Data recently released by Oconee County Schools show that college entrance test scores systemwide were largely unchanged in 2023 from a year earlier, and that the graduation rate fell slightly for the second year in a row.
The data also show that in each case--ACT scores, SAT Scores, and Graduation Rates--North Oconee High School students scored higher than students at Oconee County High School.
The three speakers, asked by Oconee County Democrats earlier this month to discuss the Role of Local Media, gave complementary responses.
Amanda Prochaska, co-publisher of The Oconee Enterprise and the first to speak, took a historical perspective.
Only 156 of the 2,369 eligible voters in Watkinsville have cast a ballot in the first 12 days of early voting for the two Council seats to be decided in the Nov. 7 elections.
Only four persons have requested and been issued an absentee ballot, as of Saturday, and only one of those ballots had been received by the Oconee County Office of Elections and Registration.
The Georgia Department of Public Health reported that the Northeast Health District added 146 new cases of COVID-19 in the week ending on Oct. 25, based on the Department’s electronic tracking system.
The Department of Public Health reported the Northeast Health District had added 83 cases in the week ending on Oct. 18.
The Hard Labor Creek Reservoir Management Board and Walton County Water and Sewer Authority last week voted to revise the design capacity of their planned water treatment plant from 16 million gallons per day to 12 million gallons per day.
The two bodies took the action in a called joint meeting after learning that the projected cost of construction of the water treatment plant has increased by more than 62 percent--from $96 million to more than $155.8 million.
Oconee County Schools took in more than $1 million in revenue from the Educational Local Option Sales Tax (ELOST) in September, Dan Smith, Chief Financial Officer for Oconee County Schools, told the Board of Education at it meeting last week.
The September monthly receipt was the second in a row in which revenue exceeded the $1 million mark.
Only 89 of the 2,369 eligible voters have cast a ballot in the first six days of early voting for the two Council seats on the ballot for the Nov. 7 elections in Watkinsville.
Only three persons have requested an absentee ballot, and as of Saturday none of those ballots had been received by the Oconee County Office of Elections and Registration.
The Georgia Department of Public Health reported that the Northeast Health District added only 83 new cases of COVID-19 in the week ending on Oct. 18, based on the Department’s electronic tracking system.
The Department of Public Health reported the Northeast Health District had added 157 cases in the week ending on Oct. 11.
The Oconee County Industrial Development Authority on Tuesday agreed to revise the Development Guidelines it created in 2000 to accommodate the two most recent firms that plan to locate to the Gateway Technology and Business Park on the edge of Bogart.
After nearly 50 minutes in executive session, the Authority, in its capacity as an Architectural Review Committee, also gave tentative approval to concept plans submitted by one of those companies, Technology Park Atlanta.
The Oconee County Planning Commission on Monday night recommended approval of a new plan for the historic Seymour D. Fambrough House in the center of Bishop.
Owner Ted Christensen told the Planning Commission he intends to convert what is often referred to as the Bishop House to a seven-room bed and breakfast.
Patty Durand said she is ready to run as a Democrat and challenge Republican Incumbent Tim Echols as District 2 representative to the state Public Service Commission.
Durand said she was ready to run and challenge Echols in 2021, when she lived in Gwinnett County, then a part of District 2.
The Georgia Department of Public Health reported that the Northeast Health District added 157 new cases of COVID-19 in the week ending on Oct. 11, based on the Department’s electronic tracking system.
The Department of Public Health reported nearly the same number of new cases, 154, in the week ending on Oct. 4.
The Oconee County Library Board of Trustees on Monday granted two of five requests by citizens to reclassify books available through the Oconee County Library in Watkinsville.
The citizens said they objected to the explicit, sexual content of the books. Four of the five books deal with LGBTQ+ issues. The fifth is focused on issues of consent.
Oconee County Schools on Monday released 2023 Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) scores for students at the system’s two high schools, showing little change from the year before.
Scores have improved from 2020 and 2021, when scores had dropped dramatically from the year before the COVID-19 pandemic. SAT scores have not returned to the highpoint from 2018, according to data released on Monday.
The Georgia Department of Public Health reported that the Northeast Health District added 154 new cases of COVID-19 in the week ending on Oct. 4, based on the Department’s electronic tracking system.
The Department of Public Health reported 193 new cases in the week ending on Sept. 27.
Two of the last remaining undeveloped parcels along the southeast side of Hog Mountain Road east of Butler’s Crossing will be converted to commercial use if the Board of Commissioners approves two separate rezone requests at its meeting on Tuesday.
UAL Holdings LLC is seeking to rezone a 2.7 acre parcel that currently has a residence on it at 1911 Hog Mountain Road to B-2 (Highway Business District) so it can build a four-building office complex.
