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Vol. 141, No. 19 - Waynesboro, Ga. 30830
Established in 1882
Wednesday, June 30, 2021 - $1.00
Historic courthouse will house UGA Archway office
SHELLIE SMITLEY
thetruecitizen.shellie@gmail.com
Burke County has been
selected as the most recent
Archway community.
“Archway works as a part
nership between a community
in Georgia and The University
of Georgia,” Operations Co
ordinator Angelique Jackson
said. “Burke is actually the
14th community to be estab
lished.”
The organization hopes
to hire someone by August
for the historic courthouse
location.
“Really Archway is just
about understanding what
the needs are in a community
and then how the University
of Georgia can help address
those needs,” Jackson said.
“It’s really about connecting
communities in Georgia to the
resources at UGA.”
Listening sessions and fo
cus groups beginning August
26 will give stakeholders the
opportunity to weigh-in.
“Our entire Archway team
is excited to begin work with
Burke County. We look for
ward to partnering with com
munity members to address
economic and community
development opportunities,”
Director Michelle Elliott said
in a June 24 press release.
“Through the presence of a
community-based UGA fac
ulty member, Archway will
provide a direct connection to
all the world-class resources
UGA has to offer.”
In the Archway Partner
ship, the community drives
the priority-need process
through an executive com
mittee made up of local citi
zens and community leaders.
Local funding partners in
clude the City of Waynesboro,
Burke County, Burke County
Board of Education, Burke
County Development Author
ity, Burke County Chamber
of Commerce, and Augusta
Technical College.
GEORGIA
Archway Partnership
Corporal Gary Jenkins, Wendy’s District Manager Liz Horton, Tracy McGee and his aunt, Kathyren Prince talk about the
prospect of increasing McGee’s work hours once he has a ride.
The hero who walks amongst us-
SHELLIE SMITLEY
thetruecitizen.shellie@gmail.com
Tracy McGee says walking
11 miles one-way to work
requires “a mindset that just
sets in.”
McGee began walking to
his job at Wendy’s in 2018.
Prior to that, he walked to
his job at McDonalds for
two years. He showed up for
work reliably in spite of the
difficulty of walking from Old
Waynesboro Rd. The weather
often made the already stress
ful feat a trek that truly tested
his determination.
“Somebody has to,” he said
of why he persists in walking
8 hours- per-day roundtrip to
earn a paycheck.
Walking to work is a ma
jor accomplishment for the
24-year-old man. His family
was told when he was a child,
that he was limited by medical
conditions, which would keep
him from ever graduating
from high school, cooking or
walking very well, his Aunt,
Kathyren Prince, said. He has
accomplished all three.
Tracy suffered hardships
as a child, including a parent
faced with long-term incarcer
ation. He never learned how
to ride a bike. Currently, he
lives with his aunt,
SEE
and as the family
struggles to stay HERO,
afloat while fam- 6
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Tracy McGee and Corporal Gary Jenkins of the Waynesboro
Police Department
Mad Anthony's
Big Boom is Friday
DIANA ROYAL
jdianaroyal@gmail.com
Citizens of Burke County
will gather Friday night for
a longstanding tradition of
celebrating this country’s
independence together.
Mad Anthony’s Big Boom
Fireworks Extravaganza,
sponsored by the City of
Waynesboro’s Downtown
Development Authority
(DDA), will light up the sky
overlooking Jonathan Brax
ton Park, but there’s tons of
fun to partake in before the
sun goes down.
According to DDA Direc
tor Don Lively, there will be
several vendors with various
foods and drinks, and Joe Je-
selnik of Pecan Farms, Wed
ding and Events will provide
music. “We
SEE
hope to have
a few dance FIREWORKS,
contests as 2
Online farmers
market is open
The online farmers mar
ket run by Augusta Locally
Grown (ALG) has opened its
newest location in Waynes
boro.
The 60-plus farmer/pro
ducer market will increase
fresh-food locally grown ac
cess into Waynesboro and the
surrounding communities.
Customers will be able to
order products ranging from
dairy, vegetables, meat, eggs
and live plants from 12 noon
Friday until 8 p.m. Sunday.
The items can then be picked
up on Tuesday from 5-7 p.m.
at the Harvest Bright Farmers
Market, located in the South
ern Bank Pavilion at 855 N.
Liberty Street.
This new location is col
laboration between the Har
vest Bright Farmers Market,
the Burke County Chamber
and ALG. All partners realize
the increased need for fresh
food access and the ability to
support the many local small
business farmers in the com
munity.
“Many Waynesboro resi
dents travel outside of their
community for quality fresh
produce and meats, and at
the same time, area farmers
need better opportunities to
easily sell to the public,” said
Rebecca van
Loenen, Au- SEE
gusta Locally FARMER'S
Grown Execu- MARKET,
tive Director.
3
“For 13 years,
Nursing homes’ green light is short lived
SHELLIE SMITLEY
thetruecitizen.shellie@gmail.com
As the COVID-19 positiv
ity rate climbs in Burke Coun
ty, area nursing homes must
go back to weekly testing of
their unvaccinated staff.
The Georgia Department of
Public Health classifies test
positivity rates in each county
by color. If the positivity rate
in a particular county is less
than 5% or fewer than 20 Co-
vid-19 tests were conducted,
DPH gives the county a green
classification on its weekly
report. With that classification
nursing home facilities can
test their unvaccinated staff
once-a-month. The color clas
sification covers the previous
2-week time timeframe. A
yellow classification means
nursing homes must test their
unvaccinated staff every week
because the county’s positiv
ity rate is greater than 10%.
A red classification indicates
the county’s positivity rate is
above 10%, and does not meet
the criteria for yellow. Nurs
ing homes must test their un
vaccinated staff twice a week
when the county is given a red
classification.
Tiffany Reese, Administra
tor of the Keysville Nursing
Home and Rehab, said she
was excited when DPH finally
gave Burke County a green
classification for the 14-day
range of May 20-June 2 and
then again for May 27- June
9. However the green light
was short lived. Burke County
is back in the yellow caution
zone as the positivity rate rose
back up to greater than 10%
for the 2-week period ranging
from June 3- June 16.
Reese pointed out it’s the
first time the County had re
ceived the green classification
since the pandemic hit heavy.
However, the nursing home is
stocked with plenty of Point
of Care (POC) test kits.
“Now when the pandemic
first started, of course, the
PPE were hard to get, the
POC tests were hard to get, it
was just a nightmare,” Reese
said. “But luckily, we had no
COVID in this building until
last December.”
Once the virus walked
through the door though, it
spread like wildfire. As the
Delta variant becomes more
widespread, Reese hopes
more has been
SEE
learned about
the response in TESTING
healthcare set- 3
Administrator Tiffany Reese
receives her COVID-19.
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