2015 midstate year in review - July through September

July

1: Many Middle Georgians rushed out to buy fireworks as a new state law made it legal to purchase them.

3: The Sandy Beach Water Park at Lake Tobesofkee officially opened its doors just in time for the Fourth of July weekend.

18: Movie star Burt Reynolds spoke before the showing of the 1972 film "Deliverance" at the Douglass Theatre in downtown Macon as part of the 10th annual Macon Film Festival.

27: La'Thelma Ferguson Beck, 36, and two of her sons, Damon Beck Jr., 12, and Donavan Beck, 10, were killed in a mobile-home blaze in McIntyre.

August

2: The body of 3-year-old Dylan Mark Walsh, who disappeared from a dock at the Fish N' Pig restaurant the evening before, was found in Lake Tobesofkee.

11: Maria Elizabeth Trenam, 52, who served as the office manager for Surgical Associates of Warner Robins, was charged with fiduciary theft. She was accused of having stolen $1.4 million from the business dating back to 2011.

14: Fire ripped through a gymnasium near the old A.L. Miller High School on Montpelier Avenue in Macon. Although the gym burned, the historic main building, which is expected to be the centerpiece of a residential development, was not affected. The fire was later ruled as arson.

26: Roger Collins, a Warner Robins man who was the second longest-serving inmate on Georgia's death row, was resentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after a mental evaluation showed he suffers from mental retardation.

September

12: A mistrial was declared after a jury could not reach a verdict in the trial of Jedarrius Treonta Meadows. The 18-year-old was being tried on charges of murder and robbery in the shooting death of Damian Bernard "Little Petey" Clayton, 16, at a Macon ball field in 2014.

13: Warner Robins' Betty Cantrell was crowned Miss America in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The 21-year-old Mount de Sales graduate and Mercer University student had been the reigning Miss Georgia.

17: The Boeing Co. announced it would invest $81.7 million to convert its existing military facility in Macon to a commercial manufacturing plant, a move that was expected to create about 200 new jobs.

18: More than 1,000 people gathered in Gray for the unveiling of an interactive memorial marker honoring the late rhythm and blues legend Otis Redding.

24: Officials announced that Sandler AG, a Germany-based textile supplier, would build a plant in Perry. The move was expected to bring 140 jobs and an initial $30 million investment to Houston County.

Compiled by Beth Gadd

This story was originally published December 30, 2015 at 12:00 AM with the headline "2015 midstate year in review - July through September ."