Newspaper Page Text
Index
News 2, 3,5,6, 7,9
Obituary 3
Opinion 4
Around the County 8
Calendar 10
Legals 11
Sheriff's Report 11
Sports 12-13
Inside
Elijah Hood breaks free
on a 71-yard run to set
up Oglethorpe County's
second touchdown, but
Banks County defeated
the Patriots 19-14 on Fri
day night. OCHS doesn't
play this week.
... Page 12
To start your subscription or to donate to The Oglethorpe Echo, see Page 7.
The Oglethorpe Echo
Volume 149, Number 48
August 31, 2023 ■ Oglethorpe County, Georgia
$1
COVID-19 cases increase in Oglethorpe County
By Caleb Rollins and
Sidney Chansamone
The Oglethorpe Echo
COVID-19 cases have been on
the rise in Georgia in August, co
inciding with the emergence of the
highly transmissible EG.5 “Eris”
variant. Oglethorpe County has
been no exception to that trend.
The county reported 11 positive
cases from Aug. 9-23, compared to
only five in the previous two-week
period, according to the Georgia
Department of Public Health.
The uptick especially has been
noticed in the schools.
“We definitely saw our absences
up last week,” said Kristina Tum-
COVID-19
Vaccinations
The Oglethorpe County
Health Department of
fers bivalent COVID-19
vaccinations and booster
shots. Appointments can
be scheduled at 706-743-
8181.
er, district nurse for the Oglethorpe
County School System. “We had a
lot of phone calls about kids that
were either having COVID symp
toms or had COVID.”
Turner said the number of ab
sences has started to decrease
since last week, potentially signi
fying that the surge is beginning to
ease in Oglethorpe County.
According to the Georgia DPH,
there were 8,184 reported cases in
the two-week period in the state
before Aug. 23. This was nearly
double the amount of confirmed
cases (4,307) reported in the previ
ous two-week period.
The DPH attributes the recent
surge to a few factors:
■ The EG.5 variant.
■ Summer travel and gatherings.
■ Waning immunity from vac
cination and prior infection.
Steady Rise in Georgia COVID-19 Cases this Summer
This chart represents the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Georgia during two-week periods,
according to the Georgia Department of Public Health Cases have been steadily on the rise since
June.
8.184
May 31-June June 14-June June 28-July July 12 - July 26 July 26-Aug. 9 Aug. 9 - Aug. 23
14 28 12
See COVID, Page 5
CALEB ROLLINS/THE OGLETHORPE ECHO
Solar farm
ordinance
reworked
Zoning board adds
depth to regulations
JOHN JAMES/THE OGLETHORPE ECHO
Katie Hammond climbs on a tractor during her class at the UGA Extension's Southern Women in Agriculture workshop on Aug.
25. Hammond has served as a research superintendent for UGA's College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences since 2018.
Approachable agriculture
Women lead, learn at UGA Extension’s farming workshop
By John James
The Oglethorpe Echo
Amanda Walter returned to Georgia one
year ago with a background in computer
science and virtually no experience in ag
riculture.
Walter, 41, had become desensitized
with the hustle and bustle of the cyberse
curity industry in Utah, and she wanted a
fresh start for her and her family.
Upon returning to her home state, she
found that new beginning in life on the
farm.
She said she’s still working on build
ing up their property to 16 acres in nearby
Monroe, but she hasn’t received extensive
practical knowledge in working on a farm.
To help bridge that gap, Walter signed
up for the UGA Extension’s Southern
Women in Agriculture workshop, a pro
gram at the Oglethorpe County Extension
Office last Friday.
Shanna Reynolds, the UGA County Ex
tension Coordinator for Oglethorpe Coun
ty, said the goal was
to help participants
develop their skills,
enhance their business
acumen and grow
their love of agricul
ture. The $40, nine-
hour workshop ran at
tendees through rotat
ing stations of various
disciplines.
Tractor instruction
focused on the nuts and
bolts of owning and op
erating — engine repair,
fueling — while the tracks and trailers station
showed participants how to properly hitch a
trailer to a track and safely drive the vehicle
both forward and backward.
The foraging lessons were about taking
care of the land, and cattle handling taught
participants how to deal with the often-
skittish temperaments of the animals.
Walter said she was interested because
the event offered valuable information and
seemed like an approachable space for
someone new to the field.
“It’s been much better than I real
ly thought,” Walter said. “This has been
much more friendly and inviting than I ex
pected.”
Stephanie Butcher, the Coweta County
Extension Coordinator and another instruc
tor at the event, said she thought the all
woman approach helped foster a welcom
ing atmosphere. Approximately 30 women
from around the state were in attendance.
Butcher said women can sometimes be
intimidated by male instructors, and the
organizers wanted to give participants an
environment in which they felt free to ex
press themselves.
See WORKSHOP, Page 2
By Caitlin Downing
The Oglethorpe Echo
Solar farms may have more strict limi
tations if county commissioners accept an
amendment unanimously recommended by
the Oglethorpe County Zoning Board on
Monday.
The amendment has been in preparation
since May, two months after the Board of
Commissioners approved a six-month mor
atorium on solar projects, Zoning Board
Chair Janet Hill said.
“Our existing ordinance is pretty
skimpy, I guess is the best way to de
scribe it,” Hill said. “The big solar farm
on Goose Pond Road brought to light the
deficiencies in our existing solar farm or
dinance. And so this is an effort to es
tablish good ground rules and limitations
on what they can do and how they can
do it.”
The Timberland Solar Project on
Goose Pond Road is one of two solar
farms in the county. It has applied to ex
pand to nearly 3,500 acres with the re
cent acquisition of two more tracts of
a combined 1,998 acres. The Wolfskin
Project is on Double Bridges Road near
the Athens-Clarke County line.
The review and motion was a part of
an 90-minute meeting that reviewed each
of the 11 sections that will replace Section
712 of the Unified Development Code of
Oglethorpe County.
See SOLAR, Page 2
CAITLIN DOWNING/
THE OGLETHORPE ECHO
Zoning Board Chair Janet Hill and
board member JF Hansford review
the amended ordinance on solar
farms at the zoning board meeting
on Monday.
Shanna
Reynolds
responsible handling,
i In search of
■1
I clear cut
S properties?
--3- ■' - ^ *
nite.d
Phil Wilson
Broker
Southern Select Properties
Call/Txt 678-791-3483
Office 706-424-2472
hQmenlandman@yahoo.com
Igotlandgeorqia.cDml
1108 Crawfcrd Smithonia Rd
Crawford, Ga 30630
Independently owned & operoted