The red, white, and blue flag retirement box located inside the Habersham County Administration Building lobby is shown before completely filling with flags dropped off by residents, businesses, and schools for proper retirement. (Rob Moore/Habersham County)
On Presidents Day in late February, Habersham County officials encouraged the public to evaluate the condition of their American flags, retiring any ripped, faded, or stained flags.
Within days, the receptacle for damaged flags in the lobby of the Habersham County Administration Building, 130 Jacob’s Way, Clarkesville, filled to the brim with flags submitted for proper retirement.
The red, white, and blue flag retirement box was built by Eagle Scout Joseph McNair and is maintained by Grant Reeves VFW Post 7720 in Cornelia.
The VFW quartermaster emptied the receptacle on March 15, so there is plenty of room to receive more damaged American flags for retirement.
The Habersham County Administration Building is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday.
WASHINGTON (GA Recorder) — Lawmakers should view America’s staggering opioid crisis, including the rise of illicit fentanyl, through an “ecosystems” approach, argues a massive RAND Corporation report published Thursday.
That means they should examine the gaps and interconnections among emergency response, data collection, education, treatment, housing, and law enforcement, the report advises.
The 600-page volume — which the authors describe as “arguably the most comprehensive analysis of opioids in 21st century America” — encourages federal, state, and local lawmakers to think “beyond traditional silos” and innovate ways to stem adverse effects of addiction and increasing drug overdose deaths among Americans.
“There have been lots of initiatives and efforts to try to address it, but when we looked around, the majority, not all but the majority, seemed to fall in the silos — like, ‘We’re going to improve treatment,’ or ‘We’re going to focus on harm reduction,’ or ‘We’re going to decrease illicit use and try to decrease supply,’” said Bradley Stein, Director of RAND’s Opioid Policies, Tools, and Information Center.
RAND, headquartered in Santa Monica, California, is a nonprofit organization that focuses on several areas, including the U.S. military, education, national security and health care.
“One of the things we did was sort of step back and say, ‘Are there opportunities sort of between these systems, between the silos? And so thinking about it more as an ecosystem or more holistically, are there things and opportunities that we may be overlooking?’” Stein, one of the authors who is based in RAND’s Pittsburgh offices, told States Newsroom.
Overdose rates jump in recent years
Drug overdose rates in the U.S. have risen fivefold in the past two decades, according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study published in December.
The study shows that deaths attributed to opioids, including synthetic opioids like fentanyl and its many analogs, have been steadily on the rise, with a staggering jump in recent years.
The Atlanta-based CDC tracked a record 107,622 overdose deaths in 2021 — 71,238 of them were due to manmade, illegal fentanyl substances.
The agency defines drug poisoning overdose deaths as those resulting from the “unintentional or intentional overdose of a drug, being given the wrong drug, taking a drug in error, or taking a drug inadvertently.”
Illicit fentanyl ending up in other drugs — for example, counterfeit prescription pills, cocaine, and heroin — has been the target of federal agencies and the subject of multiple congressional hearings and roundtables.
GOP lawmakers on the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee are poised to mark up the HALT Fentanyl Act, a measure reintroduced this Congress by Republican Reps. Morgan Griffith of Virginia and Bob Latta of Ohio.
The bill aims to permanently classify fentanyl-related analogs as Class I substances under the Controlled Substances Act.
Just this month, a bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers, including Democratic Reps. Joe Neguse of Colorado and Madeleine Dean of Pennsylvania launched the Fentanyl Prevention Caucus.
The group plans to tackle education and destigmatizing the opioid overdose-reversing medication Naloxone, said Dean, who is public about her son’s recovery from opioid addiction.
Not enough data
One of the gaps facing lawmakers as they try to legislate a solution is a lack of data. The U.S. is essentially “flying blind,” the RAND report states.
“We’ve had this opioid crisis for a while, but if we look nationally, there are still all these areas where we still don’t have a good sense of the magnitude of the problem. How many people use fentanyl, how many people are using heroin?” Stein said.
Stigmatization of users, unintended consequences of criminal penalties, and a lack of communication across systems all hamper clear data collection that could improve people’s quality of life in other areas — for example, housing, child welfare, and employment, the report argues.
However, some state and local governments are developing ways to bring data together, Stein said.
The report notes that Maryland has linked data across health care, substance use treatment, criminal and legal statistics, and mortality information.
Rhode Island has pulled several data sets, including valuable information collected from nonfatal overdoses and distribution networks of Naloxone, in one data center hub.
Pennsylvania’s opioid data dashboard, among other data, tracks the number of Naloxone doses administered by EMS personnel and emergency room visits for opioid overdoses.
Tim Leech, vice president of Pittsburgh Firefighters Local 1, responds to varying volumes of drug overdose emergency calls that ebb and flow with the trends of local drug use.
“We are usually the first ones to encounter the patient. Once we’re there and we start treating the patient, the paramedics will arrive. And depending on the severity, it’s possible that a doctor could come as well after the patient’s care is handed over to the paramedics,” Leech said in an interview. “No matter what happens every call I go on, when I go back to the fire station, I (submit) information on our computer database, and there’s a code for overdoses.”
Dean talked about efforts in the Philadelphia area to coordinate care across institutions.
“We have an area of the city known as Kensington where some of the most difficult cases of mental health, poverty, and addiction are all coming together,” she said, mentioning that she recently spoke to the Philadelphia-based Sheller Foundation about efforts to address overdoses.
“So literally what the (Sheller) foundation is doing is trying to bring together different hospital systems and nonprofits and recovery centers and housing to get at this problem in a very coordinated way instead of just one recovery at an ER and out goes the person with the problem to another ER.”
Advice to lawmakers
The RAND report, several years in the making, suggests a four-part framework that decision-makers can use when thinking about crafting effective policies to help those with substance use disorders.
That four-pronged approach includes:
Integrating issues and systems.
Experimenting with new approaches.
Developing roles for people who can take “ownership” across systems.
Revamping data systems to better understand the problem.
The study’s authors built a searchable tool to encourage a “holistic approach” when policymakers are weighing how to tackle the opioid crisis.
“There’s not a silver bullet,” Stein said. “… Individuals with opioid use disorder move across so many pieces of this ecosystem. But often, one part of the system doesn’t have a very good idea of what’s going on in another part of the system.”
The NorthBeast Cycling Classic takes place this weekend and will affect traffic in and around Mt. Airy and Cornelia.
The two-day event, sponsored by Piedmont University’s cycling team, is scheduled to include a road race on March 18 and a criterium on March 19.
Saturday’s races begin at 8 a.m. at Habersham Ninth Grade Academy and will run throughout most of the day. Cyclists will travel a course that includes Camp Creek Road and Dicks Hill Parkway.
Sunday’s criterium will be in downtown Cornelia. Portions of the following roads will be closed for the event starting at 7 a.m.:
Clarkesville Street
Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard
Elrod Street
2nd Street
Parking for the criterium will be located at the Train Depot at 102 Grant Place in downtown Cornelia.
Drivers are urged to use caution and use alternate routes for the cyclists’ safety.
White County Public Works is planning to close a portion of Campground Road next week. Crews will be replacing a failed stormwater culvert on the north end.
The road will be closed from 8 a.m. on Tuesday, March 21, to 4 p.m. Wednesday, March 22.
Traffic will be detoured..
Campground Road in White County will be closed to traffic from March 21-22. (Source: White County Public Safety)
Roy C. Underwood, age 65, of Baldwin, Georgia, passed away on Saturday, March 11, 2023.
Mr. Underwood was born on April 4, 1957, in Baldwin, Georgia. He was preceded in death by his father, Roy Eugene Underwood. He was a member of Tate’s Creek Baptist Church. Mr. Underwood was a United States Army Veteran, and Roy had served as a Truck Driver with Country Charm Eggs for a number of years. Roy will be remembered as a loving husband, son, father, grandfather, great-grandfather, and brother.
Survivors include his loving wife, Carolyn M. Moody, of Baldwin; mother, Betty Ann Underwood, of Baldwin; son and daughter-in-law, Jason and Connie Moody, of Baldwin; sister, Carol Ann Underwood, of Cornelia; brother, Marvin House, of Hiawassee; two grandchildren, Lauren Moody and Kayleigh Moody; great-grandson, Kohen Moody.
Mr. Underwood’s wishes were to be cremated with no formal services held.
Arrangements have been entrusted to the Whitfield Funeral Homes & Crematory, South Chapel, at 1370 Industrial Boulevard, Baldwin, Georgia 30511. Telephone: 706-778-7123.
Rep. Karla Drenner (right) and Rep. Debra Bazemore comfort each other after the House passed SB 140. Drenner is the first openly gay Georgia lawmaker. (Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder)
(GA Recorder) — Republican House lawmakers have approved a controversial measure limiting the care doctors can provide transgender patients under the age of 18.
The bill was unexpectedly teed up for a vote early Thursday morning and put before lawmakers two hours later.
Under it, doctors will be allowed to prescribe minors drugs that block the effects of puberty, but they cannot use surgical or hormone treatments for gender dysphoria. If the bill becomes law, minors who are already taking hormone treatments will be allowed to continue taking them.
Puberty blockers can be helpful for those who want to transition before puberty or to put off the decision, but they provide no help for people who have already started puberty, said Leonardo Hinnant, an 18-year-old transgender man from DeKalb County.
“I myself had fully completed puberty at 13 when I started discussing hormone therapy with my medical team,” he said. “Puberty blockers were not a viable option for me, and I cannot imagine the pain and anguish I would have had to endure if I couldn’t medically transition until 18.”
“These laws are being made from a place of fear and ignorance for people who are different,” he added.
Leonardo Hinnant urged lawmakers to vote against SB 140 sponsored by state Sen. Carden Summers (left). (Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder)
Republicans pushed the bill through the chamber with a 96-to-75 party-line vote, and over the objections of Democrats, transgender Georgians, hundreds of doctors, and others who have argued the bill usurps decision-making from parents, impedes the medical community’s ability to serve their patients and threatens the mental wellbeing of those affected.
Doctors who offer the banned treatments could be stripped of their licenses, and the House version dropped a provision that would have protected doctors from civil or criminal charges for violating the proposed law. Because of the change, the bill will go back to the Senate for consideration with a vote possible as soon as Monday. The session ends on March 29.
Matéo Penado, a Hall County transgender man, said he fears the legislation will lead to transgender youths experiencing more ostracization. He said he already hears from trans friends whose parents do not support them.
The 22-year-old Georgia State University student worries that if the bill gets Kemp’s signature, those who have supportive families will now face discrimination from the state.
“It’s heart-wrenching to see this when a child does receive acceptance from parents, and the parents go through such lengths, multiple therapy meetings, multiple meetings with doctors, multiple blood work appointments – the amount of blood work you have to do to get on (testosterone), I hate it,” he said. “It’s a lot, but it’s the lengths trans youth and their parents go through so that they can get the gender-affirming and life-saving medical care they need.”
Nicole Gustafson, co-director and facilitator at Our Resilient Community, a queer-focused school in Athens, said she worries about the families of children who are too young to take hormone therapy and will be forced to go through a puberty that does not line up with their sense of gender.
“I work with trans teens,” she said. “I know their struggles. And I know the confidence that emerges when they receive this care at the time that is right for them. I also know how hard it already is to access this care — no one is taking it lightly or receiving it without the support of parents and a medical team who knows their situation personally.”
“No one chooses to be trans, and it is a really difficult thing to bring others into such a personal experience,” she added. “With supportive parents and access to care, these kids thrive and learn. Without those, they face struggles many of us cannot imagine.”
Advocacy groups like Georgia Equality, Voices for Georgia’s Children and others are trying to rally their supporters to decry the bill as the bill nears the finish line.
More than 500 healthcare providers in Georgia also signed on to a letter sent to lawmakers Monday saying they were “appalled to see politicians promote an agenda with such disregard for standards of medical care.”
Backers say bill will ‘pause’ decision-making
Proponents framed the bill as a safeguard to protect children and delay their ability to make a permanent physical change they may later regret.
Rep. Mark Newton, an Augusta Republican and a physician argued there is a lack of consensus in the broader medical community about how to care for young people who are experiencing gender dysphoria.
And he said some of the national medical groups that have urged state officials to oppose state legislation that would prohibit gender transition-related care have been wrong before, pointing to changing attitudes toward opioids in pain management.
“We all agree, I think, that children do deserve care, including mental health care, they deserve compassion,” Newton said. “This bill offers them the opportunity to be the adult that makes an informed decision on a permanent, irreversible change to their own body.”
Newton called the measure a “light touch” that is narrowly written. Another Senate bill that stalled in the Senate would have also barred puberty-blocking drugs.
Smyrna Democratic Rep. Teri Anulewicz walks back to her desk Thursday after making an impassioned plea to colleagues to reject SB 140. (Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder)
At least 13 Democrats spoke against the bill Thursday, with several of them making emotional pleas to their colleagues to reject the bill. Some of the debate spilled over into unrelated bills, including one allowing children to sell lemonade or other goods on private property without a permit.
“I believe that you mean well, but this is wrong,” said Rep. Karla Drenner, an Avondale Estates Democrat who was the first openly gay Georgia lawmaker.
“To all the children in our state that are going to be negatively impacted, please don’t lose hope. Please don’t give up. Please don’t kill yourself. This world is worth it. We need you,” Drenner said.
Rep. Michelle Au, a Johns Creek Democrat who is an anesthesiologist, called the bill “state-mandated malpractice.” And Rep. Park Cannon, an Atlanta Democrat who identifies as queer, said the measure will just send people to the black market to find gender-affirming medication – a desperate move that has spurred lawmakers to help parents when involving medical cannabis.
Democrats also said their GOP colleagues were stripping parents of the authority to make important healthcare decisions for their children on the heels of passing a slate of bills last year meant to empower parental decision-making, particularly in K-12 public schools.
“We have codified into law legislation that has decreed that the parents are the ultimate authority to determine whether and when their children receive vaccines, whether and when their children can wear a mask amidst a pandemic, whether and when their children can learn about dark, tricky, complicated, confusing moments in our history,” Smyrna Democratic Rep. Teri Anulewicz said. “We have affirmed in this chamber that parents have that authority.”
This year’s measure follows a controversial bill, which passed in the final minutes of the session last year by adding it to another, that prevents transgender students from playing on sports teams that match their gender identities.
“Nothing in this legislation stops an adult from pursuing a different lifestyle based on their feelings; we must draw a line for the long-term protection of children,” Rep. Will Wade, a Dawsonville Republican, said of SB 140.
On an evening in which the Indians honored seniors Simeon Conjagic, Jake Hall, and Emery Sims, TFS secured an easy 10-0 win against Elbert County. The #1-ranked Indians made it 11 straight victories, and Austin Ball and Hall notched hat tricks.
“What a great environment on senior night,” says coach Jeremy Stille. “Big thank you to the parents, families, and students that came out to support the players, especially the seniors on a special night.”
TFS wasted little time lighting up the scoreboard as the boys scored 4 goals in the opening 10 minutes. They added a couple more toward the end of the first half to go up 6-0. The Indians polished it off 4 goals in the second half.
“The boys really moved the ball well tonight and focused on controlling the spaces, with lots of off-the-ball movement to create openings and opportunities to take advantage of,” adds Stille. “Great win.”
Along with Ball and Hall recording 3 goals each, Clay Kafsky scored twice, and Luis Varona Pastor and Koen Eller both had a goal. Kafsky added an assist, while Jackson Pollock had 2 assists, and Landon Hall and Jake Wehrstein each had one.
The defense was outstanding, controlling the ball and forcing all shots from distance. In the win, TFS now has 88 goals scored on the season, which surpasses the school single-season record of 81 set in 2015.
The Indians are now 11-0 overall and 7-0 in region play and have secured no worse than second in the region, which secures a home playoff game for at least the first tournament game.
GOALS:
3 – Austin Ball (30)
3 – Jake Hall (22)
2 – Clay Kafsky (6)
Luis Varona Pastor (7)
Koen Eller (2)
ASSISTS:
2 – Jackson Pollock (4)
Clay Kafsky (10)
Landon Hall (9)
Jake Wehrstein (1)
SAVES:
7 – Kelton Reynolds (48)
GIRLS
The Lady Indians recognized a handful of seniors on Thursday evening at home, and celebrated with a 7-3 region win over Elbert County.
Addie Higbie scored 5 goals in the match, while Josie Chesser added one on a long free kick. Maddie Mullis knocked in a PK in the closing seconds as well.
“Couldn’t be more proud of our seniors on their night,” says coach Travis Mullis. “They all received strong minutes in the match.”
Elbert County came out strong, scoring first to force TFS to play from behind early. The Lady Indians evened it up, though Elbert again went ahead in the first half. Tallulah Falls then gained momentum in the second half and rallied to finish strong.
“This match was for the seniors,” adds Mullis, noting Miracle Bain, Stasa Beratovic, Leah Desta, Addie Higbie, Meredith Morris, Maddie Mullis, and Elsa Sanchez. “Very proud of their strong character and achievements this season.”
The #8-ranked Lady Indians improve to 8-3 overall and 5-2 within region.
2023 marks the 25th anniversary of the Diamond Memorial Fields Complex on Hwy. 17 in Clarkesville. (NowHabersham.com)
Opening Day has turned into Picture Day in Habersham County. The parks and recreation department has canceled its opening day festivities for this Saturday at Diamond Memorial Fields in Clarkesville.
There will be no parade of athletes, speakers, or ceremonial first pitch. The Rec Department will still take players’ pictures, though, inside the Gray Gym at the county rec building at 120 Paul Franklin Road in Clarkesville.
“With the forecasted weather Friday and low temperatures on Saturday, we feel it is the best decision,” says Habersham County Parks & Recreation Department Director Brooke Whitmire. “We’ve also confirmed with neighboring counties (White and Dawson so far) that they, too, have canceled activities for the same reasons.”
Baseball and softball seasons were to start on March 18. County officials say games will be rescheduled, and the rec department will plan an end-of-season celebration instead.
This year marks the 25th anniversary of the Diamond Memorial Fields complex. Nearly 600 Habersham County children have registered for spring sports. For years, softball and baseball were managed by outside groups. Adding them back into the recreation department has resulted in 500% program growth and doubled the athletic program revenue for the department, Whitmire says.
A total of 184 of the 598 spring sports participants are children under 6 years old.
(GA Recorder) — A Georgia House subcommittee heard testimony on a bill aimed at punishing gun owners who negligently allow firearms to fall into the hands of unsupervised children.
The bill, authored by Johns Creek Democratic Rep. Michelle Au, is not moving forward this year, but Au said getting the Republican-led Georgia House Public Safety & Homeland Security 2-A Subcommittee to hear it was a win in itself.
“Gun safety legislation traditionally does not get heard in the Georgia state Legislature, so the fact of a hearing at all is a huge first step,” she said. “So I really give a lot of credit to Chairman (Steven) Sainz and Chairman (J.) Collins for giving us this hearing and giving us this time because they didn’t have to do that.”
House Bill 161 would make it a crime to allow a gun to get into the hands of an unsupervised child. If it became law, it would be a high and aggravated misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $5,000 to allow a child access to a gun if the child fires it and injures or kills someone.
There would be exceptions, including if the child was being supervised by an adult for hunting or sport shooting, if the child stole the gun in a robbery or if the child shot someone in lawful self-defense.
Au, a physician, cited a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report finding firearms were the No. 1 cause of death for children and teens in 2020. She said 23 states have similar laws, and cited research suggesting that mandating safe storage could reduce juvenile shooting deaths by more than 50%.
Au compared the bill to Georgia’s car seat laws, which she said save young lives without onerous enforcement.
“The specifics of car seat laws are ingrained with parents,” she said. “You don’t leave the hospital with a newborn, as many of us know, without demonstrating, bringing it into the hospital, that you have an appropriate car seat. At every single well child check that you go to with a pediatrician, we discuss and reinforce vehicular safety and the law, and if an adult is observed to be driving with an unsecured child and not in a car seat or improperly secured, they are stopped and cited.”
“What HB 161 would do is to clearly define the parameters of safe storage and, again, create this culture of gun safety where such storage practices are the norm,” she added. “And this more easily allows us to teach outliers what responsible gun ownership looks like.”
The hearing grew emotional at times as doctors and family members of people killed by firearms spoke. Dr. Sofia Chaudhary, an Atlanta pediatric urgent care physician, said she has seen countless children killed or maimed by improperly stored guns. She described one such incident:
“I will never forget the sound of his mother screaming,” she said. “I will never forget how she collapsed while holding on to a small, blood-stained hand. As a mother of a four-year-old boy and a two-year-old girl, I think often of this beautiful little curly-haired boy and how his family’s life changed in a matter of moments. And that’s all it takes, moments, for a young child to find an unlocked gun in a drawer, under the bed, in a closet, even when parents may be close by, this is not an unusual incident.”
Chaudhary said 244 Georgia children died from a gun in 2021.
Most of the dozen or so speakers supported the bill, but two did not, including Alex Dorr, political director for advocacy at Georgia Gun Owners.
Dorr said mandating storage lockers or trigger guards could waste precious time in a home invasion scenario.
“Glass is shattered as an armed thug is breaking your home bent on rape, robbery, and murder,” he said. “With HB 161, you now have to deal with your wife screaming, your children coming out of the room asking what’s going on, you have to find your way through the dark to your gun safe, remember the code – don’t type in the wrong one, mine takes 5 seconds to reset – or find the key, open your safe, find your gun, load your gun, and all while in the complete pitch dark while this armed thug has gained entry into your home.”
“If you’re like most law-abiding Georgians, you’d probably just reach over and grab your handgun – or in my case, my AR pistol with a stocked pistol brace,” he added. “I’ll go do what needs to be done to defend my family.”
Dorr said he was speaking on behalf of “our tens and thousands of members across the state that have delegated me to come here today to tell you how foolish HB 161 is.”
Claudia Fruin, a retired pediatrician who said she became a gun safety advocate after the Sandy Hook shooting, said Dorr does not speak for gun owners like her.
“Half of Georgians are gun owners, but they may not admit to it,” she said. “They may not admit to it because being a true gun owner nowadays has come to mean you have an arsenal of weapons, or you have an assault rifle, or you’re screaming at the top of your lungs about your Second Amendment right to bear arms, and you may spread false rumors that your guns are going to be confiscated if any safety measures are passed, but these messages are not the reality of most gun owners. Most of us believe in safe storage laws whether we have one gun or whether we have a hundred guns, whether we’re Republican or whether we’re Democrats.”
Dorr did not agree.
“GGO will be sure to expose anyone who supports this bill, and that goes doubly true for any Republicans who betray us, but I’m very hopeful that that’s not the case here today,” he said.
Dorr needn’t have worried.
Savannah Republican Rep. Jesse Petrea said he appreciated the conversation but would rather focus on fighting crime.
Rep. Jesse Petrea. Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder
“The real problem with death and calamity in our community are violent felons who continue to be back on the street again and again and again,” he said. “That is why our people are suffering, violent men across this state. And every time we try to hold them accountable here in this body, the other side votes no, and I, for the life of me, can’t understand that. And so I’d love for us to address all of these issues, especially the one that is exponentially more problematic.”
Public Safety & Homeland Security Chair J. Collins, a Villa Rica Republican, thanked participants for their passion but did not find favor with the bill.
“I don’t think this piece of legislation is the answer to solving a lot of the problems that we see,” he said. “I think the answer to solving the problems that we see and we face are conversations like this, and to try to cultivate the common ground that we all have, and that is the safety for our children and the safety of our communities. While I simply granted a hearing to this bill, this bill will not be moving forward. Obviously, it’s after Crossover Day, but I wanted to have a conversation and to allow (the speakers) to present to the committee and to start the conversation.”
Speaking after the hearing, Collins said threats of retribution from gun lobbyists like Dorr do not factor into his decisions.
“I appreciate the opinions that were thrown around in the room and expressed, that’s very important as far as the legislative process goes,” he said. “As far as being threatened for looking at the safety of our state and the safety of children, that’s not something I really am concerned about.”
Au also said she looks forward to continuing the conversation and is not concerned with the gun lobby influencing her Republican colleagues.
“If you look at national polling, you can see that gun safety is a tremendously important issue for most people, and the vast majority of Americans across the country are really interested in gun safety legislation,” she said. “So this threat of saying that people who support gun safety legislation will lose their elections does not bear out in the data, and it has not borne out in the recent elections. So they can certainly try, but people can make their own decisions on who to vote for, and they can listen to both sides of the argument, and I think that our side of the argument was very reasoned and common sense.”
65 is an unimpressive sci-fi thriller that, for my money, doesn’t have any kind of thrilling moments or characters that we root for in the least. If anything, it has a lackadaisical pace despite a runtime of 93 minutes, and the special effects are poorly done.
Adam Driver stars as Mills, a pilot 65 million years ago (Yes, you read that right) who takes on a two-year space mission that will help pay for his dying daughter’s illness. He lives on another planet to take the mission, but he ends up crashing into uncharted territory. Later he finds out that he’s on Earth, and it seems that he’s the only one.
Ariana Greenblatt costars as Koa, a small girl who also exists on Earth and communicates differently than Mills. He speaks English while she responds to a weird form of sign language. Together, he takes care of her and tries to lead them out of the dangerous planet which is occupied by dinosaurs. No, this is not part of the Jurassic Park series.
Mills discovers that an asteroid is approaching Earth, and they are running out of time to get off Earth safely. Meanwhile, the deadly dinos are not making their journey any easier as they want to devour them at every turn.
The scenes involving the dinos are not exciting or terrifying. If anything, the movie is photographed in such a drab style that it’s almost impossible to make out what kind of dinosaurs they are. The action scenes are dull, without any sense of tension or unpredictability. Every time one of the characters is in danger of becoming dinner for the dinos, the other character jumps in for the save.
Driver is wasted here as a character who has little backstory worth caring about. He doesn’t project any kind of energy, joy or magnitude necessary for the hero of this movie.
The plot is intriguing, but ultimately the execution is one that ends up being monotonous instead of tantalizing.
The script is just as extinct as one of the dinos on the screen.
Grade: C-
(Rated PG-13 for intense sci-fi action and peril, and brief bloody images.)
Catherine Marie Edwards Hoofner, age 86, of Cleveland, Georgia, went to her Heavenly Home on Wednesday, March 15, 2023.
Mrs. Hoofner was born on February 8, 1937, in Herminie, Pennsylvania, to the late Marvin and Anna Lhiva Edwards. In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her brothers, Marvin Edwards, Jr., Alvin Edwards, Lloyd Edwards, Howard Edwards, and sister, Mary Louise Weaver.
Catherine was a loving mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, sister, and aunt. She retired from Bank of America after 20 years of service. She was a member of Level Grove Baptist Church, where she attended the Truth Seekers Connect Group. She devoted her time to faith, family, and friends. You never left her house hungry and without a to-go box. She loved making cherry cheesecakes, baking bread, and decorating cakes. She loved showing pictures of her twin great–grandsons to everyone she met. She was very proud to be their “GG.”
Survivors include her daughter and son-in-law, Judy and Randy King, of Loganville; daughter and son-in-law, Jill and Keith Rayner, of Cleveland; and son, Wayne Pierce, of Champion, Ohio; grandchildren, Tiffany and Joshua Wallace, of Covington; Nicholas and Jeannette Smyth, of Lawrenceville; and twin great-grandsons, Bennett and Harrison Wallace; brother, David Edwards, of North Huntington, PA; sister, Lenora Ann Kihn, of West Newton, PA; many nieces and nephews, great nieces and nephews, and great-great nieces and nephews.
The family would like to extend their gratitude to the Northeast Georgia Medical Center team as well as the amazing hospice team at Northeast Georgia Health System.
The graveside service will be held at 12:00 p.m., Saturday, March 18, 2023, at Yonah Memorial Gardens, with Pastor Dr. Brian James officiating.
The family and friends should gather at the gravesite at 11:50 a.m. on Saturday, March 18, 2023, prior to the service.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Level Grove Baptist Church Truth Seekers, 157 Old Level Grove Rd, Cornelia. GA 30531.
Arrangements have been entrusted to the Whitfield Funeral Homes & Crematory, North Chapel, at 245 Central Avenue, Demorest, Georgia 30535. Telephone: 706-778-1700.
