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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