2021: Year in Review: COVID-19, street name, election dominate news | Local News

VALDOSTA — In many ways, 2021 was deja vu all over again.

Many of the same topics that dominated local headlines in 2020 came back full force in 2021.

COVID-19. Problems bedeviling the Valdosta High Wildcats. A police excessive force lawsuit — all of these 2020 events returned to prominence in 2021.

What follows is a list of high-profile Lowndes County news stories of 2021, as determined by The Valdosta Daily Times staff.

COVID-19

COVID-19 was on a downward spiral within Lowndes County until late June and early July as a new variant, delta, appeared and caused a surge of cases and deaths.

South Georgia Medical Center and the Georgia Department of Public Health South District were on the frontlines of this battle.

SGMC had a record-high of 118 patients within its care near the end of summer and both it and the GDPH saw daily death tolls that almost added up to 10 a day at one point.

SGMC said 456 people have died, while the DPH had counted 235 deaths since the start of the pandemic in 2020.

Now, in the wake of the omicron variant’s arrival, medical professionals are concerned about a potential surge going into 2022.

Vaccinations, schools reopening

Valdosta City Schools and Lowndes County Schools reopened in the midst of the surge which saw some worried parents. Noting that and noting Centers for Disease Control recommendations, the city school system applied a mask mandate and urged those 12 and older to get the vaccine.

Originally, there were three vaccines to take – Pfizer, Moderna and Janssen. Both Pfizer and Moderna required two shots while Janssen required one.

The Janssen vaccine was paused for a time because of health concerns but was allowed for use later. Now, SGMC and the GDPH only use it when they’re out of the preferred vaccines – Pfizer and Moderna.

During the surge, thousands of people were getting tested a day and vaccinations increased. 

By Christmas, South Georgia Medical Center had vaccinated more than 50,100 people.

Forrest Street renamed

Residents and officials gathered Saturday, Oct. 30, to unveil the new street sign – marking the change from Forrest Street to Barack Obama Boulevard. City workers began changing street signs along the street earlier in October. The last sign was unveiled during the ceremony.

Earlier in 2021 and in past years, petitions to change the street name were filed, then refiled. City leaders reviewed policies for changing street names. Different groups spearheaded the effort to rename the street at different times.

The effort to rename Forrest Street included many people in the community, beginning years ago with the Rev. Floyd Rose. David Jonathan “D.J.” Davis and the Action Sociology Anthropology Club at Valdosta State University were instrumental in the street name change in 2021.

First responders injured

An accident July 12 injured three firefighters and a police officer, causing one man to lose a leg.

They had responded to a call about a power line down on Madison Highway near the intersection with Dampier Street after a heavy thunderstorm.

A passing semi-truck snagged a power line and pulled it, breaking the pole in half and throwing it across the road. The first responders were struck by the line and dragged 43 feet, the Georgia State Patrol said.

Wildcats’ woes

In May, following Valdosta City Schools’ latest appeal to the Georgia High School Association’s board of trustees, the original decision disqualifying the Valdosta High School Wildcats from playoffs remained.

On April 27, the Valdosta Board of Education voted 5-3 to not renew Rush Propst’s head football coach contract for the 2021 season.The Wildcats opened spring practice April 29 led by acting head coach Shelton Felton.

The Wildcats ended the 2021 season with a 4-6 record for the ‘Cats under Felton. On Oct. 30, the Valdosta Board of Education unanimously named Felton as Valdosta High School’s first African American head coach.

The release of Netflix’s “TitleTown High” series, which focuses on the Valdosta High School 2020 football team, triggered mixed reviews from the community. It stars former head coach Propst, a few of the Valdosta Wildcats and their peers and Michael “Nub” Nelson, former Valdosta Touchdown Club director. Some residents thought the eight-episode show was amazing while others believe it did not accurately depict Valdosta.

Election controversy

Write-in candidate Nick “Big Nick” Harden was disqualified from running for the District 9 At-Large seat on the Valdosta Board of Education weeks after believing his candidacy had been approved by the Lowndes County Board of Elections. He was disqualified because he had missed the deadline to run as a write-in candidate.

Public records requests by The Valdosta Daily Times turned up deleted emails showing Harden’s disqualification came after Lowndes County Election Supervisor Deb Cox received questions from then-candidate Brittney Coons-Long. Coons-Long won the race for District 9 At-Large.

Cox contacted the Georgia Secretary of State Office, which ruled Harden had missed the deadline and was therefore disqualified. In a public hearing convened by the Lowndes County Board of Elections to hear his appeal of the disqualification, Harden argued an assistant in the elections office accepted his qualifying application and he was informed he was in compliance and authorized to launch a campaign as a write-in candidate.

Harden said he spent thousands of dollars campaigning for the District 9 seat. 

Police case settled

In June, a Black man and his attorney, who sued the city in an excessive force case in 2020, agreed to a settlement in the case – which included establishing a citizens review board.

Antonio Smith, who was 46 at the time of the 2020 incident, sued the Valdosta Police Department and city officials months after a police officer body-slammed him to the ground after misidentifying him as a suspect wanted on a warrant. Bodycam footage of the incident gained national attention.

The settlement included a payment by the city of $350,000.

Valdosta gets public transit

In April, public transit came to the Azalea City with the launch of Valdosta On-Demand.

The service offers minivan pickup within the city limits. Instead of running fixed routes like a traditional bus service, customers call Valdosta On-Demand or use a smartphone app to summon a ride when needed.

The lack of public transportation in Valdosta had been a political hot potato for years, even being raised as an issue in mayoral races.

Ethics complaint

A coalition of four organizations — the Mary Turner Project, NAACP Lowndes Chapter, Concerned Clergies of Valdosta and the Valdosta-Lowndes Community Alliance — filed an ethics complaint Feb. 15, saying the mayor would not listen to their concerns. 

The complaint, signed by Dr. Mark Patrick George, the Rev. Darren Neal, Dr. Bruce Francis and Jimmy Boyd representing the respective organizations, claimed Mayor Scott James Matheson “demonstrated that he is incapable of, and/or uninterested in, representing all citizens of Valdosta equally” in presenting himself as the Valdosta mayor on his weekday radio show Talk 92.1.

The complaint alleged the on-air rhetoric “regularly disseminates inaccurate, divisive, and inflammatory claims that often demonize local citizens and political viewpoints that differ from his own.” The coalition called for Matheson’s ouster, saying he violated city ethics codes.

Valdosta City Council authorized an ethics panel to hear the case. The ethics complaint board dismissed the complaint against the mayor in a 2-1 vote. 

Terry Richards is senior reporter at The Valdosta Daily Times.