Attorney For Oconee County Schools Rejects Request From UGA Law School Clinic For Live Streaming Of School Board Meetings

***Says School Board Not Violating Open Meetings Act***

The attorney for Oconee County Schools has rejected the request made by representatives of the University of Georgia School of Law First Amendment Clinic that it live stream Board of Education meetings and provide access to those meetings for individuals who wish to attend virtually.

Phillip L. Hartley, a Gainesville attorney, said that the Georgia Open Meetings Act does not require “virtual transmission” of a “live meeting” unless the Board itself is meeting virtually under emergency conditions, as it did from April through July 6 of last year.

Northeast Health District Reports 283 New COVID-19 Cases And Six Deaths From Disease, Two In Clarke County

***Seven-Day Rolling Average Added Cases Increases***

The Northeast Health District added 283 new COVID-19 cases and six confirmed deaths from the disease on Wednesday, pushing up for the eighth day running the seven-day rolling average of added cases.

The rolling average of added deaths fell from 4.3 on Tuesday to 3.6 on Wednesday, as the District had added 11 deaths last Wednesday.

Two of the added confirmed deaths were in Clarke County: a 70-year-old male without a chronic condition and a 90-plus-year-old female without a known chronic conditions.

Oconee Commissioners Approve Rezones For Oconee Mercantile And Movement Of The Stone Store

***Commission Vote Split On U.S. 441 Multi-Use Project***

In well-organized and coordinated presentations to the Oconee County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday evening, citizens in neighborhoods abutting the proposed Oconee Mercantile project on U.S. 441 said how they had relied on past county zoning decisions to protect their homes.

The proposed multi-use commercial development and accompanying relocation of The Stone Store not only would adversely affect their residential neighborhoods, they said, but they also would be contrary to what the county had promised with its past zoning decisions.

Northeast Health District Added 252 New COVID-19 Cases, Pushing Up Again the Rolling Average Of Added Cases

***District Added Two Deaths***

With the addition of 252 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, the seven-day rolling average of added cases increased in the Northeast Health District for the seventh day in a row.

The District added two confirmed deaths from the disease in the Department of Public Health Daily Status Report, and the seven-day rolling average of added deaths declined for the second day running.

Oconee County Board Of Commissioners To Decide On Move Of Stone Store And Planned Use Of Its Current Site

***Planning Commission Sends Mixed Recommendations***

The Oconee County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday night likely will decide the future location of The Stone Store and, if the developers of the proposed U.S. 441 mixed-use project are to be believed, the viability of that project itself.

The Commissioners are scheduled to vote on a rezone request for just more than 23 acres on U.S. 441 across from the intersection of Hog Mountain Road as well as on a second related rezone and special use variance request for just less than six acres just north of that intersection.

Rolling Average Added COVID-19 Cases Continues To Increase In Northeast Health District

***Rolling Average Added Deaths Declines***

The seven-day rolling average of added COVID-19 cases continued to increase in the Northeast Health District on Monday with the release of the Department of Public Health Daily Status Report.

The Department of Public Health listed 133 new cases of the disease in the District along with four new confirmed deaths from the disease.

Seven-Day Rolling Average Added COVID-19 Cases In Northeast Health District Has Increased Five Days Running

***District Lagging State In Vaccinations***

The Northeast Health District added 99 new cases of COVID-19 on Sunday, and the seven-day rolling average of added cases increased for the fifth day in a row.

The District did not add any new deaths in the Sunday Daily Status Report of the Department of Public Health, and the seven-day rolling average of added deaths remained unchanged at 5.4.