Friday, July 17, 2020
Tifton, Georgia
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BOE: AUG. 7 OPENING, MILLAGE ROLLBACK, BASKETBALL COACH
DELAYS SCHOOL 4 DAYS; SETS TAX DECREASE; NAMES
TOMMY BLACKSHEAR AS NEW HEAD COACH
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By FRANK SAYLES JR.
Tifton Grapevine
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The
Tift County Board of Education
(BOE) on
Thursday
set
Aug. 7
as the opening date for schools, approved a slight
millage rollback
for taxpayers, and brought back former Blue Devil Head Coach
Tommy Blackshear
to once again lead the Tift County High
basketball
program.
On the recommendation of Superintendent
Adam Hathaway
, the BOE is
delaying
the start of school by
four
days to allow
teachers
to better prepare for the school year during the pandemic and to allow their input about how new procedures in place may work.
The school system is opening under
level Green
, allowing physical instruction but under new guidelines and procedures.
“It’s not going to look like it did last August,”
Hathaway
told the board. “
Social distancing
is going to be the order of the day."
Face masks
will be required on all
school buses
but will only be required inside school buildings “when
social distancing
is a
challenge
,” Hathaway said. However, he doesn’t expect such challenges to occur very much. The superintendent said students will not be “in a mask all day and locked in a room."
The school system has posted answers to
“
Frequently Asked Questions
”
about school reopening:
Click Here!
Regarding the
tax millage rate
for the new fiscal year, the BOE rolled back the rate from the current
16.940
rate to
16.932.
“That’s the best thing we can do for our
community
right now,” Hathaway said. He added that the reduced millage will
not result
in any
program
or
personnel
changes in the school system’s budget.
The BOE also named
Tommy Blackshear
as head boys'
basketball
coach.
“We are happy to welcome
Coach Blackshear
to the Tift County family,” Hathaway said. “We expect great things from our boys' basketball program under his leadership. He has a long history of
success
on the basketball court as a head coach, and we know that will continue in the future for our
Blue Devils
.”
Blackshear coached the Tift County boys' basketball team from
1988-2004
and was named the
1996 Georgia Tip Off Club’s Coach of the Year
. After becoming the Blue Devils head coach in
1988
, Blackshear's teams won
10
region titles, went to the
final four
of the state basketball tournament
three
times and captured the
AAAA state championship
in
1996
.
Blackshear’s
Blue Devil
teams went to the state tournament
11
of his last
12
seasons.
“Coach Blackshear understands hard work, success, and what it means to be a Blue Devil,” said Tift County High Principal
Chad Stone
.
Blackshear is a graduate of
Armstrong Atlantic State University
, where he excelled as an
All American
both on the basketball court and in the classroom. He was inducted into the
Tift County Athletic Hall of Fame
in
2015
.
Xavier Holmes
was the Blue Devils’
interim
head coach last year.
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GOV. SUES ATLANTA OVER MASK REQUIREMENT
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Local governments'
requirement
of
face masks
in public places, which ignores Gov.
Brian P. Kemp’
s executive order, is headed to the courts.
Kemp on
Thursday
filed a
lawsuit
against the
Atlanta City Council
and Mayor
Keisha Lance Bottoms
for requiring face masks as
COVID-19
cases continue to rise in Georgia.
The state's lawsuit claims that Kemp alone "leads the state of Georgia in its fight against the worldwide novel coronavirus/COVID-19 pandemic," and that he has the power to "
suspend
municipal orders that are
contradictory
to any state law or to his executive orders."
Atlanta and about a dozen other cities have implemented requirements for
face masks
in public, even though masks are not mandatory in Georgia; Kemp has previously ordered that local governments cannot enact any requirement more stringent than the state has set during the pandemic.
On
Wednesday
, Kemp went further and issued an
executive order
that specifically forbade local officials from setting mandatory face-covering policies.
"This lawsuit is on behalf of the Atlanta business owners and their hardworking employees who are
struggling
to
survive
during these difficult times," Kemp said on social media.
"These men and women are doing their very best to put food on the table for their families while local elected officials shutter businesses and undermine economic growth,"
Kemp
said.
Mayor
Bottoms
responded on social media: “
3,104
Georgians have died and I and my family are amongst the
106k
who have tested positive for COVID-19. Meanwhile, I have been sued by
@GovKemp
for a mask mandate. A better use of taxpayer money would be to expand testing and contact tracing."
Kemp has consistently
encouraged
the use of face masks but described formal mask
requirements
as “a
bridge too far
” and "
unenforceable
.” However, some cities, including
Atlanta, Savannah, Augusta
and Kemp’s hometown of
Athens
, are requiring mask usage to help slow the spread of the coronavirus.
Kemp’s executive order this week brought
condemnation
from some of those cities:
"It is officially official. Governor Kemp does not give a damn about us,"
Savannah
Mayor
Van Johnson
wrote on Twitter. "Every man and woman for himself/herself. Ignore the science and survive the best you can."
Russell Edwards
,
Athens
mayor pro tempore, said on social media
Wednesday
that “Brian Kemp fails to do right. And that’s putting it lightly. His order today
sabotages
protections, banning local governments from requiring mask-wearing. Words fail to describe this
monstrous behavior
.”
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SYLVESTER POLICE CHIEF
CONTRACTS CORONAVIRUS
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Sylvester
Police Chief
Shawn Urquhart
has tested
positive
for COVID-19 and is
quarantined
at home, officials said.
The city is testing other personnel, and an additional
police
department
employee
has tested positive and is in quarantine, officials said.
Sylvester-Worth County
has recorded a total of
366
positive cases and
22
deaths, according to the
Ga. Department of Public Health
(DPH).
In
Tift County
, COVID-19 cases now total
1,062
with
29
deaths, the DPH said
Thursday
. There have been
132
hospitalizations with the virus in Tift.
Statewide
, cases reached
131,275
on Thursday with
3,104
deaths, the DPH reported.
Testing
continues to rise in Georgia; contact your county's health department to schedule a
free COVID-19 test
–
Click Here!
for information.
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TIFTON FOOD DISTRIBUTION TODAY
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Second Harvest of South Georgia
, the region's leading hunger-relief organization, is having another
free distribution
of
food
today (
Friday
) in
Tifton
.
Beginning at
7:30 a.m.
and continuing while the boxed food lasts, the distribution
will be
at the
Georgia Museum of Agriculture'
s parking lot off
Whiddon Mill Road
. Cars will be served on a
first-come, first-served
basis.
One box
will be distributed per household; an adult household member must be present. Vehicles will line up, and food will be placed in the vehicle's trunk. No walk-ups are allowed.
Second Harvest of South Georgia
has been holding monthly food distribution events recently in
Tifton and
throughout South Georgia during the
pandemic.
Also
today, the local
Salvation Army is distributing gallons of
milk at the
Tifton Mall beginning at
9 a.m. and continuing while supplies last. The milk distribution is sponsored by
Borden dairies and the
U.S. Department of Agriculture.
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TICKETS AVAILABLE NOW THROUGHOUT JULY!
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SRTC vet tech student Savannah Maton recently participated in the advanced CPR training for cats and dogs.
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SRTC VET TECH STUDENTS JOIN WORLDWIDE CPR TRAINING
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The
veterinary technology
program at
Southern Regional Technical College
(SRTC) is participating in a worldwide effort to train veterinarians and veterinary technicians in the most current, evidence-based emergency life-saving techniques for
cats
and
dogs
.
During the
COVID-19
pandemic, the
RECOVER
initiative (Reassessment Campaign on Veterinary Resuscitation) has extended cardiopulmonary resuscitation (
CPR
) training at no cost to students or their accredited colleges with veterinary training programs.
The initiative is a
non-profit
, volunteer-based program. As of May, more than
160
schools in
23
countries had registered with the program, and
18,507
students enrolled in the online evidence-based canine and feline CPR training. As of July 15,
83
percent of SRTC’s current veterinary technology students and
100
percent of recent graduates had completed the training.
“We had already covered
canine CPR
in our labs, but this training deepened my knowledge and confidence in emergency care for cats and dogs,” said SRTC vet tech student
Savannah Maton
.
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GSP HANDLES 29 WRECKS IN TIFT DURING JUNE
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During
June
in
Tift County
, Tifton
Post 13
of the
Georgia State Patrol
handled
29
traffic accidents resulting in
27
injuries and
one
fatality, the GSP said.
State troopers issued
357
traffic citations during June in Tift, including four arrests for driving under the influence,
223
citations for speeding,
43
seatbelt violations and
eight
child-restraint violations.
There were also
264
warnings issued by Tifton-based troopers.
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Tifton’s Locally Owned Digital Newspaper
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Your free subscription allows you to automatically receive our MidWeek and Weekender editions in your in-box, along with occasional sponsored editions.
To Contact Us, Call
478-227-7126
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TIFTON GRAPEVINE'S PET OF THE WEEK
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This boy is available for adoption or rescue.
The shelter, located at 278 Georgia Highway 125 S., in Tifton, is open to the public for adoptions from
1-6 p.m. Mondays
through
Fridays
.
For
more
information
,
call
229-382-PETS (7387).
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Pets of the Week are sponsored by:
Branch’s Veterinary Clinic
205 Belmont Ave., Tifton, 229-382-6055
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CORONAVIRUS CLEARINGHOUSE
Important Phone Numbers & Web Sites
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JULY 9
Higinio Reyes Sr., 68,
Tifton
Betty Louise Ellis, 85,
Tifton
Marion F. “Buddy” Green Jr., 81,
Ocilla
Christopher Robley Peters,
58,
Tifton
Gaston F. Vanoven, 87,
Coolidge
Thomas Reese Jones, 34,
Albany
JULY 10
Illya Stephen Copeland, 48,
Chatsworth
Dennis Ray Gaskins, 65,
Kissimmee, Fla.
JULY 11
Vanessa Chanta Edwards 32,
Sparks
Randal Jenkins, 55,
Tifton
Harvey L. Nall, 83,
Douglas
Donna Walton Smith, 67,
Tifton
JULY 12
Steve Voorhees, 57,
Sylvester
Sylvia McCook Green, 75,
Ocilla
Leonard "Dan" Hauxwell, 70,
Tifton
Glenn “Lamar” Deaver Sr., 82,
Irwin County
JULY 13
Melba Patsy Roberts Brown, 80,
Ashburn
John L. Covin Sr., 89,
Sylvester
Sarah Jeans Mims, 59,
Tifton
JULY 14
John M. Kennedy Jr., 81,
Tifton
Thomas “Tommy” Etheridge Cook, 78,
Tifton
Shirley Jean Lynch Edwards, 83,
Sylvester
Robert E. "Bob" Rumph Sr., 88,
Adel
Reuben B. Pitts, 90,
Sycamore
Franklin "Frank" Redding, Sr., 67,
Adel
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JULY 15
Lucille S. Barnes, 86,
Tifton
Janice Cone Chandler, 74,
Tifton
Timothy Wayne Ward, 57,
Sycamore
James Aubrey Ross Sr., 88,
Ocilla
JULY 16
Ronald "Ron" Register, 69,
Sylvester
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Tifton Grapevine
e-published every Tuesday and Friday
Frank Sayles Jr.
Editor & Publisher
Bonnie Sayles
Managing Editor
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,
Tifton, Georgia
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