Speaking to the Lowndes County Commission on 8 March 2011,
Nolen Cox said businesses produce money and government consumes it,
and he doesn’t like taxes.
He appears to be opposed to the ESPLOST election.
He’s the same fellow who introduced the topic of climate change denial in a Lowndes County Commission meeting.
Here’s the video.
-jsq
To be published on February 11, 18, and 25, 2010 and March 4 and 11, 2010.That’s five times the Lowndes County Board of Elections is publishing the details of the ESPLOST one percent sales and use tax for educational purposes.
This is significant money: not more than $165 million dollars over five years,
$94,875,000 for Lowndes County schools, and $70,125,000 for Valdosta schools.
There are only two main ways of raising money for public schools:
sales taxes, or property taxes.
The local school boards use both.
This is the sales tax part.
Well, there is a third way. Continue reading
The owl in Hahira:
Monthly LAKE MeetingThomas says:
When: 5:30-6:45 PM, Tuesday 1 March 2011
Updated meeting location
Where: home of Thomas Ieracitano
414 East Main Street, Hahira
229-251-2462
That’s on US 122, just east of the Masonic Lodge.
“Bring a lawn chair, laptop (I will have Mediacom wireless) and your own food and drink.”If it rains or there are too many bugs or something, we will move to:
Down Home Pizza
103 South Webb Street, Hahira
229-794-1888
Help cover food, water, transportation, incarceration, solar energy, biomass, and regular local government meetings: you never know when news will be made!
Popular topics lately on the LAKE blog, On the LAKE Front, include Continue reading
Continue readingEveryone wants jobs for those who need them and jobs for young people so they don’t have to go somewhere else to find one. But what good is that if those jobs suck up all the water those people need to drink?
At the Lake Park Chamber of Commerce annual dinner Brad Lofton gave a speech which I liked, and I told him so afterwards, because it was mostly about real industry with real jobs that that the Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority (VLCIA) has brought into the area.
But it had a problem:
David Rodock writes in the VDT,
Report on funds spent by Industrial Authority during biomass conference:
An open records request led to the Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority (VLCIA) publicly releasing the detailed costs associated with hosting a panel discussion to answer questions about the Wiregrass biomass plant at the Rainwater Conference Center on Dec. 6, 2010.LAKE posted the detailed expense documents Monday 20 Feb 2011.The total cost for the event was $17,534.36.
The VDT article quotes Col. Allan Ricketts as saying:
“These costs included renting the center and providing refreshments. We view these costs as due diligence because they relate directly to our community. We need to make sure that a project is a good fit for our community and that it won’t do harm to our community,” said Ricketts.If they were so qualified, why wasn’t the VLCIA willing to have local people who would have charged nothing sit on the panel and debate them? Perhaps it’s because so many of the paid experts’ points were so easy to refute, as we know because so many of them have since been amply refuted?“You would want to insure that you going provide the best information available – they are the most qualified professionals you can find. You’d expect to pay them and they expect to be paid for their services.”
-jsq
George Rhynes writes about the
Quitman Ten, On Georgia State Capital Steps, Standing Strong for Georgians Right to VOTE!
I traveled to the Georgia State Capital February 22, 2011; in support of the Quitman Ten. These brave, courageous freedom fightes stood and are standing strong on behalf of Georgia Voter’s right to vote. This is a short preview of what will be posted here as a reflection of what took place at this meeting and historical event. As a concerned citizens from the South Georgia, I commend the Georgia citizens that stood in support of the Quitman Ten as they received rewards for their courage and perhaps being forced to bring South Georgia into the 21st Century along with other cities.He reminds us of the not-so-distant past: Continue reading
Editor of the Pelican Post remarks
Harvard Study Calls for New Education Priorities:
A new Harvard School of Education study, “Pathways to Prosperity,” recommends that educators place a stronger focus on vocational education and apprenticeships, rather than aim to send every high school student to college.This produces many problems: lots of people don’t get a college degree who would like to (can’t afford to go; can’t pass), lots of people who do still can’t get a job, and let’s not get into the Profzi scheme for Ph.Ds. Here’s a partial solution:“We are the only developed nation that depends so exclusively on its higher education system as the sole institutional vehicle to help young people transition from secondary school to careers,” says Robert Schwartz, academic dean of the college and co-author of the study.
“We need to do a better job exposing our students to different career pathways so that they understand what options are available to them after graduation.”
Wait! Somebody local talked about this recently:
Ben Copeland at the Lake Park Chamber of Commerce.
-jsq
Abraham Lincoln said, “The probability that we shall fail in this struggle should not deter us from the support of a cause that we believe is just.” Such a cause for us is opposition to the biomass plant.Continue readingGiven its support from city and county officials more concerned about doing the bidding of the rich and powerful than they are about the health of children, it is likely a “done deal.” Done by those who will profit from the deal.
None of the national health organizations endorse biomass plants as safe for children. The American Cancer Society, the American Lung Association, and the World Health Organization have concluded that biomass plants pose serious threats to children.
None of the deal makers, investors, or politicians who signed off on their deal live in the community which will most be affected by the poisonous toxins that will fill the air. Their children don’t attend the schools, nor do they attend any of the seven area churches.
Meetings have been held on the biomass project. Some by the Industrial Authority, WACE, the NAACP, and SCLC. And not a single citizen has spoken in favor of it. When I asked a council member about this, he said, “They are afraid of you.”
It is not the proponents who have anything to fear.
Valdosta has a local museum that may generate some local business,
sort of like the
Homerville Genealogical Library that opened today.
Christian Malone writes in the VDT today,
Valdosta Wildcat museum renamed in Waller’s honor:
The David S. Waller Sr. Valdosta Wildcat Museum is filled with things related to Valdosta High football. Many of Valdosta’s state and national championship trophies reside in the museum. So do many photos of past Wildcat teams and players. There are Valdosta jerseys, jackets, shirts and helmets there. The plaques of the members of Valdosta High’s Sports Hall of Fame are also housed in the museum.Now since I went to Lowndes High School, I must note that the Wildcats have lost to the Vikings pretty much every time they’ve played in the last decade or so. And a county-wide or south-Georgia football or sports hall of fame would be a much bigger draw. But in a sports-mad community any sports museum is a good idea.
-jsq
Sure, everyone wants jobs for the people right now and jobs
so the children don’t have to go somewhere else to find one.
But what good is that if those jobs suck up all the water
those children need to drink?
This is the problem:
“What I believe the three most important things are, not only for our community, and our state, and our country, but for our country, thats jobs number 1, jobs number 2, and jobs.”
I shook Brad Lofton’s hand after that speech and told him I liked it, because I did: in general it was a positive speech about real accomplishments. I’ve also pointed out I had a few nits with that speech. This one is more than a nit. This one is basic philosophy and policy.
Now one would expect an executive director of an industrial authority to be all about jobs. And that would be OK, if Continue reading