Newspaper Page Text
Find out about local election results from the
Jan. 5 election online at pikecountygeorgia.com.
See page 2A
PIKE COUNTY
’JOURNAL REPORTER
ONE DOLLAR
www.pikecountygeorgia.com
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 6, 2021
PIKE'S PEEK
Jobless rate
increases
to 5.2%
The jobless rate
for the Three Rivers
region, which includes
Pike County, increased
by 0.9% in November
The rate was 5.2%
compared to 2.7% in
November, 2019.
Initial unemploy
ment claims in Novem
ber were down 42%
from October.
In addition to Pike,
the Three Rivers
region includes Butts,
Carroll, Coweta, Heard,
Lamar, Meriwether,
Spalding, Troup and
Upson counties.
United Bank
among top
small banks
United Bank, which
is based in Barnesville
and Zebulon, was first
on a list of Georgia’s
top community banks
compiled by the Atlan
ta Business Chronicle
and released Dec. 11.
The newspaper
listed United Bank’s to
tal assets in Georgia at
$1.76 billion with total
deposits of $1.58 bil
lion, total equity capi
tal of $177.37 million
and 402 employees.
Second on the list
was Colony Bank
which is based in
Fitzgerald with $1.43
billion total deposits
in Georgia. Round
ing out the top five
were Queensborough
National Bank & Trust
in Louisville; Heritage
Southeast Bank in
Jonesboro; and Pin
nacle Bank in Elberton.
PHOTOS BY RACHEL McDANIEL / PIKE COUNTY JOURNAL REPORTER
Woodworker Dennis Brooks recently finished this wooden duck. He has created many works of
art and pieces of furniture in his lifetime.
Woodworker creates art, furniture
Dennis Brooks holds an electric guitar that he built in Pike for
his son. He has built all sorts of items over the years.
BY RACHEL McDANIEL
news@pikecountygeorgia.com
Dennis Brooks has
been bringing his art and
visions to life since he
was a young man and his
home is furnished with
his beautiful instruments,
paintings, carvings and
furniture as a result.
Some of his most re
cently completed works
include an electric guitar
and a wooden duck. He
is currently working on a
set of six chairs for a din
ing room table as well.
“When he was in
about the third or fourth
grade, he had rheumatic
fever and he had to stay
home,” said his mother
Virginia Brooks of Lifsey
Springs.
“We got him watercol-
ors and he would paint
and if anyone came to
visit him, they would buy
one for a quarter. In later
years as he got grown,
he started taking up oil
painting. Then he got
into wood carving. He
just kept going honing
his woodworking skills
until he decided he want
ed to make furniture.
Since then, he’s made ce
dar chests, head boards,
tables, chairs, cribs, a
mantlepiece and even a
dulcimer and guitars. He
can’t stand it when he
isn’t building something.
He just loves it!”
She said his family
and neighbors often ask
him to repair chairs and
furniture when they need
it and he enjoys showing
people how to use wood
working equipment and
fix things.
Dennis still remembers
one of his first wood
working projects that he
did with his dad and the
grandfather clock is still
ticking in his living room.
“My dad and 1 built a
grandfather clock to
gether before 1 moved
away from home. Daddy
could do anything when
he tried. He could con
struct anything and when
we used to live near the
Lifsey Springs pools in
the 50s, he built a set of
kitchen cabinets that’s
still in the house today.
He also helped me build
my shop.”
He built two rocking
chairs of black walnut -
starting with a three-inch
slab of the wood - and
other than planing it
down to two inches and
a little bit of bandsaw
cutting, he did all of it
by hand. He kept one of
the rocking chairs and
gave the other to his son
David.
“One project that 1
recently finished was
an electric guitar that 1
started when my son was
in high school. We had all
the parts still under his
bed so 1 pulled them all
out and finished it,” he
said.
See WOODWORKER page 2A
COVID-19 cases rise
quickly; vaccine not
widely available yet
The number of con
firmed COV1D-19 cases
in Pike County shot up
to 102 in the past two
weeks according to the
Georgia Department of
Public Health with 14
deaths, seven probable
deaths, 50 hospitaliza
tions and a total of 674
cases since March as of
press time Monday.
Hayla Folden of
the District 4 Georgia
Department of Public
Health said plans are to
provide the vaccination
to adults 65 and older in
the next two weeks, pro
vided there is adequate
supply of the vaccine.
“During the next two
weeks, District 4 Public
Health staff and county
health department em
ployees will work with
community partners to
plan for increased traffic
at Points of Dispensing
(PODs). This planning is
critical for smooth de
livery of vaccine to the
public in a drive through
setting,” she said. “It is
critical that even as vac
cine becomes available
to more people, all resi
dents continue to wear
a mask, practice social
distancing and wash
your hands frequently.
While the COV1D-19
vaccine is 95% effective
in preventing illness
in the individual being
vaccinated, it is not yet
known if the vaccine
fully prevents person to
person transmission or
asymptomatic infec
tions.”
Local health care
providers may call the
health department at
770-567-8972 to make an
appointment to get the
free vaccine and plans
to expand the vaccine
availability will be an
nounced in the coming
weeks.
Pike County schools
plan for students to
return to the class
room on Jan. 6. Upson
County schools delayed
students’ return to the
classroom until Jan.
11 but Lamar County
started back Tuesday.
Blood drive set for
Thursday, Jan. 7 at
GMC Zebulon campus
Georgia Military
College Zebulon cam
pus will host a commu
nity blood drive with
the American Red
Cross on Jan.
7 from 12
noon to 4
p.m. at 7818
Highwayl9
South, Zebu
lon, GA 30295
(by Zebulon
City Hall and
across from Dairy
Queen).
For more info or to
make an appointment
to donate, call 470-777-
0207 or sign up online
at redcrossblood.org.
“Hosting a blood
drive coincides
with Georgia Military
College’s core values of
duty, honor and coun
try and of giving back
to the community,”
said Laura Shadrick, ex
tension center director.
“With a simple blood
donation, we have the
ability to help save the
life of someone who
could be a cowork-
■, loved one or
neighbor.”
Blood is
routinely
transfused
to pa
tients with
cancer
and other
diseases, pre
mature babies,
organ transplant
recipients and trauma
victims, according to
the Red Cross.
Donors of all blood
types are needed, espe
cially those with types
O negative, B negative
and A negative. Accord
ing to the Red Cross,
type O negative is the
universal blood type
that can be safely trans
fused to anyone, and
is often used to treat
trauma patients.
Pike tax office to close Jan. 12-18 for DRIVES upgrade
Pike County’s tax com
mission office will be un
able to process titles or
tags from Jan. 12 to 18 as
the Georgia Department
of Driver Services (DDS)
and the Georgia Depart
ment of Revenue (DOR)
completes a technology
upgrade called DRIVES
- Driver Record and Inte
grated Vehicle Enterprise
System.
“We will not be able
to process any titles or
tags from Jan. 12-18. We
should be up and run
ning on Jan. 19. We would
like to encourage people
who have birthdays
during that time to come
in prior to Jan. 12,” said
Pike County tax commis
sioner Donna Chapman.
The multi-year up
grade will modernize
the current DDS Driver’s
License system and the
DOR Tag and Title sys
tem. The new system will
offer more self-service
options, improve custom
er service and enhance
data integrity. While DOR
and county tax commis
sioners have been using
DRIVES since Spring
2019, this important
upgrade done in tandem
with the DDS system
transition will ensure
each agency will have
access to the most recent
enhancements and fea
tures of the software.
The DRIVES system es
tablishes a customer-cen
tric enterprise solution
to support each agency,
and the partners will
maintain their individual
roles as defined in state
law. DDS will continue to
handle the state’s driver
license and ID card issu
ance function by prop
erly trained and certified
driver examiners.
Each county tax com
missioner will continue
their established mission
including motor vehicle
license plate and title
administration. Both
agencies have encour
aged those with January
renewal dates to plan
ahead and renew early.
“We are excited for
this upgrade which will
enable us to provide the
best customer service
possible whether in
person or online once
the upgrade is complete.
1 encourage customers
whose driver’s license
and/or ID is scheduled to
expire during the month
of January 2021 to renew
their credential prior to
the scheduled closings,”
said DDS Commissioner
Spencer R. Moore.
Another important
DRIVES benefit will
be enhanced security
features which will help
deter fraud and identity
theft. Once the transition
is complete, custom
ers will be prompted to
reestablish their existing
DDS online account for
security purposes.
“The Department of
Revenue and Tag Offices
in all 159 counties have
been using the system
since May of 2019, and
we look forward to the
realization of this long
term vision with our part
ners at DDS,” said DOR
Commissioner David
Curry. “Like Commission
er Moore, 1 encourage all
customers with vehicle
registrations expiring
in January to complete
their renewals before
January 13th.”
