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WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2023
Homer, Banks County, GA 30547 • A Publication of MainStreet Newspapers, Inc. • 12 Pages, 1 Section Plus Supplements
Vol.57 No. 42
Former
Alto council
member dies
Former Alto city council
member, Carolyn Cabe died
Friday, September 29, 2023.
She served for several
years as a member of the
Alto City Council, as well
as serving as vice mayor.
Bom on July 9, 1947,
in Tennessee, she was the
daughter of the late Beve
ridge and Dorothy Henegar
Sanders. Mrs. Cabe worked
as a home health aide for
over 20 years and worked at
Global Tech for five years.
She was the owner and op
erator of Heavens Touch
Florist for 15 years.
Survivors include her
sons, Lee Cabe of Alto
and Scott Cabe of Kansas;
grandchildren: Michael
Cabe of Mt. Airy, Amanda
Cabe of Alto, Ayla Cabe of
Alto, and Abbie Cabe of
Kansas; great-grandchild,
Carson Cabe of Mt. Airy;
brothers, Fred Rohabach of
Morrow and Lee Rohabach,
Jr. of McDonough; and sev
eral nieces and nephews.
A private service will be
held at a later date.
Peanut
Butter Wars
to be held
The second annual Pea
nut Butter Wars is being
planned by the Banks Coun
ty Rotary Club.
School children are asked
to bring in jars of peanut
butter for the competition.
The winning school will
be presented with a trophy.
The winning class from
each school will receive a
pizza party.
All donated items will be
given to families in need.
Legion plans toy
ride on Oct. 14
The Post 215 American
Legion in Homer will hold
a toy ride on Saturday, Oct.
14. The rain date is Oct. 21.
Registration will be at
10 a.m. Kickstands up at
11 a.m. The ride will leave
from 1350 Historic Homer
Highway, Homer.
There will be raffle items,
barbecue plates, 50/50 raf
fle. The entrance fee is one
toy per rider. Vehicles are
welcome.
For more information,
call 706-713-7906
MAILING LABEL
This Lula chicken house was destroyed in a fire with approximately 20,000 chickens killed.
Chicken house destroyed
in fire; 20,000 chickens killed
BY ANGELA GARY
A fire in Lula last week
destroyed a chicken house
and killed 20,000 chickens.
The Banks County Fire
and Emergency Services
responded to 131 Emory
Chambers Road on a re
ported structure fire. Upon
arrival, firefighters found
a chicken house fully in
volved with fire and expo
sures to the nearby house.
“The exposures were
quickly covered and the fire
was contained to the origi
nal house,” fire chief Steve
Nichols stated. “The chick
en house was in operation at
the time and did have chick
ens in it. The house was list
ed as a total loss.”
No injuries were reported.
The cause of the fire is
listed as accidental at this
time and is still under inves
tigation.
56th annual Maysville Autumn
Leaf Festival set this weekend
Events also planned
in Gillsville, Baldwin
The 56th annual Mays
ville Autumn Leaf Festival
is coming up this weekend,
as is the annual Gillsville
Pottery Festival.
A fall festival is also
planned in the City of Bald
win for Oct. 21.
MAYSVILLE
The Maysville Autumn
Leaf Festival will be held
Friday-Saturday, Oct. 6-7,
at Veterans Park in down
town.
Homs on Friday will be
3 p.m. to 9 p.m. The festi
val will be open 9 a.m. to
10 p.m. on Saturday.
The schedule each day is
as follows:
FRIDAY
3 p.m. Festival opens
with music
4- 5 p.m. Music
5- 6 p.m. MES Cake Walk
6:30-7:30 p.m. Garrett
Lott
7:45-9 p.m. Richard Grif
fith
9 p.m. Festival closes
SATURDAY
9 a.m. Festival opens
10 a.m. Parade
11 a.m. Opening cere
mony: Welcome by Mayor
Richard Presley, National
Anthem by Lee Hill and
Prayer by Lee Hill
Noon Commerce School
of Dance
1:30-2:30 p.m. William
Dodd
3-4 p.m. Dog contest
5-6 p.m. Rail Town
6:10 p.m. Raffle drawing
7:30-10 p.m. Dirt Road
Revival
10 p.m. Festival closes
For more information on
the festival, email mays-
ville.comclub@gmail.com
or text Brittney at 706-499-
7565.
GILLSVILLE
The Historic Gillsville
Fall Folk Pottery Show will
be held on Saturday, Oct. 7.
The event is hosted by the
Craven-F erguson-Hewell
families, who have a long
history working in pottery
in North Georgia..
The event will be held
from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. at
Craven Pottery Inc., located
at 6640 Highway 52, Gills
ville.
BALDWIN
The City of Baldwin will
host its sixth annual Fall
Festival on Saturday, Oct.
21.
The event will kick off at
9:30 a.m. at city hall with a
“JEEPers Creepers Monster
Bash Decoration Contest
and Currahee Fall Crawl.”
Starting at noon, local
food, crafters, live music, a
visit from Heroes in Force
and Barbie, games and more
will be offered at the Farm
er’s Market.
There will be a fireworks
show at 7:30 p.m.
Vendors are being ac
cepted by emailing bald-
wine vents @cityo fb aldwin.
org or by calling 706-778-
6341.
Seven cases of rabies
reported in Banks
County so far this year
Second highest
number in state
BY ANGELA GARY
Banks County has the
second highest number of
rabies cases so far this year,
with seven being reported.
However, public health offi
cials say this doesn’t mean
there are more cases in this
area; it just means more are
being reported.
“We can confirm that
Banks County has recorded
seven rabies cases in 2023
as of last week,” said Eric
Jens, with the Georgia De
partment of Public Health.
“This is based on prelimi
nary data that has yet to be
finalized. Six of the seven
were in wild animals includ
ing skunk (3), racoon, bat,
and bobcat. The other case
was a goat.”
He added, “Regardless of
the number of cases in any
given county, it does not
mean that rabies is more
prolific in that county. Ra
bies is endemic throughout
all of Georgia, and higher
numbers could be the result
of higher reporting or more
encounters.
The best advice to reduc
ing the threat of rabies is for
people to keep themselves
and their pets away from
wildlife as best possible,
and to have pets vaccinated
for rabies.”
WHAT IS RABIES?
Rabies is a viral disease of
mammals, usually occurring
among wild animals such as
raccoons, skunks, bats, and
foxes. The rabies virus trav
els from the site of the bite
up through the nerves until
it reaches the brain, causing
encephalopathy and ulti
mately death.
In the United States, ra
bies occurs primarily in wild
mammals (e.g., skunks, rac
coons, coyotes, foxes and
bats). Sometimes, these
wild animals infect domes
tic cats, dogs, and livestock.
Rabies is rare in small ro
dents such as squirrels, rab
bits, beavers, chipmunks,
rats and mice, muskrats,
hamsters, gerbils, porcu
pines and guinea pigs.
When an infected animal
bites another animal the ra
bies virus is transmitted in
the infected animal’s sali
va. Rarely, rabies is spread
when infectious material
from a rabid animal, such as
saliva, comes into contact
with mucous membranes
such as the eyes, nose,
mouth, or a wound.
SYMPTOMS
Early symptoms of rabies
in humans are non-specific
and may include fever, head
ache, and general malaise.
Later, signs of encephalop
athy such as insomnia, anx
iety, confusion, paralysis,
excitation, hallucinations,
agitation, hypersalivation,
difficulty swallowing, and
hydrophobia (fear of water)
may appear.
Death usually occurs
within days of the onset of
symptoms.
It is a misconception that
rabid animals are spotted
easily because they drool
and foam at the mouth.
These symptoms may nev
er occur or may occur only
at the very last stages of the
disease. Any non-domes-
ticated or stray animal that
acts abnormally should be
suspected of having rabies.
Rabid animals may stagger,
appear restless, be aggres
sive, have difficulty walk
ing, seem overly friendly, or
appear to be choking.
The length of time be
tween the bite and the
symptoms of rabies depends
on the strain of rabies vims,
how much rabies vims was
introduced into the wound,
and the distance from the
site of the bite to the brain.
Usually, the incubation peri
od is quite long and may be
one to three months.
TREATMENT
There is no known, ef
fective treatment for rabies
once the symptoms of the
illness have developed. Ra
bies can be prevented in
humans if medical care is
sought soon after an expo
sure to the rabies vims. If
left untreated, rabies is al
ways deadly.
Continued on Page 2
Last day to register to vote for town elections is Oct. 10
Election Day is coming
up on Nov. 7 and sever
al town elections will be
on the ballot. There are no
county-wide offices up for
re-election this year.
A mayor’s race is on the
ballot for Maysville, Alto
and Baldwin voters. Lula
also has a town election this
year.
The last day to register
to vote is Oct. 10. Absentee
ballot requests may be sub
mitted until Oct. 27.
On Election Day, polls
will be open from 7 a.m. to
7 p.m.
MAYSVILLE
In Maysville, incumbent
mayor Richard Presley will
face challenger William S.
McLeish Jr.
One council seat in Mays
ville will also be on the bal
lot. In Ward 4, Brodriche D.
Jackson and Roy Dean will
face off. In Ward 2, Aman
da Farley was the only one
to qualify. Ward 2 and 4 in
cumbents, Junior Hardy and
Scott Harper, are not seek
ing re-election.
ALTO
In Alto, incumbent PJ.
Huggins, Pattcia Gail Ar
mour and John Smith will
be on the ballot in the may
or’s race.
In Post 2, incumbent
James M. Tinner was the
only one to qualify.
In Post, 4, incumbent Ed
die Palmer was the only one
to qualify.
BALDWIN
In Baldwin, Stephanie
Almagno and Tom Whit
ney are seeking the mayor’s
seat.
The mayor’s seat current
ly is held by acting mayor
Alice Venter and will be
elected for the remainder
of about two years and one
month, beginning around
Dec. 1, 2023, and run
through Dec. 31,2025. Ven
ter serves as Post 5 Coun-
cilmember and will return
to that seat once the new
mayor is installed.
In Baldwin, only one
person qualified for each
of the council seats: Post
1, Erik Keith (incumbent;
Post 2, Joseph Satterfield
(incumbent Theron Ayers
did not qualify); Post 3 Ker
ri Dianne Davis (incumbent
Stephanie Almagno did not
qualify)
LULA
In Lula, incumbent Gar
nett Smith and Roy Henry
Jr. qualified for District 4.
In District 5, which is va
cant, Juliette Leone Talley,
Joseph Michael Headrick
and Debbie Parker-Presley
qualified.
Incumbent Tony Cornett
was the only one to qualify
in District 1.
NO ELECTION
IN HOMER
An election will not be
necessary in Homer as only
one candidate in each coun
cil seat qualified.
Inside this issue:
•News-Page 2
•School-Page 3
•Sports—Pages 4, 5,12
•Crime—Page 6
•Church and Social—Page 7
•Obits-Pages 8-9
•Classifieds—Page 10
•Legals—Page 11
BCMS Teacher of the BCMS girls’ tennis team Latisha Marcus organized a
Year Stephanie Kinsey headed to state play-offs- Cancer Walk in honor of fam-
featured—Page 3 Page 12 ily -Page 7
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