Nettes lose heartbreaker 51-49 in final seconds at Elite Eight

Max Caylor / Photo

JeepFest will be back in Marble Hill this year. Trails and obstacles are definitely set, but Homebase and spectator events, like this scene from 2019, may still see COVID restrictions.

Staff reports

The board which oversees the yearly Sheriff’s JeepFest met last week and committed to bring the popular event back this year after it was cancelled in 2020 due to COVID concerns.

JeepFest will be its usual Labor Day weekend with events beginning on September 2nd and going through  Sunday, Sept. 5th based on announcements from the Sheriff’s Foundation.

Sheriff Donnie Craig said, “We want to assure the public that we are definitely having JeepFest this year. We will be monitoring the COVID situation right up until the festival and may make adjustments as needed.”

Former Supt. Rick Townsend

        Just like a romantic break-up, it appears that the relationship between the Pickens school board and former Superintendent Rick Townsend is finally over, for good, but leaving behind a trail of bitterness and speculation.

The board officially called it quits with Townsend in a very brief meeting last Tuesday, Feb. 23rd, after they had been “negotiating” for the past several weeks. However, the school board waited until Friday to disclose the final payout, where they agreed to give the departing superintendent $406,014 in remaining salary, plus spending another $13,329 in a FICA payment and an additional workers compensation expense of $2,354.

       See full story in this week's print or online editions. 

Thousands gathered outside the State Capitol on June 19, 2020. (Photo by Beau Evans)

By Beau Evans
Staff Writer
Capitol Beat News Service

   Wide-ranging legislation aimed at cracking down on rioting protesters in Georgia that criminal-justice advocates say could trample on free-speech rights faced debate in the General Assembly Tuesday.

   The bill, sponsored by state Sen. Randy Robertson, R-Cataula, contains several proposals to punish vandalism and violence during protests such as those seen last summer in response to high-profile fatal shootings by police.

   It seeks to “look at and redefine what peaceful assemblies were,” Robertson said, by making it a felony with fines and prison time to commit violent acts in gatherings of seven people or more, block a highway or road and deface public structures like monuments and cemeteries.

By Beau Evans
Staff Writer
Capitol Beat News Service

   Teachers, school staff and certain other vulnerable groups in Georgia will be eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine starting on March 8, Gov. Brian Kemp announced Thursday.
   Vaccines will be available for pre-K and K-12 school teachers and staff, Kemp said. Georgia adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities, as well as the parents of children who have complex medical conditions, will also be eligible on March 8.
   Kemp traced his decision to expand vaccines to teachers on encouraging signs of increasing vaccine production from the Biden administration and the new Johnson & Johnson-brand vaccine that won high safety marks from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration this week.
   “Today, we will be taking another step to protect the most vulnerable and get Georgia back to normal,” Kemp said at a news conference Thursday.