IT’S THE LAST DAY FOR EARLY VOTING; ELECTION DAY COMES TUESDAY

MORE THAN 27% OF TIFT COUNTIANS CAST BALLOTS

By FRANK SAYLES JR.

Tifton Grapevine

As of Thursday morning, more than 27% of registered voters had cast ballots in Tift County, and today – Friday, Nov. 4 – is the last day for early voting in the general election.

Tift countians may vote from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. today at the Tift County Board of Elections office on the corner of Fourth Street and Chesnutt Avenue. After today, polls won’t reopen until Tuesday, election day.

On Tuesday, polls will be open from 7 a.m.-7 p.m., and voters must cast ballots at their home precincts.

Voters can check their sample ballot and their precinct location Here or by calling the Tift County Board of Elections office at 229-386-7915.

The Ga. Secretary of State’s Office reported that 6,631 ballots had been accepted in Tift County by Thursday morning, including absentee ballots. There are 24,415 registered voters in Tift.

COVID-19 DECLINES AS

FLU BEGINS INCREASING

By FRANK SAYLES JR.

Tifton Grapevine

New cases of COVID-19 continue to decline – only two new cases were recorded in Tift County in the past week – but the flu is beginning to increase around the state and nation.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates at least 880,000 flu cases around the nation as the flu season gets underway. Flu hospitalizations are the highest since before the COVID pandemic, the CDC reports.

Georgia is in the red zone for high flu activity with more than 250 people hospitalized and at least 18 confirmed flu outbreaks around the state, according to CDC statistics.

“Every individual over the age of six months should get a flu vaccine – not just for their own protection but to protect others around them who may be more vulnerable to the flu and its complications,” said Dr. Kathleen E. Toomey, commissioner of the Ga. Department of Public Health (DPH). 

“It takes about two weeks after vaccination for antibodies that protect against flu to develop in the body, so now is the time to get a flu shot,” Toomey said.

Nationwide, along with the 880,000 flu cases, the CDC estimates at least 6,900 hospitalizations and 360 deaths from the flu, including one child in Michigan who died during the past week, the first pediatric death from the flu for the 2022-2023 season.

Regarding COVID-19 in Tift County, a total of 10 cases were reported during the past two weeks, according to the DPH. Tift's testing positivity rate for the two-week period was 1.8%, the DPH said. 

Tift has seen a total of 6,727 cases; no additional deaths were recorded in the county during the past 11 weeks, leaving the total at 171.

Tift County’s total positive cases in the past two weeks are 35 when unconfirmed cases are added.

Georgia has recorded a total of 2,252,117 confirmed cases and 33,802 related deaths, the DPH reported. There were 4,497 more total cases reported in the past week and 65 additional related deaths statewide. There also were 476 COVID-related hospitalizations in Georgia in the past week, the DPH said.

NEW MOVIE BEGINS FILMING IN TIFT, PART OF GA’s $4.4B INDUSTRY

By FRANK SAYLES JR.

Tifton Grapevine

A new action movie has begun filming this week in Tift County, the latest in a half-dozen recent films shot here, adding to Georgia’s $4.4 billion film industry.

There are few details about the new movie except that it is being filmed in Tift County and around Adel. The last movie made in Tifton, “The Holiday Dating Guide,” a TV movie, debuts Dec. 17 on the Lifetime channel.

The Georgia Film Office, part of the Ga. Department of Economic Development, said fiscal year 2022 saw a record $4.4 billion spent in the state from film and TV productions. The Tifton-Tift County Tourism Association said it is currently working to determine the film industry’s impact on the local economy.

During the year ending June 30, the state film office said Georgia hosted 412 productions: 32 feature films, 36 independent films, 269 television and episodic productions, 42 commercials, and 33 music videos.

Among recent movies made in Georgia are "Avengers: Endgame, "Spider-Man: No Way Home," "Black Panther," and "Avengers: Infinity War."

The state also has hosted many top streaming episodic and limited-series programs, such as season four of Netflix’s "Stranger Things,” and Netflix hit "Ozark," HBO Max’s "The Staircase," Disney+’s “Loki," and FX’s “Atlanta."

"When the pandemic struck, we worked hard in Georgia to communicate with our partners in the Georgia film, TV, and streaming industries,” said Gov. Brian P. Kemp in a statement from the governor’s office. 

“Together, we forged a safe and appropriate path to allow the film industry to return to operations and deliver Georgia-made productions to eager consumers all around the world – even when some states continued to stay shut down and stifle the industry's return to normalcy."

The governor said that in addition to providing production jobs such as carpentry, engineering, and graphic design, productions use local vendors, eat at local restaurants, and stay in local hotels.

"We're proud to be training more Georgians to be decision-makers in film and television production, keeping their talents in our state," Kemp said. “We look forward to this industry's continued success in the Peach State."

CELEBRATE CREATIVITY ARTS FESTIVAL COMES TO DOWNTOWN SATURDAY

The Tifton Council for the Arts is bringing back its "Celebrate Creativity Arts Festival" to downtown Tifton on Saturday.

The festival will be held from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. in and around the Syd Blackmarr Arts Center on Love Avenue.

It features an array of activities, including an art exhibit/competition inside The Syd, Artist Market outside, potters, glassblowers, etc., an Authors Row, a children’s Arts Circus, Gaelic Music and Dance, a Sweet Taste of Tifton, and Food Trucks.

The UGA-Tennessee football game will be streaming on a big screen TV for fans. 

The event, which is free, is a sort of a throwback to the beginnings of "Tifton’s Love Affair," the premier arts festival that started on Love Avenue in 1980. The Love Affair continued for 31 years, outgrowing its roots and moving to Fulwood Park, becoming one of Georgia’s top arts festivals before ending because of financial reasons.

Baltimore Ravens photo

Tifton’s Rashod Bateman will undergo foot surgery and miss the rest of the Baltimore Ravens' NFL season.

TIFTON’S BATEMAN OUT FOR SEASON WITH FOOT INJURY, SURGERY

Staff Reports

Tifton native and Baltimore Ravens' top wide receiver Rashod Bateman is out for the rest of the NFL season as he faces foot surgery, Ravens coach John Harbaugh announced Thursday.

Bateman, 22, a former Tift County Blue Devils star, had missed two games earlier in the season because of the same foot. He reaggravated the injury in the game against Tampa Bay on Oct. 27.

It's the "darkest times of them all, for sure,” Bateman said on social media.

The 27th overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, Bateman has appeared in six games this season with 285 yards on 15 receptions with two touchdowns. He missed five games last season with a groin injury.

"Rashod is a great guy. He really wants to be out there; he wants to play, wants to have a career, wants to do well. That's not going to change,” Coach Harbaugh said.

"Different things happen in life; there's roadblocks sometimes, and sometimes the best way is to just go through it. That's what he's doing right now. He'll come back stronger than ever."

The Ravens, with a 5-3 record, have won three of their last four games and are atop the AFC North Division.

TIFT CHAMBER’S YOUTH LEADERS PROGRAM UNDERWAY

The Tifton-Tift County Chamber of Commerce this week kicked off its 2022-2023 youth leadership program – "T.A.L:K" (Tomorrow’s Aspiring Leaders – Kids).

The initial session was presented by Dr. Tonja Tift, executive director of the Tifton Urban Redevelopment Agency and Bateman Youth Center, and by Tifton Coca-Cola United.

Local eighth-graders are chosen for the Chamber’s program and will participate sessions on government, leadership, and community action.

5 MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS CHOSEN

FOR REACH GEORGIA SCHOLARSHIPS

Wednesday was Signing Day for the five recipients of the 2022 REACH (Realizing Educational Achievement Can Happen) Georgia Scholarship.

This year's REACH Scholarship recipients are: Evelyn Daniel, Eighth Street Middle School; Lordis Denny, Eighth Street Middle; Mackenzie Holliday, Northeast Middle; Angela Pozos-Ortiz, Northeast Middle; and Jovan Waters, Eighth Street Middle.

REACH Georgia is a need-based mentoring and scholarship program providing students support to earn a high school diploma and go on to achieve success at the postsecondary level. 

Upon successful completion of the program, the recipients earn a $10,000 scholarship to apply toward their education at a University System of Georgia or Technical College System of Georgia institution or eligible private institution. 

REACH Georgia scholarships are funded through a combination of state, private, and local businesses and organizations.

YOUR GUIDE TO ACTIVITIES THIS WEEKEND IN THE TIFTAREA

Today, Friday, Nov. 4, is National Candy Day, just in time for all that leftover Halloween candy you have. The story of candy begins in India, where in the 4th Century B.C., natives would boil sugarcane juice, turning it into individual pieces of sugar, which they called “khanda.”

FRIDAY, NOV. 4

• Guided Historical Tour, 6 p.m., Reed Bingham State Park, Adel
• Tift County High Blue Devils football vs. Lee County High Trojans, 7:30 p.m., Brodie Field, Tifton
• Tiftarea Academy Panthers football @ Terrell Academy Eagles, 7:30 p.m., Dawson

SATURDAY, NOV. 5

• Wiregrass Farmers Market, 9 a.m.-Noon, Ga. Museum of Agriculture, Tifton
• Celebrate Creativity Arts Festival, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Syd Blackmarr Arts Center, Love Ave., Tifton
• Irwinville Civil War Re-enactment, 10 a.m.-4 p.m., Jeff Davis Park Road, Fitzgerald
• Guided Nature Tour, 6 p.m., Reed Bingham State Park, Adel

SUNDAY, NOV. 6

• Irwinville Civil War Re-enactment, 10 a.m.-4 p.m., Jeff Davis Park Road, Fitzgerald

PROMOTE YOUR

YARD SALE HERE

TO ADVERTISE YOUR YARD SALE,

CONTACT US at 

yardsales@tiftongrapevine.com 

or 478-227-7126

Fees are $1 per word, paid in advance

“Sam-I-Am” a friendly pooch, is among the pets available for adoption at the Tift County Animal Shelter. Visit him and other pets available at the shelter on Highway 125 South between 1-6 p.m. Mondays through Fridays. For additional information, call 229-382-PETS (7387).