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Tuesday, March 16,2021 ®jje Ifi-rafti <©a?£tt£ 5A Pictured, L-R: Sam Watson, Avery Coker, and Adam McGin nis. RSCA essay winners Rock Springs Christian Academy sixth grade students participated and placed in the Georgia Farm Bureau Middle School Essay Contest through Lamar Country Farm Bureau Office. This was a county wide competition with public, private and homeschool, middle school students. RSCA took the top three places. Sam Watson placed first place and will move on to district competition. If he wins district Watson will then go to the state finals. Avery Coker placed second and Adam McGinnis placed third. Home-schooled students could play public school sports Home-schooled students in Georgia may soon get the opportunity to compete on their lo cal public school sports team. If Senate Bill 51 is passed, home-schooled students in sixth through twelfth grades may participate in sports, the arts such as band and drama, and other clubs as long as they are enrolled in at least one online class that is of fered through their local public school system. The Senate Education and Youth Committee voted 7-2 in support of the bill on Feb. 17, and it will now continue on in the Senate for further debate. Robin Hines, execu tive director of the GHSA, expressed to the commit tee that passing the bill would “provide opportu nities for young people.” Hines also stated that with the current state of education due to the coronavirus pandemic, “it’s not a far leap” to allow students who tra ditionally are enrolled in virtual classes to partici pate in extracurricular activities. Georgia has the chance to join 25 other states in allowing home- schooled students to be a part of activities and sports. Most of these bills are nicknamed “Tim Tebow bills” after the former University of Florida quarterback who was home-schooled while playing football for a Flo ridian public school. Georgia’s version of the bill is named after Dexter Mosley, a father of six home-schooled ath letes, who passed away in 2019 at the age of 51. Students would participate in clubs and sports for the local public school in which they are zoned and must be selected for teams through a normal tryout process along with tradi tional students. “This is not just a sports bill,” said Cole Muzio, executive director of the Family Policy Alli ance of Georgia. “This is a bill to end discrimina tion in our state against home school students and allow them to partic ipate in all extracurricu lar activity only available at their public school.” Much of the pushback from Georgia schools has been due to potential costs, taking spots on teams away from tradi tional students, and the uncertainty over how to discipline a home- schooled student. Requiring a student to enroll in at least one on line course facilitated by their local public school resolves the issue, as it ensures the student must adhere to the school’s student code of conduct. “It’s time for us (Geor gia) to move in this direc tion,” Hines said. Hines said the GHSA is not fully on board with the move, citing the need for local schools to main tain power in deciding the ways home-schooled students are allowed to participate. Public Meetings •Aldora Town Commission, Tuesday, April 13,10 a.m., Barnesville Houseing Authority; •Barnesville City Council, Monday, April 5, 5:30 p.m., police station; • Barnesville-Lamar County Industrial Development Authority, Thursday, April 8,10:30 a.m., Chamber/ IDA board room; • Barnesville-Lamar County Library Board, Tuesday, March 16, 5:30 p.m. • Family Connections Collaborative, Thursday, April 8, 9 a.m., E.P. Roberts Center; • Lamar County Tax Assessors, Thursday, April 8, 2 p.m., administration building; • Lamar County Board of Education, Monday, April 12, 6 p.m., board offices; • Lamar County Board of Elections, Monday, March 22, 6 p.m., administration building; • Lamar County Commission, Tuesday, March 16, 7 p.m., courthouse; • Lamar County Health Dept. Thursday, May 20,12 p.m. Health Dept. Building; • Lamar County Soil and Water Conservation District, Wednesday, April 7, 9 a.m., USDA service center; •Milner City Council, Monday, March 22, 6 p.m., Milner Community Library. Hope Tree hopes to serve seniors, kids, families Hope Tree Ministries director Jimmy Fam- bro is looking for any families in need of food, especially those which include children and older persons. “No one should go to bed hungry, especially children,” he said, “and seniors often can’t get out to get their food.” Hope Tree has a fund at Giant Mart which allows people in need to obtain groceries. Anyone wish ing to donate to Hope Tree Ministries may give the funds to Giant Mart to increase access for people in need. Fambro can be reached at 678-072-2457. Hope Tree Food Bank is located at 110 Carleeta Street at College Street. Texas power outage FROM PAGE 4A Georgia and Dalton Utili ties, remains on track for completion within the PSC-approved schedule for Unit 3 this November and Unit 4 in November 2022. In summation, Pride- more says that unlike Texas where there is plenty of finger-pointing among all parties as to who was responsible for the massive outage, “In Georgia, the ratepay ers have a say in how decisions are being made on their behalf. If they think 1 am doing a good job representing them, they will reelect me. If not, they will find some one else to do it.” After hearing how much more efficiently our power system operates in Geor gia as compared to the debacle in Texas, she has my vote. Dick Yarbrough is a Southern philosopher, political pundit and straight-shooting humorist all rolled into one. Seen weekly in nearly one million households throughout Georgia, his column is an artful mix of comedy and candor that leaves readers amused, inspired or enraged, but always engaged! Conservation easements FROM PAGE 4A • Updated the regula tory language describ ing the United States’ inspection authority to reflect the existing right of enforcement lan guage used in ACEP-ALE conservation easements, wherein NRCS provides the agricultural land easement holder and the landowner notice and a reasonable opportunity to participate in an in spection of the easement area. • Revised the regula tory language to specify the minimum and maxi mum durations for ACEP- ALE agreements based on an eligible entity’s certification status under ACEP-ALE. Updates to ACEP Wet land Reserve Easements: • Incorporated prior ity into the ACEP-WRE ranking criteria for lands enrolled in the CRP-T1P that are farmed wetland and adjoining land that has the highest wetland functions and values and is likely to return to production after the land leaves CRP. NRCS accepts ACEP applications year-round, but applications are ranked and funded dur ing enrollment periods that are set locally. For more information, visit your state website from nrcs.usda.gov. Obituaries are published as received Jean Hayes Mrs. Jean Crawley Hayes, 74, of Milner, Georgia passed away on Sunday, February 7, 2021 at WellStar Spalding Hospital. Mrs. Hayes was born in Griffin, Georgia on Decem ber 15, 1946. Her parents, Charles D. Crawley and Frances Tucker Crawley precede her in death. Jean was a member of the Family Worship Center, a former real estate agent, member of the Georgia and National Association of Realtors. She formally worked for the U.S. Postal Service and was the owner of the Spalding Pawn Shop. Jean was the type person who thought about others before herself. She will be dearly missed. Survivors include, her husband Harold Hayes; sons and daughters-in-law, Bryan and Julie Hayes, Aaron and Heather Hayes; grandchildren, Tara Green, Ashton Green, Rowan Hayes, Eliana Hayes; great grandchildren Hadley Green, Avery Kate Green, Em mie Green; sister, Laverne Duncan; brother, Charles D. Crawley, Jr; several nieces and nephews. A celebration of her life will be held at a later date. Conner-Westbury Funeral Home, 1891 W. McIntosh Road, Griffin is in charge of all arrangements. Please join the family at www.conner-westburyfu- neralhome.com to leave a condolence or a memory on her web page and to live stream the services. I We would like to thank everyone who called, sent cards, or provided food during the time of the loss of our wife and mother Jean C. Hayes. Harold, Bryan & Aaron Hayes * i BARNESVILLE MARBLE & GRANITE COMPANY Serving Middle Georgia For 110 Years Designers & Manufacturers of Marble, Granite & Bronze Since 1908 George & Janice Moore 770-358-1470 124 Railroad St., Barnesville, GA 30204 Tfumk Wu The kindness of relatives, church members and friends who shared our sorrow has com forted and sustained us in the illness and loss of my dear son, Mr. Eugene “Gene” Zellner. I will forever be grateful to each of you. Mrs. Catherine Hugh, Mother Barnesville and the entire Zellner family from Tampa, Florida. Thank you for the calls, cards, visits, monetary gifts, food and prayers. A Special “thank you” to my family and friends from Tampa, Florida. Mr. Eugene Zellner News: Online 24/7 + print edition weekly local year subscription Send your name, address, phone number and email address to Cl)t Seralb (feette barnesville.com P.0. Box 220,509 Greenwood St. Barnesville, GA 30204 E 770-358-NEWS or email your information to circulation@barnesville.com The Lord is close to the brokenhearted... PSALM 34:18 “Caring Is Our Business” Owned and Operated by Joe and Drew Westbury (770) 358-1678 526 College Dr. Barnesville, GA 30204 email: wwfhbmc@att.net williams-westburyfuneralhome.com