Saturday, July 09, 2022

Area Hospitals Report Highest Number Of COVID-19 Cases Since March; Case Count In NE Health District Nearly Unchanged

***No New Confirmed Deaths From Disease Reported***

The Georgia Hospital Association and the Georgia Emergency Management Agency reported on Friday that area hospitals had 35 COVID-19 patients, up from 24 on Friday of last week.

The number of ICU beds in use was 71, up from 67 a week earlier, and the number of adult ventilators in use was 30, up from 29 a week ago.

The number of COVID-19 patients at area hospitals has not been this high on a Friday since March 11, when it was 36.

Friday, July 08, 2022

Construction Underway On Two Commercial Projects On Hog Mountain Road West Of Butler’s Crossing

***Site Plans Approved***

Two construction projects, one visible to passing motorists and the other not, will have impact on the traffic and character of Hog Mountain Road between Butler’s Crossing and the Civic Center and Oconee County High School if they are built as planned.

The visible project, fronting on Hog Mountain Road, is to be built in phases, according to its preliminary site plan, and to consist of six buildings, including the relocated historic white house on the site.

Saturday, July 02, 2022

Area Hospitals Report Decrease In Number of COVID-19 Cases; Case Counts In Health District Up Slightly For Eighth Week In Row

***Five Confirmed Deaths From Disease Reported***

The Georgia Hospital Association and the Georgia Emergency Management Agency reported on Friday that area hospitals had 24 COVID-19 patients, down from 29 on Friday of last week.

The number of ICU beds in use was 67, up from 61 a week earlier, and the number of adult ventilators in use was 29, up from 27 a week ago.

Last week, the number of COVID-19 patients had increased from 14 to 29, but the number of ICU beds had dropped by two from the week earlier, and the number of adult ventilators in use had increased by four.

Friday, July 01, 2022

Oconee County Delivered Large Number Of Votes For Collins In June 21 Republican Congressional District Runoff

***Oconee Democrats Played Lesser Role In Party’s Runoff

Oconee County played an outsized role in Mike Collins’ sweeping victory in last week’s runoff for the Republican nomination for the 10th Congressional District.

In the primary on May 24, only 15.0 percent of Oconee County voters using the Republican ballot selected Collins as their preferred candidate in the race for the open U.S. District 10 Congressional seat.

A slightly higher percentage of the county’s voters–17.6 percent–picked Vernon Jones.

Tuesday, June 28, 2022

Oconee County Commissioners Initiate Plans For Putting Transportation Sales Tax Referendum On November Ballot

***Would Result In Property Tax Reduction***

The Oconee County Board of Commissioners took the first step on Tuesday night to put a 1 percent Transportation Special Purpose Local Sales Tax referendum on the Nov. 8 ballot.

A portion of the tax would be used to cover transportation projects normally included in the county’s general fund budget, allowing the county to reduce its property tax by 1 mill. The current county millage rate is 6.686.

Monday, June 27, 2022

New Plans For Publix Shopping Center On Oconee Connector Under Review

***Main Access Off Connector***

Deferred Tax LLC has submitted preliminary paperwork for a second attempt to rezone property on the west side of the Oconee Connector between SR 316 and Mars Hill Road for a shopping center that is to include a Publix.

The rezone request includes only a little more than 34 acres of the total 47 acres owned by Deferred Tax and seeks a less intense business classification than sought in the first rezone. The Board of Commissioners rejected that request in May of 2021.

Friday, June 24, 2022

COVID-19 Hospital Cases At Area Hospitals More Than Double In Last Week; Case Count In Northeast Health District Also Up

***Three New Deaths From Disease Reported***

The Georgia Hospital Association and the Georgia Emergency Management Agency reported on Friday that area hospitals had 29 COVID-19 patients, just more than double the 14 reported on Friday of last week.

The number of ICU beds in use was 61, down from 63 a week earlier, and the number of adult ventilators in use was 27, up from 23 a week ago.

In its weekly COVID-19 report, the Georgia Department of Public Health announced that the number of new COVID-19 cases tallied in its electronic tracking system in the Northeast Health District in the week ending on June 22 was 696.