Newspaper Page Text
Vol. 140, No. 28 - Waynesboro, Ga. 30830
Established in 1882
Wednesday, September 2, 2020 - $1.00
Shooting causes
ROY F. CHALKER JR.
rchalker@bellsouth.net
No one involved had been
identified at press time, but
a shooter caused a head-on
collision when he bred into
a car travelling east toward
Walmart on the Waynesboro
bypass.
A little before 7 a.m.
Tuesday, the Waynesboro
Police Department and the
Burke County Sheriff’s Office
responded to a call about a
crash and suspected shooting
at Gary Way and Veterans
Parkway. Emergency
personnel located a male who
appeared to have been shot
several times before crossing
the median and hitting another
car head on.
According to Capt. Randall
Norman of the sheriff’s office,
it appeared that an unknown
person pulled alongside the
victim and fired at the victim.
The shooting victim and
the driver of the other vehicle
were transported to both
Burke Medical Center and
Augusta University Medical
crash
Center for treatment.
Anyone with any
information about the incident
is requested to contact the
Burke County Sheriff’s
Office Criminal Investigation
Division at (706) 554-6633 or
(706) 554-2133.
on bypass
ARE YOU READY FOR SOME
FOOTBALL?
Friday nights get better this week as football season officially begins for Burke County High School,
pictured above, and Edmund Burke Academy, pictured below, during practice recently. While both the
Bears and the Spartans are on the road this week, players, parents, coaches and fans alike seem
excited to finally begin one of the most valued traditions in high school sports amidst the uncertainty
of a tumultuous year. See page 13 for season kickoff stories for BCHS and EBA.
O
Deadline to accept
absentee ballots
has been extended
BEAU EVANS
Capitol Beat News Service
A federal judge has
extended the time Georgia
election officials can accept
absentee ballots if they are
received up to three days after
the general election on Nov. 3.
In a ruling Monday, Judge
Eleanor Ross of the U.S.
District Court for the Northern
District of Georgia ordered
that mail-in ballots that are
postmarked by Election Day
must be counted if they arrive
by 7 p.m. on Nov. 6, which
is within three days of the
original deadline.
The ruling looks to calm
some fears of absentee voting
reliability amid an expected
slow delivery by the U.S.
Postal Service and huge
numbers of mail-in ballots
in Georgia and across the
country due to the ongoing
COVID-19 pandemic.
“Extending the deadline
would ensure that voters who
receive their ballots shortly
before Election Day are able
to mail their ballots without
fear that their vote will not
count,” Ross wrote in her 70-
page ruling.
Ross’s decision stems from
a lawsuit filed in May by
the voter registration group
New Georgia Project against
Georgia Secretary of State
Brad Raffensperger that
aimed to have the absentee
acceptance deadline extended
beyond 7 p.m. on Election
Day.
The judge agreed the mail-
in acceptance deadline should
be extended but dismissed
other claims sought in the
lawsuit, including bids
to make postage free for
absentee ballots and to mail
absentee applications to all
registered Georgia voters,
as occurred for the June 9
primary. Plaintiffs had also
asked for the receipt deadline
to be extended by five days,
which the judge shortened to
three days in her ruling.
More than 7,200 absentee
ballots were rejected from
among roughly 1.1 million
cast in the June primary due
to being received after the 7
p.m. Election Day deadline,
Ross’s ruling noted.
With many more Georgians
expected to vote by mail in the
upcoming general election,
Ross wrote that “the burden
on many voters will be severe”
if absentee ballots that arrive
shortly after the strict Election
Day deadline are rejected.
“The court notes it is
reluctant to interfere with
Georgia’s statutory election
machinery,” Ross wrote.
“However, where the risk of
disenfranchisement is great,
as is the case here, narrowly
tailored injunctive relief is
appropriate.”
The ruling was immediately
hailed by Georgia Democratic
leaders, who touted the
extended deadline as a boost
for voter access ahead of
the troubled and pivotal
general election that will see
presidential, U.S. Senate,
congressional and state house
contests on the ballot.
“Today’s decision is a huge
victory for Georgia voters,
and a huge
win in the SEE DEADLINE,
fight for 7
COVID CORNER
The Georgia Department of Public Health showed a
total of 272,697 confirmed COVID-19 cases for the entire
state as of Tuesday afternoon, including 5,733 deaths
and 24,847 hospitalizations. On Tuesday, 2,287 newly
confirmed cases were reported as well as 105 deaths and
243 hospitalizations.
Locally, according to the B. Lamar Murray Public
Health Center, Burke County has reached a total of 695
confirmed positives, up 26 from last Tuesday. The county
has also added another death, for a total of 8, and has had
72 hospitalizations.
2020 Ford
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706-554-2114 www.mizellford.com Waynesboro, Ga.