Final Days for Early Voting

Tuesday, October 27, 2020

Tifton, Georgia

478-227-7126 ~ www.tiftongrapevine.com

EARLY VOTING STRONG DURING THESE FINAL DAYS

FRIDAY IS LAST DAY FOR EARLY VOTING;

ELECTION DAY IS NEXT TUESDAY

By FRANK SAYLES JR.

Tifton Grapevine

Voting continues to be strong both in Tift County and around the state during these last few days of early voting, which ends Friday; next Tuesday, Nov. 3, is election day.

Lines for voting in Tift County can form quickly but they move fairly fast, said Leila E. Dollison, election supervisor at the Tift County Board of Elections.

As the final week of early voting began Monday, "around 4 p.m. we had a line around the building and voting lasted until well after 5 p.m.," Dollison told the Tifton Grapevine on Tuesday.

"This morning, we had a slight line; however, it moved quickly," she said.

Tift County’s polls were open this past Saturday, during which 378 voters took advantage of the extended voting hours. Dollison said Tift began the week with a grand total of 6,782 ballots cast and 2,116 absentee ballots accepted.

As of 5 p.m. Tuesday, 3,159,807 ballots have been cast statewide, according to the Ga. Secretary of State's office. That is a 96.6 percent increase in total turnout compared to the same period in 2016.

Dollison reminds local voters that absentee ballots must be postmarked by election day in order to be counted. As it gets closer to Nov. 3, Dollison recommends that voters may wish to drop off their absentee ballot at one of two official drop-off boxes to ensure their ballots will be counted.

A 24-hour drop-off box is in front of the Charles Kent County Administration Building at 225 Tift Ave. N. There is also a ballot box for absentee ballots, available from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. week days in the lobby of the Tift County Elections Board office at 222 Chesnutt Ave., Building B, where early in-person voting is also being conducted.

AS COVID CASES DECLINE IN TIFT, SOCIAL GATHERINGS REMAIN A CONCERN –REPORT

By FRANK SAYLES JR.

Tifton Grapevine

A recent report by the White House Coronavirus Task Force warns that while “Georgia remains mostly stable,” the virus is continuing to spread through social gatherings in the Peach State.

“We continue to see community spread initiated by social friends and family gatherings,” the report noted. “People must remember that seemingly uninfected family members and friends may be infected but asymptomatic."

An Event Risk Assessment tool developed by Georgia Tech calculates the risk in a county of attending an event with someone actively infected with the virus. According to Georgia Tech, the risks during events in Tift County are:

In gatherings of 10 people, there is a 9 percent risk that someone is infected;
In gatherings of 25 people, 21 percent;
In gatherings of 50 people, 38 percent;
In gatherings of 100 people, 62 percent;
In gatherings of 500 people in Tift County, there is a 99 percent chance that at least one person there is actively infected with COVID-19.

The White House report dated Oct. 18 places Tifton in the Yellow (or middle) Zone; the Task Force lists the Red Zone as most severe, followed by Orange, Yellow, Light Green and Dark Green in descending severity.

The Ga. Department of Public Health (DPH) reported Tuesday that Tift County in the past two weeks has had a total of 63 new COVID-19 cases, translating to 154 per 100,000 population. Testing for the virus in the past two weeks is at a 9.2 percent positivity rate, the DPH said.

According to Emory University, Tift County on Monday had a daily average of 15.1 cases per 100,000 population. Tift’s highest daily average cases per 100,000 during the pandemic was recorded at 67.3 on Oct. 5. At that time, the White House Coronavirus Task Force had placed Tifton and Tift County in the Red Zone and listed it as a hot spot in Georgia.

Tift has had a total of 1,951 positive cases and 63 coronavirus-related deaths, the DPH reported Tuesday. Georgia had a total of 353,372 cases and 7,844 deaths. The state reported a one-day increase of 1,623 cases Tuesday and 18 additional deaths.

GBI PROBING WHY SYLVESTER POLICE SHOT, KILLED TY TY MAN SUSPECTED OF FLEEING TRAFFIC STOP

The officer-involved shooting death of a 19-year-old Ty Ty man Saturday in Sylvester is the 81st such shooting that the Georgia Bureau of Investigation has been called upon to investigate this year, the GBI said.

At about 2:30 a.m. Saturday, a Sylvester police officer attempted a traffic stop; a brief car chase ensued with the suspect fleeing the scene on foot, the GBI said.

Approximately three hours later, multiple 911 calls were received describing a suspicious person that matched the description of the suspect from the car chase. A Sylvester police officer encountered the subject, later identified as Jakerion Shmoud Jackson, 19, the GBI reported.

The encounter led to the officer discharging his firearm, striking Jackson, who was transported to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead. No officers were injured in the incident.

The GBI is conducting its independent investigation. Once completed, it will be turned over to the Tift Judicial District Attorney’s Office for review.

A GBI medical examiner will conduct an autopsy on Jackson. the GBI said.

GBI PROMOTES TIFTON MAN TO SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE OF REGIONAL DRUG ENFORCEMENT

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation has promoted Eric Schwalls to special agent in charge of GBI’s Southwestern Regional Drug Enforcement Office in Albany.

Schwalls of Tifton will supervise the unit's staff and oversee the administration of the office that covers 42 counties in Southwest Georgia.

He began his law enforcement career with the GBI in 2001 as a narcotics agent assigned to the State Drug Task Force in Atlanta, and the South Georgia Drug Task Force in Lanier County.

Schwalls was later promoted to special agent and assigned to the GBI Region 4 field office in Douglas and the Region 15 field office in Sylvester. While at Region 15, he attended the University of Tennessee’s National Forensic Academy and became a crime scene specialist. In 2016, he was promoted to the rank of assistant special agent in charge and commander of the Pataula Drug Task Force in Colquitt. In 2018, Schwalls transferred to the GBI Region 9 field office in Thomasville. In 2019, he returned to drug work and filled the position of assistant special agent in charge of the newly created Southwestern Regional Drug Enforcement Office.

Schwalls received a GBI Deputy Director’s Award for Investigative Excellence in 2009, 2010, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018 and 2019.

ABAC SETS NEW SEMESTER DATE

Classes for the 2021 spring semester at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College will begin on Jan. 19, and, perhaps for the first time ever, there will be no spring break for students.

ABAC President David Bridges said the continued uncertainty about the ramifications of the COVID-19 pandemic precipitated the change.

“Our No. 1 goal is to provide a great education for our students in a safe environment,” Bridges said. “We condensed the fall semester so that we will finish all classes and final exams before Thanksgiving. Now we have a comparable schedule for the spring term.”

The ABAC spring semester was originally scheduled to begin on Jan. 11, with a week allotted for the annual spring break. The new calendar shows no campus holidays from the time classes begin on Jan. 19 until classes end on May 3. Final exams are scheduled May 5-7 and May 10.

Current fall semester end Nov. 19, and finals are scheduled to end Nov. 24.

TIFT COUNTY REC DEPT. OPENS REGISTRATION FOR YOUTH BASKETBALL

Registration for Youth Basketball is open at the Tift County Recreation Department.

Players aged 5-12 (age on or before Sept. 1) can learn skills, teamwork and sportsmanship in a competitive league. The cost is $50 for Tift County residents and $62.50 for those outside the county. Multiple registrants in the same household receive a 10 percent discount.

Office hours at the Recreation Department are 8:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Mondays-Fridays. To register online, Click Here!

Contact the Tift County Recreation Department for more information, 229-382-3262.

KIWANIS SPONSORS CHILDREN'S

BOOK DRIVE FOR CHRISTMAS

The Kiwanis Club of Tifton is conducting a "24 Days of Christmas" children’s book drive.

Through Nov. 12, Kiwanians are accepting new or slightly used children’s books that will be individually wrapped and stacked in groups of 24. The purpose is to give a child a gift of one book each day leading up to Christmas.

Donations may be dropped off at the Hilton Garden Inn in Tifton, at the UGA Tift Building or call 229-386-3512 for your donations to be picked up.

TIFTON GRAPEVINE'S CAT OF THE WEEK

This kitty is among several pets available for rescue or adoption at the Tift County Animal Shelter. Visit the Animal Shelter from 1-6 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, or call 229-382-PETS (7387).

Pets of the Week are sponsored by:

Branch's Veterinary Clinic

205 Belmont Ave., Tifton, 229-382-6055

TIFTON'S STREETS BEING GRADED

NEAR COUNTY COURTHOUSE

– OCT. 27, 1915

The City of Tifton has begun "grading the streets to the north and east of the courthouse," according to news dispatches on Oct. 27, 1915. "When the courthouse was built, some miscalculated and the rear of the building was built below street level," The Tifton Gazette reported.

"The courthouse lot was graded down, and that left the lot lower than the street; only one thing was left to be done: Grade the street down. This work is expensive, and the city has been waiting for the county to help. But the county has never agreed to help, so the city is going ahead with the work."