Schools move to distance learning effective Monday

Open House Oct. 29th

On a tour of the new facility, Pickens Recycling Director Kenny Woodard, left, explains to Jeff and Pamela Wood how bales of aluminum cans and other recyclables are sold. This revenue will help the center become self-sustaining and pay for the new building. 

After several months of renovations and preparations at the county’s new recycling center off Highway 515, the facility will open to the public on Friday, Oct. 30. People are invited to attend an open house and tour the new building the day before, Thursday, Oct. 29 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. 

Anyone, not just Pickens County residents, are able to use the facility. 

The current Camp Road recycling center will close permanently at the end of business Thursday, Oct. 29. 

Parents need to select traditional or virtual model for all students

The Pickens County School System is urging parents to select which model - traditional or virtual – they want their student to participate in for the second semester. Parents will make their selections on a form recently sent to all families via email. The deadline for submission is Sunday, Oct. 25. 

Parents must fill out the form again this semester for every student enrolled in the system. Parents will choose the traditional in-person model or the virtual model in which students will again use the Pearson Connexus platform. 

Lions Club and First Baptist Church bring USDA’s “Farmers to Families Program” back to Jasper

     The Jasper Lions Club and the First Baptist Church of Jasper are teaming up on Friday, October 23 for their second food box distribution.  People can pick up their free food boxes from 2:15 p.m. - 4:15 p.m. in the parking lot of First Baptist Church of Jasper. This is a photo from the first food distribution this June.

Submitted by the Jasper Lions Club

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue announced last month that more than 100 million food boxes have been distributed in support of American farmers and families affected by the COVID-19 pandemic through the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Farmers to Families Food Box Program. Earlier this month, the Department announced it had entered into contracts with 50 entities for another round of food box deliveries, which include contracts for purchases of up to $1 billion.  

By Elaina Averett

Nurse Practitioner, Good Sam Clinic

About 1 in 8 women in the United States will develop invasive breast cancer during the course of her lifetime. It is important for women to understand that having an abnormal mammogram does not mean they have breast cancer. When a woman has their very first mammogram they may "fail" or have it show up as "abnormal," because radiologists compare old mammograms to new ones and if it's a patient's very first one we have nothing to compare it to.