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±z N r Region Roundup
Area Counties
Part Of Drought
Disaster Ruling
The United States
Department of Agriculture
(USDA) has granted Gov.
Sonny Perdue’s request for
a primary disaster designa
tion for 158 counties based
on production losses due
to drought and excessive
temperatures.
The designation was sent
in response to Governor
Perdue’s request submitted
in November.
“Drought conditions are
devastating to farmers and
farming communities,’’
Perdue said in a statement.
“Georgia’s farmers have
sustained significant eco
nomic losses due to the
dry conditions in Georgia,
and I’m pleased that finan
cial relief will now be avail
able to them.’’
USDA declared 146 of
Georgia’s 159 counties
as primary natural disas
ter areas and 12 more as
contiguous disaster areas.
The only one of Georgia’s
counties not covered by
the primary or contiguous
designation is McIntosh.
The 12 counties not
included in the primary des
ignation will continue to be
evaluated as more assess
ment reports and determi
nations of losses are com
pleted by the USDA. The
12 counties are Appling,
Atkinson, Bacon, Bulloch,
Camden, Coffee, Glynn,
Liberty, Long, Terrell, Ware
and Wayne.
Out Of Work?
Census Bureau
Offers Jobs
The U.S. Census Bureau
wants to hire workers to
help collect data for the
2010 Census. Application
and testing sessions are
being scheduled in local
communities, as work will
begin at the end of the
month.
Information on local ses
sions is available by calling
1-866-861-2010.
The application and test
ing process takes about
two hours, and participants
should bring two forms
of identification, such as
a Social Security card or
driver’s license, or a U.S.
passport.
While each county dif
fers slightly, the average
pay range is $10 to $15 per
hour, plus mileage, accord
ing to a U.S. Census repre
sentative. Positions can last
anywhere from six to 20
weeks up to a year or two.
Work begins in late January,
and hiring will continue
through Sept. 2010.
Employees will initially
canvass the county with
handheld devices to deter
mine addresses of resi
dents.
There are three waves to
the census work: address
canvassing, county of resi
dence data and verification
of information.
According to the U.S.
Census representative,
each county benefits from
having accurate census
data, as each person not
counted can cost a county
or community an average
of $1,200 in sales tax or
Congressional funds.
The 31-county Northeast
Georgia census area is the
largest district in the United
States, with a main office
located in Gainesville.
Investigation
Into Death Of
Teen Continues
The investigation into the
death of a 14-year-old girl in
a Hoschton house remains
ongoing.
Brittane Nichole Brown
was unresponsive when
emergency personnel
arrived at her friend’s White
Street house Saturday, Dec.
27.
The Georgia Bureau of
Investigation said an autop
sy didn’t show any signs
of foul play or other physi
cal indications of death.
Toxicology results are
expected to take several
weeks to complete.
Brown — a student
at Jackson County
Comprehensive High
School — participated in
basketball.
She didn’t have any
known major medical prob
lems prior to her death,
said Jim Fullington, special
agent in charge at the GBI’s
office in Athens.
“As far as we know,
she was healthy,’’ he said
Tuesday.
Fullington said he doesn’t
expect charges directly tied
to Brown’s death. Three
people were with Brown
when she was found dead
in a bed. Brown had been
at the residence over the
evening before her death.
Fullington said there
could still be charges not
directly related to her
death.
Brown’s funeral was
held last Wednesday in
Jefferson.
Hoschton's
Scarecrows
Avoid The Fire
The flames may have
roasted marshmallows —
but Hoschton’s scarecrows
were spared from a blaze.
Hoschton toasted its
new world record for “The
Most Scarecrows in One
Location’’ with a bonfire
Saturday evening at the
Kenerly farm on Ga. Hwy.
53. A U.S .-based com
pany, the World Records
Academy, gave the city
the title after the Guinness
World Records recently
denied Hoschton a world
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record on a technicality.
“It was time we got togeth
er and had closure,’’ said
council member Theresa
Kenerly, whose family host
ed the bonfire on its 287-
acre farm just outside of
the city limits.
Hoschton announced
its quest for a Guinness
World Record in May. By
the Sept. 1 deadline, the
city had documented 5,441
scarecrows.
“We sure did have a lot of
fun with the scarecrows,’’
Kenerly said.
Saturday’s damp weather
didn’t stop the celebration,
either.
With an outdoor burn
permit, the Kenerly farm
was open for guests to
watch a large, controlled
burn of brush.
The blaze didn’t contain
any scarecrows, as initially
planned. Days before the
event, the city announced
it wasn’t going to burn
scarecrows in the bonfire,
due to environmental con
cerns.
Mayor Bill Copenhaver
said there were concerns
about burning scarecrows
that contained plastic and
pressure-treated wood.
Deadline
Nears For
Hospital Appeal
With a week remain
ing before a deadline,
Northeast Georgia Health
System is still planning to
appeal a judge’s decision
regarding its proposed hos
pital in Braselton.
Northeast Georgia
Health System has until
next Wednesday, Jan. 14,
to file a request with the
Georgia Court of Appeals
for a hearing.
The Gainesville-based
health system says it plans
to appeal a Dec. 15 deci
sion by Superior Court
judge Bob Adamson that
favored Barrow Regional
Medical Center’s chal
lenge to the Braselton
hospital.
Barrow Regional is chal
lenging the state’s grant
ing of a Certificate of
Need (CON) to Northeast
Georgia for a new 100-bed
hospital in Braselton on
Thompson Mill Road, near
Chateau Elan.
The Winder hospital
claims in court documents
that opening a new hospi
tal in Braselton — 11 miles
from Barrow Regional —
would have a major eco
nomic impact on the 56-bed
facility.
Barrow Regional also
objects to the state depart
ment’s approval of the
Braselton facility without
an adequate review.
The Winder hospital
filed an objection to the
Braselton facility during
the CON process in 2007,
but a hearing officer and
the State Health Planning
Review Board favored the
approval of Northeast
Georgia’s CON applica
tion.
Barrow Regional took its
last legal avenue in March
2008, when it filed a request
for judicial review.
Northeast Georgia
opened its first building
of the proposed Braselton
medical campus — Medical
Plaza 1 at River Place — in
September 2008.
Governor Makes
Employee Data
More Available
Governor Sonny
Perdue has announced
the launch of the Open
Georgia: Transparency in
Government website. The
website can be found at
open.georgia.gov.
The site allows Georgians
online access to agency
expenditures on profes
sional services, employee
salaries and travel, state
financial reports and pro
gram reviews from the two
previous fiscal years.
“The Open Georgia web
site makes state govern
ment more transparent to
its customer, the taxpayer,’’
Perdue said in a statement.
“By being willing to further
open the halls of govern
ment to the public, we give
citizens more confidence
that their tax dollars are
being spent wisely.’’
There are numerous ways
to search for salary and
vendor information. Users
can search by name, title,
description and agency.
The site allows Georgians
to view professional ser
vice vendors doing busi
ness with the state and
view how much they were
paid during the two previ
ous fiscal years. Once the
information is accessed,
it can be exported into
Microsoft Excel or Adobe
.pdf formats. Users with
questions about the site are
able to call the state’s main
information phone num
ber, 1-800-GEORGIA, to be
directed to the appropriate
agency contact.
The website is maintained
by the Georgia Department
of Audits and Accounts. In
2010, it will be expanded to
include grant and contract
payments to vendors by
state agencies.
2 Resign From
Board Of
Tax Assessors
DANIELSVILLE
Turmoil and strife contin
ue to plague the Madison
County tax assessor’s
office as the new year
begins.
Two board of assessor
members resigned this
week after the board failed
to accept a recommenda
tion made by one of them
for a new chief appraiser.
The county has been with
out a chief appraiser since
Dec. 31, when James Flynt
left after his two-year con
tract expired and was not
renewed by the county.
Veteran member and for
mer vice-chairman Larry
Stewart announced his
resignation, effective Feb.
1, at the end of a BOA
meeting Monday night, fol
lowing a vote 3-2 to deny
his recommendation of
candidate Carey Lamb,
Swainsboro, to the board
of commissioners for the
chief appraiser position.
Stewart and board mem
ber Bob Fowler voted in
favor of Lamb’s recom
mendation, while David
Ragland, Samantha
Garland and Jim Escoe
voted to deny it.
On Tuesday, Fowler said
he planned to offer his
own resignation, effective
immediately.
Stewart told the audi
ence Monday that he had
enjoyed his three and a
half years of service on the
assessor board.
“It’s been a lot of work
and I’ve invested a lot of
time into it,’’ Stewart said,
but he added that he felt
he could no longer be an
effective board member.
“My conscience is free -
I’ve done the best I can,’’
Stewart said.
Stewart told the board he
would tender his written
resignation to District 2
commissioner John Pethel,
who had appointed him
to the BOA, and to new
county commission chair
Anthony Dove Tuesday
morning. Board members
expressed their regret over
Stewart’s decision.
Fowler, who joined the
assessor board last March,
said by phone Tuesday that
he felt that it was best for
him to leave at this time as
well. He said he planned
to issue an official letter
to District 1 commission
er Stanley Thomas, who
appointed him to the BOA,
and to chairman Dove
Wednesday.
Fowler said the deciding
factor in his resignation
was the board’s decision
not to accept Lamb’s appli
cation.
“I’m put out about the
whole thing,’’ Fowler said,
adding that he was disap
pointed that a “very quali
fied candidate was not cho
sen.’’ Fowler said the board
had conducted interviews
with Lamb and done a
thorough check of his work
record and references. “We
found them to be exem
plary,’’ Fowler said.
Group Wants
Recordings Of
Obama Sermons
On Jan. 20, the United
States will inaugurate
Barack Obama, the coun
try’s first African-American
president.
In anticipation of citizens’
efforts to mark this his
toric time around the coun
try, the American Folklife
Center will be collecting
audio and video recordings
of sermons and orations
made between Friday, Jan.
16, and Sunday, Jan. 25,
that comment on the sig
nificance of the inaugura
tion of 2009.
It is expected that such
sermons and orations will
be delivered at churches,
synagogues, mosques and
other places of worship,
as well as before human
ist congregations and other
secular gatherings.
The American Folklife
Center is seeking as wide
a representation of ora
tions as possible. For more
information, visit http://
www.loc.gov/ folklife/ inau
gural/.
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