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Inside this week nee See Healthlines page 11A The Vidalia Advance Established 1901 The Lyons Progress Established 1894 Vol. 123 NO. 33 Your Newspaper - Toombs, Montgomery & Wheeler County, Georgia August 18, 2021 Good, better, best. Never let it rest. ‘Til your good is better and your better is best. - St. Jerome News BYTES Meadows Offering Vaccinations Memorial Health Meadows Hospital is operating a public COVID vaccination clinic. Call 912-535-SAFE (7233) to schedule a free vaccination. Celebration of Life Event Postponed Because of the increase in COVID cases in the community, the City of Vidalia has postponed a Celebration of Life tribute to late Mayor Ronnie Dixon scheduled for Thursday, August 19. A new date for the event will be announced later. Museum Delays Event The Altama Museum of Art & History has rescheduled its ribbon cutting and 2021 season kickoff from Sunday, August 22 to Thursday, September 16 at 5 p.m. A reception will follow. DOT Schedules Roadwork The Georgia Department of Transportation is conducting bridge construction activities on SR4/US1 overAltamaha River in Appling and Toombs counties. The area affected includes West River Road (Appling) to Bob Cato Road (Toombs) Daily Lane closures will occur Monday through Friday, 8 a.m.- 6 p.m. through August 31. IN THIS ISSUE Editorials Page 5A Obituaries Page 7A From the Record Page 10A Your Mind On Line Page 10A Sports Page 1 B Inclusive and Transparent Vibrant Community Workshop Facilitator Advocates Action By Makaylee Randolph Contributing Writer How volunteers can impact and in fluence the future of their community was the scheduled focus of a workshop held last Thursday in Vidalia; Community and Eco nomic Development Manager with Georgia Power, facilitated the session which drew to gether a cross-section of community institu tions and agencies for a common purpose: ensuring the com munity’s growth and “Stop only thinking about Toombs and Vidalia only and consider your workforce, because 60% of them drive in.” - Mickey Daniell, Georgia Power Regional Community and Economic Development Manager however, to best ac complish this mission, the speaker turned at tention to addressing some issues within the efforts. Mickey Daniell, prosperity. Daniell has studied the community and the local effort in order to help the Great er Vidalia Chamber of Please see Workshop page 3A Photo by Makaylee Randolph INSTRUCTING IMPACT - Georgia Power Regional Community and Economic Devel opment Manager Mickey Daniell speaks to attendees about the need to "divide and conquer" areas and volunteers to effectively impact the community. COVID Numbers Climbing By Deborah Clark Regional Editor dclarkadvance@gmail.com As the COVTD-19 Delta Variant sweeps across the country, South east Georgia—includ ing the Toombs County area—is reaping its share of the crisis. “The Delta variant is hitting our area hard,” said Memorial Health Meadows Hospital Chief Medical Officer Dr. Kar en J. McColl. “We are at a critical point. We can turn this around-but only if people get vaccinated. This is the time to sound the alarm.” As of Monday morn- Please see COVID page 2A Kemp Sending More Hospital Staff to Fight COVID-19 Surge By Dave Williams Bureau Chief Capitol Beat News Service Georgia’s health agency will more than double the number of temporary hospital staff to help cope with the current surge in CO VID-19 patients, Gov. Brian Kemp announced Monday. The Department of Community Health (DCH) will commit $125 million in addi tion to $500 million the state already is spend ing to increase state- supported hospital staff at 68 hospitals across Georgia from 1,300 to 2,800, Kemp said. Specifically, 170 of the new staff will go to Please see Kemp page 2A GBI Investigating Discovery of Body in Woods Near Alamo The Georgia Bu reau of Investigation is probing the discovery of a body in Wheeler County last week. The remains were found in woods along Old Glenwood Road a little less than a mile outside of Alamo on Monday, August 9. The Wheeler County Sheriff's Of fice asked the Georgia Bureau of investiga tion to assist in the in vestigation at approxi mately 7:45 p.m. on August 9. The remains were sent to the GBI's Crime Lab for exami nation. The investigation is active and ongoing with investigators fol lowing leads. Further information on the cause of death and the identity of the victim are pending the com pletion of the autopsy. In previous weeks, the Alamo Police De- Please see Alamo page 8A City of Vidalia Contracts To Purchase Two Sites for Community Development By Deborah Clark Regional Editor dclarkadvance@gmail.com The City of Vidalia has signed agreements to purchase two prop erties that will facili tate community devel opment. On Monday morning, the City an nounced it had signed an agreement to pur chase the property at 201 Stockyard Road. The site, which accom modated the “Cap tain’s Corner” restau rant until recently, totals 12.99 acres. The property will be vital to the Ed Smith Complex regarding fu ture development, said Vidalia Mayor Doug Roper. “We recognize that we have a parking issue at ‘The Ed.’ We see this not only as an Please see Vidalia page 3A $45 WEIGHT LOSS MANAGEMENT every other month! Ask about out $25 weight loss injection! # Appling Baxley (912)367-4122 Healthcare Call 537-3131 lor delivery! Blackshear (912)705-4910 Vidalia (912)705-4905