By Stephanie Johns
Staff Writer

Flu came to Morgan County a bit earlier this year, according to Kelly Malcom, office administrator at Madison Primary Care.
She said they started seeing flu cases beginning in November.
“This year it hit early,” she said. “Usually we don’t see flu cases until January, February.”

They have seen 75 cases of the flu so far. Malcom said that number includes both Type A and Type B flu strains.

Leah Ainslie, family nurse practitioner and county nurse manager at the Morgan County Health Department, shared information from Georgia’s weekly flu report.
“Georgia had widespread occurrences of sustained flu transmission,” she read. She added, “Basically, it’s everywhere.”
Malcom noted that once a person has the flu, they usually do not get it again during the same flu season.
Getting a flu shot has not kept some people from getting the flu, though.

“Some patients who’ve had the flu vaccine have ended up with the flu,” she said.

In spite of that, the Centers for Disease Control “continues to recommend influenza vaccination for people who have not yet been vaccinated this season,” according to  www.cdc.gov/flu.

Ainslie explained that the flu shot does not make people sick.
“It’s a dead, killed virus,” she said. “It can’t happen.”
What can happen, she said, is that a person gets the shot and then, during the two weeks it takes for the shot to build up antibodies in the body, if the person comes in contact with someone who has the flu, they can get the flu but not from the vaccine.
Ainslie said there are three things people can do to prevent the flu.
First: get a flu shot.

By Stephanie Johns
Staff Writer

The City of Bostwick made about $12,500 from its annual Cotton Gin Festival in November.
Councilwoman Angie Howard said they had 181 runners participate in the Gin Run.
“That’s double-plus numbers in the past,” she said.
She noted that she already has mailed out applications to vendors for this year’s festival.

Mayor John Bostwick thanked her for her work on the festival.
Bostwick reported that the demolition of the Bostwick Community Center is about half done.

He said they will cut off and cap the well behind the center. He shared that several people want the bricks and that he plans to chip off the concrete and stack the bricks.
As to the slab of the building, Bostwick said he and Councilman Damon Malcom have talked about leaving it, but they do not think that is a good idea. Council members agreed that the slab could go as it is included in the current demolition costs.

Howard asked about the possibility of saving the flagpole in front of the center. She reminded those present about a memorial they once talked about creating. That memorial would utilize the flagpole, she said.

Malcom said the flagpole needs to come down. Bostwick agreed and said if it breaks they can buy another.
Bostwick then said he had a lot of people wanting to do community service. He asked council members for suggestions as to what type of work they need done.
Howard suggested they paint the concrete at the dump, clean out and paint the well house, and work where the gazebo and picnic tables have been damaged. She added that there is trash in the Susie Agnes Hotel, which is where city hall is now, that could be removed.

City’s gas fund down from last year due to warmer weather

By Stephanie Johns
Staff Writer

Madison’s assets exceeded its liabilities by almost $30.8 million while the city’s assets increased by almost $240,000, according to the audit report titled City of Madison, Georgia Management’s Discussion and Analysis.

The city’s actual total revenues for FY2012 stood at more than $3.7 million while actual total expenditures stood at almost $4.4 million, a difference of more than $635,000.
During their recent meeting, members of the Madison Audit Committee heard the audit report for Madison for FY2012, which ran July 1, 2011 through June 30, 2012.

Wayne Tamplin, a partner at Treadwell, Tamplin & Co., said that the city has had another good operating year.

“It’s a good report,” he said.
Treadwell, Tamplin & Co. Audit Manager Carrie Wilkins, CPA, said that the city’s liquidity ratios have improved over the last year, up to 9.39 from 6.91.

Wilkins later said that “liquidity ratios” pertain to the amount of money available to pay off liabilities.
As to the city’s fund balance-to-expenditure ratio, Wilkins said that is down to 23 from 27.

The city’s gas fund is down somewhat from previous years, also. This is due to the warmer winter last year. The gas fund’s income stood at more than $151,000 for the year, a loss of more than $148,000.
Ex-officio member City Manager David Nunn agreed that the “abnormally warm” winter negatively impacted the city’s gas fund. He noted that the city has added some chicken farms, which should positively impact that fund.

Carolynn Norah Nunn, daughter of Amanda Wilson and Ben Nunn, was born Oct. 3, 2012. She’s a resident of Bostwick. photo by k. schiliro

Printed in the January 3, 2013 edition

By Kathryn Schiliro
Managing Editor

Morgan County Middle and High School representatives have filed for more than $740,000 in grant funds as part of the state Department of Education's (DOE) Striving Readers Comprehensive Literacy planning grants.
The schools applied separately for the grants, the middle school requesting near $497,000 and the high school requesting $245,000. It’s possible that one school could receive funding and the other could not.
The application, turned in to the state on Dec. 14, required school representatives to “describe the need for literacy programs through technology,” Assistant Superintendent Debra White said. There were district-level questions as well, the answers to which White put together.
The funds will be used to increase technology accessibility; provide professional learning in Common Core Georgia Performance Standards (new curriculum bought into by most states and put into place in Georgia this year) implementation and “Best Practices in Literacy Instruction;” provide opportunities for increasing teacher collaboration; strengthen enrichment options for literacy instruction; develop an infrastructure for feedback and assessment protocols; and systematically utilize a universal screening assessment to identify specific needs of students in areas the schools are seeking to improve, according to White.
The primary and elementary schools received Striving Reader grants from the state in March 2011. These grants emphasized literacy from birth to grade 5 as well as helped to align literacy between the primary and elementary schools.
"It broke down a wall," White said.
The middle and high school grants, if attained, will expand that age span to birth to grade 12 and will align from the middle school to the high school.

By Patrick Yost
Editor

A 19-year-old Bishop man was arrested and charged with aggravated child molestation on Sunday, Dec. 23.
According to Lt. Mark Williams, Morgan County Sheriff's Office  Investigative Division, Stephen Matthew Porter turned himself into authorities at the urging of family members. Porter is charged with the molestation of a 12-year-old boy.
Reports allege that Porter molested the child while the two watched pornographic movies. Reports also allege that Porter came to the Morgan County Detention Center after he was confronted by a family member regarding the alleged activity. Reports state that Porter told the family member that he had molested the child and that “he wanted to turn himself in.”
Porter remained incarcerated at the Morgan County Detention Center on Friday, Dec. 28.
Porter told investigators, reports state, that the alleged molestation took place approximately two weeks ago.

Printed in the January 3, 2013 edition