Newspaper Page Text
COVID SPIKE IN PIKE
Confirmed cases have increased to 142 in the past two weeks with two
additional deaths since last week. Vaccines are being administered locally.
See page 3A, 5A
PIKE COUNTY
JOURNAL REPORTER
ONE DOLLAR
www.pikecountygeorgia.com
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 13, 2021
Help welcome
the first local
baby of 2021!
Each new year,
the Journal Reporter
features the first baby
born to Pike County
parents.
Help us welcome
the first baby of 2021
with a feature story
and photos. Call the
newspaper office at
770-567-3446, email us
at news@pikecounty-
georgia.com or stop by
the Journal Reporter
office on the court
house square to share
the news.
School board
chairman Ryan
Edge arrested
Pike County board
of education chairman
Gregory Ryan Edge,
41, of Williamson, was
arrested Tuesday, Jan.
5 and
charged
with six
counts
of
felony
theft by
decep
tion.
On
March
19, 2020, the GB1 Re
gion 2 Field Office was
requested by the Grif
fin Police Department
to assist in investigat
ing suspicious activity
reported on loans at
The Southern Credit
Union in Griffin in
Spalding County.
See EDGE page 3A
GREGORY
RYAN EDGE
Magistrate, tag office closed due to COVID
The Pike County
Magistrate Court will be
closed until Jan. 18 after
chief judge Christopher
Edwards signed an emer
gency order Jan. 3 outlin
ing the judicial emergen
cy and need for the office
to close after two of the
court’s four employees
were COVID-19 positive.
Arrest and search war
rants will be authorized
by Superior Court judges
in the interim.
The Pike tax commis
sioner’s office was affected
the next day after the tax
commissioner was quar
antined. The tax commis
sioner’s office was closed
Thursday and Friday, Jan.
7-8 for cleaning. The office
will have limited hours the
week of Jan. 11. They will
be open from 9 a.m. to 2
p.m. each day.
“You can renew your
tags, cancel your tags or
get a TAVT estimate at
eservices.drive.ga and you
can pay your taxes in full
on line at pikecountypay.
com,” said tax commis
sioner Donna Chapman.
“We do have a dropbox
to the right of our door
that is labeled “Tag & Tax
Dropbox.” If you use the
dropbox, please place
your stuff in an envelope
and write your phone
number on it in case we
have any issues with your
payment. 1 greatly appreci
ate your patience with us.
Hopefully all will be back
up and running full force
on Jan. 18.”
According to judge
Edwards’ order, the order
affects only the magis
trate court and employ
ees of that office.
“No scheduled or
ordered court hearings in
any court are cancelled
by this order in any
court. Public access to
the courthouse and op
eration of all other offices
within the courthouse is
unaffected by this order,”
said judge Edwards.
See CLOSED page 3A
The tax commissioner’s office was closed to citizens on
Thursday and Friday, Jan. 7-8 for cleaning after tax commis
sioner Donna Chapman tested positive for COVID-19. The of
fice will be open limited hours from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. this week.
PHOTO BY RACHEL McDANIEL / PIKE COUNTY JOURNAL REPORTER
Students at Pike County Middle School were honored as the Class of 2025 REACH scholars as
they signed agreements for the Realizing Educational Achievement Can Happen scholarships.
Pictured are (l-r) Ninth Grade Academy principal Sheryl Watts, superintendent Dr. Michael Dun
can, REACH scholar Isabel Bailey, Pike County High School principal Kevin Huffstetler, REACH
scholars Jailah Blackmon and Braxton Earls, school board member Allen Edwards, REACH
scholar Paris Henley, PCMS principal Mike Maddox and REACH scholar Zane Howard.
REACH scholars honored at PCMS
BY RACHEL McDANIEL
news@pikecountygeorgia.com
Five students Pike
County Middle School
students were hon
ored during the REACH
Georgia Signing Day
Ceremony on Jan. 5 as
they signed their scholar
ship agreements, includ
ing Isabel Bailey, Jailah
Blackmon, Braxton Earls,
Paris Henley and Zane
Howard.
PCMS principal Mike
Maddox congratulated
each student individually
as the REACH scholars
Class of 2025 signed their
scholarship agreements
with family looking on.
“This is a highlight
for me as a principal and
1 know it is for all our
other teachers as well,”
he said. “We are here to
honor these five students
and we are so proud of
them. This year we had
to rely solely on dona
tions from local sources
to fund these scholar
ships and the board of
education as well as
citizens and businesses
substantial donations to
support these students.
1 was the first person in
my family to ever attend
college. 1 come from
a family of hard work
ing people but it was a
source of pride for me
- and my parents - for me
to go to college.”
The Realizing Edu
cational Achievement
Can Happen (REACH)
program is in its second
year in Pike County and
students who complete
all program require
ments receive up to
$10,000 in scholarship
funds - $2,500 a year for
up to four years to be
used at two- or four-year
Georgia REACH-eligible
institutions. In addition,
continuing academic
and social support is
provided throughout the
students’ attainment of
the postsecondary de
gree or certificate; those
schools also match (or
even double) the scholar
ships for the students.
The five REACH schol
ars signed an agreement
stating they will maintain
a 2.5 or higher GPA; re
main free of crime, drug
or behavior issues; and
meet with a volunteer
mentor and an academic
coach until they graduate
from high school.
See REACH page 2A
MLK Day parade
set for Jan. 18 with
Claude Hollis as
grand marshal
The Pike County
Martin Luther King Jr.
Day committee will
host the annual MLK
parade and celebration
on Monday, Jan. 18. Due
to the COVID-19 pan
demic, there will not be
a program following the
parade.
The theme for this
year’s celebration is
“Good Trouble is our
New Beginning.” The
grand marshal of the
MLK Day parade will be
Zebulon city council
man Claude Hollis.
“The parade will
consist of vehicles
only; no walkers will
be allowed because of
the pandemic and no
decorating supplies will
be available this year,”
said organizer Regina
Bridges. “Everyone is
encouraged to partici
pate as we continue to
celebrate the legacy of
Dr. Martin Luther King,
Jr.”
Line up will start
at 9:30 a.m. and the
parade will leave the
Fullers Chapel United
Methodist Church park
ing lot at 10 a.m.
For additional infor
mation, contact Regina
Bridges at 678-5884058,
Patricia Beckham at
770468-4937, Edward
Alexander 770-567-8991
or Veronica Evans at
770-567-3225.
PHOTO BY JENNIFER TAYLOR / PIKE COUNTY JOURNAL REPORTER
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this year’s MLK Jr. parade
will have vehicles only with no program following the
parade as in year’s past.
NGA students write, create book for kids about COVID-19
SUBMITTED PHOTOS
Above, students who helped create the ‘Sanna-Tizer Disinfects the Substitute’ book practice
social distancing for a group photo. Above right, Ashton Norton scans images for the book.
Students at the Pike
County Ninth Grade
Academy worked togeth
er to write and publish
a children’s book about
COVID-19 for kinder
garten through second
graders. Around 120
students helped create
the book, “Sanna-Tizer
Disinfects the Substitute:
The heroes’ journey of a
teacher and her second
grade students.’ The stu
dents wrote, illustrated
and designed the book
as well as working to
establish a budget for the
book based on book size
and color usage.
The book may be pur
chased at the NGA front
office or A Novel Experi
ence in Zebulon. The
cost is $16 for soft cover
and $20 for hardcover.
Proceeds from book sales
will go toward the project-
based learning program at
NGA and also to families
in the community who
have been adversely af
fected by the COVID-19
pandemic. Copies are sell
ing quickly but the book
will be reprinted. Email
hudsonj@pike.kl2.ga.us to
reserve a copy.
Six classes of ninth
grade literature and two
classes of world history
students were divided
into illustrators, writers,
editorial and marketing
teams, designers and
software engineers.
“This required lots
of creativity and com
munication skills,” said
NGA literature teacher
Jan Hudson. “What we
thought would take
hours, took days. What
we thought would take
days, took hours. We
literally went back to the
drawing board countless
times. And just when we
thought things started to
hum like an oiled ma
chine, over 50 students
had to leave school to be
quarantined.”
See BOOK page 2A
