Tag Archives: Economy

USDA REAP grants for 2014



Applications are being accepted now for
grants from the

USDA Rural Energy for America Program (REAP).
According to

Bryan Zulko, the amount of funds available
is still being worked out, and an announcement is expected in
February.
Meanwhile, the number of applications is low this year.
To me that means that if you want to apply, you’ve
got a better chance than usual of getting in.

Section 9007 of the 2008 Farm Bill established a grant, loan, and
loan guarantee program to assist eligible farmers, ranchers, and
rural small businesses in purchasing renewable energy systems and
for making energy efficiency improvements.



Eligible projects include Continue reading →

Lowndes second worst in Georgia for voting access



Maybe changing the precincts every year isn’t such a good idea:
a new report rankings Lowndes County second worst in the state
for voting access.
And it’s not as if nobody has complained about this before.

Cody Gibson
wrote for ValdostaToday 20 January 2014,

Lowndes Ranks Second Worst in Georgia for Voting Access,

Lowndes County had the dubious honor of having the highest rate of provisional ballots cast in the state—more than 10 times higher than the state average. The extremely high deviation from the state average on this factor was largely responsible for Lowndes County’s position as one of the worst performers in the state. The report’s findings provide insights that can help officials, policymakers, and advocates better understand voting administration practices that work.


By comparing voter access and experience across Georgia’s counties, officials can determine the best practices for ensuring that citizens have an equal opportunity to participate in the democratic process.

I’m not familiar with the Center for American Progress Action Fund,
but that’s
a very interesting study,

Unequal Access:
A County-by-County Analysis of Election Administration in Swing States in the 2012 Election
by Anna Chu:

This report evaluates the election performance of counties in the 17
states that had the smallest margin of victory between the two
presidential candidates in 2012. This analysis allows us to better



understand how well the election process is working within a state,
and will hopefully encourage state and local officials to consider
how they can improve the voting experience for their citizens.

Many of those provisional ballots could have been because of people confused about Continue reading →

Town builds its own gigabit network

And for about $57 a month.

Emily Chung wrote for CBC News 18 July 2013,

Small Alberta town gets massive 1,000 Mbps broadband boost:
Rural community of Olds builds its own fibre network and starts its own ISP



Ultrafast internet speeds that most Canadian city dwellers can only
dream of will soon be available to all 8,500 residents in a rural
Alberta community for as little as $57 a month, thanks to a project
by the town’s non-profit economic development foundation.

“We’ll be the first ‘gig town’ in Canada,” said Nathan Kusiek,
director of marketing for O-Net, the community-owned internet
service provider that runs the fibre optic network being built by
the non-profit Olds Institute for Community and Regional Development
in Olds, Alta., about 90 kilometres north of Calgary.

There’s more in

the article.

-jsq

U.S. #58 out of 90 in broadband cost

Stacey Higginbotham wrote for GigaOm 16 January 2014,

Two charts that show how crappy U.S. broadband is,

Despite the deployments of a few gigabit networks by Google and the
spread of faster cable technology, U.S. broadband is falling behind.
It’s expensive both as a monthly bill and on a per-megabit basis
when compared to the rest of the world. For example, at $89 per
month on average, U.S. residents pay more for broadband than
residents in 57 other countries including Canada, Bulgaria, Colombia
and the U.K. That’s right, the

U.S. ranks 58 out of 90 countries.


The research, from research firm Point Topic concludes that the
higher broadband prices are “caused by lower investment in
infrastructure as well as lower take-up which prevents them from
benefiting from economies of scale.” To get the above data the
firm compared the prices paid for residential broadband and includes
standalone and bundled services offered over DSL, fiber and cable
broadband in the fourth quarter of 2013.

Per-country comparisons like this are hard to act on, but even at the
country level
we know Continue reading →

Videos: 2 agreements, education, jail, alcohol, and a health care presentation @ LCC 2014-01-13



They vote tonight at 5:30PM. Probably there won’t be a repeat of
yesterday morning’s presentation
by
District Health Director Dr. Grow.

The county wants

an architect for a new roof and shower in one jail pod;
it’s considering two interagency agreements,
one for

Valdosta Inspections for Lake Park
and the other for

the county extension,
plus

setting election qualifying fees
and

a Special Assessment Rate for 2014.
There’s a

beer license
and acceptance of

infrastructure for part of Grove Pointe Subdivision.

Here’s

the agenda with links to the videos:

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS

PROPOSED AGENDA

WORK SESSION, MONDAY, JANUARY 13, 2014, 8:30 a.m.

REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, JANUARY 14, 2014, 5:30 p.m.

327 N. Ashley Street — 2nd Floor

Continue reading →

Actually, green solar power is winning

An article that dismisses without investigation the fastest
growing industry in the world, solar power, after solar has become

cheaper than any other energy source, is not a serious article.



Richard Smith wrote for Truthout 9 January 2014,

Green Capitalism: The God That Failed.
Sure,
there are lots of good points in there (such as we need a carbon tax,
but it’s not enough), but given that

only 90 companies account for 2/3 of GHG emissions
saying we can’t change that without crashing the world’s economy is
like saying we can’t deal with horse manure in cities in 1900 without
crashing the world’s economy, and

people did say things like that back then.

Most of the world’s oil and gas is used to produce power,
so once we

convert to solar and wind,
we’ll have plenty of remaining petroleum for other uses
such as lubrication.



Saying in 2014 that solar and wind can’t power the world is like
saying in 1994 that Continue reading →

Sabal Trail not a common carrier with open access in Georgia –Mindy Bland @ LCC 2013-12-10



A local landowner said that with no open access in Georgia,
Sabal Trail Transmission should have no standing to use
Georgia eminent domain law.
And Sabal Trail must comply with local, state, and federal laws and
ordinances, including ones that could be passed by the Lowndes
County Commission, she said at their

10 December 2013 Regular Session.



For example, a depth ordinance, or an ordinance requiring
a minimum distance from homes or schools.
Or a tax on the pipeline easement.
She recommended

PipelineSafetyInfo.com.
She asked for the Commissioners to use their voice.

As
WCTV quoted her in their coverage, she said,

I don’t want to have to fear for my children as they sleep at night.



County Manager Joe Pritchard shuffled papers and

alleged County Attorney Walter G. Elliott yawned during these
citizen presentations.

Mindy Bland
noted Commissioner Powell had asked for Continue reading →

The supposed pipeline economic benefits –Thomas Hochschild @ LCC 2013-12-10

How about a profit-sharing venture the pipeline partners and
the County?
A VSU professor asked that at the

10 December 2013 Regular Session of the Lowndes County Commission.

Dr. Hochschild listed a few benefits Spectra rep. Brian Fahrenthold

had claimed the previous morning.



Considering the vast profits Florida Power and Light and Sabal Trail
stand to make from the use of our land,
I know they can do a lot better than hotel stays, Big Macs, and temporary jobs.
Mr. Fahrenthold claimed the pipeline would be economically beneficial
because it will supposedly bring in $460 million in property taxes
over the next sixty years.



First I’d like to know if an independent agency came up with that projection,
or if Continue reading →

2 interagency agreements, education, jail, alcohol, and a health care presentation @ LCC 2014-01-13

We can probably guess who

“Dr. Grow” is
and the general topic of his presentation,
but why does the county make us guess?


The county wants

an architect for a new roof and shower in one jail pod;
it’s considering two interagency agreements,
one for

Valdosta Inspections for Lake Park
and the other for

the county extension,
plus

setting election qualifying fees
and

a Special Assessment Rate for 2014.
There’s a

beer license
and acceptance of

infrastructure for part of Grove Pointe Subdivision.

Here’s

the agenda: Continue reading →

Fossil fuels are a disaster: literally in WV

300,000 people have their drinking water poisoned by
a coal chemical in a disaster declared by a state and the federal government.
Do we know what’s in that coal ash

coal ash
in the Lowndes County landfill?
Do we trust a pipeline company
with

a long list of safety violations
to dig into our aquifer?

David Jackson wrote for USA Today yesterday,

Obama sends disaster aid to West Virginia,



President Obama is sending federal assistance to West Virginia,
where schools and businesses are closed after a chemical spill
Thursday into a Charleston river.

“The President today declared an emergency exists in the State of
West Virginia and ordered federal aid to supplement state and local
response efforts,” said an administration statement on Friday
morning.

Under the order, the Department of Homeland Security and Federal
Emergency Management Agency will coordinate efforts with local
officials.

Kiley Kroh
wrote for Thinkprogress yesterday,

West Virginia Declares State Of Emergency After Coal Chemical Contaminates Drinking Water, Continue reading →