Newspaper Page Text
Fatal wrecks in Pickens
County up 50 percent in 2020
THURSDAY. DECEMBER 31.2020 PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS PAGE 11A
New Year’s celebration
downtown cancelled
By Christie Pool
Staff Writer
Barring any tragedy after
press time, 10 people have
lost their lives on Pickens
County roads in 2020, a 50
percent increase over the pre
vious year.
According to Georgia
State Patrol Post #28 Com
mander Tim Nichols, five
people died on area roads
from January - November
2019 and double that number,
10, have died during the
same period in 2020. There
were no fatalities in Decem
ber 2019 and, as of press
time, none had occurred in
Continued From 1A
Crime
cases.
In Tate, there was a van
dalism incident at Bell’s
Pharmacy, Mimi’s Eats &
Treats, and The Beauty Bar
the day before Christmas
Eve. A vintage truck in front
of those establishments used
as a decorative piece with
flower boxes and lights and
ornaments for the holiday
was damaged.
Bell’s Family Pharmacy
owner Katie Bell posted
about the Wednesday, Dec.
23 incident on her social
media page.
“Our beautiful truck that
my mom and aunt have cared
for and turned into a stunning
piece of art was vandalized,”
she said, going on to describe
the damage - lights were
ripped off and smashed; a
From the office of the gov
ernor
Atlanta, GA - Governor
Brian P. Kemp and the Uni
versity of Georgia have
launched an informational
web site and webinars to help
small business owners in
Georgia understand the fund
ing available to them through
the new COVID-19 Emer
gency Relief Package and
how to apply for assistance.
Congress approved the re
cent funding on December
21, but application informa
tion will not be available
until January. There are steps
that small businesses can take
now to be prepared to apply,
however. Informational we
binars will be held on Tues
day, December 29, and
Wednesday, December 30.
The webinars are designed to
help small businesses prepare
for the application process.
Once application instructions
are provided, consultants in
the UGA Small Business De
velopment Center’s (SBDC)
18 regional offices will be
available to assist businesses
with this process.
"We've been clear from
the beginning of our fight
against COVID-19: our mis-
December 2020.
Nichols said the majority
of the fatalities were caused
by driver error and not by
drug or alcohol-related acci
dents. Failing to yield con
tributed to several of them,
he said, and being on the
wrong side of the road.
“The double fatality in
Talking Rock in September
was caused when a young
lady failed to maintain her
lane and it killed both occu
pants in the car she hit,”
Nichols said. Alcohol, he
said, was not suspected in
that case.
Alcohol or drugs have
been confirmed in two of the
“NOEL” sign was stolen; or
naments thrown around; yard
decorations pulled up, broken
and left in a pile of trash,
food, and Christmas light
bulb shells that were pulled
off an outdoor tree near the
front door.
“While we will recover
we are sad that a person(s)
would be so hurtful, espe
cially at Christmas. We love
Tate and are sorry our Christ
mas display will be dark dur
ing this time of joy.”
The post had over 100
comments from people dis
gusted with the vandalism
around the holidays.
In a later interview, Bell
said they had recovered some
of their displays and the
NOEL sign in a ditch near
Marble Hill Baptist Church.
A customer of her mother’s,
owner of Mimi’s Eats &
Treats, spotted the displays
and messaged them. Bell said
sion is to protect both lives
and livelihoods here in Geor
gia," said Governor Kemp.
"This once-in-a-century
global pandemic has taken a
heavy toll on hardworking
small business owners in
every community across the
state, and many have had to
find innovative ways to shift
production, reopen, and keep
people on the payroll. We are
eager to receive these funds
to continue supporting our
business owners, and I am
grateful to our partners at
UGA for working diligently
alongside state agency part
ners to ensure these hard
working Georgians are well
prepared to complete the ap
plication once it's available."
Funding available through
the COVID-19 Emergency
Relief Package will extend
the federal Paycheck Protec
tion Program (PPP) through
March 2021, enhance the
SBA’s current lending pro
grams, and create dedicated
programs for the hardest hit
industries and smaller busi
nesses. The PPP provides
money for business owners
to continue to pay employees
and cover essential costs such
as rent and utilities.
While the SBDC was able
10 fatalities so far this year,
Nichols said, and one addi
tional fatality is suspected to
have been caused by impair
ment. Results in that one are
still pending, he said.
“The majority of them are
driver error,” Nichols said.
“We had two over on Georgia
5 at Bill Hasty - one was a
pedestrian hit and one was
where a dump truck hit a car
turning into the hospital and
in neither of those were alco
hol or drugs suspected.”
Nichols said he and other
troopers have noticed an in
crease in traffic on area
roads.
“It seems like every day
we are seeing an increase in
traffic,” he said. “It’s all day
long - not just rush hour.
There’s as much traffic going
there were items in Marble
Hill and at their stores that
also connected the sites -
bags of ice and chips.
“We got the displays back
but they didn’t work,” Bell
said. “The outpouring of love
and support from the com
munity has been overwhelm
ing and touching. I made that
post because I didn’t want
people to think we were
grinches and took our lights
down. Fortunately, all that
was destroyed were decora
tions and some heirloom
plants. They didn’t damage
the truck. It’s not a lot, but we
will have to spend money to
get it ready for next year. I’m
not out to get people in trou
ble, but I want people to
know that what they do af
fects others.”
On Saturday, Dec. 26,
Sunny side Farms, which
raises livestock, also posted
about an incident with van-
to help 3,300 Georgia small
businesses secure $88 mil
lion in grants and loans
through the federal Coron-
avirus Aid, Relief, and Eco
nomic Security (CARES)
Act, signed into law on
March 27, 2020, many others
remain desperate for help.
“The University of Geor
gia has been on the front lines
of this battle with the novel
coronavirus since it began,
and we will continue to use
our resources to help Geor
gians through this trying
time,” said UGA President
Jere W. Morehead. “Small
businesses are the backbone
of our state’s economy, and
helping them is part of our
mission as the state’s land-
grant and sea-grant institu
tion.”
UGA’s partnership with
the governor’s office, and the
state departments of commu
nity affairs and economic de
velopment earlier this year
was essential in spreading the
word about webinars and
SBDC assistance to small
businesses in the far comers
of the state. More than
13,000 viewers tuned in to
the webinars, and traffic on
the SBDC web site increased
by more than 300%.
north at 10 a.m. on a Tuesday
as there is going south at 6
o’clock in the morning. It is
all day long. There just seems
to be more people on the
roads.”
The veteran patrol officer
cautioned drivers to always
drive defensively. “You’ve
got to pay attention to the
other guy because he is defi
nitely a threat.”
“People are going to
travel. Remember to always
leave early enough so you
don’t have to rash and speed
and always be watching out
for the threat of the other per
son. And never drink and
drive.”
Nichols said there were 21
accidents statewide over the
Christmas holiday but none
in Pickens County.
dalism at their Marble Hill
land. According to their
Facebook page, vandals went
mudding through their hay
field on Highway 53 East.
“They weren’t just sling
ing up mud, they were sling
ing up the hay that we need
to keep our cows fed. We just
had those fields sewn and fer
tilized. The inconsideration
and utter disrespect of some
people literally makes me
sick. Farmers have enough
struggles without having
their property desecrated and
disregarded.”
Like Bell, the Sunnyside
Farms owner stated on social
media they weren’t out for
vengeance.
“We’re not trying to send
anyone to jail,” the post
stated. “We just want them to
repair what they’ve de
stroyed.”
The Jasper Merchant’s
Association has cancelled
their annual New Year cele
bration. Organizers cite lack
of attendance in recent
years.
In an earlier interview
with the Progress, Haley
Bouchie of the Jasper Mer
chants Association said,
“We decided to step away
from New Years. It is very
time consuming and costly,
and no one shows up. We’d
spend a lot of time, money,
and energy and 40 people
would come five minutes to
midnight. We said before
last year’s event we’d see
how it went and decide. We
can’t take it on anymore.”
veals that consuming high
fructose com sweetener, can
reduce the amount of good
vitamin D in your blood.
So what is a good supple
mental dose for the average
person?
In 2011 the Endocrine So
ciety put out guidelines to
treat and prevent vitamin D
deficiency. For persons over
8 years old, a 4,000 IU daily
dose was recommended.
Studies reviewed in the
video, show that vitamin D is
one of the safest vitamins you
can take. Think of all the
sunbathing we do and no one
gets sick from Vitamin D tox
icity.
Dr. Seheult who created
the presentation is taking a
Vitamin D3 supplement of
5,000 IU/ day. The data sug
gests that, Black and Latino
Americans probably should
take a slightly larger daily
supplement. If you are over
weight or obese, multiply the
4,000 IU/day recommended
dose by 1.5 or 3.
Taking vitamin D3 won’t
stop everyone from getting
Covid-19 but the video
builds the case that it is cru
cial in helping your body pre
vent and to fight it.
You can buy Vitamin D3
over the counter without a
prescription. It is available at
grocery stores, drugstores
and places like Walmart or
Target.
Covid continues its
rise locally, statewide
New numbers “reflect
our highest case numbers
ever, and are not decreasing
or levelling off day to day, ”
according to state depart
ment of public health
As of Tuesday, Dec.
29th, there have been 1,445
confirmed cases of COVID-
19 in Pickens County with
15 confirmed deaths, four
probable deaths, and 103
hospitalizations, according
to the Georgia Department
of Public Health’s (GDPH)
Daily COVID status page.
Throughout the state,
there have been 552,712
confirmed coronavirus
cases, 9,759 confirmed
deaths, 41,403 hospitaliza
tions and 1,020 probable
deaths.
According to the GDPH,
from December 14-21, the
seven-day average of new
cases reported showed an
increase of nine percent of
cases over the previous
seven-day average of new
cases. These weekly in
creases may appear small,
but they “reflect our highest
case numbers ever, and are
not decreasing or levelling
off day to day,” according to
a press release from GDPH.
As of Dec. 21, the state
reported 4,999,306 (cumu
lative) COVID-19 tests had
been performed and from
Dec. 14-21, testing loca
tions increased the number
of tests by 18 percent over
the previous seven days.
Daily hospitalizations for
COVID-19 have increased
26 percent from 2,968 on
December 15 to 3,734 on
December 22.
Emergency department
visits related to COVID-19
increased to nine percent
statewide and influenza-like
illness visits increased three
percent statewide over the
two week period Dec. 5-18.
Governor Kemp, UGA partner
to prepare small businesses for
emergency funding
Prevent, treat COVID-19 with vitamins
By Todd J. Smith
Concerned Jasper resident
Old studies and new data,
show how important it is to
have high levels of vitamin D
for the prevention and treat
ment of Covid-19.
If you are deficient in Vi
tamin D3 your chances of
getting Covid-19 are greater,
your risk of severe symptoms
and your risk of death are
greater.
Doctor Roger Seheult at
MedCram, puts all of this
data together in a compelling
youtube video that premiered
Dec. 2020. It is titled “The
Role of Vitamin D in Covid-
19” with Prof. Roger Seheult,
MD. If you watch it for your
self you can make your own
decision.
Our skin makes vitamin
D3 naturally when we are
outside in the sun. The only
other way to get Vitamin D3
is by dietary supplement.
The average person spend
only 7.6% of their time out
side and many of us develop
Vitamin D3 deficiencies in
the winter months, because
days are shorter and the sun
is lower in the sky. Peak flu
activity is during these winter
months when our bodies are
not producing as much D3.
The same is happening now
with Covid-19. We have to
supplement D3 in our diets
especially during the winter
months.
Age, race and weight play
key roles in a person’s likeli
hood of being Vitamin D de
ficient and getting Covid-19.
As we age our skin pro
duces less vitamin D3 from
sunlight. A person 70-80
years old will produce half
the amount of vitamin D3 as
someone younger and is
more likely to be Vitamin D
deficient.
People with darker skin
tones produce less D3 from
sunlight. The majority of
Black and Hispanic-Ameri-
cans are more likely to be de
ficient in Vitamin D3.
Body fat measured by the
body mass index (BMI) plays
a large part in Vitamin D
blood levels. The more fat
you have the more likely you
are to be Vitamin D deficient.
Vitamin D is fat soluble, and
stores up in your fat making
less available in your blood.
Someone considered over
weight on the BMI scale
would need 1.5 time as much
D3 supplement as someone
classified as normal and a
person classified as obese
would need 3 times the
amount.
Now you can understand
why older Americans, over
weight Americans and Amer
icans with darker skin tones
have been more likely to get
Covid-19 and need intensive
care. Covid-19 cases are ris
ing in the winter months be
cause we do not get as much
sunlight and our bodies do
not produce as much vitamin
D3.
Also, a recent study re-
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