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The ADVANCE, June 16, 2021/Page 9A
Republican businessman
running to succeed
Congressman Jody Hice
By Dave Williams
Bureau Chief
Capitol Beat News Service
A second Republican
candidate has entered the
race to succeed U.S. Rep.
Jody Hice, R-Greensboro,
who is leaving Congress to
run for Georgia Secretary
of State.
Mike Collins, a small
business owner from Jack-
son, announced Tuesday
that he will seek the Re
publican nomination in
Georgia’s 10th Congressio
nal District in next May’s
primary.
Collins is positioning
himself as a strong sup
porter of former President
Donald Trump and brings
to the race the endorse
ment of former U.S. House
Speaker Newt Gingrich of
Georgia.
“I’m running for Con
gress because the radical
left is out of control,” Col
lins said. “The liberals in
Washington, D.C., won’t
stop until someone stands
up to them, and for hard
working Georgians.
“I’m pro-Trump, pro
life and will protect our
Second Amendment rights.
I’m running to fight for the
families and small business
owners in my community
and around the country.
I won’t bow to the woke
mob’s cancel culture or
[Speaker] Nancy Pelosi’s
job-killing, gun-grabbing
agenda.”
Collins has owned and
operated several success
ful businesses during the
last three decades, includ
ing a trucking company he
has grown from a single
truck to a fleet of 115. He
is a board member of the
Georgia Motor Trucking
Association.
Collins graduated from
Georgia State University
with a business degree.
He joins another busi
nessman, Matt Richards,
in the 10th District con
test. Richards, a Gwinnett
County native who now
lives in Barrow County,
owns a demolition com
pany.
Like Collins, Richards
characterizes himself as a
conservative and a political
outsider.
The 10th Congressio
nal District covers a large
swath of rural areas and
small cities between Atlan
ta and Augusta, including
Athens and Milledgeville.
Hice and former Al
pharetta Mayor David Belle
Isle are challenging incum
bent Republican Secretary
of State Brad Raffensperg-
er, who was censored by
the Georgia GOP at last
weekend’s party conven
tion for refusing to help
Trump overturn the 2020
presidential election results
in Georgia.
Libraries
continued from page 1A
stein, however, locating
yourself in an actual li
brary building in 2021 is a
world that has opened up
once again. The librarians
and staff of the Ohoopee
Regional Library System
are excited about this, and
have planned activities
available both in the build
ing and virtually. Be sure
to check https://ohoop-
eelibrary.org/srp2021 / for
the program calendar. The
links there become live as
the events are added. Also,
librarians “go live” via real
time phone chat if you call
912- 537-9283. They are
ready to answer all ques
tions and to invite you in
for a visit.
“Tails and Tales” is
the theme for the summer
reading program with an
emphasis on discovering
animals through live and
online adventures. Reg
istration for the reading
program and pick up of
the prizes still occurs at all
library branches. Programs
offered vary slightly by lo
cation.
Librarian Stacey
Wright explains, “At Vida-
lia we have two story time
sessions on each Monday,
the first at 11 a.m. is an
in-person program, while
the 3 p.m. session will be
a streamed version. Each
branch is doing story time
a little differently so pa
trons are encouraged to
call/visit their local branch
with any questions.”
Wright added, “Tues
days are our professional
performer days, and while
they are prerecorded we
are showing them through
out the day at each of the
branches if parents would
like to bring the kids in
to watch. They are also
available online to watch.”
Parents need to pick up a
ticket for their children to
attend either the 11 a.m., 1
p.m. or 3 p.m. shows.
Children’s Wednesday
and teen’s Thursday craft
day kits are picked up at
the library, and the instruc
tional videos are online.
Fridays are dedicated to
online STEAM activities
with Miss Jazmin from the
Reidsville branch or Lego
Club with Matthew Stem-
bridge, IT and Technical
Services Librarian.
An exciting addition
to the summer program
this year is The Animals
Escape Adventure. Wright
explains, “This is a Vidalia
program. A stuffed animal
is placed in the window
of a downtown business
each Monday when we re
lease a clue posted at the
library, and on our Face-
book page, as to where it
might be found. Kids pick
up the passports at the Vi
dalia branch and collect the
sticker each time they find
the animal. The business
has stickers they can give
out, or the child can come
into the library and let us
know where they saw the
animal to earn a sticker.”
There is a new animal
to search for each Monday,
so once the animal chang
es, you can’t get the previ
ous week’s sticker. When
all stickers for the passport
have been collected, the
child’s name is entered in a
raffle to win a prize.
The summer reading
challenge for all ages is
found at https://ohoop-
eelibrary.beanstack.org/
reader365, which will di
rect the reader through
the registration process.
This program keeps track
of reading for the whole
family and offers prizes
for completing challenges.
“Beanstack Tracker” is also
an app on Apple or An
droid products.
“Traveling on the
Trail” with Matthew is an
exploration of Georgia's
State Parks, and is accessed
at https://ohoopeelibrary.
org/gastateparkvideos/.
This link will take viewers
to the Ohoopee Library
YouTube channel where
Stembridge highlights his
park travels.
Other tabs to explore
on the Ohoopee Library
website are catalog, renew
books, services and get a
card. The Galileo tab takes
the curious to Georgia’s
Virtual Library, an initia
tive of the University Sys
tem of Georgia. To the
right of the web page is a
green tutorials tab that in
cludes topics such as gene
alogy, languages and using
social media.
Many people don’t
have access to a laptop or
the internet at home. Li
braries have computers for
the public to use. The staff
will assist patrons in setting
up to do personal business,
book searches, activities, or
to just explore the world
from one library location.
Let’s not forget the
value of hands-on, per
sonal exploration amongst
library shelves. Available
to anyone, young and old,
is the quiet anticipation
of discovering the open
ing of a book on any sub
ject, newspapers and other
periodicals, handwritten
ledgers of family history at
the Ladson Genealogical
Library, audio stories, and
so much more.
First Lady Laura Bush,
Literacy and Education
advocate, stated: “Librar
ies allow children to ask
questions about the world
and find the answers. And
the wonderful thing is that
once a child learns to use a
library, the doors to learn
ing are always open.”
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5
Wheeler Inmates Test
Positive for Tuberculosis
In early May an inmate
at Wheeler Correctional
Facility became ill and
were exhibiting symptoms
consistent with tuberculo
sis (TB) and was sent to a
local hospital for medical
evaluation. This individual
was later transferred to Au
gusta State Medical Prison
(ASMP) for continued
medical care.
Several days later an
other inmate was suspected
ofhaving contracted TB and
was transferred to ASMP for
further evaluation. Wheeler
Correctional medical staff
members have since been
informed that these individ
uals are suspected-positive
forTB.
The facility has taken
immediate precautionary
action and enacted infec
tion protocols to mitigate
the potential risk to other
inmates and staff] including:
• A medical isolation of
the affected pods
• TB testing of all in
mates assigned to the af
fected pods
• Full PPE for all staff
assigned to these pods until
further notice
• Continued medical
lockdown of the pod and
retesting as needed
• Meals provided on
disposable trays to reduce
risk of spread
“The facility has con
ducted, and is continuing
to conduct, contact tracing
and any subsequent testing
of staff or inmates that may
have had exposure to the
suspected-positive inmates
in accordance with Geor
gia Department of Correc
tions (GDC), Georgia De
partment of Public Health
(DPH) and Centers for Dis
ease Control (CDC) proto
cols,” reported Ryan Gustin,
Public Affairs Manager for
Core Civic, the privately-
owned prison’s managing
organization/corporation.
“The suspected-pos
itive cases have been re
ported to state health of
ficials and we will continue
to work closely with them,
along with our govern
ment partners at GDC, to
appropriately address and
mitigate the risk of infection
within the facility,” Gustin
said in a news release.
Annual TB skin test
ing is conducted for state
inmates along with annual
screening of previously pos
itive PPD inmates for signs/
symptoms ofTB.
“The health and safety
of the individuals entrusted
to our care and our staff is
the top priority for Core-
Civic. This commitment is
shared by our government
partners at the (GDC), and
we work closely with them
to ensure the well-being of
those entrusted to our care,”
Gustin noted.
According to medical
sources, with proper treat
ment, tuberculosis is now
almost always curable. Doc
tors prescribe antibiotics for
six to nine months to kill the
bacteria that cause the dis
ease.
Rail
continued from page 4A
initial phase of clearing.” He
explained, “We are just try
ing to clean it up a little bit
to make some assessments
on it and to look into the
feasibility of is there any
potential in the future that
it can be used for train traf
fic again.”
Thrift said the initial
public announcement was
released after bids were
solicited for the cleanup.
“The first bid did not go
through, so
there was a
second bid.
We stepped
back from
the original
eight-mile
project
to five miles because the
prices were higher than the
money we had to spend.
We had to sharpen our pen
cils and look at it a second
time.” Since a lower bid
der has been selected, the
clearing bid process has
been closed, but a contract
between the state and a
contractor has not yet been
signed.
Thrift explained that
the Moxley property is
one of the last residential
properties on the route af
fected by the project. The
end point for the current
Phase 1 is 1,000 feet past
the end of Amberwood
Drive. He noted the com
plete railroad line, which
goes to Hazlehurst, is in a
dilapidated condition “as
far as we know. We have to
get on the ground and see
what condition it is in and
to see if there is any po
tential future use for it and
what it would take to get it
back into working order.”
He noted that there would
have to be restoration of
tracks if potential (is there)
“but we do not have imme
diate plans to reestablish
train traffic on this line.”
Thrift emphasized that
while there is no possible
way Moxley and others in
the subdivision could lose
any of their property since
work would occur on state-
owned property only, “the
privacy issue could be de
batable.” He added, “We
are trying to look at these
things with the concern of
the citizen in mind. But the
fact of the matter is this rail
road... has been here since
the early 1900s. Everything
else was built around it.”
He allowed, however, that
the railroad was abandoned
during the period of time
when a lot of the homes
at Amberwood were con
structed.
The clearing project is
being funded by the state
legislature. It is expected
that there will be addi
tional phases for clearing
the some 20 miles of track
between Vidalia and Hazle
hurst if state lawmakers and
the GDOT Board decide it
is worthwhile, Thrift said,
tablished again, that could
be a huge economic devel
opment for the community,
but it is a potential use and
nothing more than that at
this point.”
Thrift emphasized,
“Our top priority is not to
daylight folks. If people
have an established veg
etative buffer between the
railroad right of way and
personal property, we don’t
want to go in there and cut
down every tree so that
basically their privacy is
removed. As much as we
possibly can we want to
leave that vegetative buffer
in place.”
He added that the
project working within the
25-foot of centerline of
the railbed is a goal “but
not necessarily dead set
in stone.” He said 25 feet
As they continue their
COVID-19 response, the
Toombs County Health
Department wants to let
the community know that
they have initiated mul
tiple in-person services at
our location again. This in
cludes hearing, vision and
dental screenings, STD
services, women’s health
services and immuniza
tions. They continue to fol
low the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention
(CDC) recommendations
clearance from the center
on either side of the bed
“would do it for a train, but,
at the same time, you don’t
want a three-foot diameter
pine tree even if it is out
side the 25-foot zone. We
have an obligation to clean
up this line regardless of
any potential future use.
We don’t want anyone hurt.
The finger would be point
ing back to us.”
Thrift said there is no
requirement for a public
hearing on this project, to
his knowledge. “The work
is being
done on
prop-
There
is no access
to any pri
vate prop
erty not
owned by
state unless an agreement
is worked out between the
contractor and land owner.”
Thrift added, “I have
probably spoken to a dozen
citizens and everyone is as
understanding as they can
be. I have tried to be the
same way. I am not only a
GDOT employee, I am a
tax-paying citizen. I tried
to look at this through the
lens of how I would I feel if
this was my property. I have
tried to hold a balance.” He
said that, to his knowledge,
the City of Vidalia has noth
ing to do with this project,
although city officials have
been made aware of the
work. “All comments and
concerns can come to me,
and we will address them
on a case-by-case basis,”
he assured. Contact him at
912-285-6009 or online at
jthrift(a)dot.gov.
concerning physical dis
tancing and request that
those who enter their facili
ties, if they are able, wear a
face covering for the dura
tion of the visit.
For questions about a
specific service or to sched
ule an appointment, call
1-855-473-4374. The site
is located at 714 Northwest
Broad Street in Lyons, and
is open Monday through
Thursday from 7:30 a.m. to
5:30 p.m. and Friday from
8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
"We (GDOT) don’t have any immediate plans to
do any type of reconstruction activities on this line. ert T
We plan to do an initial phase of clearing.”
- Justin Thrift, Rail Development Specialist, GDOT
adding, “If rail service is es
Toombs County Health
Department Service
Provision Update
