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UNITED
STAND
FAMILY*COUNTRSP
NEWSPAPER
A Textbook for the Times!
7
Issue 21 Thursday, May 21,2020
The Voice of Crawford County Since 1921
also serving Byron and Peach County 3 Sections 20 Pages One Dollar
Drive-in graduation Friday
with social distancing
BY KRISTI WATKINS
The Georgia Post
Crawford County Board
of Education approved
details celebrating the 2020
graduates in their meeting
last week. The Crawford
County High School will
hold a drive-in graduation
on Friday, May 22nd at 7 PM
via a drive-in ceremony.
Each student will be
allowed two vehicles full of
family members to cheer
them on. All vehicles will
park in designated parking
spots at the front of CCHS.
The graduate’s immediate
family will arrive with the
graduate and park up front.
One additional car with oth
er family members will be
allowed to park behind the
graduates and their immedi
ate families.
While continuing to follow
social distancing practices,
it is crucial that all family
members remain in their
vehicles during this cere
mony. Graduates will exit
their vehicles and line up 6
ft apart in their graduation
regalia beside the building.
An abbreviated ceremo
ny followed by the seniors
walking across a stage as
their names being called
will capture the importance
of the senior walk and will
allow families to be a part of
the event. After graduation
is over, students will move
their tassels, throw their
hats, and return to their ve
hicles to exit the parking lot.
The ceremony will be an
nounced through the school
PA system and aligned with
a transmitter to play on
your radio. Seniors will have
graduation practice Wednes
day, May 20th at 9 a.m. and
attendance is vital to prac
tice for the big event as well
as receive a special gift from
CCHS faculty and staff.
Graduates will continue
to follow social distancing
guidelines during graduation
practice. More detailed in
structions will be sent home
with each student regarding
parking and graduation.
Superintendent Brent
Lowe stated the county
will be more prepared for
e-schooling in the future
with a much-appreciated
donation. Crawford County
Schools received a donation
of $17,500 from United Way
and Southern Rivers with
$2,000 of that earmarked to
install Wi-Fi on buses.
Having a school in a rural
community has its chal
lenges but with a pandemic
in the middle of the school
year, was an extreme chal
lenge. Teachers stepped up
using on line courses along
with sending packets home
with students. With being in
a rural area, many students
do not have internet to uti
lize on line courses.
The idea of mobile hot
spots in buses has been
brought up before by Lowe,
but with this donation, the
school system can see it
come to life.
Lowe stated they plan to
have 10 buses installed with
mobile Wi-Fi for students
to use as hot spots around
the county. There will be
three portable Wi-Fi units
for buses for sports events
where students are able to
complete schoolwork/home-
work.
Safeguards will be in place
on the hot spots so students
can only access software
used by the schools with
parental controls.
Lowe added they plan
to have 20 Wi-FI hot spots
that can be checked out for
students if they are unable to
get to a hot spot during the
day.
Lowe also stated the
school will be receiving 600
Amazon Fire Tablets for
grades 6th-i2th for students
to checkout and use for
school work. He said this is a
100% donation to the school
system.
Roberta Mayor says he’s learned
to be prepared for anything
Roberta Mayor Jay An
drews says one thing he has
learned from COVID-19
pandemic is “Be prepared for
anything!”
He also said there should
always be regular communi
cation about preparedness
and safety concerning em
ployees and what they come
in contact with every day.
Has this pandemic changed
society from what it used
to be? The mayor says he
believes it has made people
more aware, especially about
keeping things cleaner. “The
social distancing has shown
us just how “close” we were
getting to people and not
recognizing people’s person
al space,” he said. “While it
may seem we are not being
as social since we are not
shaking hands and hugging,
I believe we have learned we
can socialize without doing
these things.”
What would the mayor
do differently if faced with
another pandemic?
1. Be more prepared with
PPE products; hand sanitizer
for ah workers; Lysol to keep
everything sprayed down;
gloves for handling money
and other items from out
side; and disinfectant wipes.
2. Have a plan for billing
accounts such as whether to
add late charges or not and
whether or not to do cutoffs
as well as a deadline for
repayment.
The city, the mayor said,
closed down the lobby to
the public as soon as it was
suggested to do so. They
also reminded workers to
wash hands and cover their
cough/sneezes with proper
habits by posting notices
around the building in stra
tegic places. Of course, social
distancing was practiced
inside the office with work
spaces at least six feet apart.
They also made sure no one
was at the drive-through
window at the same time.
Employees have consistently
cleaned the drive-through
counter and drawer with
disinfectant wipes between
customers.
The Georgia Municipal
Association relayed mes
sages concerning what to
do or suggestions of ways to
contend with the virus, An
drews said. These messages
were shared with city council
members, along with actions
that were being put in place.
Roberta’s mayor also
worked with area businesses
to be sure they were follow
ing guidelines which were
put in place by the governor.
Though everyone hopes we
won’t have another pandem
ic, there have been lessons
learned which provide
insight into what needs to be
done next time.
(NOTE: several people in
positions were asked ques
tions about things learned,
etc. including the county
manager who did not want
to answer, the police chief
and a couple of commission
ers who did not respond.
Thanks to ah who were
willing to share their experi
ences.)
Early voting began this week
Early voting began Mon
day and continues through
June 5th.. The primary
and non-partisan general
election will be held on June
9th. You can vote on Satur
day, May 30th.
If you requested or received
an absentee ballot and have
not mailed it in and want
to vote in person, take the
absentee ballot to the poll
with you and turn it in so
you can vote in person. Even
if vou opened it, vou can
take it to the poll and have
it canceled. It may take a
few extra minutes because
poll workers have to call the
county Election Supervisor
to get the ballot canceled in
the system. Absentee ballots
will be accepted until 7 p.m.
on June 9th. Should a runoff
be necessary, it will be held
on August 11th.
There are local elections for
school board: Brad Cody be
ing challenged by Al Hatch
er; Tim Johnson challenged
by Anita Walker. County
Commission Post 2: Bobby
Blasingame challenged by
Doug Spillers and Jackie
McGowen.
Other notable elections
on the ballot include Vivian
Childs and Don Cole chal
lenging Rep. Sanford Bishop
and District Attorney David
Cooke being challenged by
Anita Howard. There are
also questions on the ballot
from Republicans and Dem
ocrats.
Caring is name of game in CC
From feeding the community with food drives,
helping Chester Food Bank, or delivering
lunches around Crawford County, caring in
this community is a way of life. Melessa Hollis
Creations and Friends have stepped up to
the plate and taken care of whatever needed
doing in the community. They have taken
things to Roberta Healthcare, fed employees
of Crawford County and other essential work
ers around town, dropped off snacks, helped
teachers and the list goes on and on. Hollis
has also challenged others in the community
to do good deeds wherever they go whether
it’s paying for someone else’s food, taking
care of an elderly person’s needs or donating
to or helping at food drives, it’s going on in
Crawford County.
Couple arrested for murder
We’re
sorry
We inadvertently report
ed in the county story last
week that the county had
$1.6 million in general
fund unassigned. That was
incorrect and we apologize
for that mistake. Crawford
County has $1 million and
60,000 dollars unassigned
in the general fund. That’s a
big difference and again we
apologize for that mistake.
Reminder
Though the date has changed
several times since we first re
ported it, Marshall Mill/Hwy
42 intersection was scheduled
to become a four-way stop as
of Tuesday, May 19th.
Georgia DOT traffic opera
tions engineers have moni
tored the intersection over the
past several years and have
noted a growing number of
angle crashes. Based on the
traffic volumes and crashes,
they determined that the
all-way stop provides the best
intersection control to address
safety and operations con
cerns.
Please use caution while
traveling in that area.
Two people wanted for a re
cent murder in Bibb County
have been arrested.
According to a media
release from the Bibb
County Sheriffs Office,
38-year-old Jeremy
Bryant and 43-year-
old Shelia Weeks were
arrested Thursday
evening in Macon.
The two were spotted
in an area along Spring
Street near I-16 around
7 p.m. Thursday. When
deputies arrived, Bryant
ran, but was captured after a
short chase. Both Bryant and
Weeks were eventually taken
into custody.
The pair are wanted in
connection to the April 30,
2020 murder of 51-year-old
Randall Head.
It was later determined that
Bryant was also connected to
a prior shooting in Crawford
County. In 2016 Bryant was
arrested for shooting Rick
Bishop in the head on Gassett
Road in Crawford County.
The bullet did not pene
trate his skull nor cause any
life-threatening injuries for
Head, according to the inci
dent report.
Bryant was originally charged
with aggravated assault,
possession of a firearm during
the commission of a
felony, simple battery,
and reckless conduct
for the Crawford Coun
ty incident.
But according to
Amy Leigh Womack,
Officer of Community
Engagement for the
District Attorney’s
Office, “there wasn’t sufficient
evidence or witness testimony
to prove the felony charges”
against Bryant.
Bryant pleaded guilty to
reckless conduct, discharging
a firearm while under the
influence, pointing a gun or
pistol at another, and battery
for the 2016 case.
Both have been charged
with charged with Murder,
Concealing Death of another
Person and Theft by Taking
Auto. Weeks and Bryant are
being held without bond.
Anyone with information
about this incident are
asked to contact the Bibb
County Sheriffs Office at
478-751-7500 or Macon
Regional Crime Stoppers at
1-877-68CRIME.
Bryant