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PAGE 10A PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS THURSDAY. JANUARY 28. 2021
Contact your
Public Officials
State & U.S. Officials
Governor Brian Kemp
206 Washington Street
Suite 203, State Capitol
Atlanta, Ga. 30334
404-656-1776
gov.georgia.gov
Represtative David Ralston
R - Georgia District 7
Speaker of the House
404-656-5020
David.ralston@house.ga.gov
State Representative Rick Jasperse
R - Georgia District I I
404-656-7857
Rick.jasperse@house.ga.gov
State Senator Steve Gooch
R- Georgia District 51
Majority Whip
404-656-9221
Steve.gooch@senate.ga.gov
State Senator Chuck Payne
R - Georgia District 54
404-463-5402
Chuck.payne@senate.ga.gov
U.S. Senator Raphael Warnock
D - Junior Georgia Senator
B40D Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington DC 20510
(202) 224-3643
U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff
D - Junior Georgia Senator
825 B&C Hart Senate Office Building
Washington DC 20510
(202) 224-3521
U.S. Congressman Andrew Clyde
R - Georgia’s 9th District
521 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515-1009
202-225-9893
Clyde.house.gov
(must go to website to fill out contact form)
U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene
R - Georgia District 14
1023 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515-1014
202-225-521 I
Pickens Officials
Board of Commissioners
• Kris Stancil, Chairman
kstancil@pickenscountyga.gov
• Becky Denney (East)
bdenney@pickenscountyga.gov
• Jerry Barnes (West)
jbarnes@pickenscountyga.gov
Board of Education
100 D.B. Carrol St., Jasper, Ga. 30143
706-253-1700
•Tony Young
Interim Superintendent
tonyyoung@pickenscountyschools.org
• Sue Finley
Board Chair
District 4
suefinley@pickenscountyschools.org
•Tommy Gartrell
Board Member
District I
tommygartrell@pickenscountyschools.org
•Aaron Holland
Board Member
District 2
aaronholland@pickenscountyschools.org
•Tucker Green
Board Member
District 3
tuckergreen@pickenscountyschools.org
• Steve Smith
Board Member
District 5
stevesmith@pickenscountyschools.org
City of Jasper
200 Burnt Mountain Road,Jasper,GA 30I43
706-692-9100
cityhall@jasper-ga-us
• Mayor Steve Lawrence
slawrence@jasper-ga.us
• Mayor Pro Tern, John Foust
jfoust@jasper-ga.us
Council Members
• Jim Looney
• Sonny Proctor
• Kirk Raffield
• Anne Sneve
City Manager
• Brandon Douglas
bdouglas@jasper-ga.us
N. Ga. Christian students compete in creative writing
Walker
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North Georgia Christian Academy students in 5th -12th grade competed inACSI Creative Writing Competition and
received top scores. NGCA students received from Excellent and Superior awards in the competition held with five other
Southeast area Christian schools. Alex Swisher was awarded Superior and his work will be sent to the state level com
petition.
Students who competed - Back row, L-R: Amber Broussard, Payton Beaver, Emma Sebastiani, Emmy Beaver, Hannah
Maxwell; Middle row, L-R: Caroline Can’er, Grade Sanford, Alex Swisher, Addie Jones, Whitney Childers; Front row,
L-R: Emi Deetlefs, MacKenzie Reale, Katelyn Miller, Julianne Walker.
Butler: Generous unemployment benefits
keeping jobless Georgians home
By Dave Williams
Bureau Chief
Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA - Some Georgia
employers are having a hard
time filling job openings be
cause generous unemploy
ment benefits are
encouraging workers to stay
home, state Commissioner of
Labor Mark Butler said
Thursday.
Before $600 weekly un
employment checks author
ized by Congress during the
early stage of the corona vims
pandemic ran out last year,
unemployed Georgians re
ceiving maximum state and
federal benefits were bring
ing in $50,180 per year, But
ler told state lawmakers
during a House Appropria
tions subcommittee meeting.
Even those receiving min
imum state and federal bene
fits were taking home the
equivalent of $34,060 a year,
he said.
At the same time, about
90% of Georgians receiving
state unemployment benefits
were earning $30,000 or less
before being laid off, Butler
said.
‘■‘Companies are having to
increase entry-level pay” to
compete, he said.
Butler said generous un
employment benefits also are
making it difficult for the
labor department to hire the
additional staff the agency
needs to cope with the mas
sive increase in unemployed
Georgians seeking benefits
since COVID-19 shut down
the state’s economy last
March and forced businesses
to lay off workers.
The labor department has
paid out nearly $17.3 billion
in state and federal unem
ployment benefits to more
than 4.3 million jobless
Georgians since the virus
struck, more than during the
last nine years combined.
“We’ve been working
seven days a week pretty
much since this started,” But
ler said.
Butler said the agency has
brought back retirees to help
with the increased claims
workload, hired temporary
workers and redirected cur
rent staff from other duties
into handling claims. The
number of employees work
ing claims has more than
doubled from 330 to about
700, he said.
Butler said some of the
more recent economic num
bers give him reason for op
timism that an end is in sight.
Georgia has gained back
82% of the jobs lost since the
pandemic first gained a
foothold in Georgia last
March, the labor department
reported Thursday.
The state’s unemployment
rate fell by a slight 0.1% last
month to 5.6%, while the
number of jobs in December
grew by 44,700 to 4.56 mil
lion.
“December is yet another
month where we have seen
job growth throughout the
state,” Butler said. “We more
than doubled our job growth
from November, which is
very promising, considering
how challenging of a year
this has been.”
First-time unemployment
claims in Georgia were down
last week after increasing sig
nificantly last month. Unem
ployed Georgians filed
35,912 initial claims last
week, down 1,127 from the
previous week.
However, that followed a
19% increase in initial unem
ployment claims filed last
month compared to Novem
ber.
During the week ending
Jan. 16, the job sector ac
counting for the most first
time unemployment claims
in Georgia was accommoda
tion and food services with
8,132 claims. The manufac
turing job sector was next
with 5,040 claims, followed
by administrative and sup
port services with 3,726.
More than half of the
more than 170,000 jobs cur
rently listed on EmployGeor-
gia advertise annual salaries
above $40,000.
Resources for reemploy
ment assistance along with
information on filing an un
employment claim can be
found on the labor depart
ment’s webpage at dol.geor-
gia.gov.
Longarm Quilting Services
for all Quilts
Computer guided edge to edge quilting
Amelia Broussard
Phone: 706-692-5663
or e-mail: broussardcol@msn.com
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Get a health screening
Health screenings are a
vital component of preventa
tive health care. Specific
screenings for older adults
can help them stay healthy.
Healthline and WebMD rec
ommend older adults sched
ule these routine tests. The
frequency of the screenings
may depend on individuals'
health histories, so each test
should be discussed with a
physician during adults' an
nual checkups.
• Blood pressure check
• Blood test to check choles
terol and triglyceride levels
• Colorectal cancer exam
starting at age 50
• Weight screening to check
for gains or losses
• Prostate cancer screening
for men age 70 and older
• Breast exam and mammo
gram for women, starting at
age 40
• Pap smear and HPV tests at
the recommended intervals
advised by a doctor
• Hearing test
• Osteoporosis test
• Shingles and pneumococcal
vaccines
• Eye exam
• Periodontal exam once per
year
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Pickens Board of Education board meeting schedule
January 14, 2021
Called Board Meeting
5:00 p.m.
January 14, 2021
Regular Monthly Board Meeting
6:00 p.m.
February 11, 2021
Called Board Meeting
5:00 p.m.
February 11, 2021
Regular Monthly Board Meeting
6:00 p.m.
March 11,2021
Called Board Meeting
5:00 p.m.
March 11,2021
Regular Monthly Board Meeting
6:00 p.m.
April 15, 2021
Called Board Meeting
5:00 p.m.
April 15, 2021
Regular Monthly Board Meeting
6:00 p.m.
May 13, 2021
Called Board Meeting
5:00 p.m.
May 13, 2021
Regular Monthly Board Meeting
6:00 p.m.
June 10, 2021
Called Board Meeting
5:00 p.m.
June 10, 2021
Regular Monthly Board Meeting
6:00 p.m.
July 8, 2021
Called Board Meeting
5:00 p.m.
July 8, 2021
Regular Monthly Board Meeting
6:00 p.m.
August 12, 2021
Called Board Meeting
5:00 p.m.
August 12, 2021
Regular Monthly Board Meeting
6:00 p.m.
September 9, 2021
Called Board Meeting
5:00 p.m.
September 9, 2021
Regular Monthly Board Meeting
6:00 p.m.
October 14, 2021
Called Board Meeting
5:00 p.m.
October 14, 2021
Regular Monthly Board Meeting
6:00 p.m.
November 11,2021
Called Board Meeting
5:00 p.m.
November 11,2021
Regular Monthly Board Meeting
6:00 p.m.
December 9, 2021
Called Board Meeting
5:00 p.m.
December 9, 2021
Regular Monthly Board Meeting
6:00 p.m.
Board Meeting Location: Pickens County Board of Education Central Office
100 D.B. Carroll Street • Jasper, Georgia 30143 • (706) 253-1700
Fax: (706) 253-1705 • www.pickenscountyschools.org