About The Advance. (Vidalia, Ga.) 2003-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 18, 2021)
The ADVANCE, August 18, 2021 /Page 4A She Aiiuancg Census data finds nation, Georgia more urban and racially diverse MoCo Commission Plans Road Work, Announces Speed Limit Hearings By Dave Williams Bureau Chief Capitol Beat News Service The United States, in cluding Georgia, became more urban and more di verse during the last de cade, according to U.S. Census results released Thursday. The first detailed data from the 2020 Census covering cities, coun ties and census blocks showed the concentration of Americans in the na tion’s metropolitan areas increased from 84.3% in 2010 to 86.3% last year. Population growth in Georgia during the decade was limited primarily to the counties in metro At lanta and along the coast. On the other hand, many of the counties in rural Georgia lost popu lation between 2010 and 2020, including large swaths of South Georgia. That trend was reflect ed across the country, as the nation’s more heavily populated counties grew while the smaller counties lost residents. “The country’s popu lation is increasingly met ropolitan,” Marc Perry, senior demographer in the U.S. Census Bureau’s Population Division, said during a news conference announcing the results. Meanwhile, the na tion’s population grew more diverse during the last decade. While the country’s white population fell by 8.6% between 2010 and By Dave Williams Bureau Chief Capitol Beat News Service The General Assem bly is taking another look at legislation that would raise the mandatory school attendance age in Georgia from 16 to 17. A state Senate study committee created to take up a bill introduced this year by Sen. Lester Jack- son, D-Savannah, held its first hearing Thursday and heard endorsements of the measure from both the Georgia Association of Educators (GAE) and the Georgia School Boards Association. Grace Kim of the school boards group said only 16 states allow stu dents to drop out of high school when they turn 16. The rest make them wait until they turn 17, 18 or even 19 to make that life changing decision, she said. “Students do not un derstand the consequenc- By Makaylee Randolph Contributing Writer Fire and police re sponding to a house fire on Henry Lee Brown Street in Mount Vernon on August 11 discovered the body of Ricky Bell, 57, in a hallway near aback door. Montgomery Coun ty Sheriff’s Department, Montgomery County Dep uty Coroner Jimmy Sharp- ton, Mount Vernon Fire Department, Mount Ver non Police Department, and the local Georgia De- 2020, the Black popula tion grew by 5.6%. The Hispanic and Asian popu lations also showed large increases. The most diverse re gions of the U.S. were in the South and West, in cluding Georgia. Black residents make up the majority in many Geor gia counties, primarily in parts of metro Atlanta, rural counties west of Au gusta and in Southwest Atlanta, the Census found. Nicholas Jones, the Census Bureau’s direc tor of race and ethnic re search, said data showing increased diversity across the nation resulted not only from demographic changes but from the way the 2020 Census was con ducted. Improvements in how the questions were designed resulted in many Americans self-identify ing as belonging to more than one race, he said. Hispanics made up the largest minority group, with 62.1 million Ameri cans self-identifying as Hispanic or Latino only. Black Americans self- identifying as members of one race only accounted for 41.1 million. Thursday’s data re lease was the second from the 2020 Census. The Census Bureau reported in April that the total U.S. population grew by 7.4% between 2010 and 2020 to 331.4 million, the slow est growth rate since the 1930s. Georgia remains the es of going through life without the benefit of a high school education,” Kim said. Joe Fleming, the GAE’s chief lobbyist, said students who drop out of school are more likely to end up in prison or in need of taxpayer-funded sup port services than those who stay in school. “This is an investment that in the long term would save millions and millions of dollars in Georgia,” he said. Kerry Pritchard of the state Department of Education raised some concerns about the legis lation. She said mandat ing that students stay in school an extra year would require hiring more teach ers and counselors as well as other resources that might be better spent on support services for stu dents of all ages. But Sen. Gail Daven port, D-Jonesboro, said partment of Corrections Fire Service responded to the blaze at 2:20 p.m. Fire fighters were able to extin guish the flames, but not before the 22-year-old mo bile home was significantly damaged. Investigators from the office of Insurance and Safety Fire Commissioner John F. King determined the cause of the fire to be the ignition of bedding by a burning cigarette in the victim’s bedroom. Bell was pronounced nation’s eighth-most pop ulous state with a popu lation of 10.7 million, up from 9.7 million a decade ago. With the slower growth, only six states will receive more congres sional seats. For the first time since the 1980 cen sus, Georgia will not be among them. The General Assem bly will use the data to redraw Georgia’s congres sional and legislative dis tricts during a special leg islative session this fall. Ron Jarmin, the Cen sus Bureau’s acting di rector, said the Census Bureau is getting out the data several months later than usual due to delays prompted by the pandem ic. Critics also blamed former President Donald Trump for delays caused by his administration’s un successful attempt to ask Americans filling out cen sus forms whether they are U.S. citizens, which was blocked in the federal courts. Despite the delays, Jarmin vouched for the ac curacy of the data. “While no census is perfect, we are confident today’s redistricting data meet our high data quality standards,” he said. The Census Bureau will release the same data it put out on Thursday in a different, more user- friendly form, by the end of next month. choosing between raising the mandatory school at tendance age and provid ing “wraparound” sup port services to students shouldn’t be an either-or proposition. “Students need to stay in school as long as they can and learn as much as they can,” she said. “They’re better off staying in school.” Sen. Chuck Payne, R-Dalton, the study com mittee’s chairman, said the panel will hold at least one more meeting, preferably in one of the committee members’ Senate districts, before recommending whether the bill should move forward. “It’s very important that we get this right,” said Payne, who spent 30 years as a juvenile probation of ficer. “There’s no kid who, to me, is disposable.” dead at the scene and his body has been sent the State Crime Lab for an autopsy to determine the exact cause of death. Inves tigators said Bell suffered from many health issues that may have contribut ed to his death alongside smoke inhalation and the fire itself. The investigation on this case will continue until the autopsy report returns to the Montgomery Coun ty Coroner’s Office. By Makaylee Randolph Contributing Writer Montgomery County Commissioners, meeting Monday, August 9, in a regular session approved the purchase of equipment for road and ground main tenance; a contract for repairs on two roads; and announced dates for pub lic hearings on proposed changes to speed limits on three county-maintained roads. The Commission ap proved the $49,065 pur chase of a mulcher head to attach to the Road De partment’s excavator. The heavy-duty head will han dle trees with larger trunks and branches. Commis sioners previously consid ered renting this equip ment, but no mulchers were available for rent. The Commission ap proved the purchase of a mower head for $18,238 and authorized spending $6,938.98 for repairs to the County’s side arm mower. These expenses are being funded by revenue from the retail of surplus assets. Also, Commissioners awarded a bid of $103,728 from Littlefield Construc tion Company of Way- cross for paving a half-mile of roadway on Scarlett O’Hara Drive and Tara Drive. The project will be funded through the FY22 Local Maintenance Im provement Grant (LMIG). The Commission also gave a nod to another LMIG project, the stabi lization and resurfacing of Fire Tower Road. This project is currently not open for bids but will be completed before the year is over. Hearings on By Dave Williams Bureau Chief Capitol Beat News Service Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger called on the General As sembly Wednesday to pass a constitutional amend ment prohibiting non-U.S. citizens from voting in state elections. While such a prohi bition already exists in Georgia law, Raffensperger pointed to several other states that are allowing noncitizens to vote. The Vermont legis lature overrode a veto by Gov. Phil Scott last year that paved the way for non citizens to vote in two cit ies’ municipal elections. Noncitizens already can vote in municipal elections in San Francisco and nine Maryland cities. Two cities in Mas- Speed Ordinance Commissioners also announced the dates for two public hearings regard ing the speed ordinance for Thompson Pond Road, Old Kibbee Road North, and Taylor Springs Road. On the dates of these hearings, citizens can visit the Adult Literacy Center in Mount Vernon to view a map of the roads with the proposed speed limits. The first of these hear ings will be Monday, Au gust 23, from 10 to 11:30 a.m. at the Montgomery County Adult Literacy Center. The second will occur the following Mon day, August 30, from 6:30 to 8 p.m. in the same loca tion. These events will be conducted in a “drop-in” fashion, and citizens may leave the hearing after they have asked questions or voiced concerns. The Commissioners will take the comments under ad visement and a decision will be announced during the monthly September meeting. EMA Report During the meeting on Monday, Emergency Man agement Agency Director Donnie Daniels reported that the weather alert sys tem recently installed on the campus of Brewton- Parker College has a wider range than expected. Daniels reported the siren system was recently tested, and the system actually reached much further than its projected range of 1.5 miles, accord ing to feedback he received from the community. The system will be used to alert the community of torna does and severe weather with winds over 70 mph. sachusetts have passed resolutions calling for non citizens to vote there, and proposals for noncitizen voting were introduced recently in New York City and in the states of Wash ington and Illinois. “Only American citi zens should be voting in our elections,” Raffens perger said Wednesday. “That’s why I’m calling on the General Assembly to act and pass a constitu tional amendment ensur ing this is the standard for generations to come.” A constitutional amendment aimed at keep ing noncitizens from vot ing likely would gain strong support from Republican voters in Georgia. Raffensperger alien ated many of those voters last year when he refused to go along with efforts by Daniels explained that the official project sign off will occur on August 19, but before then there is a need to purchase a new black box for the radio transmit ters at a cost $1,600. The $31,000 weather alert project was funded by a grant received by the EMA, but Daniels has since found another pro vider willing to sell refur bished systems for installa tion at local municipalities for a lower price to ensure community safety. Daniels also warned of the continued increase in COVID sicknesses in the community. “The EMS service has reported 86 re cent COVID cases, which shows the uptick in the community,” he said. Dump Truck Buyback, Food Service Contract County Manager Bran don Braddy shared the pos sibility of the county par ticipating in a guaranteed dump truck buyback pro gram conducted through Worldwide Equipment En terprises, Inc., of Albany. The program would allow the County to purchase a truck at the beginning of the year that would be sold for auction at the end of the year. The county and company would split the profits. Braddy said fur ther details and proposals would be shared later with Commissioners. Commissioners also approved an annual con tract with Middle Flint Council on Aging, Inc., to prepare meals and other food for the Montgomery County Senior Center. The contract is unit based, costing $3.70 per delivered meal. Delivered shelf-sta ple meals cost $3.45. former President Donald Trump to overturn Demo crat Joe Biden’s narrow victory in Georgia. Trump urged Raffensperger in a telephone call to “find” him the votes necessary to carry the Peach State. Since then, Trump has endorsed U.S. Rep. Jody Hice’s Republican primary challenge of Raffensperger in next year’s race for sec retary of state. Former Alpharetta Mayor David Belle Isle also is seeking the GOP nomination. A constitutional amendment similar to Raffensperger’s proposal failed in the state Senate in March of last year amid opposition from minority Democrats. Constitutional amendments require two- thirds votes to pass the Georgia House and Senate. Ahuance IS NOW ONLINE! www.theadvancenews.com Get all the local news you need on your computer, smart phone or tablet. Georgia Senate takes up mandatory school attendance age bill Mount Vernon Fire Leaves One Dead Raffensperger calls for constitutional amendment aimed at noncitizens voting in Georgia
