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WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2020 BARROW NEWS-JOURNAL PAGE 3A Virus continued from 1A system also received around 1,500 doses of the Moderna vaccine on Dec. 23, and more shipments are expected in early January, ac cording to officials. “It's important to remember that vacci nation isn't a magic bullet that will end the pandemic immediately,” said Dr. Supriya Mannepalli, NGMC's medical director of infectious disease medicine. “People are tired of hearing this, but the best way to pro tect yourself, the people you love and your community this holiday season is to not visit family and friends outside your household, or take precautions if you do.” NGHS is offering holiday tips, vaccine in formation and other information resources about COVID-19 at nghs.com/COVID. Much of the health system’s strain has come from Hall County, which ranks in the top five in total confirmed cases, cases per 100,000 people and hospitalizations and in the top 10 in total deaths since the start of the pandemic. But other counties in the northeast Georgia region, including Barrow, Jackson and Gwinnett, appear in the top 30 among at least some of those categories. Barrow has seen an alarming rate of 879 new cases per 100,000 people the last two weeks, including a daily record of 87 new cases reported by the Georgia Department of Public Health on Dec. 24. The county's cumulative total of cases stood at 4,675 as of Tuesday afternoon — 70 new cases were reported Tuesday — with a seven-day mov ing average of 53.9 new cases per day. At least 66 county residents have died from COVID-19, with the most recently reported death by the DPH occurring on Christmas Day. Of the results of tests administered in the county that came back Monday, 34.1 per cent were positive (a daily record), and the seven-day average on Tuesday was at a high mark of 26.4 percent. Fires continued from 1A smoke in the residence. Utilizing the thermal imaging cameras, firefight ers were able to find that embers had gotten in to a void space behind the fireplace insert. Crews removed the insert and extinguished the smolder ing embers. In the early morning hours of Sun day, Dec. 27, a fire was reported on Lochwolde Lane in Bethlehem. Upon arrival, the fire was out. The fire started in debris that was against the side of the home. The fire dam aged the siding and frame of the home. Firefighters extinguished the hot spots and checked to ensure the fire had not made it in to the home. Later Sunday morning, a fire was reported on Glass Road in Winder. Firefighters responded and found the side of a chicken barn and the grass around it on fire. Crews worked fast to stop the fire from spreading in to the roof of the barn. The barn was in operation with chickens in it. Fire fighters worked with the owner to reduce the stress on the chickens during firefighting operations. The cause of the fire was an electrical is sue. “These were just a few of the many calls we responded to during the Christmas holiday,” BCES chief Alan Shuman said. “While in our jobs we deal with these tragedies regularly, during the holidays our thoughts and prayers go out even more to those affected. Our dispatch ers and firefighters stayed busy deal ing with many different emergency calls and we want to thank them for their hard work and dedication.” Voting continued from 1A To find your polling location, you can call the elec tions office at 770-307-3110, go to the county website or go to mvp.sos.ga.gov. The county is accepting absentee ballot requests through 4 p.m. Thursday, though the Post Office will be closed on Friday. Forms can be mailed to or turned in in-person at the elections office, emailed to mfranklin@barrowga.org or faxed to 770-307-1054. Absentee ballots are due at the elections office by 7 p.m. Tuesday. All forms and additional information can be found at http://barrowga.org/departments/elections-registra- tion-main.aspx. 2020 continued from 2A is a full diamond urban inter change providing access to and from SR 316 to the cross road SR 81. It was intended to alleviate congested traffic at the inter section. NEW VICTOR LORD PARK FACILITIES OPEN A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held Oct. 7 for the more than $10 million Victor Lord Park expansion project, which was approved by county vot ers as part of the SPLOST 2018 referendum and includes three multi-purpose athletic fields (one synthetic turf, two sodded grass), a grandstand/ restroom building, an eight- court tennis complex, a dog park and other amenities. The size of the athletic complex, which already in cluded baseball and softball fields, is now 103.3 acres. Several county officials and members of the citizen SPLOST com mittee that recommended and advocated for the project spoke during the Oct. 7 event. AUBURN BREAKS GROUND ON FUTURE MUNICIPAL COMPLEX Auburn officials held a ceremonial groundbreaking for the future new munici pal complex south of Atlanta Highway on the eastern edge of the city limits on Oct. 14. The complex, which is expected to be completed in 2022, will be a replica of the Perry Rainey Institute — a college that housed students from 1902 to the 1940s — and is part of what is planned to eventually be a town cen ter-type. mixed-use devel opment with dozens of sin gle-family detached houses and townhomes, a brewpub and other potential business es. Dave Schmit, the project’s master developer who was hired by the city in 2017 to help officials come up with the vision for the project, said the municipal complex will be the focal point of the develop ment and be situated on top of the hill, essentially positioned as the high ground for the city. The city purchased the property from the Hawthorne family with special- pur pose local-option sales tax proceeds, and the municipal OAK GROVE BAPTIST CHURCH 4921 Jackson Trail Road Hoschton, GA Sunday School: 9:45 a.m. Morning Worship: 11:00 a.m. Sunday Evening Worship: 6:00 p.m. Wednesday Evening Worship: 7:00 p.m. 706-367-2777 Pastor, Robbie Black Fundamental Independent Baptist “A Heart for the World, A Home for Your Family” Photo courtesy of Barrow County Leisure Services An aerial view of the Victor Lord Park expansion. The new facilities opened to the public in October. complex portion currently has an estimated price tag of $12.25 million. Construction will be paid for with up to $12.5 million in urban redevelopment agen cy bonds, with the Auburn Downtown Development Au thority serving as the financ ing conduit. QUIET ELECTION IN BARROW In the only locally-contest ed race on the ballot in Bar- row County on the Nov. 3 ballot, Bryan W. Bell won a special election for the open Bethlehem Town Council seat, topping two other candidates with 41.5 percent of the vote. Bell will replace former councilman Tommy Parten, who resigned his post earlier this year when he moved to Winder. COUNTY MANAGER RENSHAW RESIGNS Following a closed session at the end of its Dec. 8 meeting, the Barrow County Board of Commissioners accepted the resignation of county manager Mike Renshaw after 4 Vi years with the county. Renshaw, who has been a fi nalist for numerous local gov ernment positions elsewhere in the last couple years, accepted the position as general man ager of the Highlands Ranch Metropolitan District in High lands Ranch, Colorado, an un incorporated community just south of Denver. His final day with Barrow County is sched uled to be Jan. 12. Renshaw had initially been offered the top admin istrative post in an unincor porated community in Mi- ami-Dade County. Florida, in July but ultimately turned down the position when con tract talks broke down. The Barrow BOC ap proved the hiring of outgo ing Walton County Board of Commissioners chairman Kevin Little to serve as in terim county manager. Little served five terms as BOC chairman and essentially functioned in a management role for Walton County. He has said he would be inter ested in applying for the full-time job in Barrow once candidates are sought. CITY OF STATHAM, GEORGIA FISCAL YEAR 2021 (FY21) AMENDED BUDGET REVIEW & ADOPTION (JULY 1, 2020 - JUNE 30, 2021) PUBLIC HEARING ON FY 21 AMENDED BUDGET: A Public Hearing to amend the FY 21 budget is scheduled for Thursday, January 7, 2021 at 6:30 p.m. at City Hall, located at 327 Jefferson Street, Statham, Georgia 30666. At this meeting, the Mayor and Council will receive both written and oral comments about the annual amended budget for the City of Statham, Georgia. BUDGET REVIEW: The Mayor and Council are scheduled to review the amended FY21 budget on Thursday, January 7, 2021 at 6:30 p.m. at City Hall. BUDGET ADOPTION: The Mayor and Council of the City of Statham are scheduled to adopt the amended FY21 budget at their regular monthly meeting on Tuesday, January 19, 2021. The meeting will be held at 7:00 p.m. at City Hall. ATTEND THE CHURCH OF YOUR CHOICE Smith Memory Chapel Funerals • Cremations 755 Atlanta Hwy., SE | Winder, GA 30860 770-867-4553 | www.smitbmemorychapel.com GOT TRASH? Call 770-725-ROLL SMALL ENOUGH TO KNOW YOU LARGE ENOUGH TO SERVE YOU! 1100 B. Garrett Dr. Statham, GA 30666 12678 www.rolloffsystems.com 4982 Bristol Industrial Way • Buford, GA 30518 770-831-8955 phone • 770-831-8956 fax E2I ***! mathiscollision@bellsouth.net s ft MSh 'ffl® Air Conditioning Doctors ol America airconditioningdoctors.com Auburn, GA 30011 , P (770) 923-2427 yelp- SIMPSON TRUCKING & GRADING 770-536-4731 All Major Credit ' Cards Accepted • Mulch •Top Soil • Fill Dirt ►Gravel - Spreader Truck Available www.simpsontrucking.com • FORD • CHRYSLER • DODGE • JEEP 770-867-9136 W. May St., Winder If you would like to be a sponsor, please call Susan Treadwell at 678-863-1014 WAL-MART SUPERCENTER 440 Atlanta Hwy. NW Winder, GA 12720 (770) 867-8642 We Are iUI Connected And all who believed were together and had all things in common; and they sold their possessions and goods, and distributed them to all, as any had need. R.S.V. Acts 2:44-45 A ristotle claimed that humans are political animals, meaning that we live in a political society or community, remarking further that only a beast or a god would live by himself away from others. One implication of this view is that our minds are part and parcel of the social fabric. Our minds develop socially, by being raised to speak a particular language in a particular culture. And we are literally connected to other people's brains in that the smile on our face will register in their brain and cause their brain to make them smile, and their smiles will have the same effect on us. We have been taught the message of individualism for so long that we don't often see the many ways in which we are connected. Our minds truly are social, think of how often we complete each other's sentences or feel each other's joys and sorrows. But, the philosophy of individualism emphasizes our separateness and makes us think that we can be just as fully human as distinct individuals, as we can when we are part of a larger group like a family or a society. Since we live in a world where it is possible to live alone, and more people are choosing to do so, it appears that at times we hold up the individual as more important than the collective. cMeiriotud tPaiA SOUTH Funeral Home and Cemetery The Area's Only Full Service Funeral Home 4121 Falcon Pkwy. ( Flowery Branch w . Just 1/4 mile N. of id Falcon Training Complex ^|| p re f 770-967-5555 | Arrangements j Accepts: Trees - Stumps - Leaves Concrete - Cured Asphalt !,| 655 Patrick Industrial Dr. Winder ^> v 770-867-9402 winderinertlandfill.com PATRICK INERT LANDFILL INC. NEW HORIZONS MEDICAL INSTITUTE 12652 | 14 N. Broad St. Winder, GA 30680 (678) 963-0387 info@newhorizonsmedical.com newhorizonsmedical.com “Every Grave Deserves a Memorial of Distinction” Tathens IMARBLE &GRANITE COMPANY Atlanta Hwy. Bogart GA 770-725-6761 Farmer’s Prescription Shop 770-867-9072 Matthew 9:22 Isaiah 53:5 m-county Quality Foods STORE HOURS: Mon.-Thurs. 8am-9pm • Fri.-SaI. 8am-1Opm • CLOSED ON SUNDAY • 208-A North Brood St. • WINDER Please call Susan Treadwell for all of your advertising or printing needs. 678-863-1814 Monday ihursday: 7:4:> am - 4:00 pm • Friday: 7:45 am - Noon 1050 Thomas Avenue Watkinsville, GA 30677 (706) 769-1550 www.athensdermatologygroup.com