On June 1st, FetchYourNews contacted Fannin County School System Superintendent Mark Henson to ask about the school systems’ resolution on the transgender bathroom issue. The questions come after the Fannin County Board of Education sent a letter home to parents. In it, Mr. Henson states, “In accordance with this guidance and with us receiving state […]
Read More »May 23rd and 24th Videos: District Board Begins Overhauling Copper Basin Medical Center
This is a re-post of the May 31 article, “District Board Begins Overhauling Copper Basin Medical Center.” The original post did not include the videos from the Monday, May 23 and Tuesday, May 24 meetings. This post contains the meeting videos. Copper Basin Medical Center is precious to the people of Polk County. In the […]
Read More »Fannin County Honors Soldiers’ Sacrifice for the United States
On May 30th, Fannin County, like thousands of other communities across the United States, held memorial ceremonies for Americans who gave their lives in service to their county. The memorial, held at the Veterans’ Park began at 11 am and ended at noon. Elaine Owen, editor of the Fannin Sentinel, gave the keynote […]
Read More »District Board Begins Overhauling Copper Basin Medical Center
Copper Basin Medical Center is precious to the people of Polk County. In the 1950’s, employees of Tennessee Copper Company and other Polk County business deducted money from their paychecks to pay for building the hospital. While it was being constructed, trades people in Polk County would volunteer their time to help with construction like […]
Read More »Fannin Board of Education Issues “Bathroom Policy” as Georgia Joins 11-State Lawsuit Over Transgender Bathrooms
The decision about transgender bathrooms in Fannin County schools has been taken out of the hands of the Fannin County School Board. On May 25, Georgia, along with 10 other states sued the federal government over the federal guidelines that directed school to allow transgender students to use bathrooms and locker facilities that match their […]
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Georgia Schools’ Superintendent Richard Woods Responds to Federal Guidance Over Transgender Bathrooms
Dear Superintendents: On Friday, the U.S. Departments of Education and Justice issued a joint “Dear Colleague Letter” regarding the rights of transgender students in the K-12 education setting. We at the Georgia Department of Education believe the “Dear Colleague Letter” openly violates, misinterprets and moves to rewrite established U.S. law. This overreach of power by […]
Read More »EMA Report for May 16 to May 22, 2016
From May 16 to May 22, Fannin EMA dispatched first-responders to the following number of incidents: Law Enforcement (cities & county) 413 Rescue 16 Fire 1 EMS 72 McCaysville Ambulance 16 Blue Ridge Ambulance […]
Read More »Fannin County Local Primary Results
5,838 Fannin citizens cast their vote on May 24th. Here are the candidates the county chose: Sheriff – Dane Kirby 54.40%; Larry Bennett 7.51%; Johnny Scearce 33.88%; Jack Taylor 4.21% Rusty Whittenbarger ran as a Democrat. He received 188 votes Commission Chair – Stan Helton 60.46%; Bill Simonds 39.94% […]
Read More »2016 Elections: Notes from the Courthouse 4 PM
Chuck Cook of the Board of Elections office says that 2,022 people voted during early voting and absentee ballots – 1672 in early voting and, at 4 pm, 350 absentee ballots. The number of absentee ballots will rise because people have been hand-delivering the ballots throughout today. His plans for the evening – count ballots. […]
Read More »2016 Election: Notes from Morganton Precinct 3 PM
Morganton Precinct Manager Vince Demesky says the voting in Morganton has been running smooth today. This is his tenth election cycle that he has supervised in Morganton. Mr. Demesky says turn out has been less than he expected; he attributes it to the big turn out for early voting in Fannin County.
Read More »New Projects Underway with Fannin County Recreation Department
In May, the Fannin County Recreation Department joined Fannin County Chamber of Commerce “We’re not the one-dimensional rec department,” says John Scalera, Director of Fannin County Recreation Department when describing his vision for the Recreation Department. Mr. Scalera took over leadership of the Recreation Department in October 2015. Mr. Scalera has set up two […]
Read More »Copper Basin Medical Center Votes to Dissolve Corporate Board
On May 23, the District Board of the Copper Basin Medical Center voted to dissolve the Corporate Board. Two Boards govern the Copper Basin Medical Center – the Corporate Board and the District Board. District Board Chair Doug Collins scheduled the special- called meeting for the sole purpose of voting to dissolve the Corporate Board. […]
Read More »Fannin Students and Residents on Track for First-Class Agriculture Facility
Patricia DuBois, the Director of Career, Technical and Agriculture Education for Fannin County School System, proudly rolled out blueprints for the school system’s new Agriculture Barn last Thursday. Barn, though, is probably too general of a word for the multi-purpose facility that the school system is building. The approximately $3 million facility will feature a […]
Read More »Downtown Blue Ridge City Park Update and Other Notes from City Council Meeting
The May Blue Ridge City Council meeting was on May 10th. A large part of the meeting dealt with the downtown city park. Other topics were the downtown sign ordinance, City and County Joint Comprehensive Plan, lights at the tennis courts at the city park, gates on Robert’s Way and Waste Away. City Council Members […]
Read More »Copper Basin Residents Fear Hospital Closing
According to sources, Copper Basin Medical Center has spent the past year in a financial free fall. There are bills and insurance premiums that haven’t been paid. To meet a payroll, the center had to borrow money. Center staff have been given a choice to cut down on hours or be laid-off, even some employees […]
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