At the recent Grammy Awards ceremony, Janis Ian stood backstage fairly certain she wasn’t going to hear her name called as the winner of the Best Spoken Word Album. After all, Ian had some tough competition, including former President Clinton and first lady Michelle Obama.

“I was clutching the arm of a virtual stranger. I thought, ‘I’ve lost six before. I know how to lose,” said Ian, whose recording of Society’s Child: My Autobiography did win the award, the third Grammy of her five-decade career.

Managing Grovetown’s growth is the chief concern of the city’s new planning director.

Frank Neal Jr. will have his hands full trying to tame the city’s rapid growth.

“Grovetown is actually the fastest growing area in the whole CSRA,” Neal said. “Our numbers are almost out of control.”

Neal started as the city planner and redevelopment manager in mid-March.

“He’s got vision,” Grovetown Mayor George James said. “He knows what to do. He looks out there and sees what’s needed.

“He’s a good guy and he’s going to help us tremendously in a lot of ways.”

Evans High School students saw first-hand the consequences of driving while intoxicated or texting during the Ghost Out.

The event is a simulated wreck aimed at discouraging intoxicated or distracted driving just before the school prom Saturday.

“The thing is, it works,” Columbia County Juvenile Court Judge Doug Flanagan said. “You’re dissuading some of them. ... Because it is very dramatic in its nature, it is going to sink in a lot faster to these teenagers. Just talking to teenagers is not enough.”

Students and teachers in Columbia County will have an extra day next year to recover from spring break.

The Board of Education on Tuesday approved a plan that adds the Monday after Masters Week as a holiday, and starts the school year one day earlier to compensate.

"We kept having situations come up with Masters play possibly going into Monday, and we've got students and employees being hired by the National," said School Superintendent Charles Nagle. "If they went into Monday play, it would leave them in the lurch."