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.     

Today is another snow day for Walker County, with four or more inches measured in areas around LaFayette. Tomorrow’s forecast calls for more of the same, with a layer of ice expected before noon followed by another three to eight inches of snow.

Unlike the big Tuesday snow of two weeks ago, all local schools were closed for the day and some businesses also kept their doors closed. That means no repeat of kids left on stuck busses or stranded at school, even though more snow fell today than during the late January “snowpocalypse.” Beyond a few minor accident reports, things today have been relatively calm and enjoyable.

Hoping to avoid a repeat of the last snow mess, Gov. Deal prematurely declared a state of emergency for 14 counties midday Monday. By Tuesday morning he had expanded the declaration – twice – to 44 and then 88 of Georgia’s 159 counties. The emergency area includes Walker and every other county from Atlanta north to Tennessee.

Tuesday President Obama signed a resolution opening FEMA funds to the parts of Georgia covered by this emergency declaration, meaning the fed can repay 75% of everything spent clearing roads in the state’s northern half. At this point the state AND county have been out doing a decent job of that, clearing the roads and maybe even laying out treatments so they don’t get too bad tomorrow. LaFayette, meanwhile, borrowed an extra road scraper from Rossville to work on city streets.

Preparing for possible devastating power losses when the ice hits tomorrow, GA Power has called in thousands of extra workers from power companies around the country. As of NOW there are no reported significant power outages for GA Power or NGEMC, but that will probably change by Wednesday lunchtime after several hours of heavy ice.

At this point ALL public schools in the region are closed for Wednesday. Other closings: Walker County government and Walker Transit. First and Second Baptist LaFayette, Rock Spring UMC, Stone Ridge Community Fellowship. NGEMC payment office in Trion. GNTC, Dalton State College. Propex in Ringgold. All local Dept. of Driver Services offices. Shaw LaFayette (plant 67) also closed, no word yet about Synthetic in Chickamauga.

There’s also an unverified report Phillips Bros. Machine will be closed. Roper was closed for both shifts today but has made no declaration yet about tomorrow. For the latest check LU Facebook or Twitter.                           

Hutcheson is removing and replacing the “Erlanger at Hutcheson” signs it spent thousands of dollars buying and installing less than three years ago. No word if they kept old signs in storage or if this will require spending more money the hospital doesn’t have.

Replacing the Erlanger signs, just like putting them up to begin with, has absolutely no impact on quality of care, which is the main reason Hutcheson is dying.

(Will replacement signs say “CATOOSA COUNTY’S LARGEST ANTIQUE MALL” where they used to say “Women’s Center”?)   

Today at 2 PM, Steve Tarvin was sworn in as Georgia State Representative for House District 2.

Tarvin will get the rest of this week off; as he was being sworn in, the General Assembly decided – due to snow? – it should close down until next Monday. Before that point, they voted to end this year’s legislative session on March 20th – meaning Tarvin will have about five weeks to actually do anything before his term ends.

Senator Jeff Mullis and Gov. Deal both backed Neal Florence in the House District 2 election and applied considerable resources to get him elected. Mullis’ voice was used for robo calls asking people to vote for Florence. That means, at least per Atlanta blog Political Vine, Steve Tarvin’s victory over Florence makes both Mullis and Deal “look like sh*t now” politically.       

Introducing LU Saturday Survey, which will hopefully become a regular (or at least semi-regular) feature of the blog.

This week’s topic is a bit light (for testing purposes) – a question about plans for Valentine’s Day. Future questions will probably be of a more serious nature. THIS survey will close next Wednesday night, with results posted in an upcoming Daily Update.

Have plans for Valentine's Day? No plans (61%, 43 Votes) Going out (24%, 17 Votes) Staying in (14%, 10 Votes) Total Voters: 70  Loading ...