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.

Northeast Health District, Led By Clarke County, Adds Record Number Of COVID-19 Cases On Tuesday

***All 10 Counties In District Add Cases***

The Northeast Health District reported a record number of new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the 10-county Northeast Health District with the release of the Department of Public Health Daily Status Report on Tuesday.

Led by Clarke County’s increase of 41 cases, the 10-county Northeast Health District added 128 new cases, and the seven-day rolling average of added cases jumped to 54.0 from 42.9 on Monday.

Board Of Commissioners Chair Asks Citizens To Pressure School Board To Discuss Options For Malcom Bridge Middle School Entrance

***Still Prefers Roundabout***

Oconee County is willing to modify its plans for the parent entrance to Malcom Bridge Middle School, but that will be possible only if citizens put pressure on the Board of Education to consider alternatives, Oconee County Board of Commissioners Chair John Daniell said last week.

Daniell said the proposed modified R-Cut design is good but not the best option, and the originally proposed roundabout, rejected by the Board of Education, is better.

COVID-19 Cases Increase In State And Region on Monday; Hospitalizations From The Disease Show Large Jump

***Good News: Unemployment Rates Decline***

The state added 2,207 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 with Monday’s release of the Department of Public Health Daily Status Report, the second largest number of new cases ever added.

The 10-county Northeast Health District added 28 cases, including two in Oconee County and five in Clarke County.