 18 months to organize from the time they start until they can start housing families. The Effingham group began meeting in January, started at the prompting of United Way of the Coastal Empire.
The goal is to help homeless and low-income families achieve sustainable independence. The families stay at the churches for 30 to 60 days before they find other housing.
Daryl Brown, pastor of Guyton United Methodist Church, said 10 churches have given oral commitments to take part and he’s meeting with two more soon that are considering joining. Thirteen churches are needed to start the program, but the more that can take part, the better.
Having more churches means their turns hosting families would come around less often.
Pressing need
Wendy Turner, director of God Loves Orphans and Widows (GLOW) ministries in Rincon, was among about 35 people who attended the most recent meeting about the project, on April 23 at Gateway Community Church.
“I can’t wait 18 months,” Turner said. “I need it now.”
She said after the meeting that Effingham County doesn’t have a lot of homeless people who live outdoors or in vehicles. She said people tend to move out of the area if they can’t find a friend or relative who can take them in.
But Effingham does have families who have been evicted because they couldn’t pay their mortgages or rent or utility bills and who are on the verge of having to live outdoors or in a vehicle.
“They’re not on a park bench or sleeping in a car,” she said.
Bonnie Dixon, Effingham County director of the United Way of the Coastal Empire, said she’s seen people in the county living in tents or doubled up with friends or family.
“We don’t see a lot of people who are truly, truly homeless, living under a bridge,” she said.
She said United Way began asking about ways to help the homeless last year and helped organize the first meetings for Family Promise.
Dixon said the effort has been handed off to the volunteers, but that the United Way is still helping and one day would like to contribute money to the affiliate in Effingham.
Jackie Brown, school social worker and homeless liaison, also spoke at the April 23 meeting. She said the Effingham school system has 145 students, or 73 families who are homeless.
She said many of the homeless people in Effingham County are staying in substandard housing, or in crowded quarters, such as sleeping on someone’s couch. Some stay in hotels or motels or in recreational vehicles parked on a relative’s property.
“Some stay in cars, but there’s not a lot of those,” she said.
Brown applied for and received a grant for nearly $30,000 this year from the state Department of Education to help homeless students. The money has been used to buy uniforms, school supplies, hygiene kits and tutors. The grant money can’t be used to help pay for hotel stays.
Turner said she often finds donations to help such people stay in hotels while she helps them get back on their feet.
“I love the idea of it,” Turner said of the churches taking turns housing needy people. But she questioned whether going the route of involving United Way and fundraising to set up a day center with a paid director is necessary.
And she was angry that the participants were told they had to “tread lightly” on the issue of religion.
“We are certainly faith-involved,” said LaVanda Brown, director of Family Promise of Chatham County, who was at the meeting to answer questions from potential volunteers. “We ask that you make them feel included, certainly not preach to them.”
The paid staff screens families for the program, doing drug tests and background checks, making sure the participants do not have a history of violence. “It’s not for everyone,” Brown said.
At the April 23 meeting, the group chose Brian Dickey, an engineering supervisor at Georgia Power, as core group leader for the Effingham effort.
For more information, go to familypromise.org or effinghamfamilypromise.org. Or call Julie Dickey at United Way, 912-826-5300; or Daryl Brown, pastor of Guyton United Methodist Church, at 772-5099.
A woman whose son died in a wreck on Rincon-Stillwell Road in January wants to pay for a street light to illuminate the curve.
Lisa Cowan told Effingham County commissioners at their April 16 meeting that the property owner on the east side of the curve, just south of Colonial Drive, has agreed to let her pay to install a light and pay to keep it operating.
County staff members said they would help Cowan work with Georgia Power to install the light.
Cowan’s 18-year-old son Christian died Jan. 16 when the 2000 Honda Civic he was driving southbound ran off the east side of the road, stuck a dirt culvert and overturned, said senior Trooper Roger Cason, who is based in Rincon.
The boy was thrown from the vehicle and drowned in standing water in the ditch, the trooper said.
Cowan said Tuesday that another person died at that curve years ago.
“There needs to be light at that curve where people can see,” she said. She said she goes there a lot and sees how dark it is. “It’s such a small street for people to go so fast,” she said.
Cowan said too many teenagers have died in accidents on Effingham roads in recent years and she would like to try to prevent another family from going through what her family has gone through.
Cason said the in-depth report about the accident by the Georgia State Patrol’s specialized collision and reconstruction team (SKIRT) is not yet complete, but that the report would conclude that Cowan was driving when the wreck occurred.
Also injured in the accident, at about 7:45 p.m. on a Wednesday, was 18-year-old Travis Williams of Rincon. He was found at the crash site on the side of the road.
Cason said Cowan was not wearing a seat belt. “Had he had his seat belt on, he might still be alive,” Cason said.
The trooper said he thinks a light at the curve might help a little bit.
Sheriff Jimmy McDuffie said the curve is dangerous and there were deaths there in the 1980s.
“If it (a light) will get somebody’s attention, maybe it’ll help out a little bit,” he said. “I wish we could make every road safer. If it’ll help save one person, it’s worth every bit of it.”
The company that’s announced plans to build a $90 million movie studio and entertainment facility in Effingham County touted strong revenues and a stronger balance sheet in its annual report.
In a news release issued when the annual report was filed, Medient Studios Inc. said it had “strong revenues for 2012” and said, “Long-term liabilities were significantly reduced in the fourth quarter of 2012, resulting in an improved, stronger balance sheet.”
The company reported revenue of $3.3 million for the year ended Dec. 31 and a net loss of $117,600. That follows revenue of $500 for the year ended Dec. 31, 2011, and a net loss of $34,500.
The company had an accumulated deficit of $242,700 as of Dec. 31.
It has “a number of domestic and international sales distribution agreements,” the report says. It has rights to “Storage 24,” a horror genre movie, and “Yellow,” a drama that was written and directed by Nick Cassavetes, who also directed “The Notebook.”
In the annual report filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on April 16, the company’s independent accountants expressed “substantial doubt about the company’s ability to continue as a going concern.”
The report says the company is dependent on its CEO, director and majority shareholder, Manu Kumaran, to provide working capital to sustain operations.
The public accounting firm said Medient will need additional capital until it “achieves a level of revenues adequate to generate sufficient cash flows from operations, or obtains additional financing necessary to support its working capital requirements.”
“These conditions raise substantial doubt about the company’s ability to continue as a going concern,” said The Hall Group, CPAs, of Dallas.
The film studio and entertainment complex “will require the company to raise a significant amount of capital to complete,” the accountants said.
When asked if Medient has had a 30-day delay in finishing its development schedule, John Henry, CEO of the county’s Industrial Development Authority, replied by email that “Medient is making plans to interview some construction contractors and civil engineers. Until they get a team established they will not be able to get a good development schedule established.”
The annual report says the company’s goal is to “create high-quality theatrical films for global audiences at the minimum possible cost” and plans to begin construction this summer on a movie studio, entertainment facility and campus on the 1,500 acres owned by the IDA at Interstate 16.
“We are not profitable and the business effort is considered to be at an early stage,” the report says. “We must be regarded as a new venture with all of the unforeseen costs, expenses, problems, risks and difficulties to which such ventures are subject.”
The global film production and distribution company primarily deals with the North America and India markets, the report says. Some 14 movies, two music acts and several hundred live performance shows have been produced under the Medient banner over the last 11 years.
“The company is in the process of significantly scaling up its operations, including its planned entry into the electronic games sector,” the report says.
In August of last year, shareholders who owned 77 percent of the issued and outstanding shares sold them to Kumaran for $175,000. Of that, $50,000 was paid in cash and the rest was to be paid pursuant to a promissory note due Dec. 31. “The agreement was extended to April 30, 2013, by mutual consent, and is the personal obligation of Mr. Kumaran,” the report said.
The company has 15 employees. The executive officers are not receiving salaries.
Among the risk factors listed in the document are “challenging general economic conditions” and a dramatic drop in sales that make it “more difficult for film productions to obtain necessary financing and exploitation revenues.”
The document also cites a lack of revenue history and limited performance history. “We may have a shortage of working capital in the future, which could jeopardize our ability to carry out our business plan.”
“Our ultimate success depends on our ability to generate revenue,” the report says. “If we are unable to generate sufficient revenues, we may need to raise additional capital. We have not investigated the availability, source or terms that might govern the acquisition of or access to additional capital and will not do so until we determine a need for additional financing. If we need additional financing, we have no assurance that funds will be available.”
The company says it does not have a credit facility for financing development, production and exploitation of its motion pictures.
Kumaran told reporters in March, when an agreement with the IDA was announced, that the company has underwriting from a New York investment bank to start construction. He declined to identify the bank, citing non-disclosure agreements.
The penny stock company is publicly listed: OTCQB:MDNT.
The company’s website is www.medient.com. The annual report can be read at www.sec.gov.
From incident reports at the Effingham County Sheriff’s Office:
April 25: A woman and her boyfriend said they argued over financial issues and the fact that he refused to go to work that day. A deputy advised the man to go to work, and he did. The parties were given a warning for disorderly house. Arlington Road in the Bloomingdale area.
April 25: House entered through back door on Old Tusculum Road in the Springfield area. iPod Touch and Kindle Fire were taken.
April 25: A man said his car was stolen by his roommate, who took the vehicle from a business in Savannah to their residence on Kolic Helmey Road in the Guyton area. The man said he tried to stop the roommate from taking the car, partly because the roommate was drunk. A deputy arrested the roommate for drunken driving.
April 26: Someone in a dark gray truck drove on the right shoulder to pass an SUV on U.S. 80 in the Eden area. The truck damaged the SUV’s passenger-side mirror.
April 26: A man hired to move a single-wide trailer got it stuck between two pine trees. The owner of the trailer said the roof, floor, walls and frame were damaged. A deputy told the man it was a civil matter. Hadden Lake Road in the Clyo area.
April 26: Someone entered a bedroom window of a house on Standard Lane in the Springfield area. Stolen were a 50-inch TV, a 37-inch TV, an Xbox 360 and a DVD player.
April 27: Two large, unauthorized purchases were made on a Discover Card at bestbuy.com and at Bed Bath and Beyond in Savannah. The card holder lives on Shadowbrook Circle in the Springfield area.
April 28: A mother and daughter wrestled on the floor because the daughter wanted to go to the ball park and hang out with friends who are known to use marijuana. The fight involved scratching, punching, slapping and kicking. They were arrested for battery and unruly juvenile. Watts Road in the Guyton area.
--G.G. Rigsby.
