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2A ®j)£ l)pra(ti <©a?£tt£ Tuesday, March 16,2021
Railcar full of lumber burns
Personnel from the Barnesville Fire Department were dispatched to the rail yard downtown
Saturday afternoon to extinguish a fire on a railcar loaded with lumber. The call was dispatched
at 5:25 p.m. Fire chief Kelvin Chute said the cause of the fire remains undetermined. “We got
to use our piercing nozzles which we don’t use often. It was good to get the practice,” the chief
said. The investigation is ongoing.
Thank You!
L-R: Sue O’Neal, Joshua Swatts, James Butler, Ron Smith, and Danny Turner.
Lamar County
School Board Members
School Board
Appreciation Week
Thank you for your investment in
the children of Lamar County!
School board sets calendar,
plans for teacher vaccines
KAY S. PEDROTTI
kayspedrotti@gmail.com
The 2021-22 school
year will have some cal
endar changes advocated
by a systemwide vote
for one of two options
presented by the super
intendent; the choice
was approved by a close
5247%.
One major change is a
full week for winter break
in February. Superinten
dent Dr. Jute Wilson said
every effort is made to
match Lamar County’s
major breaks with sur
rounding counties for the
benefit of those who may
work in or have students
in other school systems.
The board also approved
a roster of 172 certified
personnel including
teachers, counselors and
central office specialists
and coordinators.
Wilson announced
that by the end of the
day Monday, we had
almost 160 staff members
vaccinated with the first
dose. That is approxi
mately 40% of our staff. If
we were to include staff
who have the antibod
ies, 1 suspect we are near
50%. Participation with
the vaccination program
is 100% optional. We used
teacher planning time
and Monday’s remote
learning day to
avoid interrupting
instructional time.
We are grateful for
Mrs. Farr and the
DPH for helping
push this through
so quickly. While
they were not be
directly involved
with the vaccination, we
were excited many of
our HS nursing students
in Mrs. Kidd’s program
(working towards CNA
credentialing) assisted
with the administration
of the vaccines.
We are making Friday,
April 2 a remote learning
day for students and will
administer the second
dose to staff.
Recognitions at the
meeting included the
United Bank classified
employee of the month,
Mangle Haygood at
LCMS. Principal Stephen
Boyd described Haygood
as the behind-the-scenes
“assistant principal” who
is often able to talk the
students “out of in-school
suspension.” Haygood
said he loves his job and
is “here to serve kids.”
LCHS wrestling teams,
girls and boys, were rec
ognized for their accom
plishments during the
year, along with the girls
varsity basketball team.
Other RESA Regional
Literacy Days win
ner recognitions
included Journey
Standridge, LCES
fourth grade, first
place in poetry
recitation; Erinn
Goolsby, LCES fifth
grade, third place
in poetry recita
tion; Kelaiah Watson,
LCES fourth grade, sec
ond place in ready writ
ing; Jason Cook, LCMS
sixth grade, first place
in ready writing; Jasmyn
Dixon, LCMS eighth
grade, first place in ready
writing.
Wilson said that ES-
PLOST was $188,290.86
for February; the system
averages about $196,000
per month from the
special sales tax. Also ap
proved were two changes
in teaching methods for
particular dates: Monday,
March 29 will be “face
to face” instead of the
scheduled remote day;
and Friday April 2 will be
a remote learning day for
students instead of a face
to face classroom day.
The board also ap
proved a consent
agenda that included
two facilities uses, four
fundraisers, one position
recommendation, three
resignations, two medical
leaves and one termina
tion.
COVID-19:
Spread slows considerably;
more now eligible for vaccine
Lamar County had
1,270 confirmed cases
of COVID-19 as of the
March 14 update from
DPH. That number is up
from 1,263 cases March 7,
Lamar has had 105 coro-
navirus related hospital
izations.
Lamar recorded two
more COV1D deaths last
week, those of a 71-year-
old white female and an
82-year-old white male,
to run the total to 41
deaths.
As of Monday, DPH
reported 6,794 Lamar
countians had received
the COVID-19 vaccine.
The vaccine priority list
was opened up to all
Georgians over 55 Mon
day along with those who
suffer from a variety of
medical conditions that
make them more sus
ceptible to the virus. For
details, visit dph.georgia.
gov.
As of Monday, sheriff
Brad White was tracking
28 positive cases at 24
local residences.
Local COVID-19
numbers and those from
surrounding counties are
updated daily at barnes-
ville.com.
Sammy Blue
has died
Sammy Blue, one of the
earliest performers at and
supporters of Barnesville’s
BBQ & Blues Festival, died
March 7. He had suffered
heart issues and had
cancer.
Nicknamed by Muddy
Waters himself as ‘The
Crown Prince of the Blues’,
Sammy performed all over
the world touring with Taj
Mahal. He also appeared
in several feature films and
was always a crowd favor
ite here.
No funeral arrangements
or obituary information was
immediately available.
Dr. Mohamad joins Upson Cardiology on March 22!
• Provides minimally invasive procedures to open blocked arteries in
the heart and legs
• Preventive management and control of risk factors for cardiovascular
disease
Almois Mohamad, M.D. 706-646-5712