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Vol. 141, No. 10 - Waynesboro, Ga. 30830
Established in 1882
Wednesday, April 28, 2021 - $1.00
Hospital’s fate lies with the Attorney General
SHELLIE SMITLEY
thetruecitizen.shellie@gmail.com
A panel of eleven addressed
the proposal to lease Burke
Medical Center, Monday,
during a public hearing.
Chairman Christopher
Collins said the hospital’s
current operating losses
average $5.6 million per
year, covered by $30 million
in County subsidies at tax
payers' expense since 2016.
“The proposal from
Burke Hospital (Company)
was a unique proposal that
included engaging physicians
to support the leasing and
overall operations,” Collins
said and pointed out that the
Hospital Authority engaged
in diligence when seeking a
possible lessee.
Selling the facility, with a
combined structure and land
value of approximately $5.7
million, is not the Hospital
Authority’s desire. It is
designated as the landlord
under the proposed lease and
will hold the responsibility of
overseeing lease performance.
Christopher Louis
of Pinnacle Healthcare
Consulting explained the
hospital carries about
$676,000 in indigent and
charitable care costs, equaling
39% of total charges.
The panel of speakers
reiterated multiple times that
the 40-bed facility typically
only services 4 in-patients at
any given time
"We see this as a way to
ensure access to healthcare
for all citizens, provide
access to an increased level
of healthcare services and
maintain a hospital for the
economic development of the
county,” Collins said of the
proposed lease agreement.
“I believe if the lease is not
approved, the hospital will
not be able to overcome our
serious revenue problem and
will continue to be a burden
on the taxpayers if it remains
open.”
r SEE
Co-owners
Dr. John George HOSPITAL,
and Michael 5
If the lease is approved by the Attorney General’s of
fice, co-owners Dr. John George and Michael Kleinpeter
pledged to invest $2 million into the Burke Medical Center.
K9 LEO
RETIRES FROM
BCSO FORCE
DIANA ROYAL • jdianaroyal@gmail.com
Retirement looks good on Leo.
After years of sniffing out drugs and criminals and helping
track missing persons, the four-legged police officer traded
his badge for a life of fetching for fun and unlimited ear
scratches and love from his favorite pair of twin toddlers.
The table scraps aren’t bad either.
Leo, a 7-year-old Belgian malinois, is now enjoying being
a dog.
Born and raised in Germany, Leo made his way to the
States, and eventually the Burke County Sheriff’s Office,
following extensive training in obedience, narcotics
detection, tracking and apprehension.
His handler, Lt. Mike Swint, says the job has been no easy
task for either of them.
“Before getting on the K9 unit, you have to show the desire
as well as the ability for proactive police work, he explains,
adding that he worked with K9s for 13 years while being on
street level drug/gang units. “I would volunteer my time to
help the dogs train as well and then when the opportunity
arose to be a handler I did not think twice.”
Aside from continuous training, even on days off, and
staying in good shape for tracks that are often miles at a
time, Swint chuckles that he also took the job with the
understanding he was probably going to get bitten.
“You are always training, every single day periodically,
but once a week we spent one day training for the whole
shift,” he says, explaining that Leo was a dual purpose
pup, handling both narcotics and patrol. “An average day
before he retired, we would get to work, get with
the lieutenant or captain and figure out if there is
anything in particular we needed to address. If there ’
was not we would go to the soccer held behind the
Former BCSO K9 Leo is now enjoying retirement.
Leo and his
partner, Lt.
Mike Swint
Burke County public
schools take steps to
ignite community passion
SHELLIE SMITLEY
thetruecitizen.shellie@gmail.com
Burke County Public
School system is revamping
its image.
“We want to make sure
that everyone knows that our
mission and our vision is to
ignite a passion for learning
and to make sure our students
are prepared for wherever life
takes them after high school,”
said LaToscha Evans,
assistant superintendent of
teaching and learning.
The school system held its
first Stakeholder Engagement
Feedback Session April 22 at
the Teaching and Learning
Center located on the high
school’s campus.
Selected personnel
along with members of the
community were asked to
provide feedback as the
school system works to
develops its 5-year strategic
plan in June.
Evans, Communications
Officer Amy Nunnally
and CTAE Director Sean
Middleton hosted the event.
Participants were divided
into groups tackling
three areas; effective
communication, community
partnerships and family
engagement.
Several recent measures
encourage community
involvement.
Evans pointed out that
the school system’s website
includes notification of
proposed policy changes and
gives stakeholders a chance
to comment.
A community-parent
ambassador program is in
the works.
“We don’t know how that
will look exactly, but we
are making sure there are
people who are a voice in
the community,” Evans said.
“Those businesses that are
very prevalent in making and
supporting the community, we
want to make those people part
of our ambassador program so
they can be a voice for Burke
County Public Schools.”
Plans include promoting
literacy by implementing
interactive family nights for
grades k-12.
Nunnally pointed out
the schools are distributing
printed newsletters in addition
to sending out information
through The Burke County
PS APP. Sign-up for the
mass notification system is
available on its Facebook
page ©BurkeCounty Schools.
School calendars were sent to
every Burke County address.
Nunnally
ccc
explored the idea
of supplying SCHOOLS,
parents and 3
Paving issue
resembles daytime drama
SHELLIE SMITLEY
thetruecitizen.shellie@gmail.com
Like the sands in an hour
glass, so are the paves of our
lives.
Renseiabelle Cobb made
an emotional plea to Burke
County Commissioners April
13 regarding the paving of
a Midville road his family
began asking for in the 1970s.
“It seems like for Cobb
Road we are just getting
the run around,” he said to
the panel. “And we are just
constantly begging.”
Cobb said he has
personally approached the
Commissioners for more than
43 years, making the same
request.
“My mother has died, my
father has died,” he said. “I
feel bad that it looks like we
have to beg to get something
done.”
Cobb said the dirt road is
a mud hole when it rains,
affecting handicapped
residents who depend on
transit services to pick them
up. Often times, the condition
of the road is so bad residents
have to drive two miles to
meet people who are not
willing to travel down it. The
road’s condition has affected
the size of the congregation of
the worshipers his great great
grandfather began preaching
to more than 100 years ago.
After getting no further result
from the Commissioners,
Cobb promised the board he
was not giving up.
“I’m tired of this but there is
a God and I know he is going
to look after us and make sure
that everything is alright,”
he said.
Cobb said April 20 that he
does not understand the hold
up. In 2009, he presented the
commissioners with a petition
containing 43 signatures
asking for the road to be
paved. He said Commissioner
Lucious Abrams told him
the county has the funds to
complete the project.
Abrams confirmed it the
same day.
“The money is in the
budget,” he said. “When
you are dealing with the
government, all the I’s and
T’s have to be dotted and
crossed so that we can go on
the property. Matter of fact,
we are ready to go to work
on the road now, the money
has been in the budget since
we have appropriated it and I
have been holding it there.”
Abrams said the only person
preventing
the project SEE
from moving COBB ROAD
forward is 12
Renseiabelle Cobb addresses County Commissioners
April 13 pleading for reasons why Cobb Road remains
unpaved.
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