About Dawson County news. (Dawsonville, Georgia) 2015-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 1, 2021)
Wednesday, December 1,2021 dawsonnews.com I DAWSON COUNTY NEWS I 3A Vote on your favorite police dog and help Dawson County win $2,500 By Erica Jones ejones@dawsonnews.com Between now and Dec. 5, the Dawson County Sheriff’s Office needs your vote to help the county’s police dogs win a state-wide competition and bag $2,500 for the department’s K9 unit. The contest, which is held by the Georgia Police K9 Foundation, is aimed at raising aware ness and highlighting police dogs throughout the state of Georgia. More than 80 police dogs in the state are entered in the competition, includ ing four from Dawson County. The social media con test will award first place to the police dog whose photo gets the most votes by Dec. 5. To vote, go to the contest’s Facebook page and like or react to your favorite photos. Voters can like or react to more than one dog’s photo. The prize for the first place winner is $2,500 to the winning department’s K9 unit, a K9 of the year plaque and a $200 gift basket from Fox and Hound. Second place will be awarded $1,000 to the department’s K9 unit, and third place will be awarded $500 to the department’s K9 unit. According to the contest page, the funds will be used as a credit through the foundation to pur chase the K9 unit’s needs. Dawson County has four entrants in the K9 contest: Arthur, Robby, Us vo and Pelle. According to a post by the Dawson County Sheriff’s Office, the department is relying on the community to help Dawson’s finest K9s win the contest. “DCSO has 4 K9s to be voted on,” the post said. “With $2,500 and some goodies on the line our K9s need your help!” To vote in the contest, go to https://www. facebook.com/gpk9f/ and scroll down through the photos to find Dawson County’s police dogs. You can vote for your favorite or for all four by liking or reacting to their photos in the post. Voting will end at midnight on Dec. 5. FROM 1A NGHS Medicaid programs. Health system officials said this would include nearly all of their 10,000+ employees. The CMS mandate, which applies to health care providers, is separate from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration vaccine man date, which applies to private compa nies with more than 100 employees. Georgia, along with at least 27 other states, filed a lawsuit against the OSHA mandate on Nov. 5, and that order has been temporarily halted by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Georgia also joined in a lawsuit against the CMS mandate on Nov. 15, but the mandate has not been blocked, and the health system expects it will have to comply by Dec. 5. The CMS mandate allows exemp tions for sincerely held religious beliefs and medical reasons that can include certain allergies, disabilities and other conditions verified by a licensed practitioner, according to the mandate. The health system is encour aging employees to apply for exemp tions quickly if they require them, chief legal officer Andrei Boyarshinov wrote in an email Friday, Nov. 19. The only employees not included are those who only work remotely, he wrote. “The medical form requires an employee’s physician to identify a medical reason as to why the employ ee should not be vaccinated or have vaccination deferred,” Boyarshinov wrote. “The religious exemption form asks an employee to state their deeply held religious belief and provide any information they wish to support it.” Exemption requests are sent to a committee for review using CDC guidelines and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission guidelines for medical and religious exemptions respectively. There could be serious penalties if the health system is not in compliance in less than two weeks. “NGHS would no longer be reim bursed for care provided to Medicare or Medicaid patients - which make up roughly 65 percent of people who live in our region,” Boyarshinov wrote of potential penalties. “We’ve asked for exemption requests to be submitted by Nov. 29, but we’ll also try to be as flexible as possible - as long as we have reasonable time for review and any necessary action to comply by the CMS deadline.” In a press release announcing the mandate, CMS officials wrote: “The prevalence of COVID-19, in particular the Delta variant, within health care settings increases the risk of unvacci nated staff contracting the virus and transmitting the virus to patients. When health care staff cannot work because of illness or exposure to COVID-19, the strain on the health care system becomes more severe and further limits patient access to safe and essential care.” CMS estimated the mandate would affect 17 million health care workers across the country. In Hall County, 625 people have died from COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic, according Nov. 19 Department of Public Health data. COVID-19 case numbers have declined since September’s delta vari ant peak with 31 COVID-19 positive patients in the health system as of Nov. 22, and that number has declined from 96 patients a month ago, accord ing to health system data. Northeast Georgia Health System President and CEO Carol Burell wrote in a statement that the mandate put the health system in a tough situa tion. “We’re providing as much informa tion as possible to help our employees make the decision that is right for them,” Burrell wrote. The health system does not yet know how many employees it could lose because of the mandate, Burrell wrote. An incentive plan was in place for employees to get vaccinated earlier this fall, giving $400 to employees who got vaccinated by Sept. 30. The health system may develop plans to deal with staffing shortages closer to the Dec. 5 deadline, Burrell wrote. “Our focus now is to help our employees make decisions make the decision that’s best for them, under these difficult circumstances, and keep as many people as possible,” she wrote. “As we move closer to the first CMS deadline of December 5, we’ll start to get a better picture of the impact of the mandate - and we’ll develop staffing plans. This article was originally published by the Gainesville Times, a sister publica tion to the Dawson County News. FROM 1A Palmour collected for Palmour and over $20,000 was raised by that group of people alone. Palmour has a bank account with the Bank of Ozark’s in Dawsonville and anyone wanting to donate just has to go to the bank and say they are making a deposit on behalf of Mason Palmour. Smith can also be contacted if donations are preferred that way. If anyone wants to support but cannot financially, the family wishes for continued prayers. “God can work mira cles,” Smith said. Photos submitted to DCN Top, above: The 2021 DCHS football team gathered on Sunday, Nov. 28 to pray for their teammate Mason Palmour. High-speed Internet at an affordable price. A reliable connection to the Internet is important in today’s world, and Windstream believes everyone should have access to it. That’s why we offer Lifeline, a discounted Internet service plan to make basic service more affordable for qualified customers. To see if you qualify for Lifeline, call: Residential customers 1-800-347-1991 Orvisitwww.windstream.com/Lifeline iffl kinetic by windstream. 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Additional restrictions may apply. 28821NB1 Rotary Club of Dawson County The Rotary Club of Dawson County would like to say sponsors of our community drive-thru Thanksgiving Dinner Rotary Club of Jasper United Community Bank Northeast Georgia Health System Food & Spirits titt ATLANTA MOTORS PD RTS PARK The Zappendorf Family O CSB COASTAL STATES BANK Happy Retirement, Chyrl Waldrip! Stop by CSB Dawsonville to help us celebrate Chyrl Waldrip's retirement! We will be celebrating all day long, so drop in and wish her well on her next adventure. 70 Carlisle Road Dawsonville, GA December 20, 2021 10 AM - 4 PM Member FDIC
