Hometown Headlines Radio Edition: Local news without the static.

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RANT OF THE DAY: Our endorsement for voting by mail.

Why endanger people, forcing them to go to advance voting or the precincts through June 9 if they can vote by mail? The especially includes our older voters who usually are the most likely to vote.

Why not endorse one more step in personal safety – voting by mail? One spoiler alert in all this: Some people might do this for upcoming elections as well. You can’t beat the convenience – or security. Plus if I have last-minute questions on candidates, you can research a bit more before sealing the envelope and making your mailbox a ballot box.

And one more thing: This could boost voter turnout. Perhaps the real questions are these: Exactly who’s afraid of more people voting – and why?

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There was a lot to unpack from Tuesday’s Floyd County Commission. Again conducted via Zoom in a Hollywood Squares-type format, the commissioners, managers, staff and associates hit more than a dozen topics.

The only one that counted was coronavirus. And amid all the talk about deaths and positive tests and more tests coming was the word we’ve been waiting for any government to verablize: Recovery.

That is, a look at what we can expect when we pull out of the pandemic.

If you're hoping to return to the way things were, forget it.  Some tough lessons are being learned -- and they won't be forgotten.

Gov. Brian Kemp's Monday update on coronavirus, additional testing, 'surge capacity' preparations for more beds and advanced steps to help long-term care facilities.

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Ware Mechanical Weather Center: Power remains out for 1,400, mostly in Chattooga County. Local rivers flooding. Some roads still closed.

RANT OF THE DAY: Sounding the siren

Sirens. Code Red. Even Apple alerts. All good to have. But also, what about awareness? Or personal responsibility? After four days of advance coverage on web, TV, radio and print, did anyone not know about the high risk of strong storms on Easter Sunday evening? Agreed, the alarms give us time to decide whether to seek shelter but where do we take our own precautions?

Anyone in public safety urges you to have multiple alarms during severe weather. Perhaps a weather radio and your landline. Or your cell phone and text alerts.  Or turn TV on and watch Glenn Burns & Co. or even the crew from Channel 9 in Chattanooga which did play-by-play of the Chattooga storms with pinpoint accuracy.

Sirens should work. Code Red should have a broader footprint especially given the punch Sunday’s storms had.

But we have to meet the emergency folks and devices and gimmicks half way. We have to be aware, we have to keep an eye on the weather and proactively check for any bad stuff coming our way.

With a shelter-in-place still in place, we have plenty of time to get this right the next time bad weather brews. Seeing how we’re at the midpoint of severe weather season, we can assure you more is on the way.

Ware Mechanical Weather Aftermath:

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NO RANT OF THE DAY BUT . . . :  We’re focusing on storm recovery for much of the morning. It was an anxious evening and night across Northwest Georgia as storm after storm pounded our area.

The first ones hit were in the Summerville area and a later storm followed nearly the exact same track.

We join the Bartow County community in mourning the loss of a 34-year-old man as a tree fell on his home, and the five people who died in Murray County.

Weather forecasters said this would be the most intense storm we’ve seen, perhaps in almost a decade, and they were right. The last time we got hit this hard was April 27-28 in 2011. Seven people died in Catoosa County with 30 others injured.

The storms developed following a cloudy Easter morning where most gathered in front of computer screens or smart phones to watch traditional services – even if they weren’t in traditional settings.

Georgians already under a shelter-at-home order from the governor found themselves seeking further shelter as the storms began to develop around 7 p.m. In  Alabama, their issue was getting people into storm shelters while observing social distancing. Gov. Kay Ivey suspended some of the coronavirus restrictions during the sheltering.

It will be another Easter that Northwest Georgia won’t forget.

The Sunday midday update from the National Weather Service very specifically breaks down the storm threats we can expect, beginning around 4 p.m. with more do late tonight/early Monday. The second wave, due after 11 p.m., appears to be the most significant.

We're in for a long afternoon, evening and maybe overnight on Sunday as a severe storm system moves across the Southeast, including Georgia. "All areas will have some potential for severe weather," the forecaster says. 

Multiple rounds of storms -- and potentially long-track tornadoes. The biggest threats: Damaging winds and tornadoes but flooding is possible as well with one to three inches of rain.

Look for tornado watches to begin Sunday afternoon into the evening. The could be a few storms in the morning but midafternoon is when most of the threat will start. 

Please keep watch of the growing chances of severe weather here on Easter Sunday, primarily in the afternoon and evening hours, and maybe into the night as well.

The National Weather Service in Peachtree City has produced a special weather briefing that walks you through the threat. Tornadoes are possible; flooding is likely as well given all the rain associated with this threat.

Hometown Headlines will have continuing weather updates throughout the storm threat on our websites and social. 

The time to prepare is now, especially for potential power outages as "damaging winds" are forecast as well.  

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RANT OF THE DAY: Rock the vote.

With some many bumps, bruises and changes in the 2020 election cycle -- from new voting machines to caustic campaigns to ever-changing election dates and procedures -- you’d almost think there were people pushing all this to perhaps confuse voters. Dare we say even supress the vote? (Yes, we dare).

This already is one of the most dramatic election years in memory -- and we still have nearly seven months to go.  Buckle up. And please vote.

As we started this podcast, the Associated Press reported 10% of the American labor force has been idled by the coronavirus pandemic. Some 6.6 million applied for unemployment benefits. (Link: 95.5 FM WSB)

Dr. Frank Stephenson, the department chair of finance, economics and accounting at Berry College, joined the Hometown Headlines Newscast to talk about the local impact we're seeing caused by the virus and the continuing shelter-in-place mandate across the state.

Stephenson talks about how hard this is hitting small businesses in town, from barbers to restaurants and other. Also, he speculates on how returning businesses likely will see a trickle at first as pensive customers begin to return to some sense of normal routine.

Stephenson was a frequent guest on our radio edition and has transitioned to our podcasts as well. For more on his background, please click Dr. Frank Stephenson. 

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RANT OF THE DAY:  Celebrating the miracle, even in your Easter jammies.

Just about everything we associate with Easter is gone this year: Special services, Easter dresses, brunch with family and friends after church, egg hunts.  But even a pandemic can't stop the message of the Easter Miracle -- even if we're watching Facebook Live services in our Sunday best jammies..