- Written by Jennifer King
- Category: Media Releases
*Please note that due to the threat of severe weather on Saturday, April 25, the Community Disaster Awareness Day event has been cancelled.*
Public is urged to participate during three-day event!
Dalton (GA) - Whitfield Emergency Management Agency (EMA) is partnering with FEMA, GEMA, National Weather Service, Whitfield County Local Emergency Planning Committee, and WDEF-TV, to sponsor Whitfield’s PrepareAthon! Weekend, an innovative communitywide emergency preparedness campaign designed by FEMA.
Whitfield is the first county in Georgia to hold such a PrepareAthon!, with three days of special events starting Friday, April 24 through Sunday, April 26 to increase community emergency preparedness and resilience through hazard-specific drills, group discussions, and exercises.
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- Friday, April 24, schools and businesses will conduct tornado drills.
- *Saturday, April 25 – the Community Disaster Awareness Day event will be held from 10 am – 2 pm at Home Depot at 875 Shugart Road in Dalton.*
- Sunday, April 26 – Whitfield EMA will work with faith-based organizations to get them prepared.
To have your organization participate in a tornado drill that Friday or in the faith-based events that Sunday, sign up at https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/whitfieldsprepareathon.
WDEF-TV’s Chief Meteorologist Patrick Core is working with Whitfield EMA to promote the PrepareAthon! in Whitfield.
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- Written by Jennifer King
- Category: Media Releases
Unvaccinated dog euthanized
Morganton (GA) – The second case of rabies in Fannin County this year was confirmed late yesterday afternoon in a raccoon that had attacked a dog in its pen in Morganton.
An employee of the Appalachian Animal Hospital in Ellijay called the Fannin County Environmental Health office on Monday, April 6, to report that a Morganton resident, living on Old Highway 76 near Loving Road, had found the raccoon in the pen at the residence at around 7 A.M. on Saturday, April 4. The raccoon escaped the pen, but the resident shot it and immediately brought the body to the animal hospital.
The owner discovered the dog had received a scratch on its nose.
A Fannin County Environmental Health official picked up the raccoon on Monday and shipped the specimen to the Georgia Public Health Laboratory for rabies testing.
The following day, Tuesday, April 7, the lab reported the test results were positive for rabies.
Because the dog was not current on its rabies vaccination, the owner had it euthanized later that evening.
No human exposure was reported.
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- Written by Jennifer King
- Category: Media Releases
Holly Springs (GA) – Some came to run, others to walk. Many arrived to cheer. But it was clear that everyone involved in the Kick Butts 5K in Holly Springs, Georgia last Saturday was there to win the race against tobacco-related illness.
Presented by the Cherokee Youth Council and supported by Cherokee Focus and the North Georgia Health District, the Kick Butts 5K was a first-time Black Bag Race Series event that started at Holly Springs Elementary School and doubled back to the finish line at nearby Barrett Park.
Of those who competed in the race, all top three winners were from Canton.
Meredith Vance was the first place winner at twenty-five minutes and fifty-nine seconds. Kristina Meyer came in second, and in third place was Dane Viker.
Ryan Schmidt of Kennesaw placed fourth. Mindie Felcher from Marietta came in fifth, and Nate Hayward of Canton was the sixth place winner.
For fourth-place winner, Schmidt, this race was so much more than a competition.
“When growing up, I had a friend at eight years old whose mom died from lung cancer – she was only 31,” said Schmidt, now age 25. “More personally, I had two grandparents die from lung cancer and another from emphysema. So, yes, I take the fight against tobacco very seriously.”
Schmidt said other family members smoke and are starting to experience the negative effects of a lifelong addiction to tobacco. “If I can help just one person quit smoking, then I want to do it,” he said.
Anna Lee Stone, a senior at Cherokee High School in Canton and member of the Cherokee Youth Council, also lost grandparents to tobacco-related diseases, so she was motivated to make the fight against tobacco the focus of her senior project.
“Tobacco affects everybody, including kids,” Stone said. “If kids can start learning at a young age how it affects them, then chances are much greater they will never pick up that first cigarette or try using tobacco in any form.”
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- Written by Jennifer King
- Category: Media Releases
Prepare your child for the upcoming school year!
The Cherokee County Health Department will conduct a Back-to-School Health Clinic on Tuesday, April 28, 2015 from 2 to 6 p.m. at public health department locations in both Canton and Woodstock.
The required Hearing, Dental, Vision and BMI/Nutrition Screenings will be available: Total cost for screenings is forty dollars. Also, immunizations will be provided for school-age children (there is a charge for vaccines). Medicaid and some other forms of insurance are accepted.
The health department location in Canton is 1219 Univeter Road, and the Woodstock health department address is 7545 North Main Street.
For more information, please call (770) 345-7371 in Canton or (770) 928-0133 in Woodstock.
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