STAY CONNECTED FACEBOOK.COM/COLUMBUSLEDGERENQUIRER TWITTER.COM/LEDGERENQUIRER SERVING GEORGIA AND SOUTHEAST ALABAMA SINCE 1828 THURSDAY OCTOBER 29 2020 $2.00 LOCAL Poll: what Georgians said would make travel feel safe again 3A Classifieds 6B Comics 4B Legals 6B Local 3A Obituaries 4A Sports 1B CUSTOMER SERVICE To subscribe or report delivery issues, 888-323-1222 or Morning rain See 2A Sports XTRA FINALLY After three days of delays, NASCAR Cup Series leader Kevin Harvick and other drivers resume playoffs in Texas. Subscribers will find this bonus content at eedition RICHARD W. RODRIGUEZ AP BONUS forSUBSCRIBERSAccess exclusive onlinecontent once youactivate your their absentee ballot at a county elections office or in a local drop box, rather than trust their vote to the over-stressed U.S. postal system, Raffensperger added. With the early-voting period set to run through Friday, Geor- gians have already cast more than double the number of early and mail-in ballots for this 2020 presidential election than were cast in the 2016 election.
So far, more than 3.2 million Georgians Georgians who have not yet voted for the Nov. 3 election need to plan ahead for long lines in the final days of early voting as well as on Election Day, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said Wednesday. Anyone still planning to vote by mail also needs to hand in have voted early and by mail, Raffensperger said. The secretary of office now expects around 5.5 million Georgians to vote in the Nov. 3 election, vastly more than the 4.1 million votes tallied in 2016.
election is functioning well because voters have in- Raffensperger said at a news conference Wednes- day. have access to the ballot box, and they have the will to exercise their voices. Your vote Raffensperger delivered re- marks from State Farm Arena in Atlanta where voters so far have cast roughly 33,500 ballots, marking the largest early-voting precinct and what Raffensperger called show- case of Even with such high early turnout, state and local election officials expect Thursday and Friday to potentially draw the largest numbers of Georgia voters, likely prompting long lines that have already been seen since early voting kicked off on Oct. 12. OnWednesday, Raffensperger urged Georgians still needing to vote to a for the last two days of early voting or for Election Day, when he estimates 2 million more Georgia voters could cast ballots in person.
Raffensperger also urged mail-in voters to deliver their absentee ballots quickly to one of hundreds of drop boxes scat- tered throughout the state or at a local elections office, partic- ularly since officials are now able to start processing those Ga. facing final days of early voting for Nov. 3 election BY BEAU EVANS Capitol Beat News Service SEE VOTING, 4A A teenage boy with Hunting- disease could move only a finger, but his eyes lit up as he held the therapy leash a month before he died in hospice care. An elderly woman have any visitors in her room due to the coronavirus, but her spirit soared on Easter Sunday when she saw that same dog dressed in bunny ears through her window. Twin girls at a camp for griev- ing children were reluctant to share their feelings about the murder of their father, but they opened up while petting this canine named Beethoven.
a 7-year-old, 100-pound, marvelous mix of American bulldog, Shar-Pei, Alaskan mala- mute, bullmastiff and terrier. And deaf. But thanks to his handler, Muscogee County Deputy Cynthia Zeis- loft better known as Lt. or simply this dynamic Colum- bus duo has turned that dis- ability into a beneficial ability. Out of more than 260 nomi- nations in the United States, the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization has selected and Beethoven as the winner of the 2020 Volunteers are the Foundation of Hospice Award in the category of Specialized Vol- unteer for Pet Therapy Services and Pet Peace of Mind.
Katie Greene, volunteer coor- dinator for Columbus Hospice of Georgia Alabama, ex- plained why she nominated and Beethoven. matter what I ask, willing to help Greene told the Ledger-Enquirer. come do therapy with Beeth- oven for staff and volunteers and patients, or help out with transporting pets to and from vet appointments when their owners is a know about the nom- ination, so winning the award was an even bigger surprise. was very honored by she told the L-E. MIKE HASKEY Shanon Zeisloft is the 2020 recipient of the Specialized Volunteer Service Award for her work at Columbus Hospice of Georgia and Alabama in Columbus, Ga.
Zeisloft, a lieutenant in the Muscogee County Office, brings Beethoven, the service dog, with her on visits. Deaf dog, deputy named national hospice volunteers of the year BY MARK RICE SEE VOLUNTEERS, 4A COVID-19 infections as of 3 p.m. Oct. 28. More coverage can be found at GEORGIA SOURCE: GEORGIA DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC HEALTH 355,025 confirmed cases 7,876 confirmed deaths MUSCOGEE COUNTY SOURCE: GEORGIA DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC HEALTH 6,378 confirmed cases 174 confirmed deaths HARRIS COUNTY SOURCE: GEORGIA DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC HEALTH 851 confirmed cases 25 confirmed deaths CHATTAHOOCHEE COUNTY SOURCE: GEORGIA DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC HEALTH 1,747 confirmed cases 1 confirmed deaths LEE COUNTY SOURCE: ALABAMA DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC HEALTH 4,284 confirmed cases 51 confirmed deaths RUSSELL COUNTY SOURCE: ALABAMA DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC HEALTH 1,825 confirmed cases 3 confirmed deaths NEWORLEANS Hurricane Zeta sped toward storm-weary Louisiana on Wednesday with New Orleans squarely in its path, threatening to push up to 9 feet of sea water inland and batter homes and businesses with fierce winds in a Gulf Coast region already hit by multiple storms during a histor- ically busy Atlantic hurricane season.
Workers closed one of the last floodgates surrounding New Orleans as residents braced for Zeta, which in the afternoon had top sustained winds of 110 mph as a Category 2 hurricane and the 27th named storm of the season with over a month left before it ends. The iconic streetcars shut down and City Hall closed, Mayor LaToya Cantrell said. Tropical storm warnings were issued as far away as the north Georgia mountains, highly un- usual for the region. New Orleans has been in the warning areas of seven previous storms that veered east or west this season. Zeta was staying on course.
think going to be as lucky with this city emergency director Collin Ar- nold said. Zeta had been predicted to hit as a relatively weak Category 1 hurricane, but Louisiana resi- dents awoke to updated fore- casts predicting a Category 2 at landfall around the southeastern part of the state. good news for us and look, you take good news where you can find it the for- ward speed is 17 mph. projected to increase, and so going to get in and out of the area relatively quickly, and then going to be able to assess the damage more Gov. John Bel Edwards said in an interview on The Weather Channel.
Officials urged people to take precautions and prepare to shel- ter in place, and a business-as- New Orleans vulnerable as Zeta closes in BY KEVINMCGILL, STACEY PLAISANCE AND REBECCA SANTANA Associated Press SEE ZETA, 2A.
