Firefighters fight back the flames inside an old chicken house that was being used for storage in Baldwin. The fire broke out on Saturday, Oct. 16. The cause has not been determined. (Red Bird Media)
A weekend fire caused extensive damage to an old chicken house in Baldwin. The structure, located behind the Dairy Queen on GA 365, was being used for storage and still had electricity connected to it, officials say.
The fire damaged approximately half of the structure after it broke out on Saturday afternoon, October 16.
Baldwin and county firefighters responded to the scene to discover flames had spread to the surrounding grass. They requested a tanker from Hall County Fire Services to provide an additional water supply to help extinguish the flames.
(Red Bird Media)
It took crews about an hour to knock down the fire. They remained on the scene until early evening.
Officials have not determined the cause of the fire, but say it may have been electrical given the age of the building.
Pediatricians and parents are preparing for an expansion of the COVID-19 vaccine for Georgia children between five and 11. (Image by Julio César Velásquez Mejía from Pixabay)
(GA Recorder) — Naomi Williams of Evans said the beginning of the pandemic was especially tough on her family, including her 12-year-old son.
He has been diagnosed with a long list of conditions, including epilepsy and chronic lung disease, which makes him more susceptible to COVID-19.
“Living with a disability makes your life different anyway because we live in a world that serves abled bodies,” said Williams, vaccine project coordinator for the Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities. “So, COVID has required us to be that much more cautious and that much more closed in and separated from the world, from people. So we did have to stop therapy for quite a while. We had to stop school and did online learning, which was not learning for us. My son is visually impaired, so doing virtual school is not effective.”
When her son turned 12, the minimum age to become vaccinated for COVID-19, she decided to give him the shot, but it was not an easy decision.
What swayed her was a discussion with his pediatrician, who told her contracting COVID-19 would be far worse for him than any potential side effects from the vaccine.
“A cold for him can be life-threatening,” she said. “A cold for me is just the cold. A cold for him can turn into pneumonia. And with chronic lung disease, it just can go south really quick. So we didn’t make this decision without a lot of thought and trepidation and concern, but since he has been vaccinated, my mind has been more at ease. I’ve done what I can do as a parent to best protect him, and potentially others.”
Parents of more than 987,000 Georgia children will soon be faced with the same decision. That’s the number of Georgians between the ages of five and 11 who are expected to become eligible for vaccination in the coming weeks.
On Oct. 7, vaccine maker Pfizer asked the Food and Drug Administration to approve a pediatric vaccine with a smaller dose than the adult version for emergency use approval, which could come before Thanksgiving.
The FDA is set to hold a committee meeting over the child vaccines on Oct. 26, and White House chief medical advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci told ABC News Sunday he expects the treatment to be approved by early next month.
A planning guide for medical practitioners published by the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advises that “the months of November and December have multiple holidays. This should be considered in site selection and planning.”
Georgia, like much of the rest of the country, has reported lower numbers of cases among children as the back-to-school spike of August and September appears to have subsided.
During the two weeks that ended Oct. 4, the state reported 7,725 positive tests among residents between five and 17, or a rate of 418 positive cases per 100,000 people. In the final two weeks of August, there were more than 30,000 positive tests reported with a positivity rate of 1,626 per 100,000, representing a reduction of about three quarters.
Children are less likely to get seriously ill from COVID-19, but in some cases, they can develop severe symptoms — 20 Georgians under 18 have died from COVID-19 out of the more than 23,800 confirmed statewide deaths, according to state health department data.
But some children are at greater risk than others — of those 20 childhood deaths, 12 had confirmed chronic conditions, and five had their status marked as unknown by the health department, and children with underlying conditions are more likely to become sick enough to require hospitalization.
Getting children vaccinated will reduce the risk for them, the adults in their lives and more vulnerable classmates who are not vaccinated, experts say.
That’s part of the reason pediatricians like Dr. Hugo Scornik of Conyers say they are excited to be able to offer the treatment to their patients.
“If a lot of 5- to 11-year-olds get vaccinated, they’re not bringing it home to their parents, to their siblings, I do think epidemiologists would expect this would have a significant effect,” he said. “I’m really looking forward to its authorization. I’m looking forward to the next step in being able to offer this to some of our school-age kids. I think it’s exciting.”
Georgia’s pediatricians have been giving out COVID shots to those 16 and up since they were first introduced, and they expanded to 12 to 15-year-olds in May following FDA approval for that age group, but there are some slight differences between the five to 11 and 12 and up versions that doctors will need to plan for.
“There’s going to be some differences, the dosage is going to be different for 5 to 11-year-olds, it’s going to be a different vial, and we’re going to have to figure that out,” said Scornik, who is also president of the Georgia chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics.
The chapter has been hosting webinars for physicians with instructions on how to use the new vaccines, which require some logistical differences from their grownup counterparts. For example, the child vaccine requires a different substance in a different concentration to dilute it before administering than the adult version.
And while the CDC says the federal government has enough vaccines for the five to 11 population, around the country some are expecting an initial rush due to pent-up demand. Doctors in Georgia are planning to deal with that as well, Scornik said.
“In our practice, right now we’re giving vaccine daily, but we’re thinking about if we have a surge of calls, right when it gets approved, we may open up and just spend a Saturday here vaccinating kids.”
“We do kind of expect that. That has sort of been the trend. We got a lot of calls at the beginning, and then it’s more one-on-one conversations at checkups.”
But adults have been eligible for the vaccine for months, and many have not exactly been rushing to get their COVID shot.
As of Oct. 15, Georgia ranks No. 41 in the nation for the proportion of its population that has been fully vaccinated. Medical professionals have lamented vaccine hesitancy for contributing to the high spread of the COVID-19 delta variant in August and September that had Georgia hospital workers overwhelmed.
In a September nationwide poll from the Kaiser Family Foundation, 34% of parents of children between five and 11 said they will get their children vaccinated as soon as they can, and another 32% said they would wait and see. That’s an increase in vaccine acceptance from July when 26% said they’d get their kids vaccinated right away and 40% said they’d wait and see.
Parents should rest assured that the vaccine is safe, effective and well-tested, said Amelia Hess, public relations coordinator for Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta.
“The COVID-19 vaccines – such as those from Pfizer and Moderna – apply science and technology that has been studied for several decades,” she said. “These vaccines are safe and effective at preventing or reducing the severity of infection due to COVID-19, demonstrated in millions of adult and teen vaccine recipients.”
They should also listen to their children’s concerns and explain to them the importance of getting the shot at an age-appropriate level.
“As with all immunizations, it’s important to explain to your child that the vaccine they are receiving is protecting both themselves and others from potential illness,” she said. “It’s also wise to prepare your child that they may feel a quick pinch or sting while receiving the vaccination so they are prepared for the sensation.”
The state Department of Public Health is also playing a role in encouraging the childhood vaccines, spokeswoman Nancy Nydam said.
“DPH is and has been working to bring on more COVID vaccine providers, particularly pediatricians. We’re working with (the Georgia Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatricians) on an educational webinar about the vaccines, that info is still evolving, talking to their patients/parents about getting children vaccinated and a step by step on how to enroll as a vaccine provider. That webinar will take place in a couple weeks as we get more details on authorization and recommendations/guidelines.”
The department is also able to break down trays of Pfizer vaccine into more manageable sizes to make storage and handling easier for smaller practices and providers, she added.
Williams is using her role to encourage other parents of children with developmental disabilities to have their children vaccinated. Often, that means discussing how to overcome barriers, especially transportation, but she said she has also found sharing the change in her son’s life to be effective in swaying other moms and dads.
“He is very observant. He is aware,” she said. “Prior to this, we weren’t going out. I mean, prior to COVID, we’re a very active family. He would do races and we go to the grocery store and just whatever we are doing out and about. COVID hit all of that stuff. He didn’t go to the grocery store for a year and a half. The most out he did was we would take rides in a car. He wasn’t going in the stores, and now that he is fully vaccinated, we have been out and about more. Still not fully, we’re not going to spend an hour in the mall, but his world has opened up again.”
Guitarist Chuck Beckman was inspired to pursue a career in live therapeutic music for hospital patients after he played at the bedside of a dying friend.
His goal, he says, “was to play for patients in the last moments of their lives.” And he founded a program to do just that at Northeast Georgia Health System’s Gainesville hospital two years ago.
But the music stopped at the start of the pandemic. Beckman and his fellow therapeutic musicians could no longer play their instruments at patients’ bedsides because of the infection risk.
As the pandemic dragged on, and even worsened, the toll on health care workers became apparent.
Beckman performs for staff at the Northeast Georgia Medical Center in Gainesville to bring a moment of peace to busy health care workers during long days.
So Beckman and his fellow therapeutic musicians returned to the hospital in May 2020, this time with a new audience: workers rather than patients.
The musicians, who are specially trained to provide and play therapeutic music, set up shop at nurses’ stations, hoping to soothe the nerves of the workers facing the onslaught of COVID cases, equipment shortages and overall medical risks.
“Almost immediately I could see the impact it was having” on the staff, said Beckman. He saw tears glistening in nurses’ eyes and watched nurses “fold their hands, close their eyes, and lean their head back for 30 seconds, just checking in.”
Beckman and his colleagues decided to document the impact that live therapeutic music has had on worker stress.
Their study found that 30 minutes of live therapeutic music reduced the frontline COVID-19 workers’ perceived stress by 44.74%.
Sixty workers in COVID-19 critical care units listened to either acoustic guitar or piano (keyboard) music about halfway through their shifts and rated their stress levels using a 0 to 10 scale, both before and after the session. They also reported on their general stress levels using a well-known questionnaire, the Perceived Stress Scale.
The musicians played classical or contemporary music with 50 to 60 beats per minute at nursing stations. They improvised in response to the workers’ moods and reactions.
All of the health care workers had higher levels of stress than the average American, according to the study, published in the Interprofessional Journal of Healthcare and Research.
Those who were most stressed beforehand experienced the greatest stress reduction from the music session.
Dr. Bryant Lin, director of medical humanities and arts, and clinical associate professor of medicine at Stanford University, isn’t surprised by the effects of Beckman’s music. (Stanford Health Care)
“I’m not surprised at all by the findings,” said Dr. Bryant Lin, the director of medical humanities and arts and a clinical associate professor of medicine at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California.
“Music calms the autonomic nervous system,” added Lin, referring to the “automatic” part of the human nervous system that controls unconscious functions like breathing and heartbeat.
“There’s substantial evidence that both music and social interaction reduce stress,” he said.
“The idea of bringing music and personal connection together is such a powerful one and hopefully it becomes more common across hospitals,” said Lin.
“I think it’s really good preliminary data,” echoed Carolyn Phillips, an assistant professor at the University of Texas-Austin School of Nursing.
“A more robust study is needed to understand the full potential,” Phillips added.
The Northeast Georgia Medical Center team plans a larger, more-in depth study in the future.
“I don’t think there’s anything that can beat human-to-human interaction,” said Phillips, referring to the way the live musicians could respond to “what’s going on and what’s needed in the room,” or, in this case, the hospital ward.
Not the same as music therapy
The musicians are all trained to provide music for the ailing. Along with Beckman, the guitarist, the Gainesville hospital employs a pianist, a flutist and a harpist. Beckman also runs a non-profit, Strings of Mercy, devoted to fundraising for similar programs at other hospitals.
Beckman emphasized that live therapeutic music is different from music therapy.
Music therapy is centered on the patient’s relationship with the therapist. It often involves activities such as the patient and therapist playing music or writing a song together.
(Georgia Health News)
Live therapeutic music is “a little simpler, [it’s] an art form based on the science of sound,” said Beckman. It is geared toward helping patients feel calmer in the moment and has no expectation of a specific outcome.
Beckman gave the example of playing for a patient in pain who finally drifted off to sleep after about 20 minutes.
Prior to the pandemic, he and his fellow musicians would play for many different types of patients, even those in the ICU. Nurses could write orders for a session, and the musicians documented their sessions in the electronic medical record system, just as any health care provider would do, Beckman explained.
The live aspect is essential to the music’s therapeutic effects, said Beckman. That’s so that the musician can mold the playing to the listeners’ responses, and because live music is far richer in harmonic overtones than recorded music.
“There are several orders of magnitude of difference” between live and recorded music, said Lin, the Stanford professor. That’s because the audience and the performer are interacting in real-time.
“There’s a thirst for human interaction, to connect,” he said. “It’s about people first and music second.”
Pianist Connie Muscenti became a live therapeutic musician at Northeast Georgia after training with the Music for Healing and Transition Program, a nonprofit that trains and certifies musicians to play in health care settings.
“Therapeutic music is an intervention that is focused on the mind and the body and the spirit,” said Muscenti, a former music educator.
Muscenti also plays at St. Mary’s Hospital in Athens. There, like some other musicians doing this kind of work, she has switched from playing at patients’ bedsides to playing for staffers in departments around the hospital.
“The hospital administration’s decision to offer live music is one of the best parts of my day,” said Evelyn Riddle, who screens incoming patients and visitors for COVID at the main entrance of St. Mary’s.
“Typically, a hospital can be a rather intimidating place, but the soft melodies from the pianist [Muscenti] helps to provide a calm and serene atmosphere for the staff as well as the guests,” Riddle said.
Riddle said she always eagerly awaits Muscenti’s visits.
Muscenti’s custom cart for her keyboard contains a built-in stool and battery, allowing her to roll anywhere she wants to go. She also has hundreds of pieces of music at the ready on her tablet.
“I love being able to welcome guests and truly set the tone for how their day at the hospital may go,” said Riddle, adding that “the fact that I can enjoy the beautiful sounds makes it all worth it.”
Different jobs, different levels of stress
Elizabeth Larkins, the executive director of medical nursing services at Northeast Georgia Health System, noted that the stress in her profession has only increased since the start of the pandemic. And some days can be particularly hard. For example, nine patients in the Northeast Georgia Health System died in just one 24-hour period a few weeks ago.
Employees are caring for “more patients, working more shifts, and working longer shifts” than ever before, and this “continues to be the case despite COVID numbers declining,” said Larkins.
Covid patients now are generally younger than those who were being admitted at the start of the pandemic.
“These are people who are dying in the prime of their lives […] that takes an environmental and psychological toll on all of us,” said Larkins.
Health care workers at the Northeast Georgia Medical Center in Gainesville have faced the COVID-19 pandemic head-on. (Photo: Northeast Georgia Health System)
The Gainesville hospital, like many others, has had trouble finding enough nurses.
Four different kinds of health care workers were included in the Northeast Georgia study: nurses, respiratory therapists, patient care technicians, and unit secretaries. Respiratory therapists and those in the nursing support roles – unit secretaries and patient care technicians – had even higher levels of stress than the nurses.
Study principal investigator Cheryl Bittel, who is also a critical care nurse at the hospital, said she was surprised by that finding. She speculated that since these employees are the lowest paid of the group and likely have fewer resources to deal with challenges like child care when schools are closed, their general stress levels are higher.
Lin, the Stanford professor, added that “perceived levels of control in your environment” could contribute to additional stress for these lower-paid, but essential, workers.
Bittel, the nurse and study co-author, said staff members say after they hear the music, “You just helped me get through a tough day,” or “I needed that.”
Pictured, left to right, are Lisa Smith, Leslie Nava, Emily Pahuamba, Juan Diego Sanchez, Dr. Jonathan Stribling, Trey King, Dr. Constance Franklin. (photo submitted)
The Habersham Rotary Club recently recognized four outstanding students from Habersham Ninth Grade Academy and Habersham Central.
Leslie Nava, Emily Pahuamba, Juan Diego Sanchez, and Trey King were nominated by their teachers for the Raider Salute. The award recognizes students who demonstrate excellence in service, character, and scholarship.
From the school awardees, a student from each grade level is chosen to be recognized by the Rotary Club. Nava, Pahuamba, Sanchez, and King received that honor for October. They were guests at a recent Rotary Club meeting in Cornelia where members presented them with certificates.
A three-vehicle crash Monday in Stephens County claimed the life of a Northeast Georgia woman. The Georgia State Patrol identifies her as 35-year-old Shonda Hart of Canon.
Troopers from GSP Post 7 in Toccoa responded to the crash on the GA 17 Bypass at Memorial Drive around 1:14 p.m. on October 18.
Post 7 Commander Donnie Sadler says Hart was traveling north on Memorial in a Ford Explorer when she failed to stop at the stop sign at the intersection. She pulled into the path of a Lincoln Town Car traveling east on the bypass.
The Town Car, driven by 20-year-old Mckayla Adams of Loganville, struck the Explorer on the driver’s side causing it to overturn “multiple times.” After impact, the Town Car traveled across GA 17 and struck a Ford F350 waiting to turn onto Memorial Drive from the lefthand turn lane.
37-year-old Evelyn Leadbetter of Toccoa was driving the pickup. Neither she nor Adams was injured, says Sadler.
A man who was shot while allegedly attacking his girlfriend earlier this month at her family home in Sautee is now behind bars. Deputies booked Justin Kyle Rachal of Winterville in the Habersham County Detention Center on Saturday, October 16.
Rachal spent nearly two weeks at Northeast Georgia Medical Center in Gainesville before going to jail. He was admitted under guard on October 5 after his girlfriend’s father shot him in the abdomen to stop the attack, investigators said.
Officers charged the 26-year-old Rachal with felony aggravated assault and false imprisonment. They also charged him with misdemeanor third-degree child cruelty.
Investigators did not charge the shooter, 55-year-old Cory Merchant, because they say the shooting was justified. They determined Merchant shot Rachal to protect his daughter and a young girl who also lived at the residence.
Anyone who wishes to vote early this year should do so at the Ruby Fulbright Aquatic Center polling place.
It’s been a slow start to early voting in municipal elections across Georgia, and Habersham County is no exception. In the first week of early voting, 185 ballots were cast in the county, says Habersham elections supervisor Laurel Ellison. Election officials issued 38 absentee ballots but none had been returned as of Saturday, Oct. 16.
Those figures are in stark contrast to 2020 when the presidential election drew more than 1,000 early voters in Habersham the first week polls opened.
Low voter turnout during municipal elections is not unusual but could be considered shortsighted given the influence that local officials have on how cities and counties operate and how local taxes are levied.
“Right now, there’s been very low voter turnout; [it’s] almost understandable, but at the same time, it’s not,” Habersham County Commissioner Bruce Palmer said at the commission’s Oct. 18 meeting. “This is how to make your voice heard. Get out and vote.”
This year, 32 candidates qualified to run for 21 open seats in Habersham — ten of those candidates are running unopposed.
Demorest City Council candidate Lawrence Bridges has dropped out of the race but that still leaves 21 candidates vying for eleven local government jobs. This election cycle, voters will determine who becomes the next mayor of Demorest, who will serve on the city councils in six of Habersham’s seven cities, and who will become the county’s next District 5 commissioner.
Early voting continues
Early voting continues at the Ruby Fulbright Aquatic Center in Clarkesville from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. through Oct. 22.
Saturday voting is scheduled from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Oct. 23.
Advance voting will be held at the Aquatic Center from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Oct. 25 through 29.
The last day to request an absentee ballot by mail is Friday, Oct. 22. The dropbox for absentee by-mail ballots is located inside the Habersham County Elections & Voter Registration Office in the basement of the county administration building in Clarkesville.
All Habersham County and municipal voting precincts will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on election day, Nov. 2. For a list of those precincts, click here.
It’s October, and as the chilly winter months come, now is the perfect time to bring a cat into your home for warm snuggles to beat the cold. That’s why the Habersham County Animal Shelter is celebrating “Octo-purr,” to help find cats and kittens their forever homes.
This week, meet Tuna Melt and Agent Smith, two tabby cats that are sure to warm your home and your heart.
Meet Tuna Melt
Tuna Melt, her brother and sister were found in a parking lot over the summer. They were just babies, still needing to nurse, and were deathly ill. (Madi Nix/Habersham Animal Care and Control)
Tuna Melt is a beautiful female tabby with eyes so sweet they’ll melt your heart. While she’s been through a lot in her five months of life, she still has lots of love to give.
Tuna Melt, her brother and sister were found in a parking lot in June by Habersham County Animal Care and Control. The three were deathly ill and were too young to fend for themselves.
“If HACC hadn’t found us, we wouldn’t have made it,” Tuna Melt says. “We’d lost our mom and were too young to feed ourselves. Someone on staff actually took us home so that we could bottle feed, and help us get better.”
After four months of recovery, Tuna Melt is finally ready to find a real home.
“My siblings and I have seen some scary things, but we’re all ready to leave that behind,” she says. “I’m ready to find home— a real home, not a parking lot or a bed at a shelter. Somewhere warm, where I know I’ll face each day knowing I’m safe and cared for.”
Meet Agent Smith
Agent Smith his two brothers, Morpheus and Neo, make up the shelter’s “Matrix” litter, which were surrendered to the shelter. (Madi Nix/Habersham Animal Care and Control)
Agent Smith is a 6-month-old male tabby and was one of three kitties in a litter surrendered to the shelter.
“Not being wanted is one of the worst feelings in the world,” Agent Smith says. “But I don’t think that’s how my story ends.”
He and his two brothers, Morpheus and Neo, make up the shelter’s “Matrix” litter, and Agent Smith’s cat-like reflexes when he gets the zoomies might make you feel like it’s time to choose between the red pill and blue pill.
All jokes aside, the only reality this Agent Smith wants to trap you in is one full of cuddles and kitty kisses.
“Not having a home is hard, and I hope my forever family is on their way soon,” he says. “I just know I’ll find my place, and when I do, it will be a place I’m wanted. I can’t wait for that day. It’ll be the best day of my life.”
Do you think Tuna Melt, Agent Smith or any of the other animals at the Habersham County Animal Shelter could be your cuddle buddy this fall? If so, give them a call at (706) 839-0195 or visit them in person Tuesday-Friday from 10 a.m. to Noon & 1-5 p.m. or on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Check out more information on their Facebook page.
The turnout has been low since the Oct. 12 start of early voting for municipal elections across Georgia, which is helping election officials ease into a slew of rules. (file photo by John McCosh/Georgia Recorder)
(GA Recorder) — When Marcia Killingsworth noticed some troubling election plans for the Edison citywide election she checked in with the Georgia Secretary of State’s office after feeling local officials were dragging their feet.
Killingworth lives in Calhoun County, where the Edison city of about 1,300 residents in southwest Georgia is one of the 111 local election contests that began early voting last week, providing the first large-scale trial run for the state’s controversial new election law.
County election officials are adjusting to new rules that limit absentee ballot mailing windows, restrict absentee drop boxes, require new identification for voting by mail, and other new restrictions that have sparked a national backlash. In Georgia’s municipal elections, highlighted by the race for Atlanta mayor, turnout was slow last week; 25,688 people had voted by Thursday night and only 500 absentee ballots had been received out of 23,674 requests, according to the secretary of state’s office.
With slow turnout, poll workers across Georgia seemed to handle the new rules without trouble.
But Killingsworth needed reassurance that Calhoun election officials are securing the absentee drop box at the old Edison City Hall according to the new rule that says ballots must be deposited indoors during regular business hours. She said she also had to inquire repeatedly about a city council member being considered as a poll worker for colleagues running for reelection. That coziness violates long-standing election laws. City leaders eventually removed the elected official’s name from a list of potential poll workers.
The former Edison City Hall is the voting site for the municipal elections in the small southwest Georgia community. Photo by Marcia Killingsworth
Killingsworth said she sympathizes with poll workers and election staff who will face a raft of new rules when more voters make their way to the polls and ask for help navigating the new system.
“I would say to citizens who have questions (about election procedures) that they should contact their local authorities,” she said. “I would suggest asking for answers in writing because voting is so complicated right now with all the changes.
“Verbal response is fine and it’s informative, but it’s not something you want to take a chance on misremembering,” Killingsworth said. “And then, if your local officials are unresponsive, call the secretary of state’s office.”
Election officials so far have avoided the significant problems predicted by Democrats and other progressive voting rights organizations with the new regulations as low voter turnout is giving more time to work out any kinks that crop up.
When Republicans ushered through Senate Bill 202 in March, a bitter battle had long been waged between what the GOP hailed as restoring confidence in Georgia’s elections following the defeat of President Donald Trump versus what the Democrats dubbed voter suppression tactics Jim Crow 2.0.
President Joe Biden ripped Georgia’s new election law this summer and U.S. Senate Democrats are pressing for federal legislation that would overturn changes state lawmakers made in the 2021 legislative session.
Changes include the requirement of an ID such as a driver’s license to vote absentee, an approach critics feared would further disenfranchise minorities. Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffenspeger and GOP lawmakers say the ID requirement further improves voter security by replacing the more subjective signature match requirement. In the 2020 presidential election recounts, county poll workers compared signatures on envelopes with the ones on file to audit absentee ballots.
The new standards that in some instances have caused confusion, such as handling of absentee cure forms when family members forgot to sign the oath, said Deidre Holden, Paulding County election supervisor and immediate past-president of the Georgia Association of Voter Registration and Election Officials.
“We have been concerned with some of the requirements,” Holden said. “If there is a requirement that is not clear for us, we have been sending out concerns and questions to the Secretary of State Elections Division for guidance.”
“If they do not return the affidavit, we have to reject the ballot,” Holden added. “The authority to open the absentee envelope when the voter is required to provide a copy of their identification when they do not have the (drivers license number) or last 4 of the SSN. I think we have gotten a solid solution concerning this as of (Wednesday).”
In Cherokee County, when residents call in requesting absentee applications, elections staff are notifying voters about the new deadlines, Election Director Anne Dover said.
The new window for requests has shrunk to 78 days before Election Day and postmarked no more than 11 days before Election Day. In the past, voters could request absentee ballots up to 180 days before a vote and mail it in up until the Friday before the vote.
And getting the word out about the rules for drop boxes has been at the top of the mind of Cherokee election staff, the county’s Election Director Anne Dover said.
While the new voting law requires absentee drop boxes to be available in each of Georgia’s 159 counties, controversy swirled around limiting the number each county can provide and requiring them to be located and monitored inside the county’s election office or early voting locations. The new drop box limitations drastically reduce locations to hand-deliver absentee ballots in metro Atlanta’s most populated counties.
“Our main concern was communicating with voters and helping them to understand that drop boxes have been moved inside and are not accessible to voters outside of advance/early voting hours,” Dover said. “Cherokee County has purchased signs advising voters of drop box locations. Drop box locations and times have been posted on our website.”
New ID requirements such as a system of driver’s licenses requirements instead of signature matches for absentee ballots are among the changes voting rights advocates heavily criticized. This was seen as further disenfranchisement of marginalized people.
Democratic groups and voting rights advocates argue that several provisions will result in fewer voters. Among them is anyone showing up at the wrong polling place on Election Day will only be allowed to cast a provisional ballot if they arrive after 5 p.m., which could have resulted in thousands of votes getting rejected in last year’s general election.
The effects of the new provisional rule will not be evident until Election Day on Nov. 2, depending on turnout. And the lack of voters lining up at precincts so far has made the new restrictions against volunteers giving out beverages and snacks in lines a moot point.
Due to the low turnout, Dover was able to reduce the number of poll workers until more voters showed up for early voting.
“We typically see a smaller turnout with municipal elections,” Dover said. “ It has become increasingly difficult to predict what voters are going to do.”
In Paulding, about 50 voters came out and Holden chalked that up to few races on the ballot.
Across Georgia, the current pace of turnout is significantly lower compared to last year’s early voting for a general election, which had 2.3 million mail-in and in-person voters. The November 2020 ballot was dominated by the presidential election, two U.S. Senate seats and more than 200 state lawmakers.
Wilma Ruth Watkins, age 89 of Gainesville, entered heaven Saturday, Oct. 16, 2021, at the Northeast Georgia Medical Center, Braselton.
Mrs. Watkins was born June 16, 1932, in Gainesville to the late Madison Christopher & Hattie Mae Farr Jones. She was a lifelong resident of Hall County. She was a homemaker, but was very active and involved in many things. She volunteered and was a member of the Senior Life Center as well as a member of the Red Hat Society. She was a member of Murrayville Baptist Church, and was preceded in death by her loving husband, Rev. Thomas Hubert Watkins; daughter, Linda Watkins; granddaughter, Rebecca Watkins; sister, Eula Savage; brother, Ralph Jones.
Surviving are, son, Thomas Larry (Marilyn) Watkins; Grandson, Jason Larry (Tammy)Watkins; brother, Lewis Jones; sisters, Dorothy Cannon & Mildred Lewis.
Funeral services honoring Mrs. Watkins will be 11:00 a.m. Tuesday, Oct. 19, 2021, in the Chapel of Ward’s Funeral Home with Rev. John Dale and Rev. Stanley Jackson officiating. Burial will be in Murrayville Baptist Church Cemetery. The family will receive friends from 6:00 p.m until 8 p.m. Monday, October 18, 2021, at the funeral home.
Please share memories and online condolences with the family at www.wardsfh.com. Ward’s Funeral Home is honored to serve the family of Wilma Ruth Watkins.
Ward’s Funeral Home & Cremation Services, Gainesville. “A Family Funeral Home”
Cornelia’s Downtown Development Authority/Main Street Program is seeking public input on the future of downtown.
The DDA says the anonymous online survey will assist its members in identifying the most important projects and programs to work on over the next two years.
“We deeply appreciate your care for downtown and for your input on these issues. Now is the time to have your voice heard!” the notice says.
Carolyn M. Crumley, age 87, of Homer, Georgia went to her heavenly home on Friday, October 15, 2021.
Mrs. Crumley was born on April 28, 1934, in Banks County, Georgia to the late Grady and Clemmie Chambers Welborn. In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her son, Donald Crumley. Carolyn was known to her grandchildren as “Ma-Ma”, and they were the light of her life. She was a member of Mt. Carmel Baptist Church in Banks County. Carolyn was a loving wife, mother, and grandmother. Carolyn was a faithful and dedicated wife, tending to her loving husband, Jolly for 73 years.
Survivors include her loving husband of 73 years, Jolly Crumley, of Homer; daughter and son-in-law, Sue and Randy Rylee, of Maysville; son and daughter-in-law, Kenny and Joyce Crumley, of Gillsville; daughter and son-in-law, Phyllis and John McClure, of Homer; nine grandchildren, 15 great-grandchildren, and three great-great-grandchildren; sister, Cat Jones, of Lula; and brother, Dwayne Welborn, of Gillsville.
Graveside Services will be held at 4:00 p.m., Monday, October 18, 2021, at the Mt. Carmel Baptist Church Cemetery with Rev. Jerrell Beatty officiating.
The family will receive friends from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., Sunday, October 17, 2021, at the Whitfield Funeral Home, South Chapel.
In lieu of flowers memorials may be made to Mt. Carmel Baptist Church Cemetery Fund,
Arrangements have been entrusted to the Whitfield Funeral Homes & Crematory, South Chapel at 1370 Industrial Boulevard, Baldwin, Georgia 30511. Telephone: 706-778-7123.
