About The times. (Gainesville, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (July 31, 2020)
LOCA^OP HEADLINES The Times, Gainesville, Georgia | gainesvilletimes.com Friday, July 31,2020 3A Trump, GOP suggest quick fix for jobless benefit BY ANDREW TAYLOR AND LISA MASCARO Associated Press WASHINGTON — The White House and some of its Republican allies in the Senate are signaling they want to extend, at least temporarily, a $600-per-week expanded jobless benefit that has helped keep families and the economy afloat during the COVID-19 pandemic. The move looks to be too little, too late to prevent the lapse of the benefit officially on Friday. Republicans have been fighting to trim back the $600 jobless benefit in the next coronavirus package, but Presi dent Donald Trump and some Senate Republicans sug gested they could accept keeping the full $600 benefit for now. Late-night talks were expected at the Capitol. “We want a temporary extension of enhanced unem ployment benefits,” Trump said at the White House. “This will provide a critical bridge for Americans who lost their jobs to the pandemic through no fault of their own.” He added: “It has to be substantial.” But Democrats have so far rejected a piecemeal approach, saying the next relief bill needs to move as a complete package. Before Trump spoke, top Senate Republican Mitch McConnell adjourned the chamber for the weekend while taking a procedural step that could allow voting on a potential compromise next week. Talks so far have yielded little progress. “I’m not very optimistic that we will have any kind of an agreement on a comprehensive bill in the near future,” said White House chief of staff Mark Meadows. He said he even doubted a deal could be struck next week. Talks on the relief bill are at a standstill with few rea sons for optimism despite sweeping agreement among Washington’s top power players that Congress must pass further relief in coming days and weeks. Trump is eager for another round of relief, and it’s also a priority for GOP allies like McConnell, as well as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer. Democrats hold a strong negotiating hand, with Republicans badly divided over their own proposal. Raising the stakes, a bleak government report released Thursday said the economy shrank at a 33% annualized rate in the second quarter of the year, a stark reminder of the economic damage afflicting the country as lawmak ers debate the size and scope of new relief. Former presidential hopeful Cain dies of COVID-19 ATLANTA — Herman Cain, former Republican presi dential candidate and former CEO of a major pizza chain who went on to become an ardent supporter of President Donald Trump, died Thursday of complications from the coronavirus. He was 74. Dan Calabrese, who authored a post on Cain’s website announcing the death, told The Associated Press that Cain died at an Atlanta hospital early Thursday morning. Cain had been ill with the virus for several weeks. It’s not clear when or where he was infected, but he was hos pitalized less than two weeks after attending Trump’s campaign rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on June 20. Cain had been co-chair of Black Voices for Trump. A photo taken at the rally showed Cain, without a mask, sitting closely to other people who also were not wearing any face coverings. A statement on his Twitter account said he tested positive for COVID on June 29 and was hospitalized July 1 because his symptoms were serious. “We knew when he was first hospitalized with COVID- 19 that this was going to be a rough fight,” Calabrese wrote in the website post Thursday. Trump offered his condolences in a tweet on Thurs day in which he said he had also spoken by telephone to Cain’s family. He later started his news conference at the White House with a mention of Cain’s death. “He was a very special person... and unfortunately he passed away from a thing called the China virus,” Trump said, using the moniker he often ascribes to the new coronavirus, which was first detected in China. He added, “We send out prayers to Herman’s great wife, Gloria... And I have to say, America grieves for all of the 150,000 Americans that had their lives taken by this horrible, invisible enemy.” Cain, who had hoped to become the first Black politi cian to win the GOP nomination, was initially considered a long-shot candidate. His bid was propelled forward in September 2011 when he won a straw poll vote in Florida, instantly becoming an alternative candidate for Republican voters concerned that former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney was not conservative enough. Associated Press CAPACITY ■ Continued from 1A people wear masks, practice social distancing, avoid large crowds and take other simple steps to limit the spread of COVID,” the doctor said. “The community answered that call back in April and May, which helped our hospitals narrowly avoid being overrun. Now it’s past time for our communities to get serious about taking those simple steps again. This isn’t about politics. It’s about protecting each other and ulti mately saving lives. ” PRE-K ■ Continued from 1A is unrealistic, but suggests that programs “consider measures to encourage phys ical distancing.” Those mea sures include small-group instruction and keeping chil dren as far apart as possible during large group settings such as “circle time.” It also recommends health screenings upon arrival, to prevent sick students from ever reaching the classroom. Forrester said Gainesville Academy will be check ing students’ temperatures “before they get out of the car,” and preventing anyone with a fever of 100 degrees or higher from entering the school building. Kelsey Rivera, assistant director at Chestnut Moun tain Academy in Flowery Branch, says her school will also be choosing the tradi tional model. Rivera said the school would be requir ing daily morning tempera ture checks, and she added that this year will involve a greater than usual emphasis on teaching students healthy habits, such as hand washing and covering their coughs and sneezes with their arms. But new sanitation and screening measures are far from the only challenges pre-K providers will face this fall. One of the largest changes for Gainesville Academy and Chestnut Mountain Academy is the disallowing of parent volunteers in the classroom. Forrester expressed con cerns over how many young children would deal with being separated from their parents for the first time. “The biggest challenges are children that have never been in a formal school set ting, getting them into that routine of being away from mom and dad, and then mom not being able to see their classroom and not being able to go into their room,” she said. Rivera had similar wor ries, adding that separation in some cases would be as difficult for the parents as it would be for the students. She said Chestnut Mountain Academy teachers would be regularly taking pictures in the classroom so parents can feel involved in their students learning process. Forrester said she was encouraging parents to par ticipate in virtual assistance, such as video calling the class to read to them. Susan Moon, director of the Childcare Development Center at First Presbyterian Church in Gainesville, said while parent volunteers are not usually a major part of the pre-K program at First Presbyterian, other precau tionary regulations would make instruction difficult for teachers. Like the other locations, First Presbyterian has also selected the tradi tional model, and teachers in the program will be wear ing masks and face shields. Moon said that could end up being an impediment to early learning. “Children need to see their teacher’s face,” she said. “When you’re teach ing them how to pronounce words, they need to see your face. Having to wear the mask is prohibiting that.” Teaching young students to adhere to safety protocol without alarming them has also been an area of concern, according to Rivera. She said that Chestnut Mountain Academy would be focusing on telling stu dents why it is important to distance themselves from their peers and regularly wash their hands using “kid friendly language.” Heritage Heights and Country Place Apartments 101 Heritage Avenue • Jefferson, Georgia 30549 62 MODERN 1 & 2 BEDROOM APARTMENTS * Heritage Heights and Country Place Apartments is financed through USDA Rural Development certain income restrictions apply. • Quiet residential neighborhood • Fully-applianced electric kitchens • Special features for mobility impaired • Trash removal individuals • Attractive grounds • Wall to wall carpeting • Tenant-controlled Heat/AC • Laundry hook-ups in the units • Good Cents Energy Efficient • Cable TV hook-ups • Generous closet space OPPORTUNITY Lease, security deposit, and references required For information & an application contact 706-367-9891 7-1-1 (Georgia TDD Only) Heritage Heights and Country Place Apartments is managed by W.T. Lamb Investments, Inc. • 216 Broad Street • Wrens, Georgia 30833 W.T. Lamb Investments, Inc. is a top quality management company that cares for your needs. “This institution is an equal opportunity provider and employer.” If you wish to file a Civil Rights program complaint of discrimination, complete the USDA Program Discrimination Complaint Form, found online at http:// www.ascr.usda.gov/complaint_filing_cust.html, or at any USDA office, or call (866) 632-9992 to request the form. You may also write a letter containing all of the information requested in the form. Send your completed complaint form or letter to us by mail at U.S. Department of Agriculture, Director, Office of Adjudication, 1400 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20250-9410, by fax (202) 690-7442 or email at program.intake@usda.gov.” Photos by SCOTT ROGERS I The Times Youngsters play on the playground at Gainesville Academy Thursday, July 30. “If they don’t understand why we’re putting all these provisions and measures into place, they’re going to not want to do it,” she said. As the school year approaches, pre-K providers say they’ve been forced to put on a juggling act as they try to keep their students safe while still providing quality early education. And while offering a tra ditional, face-to-face pre-K experience is not going to be easy, Forrester said it’s a ser vice she’s happy to oversee in an effort to alleviate some of the pressure that local parents have to face. “For the parents, it’s a necessity,” she said. “Not all of them, but for a big major ity of them, it’s a neces sity to have availability for childcare.” Pre-K programs at Chest nut Mountain Academy and First Presbyterian Church will be starting on Aug. 17 and Gainesville Academy’s program will begin on Aug. 24. 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