Last week we looked back on the top stories for the first six months of 2020. Here is a look at the last six months. The stories selected were the ones with the most page views or comments by our readers.
July
During a Special Called Meeting of the Liberty County School Board, held July 16, 2020, Superintendent Dr. Franklin proposed that the Board approve the start of school Aug. 13, 2020 utilizing virtual learning only for the time being due to the ongoing pandemic.
On July 18, at a general court-martial convened at Fort Stewart, Georgia, Staff Sgt. Ladonies Strong, U.S. Army, was convicted of one specification of negligent homicide and one specification of prevention of authorized seizure of property. According to Chief, Public Communications Officer Kevin Larson, on July 20, the panel members sentenced Strong to be reduced to the grade of private, E-1, to be confined for three years, and to be discharged from the service with a bad conduct discharge.
On July 17, Travis and Gregory McMichael and William Roderick Bryan Jr., entered a plea of not guilty for their roles in the death of Ahmaud Arbery. The men were indicted, on five counts of murder, two counts of aggravated assault, false imprisonment and criminal attempt to commit a felony.
Riceboro native Richard LeCounte, a University of Georgia senior football player, made a visit to one of his biggest fans who was having open heart surgery. LeCounte visited Destiny Maney, 10 at Emory Children’s Hospital in Atlanta. Her mother, Ashley Maney said her daughter became a fan of Richard (LeCounte) a couple years ago when the family would watch the games and would always root for the plays he was in. LeCounte brought her gifts including a jersey.
August
Liberty County School System started the 2020-2021 year with virtual learning. The COVID virus spiked at a Midway Nursing home. On Aug. 25, 14 COVID-19 deaths were reported in Liberty County. Nine of the 14 reported deaths were patients of Magnolia Manor in Midway. According to the Aug. 24 Long-Term Care Facility Report provided on the Georgia Department of Health’s website, Magnolia Manor in Midway has 71 residents of which 69 have tested positive for COVID-19. The report shows that ten have recovered but nine patients have died. It was the highest number of positive COVID patients from their nine different campuses across Georgia.
On June 24, Bradwell Institute graduate and former class President Devonte King filed a petition on change.org, seeking to change the name of Bradwell Institute. Video of his TV interview on a local news station went viral on Aug. 6, prompting an immediate response from BI alumni who filed their own petition to save the school’s name. The new petition got 1,500 signatures in four days.
The Georgia Division of Family & Children Services (DFCS) in partnership with the Georgia Department of Education (DOE) approved to operate the new P-EBT program, according to a press release issued by the Liberty County School System.
Families received a onetime allotment of $256.50 in total P-EBT benefits per child.
The remaining of the Year in review will be in next week's Courier.