WEDNESDAY MORNING UPDATE
 Wednesday, June 10, 2020
Tifton, Georgia
GrapeNew
SUMMERS WINS
GOP NOMINATION FOR GEORGIA SENATE
LATE RETURNS PUT CARDEN SUMMERS OVER SPUD BOWEN
By FRANK SAYLES JR.
Tifton Grapevine
Carden H. Summers has won the Republican nomination for his Ga. Senate District 13 seat over GOP challenger Spud Bowen .

In the hotly contested race, Summers of Cordele led Bowen of Tifton throughout Tuesday night as votes trickled in slowly tfrom the nine counties in the district.

According to an update at 11:10 a.m. Wednesday from the Georgia Secretary of State's Office , Summers led 56.77 percent with 11,231 votes to Bowen's 43.23 percent with 8,551 votes, with 67 percent of the vote reported.

Remaining outstanding votes do not appear enough to give Bowen a victory.

Summers noted Wednesday morning on social media that final election numbers have not yet been reported, "however, numbers that we have are pointing to a victory . This has been a team effort , and I appreciate everyone who helped me get here.

"This campaign has been a tough race and filled with lots of hurt. Like our country, it is time to come together , heal, and focus on what's next. Please be kind to the Bowen family , as my closest friends tell me that they are good people , and I have no doubt that Spud Bowen wanted great things for our District. As do I!

"Again, thanks to everyone that went to bat for my campaign; we are all winners , and I'll be forever grateful," Summers said.

District 13 encompasses Tift, Turner, Worth, Crisp, Dodge, Dooly and Lee counties, and parts of Sumter and Wilcox counties. With 100 percent of Tift's precincts reporting, Bowen won Tift County with 68.8 percent of the vote ( 2,320 ) to Summers' 31.2 percent ( 1,052 ).

Only 67 percent of the precincts were also reporting in the Democratic primary for the Senate District 13 seat. In that race, Mary Egler of Lee County apparently won the nomination with 60.71 percent (4,469) to Ruenett Melton of Tifton's 39.29 percent (2,892).

In another hotly contested race Tuesday, Bryce Johnson defeated Kevin Hutto in the race for district attorney in the Tifton Judicial Circuit.
With all precincts reporting, Johnson received 71.49 percent of the vote, or 3,488 votes. Hutto received 28.51 percent or 1,391 votes in unofficial results on the Republican ballot.

"I'm very humbled at the support I received," Johnson told the Tifton Grapevine.

"It's been a strange campaign, not being able to see many of the voters, but I hope to make up for that soon as we return to business as usual. The trust of the voters is a sacred thing that I value very highly, and I will always strive to remain grateful for each vote cast for me."

Hutto said that "words are insufficient to express the gratitude Missy and I feel to the many people who have helped us. ... we are better for having gone through this."

Also on the GOP ballot,  Paul Webb  won the Tift County commissioner seat in District 3 over Lee Turner . Webb received 59.79 percent of the vote ( 464) to Turner's 40.21 percent ( 312 ).

Also on Tuesday, Tift Probate Judge Suzanne Carter Johnson  defeated fellow Republican  Bobby “Keith” Newell . Johnson received 64 percent of the vote, 2,145 votes, to Newell's 36 percent, 1,199 .

Congressman  Austin Scott  of Tifton easily defeated his Republican challengers for the U.S. House Distrct 8 nomination. In preliminary results, Scott handily beat Vance Dean  and  Danny Ellyson. With 88 percent of all precincts reporting Wednesday morning , Scott had 89 percent of the vote.

In the Democratic race for U.S. Senate to face Sen. David Perdue in November, Jon Ossoff had 48.61 percent of the vote with 80 percent of the state's precincts reporting. Ossoff is one of seven candidates vying for the Democratic nomination. The next closest candidate behind Ossoff was Teresa Pike Tomlinson with 14.6 percent of the vote.

Election results were delayed Tuesday night as several precincts in the metro Atlanta area remained open for voting until 10:10 p.m. because of voting machine issues and long lines in that area. The secretary of state's office did not begin reporting results of any races until all polling places were closed around the state.
COVID CASES, DEATHS
RISE IN TIFT COUNTY
By FRANK SAYLES JR.
Tifton Grapevine
While Georgia has seen some encouraging recent trends regarding the coronavirus , cases – and deaths – continue to rise in Tift County , reminding folks that the virus is still present.

Positive cases of COVID-19 have risen from 139 to 327 within the past month in Tift County , while coronavirus-related deaths have nearly quadrupled from six deaths reported on May 8 to 22 deaths as of Tuesday, June 9 .

The deaths involve Tift County residents with local addresses, according to the Ga. Department of Public Health . The DPH said more positive cases are likely a result of more testing being done.

The state said only one death involving Tift County residents can be attributed to nursing homes or other long-term care facilities. Only Tifton Health & Rehabilitation Center on Newton Drive has had one of its residents die from COVID-19 in Tifton , the state reported.

The Rehabilitation Center of South Georgia on North Tift Avenue has had two residents test positive and no related deaths; Legacy Village of Tifton on Whiddon Mill Road also has had two residents test positive with no deaths, the state said.

Both Maple Court and Cypress Pond senior care facilities in Tifton report no positive cases among its residents.

Statewide, Georgia had 53,249 positive cases and 2,285 related deaths as of Tuesday , the DPH reported.

"The numbers continue to look good . I've got a detailed update on where we are," Gov. Brian P. Kemp said Tuesday .

"Our number of COVID patients in the hospital continued to drop over the weekend. Our numbers continue to remain steady or falling , even though we’re testing more vulnerable populations like nursing home staff and residents now."
WORTH, TIFT STUDENTS EARN ASSOCIATE DEGREES BEFORE HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION
Two students from Worth County High School and one student from Tift County High School earned their associate degrees from Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College before their high school graduations this year.

Hannah McAlpin from Tift County High School, and Chloe Cook and Shemar Touze from Worth County High completed associate degrees from ABAC at the end of the spring semester, said Dr. Cynthia Hall , an English professor who directs the ABAC Dual Enrollment Program and the ABAC Honors Program.

“With the passing of the new dual enrollment bill in the state legislature which limits state paid classes to 30 credits, we won’t see very many high school students in the future who earn their associate degrees with ABAC before they graduate from high school,” Hall said. 

“These students worked very hard and can be proud of their accomplishments on the high school and college level.”

Of ABAC’s 3,923 students during the 2019 fall semester, a total of 2,194 were enrolled in bachelor’s degree programs and 1,729 were enrolled in associate degree programs. ABAC offers 12 different bachelor’s degrees.
TIFTON'S 'BEAUTY SPOT'
The Keep Tift Beautiful (KTB) group congratulates Jimmy and Lori Felton at 715 42nd St. East for being the KTB's Tifton Beauty Spot of the Month .
Late Coach Buddy Nobles with the Irwin County High Indians at what is now 'Buddy Nobles Stadium' in Ocilla.
IRWIN COUNTY BOE NAMES
FOOTBALL STADIUM FOR LATE COACH
The Irwin County Board of Education on Monday renamed the Irwin County High School football stadium for its late state-champion football coach.

"Buddy Nobles Stadium" honors Nobles, who died in January at age 53 of stomach cancer after leading the Irwin County High Indians to the Class A public high school football championship in December, the school's first state title in 44 years.

"The Nobles family considers it quite an honor that the ICHS football stadium will be named after Coach Nobles. Thank you so much to everyone who made this happen," said Nobles' widow Tammy Nobles .

"Coach Nobles considered coaching at Irwin an honor. He loved his job, his players, his coaches and Indian Nation . In his humble manner, he would try to deflect the attention off of him and onto his players. I consider it quite the honor and very fitting because he poured so much of himself into that stadium. Thank You Indian Nation!"

In  six  seasons, Nobles led the Indians to the state finals five times. This past season, the Indians finished  undefeated at 13-0  – for the first time since  1975  when they had won   their last state title.
TIFTON GRAPEVINE'S PET OF THE WEEK
This kitty is among those available for adoption at the Tift County Animal Shelter . V isit  the Animal Shelter from 1-6 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, or call 229-382-PETS (7387).
Pets of the Week are sponsored by:
Branch's Veterinary Clinic
205 Belmont Ave., Tifton, 229-382-6055
CITY COUNCIL ACCEPTS LAND FOR PARK
– JUNE 9, 1916
Tifton City Council, on June 9, 1916, accepted H.H. Tift 's offer of 13 acres for creation of a city park . The tract is bounded on the south by Eighth Street , on the north by 10th Street , on the east by Mill Street and on the west by Tift Avenue . "This tract contains a splendid growth of virgin pine timber , practically the only timber of its kind" left inside the city, according to press reports.
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