Newspaper Page Text
Vol. 140, No. 189 - Waynesboro, Ga. 30830
Established in 1882
Wednesday, June 24, 2020 - $1.00
This photo taken by Aubrey Amanda Aldridge at Scott Family Farm won a Georgia Grown photog
raphy contest.
Local woman wins Georgia Grown photo contest
DIANA ROYAL
jdianaroyal@gmail.com
They weren’t even sure if the
queen bee was still alive, but when
Stephanie Scott of Scott Family
Farm cracked open the hive, friend
and photographer Aubrey Amanda
Aldridge was right there to capture
the moment.
“The picture was taken when the
sun was just starting to set,” Scott
recalls of the photo. “That gold!
I thought she really captured the
gleam of honey, the warmth of the
sun, on an otherwise cool day.”
Apparently, the folks at Georgia
Grown thought so, too, because they
selected Aldridge as the winner in
their Faces of Agriculture photo
contest.
Aldridge, a Burke County
resident, graduate of Edmund
Burke Academy and wife of a
Waynesboro firefighter, entered
on a whim after seeing a Facebook
post soliciting entries. “I thought
it sounded like fun and why not?”
Aldridge says. “The first person
who came
to mind for SEE
the Faces of CONTEST
Agriculture -i*
Williams named as
BCPS superintendent
DIANA ROYAL
jdianaroyal@gmail.com
Dr. Angela Williams, a 29-year
veteran with the Burke County Public
Schools System, has been selected
by the board of education as the new
superintendent.
The decision was announced June
17, following interviews with five
candidates. She will succeed Rudy
Falana, who is retiring from the
position.
Williams has served at the
elementary, middle and high school
and central office levels, including
the roles of classroom teacher,
instructional coordinator, assistant
principal, principal, curriculum
director and assistant superintendent
and holds advanced degrees in
educational leadership and an Ed.D.
in educational innovation from
Augusta University. A lifelong
resident of Burke County, she is
a graduate of Waynesboro High
School. BCPS Public Information
Officer Amy Nunnally said in a
statement on Wednesday, “The board
believes that her exemplary record
of service has equipped her well for
the challenges ahead.” The selection
Dr. Angela Williams
will come to a formal vote at a called
board meeting scheduled for June 30.
“I was excited,” Williams said,
following the announcement.
“Obviously, I love this community
and this school system. It's home
and where I've dedicated my entire
professional career. I've been blessed
to work with
some really
great people
and have
enjoyed a lot
SEE
BCPS
SUPERINTENDENT,
7
New COVID testing
site is open here
DIANA ROYAL
jdianaroyal @ gmail .com
There is a new testing site for
COVID-19 in Waynesboro, this time
at the Burke County Office Park.
According to Gina Richardson,
county nurse manager at B. Lamar
Murray Public Health Center, the
site will be open every Tuesday
from 9-11 a.m. Testing is free but an
appointment is required. To register,
call 706.721.5800 and specify Burke
County. The site opened yesterday,
with just under 20 coming for tests,
but Richardson said she expects
that number to increase once word
spreads that the site is here. The
site will also be open this Saturday,
June 27.
The number of cases for Georgia
is on the rise again, as are our local
numbers. Richardson said that it’s
due to a number of factors including
increased testing and businesses
reopening. “We are starting to see a
surge unfortunately,” she said. “For
a short while, three to four weeks,
the curve had flattened. We are still
hopeful.”
For Burke County, there was a
total of eight new cases just last week
and two on Tuesday (yesterday).
That puts the local number at 130
positive confirmed cases, including
six deaths.
According to data on the Georgia
Department of Public Health website,
statewide numbers had reached a
total of 65,928 confirmed cases,
including 9,953 hospitalizations and
2,648 deaths.
FACEMASKS — HELPFUL OR
HARMFUL?
The Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention (CDC) recommends
that anyone over the age of 2 in a
public setting where other social
distancing
measures are
difficult to TESTING SITE,
maintain should 13
Census help available to public this Thursday
DIANA ROYAL
jdianaroyal@gmail.com
As counting continues for the 2020
Census, the Burke County Complete
Count Committee is reaching out
to help make the process easier for
local citizens.
This Thursday, June 25, through a
partnership with the committee, the
Greater Augusta Interfaith Coalition
will be providing internet hotspots
and tablets to assist in census data
collection. The coalition will be
set up at the historic Burke County
Courthouse in Waynesboro from 9
a.m. to 4 p.m.
According to committee member
Lea Gerlach, there will be six
computers set up on the first floor
of the courthouse near the board
of elections office, and volunteers
will be on hand to help the public.
“Tables and plexiglass are already
set up to keep our citizens as safe as
possible,” she said.
The results from the 2020 Census
will shape the future of Burke
County, as the information collected
determines how billions of dollars
in federal funding is distributed for
health clinics, school lunch programs,
disaster recovery initiatives and other
critical services for the next 10 years.
“It is vitally important that we get
an accurate count here,” Gerlach
added. “We only have around 44
percent voluntary response rate for
Burke County right now.”
Voluntary, or self-response, rates
show the percentage of participants
who filled out their forms either
physically or online rather than
through an in-person visit from
a Census Bureau worker. Burke
County currently has a total of
44.2 percent self-response, with
20.4 percent via internet, while the
state total is 57.5 percent (and 46.1
percent internet). The final count
for self-response for Burke County
in 2010 was 58.3 percent; Georgia’s
rate was 62.5 percent.
At press time, Waynesboro had
the highest total for municipalities
within Burke at 49.7 percent. Sardis
had 34.4; Midville, 32.1; Keysville,
24.9; and Girard, 20.3.
Self responding will continue
through Oct. 31 and can be done
at anytime online, by phone or
on paper. Households who do not
receive mail will receive a hand-
delivered invitation with a paper
form and instructions between
June 15-July 9. From Aug. 11-Oct.
31, households who have not yet
responded may receive a visit from
a census worker to help them in
completing the form.
For additional information, visit
2020census.gov.
706-554-2114 www.mizellford.com Waynesboro, Ga.