Middle GA roundup: Man released from prison, new businesses coming and more local news
From a prison release in Houston County to a new downtown Macon restaurant, here’s a quick look at some of The Telegraph’s reporting from around Middle Georgia in the last week.
• Prison release: Jessie James Askew Jr., 52, was freed from a life sentence in prison on April 24 after 28 years behind bars. The original prosecutor, Kelly Burke, had spent a decade fighting to undo the life-without-parole sentence he secured in 1998 for an armed robbery at Morrison’s Fresh Cooking, calling it “unfair.”
• New downtown eatery: Former Kinjo Kitchen + Cocktails owner Chelsea Hughes opened J. Reid’s Tavern at 317 Cotton Avenue. The menu leans into comfort food like chicken pot pie, a Cubano sandwich and ham and cheese sliders, with hours running 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, and 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday.
• Youth pastor charges: Investigators linked more than 150 explicit photos and videos to the Snapchat account of John Tyler Moreland, 30, a former Mount Zion Baptist Church youth pastor, according to Pennsylvania State Police records. Moreland was arrested April 10 in Houston County and faces multiple child pornography-related charges.
• Vanishing bird: Georgia College & State University students are tracking the prothonotary warbler, a small yellow bird whose population has been declining as wetlands disappear. The DNR-funded project is monitoring 12 nest boxes, 10 at Andalusia Farm and two at the Oconee River Greenway, to track nesting success and, for the first time in Georgia, the birds’ migration routes.
• Warner Robins hotel: A four-story Extended Stay America with 111 rooms and 119 parking spaces is going up at 101 Tom Chapman Blvd., according to site plans. The 2.49-acre site is near Bradford Place Apartment Homes and a fire station.
The summary points above were compiled with the help of AI tools and edited by Telegraph journalists. The source reporting referenced above was written and edited entirely by Telegraph journalists.