Some quick updates from Warrenton

I've just returned from a Christmastime visit to 30828, so here are some quick updates:

+ Yes, Warrenton is still there.
+ I was sad to see that Mouse's House of Pizza on Main Street closed. I'd had some takeout pizza there once, and it was pretty good. I'm always sad to see any business venture on Main Street close, because Warrenton needs as many business ventures as it can get right now.
+ The marquee from the front of the Knox Theater has been removed as part of the beginning of a renovation effort. It looked like some repairs had been made to the ground-level exterior.
+ The old train depot has been moved to the lot next door to the theater and renovated into a building that my grandmother said is going to be either a museum or a new office for the local Chamber. (More details as I get them.) I thought it looked really nice.
+ Copies of The Augusta Chronicle are getting harder and harder to come by in Warrenton. I sense the newspaper is probably reducing the number of counties in which it circulates as a cost-saving measure. Special thanks to Ms. Becky Wheeler for giving me her copy one day when I couldn't find one for sale anywhere.
+  Speaking of newspapers, the lead story in The Clipper last week was that someone was injured in an auto accident in Camak.
+ Has there been some kind of major redoing of the grounds at First Baptist Church? It sure looks different to me than what I remembered. Weren't there a lot more plants and trees there before? Or am I mis-remembering?
+ Fire ants are everywhere this year. Not sure why.

Controversial First Baptist pastor resigns

The still-fairly-new pastor of the First Baptist Church of Warrenton -- who is under federal indictment on tax evasion charges -- has stepped down. The Rev. Otis Ray Hope left the pulpit last week, Billy Hobbs reported in the McDuffie Mirror.

The WakeUpFBCWarrenton blog offered this short post:

It is over.  This church is wounded.  Please pray for it’s healing.

(We'll repeat my previous disclosure on this topic: This was the church my family attended when I was a child, where my parents were married and where funeral services were held for both my mom and my grandfather. The five folks out there who read this blog already know that, but I'm repeating that as a matter of principle. I think it's always best to disclose potential conflicts of interest.) 

First Baptist pastor indicted on tax evasion charges

I had been meaning to post here that I had heard some rumblings about controversy within the ranks at First Baptist of Warrenton regarding the new minister, the Rev. Otis Ray Hope -- but before I could post anything here, I saw via WJBF's Web site that he had been indicted on federal tax evasion charges stemming from his work at his old church. (Honest disclosure: My late grandfather was a member of First Baptist and was the maintenance man for a time [and, I believe, was once a deacon], and my parents were married there by the Rev. Hightower.)

Addendum to original post: Boy, I am late with the news on this issue, a Google search reveals. Check out the WakeupFBCWarrenton blog started by Steve Giddens, who was going to First Baptist before I was even born (and who used to work with my granddad at Jebco).