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The ADVANCE, Morch 17, 2021 /Page 9A
Please submit photos and announcements by Thursday at 12 noon to
have your engagement or anniversary published.
PEOPLE
Your
Mind
ONLINE
Got a complaint? Got a
compliment? Call Your
Mind On Line at 537-6397
and let us know what's
on your mind. Quotes are
printed exactly as they are
called in and are not nec
essarily factual, but rather,
callers' opinions. Libelous,
slanderous, personal at
tacks, and unfounded ac
cusatory or lengthy com
ments will not be printed.
Two calls per week per
caller, and calls should
not exceed 30 seconds,
please.
“For anyone who
may know, the thing
with service dogs in
places like Walmart, is
it covered by federal
law or state law?"
"I would like to
know what's going
on with the Toombs
County Commission
ers. Sounds like they
got a good old boy
system going on."
“I don’t know if
Toombs County has a
dog ordinance or a
dog catcher, but if
they do, could they
spend some time
around Cardinal
Road, Indigo Road,
and the Hugh Taylor
Road? There are dogs
that roam around
with no collars, not
fenced in, they run
loose and run wild.
Something needs to
be done about this
problem."
“With the COVID-19
on the decrease, and
all these politicians
losing power which
they hate to do, I'm
just wondering what
the next crisis will be.
Are they going to try
to convince us that
skeeters spread the
COVID-19, so keep
wearing masks and
washing your hands
and stay in your
house?"
“Gas prices are up
because Biden and
his democrats shut
down our oil produc
tion, not the republi
cans. Trump and the
republicans gave us
the lowest gas and oil
prices and the most
production ever."
“To the person who
wrote about social se
curity, they are hard
at work. They have
helped me and my
family numerous
times. If you're trying
to reach them, call
866-931-2518."
“Encouraging sign:
I have noticed that
some of the parking
lots and streets in Vi-
dalia are looking bet
ter with less trash. We
still need to get the
other areas."
Toombs BOE Supports
Expanded Use of Agri-Center
By Rebekah Arnold
Contributing Writer
Plans for use of the
Toombs County Agri-
Center are picking up. At
its March 11 meeting, the
Toombs County Board
of Education heard from
Young Farmer Represen
tative and FFA and Ag ad
visor Joey Montford about
the future of the multipur
pose complex designed for
meetings, livestock and
horse shows, rodeos and
concerts.
Montford invited the
Board to a Blessing of the
Crops at the Agri-Center
arena on April 2 at 7 a.m.,
hosted by the Young Farm
ers and their sponsors. The
ARE YOU FREE?
BY GARY TOOLE
I walked into a
restroom in a
store and a
sign said, “Are
you free?Do
you want
freedom?” It
was about
human
traff icing,
which is a nice nasty way of saying,
“Slavery.” President Abraham Lincoln
in the Emancipation Proclamation
freed the slaves and yet with those
know nothing wild knot heads that
were taring down and defacing
historical monuments they spray
painted all over the one of the great
President Abraham Lincoln. And
speaking of that and yet we still got
slavery in a way. All these low life
pimps that put women in slavery. Of
course the new vice president says that
she’s gonna legalize prostitution to
correct all the problems. Yea! That’s
what they said about prohibition.
Legalizing whiskey. And that created
many more problems. They didn’t
care! They just wanted the tax money.
So I thought. While in sin you are in
fact a slave to satan and a slave to sin
and the only real freedom is in Christ
Jesus. He will make you free indeed.
Not half free but wholly free. So do
you want real freedom? Then call on
Him today! Call on Him as the word
says, while He maybe found. The sign
said, “Are you free?” Jesus will give
you a divine freedom that will feel like
a ton of bricks has been lifted off you.
Give it to Him! Don’t wait! Tomorrow
maybe too late and in fact tomorrow
never comes because tomorrow will
be today. Jesus said in 1st Peter 5:7,
“To cast your care upon Him for He
careth for you. If you feel unloved,
then find you an altar some where and
get acquainted with the one that is
love! Jesus Christ our lord and savior!
Can you say amen? pjy ADV
event will be about an
hour and breakfast will be
served.
“This is something
we’ve been pondering for
a couple of years,” Mont
ford said, “and after the
year we’ve had, we thought
it was a good time to have
the blessing of the crops.
It’s close to onion time,
and I think it’s going to be
a great community event
and to praise the Lord for
what we have and to pray
for the safety and well-be
ing of the farmers as they
head out to the field.”
A second item re
ported by Montford is the
carrying-out of plans for
a landscaped memorial at
the Agri-Center for Court
ney Wilkes, a student and
active FFA member who
was killed during a family
vacation in June of 2011.
Agri students will use old
farming equipment to cre
ate the memorial. Super
intendent Barry Waller
said that although a price
tag can’t be put on such a
memorial, the Board will
offer $5,000 for the proj
ect. Courtney’s mother
Toni who served on the
school board for 2 four-
year terms, and her father
Cordy are grateful for this
project.
Certified staff re
ceived contracts for the
2021-2022 school year on
March 12. They will have
ten business days to review
the contracts before re
turning their decision on
March 25. Personnel rec
ommendations were made
during executive session
of this March meeting.
Waller is relieved
that Spring Break will be
April 2-9 as scheduled,
considering the disrup
tions that could have pre
vented it. Waller is grate
ful for faculty and staff
who persevered to keep
the schools from closing
during the past year. Be
cause of spring break, the
next board meeting will
be April 15, which was ap
proved when the calendar
was set.
There have been no
bids offered for the old
Board of Education build
ing. With two board mem
bers not present at this
meeting, the executive ses
sion discussion of options
on the sale of this property
was tabled.
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Thursday, April 1, 2021
11:00 a.m. until 1:00p.m.
Pick up at the lodge on Slayton St.
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If you know how many sandwiches
you need, let us know ASAP from now
until the day before the event.
Advance Orders
joelgrierl774@gmail.com
Tillery: Week Nine Highlights
The Senate
had a busy start to
the week and with
Crossover Day be
hind us, were con
tinuing to work
hard and fast to pass
legislation that bet
ters this great state.
In a productive
four days, the Sen
ate passed over 40
bills and resolutions, and held a variety of
meetings. Many of those were budget re
lated and gave us a chance to listen to up
dated proposals from our state’s agencies.
We had a number of legislative successes
recently and with House Bill 81 now in
the Senate’s hands (the 2022 Fiscal Year or
FY22 budget), we’re getting closer to the
finish line. Here’s a recap of what we did:
With the timing of the 2021 Legisla
tive Session, a lot of our priorities have
been centered around issues that came
up during the November elections. I’ve
been able to provide updates close to ev
ery week about the legislation that relates
to that. On Monday, we passed out six
more bills that try to improve our voting
systems.
• Senate Bill 241 is the large, compre
hensive elections package that has 21 sec
tions pertaining to absentee ballots, can
vassing, ballot harvesting and more. A few
of the areas include regulating who is able
to vote by absentee, requiring provided
identification with applications, limiting
portable polling places, requesting im
mediate ballot counting after polls close,
and allowing the State Election Board to
recommend the removal of a county su
perintendent. This bill narrowly passed by
a vote of 29 to 20, but I’m confident these
measures will help make the voting pro
cess more secure and give you confidence
that these elections are being conducted
fairly and legally. SB 241 is now waiting to
be heard in the House, but we are expect
ed to take up their big elections bill, House
Bill 531, too.
• Senate Bill 202 works to eliminate
confusion about which absentee ballot ap
plications are valid and which ones aren’t.
It would make sure only the Secretary of
State or one of the listed certified election
officials can send the applications out. It
would also prohibit them from being sent
to a voter who has already requested, re
ceived or voted with an absentee ballot.
This passed 32 to 20.
• Senate Bill 72 relates to some con
cerns that there might have been more bal
lots coming in than registered Georgians.
This bill would require county registrars to
get monthly, updated death records from
the county coroner and funeral homes to
help remove deceased individuals from
voter registration records. This passed 48
to 5.
• Senate Bill 74 tries to bring trans
parency to the ballot counting process
by granting poll watchers more access in
tabulation centers. This makes sure some
one is able to watch the ballots throughout
the process and help monitor for potential
manipulation. This passed 38 to 18.
• Senate Bill 62 increases the security
of absentee ballots by embedding certain
forensic markers for fraud prevention,
requiring the name of the precinct, and
establishing measures for auditing and du
plicate ballots. This passed 37 to 15.
• Senate Bill 253 helps make the pro
cess of voting in person easier. It would
require a notice, that’s at least four feet by
four feet, to be posted at and near a poll
ing place that’s changed locations. This
would have to be posted at least a week in
advance. SB 253 passed 53 to 0.
We also had the opportunity to focus
on several other issues that affect you at
home. The bills listed below work to im
prove your lives and ensure that Georgia
remains a great and safe place to raise a
family.
• Senate Bill 218 and Senate Resolu
tion 134 would suspend the pay for public
officers who have been indicted of a felony
and haven’t yet been reinstated. This en
sures we aren’t paying someone for a ca
pacity they aren’t currently in, and we’re
utilizing your taxpayer dollars conserva
tively.
• Senate Bill 226 would require local
school boards to adopt a policy to address
complaints from parents about material
that is seen as harmful to minors. This
measure makes sure the content our kids
are reading and seeing is right for their age.
• Senate Bill 10 would enhance the
penalties for illegal drag racing to try and
make our streets safer for drivers and pe
destrians.
• House Bill 156 works to support our
state’s overall security by requiring local
governments to report cyber attacks to the
Director of Emergency Management and
Homeland Security, in addition to the fed
eral government.
During the amended 2021 budget
process, I had discussed added alloca
tions within the Department of Labor
for the position of a Chief Labor Officer.
On Monday, the Senate passed Senate
Bill 156 which outlines that position in
full. This individual would be appointed
by the Governor and would primarily be
in charge of making sure unemployment
benefits are being delivered in a timely
manner. Over the pandemic, added stress
on our businesses led to a rise in unem
ployment claims, and you unfortunately
experienced delays in getting the funds
you need. SB 156 and this added position
should make the process easier to ensure
that more Georgia families are receiving
the support they need. In relation to the
budget, the Senate conducted its round
of FY22 budget hearings this week to de
termine the areas that might need added
allocations. This includes presentations
from the Department of Public Health,
Labor, Public Safety, Community Health,
and our K-12 and higher education sys
tems. We’re currently working on crafting
our substitute to the budget to take into
account these proposals. This should be
introduced in the next week or two.
I know that several of you are still hav
ing difficulties receiving the COVID-19
vaccine. A few days ago, Gov. Kemp an
nounced the next phase of vaccine rollout
- those age 55 and older or Georgians who
have a health condition that puts them
at high-risk. You can find the list of con
ditions here: https://dph.georgia.gov/
covid-vaccine. We’re also expecting to re
ceive even more vaccine shipments. This
should help alleviate some of the challeng
es you’ve experienced, but we’re continu
ing to work through your concerns. Next
week, the Senate will meet for four more
legislative days, which will be the last week
of consecutive session days. We’re quickly
approaching the end of the session - if
you have any questions about the budget
or legislation being discussed, don’t hesi
tate to reach out to my office. Thank you
for letting me represent District 19 here in
Atlanta.
Sen. Blake Tillery serves as Chairman of the
Senate Appropriations Committee. He
represents the 19th Senate District, which
includes Appling, Jeff Davis, Long,
Montgomery, Telfair, Toombs, Treutlen, Wayne,
and Wheeler counties and a portion of Liberty
and Tattnall counties. He can be reached by
email at blake.tillery@senate.ga.gov.
By Sen. Blake Tillery
(R-Vidalia)
Clothes Give-Away!
Cedar Crossing Baptist Church at 2926 Cedar
Crossing Rd, Cedar Crossing, will be having a
Clothes Give-A-way
Saturday, March 20, 8 A.M. until 12 P.M.
in the Family Life Center.
There will be clothes of all sizes;
all free and all in great condition! All are invited!