Feb. 21 - 27, 2019
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February is peak flu season With the flu season lasting until late May, however, doctors advise it’s not too late to get your flu shot by MEREDITH BARKLEY When Oak Ridge resident Van Tanner felt fever coming on early this month he acted. Living with a compromised immune system from a liver transplant, he knows better than to ignore infection symptoms. So he dialed his doctor. Within a day he was diagnosed with Influenza A, prescribed Tamiflu and ordered to gulp water.
63, an Oak Ridge businessman. “Within 48 hours (of treatment) I was done. I was back at it by Monday. I had flu symptoms but I didn’t get slammed. It’s a great testament to Tamiflu.” Tamiflu, a prescription drug, is a common flu treatment. Stokesdale resident Mason Winfree, 22, said this year was the first year he had decided not to get a flu shot. At the urging of his mother he said he had faithfully gotten one in years past, but “I had come up with this idea that the shot made me feel bad.” Winfree was feeling fine about his decision to skip the shot. Until ...
“It worked great,” said Tanner,
IN THIS ISSUE News in brief...........................................3 Academy undergoes restructuring .....4 Calendar Events ....................................6 NWO Business & Real Estate .................7 Pleasant Ridge Road development ....8 Business/Real Estate Q&A / News ..... 10 Tract by tract at Collins Grove ........... 12 Summerfield Town Council Meeting .. 20 Garrison wins second wrestling title ... 22 Student profile......................................23 Grins & Gripes ......................................24 Crime/Incident Report ........................26 Classifieds ............................................ 27 Index of Advertisers ............................ 31
IS IT A
COLD OR THE
FLU?
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Four council members, mayor to be elected by Summerfield voters this November Three council members will be elected to four-year terms and one member to a twoyear term; voters will also elect a mayor to a two-year term by PATTI STOKES SUMMERFIELD – As it turns out, Summerfield Town Council member Dianne Laughlin, who was appointed last October with the understanding she would serve the remainder of Todd Rotruck’s four-year term, will have to run for re-election this November if she wants
to keep her seat. And this is where things get a little confusing… Although voters in the last election approved a charter amendment which says a council member appointed to fill a vacant seat only serves until the next election, Summerfield Town Attorney Bill Hill advised council shortly after the election that the voter-approved charter amendment would not be retroactive. That meant, according to the town’s original charter from 1995, Laughlin would be seated until Rotruck’s term expired November 2021; from this point forward, those appointed to fill a vacant seat would only serve
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