by Robin Kemp
Happy Kwanzaa! After taking Christmas weekend off, The Clayton Crescent is hard at work planning for some big changes in 2021 and making the rounds for you as the dumpster-fire year of 2020 burns itself out (we hope).
- Early voting resumes today and ends Thursday, December 31. You can vote between 8 a.m. and 7 p.m. at any of these locations:
- Elections and Registration Office, Historic Courthouse, 121 S. McDonough Street, Jonesboro
- Carl Rhodenizer Recreation Center, 3499 Rex Road, Rex
- Lee Headquarters Library, 865 Battle Creek Road, Jonesboro
- Morrow Municipal Complex, 1500 Morrow Road, Morrow
- South Clayton Recreation Center, 1837 McDonough Road, Hampton
- Virginia Burton Gray Recreation Center, 1475 E. Fayetteville Road, Riverdale
- J. Charley Griswell Senior Center, 2300 Georgia Hwy. 138 East, Jonesboro
- Today (Monday, Dec. 28) at 1 p.m., New Birth Missionary Baptist Church will host a drive-in concert for the two Democrats running for U.S. Senate, Jon Ossoff and Rev. Raphael Warnock. The address is 6400 Woodrow Road. Doors open at 12 noon, showtime is 1:30 p.m., and acts include Dram / Shelley, J.I.D., Tokyo Jetz, BRS Kash, and Reginae Carter. Masks and social distancing are required.
- Not to be outdone, President Donald Trump will travel to Dalton, “the Carpet Capital of the World,” on January 4, the eve of the January 5 Senate runoff, to stump for Republican incumbents Sen. David Perdue and Sen. Kelly Loeffler. Trump’s last visit to Georgia as President will take place at 4485 Airport Road SE with the doors set to open at 3 p.m.
- The Jonesboro Police Department said in a press release that Ofc. J. Williams rescued a partially-nude woman, who said she had been raped at a nearby house, from a ditch on Christmas Eve. The officer was enroute to the Henry County Jail when he spotted the woman, made a U-turn, rescued her, and arrested a suspect who came out of the house. The Clayton County Police Department is investigating the case.
- Elections Supervisor Shauna Dozier says 3,048 people voted early on December 23, bringing the pre-Christmas total of early in-person ballots cast to 34,743. Updated figures are forthcoming at the Elections and Registration website. As of December 22, 16,631 mail-in absentee ballots had been received.
- No meetings are scheduled for the Clayton County Board of Commissioners nor for the seven City Councils through December 31. Of course, a governing body can conduct a special called meeting with very little notice. We’ll keep an eye out for any last-minute changes before the New Year.
- Here are the latest COVID-19 numbers by city from the Georgia Department of Public Health. As of December 27, Jonesboro leads with 3,999 known cases, followed by Riverdale with 2,526; Forest Park with 1.352; Morrow with 1,329; and Rex with 854:
Please send your news tips, announcements, and press releases directly to any of the following:
- our News Tip box on this website (please include contact information)
- KempWrites@gmail.com (best option, checked several times daily)
- P.O. Box 2714, Forest Park, GA 30298 (most secure option for information and documents)
Thanks to everyone for your support during this turbulent year. We are grateful to all our generous donors who are making nonprofit news coverage a reality for Clayton County and we will continue to cover local news, events, and officials, elected and appointed–without fear or favor.
