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BARROW NEWS-JOURNAL
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 6, 2021
Motor vehicle
services unavailable
at tax commissioner’s
office next week
Motor vehicle services through the Barrow County
Tax Commissioner’s Office will be unavailable both
in the office and online Jan. 13-18 as the state works
to upgrade the Driver Record and Integrated Vehicle
Enterprise System used by local tag offices to register
and title vehicles.
The tax commissioner’s office also will have re
duced business hours Jan. 13-14. opening to the
public from 8-11 a.m. and then closing for employee
training on the new system. The office will be open
from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Jan. 15 and closed on Jan. 18
in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
Vehicle owners with renewal dates in January are
encouraged to plan accordingly and renew early to
avoid delays because the tag office and state Motor
Vehicle Division offices will be unable to process
transactions during the implementation period.
Barrow Chamber of
Commerce postpones
annual awards dinner
until June due to virus
The Barrow County Chamber of Commerce has
postponed its 74th annual awards dinner until this
summer amid recent sharp increases in coronavirus
cases locally.
The chamber, which had been scheduled to have the
awards dinner Jan. 30, has tentatively scheduled the
event for Friday, June 25, at The Venue at Friendship
Springs in Flowery Branch.
Chamber leaders said the results from a recent sur
vey of members showed that members had concerns
about attending the event in January, but that they also
would prefer an in-person event rather than a virtual
gathering.
The 2021 dinner will be presented by Bank OZK
and Northeast Georgia Medical Center Barrow.
Chamber leaders also announced the First Tuesday
luncheon scheduled for Tuesday, Jan. 12, has been
pushed back to Feb. 2 at the Barrow County Leisure
Services Center. The speaker will be Mark Kooyman,
Discovery Chief at Experience Discovery. And the
chamber has postponed its Friday morning Business
over Breakfast for this month until February as well.
‘Bring One for the
Chipper’ event set
Keep Barrow Beautiful will host a “Bring One for
the Chipper” event Saturday, Jan. 9, where people can
bring their Christmas trees to be chipped and recy
cled.
The event will be from 9 a.m. to noon between
fields 8 and 11 at Barrow County Leisure Services, 80
Lee St.. Winder.
AKA Tree Care is sponsoring the event and provid
ing services. Those who bring a tree will receive free
seeds, according to organizers.
Food distribution
day set for Jan. 28
The Barrow County Food Pantry, in partnership
with the Food Bank of Northeast Georgia, will hold
its monthly outdoor food distribution day at 8 a.m.
Thursday, Jan. 28.
The event will be held, rain or shine, at Holly Hill
Mall, across from Hill’s Ace Hardware on West Ath
ens Street in Winder. It will be sponsored in January
by Georgia Power, the Winder Rotary Club, Nikki
Vanluan, Steffanie Sorrells and Kelly Yarbrough.
The event is open to all Barrow Countynresidents
who meet USDA income-eligibility requirements.
Proof of county residency is required, and food will
be served on a first-come, first-served basis.
Braselton seeks input
on sidewalk project in
downtown area
The Town of Braselton is seeking residents’ input
on a sidewalk project in the downtown area.
Residents on Pinecrest Ln., Davis St. and the
Key’s Crossing neighborhood can provide input on
the project — which includes the addition of side
walks, lighting and drainage improvements.
Review the plan and submit input by visiting
https://www.braselton.net/departments/capital_proj-
ects/current proposed_projects.php.
The plans can also be viewed at the town’s Wel
come Center in the Braselton Brothers Department
Store (Suite 8).
Paper copies of the survey are available at the
Welcome Center. You can also complete the sur
vey online at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/JN-
5VG2W.
County closing facilities for a week
amid rising COVID numbers
BOC meeting to
be held remotely
Barrow County officials have an
nounced that most county facilities
will be closed to the public for the
next week, effective Tuesday, Jan.
5, amid significant increases in pos
itive cases of coronavirus within the
county and the surrounding area.
Officials said Monday, Jan. 4, in
a new release that the decision to
close the facilities to the public un
til at least 8 a.m. Jan. 13 was made
“based upon recommendations from
the Centers for Disease Control re
garding the spread of (COVID-19)
through social distancing and mini
mizing interaction.”
The closures do not apply to the
judicial courthouse on Barrow Park
Drive in Winder, which is operating
under the provisions of a separate
statewide judicial emergency dec
laration, or the county polling loca
tions for Tuesday’s runoff elections.
Officials said adequate staffing
levels would be maintained within
all county departments to provide
continuity of services to customers
via phone or email, and residents are
encouraged to use U.S. mail, online
payment and transaction services
on the county’s website or payment
drop boxes — including for utili
ty payments at 625 Hwy. 211 NE,
Winder, or for tag/tax payments,
which can be dropped off at the en
trance to the tag office off of Porter
Street in downtown Winder.
Appointments can also be sched
uled with the tax commissioner’s
and tax assessor’s offices.
The Georgia Department of Public
Health on Tuesday afternoon con
firmed 106 more cases around the
county with a seven-day moving av
erage of 76 new cases per day.
“The Barrow County COVID-19
Task Force will continue to monitor
conditions within the community
and provide updates via the coun
ty’s Facebook page and website,"
officials said. “In order to contact
a county office for service or ques
tions, please go to www.barrowga.
org and click on “Departments" for
a selection menu and contact infor
mation.
“We sincerely apologize for any
inconvenience associated with
this closure, and encourage all of
our residents to be safe and to fol
low CDC-recommended preventa
tive measures to stop the spread of
(COVID-19).”
BOC MEETING
Due to the closure of the historic
courthouse in downtown Winder,
the county board of commissioners
meeting scheduled for 6 p.m. Tues
day, Jan. 12, will be held remotely
via Zoom and will broadcast live
on the county’s website homepage,
www.barrowga.org.
The agenda for the meeting is
scheduled to be posted to the coun
ty website by 5 p.m. Friday, Jan. 8.
Those wishing to submit comments
may email them to commission
clerk Danielle Austin at daustin@
barrowga.org by 5 p.m. Jan. 12, and
they will be read during the meeting.
For more information, email daus-
tin@barrowga.org or call 770-307-
3005.
Red Cross blood donation drive coming up Friday
The American Red
Cross will hold a blood
donation drive from
12:30-5:30 p.m. Friday,
Jan. 8, at Winder First
United Methodist Church,
280 North Broad St.
Red Cross officials have
noted the holiday season
is typically a challenging
time to collect enough
blood donations, and
that issue could be made
worse by the coronavirus
pandemic. Those who are
feeling well are urged to
donate blood or platelets.
Donations of all blood
types are needed to ensure
hospital shelves remain
stocked to meet patient
blood needs.
Make your appointment
to give blood, platelets or
plasma with the Red Cross
by downloading the Red
Cross Blood Donor App,
visiting RedCrossBlood.
org, calling 1-800-RED
CROSS (1-800-733-2767)
or enabling the Blood Do
nor Skill on any Alexa
Echo device.
COVID-19
INFORMATION
As COVID-19 hospital
izations increase, hospital
demand for convalescent
plasma has also grown,
according to the release.
COVID-19 convalescent
plasma is a type of blood
donation given by those
who’ve recovered from
this coronavirus. Their
plasma contains antibod
ies that may help patients
actively fighting the virus.
Learn more about conva
lescent plasma and sign up
to give at RedCrossBlood.
org/Plasma4COVID.
The Red Cross is testing
blood, platelet and plasma
donations for COVID-19
antibodies. The test may
indicate if the donor’s
immune system has pro
duced antibodies to this
coronavirus, regardless of
whether an individual de
veloped COVID-19 symp
toms. Red Cross antibody
tests will be helpful to
identify individuals who
have COVID-19 antibod
ies and may now help cur
rent coronavirus patients
in need of convalescent
plasma transfusions.
COVID-19 antibody test
results will be available
within one to two weeks
in the Red Cross Blood
Donor App or donor por-
Considering
((TM*R) )) buying or
selling?
770-867-9026
www.maynardrealty.com
tal at RedCrossBlood.org.
A positive antibody test
result does not confirm
infection or immunity.
The Red Cross is not test
ing donors to diagnose ill
ness, referred to as a diag
nostic test. To protect the
health and safety of Red
Cross staff and donors, it
is important that individ
uals who do not feel well
or believe they may be ill
with COVID-19 postpone
donation.
Officials said each Red
Cross blood drive and do
nation center follows the
highest standards of safe
ty and infection control,
and additional precautions
- including temperature
checks, social distancing
and face coverings for do
nors and staff - have been
implemented to help pro
tect the health of all those
in attendance.
Donors are asked to
schedule an appointment
prior to arriving at the
drive and are required to
wear a face covering or
mask while at the drive,
in alignment with Centers
for Disease Control and
Prevention public guid
ance.
ABOUT BLOOD
DONATION
Simply download the
American Red Cross
Blood Donor App, vis
it RedCrossBlood.org,
call 1-800-RED CROSS
(1-800-733-2767) or en
able the Blood Donor
Skill on any Alexa Echo
device to make an ap
pointment or for more in
formation. All blood types
are needed to ensure a re
liable supply for patients.
A blood donor card or
driver’s license or two
other forms of identifica
tion are required at check
in.
Individuals who are 17
years of age in most states
(16 with parental consent
where allowed by state
law), weigh at least 110
pounds and are in gener
ally good health may be
eligible to donate blood.
High school students and
other donors 18 years of
age and younger also have
to meet certain height and
weight requirements.
Struggling to find
employment?
If you live in a rural community, you may be
eligible for DOL-WORC Grant assistance
through Goodwill's Career Centers. Get started
today and become eligible to receive up to $30
in gift cards.
Program services include:
• One-on-One Career Coaching
• Resume Writing Support
• Job Search Strategies & Career Planning
• Employment Assistance
• Occupational Skills Training
Plan your visit by viewing our website and
learning what documents are needed for
enrollment.
Visit goodwillng.org/training/opportunities
or call 844-344-WORK (9675) today!
Goodwill
of North Georgia