The Banks County Sheriff’s Office has confirmed the gunman who fired on deputies Saturday was the same person of interest officials were seeking in the fatal shooting of a rural mail carrier.
According to the Banks County Sheriff’s Office, deputies patrolling Highway 51 North near where the fatal shooting occurred, attempted a traffic stop on the suspect vehicle. When the driver fled, they used a PIT maneuver to disable the vehicle.
“Immediately the driver exited the vehicle armed and began firing upon deputies,” says BCSO Lt. Nicole Bailes. Deputies returned fire, striking the shooter who sustained apparent non-life-threatening injuries.
The shooting and investigation shut down Highway 51 North between Damascus and Bennett Roads northeast of Homer for several hours.
No deputies were injured in the shooting. The GBI is investigating the officer-involved shooting, which is standard procedure.
Authorities say the suspect’s name is being withheld pending that investigation.
Evelyn Tench Clark, age 93, of Clarkesville, Georgia, passed away on Friday, August 06, 2021.
Born in Cornelia, Georgia, on June 09, 1928, she was a daughter of the late Paul Harold & Anna Pearl Yearwood Tench. Evelyn was retired as a receptionist with Community Bank & Trust with many years of dedicated service. She was the last surviving member of her immediate family.
In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband, Willis Jay Clark; sisters, Katherine Byrd, Gert Lane, & Mattie Lee Underwood, as well as her brothers, Hubert Tench, Howard Tench, & Paul T. “Pete” Tench.
Survivors include several nieces, nephews, cousins, & friends.
A graveside service will be held at 11:00 a.m. Monday, August 09, 2021, at the Fairfield Baptist Church Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, the family respectfully requests that all donations be made to the Habersham County Humane Society, P.O. Box 1442, Clarkesville, GA. 30523
One of HCLC's two newly refurbished and refurnished classrooms. An anonymous donor gave $10,000 for the makeover. (photo by HCLC)
The Habersham Christian Learning Center looked different to students who walked back through its doors on the first day of school Friday. That’s because the 40-year-old facility got a makeover thanks to the generosity of an anonymous donor.
“This summer, HCLC received an anonymous donation of $10,000 to update and refurnish our classrooms,” HCLC Executive Director Sarah Harrison tells Now Habersham. “We were able to order new desks, chairs, and another smartboard, so both our rooms are fully outfitted.”
HCLC Summertime Makeover (photos by HCLC)
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HCLC staff celebrate the updated look and start of school. They are, left to right, HCLC Executive Director Sarah Harrison, Administrative Assistant Beth Knight, Teacher Dave Colston, and Teacher Seth Hulsey.
Habersham Central High senior Maria Franco pitches in to paint.
Scottlynn cheers the end of wall painting, but there was more work left to be done.
With the painting done, volunteers tackled the ceiling, furniture, and floors.
One of HCLC's two classrooms that got a summer makeover thanks to the generosity of an anonymous donor.
The Habersham Christian Learning Center is located adjacent to the Habersham Ninth Grade Academy campus in Mt. Airy. (HCLC photo)
Volunteers from Mt. Carmel Baptist Church in Demorest painted the classrooms. Board member Laura Sutter helped paint the bookshelves “a fresh white color.” Several recent alumni and some current students tore up the carpet and replaced ceiling tiles.
One week before school started, ten volunteers worked ten hours straight to lay vinyl plank flooring and complete the rooms.
“None of this would’ve been possible without the hard work of our supporters,” says Harrison.
It’s that spirit of giving that keeps the Habersham Christian Learning Center alive.
Papa John’s Cornelia GM Erric Adams presents a $250 check to HCLC Executive Director Sarah Harrison. Papa John’s held several fundraisers to raise the money to support the nonprofit. (photo submitted)
Founded in 1980, HCLC offers community-funded, off-campus Christian training to high school students who choose its courses as electives for credit. Each school year, the Center welcomes over 100 Habersham Central High students into its classrooms.
HCLC operates on a released time agreement with the county school system. No tax money is used to fund the program. Classes are offered to students free of charge.
As a nonprofit, HCLC relies on individual, church, business, and civic donations to keep operating. It also receives funding from the Habersham United Way.
Donations pay for equipment, teaching materials, supplies, and staff salaries. They also cover the cost of utilities, facility upkeep, and maintaining the HCLC bus that transports students to and from the Center.
Erric Adams, an HCLC alum and General Manager of Papa John’s Pizza in Cornelia, is a proud supporter of the Christian Learning Center. Harrison says he’s “always eager to help.”
HCLC donated its old desks to help furnish the new Stephens County Christian Learning Center that opened this year. (Facebook)
Papa John’s hosted several fundraisers for HCLC. On opening day, Adams presented a $250 check to the Center to help kick off the new school year.
On August 6, HCLC marked the beginning of its 80th semester of classes. It’s a remarkable milestone and the Center is paying it forward.
While undergoing its interior facelift, the Habersham Christian Learning Center donated its old desks to the new Stephens County Christian Learning Center. SCLC opened its doors to middle schoolers this year.
Workers will repair fencing along the .8-mile trail leading to the falls. Forestry officials say the split-rail fence is in "critical need" of structural repairs to enhance visitor and staff safety. (photo by FIND Outdoors)
One of Northeast Georgia’s most popular outdoor tourist destinations is closing several days this month for safety repairs.
Anna Ruby Falls near Helen will be closed every Tuesday and Wednesday now through the end of August so that workers can repair and replace the split-rail fence along the interpretive trail to the falls.
“Because the .8-mile trail leading to the falls is so heavily used on a daily basis, there is a critical need for structural repairs to the fence that borders the trail to enhance the safety of visitors and staff,” forestry officials say.
No visitors will be allowed into the Anna Ruby Falls Recreation Area on August 10-11, 17-18, 24-25, and 31.
The site is open daily from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. through August 9 and will resume those normal operating hours on September 1.
Anna Ruby Falls lies in the heart of the Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest. The twin 150 and 50-foot waterfalls form where Curtis and York Creeks converge. Through the years, Anna Ruby has become one of the state’s premier scenic destinations for tourists and locals alike.
The Anna Ruby Falls Recreation Area is managed and operated by FIND Outdoors, a 49-year old nonprofit based in Pisgah Forest, North Carolina.
Sen. Brandon Beach speaks with a constituent after an April 21, 2021 town hall meeting. (Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder)
ALPHARETTA (GA Recorder) — Alpharetta Republican Sen. Brandon Beach says he will file a bill for the upcoming legislative session that would prohibit any COVID-19 vaccine mandate or requirement that a so-called vaccine passport can be used as a condition to work, go to school, or go to school enter a business.
“It should not be the place of any government or business to institute mandates that their employees or customers receive a COVID-19 vaccine or to provide proof of vaccination in order to receive a service,” Beach said in a statement Friday.
Beach frustrated his colleagues last year when he showed up for a special session even though he felt sick. A COVID-19 test later came back positive.
Details on the proposed bill are scarce — lawmakers cannot file legislation for the 2022 session that starts in January until Nov. 15. And large Georgia employers are pressing employees to get vaccinated well before the law could take effect.
But Beach would be on solid legal ground, said Anthony Michael Kreis, a constitutional law professor at Georgia State University.
“Just as a state could ban discrimination on certain bases or certain traits in the civil rights law, states can also adopt legislation that constrains employers from asking or demanding their employees have had the vaccine,” he said. “The only caveat there is, as long as it doesn’t conflict with some kind of federal mandate — which we don’t have one yet — states have pretty wide discretion to form employment-related legal policy.”
In fact, anti-vaccine legislation has been on the rise in state legislatures since the COVID-19 pandemic began last year. In 2019, state legislatures considered 116 anti-vaccine bills and signed two into law. So far this year, lawmakers around the country have considered 380 such bills and signed 27, according to the Biotechnology Innovation Organization, or BIO, an industry advocacy group.
“We’ve dealt with vaccine hesitancy and anti-vaccine sentiments for years, but suspicion and outright hostility towards vaccines has really taken hold in certain segments of society this year due the rapid spread of misinformation through social media and the availability of vaccines for COVID,” said Patrick Plues, BIO’s vice president for State Government Affairs. “Vaccines have become politicized to the point where support or opposition to immunization policy has become a litmus test for political affiliations.”
A group of Indiana University Students, represented by a Terre Haute law firm, asked the U.S. Supreme Court Friday to weigh in on the issue for the first time and block a mandate their school is planning to impose.
Experts agree the vaccines are safe and effective at preventing serious cases of COVID-19, but many remain skeptical, especially in Georgia, where 21% of residents are hesitant or unsure about the vaccine, according to data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
But as the delta variant sends more patients to Georgia’s hospitals, businesses are considering mandating the vaccine as a way to keep workers healthy and prevent quarantines.
Piedmont Healthcare is set to become the first Georgia health network to mandate a COVID-19 vaccine by Oct. 1. Since May, Delta Air Lines has required all new hires in the U.S. to be vaccinated, and Atlanta’s Cox Enterprises has said it will call on employees who enter its headquarters and certain other offices to be vaccinated.
Athens-Clarke County will likely be the first county in the state to impose a vaccination requirement for government employees; its mandate is set to start Sept. 1.
With the session still a quarter of a year away, Beach’s bill is not likely to get in the way of those businesses or others who plan to tell their workers to schedule shots, Kreis said.
“No matter what somebody thinks about the policy or its merits, most of the employers who are going to impose this kind of vaccination requirements are going to do it well before the Legislature meets in January,” he said. “My guess is that the overwhelming majority of employers who want to have that policy will adopt that policy, and the vast majority, if not, every single one of their employees will be vaccinated by that point, with maybe a smattering of folks who are recent employees.”
After being canceled last year due to COVID, the Battle of the Heroes is back! This year, the annual flag football fundraiser offers something extra for the community to enjoy.
The Easton Foundation, which hosts the annual event, announced this week it will hold an inaugural Cruise-In before the game at Raider Stadium on Saturday, August 14. The Cruise-In will be held from 4:30-6:30 p.m. in the parking lot outside Raider Stadium on the Habersham Ninth Grade Academy campus in Mt. Airy.
This marks the first time the Foundation has held an event prior to its annual flag football fundraiser.
“We are incredibly excited to host the Cruise-In this year,” says Easton Foundation Board Chair Glenn Ingram. “With last year not being able to happen, we’re excited to continue to grow the event and pick up right where we left off.”
Classic car enthusiasts are invited to bring their classic cars for display. Registration will open at 4 p.m. and close at 6 p.m. There’s no registration fee, but donations are encouraged to benefit the Foundation.
Classic Car Depot of Clarkesville will manage the event. They’ll award ten prizes for the top three cars, best in show, and more.
The 8th Battle of the Heroes flag football game will follow the Cruise-In with kickoff at 7 p.m. inside Raider Stadium. Gates open at 6 p.m.
The grid-iron matchup again pits first responders from Habersham and Banks counties against Hall County emergency personnel. There will be food and merchandise for sale, and donations will be accepted.
“We don’t have any mandates for attendees but strongly encourage social distancing for all and masks for unvaccinated individuals,” Easton Foundation Communications Director Colin Lacy tells Now Habersham. “We’re also limiting on-field access to on-field personnel.”
The Easton Foundation is a nonprofit organization based in Habersham County. It was established in memory of Habersham Central High student-athlete Easton Singleton, who died in a car accident in 2012.
The Foundation assists teens in crisis and awards scholarships to Northeast Georgia area teens to help them pursue their dreams of higher education.
Habersham Ninth Grade Academy is located at 171 Raider Circle in Mt. Airy, Georgia. For more information about the Cruise-In, contact Colin Lacy at [email protected].
Snake Eyes is a popular character in the G.I. Joe Universe, but this treatment is curiously misguided as a humorless and complicated action/adventure. It seems like no one in this movie is inhabiting it; it’s more like a desperate escape.
Henry Golding from Crazy Rich Asians stars as the titular character who, as a boy, witnessed his father’s murder. He becomes a drifter and an expert in martial arts in the hopes that one day, he’ll be able to track down the person responsible.
He’s given the chance to join an organization in Japan that will help him seek revenge but turns them down. Instead, he rescues the organization’s rival (Andrew Koji), who introduces him to another society that will help train him in their ways.
Like Batman Begins, Snake Eyes witnesses the murder of a loved one and journeys far off to begin training to get justice. But that’s where the similarities end. This movie cranks up the action to where it becomes dull and repetitive. Snake Eyes isn’t as intriguing or mysterious as Bruce Wayne, or his alter ego.
Snake Eyes has to undergo three trials before he joins their clan, and all the while, he’s constantly torn between revenge and trying to do what’s right. The trials test him in many different ways but seem derived from other plot devices we’ve seen far too many times.
Snake Eyes is obviously intended to be the first in a franchise. It’s too bad it’s off to a rough start, as I would’ve appreciated the opportunity to use a fast forward button. Instead, to get to the end, I sat through pointless action scenes, a convoluted story, and performances that were silly and overwrought. The actors in this film are all as serious as if they were performing Shakespeare.
Golding does bring a degree of energy and spirit to his role, but he’s let down thanks to a by-the-numbers script and a one-dimensional character that we don’t really care what happens to by the end.
Snake Eyes is just silly, self-important, and it’s just not fun.
Grade: C-
(Rated PG-13 for sequences of strong violence and brief strong language.)
Sarah Ellen Morris Harrison Boatwright, age 88, of Cornelia, Georgia, passed away on Friday, August 6, 2021.
Mrs. Boatwright was born on November 14, 1932, in Habersham County, Georgia, to the late Rev. James Virgil and Nellie Terry Morris. In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband, Idus Harrison; second husband, Andrew J. Boatwright; and sisters, Barbara McClurg, Lavada Dorsey, and Margie Clark. Mrs. Boatwright was an active member of the Pleasant Hill Baptist Church, where she served in several roles, including Adult Ladies Sunday School Class Teacher, Sunday School Secretary, and Ladies Club Officer. Sarah and Idus owned and operated Harrison’s Grocery, a focal point of The View Community, for 26 years. She also served as an Administrative Assistant for Gainesville College for 12 years before retiring in 1998.
Survivors include her daughters and sons-in-law, Wanda and Tommy Loggins, of Lawrenceville; Lela and Ben Whelchel, of Cornelia; Ellen and Lynn Satterfield, of Cleveland; son and daughter-in-law, Darryl and Ann Harrison, of Cornelia; brother, Richard Morris, of Alto; sisters, Emily Anderson, of Cornelia; Deborah Burrell, of Cornelia; six grandchildren; and 18 great-grandchildren.
The family would like to extend their gratitude to her caregivers, Tish Phillips, Alice Dodd, Blanche Barton, and Rachel Ferguson, and also their appreciation for her nurses, Katie Pulkin and Allie Martin.
Funeral Services will be held at 4:00 p.m., Sunday, August 8, 2021, at Pleasant Hill Baptist Church, with Rev. Shannon Irvin, Rev. Levi Nix, and Rev. Jim Welborn officiating. Interment will follow in the church cemetery.
The family will receive friends from 2:00 p.m. to 3:45 p.m., Sunday, August 8, 2021, at Pleasant Hill Baptist Church prior to the service.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to The Gideons International (Hall County East Camp: P.O. Box 1016, Lula, Georgia 30554 or White County Camp: P.O. Box 946, Cleveland, Georgia 30528) or to Georgia Baptist Children’s Home, P.O. Box 329, Palmetto, Georgia 30268
Arrangements have been entrusted to the Whitfield Funeral Homes & Crematory, North Chapel at 245 Central Avenue, Demorest, Georgia 30535. Telephone: 706-778-1700.
After months of collecting donations to help students, the Habersham County Sheriff’s Office delivered those donations on the first day of school Friday.
Sheriff Joey Terrell and officers delivered 246 backpacks filled with supplies to the county’s public schools. People donated the items during HCSO’s second annual ‘fill the bus’ Paper & Pencils for Students campaign.
“The Habersham County community showed its support in a tremendous way in giving so much to this year’s school supply drive,” says Terrell.
The Habersham County Sheriff’s mascot joined officers in delivering the backpacks, which the schools will pass on to children who need them.
Terrell says the school system is a “top priority” for his administration and adds that he’s very thankful to live in a community that supports our young people in such a great way.”
Tools for School delivery Aug. 6, 2021
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HCSO SRO Evaleez Gonzalez delivers backpacks to Baldwin Elementary School Principal Rodney Long. (photo by HCSO)
SRO Gonzalez delivers backpacks to Fairview Elementary School Principal Jennifer Chitwood. (photo by HCSO)
Lt. Kogod, Sheriff Terrell, and HCSO's new mascot deliver backpacks to North Habersham Middle School Principal Adam Bagwell. (photo by HCSO)
Clarkesville Elementary School's eagle mascot joins the new HCSO K9 mascot on the first day of school, August 6, 2021, to wish Habersham students a successful school year. (photo HCSO)
Georgia residents want Gov. Brian Kemp to use COVID relief funds to support healthcare and education. Here, Kemp is seen speaking during a bill signing ceremony at Cornelia City Hall in April 2021. (Bryan Horn/Office of the Governor)
ATLANTA (GPB) — Gov. Brian Kemp in June appointed three committees to evaluate proposals and recommend how best to use funds from the American Rescue Plan. While the committees focused on water and sewer infrastructure, broadband infrastructure, and the economic impact of COVID-19, a recent poll shows Georgians want lawmakers to consider issues of health care and education.
The University of Georgia’s School of Public Affairs Survey Research Center conducted the poll, and the Georgia Budget and Policy Center analyzed and released its findings this week.
The state expects to receive about $4.7 billion in flexible federal aid, which could help offset some of the $1.2 billion in budget cuts from the state’s education system, GBPI Senior Policy Analyst Danny Kanso said.
The president’s American Rescue Plan includes another $500 million in direct aid to Georgia cities and counties and $300 million in infrastructure funding.
“Georgians want us to use the funding we have available to support policies that will jump-start our recovery and advance prosperity well into the future,” Kanso said. “That means additional funding for K-12 schools, students living in poverty, financial aid to college students who can’t afford tuition, Medicaid expansion, direct payments to those who need it most, and, as we look forward, new revenues to continue to sustain those investments in the future.”
Credit: Georgia Budget and Policy Institute
Georgia is one of 12 states that has so far not expanded Medicaid, and the state had the third highest uninsured population prior to the pandemic.
Medicaid expansion alone would cover nearly 500,000 Georgians and create tens of thousands of jobs, Kanso said.
“Our state could receive between $1.4 and $1.9 billion in additional incentives up front for expanding Medicaid,” he said. “That funding would more than cover the cost of expansion, leaving extra funding available to address core needs in our health care system and to make long overdue investments.”
But Medicaid expansion in Georgia is unlikely, as Republican state officials and lawmakers have refused to take the option under the Affordable Care Act to expand insurance for adults living in poverty. Kemp has instead offered his own partial expansion plan to the federal government, which is under review by the Department of Health and Human Services.
The Biden administration has already rejected aspects of the proposal, suggesting that the plan will not get federal approval.
GBPI believes that providing a pathway to better health care coverage would not only help with health care access generally but also address the racial disparities exposed and exacerbated by the pandemic.
Credit: Photo by Zach Vessels / Unsplash
“We know in the coverage gap, looking at that population in Georgia, about 36% of the people in the coverage gap in Georgia are Black, 22% are Latinx,” Laura Harker said when the American Rescue Plan was proposed. “So about 60% of people in the coverage gap are people of color. That’s a huge disparity that expanding Medicaid would help to increase access for people of color in our state.”
The poll shows Georgians overwhelmingly expressed a need for real and, more importantly, targeted relief that goes to those who need it most, Kanso said. That means using relief funding to invest in the core areas of health care, education and additional direct economic support as well as restoring budget cuts.
While the American Rescue Plan provides an unprecedented opportunity for the state, federal funding alone will not sustain a lasting recovery, Kanso said.
He suggested looking at new sources of revenue such as the tobacco tax, and trimming back special interest tax breaks such as the film tax credit.
“We can keep those revenues and use those for what is needed most across our state,” he said.
Part of funding education is investing in school transportation, for which funding levels have fallen from about 50% to 20%, GBPI Director of Strategic Communications Caitlin Highland said.
“And particularly when school districts are underfunded anyways, particularly when there are additional challenges being placed on these schools,” Highland said. “We think that that is a missed opportunity to support our local schools, and, clearly, Georgians here agree because over 66% of people support or somewhat support this as well.”
This story comes to Now Habersham through a reporting partnership with GPB News, a non-profit newsroom covering the state of Georgia.
Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger's office will soon move more than 185,000 voter registrations to inactive status, beginning the process for eventual removal from the state's rolls under a federally mandated list maintenance process.
(Stephen Fowler/GPB News)
ATLANTA (GPB) — The Georgia Secretary of State’s office will soon move 185,666 voter registrations to inactive status after receiving no contact from them for five years, kicking off the process for eventual removal from the state’s rolls under a federally mandated list maintenance process.
Inactive voters are still eligible to vote like normal. None of the voters on this list participated in the 2020 or 2021 elections in Georgia.
Voters who receive the no-contact notice and respond within 30 days will keep their registrations active.
No contact means those people have not: cast a ballot, requested a ballot, updated their voter registration, renewed their driver’s license, or had any contact with elections officials for the past five calendar years. After two election cycles of inactivity, inactive voter registrations are moved to “canceled” status, and those people cannot vote in Georgia until they re-register to vote.
Earlier this year, Raffensperger announced 101,789 voter registrations were set to be moved to “canceled” status, including 67,286 due to a National Change of Address form, 34,227 that had election mail returned to sender, 18,466 dead people based on information received from a national records partnership called ERIC. Only 276 were no-contact people.
The number of cancellations is down from the last list maintenance cycle in 2019.
“Accurate voter lists are fundamental to election integrity,” Raffensperger, a Republican, said in a statement. “They ensure ineligible people cannot vote, allow counties to effectively allocate resources, so there are no long lines, and help make sure voters get accurate information about casting their ballot.”
Many of the names on the list are people who moved away, Raffensperger said, pointing to U.S. Census Bureau estimates that more than 250,000 people move in and out of Georgia each year.
For example, about 100 of the names on the list facing inactive status belong to student residential addresses for Emory University in Atlanta, including some who were registered to vote in an election before 2016 and have since moved away.
The distribution of no contact voters mirrors the population distribution of Georgia’s 159 counties, with major urban and suburban centers like Fulton, DeKalb, Cobb, and Gwinnett counties having the highest number of names and the least-populous counties like Glascock and Taliaferro counties with the smallest numbers.
A record number of Georgians are registered to vote, including about 7.4 million active voters and another 286,000 or so inactive voters. Georgia has automatic voter registration that updates your status when you interact with the Department of Driver Services and an online registration portal.
You can change, create and check your voter registration status by contacting your county elections office or visiting https://www.mvp.sos.ga.gov/MVP/mvp.do.
This story comes to Now Habersham through a reporting partnership with GPB News, a non-profit newsroom covering the state of Georgia.
Wendell Simmons, age 51, of Alto, passed away on Monday, June 14, 2021.
Born in Banks County on April 21, 1970, he was a son of the late Emily Simmons. Mr. Simmons was employed with Amazon in Jefferson and owner of Wendell’s Wholesale Pets of Alto. He was an avid animal lover who enjoyed raising birds, horses, rabbits, quail, fish, guinea pigs, rats, and his dog. He was of the Baptist faith and attended Mountain View Baptist Church.
In addition to his mother, he was preceded in death by his sister, Kay Simmons Cochran; niece, Kristen Rose Simmons; and nephew, Eli Simmons.
He is survived by his brother, Kenneth Simmons of Baldwin; sister and brother-in-law, Karen and Kevin Pope of Jefferson; nieces and their spouses: Erin Simmons, Kimberly and Scott Holder, Christy and Jesse Holman, and Pamela Cochran; nephews and their spouses, Branson and Laura Simmons and Kristopher and Marybeth Pope; great-nieces and great-nephews: Brystol Pope, Dawsyn Pope, Ryder Pope, Chetson Holder, Makya Adams, Paisley Mealor, Jay Mealor, Dakota Holman, Breanna Holman, Dillon Lackner, Nathan Cochran, and Aiden Cochran; aunts, Florence Payne of Baldwin and Eula Cheek of Clarkesville; and several other relatives and friends.
A memorial service is scheduled for 1 pm, Saturday, August 14, 2021, at Mountain View Baptist Church, with Rev. Jimmy Maness officiating.
Those in attendance are asked to adhere to public health and social distancing guidelines regarding COVID-19.
