Participants At Oconee County Courthouse Vigil Recognize Victims Of 1905 Lynching

***Also Attend To Grave Of One Of The Victims***

About 100 people turned out on the front lawn of the Oconee County Courthouse in Watkinsville on Monday to join in recitation of a poem, explain why they had chosen to participate in the vigil, and read aloud the names of the eight victims of vigilante violence near that site 115 years ago.

About half of those present then proceeded funeral-style to a recently discovered grave of one of those victims, where they added soil and flowers and told personal stories about their experiences with race in this country.

Northeast Health District Added 83 New COVID-19 Cases On Saturday, But No New Deaths From The Disease

***Clarke County Added 29 Cases, Oconee Added Six***

The 10-county Northeast Health District topped off a bad week on Saturday by adding 83 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 that pushed up the seven-day rolling average of added cases to 77.3, a new record. A week ago the seven-day average was 41.7.

Every county in the District added at least one case except for Greene. Clarke County led by adding 29 cases, and Oconee County added six.

The Northeast Health District Added 131 New Confirmed COVID-19 Cases On Friday, A New Record

***Clarke County Added 198 Cases In Last Week***

The 10-county Northeast Health District of the Department of Public Health added a record 131 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 with the issuance of the Department of Public Health Daily Status Report on Friday.

Included were 54 new cases in Clarke County and 10 in Oconee County.

U.S. District Court Grants Preliminary Injunction Forcing District Attorney Election In November

***Secretary Of State Told To Set Procedures For Election***

In a strongly worded decision on Thursday, U.S. District Court Judge Mark Cohen in Atlanta granted a preliminary injunction requiring Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to hold an election for the District Attorney of the Western Judicial Circuit on Nov. 3.

Cohen ordered that representatives of Deborah Gonzalez and the four other plaintiffs meet with representatives of Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and Raffensperger and “endeavor to present to the Court” within 14 days a consent order setting out the procedures for conducting the special election.

Watkinsville Mayor Attempts To Veto Budget, Proposes Cuts In EMS Services, Staff Salaries, Legal Services, Arts Funding

***Behavior At Odds With City Charter***

Watkinsville Mayor Bob Smith, on June 30, the final day of the last Fiscal Year, attempted to veto the nearly $2 million budget for the current fiscal year that had been passed in a 5 to 0 vote by the Council on June 17.

Smith sent out a press release on June 30 saying he was vetoing the budget because the Council “ignored” his request at the June 17 meeting to cut 12 percent from the budget and was instead using anticipated federal pandemic relief funds and the city's reserve funds to balance the budget.

State Adds Nearly 3,500 New COVID-19 Cases On Thursday, With 43 In Northeast Health District

***Hospitalizations Due To COVID-19 Increase Sharply***

Georgia recorded 3,472 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 with the release of the Department of Public Health Daily Status Report on Thursday and is in completely new territory in terms of spread of the disease.

The seven-day rolling average of added cases is 2,373.4, up more than 250 cases from the record set on Wednesday.

Northeast Health District Sets New Record Of Added COVID-19 Cases As Number In State Soars

***Clarke County Adds 43 New Cases, 155 In Last Week***

The state of Georgia set a new record on Wednesday with the addition of 2,946 new confirmed COVID-19 cases, with 108 of those in the 10-county Northeast Health District.

The new cases in the state pushed the seven-day rolling average of added cases to 2,122.3, and the new cases in the 10-county Northeast Health District resulted in a seven-day rolling average of 61.1.