Voter Registration Ends Oct. 5

Tuesday, September 29, 2020

Tifton, Georgia

478-227-7126 ~ www.tiftongrapevine.com

By FRANK SAYLES JR.

Tifton Grapevine

Local, state and national elections are on this year's ballot, and there are only a few days left to register to vote in the Nov. 3 general election. The deadline to register is this Monday, Oct. 5.

To register, Click Here!

Early voting will begin Oct. 12 in Tift County at the county Elections Board office, 222 Chesnutt Ave., Building B. Advance voting will be available from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays until Oct. 30. There will be one Saturday voting day on Oct. 24 from 9 a.m.-4 p.m.

On election day, Nov. 3, polls will be open 7 a.m.-7 p.m., and voters will cast ballots in their assigned precincts.

Registered voters may request an absentee ballot in order to vote by mail. To make a request, Click Here!

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger has launched a system in which voters can track their absentee ballots and get updates on their status. Once voters sign up on the new BallotTrax system, they’ll get either email or text message alerts on the status of their ballots.

“Unprecedented times require innovation and adaptation,” Raffensperger said. “Creating this new absentee ballot tracking and notification system will provide Georgia voters with greater clarity and increased confidence that their votes are accepted. Like the absentee ballot request portal that over 200,000 Georgians have already used, the platform is designed to be quick, easy, and convenient.”

The BallotTrax system can be accessed by clicking Here!

For questions about voting and registration, contact the Tift County Board of Elections at 229-386-7915 or email elections@tiftcounty.org

Southwell urges local residents to get a flu shot because this flu season poses more challenges than ever due to COVID-19.

“Out of all the years to get a flu shot, this year is probably the most critical,” said Mary Key, RN, CIC, Director of Infection Prevention for Southwell. “This season, hospital and ICU beds could fill-up with both influenza and coronavirus patients. We strongly encourage local residents to protect themselves and others by getting a flu shot and helping to minimize the spread of both the flu and COVID-19.”

Key said the official flu season runs between October 2020 and May 2021. Visitor restrictions are typically implemented at Southwell’s hospitals and nursing home during the flu season, but tighter restrictions are already in place due to COVID-19.

Additional information can be found at www.cdc.gov/flu

BLUE DEVILS ADD GAME AS SEASON RESUMES FRIDAY

By FRANK SAYLES JR.

Tifton Grapevine

As the Tift County High Blue Devils football team is set to resume its season Friday night at Irwin County High, the Blue Devils have added a game to help shore up the schedule after three recent games were canceled.

Tift will now face Perry High on Oct. 23 at Brodie Field; the date was previously an open date for the Blue Devils.

All general-admission and single-game reserved tickets purchased for the home game against Valdosta, which was canceled Sept. 11, will be honored at Tift County's Oct. 16 homecoming game against Lee County.

That will be the Blue Devils' first home game of the season. Tift County has only played one game so far this season, on Sept. 4 at Crisp County. The Blue Devils' home opener against Valdosta High was cancelled after four players and Head Coach Ashley Anders tested positive for COVID-19. The team was then quarantined. In addition to the Valdosta game, the games against Thomas County Central and Coffee County were also canceled.

Tift County’s senior night is scheduled Nov. 13 for the home game against Colquitt County.

SHERIFF PROMOTES TWO

Tift County Sheriff Gene Scarbrough recently promoted two officers in the Tift County Sheriff's Office.

Scarbrough, at left in the photos, poses with Sgt. Chris Strickland, in left photo, at his promotion to lieutenant. In photograph at right, the sheriff poses with Deputy Chris Ledger upon his promotion to sergeant in the Sheriff’s Office.

TIFT REPORTS 12 NEW COVID-19 CASES

Tift County reported 12 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday for a total of 1,787 positive cases since the pandemic began, according to the state Department of Public Health (DPH).

During the past two weeks, Tift has seen 163 new cases of the virus. Tift County cases represent 4,377 per 100,000 population, the DPH said.

According to Emory University, Tift’s positive cases are averaging 11 per day for a daily average of 27 per 100,000 population. Georgia's daily average per 100,000 residents is 12, according to Emory.

There have been a total of 57 deaths of Tift County residents related to COVID-19.

The state of Georgia on Tuesday reported a total of 316,306 cases and 6,994 deaths. New daily cases in the Peach State numbered 1,081, and additional deaths totaled 34 on Tuesday, the state reported.

Chris Dorman, at left, and Tom Shoup with the new

Little Free Library on Tift Regional Medical Center's campus.

KIWANIS CLUB DONATES LITTLE

FREE LIBRARY TO TIFT REGIONAL

While at home during the COVID-19 pandemic earlier this year, Tom Shoup, a physicians assistant with Affinity hospital medicine, started working on a joint project between the Kiwanis Club of Tifton and Southwell –a little free library.

The "library" is a weatherproof container for anyone to access books that are free to take, read, return, or share.

“As a member of the Kiwanis Club, I wanted to place the library outside Tift Regional Medical Center in the name of the Kiwanis Club of Tifton,” Shoup said. “Our purpose is to inspire a love of reading, provide free literature, to build community and spark creativity."

Shoup said that more than 36 million adults in the U.S. cannot read, write, or do basic math above the third-grade level.

"More than half the children in the U.S., 13 million, will not hear a bedtime story tonight, and I think that really demonstrates the importance of both children and adults having free access to books,” he said.

Shoup reached out to Chris Dorman, Southwell president & CEO, about placing a free library on the grounds near the hospital.

“I thought it was a great idea,” Dorman said. “We are always looking for ways we can partner with our civic organizations and better our community, and this felt like a great way to do both of these things.”

The library is located on the corner of 18th Street and Lee Avenue at the edge of an employee parking lot for Tift Regional Medical Center.

Little free libraries are not new to Tifton. The Tifton Woman's Club, formerly the Tifton 20th Century Library Club, has been placing little free libraries around the Tifton community for the past couple of years. The club's first free library was wooden, but the club transitioned to metal newspaper racks donated by The Tifton Gazette.

TIFTAREA ACADEMY NAMES HOMECOMING QUEEN

Kaitlynn Willis was crowned 2020 Homecoming Queen at Tiftarea Academy on Friday at halftime at the Panther Pit in Chula.

Pictured, from left, are the homecoming court: Addison Jackson, Kennedy Brooks, Allee Cooper, Queen Kaitlynn Willis, Marlee Gunter, Claire Wynn, Jolee Paulk, Lindsey Carter.

TIFTON RECEIVES $11,744 CRIME GRANT

The City of Tifton is receiving a $11,744 federal grant to help prevent and control crime, according to the office of U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler, R-Ga.

Tifton is one of 18 cities and 15 counties in Georgia receiving a total of $1.76 million in U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) grants to help states and local governments address crime based on local needs and conditions.

“Everywhere I go in Georgia, I hear about increases in crime and concerns about public safety,” Loeffler said. “These grants will go a long way to helping our communities prevent crime, break up gang networks, stop domestic violence and hold criminals accountable."

The City of Albany is receiving $67,582 from the DOJ.

Triston Hansford with Red, a western hognose snake.

LEARN ABOUT SNAKES (AND MORE!) AT

WILDLIFE EDUCATION EVENT IN ALAPAHA

Triston Hansford and Kalyn Potts, both ABAC wildlife students, will share their educational creatures and talk about the importance of native wildlife at a special event on Saturday, Oct. 10, in Alapaha.

The pair will bring king snakes, milk snakes, a hognose snake, a rat snake, corn snake, as well as several toads, tree frogs, and salamanders to Gaskins Forest Education Center at 3359 Moore Sawmill Road in Alapaha.

The Oct. 10 event will begin at 1 p.m. Attendance will be free. However, as part of precautions for COVID-19, attendance will be limited to 20 guests; pre-registration is required. Sign up at Longleaf Snaketuary's Facebook page here or email hansford.wildlife@gmail.com

All guests are asked to wear face coverings, maintain physical distancing and wash their hands.

Hansford is a licensed wildlife exhibitor and uses his educational animals to help educate the public on the importance of native wildlife and that any encounters with wildlife are safe and healthy. He runs a reptile rescue service, and is available to rescue and relocate snakes in the Tifton area.

To support this effort, he has developed the Longleaf Snaketuary as a caring home for wayward reptiles and amphibians.

Proud new member of the Tifton-Tift County Chamber of Commerce

TIFTON GRAPEVINE'S CAT OF THE WEEK

This fellow is among the pets available for 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

TIFT COUNTY ELECTS NEW COMMISSIONER

– SEPT. 28, 1966

Ray Taylor was elected Tift County commissioner at-large on Sept. 28, 1966, after he jumped into the lead during the counting of ballots to defeat Austin Coarsey for the Tift County Commission seat.