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THURSDAY. JANUARY 7. 2021 PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS PAGE 5A
Incorporate more reading into your schedule
It is easy to include more reading in your day, especially when people understand the
benefits reading provides the mind and body.
Those who want to boost
their health and happiness
need look no further than a
good book to do so.
Reading helps people of
all ages expand their vocabu
lary. For students, that can
translate into improved
scores on standardized tests
and performance in school.
Reading also can lead to
higher scores on general tests
of intelligence, according to
researchers at the University
of California, Berkeley.
One of the main advan
tages to reading, particularly
for adults, is that it helps keep
minds sharp longer. Accord
ing to the journal Neurology,
reading gives the brain a
good workout, which can im
prove memory function. This
can slow down the process of
cognitive decline.
Reading also helps boost
concentration. Multitasking,
checking email, watching tel
evision and chatting on social
media can cause stress levels
to rise and productivity to
wane. Conversely, when
reading a good book or in
formative article, all attention
is focused on the story. This
focus can be extended to
other things, such as school
or work projects.
Now that some of the rea
sons to read have been pre
sented, people may wonder
how to increase their propen
sity to read. The following
are some ideas to get started.
• Buy several paper books.
While all books and reading
materials can be beneficial,
paper books may help people
stay focused longer. Based on
the research paper, “Reading
from paper versus screens: A
critical review of the empiri
cal literature,” by Andrew
Dillon, figures vary accord
ing to means of calculation
and experimental design, but
the evidence suggests a per
formance deficit of between
20 percent and 30 percent
when reading from a screen.
People can’t toggle between
apps when reading a paper
book versus text on an e-
reader, reducing distractions.
New year brings new laws to Georgia
Community Responds
Stimulus payments
By Dave Williams
Bureau Chief
Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA - Legislation
the General Assembly passed
this year covering a wide
range of subjects from health
care to law enforcement to
Georgia’s foster care system
will take effect with the new
year.
Here is a summary of key
bills that will take effect Jan.
1:
House Bill 888 takes aim
at the practice of “surprise
billing” by requiring health
insurance companies to cover
emergency services a patient
receives whether or not the
provider is a participant in
the patient’s insurance net
work, leaving it to providers
and insurers to settle their dif
ferences through arbitration.
House Bill 911 prohibits fos
ter parents from engaging in
improper sexual behavior
with children in their care,
closing a loophole in current
state law. The measure was
part of Georgia First Lady
Marty Kemp’s initiative to
better protect foster children.
House Bill 838 is aimed at
protecting police and other
first responders from bias-
motivated crimes committed
because of the victims’ “ac
tual or perceived employ
ment as a first responder.”
Legislative Republicans
pushed the bill as a compan
ion measure to passage of the
state’s first hate crimes law.
House Bill 1037 puts the
state’s popular film tax credit
under additional scrutiny by
requiring all film productions
located in Georgia to undergo
mandatory audits by the
Georgia Department of Rev
enue or third-party auditors.
It also tightens rules govern
ing how film companies
transfer or sell unused tax
credits to other businesses.
House Bill 244 assigns
the Georgia Public Service
Commission (PSC) the task
of deciding how much the
state’s electric membership
• Subscribe to magazines
and newspapers. Have
plenty of reading materials
handy, which can easily be
tossed in a tote bag or carried
to and from appointments.
Resist the urge to use a mo
bile device, opting to read a
magazine or paper instead.
• Read at the gym. Bringing
a book along to the gym has
dual benefits. Not only will
one be engaging the brain as
well as the body, but also be
coming absorbed in a chapter
or interesting piece can pro
long the workout. That
means spending more time
on that treadmill, elliptical
machine or stationary bike to
finish the meaty part of a
chapter.
• Read before bed. Skip late-
night television watching in
favor of a relaxing read. Blue
light, which is emitted from
televisions, mobile phones
and tablets, signals to the
brain that it isn’t time for
sleep. Therefore, melatonin
production can be delayed,
making it more difficult to
fall asleep. Reading a paper
book by a dim light may be
relaxing enough to induce
sleep. In addition, according
to the organization Weight
Watchers, snuggling up with
a good read tamps down lev
els of unhealthy stress hor
mones such as cortisol.
Feeling stress-free is a relax
ing way to wind down from a
tough day.
cooperatives can charge
telecommunications
providers for broadband at
tachments to their utility
poles, a bid to promote the
expansion of rural broadband
service. The new rates set by
the PSC will take effect July
1.
Senate Bill 426 requires
manufacturers that use the
cancer-causing chemical eth
ylene oxide to report any
waste spills or gas releases to
the state within 24 hours. The
director of the Georgia Envi
ronmental Protection Divi
sion then must post the
information on the agency’s
website.
By Angela Reinhardt
Staff Writer
areinhardt@pickensprogress.com
COVID stimulus pay
ments are being sent out
now to individuals and fam
ilies. The $600 payment per
qualifying individual and
child has been met by mixed
reviews, ranging from some
who think the amount is not
enough, to others who think
payments are “socialism” in
America. We asked our
Facebook followers their
thoughts. And if they qual
ify to receive the payment,
how they will use it. Here
are some of the responses:
Colin Buckley - $600 is
a joke. Good for the folks
that haven’t been impacted
by covid. My income has
taken a 30 percent dip.
When you see what was
spent in the $1.3 trillion
spending bill, it’s quite de
pressing.
Christina Young - Pay
ing for my children’s private
tutoring that we imple
mented back in the Fall to
supplement so they don’t
fall behind.
Linda Palermo Lullie -
The problem with the bill is
not the $600 going back to
Americans, it's the billions
of our tax dollars going to
"foreign nations," a.k.a.
being laundered back to the
comipt politicians pet proj
ects and to pay off those
who helped steal the 2020
elections and help kill small
businesses through the
Covid lockdowns while gi
ants like Amazon, Walmart
and Home Depot made mil
lions and millions. It's all
our money...government has
never made nor earned a
penny of it.
Brittany Scott - $600 is
a damn joke. All it did was
make me have to choose be
tween power or rent. An ab
solute joke.
Jim Potter - I'm gonna
take the money they ex
torted from me with a smile,
don’t care how much it is
and honestly should be
more. Millions for gender
studies, boat repair, and
greasing the palms of other
countries off of our dollars.
Richest part is we as a coun
try are trillions of dollars in
debt but I get denied a loan
from my bank because of
“poor credit.” The audacity.
Amy Gibson - FYI, the
IRS.gov website does in
struct on how to send the
payment back if it is un
wanted.
Jamie Swafford - If we
get it IT’S BILL MONEY!!
Rayven Michele - Bills.
My son has been through
five quarantines. That’s a lot
of work missed...This
money is supplementing me
losing time from work,
barely.
Martha Ingram Tipton
- Why would anyone refuse
money????
Stephanie Thomas -
When we get ours it will go
towards bills.
Susan Baxter Nicholson
- We received ours. Using it
for home improvements.
But I would gladly give it
back IF they would trash the
bill. All of it!
Tammy Lynn Berry -
Bills bills bills. Food. The
prices of everything has
gone up so high. It's hard to
keep up.
Art Rodes - We re
ceived. We should not be
getting it as our income has
not changed, but we will try
to spend it locally to help
small businesses.
Cody Helms - Theft.
Plain and simple. Giving us
$600 in exchange for $3,000
of national debt per person.
Preston Long - I’m still
behind from spending
money on food when the
crisis started because I
thought we were going to
close down businesses and
be quarantined for a month.
That’s what I get for think
ing that this county is like
the others.
Letters to the Editor
To the Editor:
I have been disappointed and
saddened with the antics of
the Presidential election on
the national level but the lack
of planning and administra
tion of elections in Pickens
County during the Nov 3rd
and the Senatorial runoff
elections is inexcusable. I
feel there are serious issues
with the elections board and
registrar’s office that should
be addressed immediately.
Donna G. Crowe
To the Editor:
As I recover from vertigo
and try to recover my
strength to read, I can only
read a small piece at a time. I
am going back through a
grammar of Old English-
Anglo Saxon—and a book on
the Roman Empire and its re
lationship with the Barbarian
tribes and the expansion of
the Germanic tribes and their
effect on Rome.
I began to think on the let
ters and e-mails I had sent out
down through the years since
the late AD 1970s. I realized
they were in defense of the
nation and the American peo
ple. After I got a computer
around AD 2000, the amount
I sent out is in the thousands.
Thinking in terms of quantity
and not quality of the mail
ings, I thought of the massive
book or number of volumes
they would make. As I was
browsing through the Anglo-
Saxon Chronicle and a gram
mar on Old English last
night, I thought of the mail
ings as belonging with the
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle,
Bede's History of the English
Church, and Winston
Churchill's History Of The
English Speaking People's.
Keeping in mind that this is
just my opinion, the thought
does do a lot of cheer leading
for me.
All the letters and e-mails
I have sent out to free the
United States of alcohol and
abortion and calling for a
prohibition amendment tend
to defend those dying and
about to die.
The Anglo-Saxon Chroni
cle begins with the time
Julius Caesar invaded Britain
and abruptly ends in AD
1154, Eighty eight years after
the Norman Invasion of Eng
land. probably the last of the
Anglo-Saxon scholars died
about that time. The Nor
mans were Norsemen from
Scandinavia that invaded
France and were allowed to
settle in France. They lost
their Norwegian speech and
spoke a dialect of French.
When they invaded England,
after a few years, English
dropped much of endings
from words. For instance the
Normans used "The" for all
parts of a sentence instead of
the Germanic endings of Old
English. Soon the French
spoken by the Normans
could no longer be under-
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stood in Paris and English
began to absorb the Norman
speech and became Middle
English. There came a great
vowel shift in English that
transformed English into
modern English we speak
today. The English of the US
Constitution and Declaration
of Independence. The King
James Bible is the greatest
book in modem English. It
was bom about the time of
the English began planting
colonies in North America.
Billy Joe Parker
Ga. Prohibition
Speed Burger
Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday
10 a.m. until 7:30 p.m.
Drive Thru, curbside and online
at MobileBytes Loyalty
Call-in Welcome 706-692-5136
Burgers
Hotdogs
Sandwiches
Corndogs
Salads
Chicken tenders
Sides
Fries
Onion Rings
Slaw
Mac-n-Cheese
Green Beans
Mashed Potatoes
Plates
Hamburger Steak
Shrimp/Fish
Bar-BQ
Country-fried steak
Grilled/Fried
Chicken
(1/4 fry & 1/2 fry)
Chicken Tenders
Homemade Vegetable Beef Soup
Cornbread and PB&J Sandwiches