Offices closing for MLK Day

by By Cristin Parker news@thecherokeean.com

Federal, state and local offices around the county are closing to observe Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Monday, Jan. 21.

MLK Day is a federal holiday held the third Monday of January. MLK day was designed to honor the activist and minister who was assassinated in 1968.

“Legislation signed in 1983 marked the birthday of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. as a federal holiday,” according to the website, nationalservice.gov. “In 1994, Congress designated the Martin Luther King Jr. federal holiday as a national day of service and charged the Corporation for National and Community Service with leading this effort. “Each year, the MLK Day of Service is observed as a ‘day on, not a day off,’ and is intended to empower individuals, strengthen communities, bridge barriers, create solutions to social problems, and move us closer to King’s vision of a ‘beloved community.’”

The Cherokeean Herald’s office will be closed during regular business hours on Friday, Jan. 18, to observe the holiday.

Local post offices will close Monday to observe the first national holiday of the year. Mail delivery will resume Tuesday. Local branches of most banks will also close on Monday, as well. Nonessential federal offices will also close Monday.

Students and staff of Alto, Bullard, Jacksonville, New Summerfield, Rusk, Troup and Wells school districts will all get Monday off as well. Classes will resume at regular times on Tuesday, Jan. 22.

State offices, including the Department of Public Safety and Health and Human Services will be closed Monday, Jan. 21.

The Cherokee County Courthouse and other county offices, including the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office, the Cherokee County Annex and all four county precinct offices will also close for the holiday.

Anyone needing emergency services can call 911 for police, fire or medical emergencies.

The municipal offices, public libraries and police department offices of Alto, Bullard, Jacksonville, New Summerfield, Rusk, Troup and Wells will be closed Monday. The holiday will not affect trash collection schedules in any of those cities.