About The Georgia post. (Knoxville, Crawford County, Ga.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 7, 2021)
A Textbook for the Times! UNITED WE] STAND D ‘FAMILY* COUNTRY DM ND* Be the Change, Lead the Change Tornado touched down in Crawford County New Year’s Day County crews worked clearing downed trees and debris off or fatalities. Two homes were damaged and several roofs. Hopewell Road West New Year’s Day. There were no injuries Thanks to Rick Sharon, CC EMA for photo. Special election set March 16th for BOC and BOE vacancy Two special elections will be held in Crawford County on March 16th. Though qualifying won’t begin until Monday, one eager beaver is already putting signs all over the county. One is to fill the vacancy on the Craw ford County Board of Education, District 4, due to the death of Lee Sanders in No vember. The other is for the vacancy on the Crawford County Board of Commis sioners, District 5, due to the resignation of Paul Chapman. Qualifying for both will begin Monday, January 11, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and will con tinue 9-5 on Tuesday, January 12th and the last day will be from 8 a.m. to noon on January 13th. Qualifying fee for the Board of Educa tion seat is $108 and the fee for the Coun ty Commission seat is $420. Qualifying will be held at 640 Ga. Hwy. 128, Roberta for both seats. Persons not registered to vote but want to vote in this special election can register through the close of business on February 1,2021. If a runoff becomes necessary it will be held on April 13,2021. Roberta Drugs named Business of Quarter Roberta Drug Store was named for its front line service. They have provided delivery service, curb service and open for business six days a week with exception of Sunday. They are always greeting those customers with smiles and good tid ings as well as doing all they are able to provide the custom er service they deserve. They welcome all even if there is no prescription to fill with happy notes and assistance in finding over the counter offerings for their needs. Roberta Drug Store or Roberta Pharmacy as they are also known stepped up to the plate during this time of COVID19 need as others in the community did as well. New Year’s Day brought a tornado to Crawford County. Around 2:02 p.m. January 1, 2021 a Code Read and Weather alert sirens sound ed for a Tornado Warning. At 2:18 p.m. a Tornado touched down in the 4000 block of Hopewell Road West. Path of the tornado was .9 mile and too yards in width with a rotation speed of 75 MPH confirmed by the Na tional Weather Service. Two homes were damaged and barns on Taylor Road. Fortunately, there were no injuries. Rick Sharon, Craw ford County EMA Director, said “we were fortunate that were were no injuries or fatalities. “ Hopewell Road West was closed for a short period of time due to several trees and power lines being in the roadway. Thirty-eight homes lost power which was restored later in the day by Flint Electric. Crawford opened a commu nications line with Georgia Emergency Management Agency (GEMA) in Atlanta and placed on standby in the case possible state resources may have been needed. Crawford County Sheriffs Office, Fire Department, EMA and Road Department responded to the scene. At 3:30 p.m., upon conclusion of the weather event, the County’s Emergency Opera tions Center was closed. County makes strides even during year of pandemic BY VICTORIA SIMMONS The Georgia Post While the year 2020 will be remembered as the year of Covid-19, masks and lock- downs, Crawford County made many strides forward during the year. Progress for the county included getting approval for the Community Devel opment Block Grant in the amount of $750,000 for the Crawford County Health Department. This will help take care of renovations and improvements at the facility. During the pandemic our elderly and others still needed to be transported for medical care and more. Crawford’s transit system was 100% funded in 2020 to the tune of $118, 000. Crawford County now owns it’s own radio tower for the school, city, fire and sheriffs department. Recreation was a big win ner in 2020 as the county re ceived $50,000 for lighting at the facility. Roads, which are most always part of discussions by the county commissioners, will get more money thanks to citizens passing the T-SPLOST. There was much more but those are the highlights. In this year 2021, County Manager Fabian Hollis said a few of the goals include doubling the amount of road paving from four miles to eight miles per year, relocat ing the transfer station and laying the ground work for the new county shop. More items are sure to be added as the year progresses and Crawford County moves forward this year. CRP signup now through Feb. 12 Agricultural producers and private landowners interested in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) can sign up for the popular program begin ning today, Jan. 4,2021, until Feb. 12,2021. The competitive program, administered by USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA), provides annual rental payments for land devoted to conservation purposes. ‘This signup for the Conser vation Reserve Program gives producers and landowners an opportunity to enroll for the first time or continue their participation for another term,” Rachel Santos said. “This program encourages conservation on sensitive lands or low-yielding acres, which provides tremendous benefits for stewardship of our natural resources and wild life.” Through CRP, farmers and ranchers establish long-term, resource-conserving plant species, such as approved grasses or trees, to control soil erosion, improve water quality and enhance wildlife habitat on cropland. Farmers and ranchers who participate in CRP help provide numerous benefits to their local region and the nation’s environment and economy. CRP general signup is held annually and is competitive; general signup includes increased opportuni ties for wildlife habitat enroll ment through the State Acres For Wildlife Enhancement (SAFE) initiative. The program marked its 35- year anniversary in December 2020. Program successes include: • Preventing more than 9 bil lion tons of soil from eroding, which is enough soil to fill 600 million dump trucks. • Reducing nitrogen and phosphorous runoff relative to annually tilled cropland by 95% and 85%, respectively. • Sequestering an annual average of 49 million tons of greenhouse gases, equal to taking 9 million cars off the road. • Creating more than 3 mil lion acres of restored wetlands while protecting more than 175,000 stream miles with riparian forest and grass buffers, which is enough to go around the world seven times. • Benefiting bees and other pollinators and increasing populations of ducks, pheas ants, turkey, bobwhite quail, prairie chickens, grasshopper sparrows, and many other birds. All USDA Service Cen ters are open for business, including those that restrict in-person visits or require appointments.
