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PAGE 8A —THE MADISON COUNTY (GAt JOURNAL. THURSDAY. AUGUST 20. 2009
Flu ..cont’dfrom 1A
Dills ..cont’dfrom 1A
“This (county’s) committee is
the least stressful (for me) out of
all 10 (counties),” Huff told the
board. “They're on the ball and
ready to respond.”
Huff said his department
would be called into service in
the event that a lot of H1N1
vaccine is needed at one time,
though he doesn’t expect that to
happen.
FLU VACCINE
AVAILABILITY
Seasonal flu vaccines should
become available in health
departments and other locations
by the end of this month, Huff
said, which is about a month
earlier than usual. He expects the
new H1N1 vaccine, which will
be offered in two shots 21 to 28
days apart, to be available in this
area in mid-October.
“Clinical trials are going on
now,” Huff noted.
The NE Health District should
receive 185,000 initial doses of
the vaccine, with 120 million
distributed nationwide,
‘This should be more than
enough to vaccinate the first
five tiers (those targeted as most
at-risk)," Huff said, adding that
more vaccine should become
available in the following month
or two.
“I anticipate us having enough
vaccine for all who want one,"
Huff said.
Health officials are not sure if
public health departments will
be the sole initial providers of
the vaccine. And, at this point,
Huff said there are no plans now
to go into schools for mass vac
cinations.
“We want parents to bring
their children to receive the vac
cine," he said, but he added that
there are still questions to be
answered and that much will
depend on the spread and sever
ity of the virus.
While the vaccinations will be
free, there will be an administra
tion fee of $9 - $25, Huff noted.
Smith said that seasonal flu
shots will be $25 each, the same
as last year.
FLU STATS
“This is a new kind of flu, the
last 'swine flu’ outbreak occurred
in the 1960s,” Kudon said.
The "regular” flu vims kills
about 30,000 people in the U.S.
each season, which is about
one percent of those who are
infected, Kudon said, whereas
the H1N1 vims has about a .5
percent mortality rate.
But one problem as the U.S.
enters flu season this year could
be the population’s low immu
nity to the H1N1 strain, which
may cause a greater number
to get sick, causing school and
businesses to close out of fear.
“And of course, the more peo
ple who get sick, the greater the
mortality rate will naturally be,”
he said.
Dogs .cont’dfrom 1A
One of the dogs in the pack that was euthanized
Tuesday rests in a holding pen.
Fomash said that even if the
tragic incident had not occurred,
tire dogs were not adoptable ani
mals.
“We aren’t going to adopt out
any dog that shows any type of
aggression toward a person or
another dog even," said Fomash.
“And these dogs showed aggres
sion.”
She said tire animals, which
included 11 adults and fivepup-
pies, were in very poor health.
“We didn't think they were in
good shape before, but when we
got them in to euthanize them,
they were in very bad shape,” said
Fomash. “Tire puppies would not
have lived much longer. It was
sad.”
Fomash said the victims had
20 cats and seven dogs. Tire shel
ter was asked about holding the
dogs but had no room until after
tire pack of dogs was euthanized.
Fornash said the shelter staff
was busy sanitizing the mns for
tire pets and was supposed to
receive tire victims’ seven dogs
Wednesday. Those animals will
be made available for adoption.
“That's at least one small thing
we can do for the family,” she
said.
Tire tragic incident drew national
attention this week. And Fomash
spoke Tuesday with CNN, the
Associated Press, Inside Edition
and local newspaper, radio and
television outlets. She said she
repeatedly emphasized the need
to spay and neuter pets.
“This is an example of what
happens when people don't
spay and neuter,” said Fomash.
“This pack of dogs had recently
increased by five. You could have
had 50 dogs running together in
no time.”
Fomash said she often hears
complaints about a dog killing
a goat or attacking a pet. She
said people often don't realize
how much worse such situations
could be.
“I think about how that could
have been a child getting off a
school bus,” said Fomash. "It's
just so important that people take
responsibility for their animals.
We really need people to under
stand this. We really need people
to spay and neuter tlreir pets.”
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Lavender noted that the bonding
company had reimbursed the city
for $247,000, which included not
only the stolen funds documented,
but some other expenses, such as
tax penalties, incurred due to Dills’
actions.
Judge Bailey gave Dills until
Monday at noon to report to the
Madison County Jail to begin her
incarceration so she can "get her
affairs in order.” He warned her
that not reporting as ordered would
result in a felony escape charge
being levied against her, which
would require an additional five-
year sentence.
Dills sat quietly while the sen
tence was read, but she sobbed ear
lier as she tried to give a statement
to the court, expressing her sorrow
over what she did.
“I've regretted it since day one,”
she told the court. “And I’m glad
it’s at this point, because I've been
miserable.”
Dills went on to say that she did
not recall the first two years of her
thefts from the city, but added that
she was very sorry for it all and that
she wants to “pay the city back.”
Dills' attorney Doug McKillip
told the court that Dills is suffering
from an anxiety disorder, depres
sion and the autoimmune disease
Lupus and he asked that she not
be incarcerated, but instead given
probation.
He said she has already began
working toward restitution - tak
ing steps to pay back the bonding
company that covered the miss
ing funds by signing a promissory
note and sending them $150 per
month for the last several months.
“We can do the math as well as
anyone and we realize it’ll take
137 years to pay it back at this
rate.” McKillip said, adding that
the payments were a “good faith”
gesture on Dills’ part to pay every
one back who suffered from her
actions. She has also already paid
back a $1,000 deductible charge to
the city, McKillip noted.
He went on to say Dills had
just “frittered away” the money
stolen from the city over the years,
spending it on small items "all day,
every day.”
Danielsville Mayor Glenn Cross
spoke to the judge on behalf of the
city, as did councilwoman Junne
Temple.
Councilwoman Janice Merk also
attended the proceedings, but did
not address the court.
“I am not a vindictive person,”
Cross told the court, adding that he
had believed Dills to be a “faithful
and honest” employee until last
September, when he was con
fronted with what city auditors
had found. Cross said the initial
discovery of missing funds led to
an "auditing nightmare" for him
self, the council and the citizens of
Danielsville.
“She didn’t just do this to us,
she did this to the 500 citizens of
Danielsville who are hard-working
and pay their bills and taxes.. .and
I’m speaking on behalf of the city
of Danielsville,” said Cross.
“The damage that was done to
the city will take years to over
come,” Temple said in her state
ment. "The citizens are outraged...
there was a great trust placed in her
and it was betrayed... The law was
broken and I believe she deserves
the maximum (sentence) allowed."
City attorney Victor Johnson,
speaking as a private citizen, told
the court that if there is a silver lin
ing in this situation, it is that the city
is in much better shape in terms
of bookkeeping practices and that
more checks and balances are now
in place to prevent such a crime in
the future.
“I feel it's a fair sentence," Mayor
Cross said after the hearing. “I have
no ill will toward anybody, but the
city of Danielsville was looking
to us to prepare this case and to
make sure that something like this
doesn’t happen again."
Occ. tax .cont’dfrom 1A
30 to file for a 100-percent
refund from the county build
ing inspection office.
After years of debate,
county commissioners finally
gave up in June on levying an
occupation tax on businesses
in unincorporated areas of the
county.
One hundred and ninety
businesses had already paid
for the tax when the com
missioners scrapped the plan.
The board initially agreed to
refund 50 percent of the fee
for those businesses, saying
that the companies had the
benefit of having a business
license in 2009.
But some business owners
complained, saying that there
was nothing to gain from the
tax and that those businesses
that ignored the tax were get
ting off scot-free, while those
who abided by the law were
being punished.
The Madison County Journal is
your source for local news.
Call 706-795-2567 to subscribe.
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