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An early shipment of vaccine for the 2009 H1N1 flu (swine flu) came into the Jackson County Health Department on Tuesday of this week.

Quantities are limited in this first shipment of vaccine, so the vaccine has only been sent to public health clinics. This first shipment is the live virus nasal spray and is being targeted for healthy children aged 2-4 years.

Children in this age range will require two doses of the vaccine at least four weeks apart. More vaccine is expected to arrive in the next few weeks, including the inactivated injectable form.

Public Health clinics will provide the vaccine at no charge to patients, though Medicare or Medicaid will be billed for an administration fee.

Officials say that you cannot get the flu by taking this vaccine. The nasal spray vaccine sometimes produces mild side effects. The most common side effects are runny nose, wheezing, nasal congestion and fever. These are rare and less severe than any problems created by actually having the flu. [Full Story »] 

Arcade police chief Randy Williams and motorists who stopped at a wreck Thursday morning in Arcade saved the life of a woman trapped in a burning car.
Lula Little was pulling onto the bypass when her car was struck by a dump truck. The car quickly caught fire and those who stopped only had minutes to get her out.

Williams said that Kevin Bailey of Lula broke one of the front windows out of the car and then the two men pulled the woman out of the window.

“There was so many people who stopped to help,” Williams said. “It was encouraging to see so many good Samaritans. There were so many people who stopped and got out of their cars with fire extinguishers. I think that is what saved her. If they had not, I think it might have been a different story.”

Williams said they had to get her out really fast because the flames were getting bigger.

“You didn’t have time to be scared,” he said. “When I first pulled up and saw the smoke and knew there was an entrapment, I just said, ‘God be with us.’ I just did my job. I give the praise, number one, to God. I believe there were angels in that car.” [Full Story »] 

The Pendergrass City Council axed its practice of allowing citizens to ask questions or make comments at its meeting Tuesday night.

Following a brief meeting at which the council voted to mortgage city hall to raise cash for the city government, Pendergrass Mayor Monk Tolbert abruptly adjourned the meeting without allowing the usual comment period for citizens.

One Pendergrass resident asked Tolbert, “Why can we not speak during the city council meetings anymore? You don’t want to answer our questions?”

The mayor said anyone could come talk to him or other city officials individually.

“Are you worried about a reporter being here?” the woman asked.

City attorney Walter Harvey said, “Lady, this is not a political forum, this is a government meeting.”

Two policemen went and stood next to the woman during the brief exchange.

BORROWING

Saying the city was facing financial difficulties due to the economy, Mayor Tolbert got a unanimous vote for the city to borrow an unspecified amount of money.

The council approved a resolution to use the city hall/library complex as collateral and finance or refinance a loan against.

“We don’t have a specific amount,” Tolbert said after the meeting. “We just have appointments with the bank at this time.” Tolbert said he has contacted Community Bank and Trust and Hometown Community Bank about a loan.

For the complete update on issues confronting the City of Pendergrass, see the Sept. 30 issue of The Jackson Herald.

A group of Pendergrass residents are seeking the recall of the mayor and city council because of alleged misuse of public funds.

A petition with the signatures of 37 people, which is more than 10 percent of the registered voters in the small North Jackson town, was submitted last week.

The mayor and council have filed a petition asking for a court review of the allegations. A court date has not been set yet, but Judge John Ott of Monroe has been assigned the case. The recall effort will not move forward until after a hearing is held.

If the judge determines the allegations are sufficient for a recall, within 10 days, a recall election must be called and date set for a vote.

For the complete story, see the September 23 issue of The Jackson Herald.

There have been few problems so far following days of heavy rain in Jackson County and most of North Georgia. Most of North Georgia is under a flood and flash flood warning.

Jackson County EMS Director Steve Nichols said Monday morning that Cooper Bridge Road had been closed due to flooding, but that most other areas appear to be OK.

"The rivers and creeks look fairly good, considering," he said.

Rainfall since Sept. 12 in Jackson County ranges from 3-4 inches for most of the county up to 8-10 inches in North Jackson.

The Middle Oconee River was just at 11.2 ft. early Monday morning, far below its 16 ft. flood stage.

The National Weather Service said that the forecast for Monday was for more rain across North Georgia with some storms producing up to 2 inches of rain per hour in some areas.

A commercial fire at Universial Forest Products in Jefferson around 7:30 a.m. Saturday morning brought out a large number of county fire departments in response.

Early reports indicate the fire was contained to one area of the large building. The extent of damage was not known as of midday Saturday.

UFP makes trusses for large building projects in the Southeast.

More than 120 people filled the fire station in Maysville Monday night, with all but a handful opposed to a city council proposal for beer and wine to be sold in the small town on the Banks-Jackson county line.

Public hearings have now been held in all four districts in Maysville with the majority of residents attending being opposed to the sale of beer and wine in the town. The public hearing held this week was for the first reading of the ordinance. The council will vote on the issue at a called meeting set for 7 p.m. Monday at the public library.

One of those pushing for the ordinance said Monday night that she wouldn’t stop until she got a beer and wine license for a sports tavern she plans to open.

“We will not stop until we get the beer and wine,” said Debbie Atkins. “We will continue to work hard … and we will serve beer and wine in our sports tavern.”

But most of those who have attended meetings on the issue have been opposed.

Comments from some of the others who spoke in opposition include the following:

•Gladys Cochran: “I don’t see why Maysville has to change just because a few people think they can come in and change things.” [Full Story »] 

The City of Pendergrass has reportedly hired former Jefferson police investigator Robert LaRocque as the town’s new police chief to replace Rob Russell. [Full Story »] 

The Jackson Herald filed suit in Jackson County Superior Court Wednesday morning asking that all future meetings of the Pendergrass City Council be held according to the law. In addition, the newspaper asked the court to order the city to make available documents requested in August under the state’s open records law that have not been forthcoming.

“This is not an action we wanted to take,” said Herald editor Mike Buffington. “But it’s clear that the mayor and other city officials do not intend to follow the law regarding open meetings or open records. The Mayor said as much last week when he said he’d do ‘what the hell I want to do’ regarding Pendergrass’ government. In light of such open defiance of the law, we have no choice but to pursue a legal remedy in the courts.”

The suit is filed against the city and against the mayor and individual city council members.

The Herald is represented by the Mike Bowers' lawfirm of Balch & Bingham of Atlanta.

For the complete story, see the Sept. 9 issue of The Jackson Herald.