Newspaper Page Text
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 11, 2021
BARROW NEWS-JOURNAL
PAGE 3A
Tar Wars continued from 1A
Rep. England receives award
from Georgia Academy of
Family Physicians
State Rep. Terry England (R-Auburn).
chairman of the House Appropriations
Committee, was recently named by the
Georgia Academy of Family Physicians
(GAFP) as its 2021 Family Medicine
Legislative Champion of the Year for his
legislative efforts to assist family physi
cians and patients across the state.
“It is an honor to receive this recog
nition from the Georgia Academy of
Family Physicians, but the real recog
nition belongs to the doctors and med
ical professionals who dedicate their
careers to keeping Georgians safe and
healthy,” England said in a news release.
“Georgia's medical workers have fought
bravely to ensure a continuation of care
against all sorts of diseases and illness
es, even with the pandemic threatening
their own well-being. Their dedication
has inspired me, and I am proud to help
protect state funding for these frontline
heroes.”
The GAFP recognized England for
helping restore funding to the Georgia
Memory Net program during the 2020
Barrow in the last two weeks, a rate of
539 per 100,000 residents. That was the
second-highest rate in northeast Georgia,
behind only neighboring Jackson County
(625 per 100.000).
Area hospitalizations due to
COVID-19 also continued a recent dra
matic increase. Northeast Georgia Health
System reported Tuesday morning that
there were 170 confirmed-positive pa
tients across its facilities with 30 more
awaiting test results, the highest num
bers the system has seen since early to
mid-February.
There were six patients at North
east Georgia Medical Center Barrow
legislative session and at the start of
the COVID-19 pandemic, according to
the release. Georgia Memory Net is a
statewide program designed to expand
access to earlier and more accurate di
agnosis of Alzheimer’s and other de
mentias, and leaders say it has proven
beneficial to rural communities across
Georgia. While the Georgia Memory
Net faced cuts due to budget shortfalls
brought on by the pandemic. England
was credited with working to protect the
program’s funding.
“So much has been sacrificed because
of COVID-19, and yet Chairman En
gland’s actions in the House reminded
his colleagues that forgetting those who
need medical attention is a sacrifice too
far,” said Dr. Thomas Fausett Jr., pres
ident of the Georgia Academy. “Thank
you for restoring funds for support our
patients and their caregivers.”
England accepted the award during a
virtual ceremony Aug. 1.
For more information about the
GAFP, go to www.gafp.org.
in Winder, where there were only three
beds available as of Tuesday morning,
and 52 at NGMC Braselton.
The hospital system’s numbers also
continued to back up the assertion from
many national health leaders and experts
that the current COVID situation is a
pandemic among the unvaccinated, as
86% of the confirmed-positive patients
at NGHS facilities have not been vacci
nated.
And while Georgia continues to lag
behind the national average, with only
41% of residents fully vaccinated as of
Tuesday morning, Barrow (32%) contin
ues to lag even further behind.
Wars program pivoted last school year to
accommodate Covid-19 mitigation mea
sures the district implemented at its cam
puses and other limitations due to the pan
demic.
With the district’s no-visitor policy. Tar
Wars lessons transitioned from in-person
guest speakers to Google Classroom so
students in person and learning at home
could participate equally. Nurse Angie
Caton and NGHS produced instructional
videos and created accompanying online
activities. Following each video, BCSS
teachers then facilitated classroom discus
sions with reinforcing activities, according
to the release. For example, the first video
discussed the ingredients in a cigarette and
how tobacco affects the human body. Stu
dents then tried breathing through a drink
ing straw while jogging in place to simu
late how a smoker may feel with reduced
lung capacity.
As part of the program, students are
given a pre-test to establish their baseline
knowledge. After they complete the Tar
Wars program, they also complete a post
test. School officials said that data gath
ered from the testing revealed significant
knowledge gains in all areas by students.
Among those:
•87% of students reported learning
something new from Tar Wars.
•93% of students responded people who
smoke are not healthy and fit (in the post-
test).
•33% more students said advertisers
are not telling the truth about tobacco use
(from the pretest to the post-test).
•28% more students said that vapes are
not safer than regular cigarettes (from the
pre-test to the post-test).
INSTRUCTION REQUIRED
On July 1. Georgia House Bill 287,
which requires tobacco and vapor product
instruction for all students grades K-12,
went into effect after being signed by Gov.
Brian Kemp.
BCSS officials said the district will con
tinue to utilize the Tar Wars program with
fourth- and fifth-graders in part of its ef
forts to meet the bill’s requirement. Offi
Bethlehem Elementary fifth-grader Azul
Velazquez’s “Say No to Smoking!” poster
finished third in the systemwide compe
tition.
cials said they hope the program will re
duce the number of smokers in the future.
“We are thankful to Barrow County
school teachers, nurses and counselors
to deliver Tar Wars presentations to the
fourth- and fifth-grade students,” Singh
said. “With the education they are pre
senting, Barrow County’s youth will cer
tainly have the knowledge and skills to be
healthy and successful for many years to
come.”
PETREE NOMINATED FOR AWARD
For the work completed to launch the
program three years ago and transform it
during COVID-19, Ellen Petree. school
and community relations specialist for
BCSS, was nominated this summer for the
“Cure Lung Cancer Hero Award.”
The recognition is awarded to three in
dividuals who have made a significant im
pact in the lives of those affected by lung
cancer, according to the release.
“With Ellen’s leadership and guidance,
over 2,000 fourth- and fifth-grade students
successfully participated in Tar Wars for
each of the last three years, including the
pandemic,” said Angie Caton. assistant
nurse manager for NGMC. who nominat
ed Petree.
Virus
continLied from 1A
BOC
continLied from 1A
•There will be a mandato
ry homeowners’ association
and the residential streets
must be privately owned
and maintained.
•There must be amenities
for residents — including a
pool, clubhouse, fitness cen
ter, walking trails and open
space.
The BOC also granted
variance on stream buffer
setback requirements, from
100 feet to 50 feet.
The board in October
2020 rejected the appli
cants’ original request by a
5-2 vote following a conten
tious public hearing, follow
ing along with the recom
mendation by the county’s
planning commission and
after hearing public com
ments from a contingent of
residents who opposed the
project over concerns rang
ing from traffic to storm
water issues to what they
feared would be negative
effects on their property val
ues.
The developers and prop
erty owners, the Stone Liv
ing Trust, who are under
contract for the sale of the
property, filed suit against
the county, and the parties
agreed to stay the litigation
while the BOC reconsidered
the request. Kappler argued
that the rezoning request
was a property-rights issue
and that the county would
be wrong in allowing strong
public resistance to control
its decision.
The long list of condi
tions, including the require
ment of the traffic study and
required implementation of
its recommendations, did
little to appease the large
contingent of area residents
opposed to the development,
as they once again packed
the board’s meeting cham
bers wearing red shirts, sev
eral of them holding signs
protesting the development.
Following the board’s vote
Tuesday, the residents an
grily and loudly filed out
of the chambers with com
ments like: “Vote them out.”
“See you in court,” “Elec
tions have consequences”
and “You let us down.”
During Tuesday’s pub
lic hearing, Jerold Davis, a
resident of the Cruce Lake
subdivision across Freeman
Johnson Road from and to
the west of the planned de
velopment, pleaded with the
commissioners to stick to
their original decision de
spite the lawsuit.
“You (denied the request)
for very good reasons. The
facts haven’t changed,” Da
vis said. “There’s still traffic
concerns. The increase in
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density is inconsistent with
the planning principles,
with the rural nature of the
neighborhood and character
area. And one thing that’s
changed, and I’m aston
ished by it, is that you all are
going to carry this forward.”
In a rebuttal, Kappler
pushed back against Da
vis’ remarks and disputed
claims from Joe Cooley, an
attorney representing the
concerned residents, that the
county was “giving away”
its zoning powers and was,
at least in effect, engaged
in “contract zoning” with
the county, which is illegal
in Georgia. County attor
ney Angie Davis pointed
out that the board was not
bound by the settlement
agreement to approve the
request, only to reconsider
it, though Cooley suggested
that the plaintiffs’ reserving
the right to resume the liti
gation in the event of a deni
al amounted to the threat of
more legal expenses being
held over the county’s head.
With the board’s ap
proval, the applicants have
agreed to file for dismissal
of the lawsuit within the
next 35 days.
OTHER PUBLIC
HEARINGS
Following other public
hearings Tuesday, commis
sioners:
•approved requests to
rezone, change the future
land-use map (FLUM) des
ignation for and grant a
special use for 64.5 acres
of the Royal W. Hardigree
estate property on Highway
211 Northwest, just south of
Pinnacle Drive, in order for
a subdivision of more than
170 single-family homes
to be built. The subdivision
will be called Royal Estates
as a tribute to Hardigree.
•approved requests to re-
zone and change the FLUM
designation for 4.05 acres
at 405 Patrick Mill Rd. and
914 Fred Kilcrease Rd..
Winder, in order for a gas
station and other commer
cial/retail space to be built.
•denied a request to re
zone and change the FLUM
designation for 2 acres at
334 Dunahoo Rd., Winder,
in order for a towing storage
lot to be built.
•approved a request by
Berean Church of Free
Seventh-day Adventist to
rezone 9.2 acres at 1340
Old Victron School Rd..
Hoschton, in order for the
church to build a 10,500
square-foot building and a
2,800 square-foot building
on the property for church
and community activities.
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NOTICE
The Barrow County Board of Health
will be meeting on August 20, 2021
at 9:00 a.m. via teleconference. If
any member of the public would
like to attend call the day before for
information needed.
•approved a special-use
request by Charles Howard
to operate a wedding ven
ue at 854 City Pond Rd.,
Winder.
OTHER BUSINESS
In other business Tues
day, commissioners:
•accepted nearly $16.2
million in federal funds
through the American Res
cue Plan, which county
manager Kevin Little said
will primarily be put to
ward water and sewer in
frastructure projects in the
county, following along
with “strict” conditions at
tached to the money. The
county has already received
half of the money and is
slated to receive the other
half by next May. He said
county officials would be
providing future updates to
the board on recommended
projects for the money to
spent on.
•approved the purchase
of a new excavator for the
public works department in
the amount of $196,890 to
replace a 1995 excavator.
•approved the purchase
of a new work truck for the
public works department in
the amount of $54,823. The
truck will replace a 1997
truck, which will be sur-
plused.
•approved the purchase
of a mobile-based system
for the county assessor’s
office in an amount not
to exceed $24,520 for the
fiscal year. The county’s
agreement with the provid
er runs through September
2027.
•approved annual renew
als of the county’s aging
services and coordinated
transportation agreements
with the Northeast Georgia
Regional Commission Area
Agency on Aging for fiscal
year 2022.
•appointed Joe Costello
to the Keep Barrow Beau
tiful board to fill an unex
pired term that will expire
at the end of 2024.
•reappointed Mace
Strickland to a four-year
term on the Keep Barrow
Beautiful board that will
expire at the end of 2024.
•reappointed Lisa Maloof
to the Joint Development
Authority of Northeast
Georgia.
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