Newspaper Page Text
Tuesday, August 3,2021
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»129M/5A
barnesville.com
Barnesville, Ga. 30204
HERE’S THE
SCOOP
Peaches to
Beaches is
this weekend
The annual Peaches to
the Beaches event gets
underway Friday and
runs through Saturday
night. This unique event
was founded in 2005.
It begins in Barnesville
and runs some 200 miles
down Hwy. 341 to the
Georgia coast with yard
sales and other events set
up in towns and at homes
all along the route.
It has become im
mensely popular with
sellers and bargain hunt
ers. Call 770-358-5884 for
more information.
Buggy Days
pageant
applications
due Friday
The Buggy Days
beauty pageant will be
held Saturday, Septem
ber 11 at the LC Fine
Arts Center. Deadline
for registration is Friday,
August 6. Call 770-358-
5884 or email buggy.days.
pageant202 l@gmail.com
for more information. Ap
plications can be found
at cityofbarnesville.org.
Subscribe. Your name goes
on the label in this box
LC schools reopen with
in-person instruction only
WALTER GEIGER
news@barnesville.com
Lamar County schools re
opened for the 2021-22 school
year July 29, offering only in-
person instruction. The virtual
learning program put in place
last school year due to COV1D
has been discontinued.
Enrollment numbers are
in flux but reflect the rapid
growth Lamar County is expe
riencing.
“Enrollment is look
ing like record highs
at the middle school
where almost 650 are
enrolled and at the
high school where 824
are enrolled,” school
superintendent Dr. Jute
Wilson reported early
Monday. Numbers at
the primary and el
ementary schools are also up.
“Not everyone showed up
Thursday and Friday. This is
not uncommon as
early as we start. We
expect more stu
dents to show up this
week,” Wilson added.
There were some
traffic issues, particu
larly on the first day.
WILSON “We had a mishap
Thursday afternoon
with traffic but we think we
have that figured out,” Wilson
concluded.
Ridden
I
THE HERALD GAZETTE/WALTER GEIGER
Eyes on the prize
DJ Wright was the picture of concentration going through drills with the defensive backs as the Lamar County
Trojans practiced last week. New head coach Travis Ellington will debut his team Friday night when the Manches
ter Blue Devils come to town for a scrimmage. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. at Trojan Field.
Warrants issued
in drive-by
investigation
TURPIN
Warrants
have been
issued for an al
leged Columbus
gang member
in connection
with a drive-by
shooting July 21
at Sammie’s in
downtown Barnesville. A by
stander was hit in the shoulder
by a stray bullet but has recov
ered. Several vehicles were hit
in two fusillades of shots fired
at the scene.
Capt. A1 Moltrum of the
BPD has obtained warrants
for Ceddrick Deon Turpin, 24,
for armed robbery, two counts
aggravated assault, two counts
theft by receiving stolen
property and possession of a
firearm by a convicted felon.
Turpin also has outstanding
warrants for armed robbery in
Camilla, Ga.
According to police, Tur
pin and two others were in a
vehicle and talking to a man
in the parking lot at Sammie’s.
The man directed the vehicle
to the back of the store and
got inside the car. He fled
shortly thereafter and gunfire
erupted from the car, a Dodge
Charger.
The vehicle fled the area
but returned quickly and those
inside opened fire again. The
Charger was later spotted in
Thomaston, resulting in a high
speed chase that ended when
the driver wrecked in Talbot
County. The three suspects
in the car fled into a wooded
area.
Debts erased
for 94 GSC
students
Gordon State
College is ad
dressing the
financial hard
ships that have
been incurred
by students over
the past year.
Gordon State
College is clearing complete
balances of outstanding
student debt that has been
incurred prior to the current
academic term. This debt has
been discharged as of July
2021 as part of the Higher Edu
cation Emergency Relief Fund
which was signed into federal
law through the CARES Act on
DR. NOOKS
SEE DEBTS ERASED 3A
Don’t look now but COVID is reemerging
As required, Erin Cook wore her mask at last week’s blood drive spon
sored by the local Rotary club, which collected 61 units for the Red Cross.
Masks are a controversial issue here and nationwide.
BY WALTER GEIGER
news@barnesville.com
COV1D-19 cases, driven by
the Delta variant, are reemerg
ing in Lamar County, much to
the chagrin of public health of
ficials. Though not yet dire, the
situation bears observing.
“I hate to tell you this but
we are seeing the Delta vari
ant here in Lamar County. The
numbers are going up. We have
seen vaccinated people who
have tested positive for COVID.
1 would urge you to be cautious
and wear a mask when in public
places,” Sherry Farr, nurse
manager of the local health
department told the Barnesville
Rotary Club July 27.
In the month of April, Lamar
recorded 49 new COVID cases
and two deaths. In May, the
community suffered 23 new
cases and one death. In June,
five new cases and one fatality
were reported here. During July,
there were no new deaths but
new COVID cases for the month
jumped back up to 58.
Last month, The Herald
Gazette appealed to readers to
answer four questions about
their experience with COVID.
Of the respondents, just under
60% had not contracted the
virus.
Two respondents had lost
family members to the disease
- one a brother-in-law and one a
cousin. Several had lost friends.
One reader, Randy Vining,
blamed the vaccine for killing
his father. “My Dad died three
days after his first shot,” Vining
said.
The respondents were about
evenly split on vaccinations
and opinions were divided on
their effectiveness. Jere Moore
was among the unvaccinated.
“Those injections are not
vaccines, do not bring about
immunity and have not been
properly tested. Smart people
do not volunteer to be lab
rats for for-profit companies,”
Moore wrote.
Kathy Anthony also has not
been vaccinated. “It’s too soon.
1 just don’t trust it yet,” An
thony said. Another reader, who
gave his name as Trent, has also
avoided the shots. “The vaccine
is poison. It is 99.9% graphene
oxide,” he alleged.
Robert Warren agreed. “1 am
not a vaccine person. If our gov
ernment is for it, 1 am usually
against it. 1 do not trust govern
ment,” Warren wrote. Vining is
also among the unvaccinated.
“Neither 1 nor my wife
SEE CORONAVIRUS 2A
©2021 THE HERALD GAZETTE, BARNESVILLE, LAMAR COUNTY, GA 30204, 770.358.NEWS