The Athens Regional Library System has made two changes in response to community concerns about children’s use of library materials, Valerie Bell, Director of the Library System, said at the agenda-setting meeting of the Oconee County Board of Commissioners last week.
Existing policy is that children 10 and under are not allowed in the library unaccompanied by an adult or older sibling at least 16 years of age, Bell told the commissioners.
The Georgia Department of Public Health reported that the Northeast Health District added 108 new cases of COVID-19 in the week ending on March 27, based on the Department’s electronic tracking system.
The Department of Public Health reported the Northeast Health District had added 87 cases in the week ending on March 20, 132 cases in the week ending on March 13, and 229 cases in the week ending on March 6.
Oconee County Board of Commissioners Chair John Daniell had a long list of accomplishments and updates he offered to those gathered to hear the 2024 State of the County address earlier this month.
The Board of Commissioners rolled back the property tax millage rate for each of the last three years, he said, and at the same time put five new deputy sheriffs on the payroll this year.
The Oconee County Republican Party assembled 17 candidates on the stage at The Barn at Hadden Estate on Monday with the assignment that each spend five minutes answering questions from WGAU News Director Tim Bryant.
All of the candidates except incumbent Probate Court Judge Mike Hunsinger are running in the Republic Party Primary on May 21. Hunsinger is running unopposed on the nonpartisan judicial ballot.
Georgia Department of Transportation experts made clear at their virtual Public Information Open House on Friday that the preferred design for the Dials Mill Road/Dials Mill Extension interchange with SR 316 is a right-angled, multi-grade junction at a reconfigured Dials Mill Extension.
Opposition to that plan has surfaced from two directions, however, and the engineers said in the virtual session on Friday said that the plans are not final.
The Georgia Department of Public Health reported that the Northeast Health District added only 87 new cases of COVID-19 in the week ending on March 20, based on the Department’s electronic tracking system.
The Department of Public Health reported the Northeast Health District had added 132 cases in the week ending on March 13, 229 cases in the week ending on March 6, 311 cases in the week ending on Feb. 28, and 374 cases in the week ending on Feb. 21.
Oconee County Commission Chair John Daniell, in his meeting with Oconee County Democrats last week, said the 10 items the Commission put on the May 21 ballot will simplify the process of freezing property assessments for home owners 65 years of age and older and make it easier for the Tax Commissioner to make that happen.
Those ballot items also will increase the size of homestead property tax exemptions for every home owner, Daniell said.
The Georgia Department of Public Health reported that the Northeast Health District added only 132 new cases of COVID 19 in the week ending on March 13, based on the Department’s electronic tracking system.
The Department of Public Health reported the Northeast Health District had added 229 cases in the week ending on March 6, 311 cases in the week ending on Feb. 28, and 374 cases in the week ending on Feb. 21.
The Oconee County Board of Education on Monday night released on its web site and via social media the full text of the law it wants passed to change how the chair of the Board of Education is selected.
If the bill passes and becomes law, the ballot item for the November election would ask voters if they want the Board to appoint its own chair, rather than have voters do that, as is the case at present.
Former President Donald Trump received 77.4 percent of the vote in the Republican Presidential Preference Primary in Oconee County on Tuesday, and President Joseph Biden received 94.2 percent of the vote in the Democratic Presidential Preference Primary.
Only 5,243 (17.2 percent) of the 30,488 active voters cast a ballot in the two primaries, with 4,471 (85.3 percent) voting in the Republican Primary and 772 (14.7 percent) voting in the Democratic Primary.
Oconee County of Board of Education Member Tim Burgess informed the other members of the Board at their meeting on Monday that he is expecting the county’s state legislators to introduce bills shortly to change the ways the Board operates.
The legislation would require vacancies on the Board to be filled by voters under most circumstances rather than by the Board itself and would allow the Board, rather than voters, to select the Board Chair.
The Oconee County Board of Education and the county’s two House members in the Georgia General Assembly have a secret they have worked hard to keep.
The Board met with the legislators in an unpublicized meeting last fall before the current legislative session began, using a legal loophole in the state’s Open Meetings Act allowing them to do that.
Kevin Yancey, Principal at Oconee County High School, will become Director of Student Services for Oconee County Schools on June 3, reporting to Assistant Superintendent of Student Services Suzanne Korngold.
The Oconee County Board of Education approved the move of Yancey along with other personnel recommendations from Superintendent Jason Branch after meeting in executive session at the end of its work session on Monday.
The Georgia Department of Public Health reported that the Northeast Health District added only 229 new cases of COVID-19 in the week ending on March 6, based on the Department’s electronic tracking system.
The Department of Public Health reported the Northeast Health District had added 311 cases in the week ending on Feb. 28, 374 cases in the week ending on Feb. 21, 509 cases in the week ending on Feb. 14, and 485 cases in the week ending on Feb. 7.
Qualifying for the May 21 General Primary and Nonpartisan election took an unusual turn in Oconee County on the last day of qualifying on Friday when six candidates completed the required paperwork, one as a Democrat and five as Republicans.
Democratic Party Chair Harold Thompson said after qualifying ended at noon that one of the candidates who qualified as a Democrat on Friday as well as two who qualified as Democrats on Thursday were not recruited by the Democratic Party.
Three more Democrats qualified on Thursday at the Oconee County Office of Elections and Registration to run for county offices in the May 21 General Primary and Nonpartisan Election.
Reginald Wade qualified to run for Sheriff, and Laura King qualified to run for Clerk of Superior Court.
Kathryn Green qualified to run as a Democrat for Post 5 on the Oconee County Board of Education on Wednesday, and incumbent Watkinsville Post 5 Council Member Jeff Campbell qualified to run for re-election in the nonpartisan Watkinsville race.
Green’s name will appear on the Democratic ballot on May 21 in the General Primary and Nonpartisan Election, while Campbell’s name will appear on the ballot on Nov. 5 in the Watkinsville races.
Watkinsville Post 3 Council Member Brett Thomas was the only candidate to qualify at the Oconee County Office of Elections and Registration on Tuesday, the second day of qualifying.
Thomas joined Watkinsville Post 4 Council Member Christine Tucker, who qualified on Monday. Qualifying also is underway for Post 5, currently held by Jeff Campbell, but no one has qualified so far.
The Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) will hold a virtual Public Information Open House on March 22 to get reaction to its plan for a multi-grade intersection of Dials Mill Extension at SR 316.
According to the GDOT Project manager, the concept layout for an interchange at Dials Mill Extension is the only one that will be presented to the public at the Public Information Open House.
Oconee County’s four incumbent Constitutional Officers, the current Coroner, and the three sitting members of the Board of Commissioners up for re-election all qualified on Monday for the May 21 Primary and Nonpartisan election–so far without opposition.
In addition, incumbent Post 5 Board of Education Member Michael Ransom qualified for the Post 1 (Chair) position on the Board, Brock Toole qualified for Post 5 on the Board, and both Andrew Pippin and Russell Toms qualified for Post 4. All are running as Republicans.
Turnout picked up just slightly in the second week of in-person voting for the March 12 Presidential Primary.
A total of 711 voters cast their ballots in person last week, up from 606 the week before.
To date, the Oconee County Board of Elections and Registration also has received and accepted 95 absentee ballots, up only by 33 from the 62 returned and accepted at the end of last week.
More than 125 people put aside the cold and overcast weather on Saturday to turn out for the official opening of the new Oconee County Library at Wire Park in Watkinsville.
That official opening lasted only about 15 minutes–culminating in a ribbon cutting--and was followed by informal tours of the new facility and a full day of programming, with an uncounted number of participants.
The Georgia Department of Public Health reported that the Northeast Health District added 311 new cases of COVID-19 in the week ending on Feb. 28, based on the Department’s electronic tracking system.
The Department of Public Health reported the Northeast Health District had added 374 cases in the week ending on Feb. 21, 509 cases in the week ending on Feb. 14, and 485 cases in the week ending on Feb. 7.
