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Thursday, January 14, 2021 Volume 133 Number 39 Jasper, Georgia 22 pages in two sections Published Weekly
Vaccines roll out for general public
Enough doses expected to serve entire county, says health dept.
Damon Howell / Photo
Suzanne Cronk was one of the people who received a COVID-19 vaccine Monday at Good Samaritan
Health & Wellness Center, the first day people 65 and over were eligible. Over 100 people also received their
first dose of the two-dose vaccine at the Pickens County Health Department that same day.
By Angela Reinhardt
Staff Writer
areinhardt@pickensprogress.com
Monday, Jan. 11 was the first day
members of the general public -
those 65 and older - were eligible to
take the COVID-19 vaccination in
Georgia. Despite what was expected
to be a chaotic scene, things ran
smoothly at the Pickens County
Health Department, which adminis
tered around 120 doses that day.
“We’ve had a lot of compli
ments,” said Tiffany Morgan, Pick
ens County’s Nurse Manager. “So
far things have gone very smoothly.”
The Pickens County Sheriff’s Of
fice and Pickens EMS crews were
on site, having anticipated large
crowds and possible traffic and
safety issues. The sheriff’s office had
a tent stationed at the entrance and
turned away anyone who did not al
ready have an appointment. Inside,
the waiting room was calm and not
crowded, but patients steadily came
in to receive their vaccination, which
took just a few minutes, and were di
rected to sit in a waiting area for 15
minutes to be sure there weren’t any
immediate side effects.
“So far, we haven’t had any is
sues with that,” Morgan said, who
added that they are distributing the
Modema vaccine.
Despite the scene being calm at
the local health department, for peo
ple who weren’t lucky enough to se
cure an appointment through an
online booking page launched on the
North Georgia Health District
[NGHD] website the week before,
or through an appointment hotline
launched Friday, Jan. 8, Monday
was stressful. There were wide
spread reports of people trying to
call the hotline number all day with
no luck - the phone would either
ring non-stop with no outgoing mes
sage or callers would get a busy sig
nal.
The NGHD launched the hotline
due to an overwhelming response to
the online booking system, which
created a range of technical issues.
Online appointments booked-up im
mediately, but the local county nurse
said at some point the online system
will be back up. For the time being,
people have to contact the hotline to
make a vaccine appointment. They
cannot contact the local office to
make appointments and walk-ins are
not accepted. The number is 1-888-
881-1474.
Morgan said with longer hours
Tuesday, they would administer
more than the 120 doses they did on
Monday, and she did not anticipate
running out of vaccines for existing
or future appointments.
Per capita income here remains highest
in region, with incomes rising nearly 2%
By Christie Pool
Staff Writer
christie@pickensprogress.com
Recently released data from the
U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
(BEA) shows that Pickens County
again has the highest per capita
yearly income in our 15-county
northwest Georgia region at
$48,493.
Pickens per capita income rose
1.93 percent from $47,572 in 2018
to $48,493 in 2019, according to the
latest figures. That is $257 above the
state of Georgia’s per capita personal
income of $48,236 for 2019.
Per capita personal income is
total income of all individuals di
vided by the population. Despite
being just the 10th most populated
county in our northwest region with
32,591 residents, Pickens’ income
ranked the highest.
Ten years ago, in 2009, Pickens
County’s per capita income was
$33,948 and the population was
29,542.
Murray County is the least
wealthy in the region at $30,964 and
a population of 40,096.
In 2019, personal income in
creased in 2,964 counties across the
United States, decreased in 139, and
was unchanged in 10, according to
estimates by the BEA. Personal in
come increased 4.0 percent in the
metropolitan portions of the United
States and increased 3.5 percent in
the non-metropolitan portions. Pick
ens County increased 1.93 percent,
trailing the national average.
In metropolitan counties, the per
cent change in personal income
ranged from 12.1 percent in
Doniphan County, Kansas to -5.8
percent in Stark County, Illinois. In
non-metropolitan counties, it ranged
from 34.7 percent in Sheridan
County, Kansas to -14.2 percent in
Cavalier County, North Dakota.
In 2019, counties in our north
west Georgia region had per capita
personal incomes of: $39,927 in
Whitfield; $39,505 in Bartow;
$39,314 in Floyd; $38,978 in Pauld
ing; $37,582 in Haralson; $37,385 in
Fannin; $36,399 in Catoosa;
$35,576 in Gilmer; $35,557 in Gor
don; $34,639 in Dade; $34,078 in
Walker; $34,055 in Polk; $31,577 in
Chattooga; and $30,964 in Murray.
While not in our 15-county north
west Georgia regional commission
area, Cherokee County to our imme
diate south had a per capita personal
income of $52,953 and Dawson
County to the east trailed Pickens by
just $2,215 at $46,278 for 2019.
County
Per Capita Personal Income t
Pickens
Whitfield
Bartow
Floyd
Paulding
Haralson
Fannin
Catoosa
Gilmer
Gordon
Dade
Walker
Polk
Chatooga
Murray
Cherokee*
Dawson*
48,493
39,314
38,978
36,399
35,576
35,557
34
34,078
34,055
30,964
52,953
46,278
15,000 30,000 45,000 60,000
Population
32,591
104,628
107,738
98,498
168,667
29,792
26,188
67,580
31,369
57,963
16,116
69,761
42,613
24,789
40,096
258,773
26,108
* Not in NW Georgia Regional Commission region
Source US Bureau of Economic Analysis
Meeting time, roadside trash, department updates
Standi holds first meeting
Emergency crews, law
enforcement respond
to fewer calls in 2020
By Angela Reinhardt
Staff Writer
areinhardt@pickensprogress.com
Thursday morning, Jan
uary 7, Pickens County’s
new commission chair Kris
Stancil ran his first official
meeting, a work session
where department heads
gave updates and he pro
posed a new meeting time
for 2021.
Stancil also pitched the
idea that department heads
recognize stand-out em
ployees at future meetings,
along with employees cur
rently being recognized for
their years of service.
“Out of the 400 county
wide, we’ve got some re
ally good employees, and I
think the more chances to
show our appreciation the
better,” he said.
No votes were taken,
but the chair suggested fu
ture regular commissioners’
meetings be held at 6 p.m.
He said that time might bet
ter accommodate working
citizens, but not be so late
that it asks too much of em
ployees required to attend.
The day would remain the
same, the third Thursday of
the month, but would be a
change from the current
5:30 p.m. meeting time if
ultimately approved. Com
missioner Becky Denney
suggested they try the 6
p.m. time for a few months
to see if it makes an impact.
“I’m okay with chang
ing it, then if we don’t see a
difference in attendance
could we look at changing
it back?” she said.
Roadside trash
on the radar
Denney, who said she
“gets more emails about
trash pickup than any other
thing,” brought up a letter
she received from a citizen
concerned about the quan
tity of roadside litter, as
well as graffiti at the Burnt
Mountain overlooks. Stan
cil said he has been in nu
merous discussions to
re-initiate roadside litter
pick up with people using
community service workers
as well as with inmates
See Stancil on 11A
Statistics show
Fridays and October
have highest crash rates
By Christie Pool
Staff Writer
christie@pickensprogress.com
If there is any bright side
to the pandemic, it might be
that first responders in Pick
ens County were needed
much less than in previous
years.
According to Georgia
State Patrol Post #28 Com
mander Tim Nichols, there
were 1,062 crashes in Pick
ens County in 2020, down
eight percent from the 1,157
crashes in 2019. Injuries
from those crashes were also
down, he said.
“Maybe due to the pan
demic, that’s the reason
(these numbers) are down,”
Nichols said. “I guess there’s
good and bad in everything.”
There was a 28 percent
decrease in injuries but a 100
percent increase in fatalities,
according to Nichols. There
were 10 fatalities in 2020
and five in 2019. In 2018, he
said, there were only three
fatalities on area roads.
For the past couple of
years, October was the
month that saw the most
crashes. There were 111
wrecks in October 2020 and
137 in October 2019,
Nichols said.
See Fewer calls on 11A
“We will have enough for
the entire county,” she said,
added that they continually
order vaccine supply, and will
continue to order as new por
tions of the population are eli
gible to be vaccinated.
The DPH has also launched
a vaccine locator tool at
dph.georgia.gov. The tool al
lows users to search by county
for a vaccine provider in their
community, and provides loca
tion and contact information
for the provider. It is not a cen
tralized scheduling tool. Cur
rently, it shows just two
See Vaccines on 11A
School
Pickens schools
announce that
distance-learning
will continue
through Friday,
January 22
Sports
PHS Dragons
second place in
region
Page 1B
State News
Georgia pump
prices increase
6 cents Page 7A
Obituaries - 12A
• Billy Townsend
• Elbert Stone
• Emma Fountain
• Lonnie Biddy
• Mark Byess Jr.
• Robert Kintner Jr.
• Tom Eubanks
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