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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.”