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Hometown newspaper of Charles Nolen- since 1933
Hartselle Enquirer
50 CENTS
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 12, 2024
VOLUME 91, NO. 24
New EMA director worries and plans for a living
By Jean Cole For the Enquirer
Jonathan Warner worries about things before they happen. He even worries about things that will probably never happen. It’s all part of his job. Warner, 46, of Hartselle, is director of the Morgan County Emergency Management Agency, a job he’s held since August. Before that, Warner had been the part-time Morgan County safety coordinator for 3½ years as well as a full-time Hartselle firefighter for the past 14½ years. Although Warner has been EMA director for less than a year, he and his office are already making beneficial changes, officials said. Among them are a renovated warehouse where EMA equipment is stored, new vehicles and equipment for emergency response, and additional training. “He didn’t just come in to join the staff, he came in to make changes,” said Morgan County Commission Chairman Ray Long. “He’s done a super job. He’s come in and shown a lot of
leadership. He’s been a breath of fresh air. He’s brought all the team on board; everyone’s working in one direction.” One notable improvement was renovating an existing county warehouse that stood largely unused for more than a decade and using it for EMA storage, Long said. With up to $50,000 from the county’s capital improvement fund, Warner renovated the old county warehouse, fixed its electrical system and corralled all the EMA equipment into it. Now, everyone who needs to use the equipment knows where to find it, Long said. The 50-by-125-foot metal building with concrete floor is at 2531 Alabama 20 W. in Decatur, near 3M Co. “The building had just been sitting there empty for nearly 14 years and nobody was utilizing it,” Long said. “Jonathan came in wanting to put the thing together and so he’s got that going. We’re opening it up so we can store all of our equipment in one place. Right now, it’s scattered out all over the county. We actually have some things stored in a few churches in
See EMA, page 5
PHOTO BY JERONIMO NISA
Jonathan Warner was hired as the Morgan County Emergency Management Agency in August. “He didn’t just come in to join the staff, he came in to make changes,” said Morgan County Commission Chairman Ray Long.
Jonna’s journey ’ By Wes Tomlinson For the Enquirer A desire for better quality food and more reliable transportation are among the issues raised by local elderly citizens, according to NARCOG, and the agency intends to spend federal funds this year to help. The Area Agency on Aging (AAA), a service of the North Central Alabama Regional Council of Governments, hosted a public forum at the Hartselle Senior Center on Thursday and spoke with several elderly citizens and caregivers about services the agency could offer to assist senior centers and in-home providers. Justin Graves, director of the AAA, said the organization hosts the forums every three-and-a-half years at community centers in the three counties they serve: Cullman, Morgan and Lawrence. He said the first forum of this year was hosted in Cullman County six weeks ago. “The Association of Community Living, which is a federal branch, administers Title III grants to the Alabama Department of Senior Services,” Graves said. “The (ADSS) then provides grants back down to the Area Agencies on Aging, and there are 13 of them in Alabama. Ours is at NARCOG.” Title III refers to the Older Americans Act of 1965, which provides a broad range of services to elderly citizens, including supportive services, centerserved congregate meals, home-delivered meals, family caregiver services, preventive health and wellness, and elder abuse prevention. Graves said NARCOG receives $1.4 million annually in Title III and Title VII funding.
Obituaries • Robert Lawyer • J. Wesley Cain • Martha Rhea Dyer • Elizabeth A. Webster Harris • Ramona Lee Eaton • Maxine Powell Curtis • Harry N. Jones, Jr. • Michael Dale Whitefield • Sara Bibb
Graves said that after NARCOG receives the grants, they will assemble an area plan to determine which priorities should be addressed first. He said the primary reason for speaking with the public at the forums is to gather input for this process. “These grants are highly beneficial to everyone we serve,” Graves said. “We have a lot of grandparents raising grandchildren in our three counties and it provides them with extra support to do that. Also, we have a lot of caregivers now taking care of people with dementia and Alzheimer’s.” During the public comments section, Neel Senior Center Director Valerie Thrasher suggested having health care providers travel to each senior center to discuss with residents the state SenioRx program, a state initiative designed to help low-income seniors and individuals with disabilities access prescription medications. “I think it would be good if there were some more people going around promoting the (SenioRx) program because there are a lot of programs in NARCOG that people don’t know about,” Thrasher said. “That’s something that can be addressed immediately,” replied Graves. Graves said NARCOG will now set up dates for senior centers to have discussions with health care providers about different programs. Thrasher also said the food served in her senior center was not the best quality, like over-ripe nectarines and apples. “If you work with elderly people, most of them don’t have any teeth or have false teeth so it’s hard for them See NARCOG, page 8 For full obituaries, see page A-2
• Robert Holladay • Marjorie Cosper • Willie Mae Burgess Whitten • Janice Sue Garner • Larrry B. Maze • Wanda Lee Hamlin Chambers • Barry Joe Harris
By Rebekah Yancey rebekah.yancey @hartselleenquirer.com A year ago, Jonna Barrier wasn’t sure if she would live to see her 45th birthday. After 10 days of fatigue, severe headaches and facial drooping, Barrier said she knew she had a tumor before she was officially diagnosed. A registered nurse, Barrier recognized the symptoms but put off seeking care because she didn’t want to be right. She celebrated her 44th birthday on May 25, 2024; the following day Barrier received confirmation: she had a brain tumor called a glioblastoma. Statistics say more than 13,000 Americans are diagnosed with GBM every year. It is the most aggressive type of brain cancer and accounts for almost half of all cancerous brain tumors. It can affect anybody at any age, although it is more commonly found in people aged 45 to 70. It is non-genetic in nature and develops quickly. The reasons for its occurrence are unknown. There is no cure for Barrier’s type of brain cancer. Treatments focus on removing or shrinking the tumor to reduce symptoms; however, they are not successful in long-term survival, making Glioblastoma a devastating diagnosis with most patients surviving an average of 12-18 months after diagnosis. Just two days after receiving the news, Barrier underwent a four-hour surgery to remove the lime-sized tumor she nicknamed “Tilly.” In the face of her prognosis, Barrier is leaning heavily on her faith in God and praying for complete healing. Despite the overwhelming nature of her condition, she said her faith has been her See JOURNEY, page 8