Health care day: Bills on HIV, pregnancy, vaping, lead, caregivers move on

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February 23, 2022

The Georgia House passed legislation Tuesday that could give Medicaid coverage to thousands of uninsured residents who have HIV.

The chamber approved House Bill 1192 with a bipartisan 136-14 vote. If enacted by the General Assembly, the legislation would instruct the state’s Department of Community Health to apply to the feds for a waiver that would extend Medicaid to low-income Georgians living with HIV.

That could help up to 13,000 people, said Jeff Graham, executive director of Georgia Equality, an advocacy group for LGBTQ individuals in the state. “This is a great thing and an important step in the right direction,” Graham said. “It provides more comprehensive coverage to people living with HIV.”

Uninsured residents with HIV currently have access to prescription medication through the AIDS Drug Assistance Program, but the program does not provide general medical care. Medicaid would also broaden the range of prescriptions available to patients, Graham said.

And a waiver could take funds currently used for the drug program to broaden services to people who wouldn’t qualify for Medicaid (at less than 138 percent of the federal poverty level), Graham added.

The HIV waiver bill’s passage was part of a busy health care day at the state Capitol, with a House committee passing bills on lead contamination, caregivers and vaping.

HIV is a virus spread from person to person under some circumstances. If unchecked, it can lead to the disease known as AIDS, which was once almost invariably fatal. Treatment strategies now exist to block the development of the disease, allowing many infected people to live mostly normal lives.

The lead sponsor of the HIV bill, Rep. Sharon Cooper, a Marietta Republican, said a person with full-blown AIDS costs the state three times more than a patient who remains positive for the virus but does not develop the symptoms.

Despite public health efforts to limit transmission of HIV, Georgia and the Southeast, in general, have high rates of new diagnoses.

In 2019, the state had four counties ranked in the top 25 areas for new diagnoses of HIV – Fulton, DeKalb, Cobb and Gwinnett. All four counties are heavily populated and in metro Atlanta.

Cooper said the HIV waiver could save public health an estimated $58 million, as compared to the $18 million that the move would cost the state.

The House also passed another Cooper health bill. House Bill 1092 would allow a judge to postpone the sentencing of a pregnant woman so she could get access to proper care.

In Georgia’s prison system, pregnant women don’t get the prenatal care or medications they need, said Cooper. As a result, there is a high rate of fetal and infant death with prison pregnancies, she added.

Fighting lead poisoning

Later Tuesday, the House Health and Human Services Committee approved a bill to strengthen Georgia children’s protection against lead poisoning.

House Bill 1355, sponsored by Rep. Katie Dempsey (R-Rome), would lower the level of lead in children’s blood that would trigger state regulatory action, which includes testing, warning letters and required remediation. That poisoning level would be put at the CDC guideline of 3.5 micrograms per deciliter, much lower than Georgia’s current threshold, which experts say leaves many children at risk.

The bill is the product of a legislative study committee that recommended changes last year. It also carries funding of $1.8 million for more state lead inspectors and equipment.

Even at low levels, lead can damage children’s brains, lowering intelligence and weakening their powers of self-control and concentration, researchers have found. At higher levels, lead can affect growth, and it can replace iron in the blood, leading to anemia and fatigue.

There is no safe level of lead exposure, the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says.

Lead poisoning can come from several sources, including water, paint, house dust, even certain toys and imported candies.

The hazards of lead were highlighted in 2014, after drinking water for the city of Flint, Mich., was contaminated with lead, exposing thousands of children to the hazard.

Georgia has also some high-profile contamination sites. As part of a cleanup under the federal Superfund program, the EPA is removing lead from the soil of dozens of properties in the Westside neighborhood of Atlanta.

Also, clean water advocates and government officials maintain that a metal processing facility in south Atlanta must stop hazardous waste from escaping its site and polluting nearby soil and a creek. The testing of sediment next to a stormwater drain showed elevated levels of lead and other metals, according to sample results obtained by Axios.

A plan for caregivers

In other action, the House health panel gave an OK to a bill involving caregivers of patients who are hospitalized.

House Bill 1304 would allow patients to name a caregiver for help in their discharge planning by the hospital.

“We see patients being discharged sooner than they used to,’’ said Rep. Lee Hawkins, a Gainesville Republican who’s lead sponsor of the legislation.

More than 40 other states have enacted such legislation already, according to Nancy Pitra of AARP Georgia. Increasingly, caregivers are performing medical tasks — such as medication management and wound care — for their loved ones who have been discharged from the hospital.

Such laws can reduce hospital readmissions, said advocates for seniors.

The panel also approved a measure, House Bill 1348, that would prohibit vaping in areas that now ban tobacco smoking.

The lead sponsor, state Rep. Bonnie Rich, a Suwanee Republican, noted that Georgia’s smoking ban was passed in 2005 before electronic smoking devices became popular. She said these e-cigarettes contain aerosol contaminants such as nicotine and lead.

Georgia’s high school vaping rate is 17%, according to 2019 data from the CDC.

Joiner named Cherokee Bluff High’s new softball head coach

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Now Habersham

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February 23, 2022

Josh Joiner will be the next softball head coach for the Cherokee Bluff High School Bears. Cherokee Bluff Athletic Director Kenny Hill announced the hiring this afternoon.

“We are excited to have Coach Joiner lead our softball program,” said Hill. “He has experienced success at a high-level and can build on the strong foundation and rising talent here at Cherokee Bluff.”

Joiner has an overall record of 123 wins against 89 losses. His teams won 3 Region Championships (7AAA) while at East Hall. At Peachtree Ridge, he led the Lions to a Final Four appearance in the 2019 AAAAAAA State Tournament.

Josh and his wife Haley have two daughters – Harper, 5, and Gracyn, 3.

Athens shooting under investigation

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Staff Report

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February 23, 2022

Athens-Clarke County police are investigating a shooting that injured a 19-year-old man.

On February 22, at approximately 2 p.m., the Athens-Clarke County Police Department responded to the 400 block of Newton Bridge Road in reference to a discharging firearm call.

“Shortly after receiving this call, officers were advised that an individual with a gunshot wound arrived at a local hospital,” says ACCPD Public Information Officer Lt. Shaun Barnett.

The initial investigation indicates the man was injured in the shooting at the Newton Bridge Road location. His injuries are non-life-threatening, Barnett says.

The investigation is ongoing. Anyone with information about this incident is asked to contact Detective Black at 762-400-7058 or by email at [email protected].

Ga. Senate advances bill that aims to let parents second-guess school lessons

By

Ross Williams

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February 22, 2022

DSC0877-1024x683 — Sen. Elena Parent and Sen. Steve Gooch debate the so-called Parents’ Bill of Rights. (Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder.)

(GA Recorder) — A bill supported by Gov. Brian Kemp to give parents more say on what happens in their children’s classrooms passed the state Senate Tuesday on a party-line vote.

The bill, which supporters call the Parents’ Bill of Rights, is part of a nationwide conservative push against what some parents see as “woke” lessons. It allows parents to review classroom materials at the beginning of each nine-week grading period, to access all documents related to their child, to opt their kids out of sex education and to decline to have their child photographed or recorded except for security purposes.

Sen. Clint Dixon and Gov. Brian Kemp. (Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder)

“The governor and I believe parents and school systems need to work together to step in,” said Sen. Clint Dixon, the Buford Republican who sponsored the bill. “It’s time to reaffirm the rights of parents to direct the education and upbringing of their own children, and have the support of local school districts in doing so.”

Democrats like Atlanta Sen. Elena Parent called the bill a solution in search of a problem.

“It is such a shame that we are willing to get so deep into manufactured crises and partisan politics in going after teachers,” she said.

With a few recent exceptions, Georgia has not fully funded the state’s own spending formula for local schools for years, Parent said, and adding more paperwork that gives one angry parent the ability to scuttle an entire lesson plan may only drive more teachers out of the profession.

“We should be working together to support teachers, who have been through so much in the past two years, support teachers, who, despite the low pay and the opprobrium cast upon them and ginned up, frankly, by the members of this body, for partisan political reasons, are still willing to be teachers,” Parent said. “I’m not really surprised when faced by bills like this, that we lose so many teachers within the first five years, that we have a teacher shortage that’s headed, frankly, toward a major crisis.”

Many of the bill’s protections already exist in state law, Democrats argued. The bill allows parents to provide written notice that their child may not be photographed or recorded, but a 2010 state law forbids Georgians from photographing a minor without their parents’ permission. It requires school boards to create a procedure to withdraw students from sex education, even though state law already gives parents that right. And while the main selling point is to allow parents to review instructional materials, schools have been required to do that since 2017.

Republicans say the bill standardizes a process that can vary widely from district to district and ensures parents get the information they are entitled to.

Sen. Matt Brass. (Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder)

“I don’t understand how y’all can sit here and fight against the rights of parents,” said Republican state Sen. Matt Brass of Newnan. “We talk about local control. There’s nothing more local than the individual. There’s nothing more local than the love between a mother and child, a father and a child, that is as local as it gets.”

“I don’t know how you can go back to your districts and look parents in the face and say I’m against you,” he added. “How can you do that? Shame on you.”

It’s also a question of financial fairness, said Dahlonega Republican Sen. Steve Gooch.

“Isn’t it true that if we’re going to spend $14, $15, $16 billion of our state taxpayers’ money for public education, should the parents not have a right to question where that money is being spent and also what their children are being exposed to in the classroom?”

“They already have that right, and that’s why we have democratically elected school boards,” Parent said. “This legislation does nothing to advance any worthwhile conversation along those lines.”

Parents who have a problem with what their children are learning can ask for a meeting with the teacher, join the PTA, go to school board meetings or even run for the school board, Parent said. They are also free to pull them out of school and teach them at home or send them to private school, she added.

That’s not realistic for most parents, said Tyrone Republican Sen. Marty Harbin.

“The people who we need to be with, the people we need to stand for, is the people who can’t afford the private education or cannot educate at home, they still should have a voice in the education of their children,” he said.

Harbin said he has been hearing from parents who have been disturbed by what they have seen from their children’s screens since the pandemic brought some classes into dining rooms and bedrooms, and the bill will ensure they are able to weigh in on what their children are taught.

Democratic Sen. Harold Jones, an Augusta Democrat, argued that the language in the bill is too vague. He said the provision allowing parents to prevent their children from being photographed or recorded could unintentionally cause major problems for student athletics.

“You’ve got a parent who will look at this and say ‘Hey, all those high school games on Georgia Public Broadcasting, all those games that come on, my son’s on there, and now I have an inalienable right to say I don’t want him or her shown, and you give me no exemptions? Oh, we can make a deal, but it’s going to cost you,’” he said.

The bill now heads to the House. Other GOP-led education bills with Kemp’s support are also making their way through the Legislature, including bills to remove so-called “obscene materials” from school libraries, ban teachers from endorsing “divisive concepts” and prevent transgender girls from playing on girls’ sports teams.

Biden says Russia has begun invading Ukraine, announces initial sanctions

By

Jennifer Shutt

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February 22, 2022

WASHINGTON (GA Recorder) — President Joe Biden said Tuesday that Russia’s actions in eastern Ukraine amounted to “the beginning of a Russian invasion” of that country that could get much worse in the days ahead.

Seeking to deter Russian President Vladimir Putin from further military action, Biden said the United States would apply the “first tranche of sanctions” on Russia and move U.S. forces and equipment already in Europe to the three Baltic states — Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

“If Russia goes further with this invasion, we stand prepared to go further, as with sanctions,” Biden said from the East Room of the White House.

The sanctions will apply to two of Russia’s financial institutions, the VEB and its military bank; Russian sovereign debt, cutting the nation off from Western financing; and Russian elites and their family members, who Biden said “share in the corrupt gains” of Russian policies.

Biden said that the United States would begin bolstering military support for the three Baltic nations by moving U.S. equipment and forces already in Europe into those North Atlantic Treaty Organization countries.

“Let me be clear: These are totally defensive moves on our part. We have no intention of fighting Russia,” Biden said. “We want to send an unmistakable message though that the United States, together with our allies, will defend every inch of NATO territory.”

Biden on Monday issued a first round of sanctions barring new investment, trade and finance in the Donetsk People’s Republic and the Luhansk People’s Republic after Putin declared them independent.

Russian military forces have since begun moving into the two areas within eastern Ukraine, infuriating Western leaders and leading German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to halt approval of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from Russia.

Putin continued escalating tensions Tuesday when he called for the recognition of Crimea as Russian territory and received approval from Russian lawmakers to use military forces outside the country.

Biden said during his speech that “further Russian assault in Ukraine remains a severe threat in the days ahead.”

He also again sought to prepare Americans for repercussions here, especially the possibility of higher gas prices.

“Defending freedom will have costs for us, as well, here at home. We need to be honest about that,” Biden said. “But as we do this, I’m going to take robust action to make sure that the pain of our sanctions is targeted at the Russian economy, not ours.”

White House officials are closely monitoring energy supplies for possible disruptions and coordinating with major oil producers in an attempt to ensure stability, Biden said.

Even with the escalation by Russia, Biden said he remains open to diplomacy, but cautioned that his administration will “judge Russia by its actions, not its words.”

“There is still time to avert the worst case scenario that will bring untold suffering to millions of people,” Biden said.

All 3 defendants convicted of hate crimes in Arbery killing

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Associated Press

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February 22, 2022

Travis McMichael, Greg McMichael, Willam “Roddie” Bryan. (AP pool photos from Glynn County murder trial.)

The three men convicted of murder in Ahmaud Arbery’s fatal shooting were found guilty of federal hate crimes Tuesday for violating Arbery’s civil rights and targeting him because he was Black.

The jury reached its decision after several hours of deliberation on the charges against father and son Greg and Travis McMichael and neighbor William “Roddie” Bryan.

During the trial, prosecutors showed roughly two dozen text messages and social media posts in which Travis McMichael and Bryan used racist slurs and made derogatory comments about Black people. The FBI wasn’t able to access Greg McMichael’s phone because it was encrypted.

The McMichaels grabbed guns and jumped in a pickup truck to pursue Arbery after seeing him running in their neighborhood outside the Georgia port city of Brunswick in February 2020. Bryan joined the pursuit in his own pickup and recorded cellphone video of Travis McMichael fatally shooting Arbery. The killing became part of a larger national reckoning on racial injustice after the graphic video leaked online two months later.

MORE: He will now begin to rest in power”: parents of Ahmaud Arbery celebrate verdict

Defense attorneys contended the three didn’t chase and kill Arbery because of his race but acted on the earnest, though erroneous, suspicion that Arbery had committed crimes in their neighborhood.

Jurors in the federal hate crimes trial of the three white men convicted in Ahmaud Arbery’s slaying announced Tuesday that they had reached a verdict.
Jurors indicated they had a decision on whether father and son Greg and Travis McMichael and neighbor William “Roddie” Bryan violated Arbery’s civil rights and targeted him because he was Black. All three were convicted of murder in a Georgia state court and sentenced to life in prison for the fatal shooting.

The McMichaels grabbed guns and jumped in a pickup truck to pursue Arbery after seeing him running in their neighborhood outside the Georgia port city of

Brunswick in February 2020. Bryan joined the pursuit in his own pickup and recorded cellphone video of Travis McMichael firing the fatal shots. Arbery’s killing became part of a larger national reckoning on racial injustice after the graphic video leaked online two months later.

The McMichaels and Bryan pleaded not guilty to the hate crime charges. Defense attorneys contended the three didn’t chase and kill Arbery because of his race but acted on the earnest, though erroneous, suspicion that Arbery had committed crimes in their neighborhood.

The panel of eight white people, three Black people and one Hispanic person received the case Monday following a weeklong trial in U.S. District Court in the port city of Brunswick. The jurors adjourned for the night after about three hours of deliberations and resumed deliberations at 9 a.m. Tuesday morning.

The trial closed Monday with prosecutors saying 25-year-old Arbery’s slaying on a residential street was motivated by “pent-up racial anger,” revealed by the defendants’ electronic messages as well as by witnesses who testified to hearing them make racist tirades and insults.

“All three defendants told you loud and clear, in their own words, how they feel about African Americans,” prosecutor Tara Lyons told the jury Monday.
Defense attorneys insisted that past racist statements by their clients offered no proof they violated Arbery’s civil rights and targeted him because he’s Black.

They urged the jury to set aside their emotions.

“It’s natural for you to want retribution or revenge,” said Pete Theodocion, representing William “Roddie” Bryan. “But we have to elevate ourselves … even if it’s the tough thing.”

The basic facts aren’t disputed. The slaying of Arbery nearly two years ago, on Feb. 23, 2020, was captured in a graphic cellphone video that sparked widespread outrage. Father and son Greg and Travis McMichael armed themselves after spotting Arbery running past their home and chased him in a pickup truck. Bryan joined his neighbors in his own truck and recorded the video of Travis McMichael firing at point-blank range.

Police found Arbery had no weapon and no stolen items. Prosecutors said he was merely out jogging.

Travis McMichael’s attorney, Amy Lee Copeland, told the jury that prosecutors presented no evidence that he “ever spoke to anyone about Mr. Arbery’s death in racial terms.” She said her client opened fire in self-defense after Arbery tried to take away his shotgun.

Greg McMichael’s attorney, A.J. Balbo, argued that his client initiated the chase not because Arbery was a Black man, but because he was “THE man” the McMichaels had seen in security camera videos taken from a nearby house under construction.

The McMichaels and Bryan, convicted of murder last fall in a Georgia state court, pleaded not guilty to the federal charges.
FBI agents uncovered roughly two dozen racist text messages and social media posts from the McMichaels and Bryan in the years and months preceding the shooting.

For instance, in 2018, Travis McMichael commented on a Facebook video of a Black man playing a prank on a white person: “I’d kill that f—-ing n—-r.”
Some witnesses testified they heard the McMichaels’ racist statements firsthand. A woman who served under Travis McMichael in the U.S. Coast Guard a decade ago said he called her “n——r lover,” after learning she’d dated a Black man. Another woman testified Greg McMichael had ranted angrily in 2015 when she remarked on the death of civil rights activist Julian Bond, saying, “All those Blacks are nothing but trouble.”

This article appears through a news partnership with GPB News

Habersham County to move forward with employee pay study

By

Hadley Cottingham

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February 22, 2022

County commission meeting 2-21-22 — Habersham Human Resources Director Ann Cain says that a third-party investigation into pay, benefits, recruitment and retention are necessary to improve the county's workforce. (Hadley Cottingham/Now Habersham)

The Habersham County Board of Commissioners voted Monday night to contract with Evergreen Solutions, a Florida-based business consulting group, to complete an employee pay study.

County Manager Alicia Vaughn has spoken on multiple occasions about the importance of a pay study, with herself and the county commission agreeing that the reason for the county’s many open positions and high turnover rate is because of pay. The county currently has a slew of open positions, from public safety to public works.

RELATED:

The county had originally planned to contract with the Carl Vinson Insitute of Government (CVIOG) at the University of Georgia to complete the study, but due to staff shortages at CVIOG, they were unable to complete the study.

The study will cost the county a total of $34,500 and will investigate current county employee pay and benefits, how they compare to other surrounding labor markets and look internally at employee opinions. The organization will help the county understand how to keep their pay and benefits competitive, create a comprehensive report on pay, benefits and employees and recommend employee recruitment and retention strategies.

MORE: Commissioners approve three news positions

Habersham County Human Resources Director Ann Cain says that having a third party look into the county’s pay scales, benefits and employee concerns will give the county a better understanding of their current challenges.

“They look at it [objectively],” Cain tells Now Habersham. “They do the research, they’ll go around to other [surrounding] counties, our competitors, and then other counties in the state of Georgia who are our size, who are governed like we are, and then they’ll get all the information from them and combine it.”

Cain says that overall, the third-party investigation will be more in-depth and thorough than what the county could do internally.

“It’s important because, if you look at our retention, are [our employees] being paid for what they’re supposed to do, and are we competitive?” Cain says. “I know you know about the great resignation that they’re talking about, and it really is the truth. People are not wanting to work, and so we have to be very competitive.”

She says that while the county may not be able to meet the same pay amounts as other counties, they can work towards making other things better than other counties, like benefits and workplace environment.

“We need to know what the people around us are paying their people, and how can we be [competitive],” Cain said. “We may not be the same, but what else can we do to make it better and make it a place they really want to work?”

SEE MORE:

Current county employee pay compared to surrounding counties, municipalities

Habersham Commission votes to create two more county positions

By

Hadley Cottingham

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February 22, 2022

Even as it struggles to fill many vacant positions, Habersham County is creating more jobs to fill. The Habersham County Commission voted Monday night to add an emergency radio administrator and temporary part-time magistrate judge to its payroll. This after voting earlier this month to create a new position for a county airport manager.

Temporary magistrate judge

Magistrate Judge Amy Thomas says she needs the help as the only judge managing the magistrate courts in Habersham County.

Judge Amy Thomas (right) is currently the only judge working in the magistrate court.

“I’m working 24/7, I’m the only judge,” Thomas says. “With magistrate [court], we do all the warrants. We do all the arrest warrants, all the search warrants, we handle all civil [and] criminal hearings, preliminary hearings, county ordinances. We do it all.”

Magistrate Judge Gerald Johnson has been unavailable since the fall, and there has been no official word on why. The Georgia Judicial Qualifications Committee would not provide any information on Johnson’s absence or employment at Now Habersham’s request.

Thomas was appointed to be the magistrate clerk of court, as well as continue to serve in her capacity as judge, in October. She says while she has managed to avoid a case backlog so far, she is backlogged on paperwork.

“I’m having to learn that position, plus do the chief magistrate’s and my position,” she says. She says she could “absolutely” use all the help she can get.

The temporary magistrate judge’s pay will come out of the county’s “rainy day fund,” according to Habersham County Finance Director Tim Sims, and the taxpayers will not absorb the cost of the temporary judge.

The commissioners authorized a budget adjustment of $13,370 from the “rainy day fund” to the magistrate court’s budget to cover the costs of the judge for the current fiscal year.

Radio administrator

The county’s radio systems administrator would oversee the installation and management of the new E-911 radio system coming to the county. The position would be under the supervision of E-911 Director Lynn Smith.

County Manager Alicia Vaughn says the position is important to ensure the new radio system operates seamlessly for its size, with not only the county and municipalities using the system, but the county’s schools relying on the new radio system.

The administrator will be responsible for software and hardware upgrades, and other technical work, associated with keeping the system up and running. The salary for the position is estimated to cost between $57,000 and $85,388 and will be paid out of the radio system revenue fund.

That revenue fund would be funded by a yearly maintenance fee paid per-radio by the municipalities, county, schools and any other organizations that chose to use the system,

“Any user on the system, all of the municipalities, the school system, whoever the external users are, and the county, all of the expenses of the system will be put in this special revenue fund,” Vaughn said. “It will be allocated to all the users based on how many radios they have on the system.”

State Ag Dept. suspends certain poultry activities to guard against avian flu

By

Staff Report

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February 22, 2022

The Georgia Department of Agriculture is taking steps to guard against the avian flu. The Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza has been identified in commercial poultry operations and a backyard flock in Indiana, Kentucky, and Virginia.

State agriculture officials stress HPAI has not been detected in Georgia and the agency is working to keep it that way. On Tuesday, GDA announced that “effective immediately, all exhibitions, shows, sales (flea markets, auction markets), swaps, and meets pertaining to poultry and feathered fowl in the State of Georgia are suspended until further notice.”

Notifications will be announced when listed activities can resume in Georgia.

“Good biosecurity practices are the best defense against AI infection,” the department says in a press release. “With HPAI, birds may become quiet, not eat and drink, have diarrhea, and have discolored combs and feet. Birds may also die suddenly with no signs of disease.”

The agency urges poultry producers to take immediate action to protect their flocks:

Move all poultry with outside access indoors.
Implement strict biosecurity.
Monitor flocks for clinical signs consistent with AI.
Report any concerns to your Veterinarian, State Animal Health Official or Federal Animal Health Official immediately.

AI is a reportable disease in Georgia. If you have concerns about AI in birds, call the Georgia Avian Influenza hotline at (770) 766-6850 or visit https://www.gapoultrylab.org/avian-influenza-hotline/.

Current county employee pay compared to surrounding counties, municipalities

By

Now Habersham

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February 22, 2022

Habersham County Admin Building — (Hadley Cottingham/Now Habersham)

County officials have discussed the need for pay increases to keep employees in Habersham County, but how does Habersham County compare to others in terms of employee pay? This list gives you a limited rundown of available information on employee pay in Habersham, surrounding counties and cities.

RELATED:

Now Habersham has filed open records requests for additional information and will update this list as more salary figures are released.

NOTE: These numbers, with the exception of those italicized, are starting pay numbers obtained through the Georgia Department of Community Affairs, county job postings and open records requests (ORR). Italicized numbers are current salaries obtained via ORR. Empty spaces did not have numbers available for report at this time.

Department heads

	Habersham	Hall	Stephens	White
Fire/EMS or Public safety director	$101,632.96	$147,476.68	—	$85,691.58
Human resources	$102,180.00	$130,000.00	—	—
County manager	$165,000.00	$216,926.06	$121,107.90	$112,000.00
Public works director	$80,000.13	$146,146.00	$56,500.00	$90,415.00
Finance director	$119,995.20	$135,000.00	$61,039.36	$66,415.44
Animal control director	$57,770.67	$79,060.02	—	$16.12 (hr)
Sheriff	$103,671.28	$123,845.02	—	$85,963.66

First responders

	Habersham	Hall	Stephens	White
Firefighter	$11.09 (hr)	—	—	$12.13 (hr)
Fire chief	$15.73 (hr)	$75,067.20	—	$27.08 (hr)
Asst. fire chief	$62,254.40	$71,489.60	—	$21.15 (hr)
Fire captain	$50,814.40	$58,822.40	—	$17.36 (hr)
Fire lieutenant	$14.36 (hr)	$56,014.40	—	—
Firefighter/EMT	$12.93 (hr)	$41,808.00	—	—
EMT	$14.36 (hr)	$43,888.00	—	—
Paramedic	$17.51 (hr)	$39,811.20	—	—
E-911 director	$84,448.00	—	$30,942.87	—
E-911 dispatcher	$13.44 (hr)	$15.92 (hr)	$13.52 (hr)	$15.74 (hr)
Captain: Sheriff’s office	$23.72 (hr)	$65,478.40	$50,000.00	$20.14 (hr)
Chief deputy	$77,101.31	—	$70,925.92	$23.36
Corporal	$16.07 (hr)	—	$18.52 (hr)	$19.17 (hr)
Deputy sheriff	$19.51 (hr)	$21.31 (hr)	$17.54 (hr)	$18.71 (hr)
Detention officer	$16.30 (hr)	$20.30 (hr)	$15.00 (hr)	$16.53 (hr)
Lieutenant: Sheriff’s office	$18.45 (hr)	$51,292.80	—	$21.16 (hr)
Sergeant	$17.61 (hr)	$48,838.40	$19.56 (hr)	$19.17 (hr)

Public works

	Habersham	Hall	Stephens	White
Mechanic	$16.20	—	$18.73	$16.52
Laborers	$11.24	—	$12.00	$12.29
Maintenance	$13.72	$41,641.60	$24.36	$18.24

Habersham municipalities first responders

	Alto	Baldwin	Cornelia	Mt. Airy
Firefighter	n/a	$10.00 (hr)	$12.00 (hr)	n/a
Fire chief	n/a	$45,000.00	$50,000.00	n/a
Fire assistant chief	n/a	$14.00 (hr)	$37,128.00	n/a
Fire captain	n/a	$13.00 (hr)	—	n/a
Fire Lieutenant	n/a	$13.00 (hr)	$15.00 (hr)	n/a
Firefighter/EMT	n/a	—	—	n/a
EMT	n/a	—	—	n/a
Paramedic	n/a	—	—	n/a

Police chief	$17.00	$41,600.00	$55,000.00	$50,000.00
Police assistant chief	—	—	$40,000.00	—
Police captain	—	$34,320.00	—	—
Police officer	$14.00	$16.00 (hr)	$17.00 (hr)	—
Police lieutenant	—	$16.50 (hr)	$20.00 (hr)	—
Police Seargent	—	—	$18.50 (hr)	—

NOTE: These numbers, with the exception of those italicized, are starting pay numbers obtained through the Georgia Department of Community Affairs, county job postings and open records requests (ORR). Italicized numbers are current salaries obtained via ORR. Empty spaces did not have numbers available for report at this time.

Powdered infant formula recall

By

Now Habersham

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February 22, 2022

Powder Infant Formation container with Product Coding — Source: FDA

The Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH) is urging parents and caregivers of infants to check their powdered infant formula before using it due to a recall of some products. The recall includes select lots of Similac^®, Alimentum^®, and EleCare^®formulas manufactured by Abbott Nutrition in its Sturgis, Michigan, facility. The products are sold throughout the U.S.

The recalled powdered infant formulas – Similac, Alimentum, and EleCare – can be identified by the 7-to-9-digit code and expiration date on the bottom of the package. Do not use these brands if they meet all 3 of the following conditions:

the first two digits of the code are 22 through 37 and
the code on the container contains K8, SH, or Z2, and
the expiration date is 4-1-2022 (APR 2022) or later.

Parents can also check Similac’s recall website or call 800-986-8540 and follow the instructions provided to find out if a formula they use is included in the recall. The recall does not include liquid formula products or any metabolic deficiency nutrition formulas.

Do not feed infants recalled powdered formula. Throw it away or return it for a refund.

Georgia WIC participants may return or exchange recalled formula to the place of purchase or contact their WIC clinic to exchange for replacement vouchers.

Parents and caregivers of infants should contact their child’s healthcare provider for recommendations on changing feeding practices if their regular formula is not available.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are investigating after four babies became sick with bacterial infections after consuming the products. Three of the complaints concerned Cronobacter sakazakii infections and one complaint was Salmonella infection; both infections can be foodborne.

Additional recall information is available on the FDA website.

Chase Road single lane closures Thursday

By

Now Habersham

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February 22, 2022

Chase Road cleanup — Drivers should prepare for single lane closures on Chase Road in Cornelia on Thursday, Feb. 24, 2022, as county crews clear trees. (file photo)

If you travel Chase Road, plan on delays between 8 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. this Thursday, February 24, due to single lane closures.

The Habersham County Road Department will be clearing trees damaged and downed in last month’s winter storm. Each section of the road will be one-way only until the crew moves to the next section of the road.

Please move over and keep the crews safe.