Hospital celebrates virus patient's release after 21 days. Rant: We understand the confusion over the Pandemic Primary.

Hometown's top headlines: please click here Politics: Some still think today is election day -- only if voting in advance or returning absentees. Primary vote is three weeks off, June 9. 21 days later (7 on a vent), coronavirus patient heads home from Cartersville Medical Center. Statewide death toll at 1,649 with 38,283 confirmed cases in Georgia, 806 in our area with 65 deaths. Initial plans released for area Catholic churches to resume Mass. Rome City Commission meeting ends with talk about minority businesses, the pandemic relief efforts and incorporating 'black and brown' owners into mainstream operations. A 'Good Morning' indeed for local artist Cabell Sweeney as her Relish line gets a shout out on 'Deals & Steals.' Friends tell of incredible response. Plus: Updates on her new studio. owing River Arts District. 13-year-old Bo Bushnell had the family's best time -- and finished atop the Virtual Harbin Clinic Leprechaun-a-thon as well. Ware Mechanical Weather Center: A bit cooler with highs in the mid 70s through Thursday; storms possible today. Truett's Chick-fil-A sports update: Atlanta Falcons' preseason schedule set. Rant of the day: May 19 was on the books as the state and local primary. By tonight, we should have known the finalists for the Nov. 3 general election or at least narrowed large fields of hopefuls to what is called a primary runoff. But that was before the pandemic. It hit smack in the middle of the presidential preference primary, a pretty much  useless exercise as the once-massive field of Democratic hopefuls had been greatly trimmed by Super Tuesday and other primaries around the country. Georgia's vote was mostly after the fact. Republicans never had a choice -- the state GOP decided it was all Trump or nothing. So much for the freedom of choice. But then people started dying in Georgia and the presidential primary was merged with the state and local primary on May 19. And then more people started dying as "community spread" of the pandemic continued. The primary again was delayed, this time by three weeks to June 9. The primary is three weeks from today -- but a lot of people are still very confused and some expected to vote today. Welcome to the pandemic primaries.