Helen Heaton Howell, age 80 of Baldwin, passed away Saturday, December 5, 2020, at Habersham Medical Center.
Born in Habersham County on January 1, 1940, she was a daughter of the late Dwayne and Minnie York Heaton. Mrs. Howell was a retired licensed practical nurse (LPN) after 35 years of service. She of the Baptist faith and enjoyed gardening, reading, and spending time with her family. In addition to her parents, she was also preceded in death by her husband, Wallace Howell.
Surviving are son, Michael McDuffie of Baldwin and Wayne Church of Clarkesville; son and daughter-in-law, Dwayne & Kerri Roach of Maryville, TN; daughter and son-in-law, Jeanne & Mickey Shook of Demorest; daughter, Jamie Roach Esford of Gainesville; sisters, Mary Jordan of Baldwin, Carolyn Helton of Baldwin, and Vivian Hicks of Mt. Airy; brother, Dwayne Heaton of Baldwin. She is also survived by 13 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren and many nieces and nephews.
A family memorial service will be held at a later date.
Addie Penick signs her national letter of intent to play basketball at Emmanuel College. Addie's brother Nolan (far left) and parents Joey and Daphne Penick (seated) joined her for the Nov. 19 signing ceremony along with Kim Bradley and Lady Raiders' head coach Bill Bradley. (photo by Kayla Waters)
Habersham Central High School standout athlete Addie Penick is heading to Emanuel College next year to continue her basketball career. The 5’8″ senior plays point guard for the Lady Raiders. She helped lead her team to the state playoffs last season averaging just over 10 points, six rebounds, and two assists per game.
The Raiders named Penick MVP her junior year. She made the All Region Team in basketball and soccer where she holds a number of school scoring titles.
In addition to her accomplishments on the court and field, Penick is an Academic Scholar recipient.
She signed her national letter of intent with the Division II school in Franklin Springs, Georgia, during a signing ceremony on November 19. Her parents Daphne and Joey Penick attended, along with Addie’s brother Nolan, Kim Bradley, and Lady Raiders’ head coach Bill Bradley.
Tallulah Falls High School senior Brinson Hall is set to sign her national letter of intent with Alabama's Troy University on Dec. 9, 2020. (Brian Carter/TFS)
BrinsonHall is the third female athlete at Tallulah Falls School to commit to an NCAA Division-I school recently. For Hall, a standout golfer who holds or shares many school records, the much-anticipated decision has been made to continue her golfing and academic career at Troy University.
Hall calls signing with Troy University “a dream come true.” (Brian Carter/TFS)
“I only recently made the decision to go to Troy,” says Hall. “In fact, the time between me learning about Troy and deciding to go there was only a month.”
Hall says the Division I school in south Alabama “checked all the boxes.”
“The biggest thing that sold me about Troy was that it was the perfect medium-sized school. I would be able to go there and participate in bigger D1 athletics while still going to classes with a smaller number of students and get to know my professor.”
Dream come true
The Mt. Airy teen calls signing with Troy “a dream come true.”
Ever since she picked up her first golf club as a little girl, Halls says she’s known golf was the sport for her. “To know that all that hard work from the early mornings to long tournament days has paid off is a feeling I will never forget,” she says. “I can only thank God and the people who always pushed me to be better every day.”
“I will be able to push myself in areas that I have never pushed before both on and off the course. The challenge excites me and motivates me to be the absolute best person I can be.”
–BrinsonHall
The recruiting process had its ups and downs as Hall juggled school, applying for colleges and scholarships, fine-tuning her golf game, and dealing with recruitment simultaneously.
“It was a lot, but, through this process, I have met some of the most amazing people, and I will cherish those relationships forever,” she says.
Hall credits her parents, Ivy and Stacy Hall, for their unflagging support.
(Brian Carter/TFS)
“I could count on one hand the amount of tournaments that I have been to alone over the past seven years. They have financially, spiritually, and emotionally supported me in everything I do,” she says. “They have helped shape me into the young lady I am today, and for that, I will forever be grateful.”
Now, with her big decision made and signing day just one day away, the TFS senior can focus on her final year in high school and the upcoming golf season.
“I want this season to be filled with laughter and memories that will last a lifetime. It will be my last high school golf season, so I want to make it one to remember.”
Hall has been part of a TFS team that won back-to-back Area titles in 2018-19 (and would have likely won in 2020 had there been a season). Both of those seasons also saw the girls’ golf team finish in the top 5 at state. Hall was the Area Runner-Up as an individual in 2019, and is tied for the 9-hole scoring record (36) with teammate Maggie Jackson, and holds the 18-hole record of 74 set in 2019. Hall finished 7th at state in 2019 and 9th in 2018.
Shown left to right are Skyler Belangia, Chesney Tanksley, Lizzie Huebner, Gemma Farris, Gracey Ash, Emma Arden, Coach Sharea Long, Millie Holcomb, Haygen James, LB Kafsky, and Breelyn Wood.
In the spirit of Christmas, the Lady Indians’ middle school basketball team, fresh off a win over Lanier Christian on Saturday, December 5, won off the court as well with a community service project.
The girls raised $982 to help a pair of families within the TFS community. The team provided a Christmas meal for both families and purchased Christmas gifts for four small children. In addition, the girls prepared a menu, made a grocery list and shopped for all the ingredients.
They bought clothes and toys for the kids, wrapped each gift, and got all of these items ready for the families to pick up.
“It was truly a team effort to help all involved have a wonderful Christmas,” states coach Sharea Long.
COVID-19’s spread in Georgia continues at a relentless pace.
The number of virus cases here has surged past the 500,000 mark, including 58,000 positives from rapid antigen tests. There have been more than 9,000 confirmed COVID deaths in Georgia over the course of the pandemic.
And Georgia reported 5,500 new COVID infections Monday, including antigen test results.
Giuliani
The Savannah Morning News pointed out that nearly 1 of every 20 Georgians has been infected with the virus.
The virus has rattled political circles here as well.
Upon learning Sunday that former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani tested positive for COVID-19, Georgia senators who attended a seven-hour legislative hearing last week with him were urged to self-quarantine, the AJC reported.
Senate President Pro Tem Butch Miller, a Gainesville Republican who did not attend the hearing, said senators who participated in the Senate Judiciary subcommittee meeting who have not previously contracted COVID-19 were encouraged to quarantine for two weeks.
Giuliani, who is President Trump’s personal attorney and has been involved in challenges to some states’ November election totals, did not wear a mask while in the state Capitol on Thursday.
“We are clearly disappointed that Mayor Giuliani disregarded the health and well-being of others by not wearing a mask when it clearly would have been appropriate,” Miller said, according to the AJC.
State Sen. William Ligon, a Brunswick Republican and chairman of the subcommittee that held the hearing, said in a statement that Giuliani was in “close proximity to senators, Senate staff, members of the media and the general public.” Ligon encouraged people who might have been exposed to follow health recommendations.
The Trump campaign’s legal team released a statement Sunday night, with the “consent of Mayor Giuliani,” saying he “tested negative twice immediately preceding his trip to Arizona, Michigan, Georgia” and “did not experience any symptoms or test positive for COVID-19 until more than 48 hours after his return,” USA Today reported.
Other data on COVID-19 in Georgia, meanwhile, are trending in the wrong direction.
COVID Exit Strategy has listed Georgia as having “severely constrained’’ ICU capacity, and the state’s positive test rate for the virus is rising, at 13.4 percent.
Amber Schmidtkesaid in her Daily Digest that on Monday there were 2,502 COVID patients hospitalized in the state, which is 305 higher than compared to a week ago.
Georgia has the sixth-highest count of COVID cases, while it is the eighth-most populous state, the Morning News reported. Pennsylvania and Ohio each have a higher population but fewer COVID-19 cases.
Awaiting a post-holiday surge
The United States hasn’t seen the full impact that Thanksgiving gatherings likely will have on rising Covid-19 cases and hospitalizations, Dr. Anthony Fauci said Monday.
“The blip from Thanksgiving isn’t even here yet,” Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told CBS’ Norah O’Donnell during the Milken Institute Future of Health Summit, CNN reported.
Fauci
“So we’re getting those staggering numbers of new cases and hospitalizations before we even feel the full brunt of the Thanksgiving holiday,” Fauci said. Health experts warned before Thanksgiving, which was on Nov. 26 this year, that Americans should gather virtually rather than risk exposure from in-person contacts.
As the United States nears an average of 200,000 COVID-19 cases a day, experts say “behavior and cold weather” are behind the current surge gripping American communities, CNN reported.
Meanwhile, President-elect Joe Biden on Monday announced the health team that will lead his administration’s pandemic response when he takes office in January.
Biden’s transition team announced California Attorney General Xavier Becerra as his nominee for secretary of Health and Human Services and Dr. Vivek Murthy as his nominee for U.S. surgeon general, two positions that require Senate confirmation. He also named Dr. Rochelle Walensky as director of the Atlanta-based CDC, and Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith as the chair of his COVID-19 equity task force.
Fauci, who has been a COVID-19 adviser to Trump, will serve as chief medical adviser to Biden on COVID-19.
Helen Elizabeth Cannon, 81, passed away on November 29, 2020, from an extended illness. She was a life-long resident of the Northeast Georgia area. She was the daughter of Janie Helen West Cannon and Charles Edgar Cannon. She is survived by her sister and nephew, June and Jeff Stephens, who reside in the Atlanta area.
Helen graduated from Wesleyan College in 1960 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Music. She became a band director and elementary school teacher in Habersham County. She had a love for music produced by local artists, co-owned a music store in Clarkesville, and sponsored musical programs for the Sautee Nacoochee Community Association (SNCA).
Helen had many hobbies. Most noteworthy was her broom making ability, which she taught at the John C. Campbell Folk School in North Carolina. She also participated in and contributed to local organizations, such as the Foothills Guild of Art and Crafts, Atlanta’s Hospital Hospitality House, SNCA.
Helen will be missed by her many friends and family members. A memorial service will be planned in the future. Donations in Helen’s memory may be made to the Sautee Nacoochee Community Association or the Nacoochee Presbyterian Church.
Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said Monday that the third timing counting votes cast in the presidential election confirm President-elect Joe Biden's close win over President Donald Trump. Trump continues to challenge the outcome despite the U.S. and Georgia's attorney generals and state election investigators saying there is no evidence of widespread fraud. (Stanley Dunlap/Georgia Recorder)
Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger certified the third counting of ballots in Georgia’s presidential race, confirming President-elect Joe Biden’s victory once again over President Donald Trump.
Raffensperger announced Monday afternoon that he signed off on the results after nearly 5 million ballots were rescanned starting just before Thanksgiving.
The size of Biden’s victory over Trump shrank by 886 votes from 12,760 from the initially certified results to 11,784 votes in the latest recount requested by the president. But as election officials assured since Biden was first declared the winner of Georgia’s 16 electoral votes, the recount did not change the outcome.
The certification comes as some Georgia GOP leaders press for more investigations into allegations of election fraud as Trump’s campaign and the president’s supporters continue to fight the results in courts and in the public arena.
Over the weekend, Gov. Brian Kemp refused to order a special session so that legislators could illegally reverse the election results, and on Monday, U.S. District Court of the Northern District of Georgia Judge Timothy Batten dismissed a lawsuit filed by former Trump attorney Sidney Powell.
The Coffee County election board approved its election results on Monday, the last of the state’s 159 counties needed for the state to recertify.
“Today is an important day for election integrity in Georgia and across the country,” Raffensperger said in a statement after he made the certification official. “The claims in the Kraken lawsuit prove to be as mythological as the creature for which they’re named. Georgians can now move forward knowing that their votes, and only their legal votes, were counted accurately, fairly, and reliably.”
Widespread fraud accusations have been called unfounded by Raffensperger’s investigators, Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr and U.S. Attorney General William Barr. Meanwhile, more than 30 of the roughly 50 election lawsuits filed on Trump’s behalf in several states have been rejected or dropped.
The latest argument from Trump attorneys is that Raffensperger’s office violated election law by allowing people to request absentee ballots through a new online portal using a Georgia driver’s license or ID number instead of a signature.
A record 1.3 million Georgians cast absentee ballots in the November election, with their popularity soaring during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Kemp and a host of other Georgia Republican elected-officials have repeatedly asked Raffensperger to conduct an audit of the signatures on ballot envelopes, but Raffenseprger has so far declined to do so.
Georgia’s 16 Democratic electors are scheduled to select Biden on Dec. 14.
Evelyn Free Fry, age 91 of the Low Gap Community, Clarkesville, Georgia went home to be with the Lord on Sunday, December 06, 2020, following an extended illness.
Born in the Batesville Community of Clarkesville Georgia on October 30, 1929, she was a daughter of the late Benjamin Lafayette Free & Edith Morrison Free. Evelyn was retired from Fieldale Farms Corporation with many years of service. In her spare time, she enjoyed quilting and loved spending precious time with her family. Evelyn was the last surviving member of her immediate family.
In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband, Charles Osco Fry; son, Lloyd Fry; grandchildren, Zachary Fry; Sabrina Welborn; & Michael Fry; brothers, Gerald Free; Kenneth Free; Vivian Free; Vance Free; 2 infant brothers; sisters, Clarice Free King; & Gladys Free Noblet.
Survivors include her children, Boyd & Shirley Fry of Cleveland, GA; Edith & Reed Alley of Clarkesville, GA; Eunice & Billy Welborn of Demorest, GA; Dwight & Sandra Fry of Cleveland, GA; Brenda & Doug Gosnell of Clarkesville, GA; 15 grandchildren; 32 great-grandchildren; 5 great-great-grandchildren; a host of other relatives & friends.
In consideration of public health & safety, a private family service will be held.
Marvin Willis, age 79 of Martin, Georgia passed away on Wednesday, December 02, 2020, in his sleep after an extended illness.
Born in Hart County, Georgia on November 27, 1941, he was a son of the late Francis & Katie Durham Willis. Marvin was a Teamster who enjoyed truck driving for many years until retirement.
Survivors include his loving wife of 43 years, Mavis Pitts Willis of Martin, GA; daughter & son-in-law, Tammy Kay & Olin Beasley of Lavonia, GA; son & daughter-in-law, Ray Anthony & Barbara Willis of Martin, GA; grandchildren, Blake Beasley; Benjamin Willis; Brittany Haley; & Brandon Haley; great-grandchildren, Oakley Casey Haley & Sawyer Grace Vaughn; brothers, Ray Willis of Toccoa, GA; & Milford Willis of Eastonollee, GA; sister, Lorrene Rider of Toccoa, GA; as well as other relatives & friends.
Marvin’s wishes were to be cremated and an outdoor celebration of life will be held at 2:00 p.m. Saturday, December 12, 2020, at the family home in Martin, Georgia with Rev. Jerrell Beatty officiating.
In consideration of public health & safety, the family requests that all in attendance observe all guidelines recommended for social distancing.
Thomas Frederick “Fred” King, age 85, of Mt. Airy, passed away on Sunday, December 6, 2020, surrounded by his family.
Born on May 20, 1935, in Clarkesville, he was a son of the late Thomas Murray and Hallie Johnson King. In 1990, Mr. King retired from Dolco Packaging Company, Lawrenceville. After retirement, he came back to the place he loved, Habersham County. He was of the Baptist faith.
In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his son, John Clinton King, and brother, Samuel W. King.
Survivors include his wife, Brenda Dill King of Mt. Airy; sons and daughters-in-law: Thomas “Chris” King and Karen of Fort Worth, TX, Charles “Derek” King and Jennifer of Buford, and Richard “Darrell” King and Sherri of Decatur; seven grandchildren; sisters, Martha “Linda” Broome of South Carolina and Phyllis A. King Lewallen of Mt. Airy; and several nieces and nephews.
A judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by Sidney Powell, who is a former member of President Donald Trump's legal team. Here she is shown campaigning for Doug Collins in August outside an Alpharetta restaurant. (Jill Nolin/Georgia Recorder)
A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit filed by Trump-affiliated lawyer Sidney Powell seeking to overturn Georgia’s election results for lacking standing, being filed too late, and for requesting “the most extraordinary relief ever sought” in an election case.
Judge Timothy Batten, appointed by George W. Bush, issued the ruling from the bench Monday morning about an hour into a hearing.
Among other reasons, Batten said the challenge belongs in state court, the claims were brought too late, and the request to overturn the election was extreme and unwarranted.
“Federal courts are of limited jurisdiction; they are not the legal equivalent to medical hospitals which have emergency rooms that are open 24/7 to all comers,” he said. “In their complaint, the plaintiffs essentially asked the court for perhaps the most extraordinary relief ever sought in any federal court in connection with an election.”
The suit claimed that hundreds of thousands of illegal votes were cast and counted in Georgia without supporting evidence and pushed conspiracies about Georgia’s voting machine vendor having ties to Venezuela, government coups, and foreign governments, among other claims. Many of the expert affidavits supplied contained factual inaccuracies about Georgia’s election system or used statistical analyses that did not provide the data or process used to get the results.
“Much like the mythological ‘Kraken’ monster after which Plaintiffs have named this lawsuit, their claims of election fraud and malfeasance belong more to the Kraken’s realm of mythos than they do to reality,” lawyers for the state wrote in a brief over the weekend.
In court Monday, Powell repeated claims about Fulton County, voting machines in Ware County, and others that have been debunked by state election officials as recently as Monday morning. Powell, who is not an election attorney, told the judge that there was nowhere else this case could be filed, despite Georgia having a clear framework for election challenges to be filed in different courts.
“I’ve never seen a more specifically pled complaint of fraud, and we’re replete with evidence of it,” she said. “Both mathematical, statistical, computer, expert, testimonial, video, and multiple other means that show abject fraud committed throughout the state of Georgia.”
While several legal challenges have been filed against the results that show President-elect Joe Biden narrowly won the state’s 16 electoral votes over President Trump, none of them have provided enough evidence to convince a court to intervene. Last week, the courts denied a similar challenge filed by attorney Lin Wood seeking to block Georgia’s certification for lacking standing and being moot since the state certified results already.
This story appears in partnership with Georgia Recorder
Polls in Habersham County and across the state will reopen on January 5 as voters settle runoffs for Georgia's two U.S.Senate seats. (Hadley Cottingham/Now Habersham)
Today is the last day for eligible Georgians to register to vote in the Jan. 5 runoff for U.S. Senate.
The outcome of the runoff between Sen. Kelly Loeffler and Democrat Rev. Raphael Warnock and Republican Sen. David Perdue against Democratic challenger Jon Ossoff will determine which party controls the Senate.
Voters will also get a chance to weigh in on the District 4 Public Service Commission race between incumbent Republican Lauren Bubba McDonald, Jr. and Democrat Daniel Blackman.
Qualified voters can register online with a valid ID through the Georgia Secretary of State’s office or directly through their local registrar. Early voting for the runoffs begins December 14.
