LU EXCLUSIVE REPORT:

Less than two months ago, Hutcheson’s well-regarded Women’s Center was suddenly closed as part of a vague plan to save money. Now hospital leaders are preparing to reopen the unit on a smaller scale, as part of a vague plan to.. save money.

Hutcheson insiders say the hospital’s board now feels closing HMC’s OBGYN wing was a mistake (as everyone else said at the time), and have seen financial losses grow larger since it closed on New Year’s Eve.

Women’s Center employees who transferred to other areas of Hutcheson in January are now being offered their old jobs back, and the hospital is spending money it doesn’t have to remodel and update the closed building in preparation for relaunch.

A restarted OBGYN center would again offer labor and delivery, but would not have a NICU facility or nursery for premature or sick babies; 2/3 of employees at the old pre-close Women’s Center worked in those areas, so keeping them shuttered will cut payroll. (Sick or premature babies will require transfer to better equipped hospitals.)

“Rebirth” for Women’s Center at Hutcheson is tentatively planned for May – unless idiot CEO Farrell Hayes and the clueless County Hospital Board change their minds again before then.

More as this develops..

Monday morning an inmate was found dead inside Walker County Jail. Per reports, 38-year-old Tommy Barron of Trenton was found around 7 AM hanged by a bed sheet wrapped around a light fixture.

(Barron was transferred from Dade County jail to Walker when he became uncooperative. It’s unclear how housing him in LaFayette would provide law enforcement any kind of advantage over keeping him in Dade.)

Sheriff Wilson told media the deceased left notes to various family members and likely committed suicide. The GBI was called in for further investigation and an autopsy.     

A “cash bar” serving hard drinks was set up inside Mars Theater during a Valentine’s Day event last week.

Profits from the well-advertised event (and apparently from the bar) went to the Arts Guild, but it’s against city law to sell hard liquor by the drink or by the bottle within LaFayette. The city is investigating.

This isn’t an issue of being for or against hard liquor, simply one of wondering why some people are held to the law and some aren’t.

LU asked Mars Theater landlord Mike Lovelady about the event. He didn’t confirm or deny the alcohol sales, but placed responsibility for anything that happened on the Arts Guild.   

During last week’s LaFayette City Council meeting, plan to rename Barwick-LaFayette Airport to LaFayette Regional Airport was put on hold after council discovered Lafayette Louisiana’s airport already has that name.

Now the field is wide open for better ideas. One suggestion is LaFayette-Walker County Airport, but the city is unlikely to give the county credit for an airport it contributes nothing towards. Another idea, Cherokee Regional Airport, could be confused with Cherokee County Airport down in Ballground, GA.

Naming the field in honor of retired, recently deceased airport director Ronald Westbook might also be off the table because of privately-owned Westbrook Airport in Lumpkin.

If you have other usable ideas, feel free to share them in the comment area below.   

Last Thursday morning 49 of 50 US states had at least a little bit of snow on the ground somewhere. That includes the 7 or so inches that fell on much of Walker County and northwest Georgia. (Only state without snow? Florida.)

Today the snow is gone and we’re enjoying a 60° day in mid-February.

Hope you have a chance to get out and enjoy it, soak up a little sunshine before cold weather returns.     

Walker Co. Road Barn director Rodney Parker says “thank you” to road crews, emergency workers, and others who helped keep roads clear of snow and ice during the last week:

How do YOU feel the city and county did clearing roads of snow and ice last week? Give your feedback in this week’s Saturday Survey. Poll will be open through Thursday with results shared in Friday’s Daily Update.

(Video originally shared on the Commissioner’s personal Facebook profile, where public information like this (produced with county equipment by county employees at taxpayer expense) is shared only with a select few people who Like her personally.)     

Cherokee Regional Library director says LaFayette branch remodeling should be finished and reopened by “summer” thanks to individual and business donations.

Not mentioned in the article? SPLOST funds promised to complete the project. Where’s THAT money in all this?   

During the February 11-14 snow/ice event, how satisfied were you with the way local government (county and cities) handled road clearing and emergency preparation?

How Did Local Gov't Handle Recent Snow? Very Well (57%, 58 Votes) Adequately (30%, 30 Votes) Could Have Been Better (7%, 7 Votes) Poorly (6%, 6 Votes) Total Voters: 101  Loading ...

Tuesday’s minor snow was just practice for the heavier snowfall and ice the area was blessed with on Wednesday. Some parts of the county saw up to eight inches, and at least four were seen at LU HQ in LaFayette.

City, county, and state government stayed on top of the snow Tuesday, keeping roads in most places relatively clear – especially compared to their complete failure in late January. LaFayette Public Works had a few problems, especially in hilly subdivision Skyline Heights where one of the city’s Vietnam-era plow trucks got stuck and had to be extracted by the other (as shown above).

Walker County plow trucks were reported all over, even in places the county normally ignores. County roads were decent Wednesday morning with gravel spread out in tricky places. Efforts were helped by people doing “a good job of staying home” per Not-Commissioner David Ashburn.

Late Tuesday night and early Wednesday morning things began to deteriorate as a second round of storms moved through, dumping first ice and then inches of snow across North Georgia. The ice wreaked havoc with utilities, shutting off power to around a quarter-million people in the Atlanta area midday Wednesday and moving into upper North Georgia a few hours later.

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By Thursday morning over 700,000 people across Georgia were without power, including large sections of Walker County where power lines were downed by the weight of ice or topped trees. Service to most areas of LaFayette was restored within a few hours but more than a day later power outages persist in parts of Villanow and other outlying areas.

Churches cancelled services universally Wednesday and most major employers like Roper and Shaw closed Wednesday AND Thursday, although some remained open and at least one – Unique Fabrication – was threatening employees with punishment if they didn’t show up, even though many were without power and more than a few had driveways made impassable by downed trees or limbs.

A day of higher temperatures took care of most ice and snow, but continued electrical issues and the threat of black ice have led to more cancellations on Friday. As this is posted at 5 AM Friday, here are known statuses for local schools, businesses, and government agencies:

Walker County Schools are closed. Catoosa and Dade schools also closed. Chattooga schools will be OPEN with a two hour delay. State offices, including the DDS driver’s license office in Rock Spring and Labor Department office in LaFayette, will open at 10 AM. Walker County gov’t and Walker Transit will be open normally. Chattooga Co. government will open at 10 AM. Roper will be open, asks workers to come in an hour early and stay an hour late Friday AND Saturday to make up for lost production; “Counter units” start at 7 AM. Lookout Mtn Community Services will be open normally, transportation services will all run on a two hour delay. GNTC and DSC will both be open normally.  

(For the latest, check LU Facebook or Twitter.)

GA school districts can eat four snow days a year, but today’s cancellation takes Walker County up to nine for the 13-14 school year. Now the school board is forced to decide how to add extra days (or time) to the school schedule while minimally inconveniencing people.

Per the linked article, meeting on weekends or taking time out of Spring Break in March and April are both off the table. That means either adding days at the end of the school year (keeping students in class through May 29th) or holding high school students in class an extra twenty or thirty minutes each day.   

During Monday’s meeting, LaFayette City Council voted to allow LaFayette Presbyterian Church to use Lowell Greene Recreation Center for a community health program. Details are still being worked out. (The plan was originally proposed during January’s meeting but held for a month while the city researched insurance issues.)

The council ALSO voted to start having Lowell Greene open Thursdays from 3 to 6 so neighborhood kids have somewhere to play basketball. There will be a rec. employee there every Thursday afternoon starting in March.

Excellent decisions from city leadership.