Newspaper Page Text
Page 8A
UPSON
BEACON
Thursday, October 14, 2021
UPSON & 8-COUNTY AREA COVID-19 REPORT
New Cases Trending Downward
Upson County reports
5.347 positive COVID-19
cases with 160 deaths as of
noon last Tuesday, accord
ing to the Johns Hopkins
University & Medicine Co-
ronavirus Resource Center.
Numbers reflect 21 new
cases (down from 57 last
week) and two new deaths
MRS Homecare, Inc.
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101 Deluxe Circle - Thomaston
706-648-6001
ACHC Accredited
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NOTICE
City of Thomaston
Municipal General Election
The public is hereby notified that the
Municipal Election for the City of Thom
aston will be held at the Civic Center lo
cated at 101 Civic Center Drive,
Thomaston, GA 30286. Early Voting will
begin on October 12, 2021 from 8:30
am- 5:00 pm, and will extend for a
three-week period followed by Election
Day on November 2, 2021 from 7:00
a.m.- 7:00 p.m.
The City of Thomaston
PUBLIC NOTICE
The City of Thomaston will be holding a public
hearing regarding a zoning amendment to de
fine “major roads”. The hearing will be held on
Monday, November l, 2021, beginning at 1:00
p.m. in the city-county meeting room of the
Thomaston-Upson Government Complex.
The public may watch said hearing vir
tually at the following link:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC
RlF8Vio6j-67nNYbOysNwg
Should you have any questions or need ad
ditional information, please call
706-647-4242 ext. 4.
(down from six last
week) since Tuesday one
week prior. During that
time, Upson’s infection rate
increased from 20.3 to 20.4
percent, more than one-in-
five. Pike’s infection rate
also is 20.4 percent, highest
among neighboring
counties, followed by Lamar
at 18 percent.
Johns Hopkins lists the
following confirmed cases
for counties bordering
Upson: Monroe, 4,077 (up
33) cases with 140 (no
change) deaths; Pike, 3,747
(up 32) with 65 (up one)
deaths; Lamar, 3,354 (up
14) with 84 (up one) deaths;
Meriwether, 2,930 (up 16)
with 104 (up two) deaths;
Taylor, 1,242 (up eight) with
35 (up one) deaths; Craw
ford, 1,106 (up 10) with 38
(no change) deaths; and
Talbot, 721 (up five) with 24
(up one) deaths.
DPH Lists Sites for COVID Testing
COVID-19 drive thru testing is available every Mon
day, Wednesday, and Friday, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at
First Baptist Church, 208 S. Church St. in Thomaston.
Register using the following link: https://honu.dxre-
sults.com/PatientSignup.aspx?LabId=2324.
PCR testing is available at the Upson County Health
Department every Tuesday from 9-11 a.m. and 1-3 p.m.
Register at https://covid19.dph.ga.gov/en-US/.
Rapid Binax testing is available at the Health Depart
ment every Thursday from 9-11 a.m. and 1-3 p.m. Please
park in parking the lot and call 706-647-7148, option 5.
Lamar: Testing is available at the Lamar County
Health Department parking lot every Tuesday, Thurs
day, and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Register at
https://honu.dxresults.com/PatientSignup.aspx7LabId
=2325.
Griffin: Drive thru testing is available at 1005 Me
morial Drive (enter from the rear) on Tuesdays from 9-
11 a.m. and will continue at the location until further
notice. Register at https://covid19.dph.ga.gov/en-US/.
37 Questions,
Continued from Front
absentee ballot example, oath
envelope sample, and paid
candidate advertisements.
The race will be decided
by plurality voting, meaning
that a candidate will not be
required to receive more than
50 percent of total votes cast.
The candidate receiving the
highest percentage of votes
will win outright, with no
runoff.
In addition to the mayor
pro tempore race, the ballot
will include a special purpose
local option sales tax
(SPLOST) referendum, pack
age sale of distilled spirits
(liquor package stores) ques
tion, unopposed races for two
Thomaston City Council
seats, and a contested race for
Yatesville City Council.
Editor’s Note: Answers to
questions were printed ex
actly as submitted by candi
dates, without typical editing
practices (grammar, punc
tuation, capitalization, etc.)
to comply with Associated
Press style guidelines. Q&A:
lB
Mayor and
Council,
Continued from Front
by District 3 councilman
Ryan Tucker, resigned after
the first meeting. Thomas-
ton-Upson Board of Educa
tion member Sheila Hall,
appointed by District 4
councilman Don Great-
house, resigned weeks later
after a verbal exchange with
Pastor Greg Smith, who was
appointed by Mayor Pro
Tempore Doug Head.
The resignations left
Smith, McGill (appointed by
councilman Jeff Middle-
brooks), and Priscilla McCoy
(appointed by council
member Lakeitha Reeves)
on the committee. The exit
of Grubb and Hall, both
white, resulted in an all
black committee voting
unanimously for a rec
ommendation on a racially
charged issue, to relocate
city offices.
“The question before our
council should not be
whether to act on this rec
ommendation, but rather to
question the vitality of this
committee and whether or
not its commission serves
the interest of our citizens,”
Stallings told council
members. “To say that, I
would say it does not.
“And I would ask this
council to entertain a motion
to disband the Community
Relations Committee,” he
continued, “and further ad
vise that any questions be
fore the council that can be
legally decided by the coun
cil be deliberated on and
voted on as such.”
City Attorney DeAnn
Wheeler advised council last
year that Georgia law pro
hibits the removal of the R.E.
Lee name and related ar
ticles from the complex on
East Lee Street, citing “mon
ument” status.
“I’m a little confused,”
Tucker said. “I heard the rec
ommendation, but the one
we have is different. The one
in our packet is to relocate
into a different building.”
McGill corrected his pre
vious statement to coincide
with the CRC’s 3-0 vote to
recommend relocation of
city offices.
“This committee met
only one time with all dis
tricts represented. After the
first meeting, the represen
tative from District 3 re
signed,” Reeves said. “There
fore, I do not think that the
committee has done what I
feel needs to be done to
come to a recommendation.
“I think we should go
back with all districts repre
sented, and maybe the
mayor having an appoint
ment, and let this group go
back and look at this again,”
she continued. “It was not
well represented, because all
districts did not have repre
sentatives. For that reason,
we should appoint new reps
and start this again.”
Despite seemingly agree
ing with the mayor’s assess
ment, Reeves cast the only
vote to accept the commit
tee’s recommendation to re
locate.
“It’s not from a lack of
trying to find a person to
serve,” Tucker said about his
inability to secure a repre
sentative from his district. “I
was turned down many,
many times.
“I would like to see this
group take on more issues
[than the R.E. Lee name],”
Tucker continued. “There
are other pressing issues,
and my constituents are con
cerned [that too much focus
has been placed on the gov
ernment complex].”
CRC members recently
toured the city with atten
tion toward litter, homeless
ness, and property upkeep,
but have not submitted a
recommendation to council
on any of the issues.
Head moved to reject the
committee’s recommenda
tion, followed by a second
from Tucker, leading to a 4-
1 council vote for non-ac
ceptance.
“This committee deals
with a number of topics. This
was only one of them, and a
more difficult topic to talk
about,” said Head, who faces
opposition to re-election this
year. “To discuss something
this sensitive, I think you
really need a broader discus
sion. And it certainly needs
representation on both
sides.
“It’s hard to support the
recommendation because it
didn’t come from a broader
discussion representing both
sides,” Head continued. “But
I do think the discussion on
this topic needs to continue,
whether it’s among the com
mittee, or among us.
“We all need to be closer
together,” Head concluded.
Delivery Driver
Robery,
Continued from Front
phone and case in a back
alley directly behind 308 4th
Upson County Commissioners
will be accepting applications for the
following board appointments:
• Thomaston-Upson County Industrial Development Authority - (2
Year Term)
• Thomaston-Upson County Office Building Authority - (1 Year Term)
• Thomaston-Upson County Planning Commission - (3 Year Term)
• Thomaston-Upson County Library Board - (3 Year Term)
• Thomaston-Upson County Board of Health - (6 Year Term)
• Thomaston-Upson County Archives Records Advisory Board - (2 Year
Term)
• Upson County Planning Commission - (3 Year Term)
• Upson County Board of Assessors - (3 Year Term)
• Upson County Board of Elections - (4 Year Term)
• DFCS Board - (5 Year Term)
• Hospital Authority - (5 Year Term)
• Three Rivers Regional Council Non-Public Member - (1 Year Term)
Applications can be picked up at the Board of Commissioners office at the Govern
ment Complex building located at 106 E. Lee Street. The deadline for submitting
applications will be the close of business November 30,2021. Ail current board/au
thority/commission members must reapply for consideration.
Avenue, and located a $20
bill on the road in front of
209 C Street. Later that day,
another $14 in cash was lo
cated directly in front of 208
C Street, according to the re
port.
The suspects face
charges of armed robbery,
aggravated assault, and pos
session of a firearm during
commission of a crime.
There also was a burglary
reported at Southern Villas
on East County Road in
which $1,350 worth of out
door equipment was stolen.
Among items listed were an
edger, handheld blower, air
tank, hedge trimmers, fertil
izer spreader, weed eater,
string trimmer, and hedge
trimmer. No arrests were
made.
Unrelated arrests and
charges reported by TPD in
clude the following:
Christopher Lamar
Green, three counts of aggra
vated assault and possession
of a firearm during commis
sion of a crime;
Luther Vandross Tam-
plin of Avenue F, felony flee
ing or attempting to elude a
police officer;
Catherine Rutherford of
Turkey Creek Road, aggra
vated assault;
Rhonda Rena Colbert of
East Thompson Street, theft
by receiving stolen property
and three counts of financial
transaction card fraud;
Michael James Thomp
son of McGrath Road, theft
by receiving stolen property;
Richard Bradley Guy,
possession of a Schedule I
controlled substance;
Eugene DeVito of In
gram Road, felony driving
while license suspended or
revoked, along with multiple
misdemeanor traffic
charges.
Recent arrests and
charges reported by the of
fice of Upson County Sheriff
Dan Kilgore include the fol
lowing:
Jercedes DeAngelo
Jones, aggravated assault;
Victoria Katelin Cheeks,
three counts of illegal pos
session of a controlled sub
stance;
Jessica Nicole Chapman,
forgery in the first degree
and financial identity fraud;
Joseph Allan Mason, fel
ony probation violation.
TPD Recognized,
Continued from Front
returned to parents.
Patrolman Jake Ja-
novsky was assaulted with a
handgun while making an
arrest after a domestic dis
pute call. Janovsky secured
the suspect before being
treated for injuries sus
tained during the alter
cation.
Mayor Stallings issued
oaths to new TPD members
Officer Tamara Hand and
Cpl. Joshua Warren.
In other business:
•Council voted unani
mously to authorize a
budgeted $43,203 expense
for requisition of self-con
tained breathing appara
tuses for Thomaston Fire
Department.
•Council voted unani
mously to adopt a Down
town Master Plan recently
presented by WLA Studios.
•Council voted unani
mously to authorize a three-
way joint sewer agreement
involving the Thomaston-
Upson Industrial Devel
opment Authority. Capacity
is assigned to the IDA, so the
three-way contract is nec
essary as a complement to
the city-county agreement,
according to City Manager
Russell Thompson.
•Council voted unani
mously to authorize agility
tests recommended by Chief
Richardson for TPD and
TFD personnel as part of
city policy, to be enacted
Jan. 1, 2022. Tests will be
given quarterly, and depart
ment members must pass
within one year to retain
current positions, according
to Richardson.