Publisher's Blog

UPDATE: JEFFERSON CITY SCHOOLS AND THE JACKSON COUNTY SCHOOL SYSTEM HAVE CANCELED FRIDAY CLASSES. SCHOOL WILL RESUME TUESDAY, JAN. 18.

The big question for schools when classes resume after the winter storm: When will those missed snow days be made up?

“This could be a winter that we get even more (snow) than we’ve already got,” said John Jackson, superintendent of the Jefferson City School System. “And if that’s the case, we’ll have to factor all of that in, as well.”

Given that snow fell on Christmas — a rare event in Georgia — and a winter storm dumped up to five inches of the white stuff in the area last week, it’s not a stretch to anticipate more snow this season. The “Blizzard of 1993” — which occurred in March — left six to eight inches of snow in the state.

Shannon Adams, superintendent of the Jackson County School System, said Wednesday that he was still unable to get out of his driveway in South Jackson because of the icy road conditions.

While school officials will evaluate weather conditions one day at time, he believes classes will resume next Tuesday, Jan. 18 — a day after Monday’s holiday for Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

“Unless there’s just some significant improvements, I don’t think we’ll be back until next Tuesday,” Adams said on Wednesday, Jan. 12. “It’s staying too cold and all of the back roads are too tough to travel right now — it’s dangerous.”

On Wednesday — the third day when schools were closed because of heavy snow and ice — superintendent Jackson said it was a “definite possibility” that classes would be cancelled the remainder of the week.

“Our district is smaller,” he said. “And if a minor miracle were to happen and the sun were to shine all day and the wind was blowing — and it started to dry things out as soon as it melted — but it doesn’t look good. I’ll just have to say that — it does not look good.” [Full Story »] 

The newspapers of Mainstreet Newspapers, Inc. will publish on Thursday this week, a day later than normal.

"The difficult weather conditions made it dangerous to deliver the printed papers earlier in the week and postal delivery was also spotty," said co-publisher Mike Buffington. "We plan to print early Thursday and deliver during the daylight hours when roads are safer for our carriers."

The newspapers are: The Jackson Herald, The Commerce News, The Madison County Journal, The Banks County News, The Braselton News and The Barrow Journal.

"That's a huge area from northern Banks County south to Clark County and from Auburn on the west to far eastern Madison County," Buffington said of the papers' newsrack locations.

Postal delivery is also expected to be far improved by Thursday as well.

The Jackson County School System and the City of Jefferson School System will again be closed Tuesday, Jan. 11 due to the snow and ice and dangerous road conditions. All after-school and evening activities for Tuesday are also canceled, officials said.

The City of Jefferson will also be closed again Tuesday.

Road conditions are expected to be bad into Tuesday as freezing drizzle and sleet continues to fall on top of the 4-6 inches of snow in the area.

No major problems have been reported in Jackson County from EMA officials. Fears of icing causing power outages remain, but so far no major power problems have been reported.

UPDATE 2 P.M. MONDAY--

A thin layer of sleet and freezing rain continued to hit Jackson County Monday afternoon making road conditions dangerous on top of the snow from earlier in the day. Officials continue to watch the situation to see just how bad the roads may become tonight and Tuesday morning.

Arcade has canceled its city council meeting for tonight.

No official announcements have been made yet on Tuesday openings or closings.




UPDATE NOON MONDAY--

Roads remain "terrible" in Jackson County today as light sleet/freezing rain falls over 5-6 inches of snow from last night.

Jackson County EMA director Steve Nichols encouraged people to stay home given the condition of area roads.

He said the 911 Center in Jackson County had handled 547 incident requests since 8 p.m. Sunday night. Around 40 or so accidents, none serious, have happened he said.

No decisions on Tuesday school or government openings have been announced as of noon.



UPDATE 11 A.M. MONDAY--

Small bands of sleet and freezing rain continue across parts of Georgia, but Jackson County doesn't seem to be getting hit too hard at this time.

Closing for Tuesday are starting to come in with the Jefferson City Court canceled and rescheduled for Jan. 25 at 9 a.m.


UPDATE 10 A.M. MONDAY--

Jackson Countians awoke to 4-6 inches of snow this morning, but with schools and non-emergency government agencies closed and most businesses shut down there is little reason for people to leave home today.

Officials have discouraged all non-essential travel for Monday. Roads are slick and travel is difficult.

No major power outages have been reported in the area, although a small number of JEMC customers around Braselton were without power.

The forecast calls for more and possible freezing rain today on top of the snow during the day Monday. But how much and what impact that has on roads remains to be seen.



UPDATE 6 A.M. MONDAY---

The Jefferson City Hall and all non public-safety city offices are closed today. The Jefferson City Council meeting scheduled for tonight has been canceled. The Jackson County government offices are also closed.

****

Snow began falling before midnight and by 3 a.m. areas around Jackson County were reporting around 3 inches of accumulation. County officials said that most roads were "impassable" without 4x4 vehicles or chains. I-85 is open but moving slowly.

Snow and sleet continue to fall and more accumulation is expected throughout the day.

*****


SUNDAY NIGHT-- The City of Jefferson and Jackson County School Systems will be shut down Monday due to the winter weather that is schedule to hit North Georgia Sunday night. The Jackson County Board of Education meeting scheduled for Monday night has also been canceled.

The looming snow-ice-sleet-freezing rain that is predicted to hit Georgia Sunday night and Monday appears as if it will shut down most activities early in the week. State officials issued a release Sunday advising people not to plan to travel at all on Monday due to dangerous icing.

Jackson County emergency officials have been monitoring the situation. EMA director Steve Nichols said 5-7 inches of snow is expected and that the area could see 1/4 inch of accumulation of freezing rain Monday afternoon. He said travel could remain dangerous through Tuesday.

Specific information on closings and conditions will be posted here as that information becomes available.

Jackson County is complicated. It has nine incorporated towns, three different school systems, around 10 rural fire departments that set their own tax rates, dozens of small agencies and is part of a number of regional groups that plan for everything from agriculture to trash.

Add to that the large geographic size of the county and its transitional nature, which falls somewhere between rural and suburban, and you have one complicated recipe. If Jackson County were soup, it would be goulash.

So it takes some special efforts from the various leaders in the county to forge anything close to a united relationship. At times, that relationship has been closer than at others. Petty infighting, jealousy and turf-protecting always threaten to untie the political and social fabric of such a complex county.

But over the last couple of years, the fights have been less and the sense of unanimity stronger.

That has been in large part due to one man who has, in a very short time, become a major uniting influence on the county’s otherwise fractious political landscape.

From hard work and his sheer force of personality, Jackson County Area Chamber of Commerce President Shane Short has knitted together a variety of competing interests at a time when the financial pressure of the recession might have otherwise sent deep political and economic fault lines across the county.

For his work in helping keep Jackson County united during difficult economic times and his high profile leadership role in 2010, Short is The Herald’s Newsmaker of the Year.
[Full Story »] 

The 84th annual Jackson County New Year’s Day Program will be held at 9 a.m. on Saturday, January 1, in the auditorium of the Jackson county Administrative Building.
[Full Story »] 

Jackson Countians were treated to a rare White Christmas Saturday as an unusual early storm crossed the Southeast, leaving around 3 inches in its wake in parts of NE Georgia.

With snow falling late in the day Saturday, it paused for a few hours Saturday night, then resumed early Sunday morning.

The snow was expected to stay around through the day Sunday as temperatures were not expected to go above 33 degrees during the day.

SEND PHOTOS

Do you have a snow photos from Christmas you'd like to share?

Email your digital photos to Mainstreet Newspapers at:

mike@mainstreetnews.com

We will publish some selected photos this week and share others online.

Include your name, the location of the photo and the names of people in the photo.