Oconee County Elections Director Reviews Recent Elections, Discusses Plans For Future

***Also Praises Staff And Voters***

Sharon Gregg, who took over as director of Elections and Registration in Oconee County in September, introduced herself to Oconee County Democrats last week with a report on the November and December elections and tips on things to come.

Gregg said the two elections took place without any glitches and that turnout was high.

“The longest anyone waited in line was 20 minutes,” Gregg said referring to the December 6 runoff. “And that is great. We had people just swarming in. I love it. I love it when people want to vote.”

Oconee Legislators Wiedower, Gaines, Cowsert Get Top Committee Assignments In Georgia General Assembly

***Okefenokee Swamp Issue Impacts Wiedower’s Committee***

Georgia House Speaker Jon Burns last week appointed Oconee County’s state Rep. Marcus Wiedower chair of the General Government subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee when he announced new committee assignments for the current House session.

Burns also appointed Oconee County’s other state representative, Houston Gaines, as vice chair of the subcommittee on Higher Education.

Oconee County Recreation Advisory Committee Approves Proposal For Upgrade To Heritage Park

***Proposal Offered For Equine Events***

Amanda McCoy says that the covered arena at Oconee County’s Heritage park is in disrepair and underutilized and that she has a plan to change that.

A self-described “horse lady,” McCoy appeared before the Board of Commissioners back in November with suggestions on how to make the facility more usable for horse events.

McCoy followed that up with a presentation last week before the county’s Recreation Advisory Committee, of which she is a member.

COVID-19 Cases In NE Health District Drop For Third Week; Seven Confirmed Deaths From Disease Reported, Same As Last Week

***Two Of Confirmed Deaths From Disease In Clarke***

The Georgia Department of Public Health reported seven new confirmed deaths from COVID-19 in the Northeast Health District in its report on Wednesday, including two in Clarke County.

The Department of Public Health also had reported seven confirmed deaths from the disease on Wednesday of last week.

The Department of Public Health also reported that the Northeast Health District added 494 new cases of COVID-19 in the week ending on Jan. 18, based on the Department’s electronic tracking system.

Meeting Called To Develop New Request Of Oconee School Board For Adding Religious Instruction Into School Day

***Mars Hill Baptist Church Is Venue***

Julie Mauck has called a meeting of interested local citizens for 6 p.m. tomorrow (Thursday) at Mars Hill Baptist Church to develop a new plan for incorporating Christian instruction into the curriculum of Oconee County Schools.

Working with LifeWise Academy, Mauck plans to ask the Board to allow K-5 students at Oconee County Schools to leave their campuses during regular school hours for Bible-based instruction.

Oconee County’s Republican Legislative Candidates Spent More Per Vote Received Than Democratic Candidates, Campaign Reports Show

***Republicans Also Gave Money Away***

The three Republicans who are representing Oconee County in the General Assembly session that got underway last week received just more than 63 percent of the votes cast in the three multi-county districts that selected them.

They won their seats after receiving 88 percent of the campaign funds raised during the election year in the three districts and accounting for just less than 81 percent of the campaign spending during the year in those districts.

Even with the high levels of spending, the three were so successful at fund raising that they ended the year with just a little less than 100 percent of the unspent campaign funds.

Weather Has Created Problems For Dove Creek Middle School Construction, Oconee School Board Told

***Board Also Told All Schools Under Capacity***

Fred Ricketson, Director of Facilities for Oconee County Schools, didn’t sound the alarm at the first meeting of the year of the Oconee County Board of Education.

But he did tell the Board that the weather has caused delays in construction of the system’s new Dove Creek Middle School, planned to open for the next academic year, and that “dry warm weather will do us a lot of favors.”

Ricketson’s report was one of many to the Board on Monday, which merged the usual work and regular sessions of the Board into the single meeting for the month.