Hometown Headlines Radio Edition: Local news without the static.

Welcome to the Bartow Headlines Newscast for Thursday.

First up, coronavirus updates:

In other headlines today:

RANT OF THE DAY: Taking it to the streets

There’s a parade set for 1:30 this afternoon as Armuchee Elementary School staff and teachers do cruise-ins in these subdivisions: Battle Farm, Northwoods, Wood Glen, Emerald Oaks, Swan Lake, Applewood and Birchfield.

Earlier in the day, Swift & Finch will have that funky coffee bus of theirs Live from the Twick – that is, in the Twickenham subdivision off Chulio Road after a successful visit in East Rome on Wednesday.

Snow cone operators are on the move and even Frios will be mobile this coming Saturday along city and county streets.

You’ll find chalk up and down local drive ways, some complete with editorial messages urging you to stay home (except for walking around the neighborhoods).

And one of our neighbors, who’s daughter’s birthday party was cut short by the social distancing rules, had a little parade of their own (we remember how a relative did the same thing in Cave Spring one Independence Day, starting a Norman Rockwell-like setting every Fourth of July).

All of this is new, a response to the coronavirus threat and closed schools and social distancing and curve flattening.

Larger assemblies continue to be banned although even some of those rules are bending. We’ve seen drive-in church attempts, one of which has now been canceled. In Cartersville this evening, motorists are asked to surround the medical center there in a show of unity against the disease. Participants are advised to stay in their cars.

Educators and businesses and the cleregy continue to take to the digital airwaves for distance learning or cybernetic blessings and such. Walking by one such event has us waiting for Peter Marshall and Paul Lynde to say something funny as these Zoom screens look like something out of Hollywood Squares.

And all that whiz-bang tech stuff is great. But we’re more intrigued with the low-tech options -- school parades, neighborhood-based food trucks, and even chalk attacks.

We continue to deal with a very serious medical threat and we’re far from over it. But it also is wonderful to see a different sense of community expanding, one we hope that sticks around when – not if – we’re in a healthy place again.

Coronavirus updates:

Today's other news:

Rant of the Day: Taking it to the streets

There’s a parade set for 1:30 this afternoon as Armuchee Elementary School staff and teachers do cruise-ins in these subdivisions: Battle Farm, Northwoods, Wood Glen, Emerald Oaks, Swan Lake, Applewood and Birchfield.

Earlier in the day, Swift & Finch will have that funky coffee bus of theirs Live from the Twick – that is, in the Twickenham subdivision off Chulio Road after a successful visit in East Rome on Wednesday.

Snow cone operators are on the move and even Frios will be mobile this coming Saturday along city and county streets.

You’ll find chalk up and down local drive ways, some complete with editorial messages urging you to stay home (except for walking around the neighborhoods).

And one of our neighbors, who’s daughter’s birthday party was cut short by the social distancing rules, had a little parade of their own (we remember how a relative did the same thing in Cave Spring one Independence Day, starting a Norman Rockwell-like setting every Fourth of July).

All of this is new, a response to the coronavirus threat and closed schools and social distancing and curve flattening.

Larger assemblies continue to be banned although even some of those rules are bending. We’ve seen drive-in church attempts, one of which has now been canceled. In Cartersville this evening, motorists are asked to surround the medical center there in a show of unity against the disease. Participants are advised to stay in their cars.

Educators and businesses and the cleregy continue to take to the digital airwaves for distance learning or cybernetic blessings and such. Walking by one such event has us waiting for Peter Marshall and Paul Lynde to say something funny as these Zoom screens look like something out of Hollywood Squares.

And all that whiz-bang tech stuff is great. But we’re more intrigued with the low-tech options -- school parades, neighborhood-based food trucks, and even chalk attacks.

We continue to deal with a very serious medical threat and we’re far from over it. But it also is wonderful to see a different sense of community expanding, one we hope that sticks around when – not if – we’re in a healthy place again.

Rome City Commissioner Mark Cochran joined us Wednesday to discuss both the rampant nature behind the coronavirus and what led the commission to adopting a shelter-in-place order on Monday evening. 

Cochran, who was among those first sounding the alarm in Northwest Georgia as he watched COVID-19 spread in China and Italy, says the emergency ordinance is restrictive for a purpose. The only way to stop the disease is to stop instances of spreading it, he says.

Community feedback has been extensive and, from what Cochran says,  most of it has been positive. He asks area businesses with questions about their operation and whether or not they're deemed "essential" to contact City Manager Sammy Rich at 706-236-4400.

ABOUT THIS PODCAST: This is the first time we've used a system where we interviewed a guest over the phone rather than face-to-face as we usually do at Brand Red Studios. We asked Mark to join us for an update and to help test the technology as well. It does give us the ability to do more interviews and do so via phone, something critical in the days ahead. We note that there are some sound issues on the host's end; Mark comes through loud and clear. 

Today's Bartow Headlines Newscast:

Statewide this morning, the coronavirus death count stands at 38. Among those are a Bartow County resident. Another victim thought to be from Bartow County actually was a 78-year-old Gordon County resident who was a volunteer at The Church at Liberty Square. Another church member who lived in Rome died last week.

As of late Tuesday, 76 Bartow County residents had tested positive for the coronavirus. That’s three fourths of the 102 known patients in the five-county area. Statewide, nealy 1,100 people have tested positive.

At Cartersville Medical Center, the Tuesday update shows five patients had tested positive for the virus while another 36 patients were awaiting test results.

In related news, the city of Cartersville has amended its ordinances regarding restaurants and package alcohol sales. Basically, as area restaurants transition to curbside pickup, they can now dispense packaged beer and wine. No consumption on site.

We’ll have updates on state and local numbers at noon and 7 this evening as well as a new report from Cartersville Medical Center later in the day.

In other headlines:

-We have public health restaurant inspection scores.

-We have updates from the Bartow County Jail and Cartersville Police Department.

-And in your Truett’s Chick-fil-A Sports report, an update on Cass’s new head football coach.

We’ll have continuing updates later today on Bartow Headlines as well as on our Facebook page. 

Program note:  Later today, we hope to test a new option to produce longer-form podcasts in a safe, social-distancing way. If it works as planned, it will be as efficient as our former radio edition. More on that soon. 

Coronavirus updates:

Today's other news:

Rant of the day:

Coronavirus updates:

Today's other news:

Rant of the Day:

Using emergency powers, Rome City Commission enacts a reactive, caveat-filled shelter-in-place decree. Given the mounting numbers of patients testing positive and strain on our healthcare facilities, is it too little, too late? 

Coronavirus updates:

Today's other news:

COPING WITH CORONAVIRUS (our rant for the day)

Today's headlines:

Today's other news:

RANT OF THE DAY: 

Just a short note today thanking you for your patience. We source all our reports from the state Department of Public Health, the governor’s office, local hospitals and local governments.

As we saw Saturday, the state reports continue to conflict themselves. Example: A noon report showed two fatalities in Floyd County per the Georgia Emergency Management office. Our checks with the hospitals, local coroners and even the state came back inconclusive. Late Saturday, we got just a revised chart from the state showing one death in Floyd and a previously unreported fatality involving a Bartow County man. There was no accompanying text.

Our stories and updates reflect that this morning.

This “confusion” among those in the official information chain regarding the coronavirus is unacceptable at all levels. We were stunned last week as we became the ones to inform two of the most important agencies involved in all this of the deaths of a Rome patient. Twelve hours after her passing, they had yet to be informed by the hospital or by the state. These are key players in all this, mind you.

We will continue to work with the state and local agencies to ensure what we’re receiving is as accurate as we can determine. All involved have had ample time to coordinate the news the community needs to know. We understand all this requires long hours and people are tired.

If that’s the case, add needed personnel to ensure 100 percent accuracy and in a timely manner. If a change in personnel is required,  make that call.

In additional to advanced personal safety techniques and social distancing,  verified and qualified information is needed. As we commend the state’s rumor control hotline, we likewise ask they invest more time in getting the facts right and information distributed.

Coronavirus updates:

Today's other news:

Rant of the Day:

As restaurants move to to-go only, what will happen to our owners and the people they employ? We have something like 300 restaurants in Rome and Floyd County. There are 20 or so restaurants up and down Broad Street as well as in connected areas and now across the Oostanaula on West Third.

These owners and operators have leases to pay in most cases. While some are cushioned thanks to spouses in the medical community or financial backers, others are doing this strictly from the customers coming through the door.

Rent, mortgages, utilities, inventory, overall sanitary needs. It adds up quickly.

Add to that the salaries of employees. Sure, some get tips to sustain the hourly rate but what about those in the kitchen or doing clean up?

Today's headlines:

Today's other news:

RANT OF THE DAY: Watching history.

This really is one of those days we’ll remember. We start with the confirmation of our area’s first coronavirus patient and we know we’ll see some sort of impact from the joint city/county commission meeting set for 4 p.m.

The two groups are scheduled to declare a public health state of emergency. What that means is not quite nailed down as yet, at least on our end, but we assume we’re going to see some required closings.

The purpose continues to be to stop the spread of coronavirus – and it is going to be a tough fight.

We’re already seeing restaurants and federal courthouses closing because of either contact with the virus or those exhibiting symptoms from the virus.

It is generally assumed coronavirus has been in our community since a March 1 event at The Church at Liberty Square in Cartersville. Nineteen days later, look how many local cases can be traced there – choir members, the congregation, their spouses or families.

What’s key here is that people didn’t know about the virus at the start of this month. It had a good two weeks to spread before we started to see corrective action here such as schools closing, event cancellations and eventually calls for no crowds of 10 or more.

Again, we’re likely to hear more from the two commissions later today.

We urge you to watch the commission meeting on whatever platform is available this afternoon. This will become part of local history, perhaps a part we’d just as soon forget but never will be able to do so.