Rep. Scott doesn’t want any federal laws about employment.
Alvin Payton (Valdosta Mayor Pro Tem and City Council District 4) asked:
What is your view or your stance on this current minimum wage law being increased to livable wages?This was at the Chamber Federal Legislative Lunch with Rep. Austin Scott (R GA-08) yesterday.
Answer from Rep. Scott: Continue reading
Finish it and then send we the taxpayers and ratepayers a bill? What kind of deal is that? So Southern Company already dodged a Fitch downgrade by delaying a decision, and now GA PSC wants to put it off for years more. That also delays solar deployment in Georgia, putting us still farther behind.
Ray Henry wrote for AP yesterday, Ga. approves deal on nuclear plant costs,
A debate over the rising cost of building a nuclear power plant in Georgia will be delayed for years under an agreement approved Tuesday by Georgia’s utility regulators.
The elected members of Georgia’s Public Service Commission unanimously approved a deal that will put off a decision on whether Georgia Power can raise its budget for building two more nuclear reactors at Plant Vogtle (VOH’-gohl) until the first of those reactors is finished. An independent state monitor has estimated the first reactor will be finished in January 2018 at the earliest.
Regulators will continue monitoring company spending but will not make a decision on raising the bottom line budget figure.
So GA PSC will keep watching costs run over budget but will do nothing about it.
Oh, wait, it’s actually worse: Continue reading
GBI finally released video of prisoners being beaten with hammers by guards
after the
2010 prisoner strikes
for wages
instead of working for free for things like
call centers and building weapons.
Two guards
pled guilty in 2012
to conspiracy, assault with injury, and coverup.
But GBI mysteriously hasn’t been able to identify
the guard seen in this video beating handcuffed prisoner Kelvin Stevenson
with a hammer.
Mary Ratcliff 29 August 2013, Video released of Georgia guards beating prisoners with hammer,
At the beginning of this video, you hear a prison guard shouting, “”Get down! Just get down! Get down! Get down!” presumably to the other prisoners. That exclamation is followed by, “Oh (inaudible) guy over there with his hands hitting him … and a damn hammer!”
The deplorable beatings you’re witnessing occurred Continue reading
Unanimous approval for
a third no-bid contract this month for Lovell Engineering, this time for
for a sports complex in Hahira,
but surprisingly
the
opaque pest control bids
were tabled indefinitely.
Also unanimously approved were
three new fine-processing positions for the Clerk of Court,
the
Little River stream gauge,
The special presentation was for
the retirement of Gene Roberts from Public Works.
No mention of the previous morning’s presentations by
Judge John Kent Edwards Jr.
asking for a new State Court Judge
or
about fines moving from Sheriff to State Court.
Dr. Michael Noll said
Moody AFB once again couldn’t get access
to the site for the Moody Family Housing the Commission already approved,
despite the sinkhole on the adjoining land.
Here’s the agenda, with links to the videos and a few notes. See also videos of the previous morning’s Work Session.
LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERSContinue reading
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, AUGUST 26, 2013, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, AUGUST 27, 2013, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor
A graph Bloomberg New Energy Finance posted illustrates the recent 60%+ growth deployed solar capacity, but BNEF fails to project solar’s compound interest growth forward.
Look at the solar numbers in that graph:
| 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1.6 | 2.0 | 2.9 | 4.9 | 8.0 |
| Change | 25% | 45% | 69% | 63% |
Then look at that last row I added, which is each year’s
percentage increase over the previous year, as in
8.0 for 2012 divided by 4.9 for 2011 = 1.63 or 63%.
Slightly more for the previous year, and less in years before that.
In other words, the annual compound growth rate for solar is
around the 65% rate reported
by the solar industry.
And slightly higher than the 60.9% FERC rate I used Continue reading
As Entergy has been preparing to do for some time, it’s down forever for Vermont Yankee. That’s at least ten (10) down forever (Vermont Yankee, Kewaunee, Crystal River 3, San Onofre 2 and 3) or never to be built (Calvert Cliffs 3, South Texas Nuclear Project 3 and 4, Bellefonte, and Levy County) in the past year. How many will it take before Southern Company (or more likely GA PSC or even the Georgia legislature) realizes new nukes make no financial sense and terminates the Plant Vogtle 3 and 4 boondoggle on the Savannah River?
Entergy blamed Vermont Yankee on shale gas, but you ain’t seen nothing yet, as Moore’s Law for solar really kicks in. Next one to go: I say Entergy’s often-down Pilgrim 1 in Massachusetts; everything Entergy said about Vermont Yankee applies in spades to Pilgrim 1. Or maybe ten-times-down-this-year Palisades. Or bouncy man-killer Arkansas Nuclear One. So many to choose from!
Entergy PR on Market Watch today, Entergy to Close, Decommission Vermont Yankee –Decision driven by sustained low power prices, high cost structure and wholesale electricity market design flaws for Vermont Yankee plant –Focus to remain on safety during remaining operation and after shutdown,
NEW ORLEANS, Aug. 27, 2013 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ — Entergy
Corporation ETR -0.21% today said it plans to close and decommission its Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station in Vernon, Vt. The station is expected to cease power production after its current fuel cycle and move to safe shutdown in the fourth quarter of 2014. The station will remain under the oversight of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission throughout the decommissioning process.
“This was an agonizing decision and Continue reading
The
request for a new State Court Judge
by Judge John Kent Edwards Jr. took 27 and a half minutes,
plus his
eight minute explanation of fines moving from Sheriff to State Court.
More people might have showed up to hear if anybody had known about
these items.
Commissioners asked a surprising number of questions about them
and about
the
Little River stream gauge
and the
opaque pest control bids.
Of course, then people might have seen
the proposed third no-bid contract to the same firm this month.
They vote tonight.
Here’s the agenda, with links to the videos and a few notes:
LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, AUGUST 26, 2013, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, AUGUST 27, 2013, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor
- Call to Order
- Invocation
- Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag
- Special Presentation
See separate post.
- Minutes for Approval
As is his custom, Chairman Bill Slaughter directed Commissioners to tell the Clerk of any changes, so we don’t know what they are. Then he introduced the special presentation out of agenda order.
- Work Session — August 12, 2013
- Regular Session — August 13, 2013
- For Consideration
- Environmental Engineering Services for GDOT Land Deed for Parks and Recreation
Invisible Engineer proposed a third no-bid contract for same firm proposed this month; see separate post.
- USGS Funding Agreement for Hwy 122 Stream Gauge
This time Emergency Director Ashley Tye said it’s on the Little River, why it’s there, how it’s maintained, etc. See separate post.
- Budget Adjustment — Personnel Costs
Judge John Kent Edwards Jr. explained that many of the people going through his court or paying fines in Lowndes County don’t live here; they come off of I-75, and now the fine-collecting needs to move from the Sheriff’s office to the Clerk of Court; see separate post.
- Bid-Pest Control Service
Pest control for an unannounced amount with no bond from one of two unannounced bids. See separate post.
- Reports-County Manager
County Manager Joe Pritchard requested an Executive Session for pending litigation and they adjourned into that.
- Citizens Wishing to be Heard Please State Name And Address
Here’s a video playlist:
Work Session, Lowndes County Commission (LCC)
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 26 August 2013.
Videos by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE).
-jsq
We get to pay some unknown amount chosen from bids we didn’t get to see
for pest control with no bond.
They vote tonight about what was proposed
at the
26 August 2013 Work Session of the Lowndes County Commission.
7. Bid-Pest Control Service
Purchasing Director Kari L. Sands said this was a renewal for rodent and insect control for all county buildings including the fire department, beginning September 1st 2013 with first and second year renewal options. Staff recommendation. is to approve the bid (for unannounced amount) from Baird’s Pest Control and Termite Services (she didn’t mention any other bids).
Commissioner Crawford Powell wanted to know if there was a bonding requirement.
Answer: No.
Powell then wanted to know “do we need a bonding requirement for this?”
Answer from County Manager Joe Pritchard: Continue reading
Could you have guessed what this was about from the agenda item?
Why do we the taxpayers of this $130,000 or $173,000 have to guess?
They vote tonight about what was proposed
at the
26 August 2013 Work Session of the Lowndes County Commission.
6.c. Budget Adjustment — Personnel Costs
Judge John Kent Edwards Jr. explained that many of the people going through his court or paying fines in Lowndes County don’t live here; they come off of I-75. The Sheriff’s office, in attempting to comply with state law, decided it didn’t want to continuing handling fines. There’s a piece of new legislation proposing to have the Clerk of Court process and retain all the relevant information; Judge Edwards thinks it will pass next year. This requires shifting funding from the Sheriff’s office to the Courts. But it will simplify processing (and presumably costs) by not having it go through both Sheriff and State Court. Meanwhile, Judge Edwards is not aware of any other county that still does this processing through the Sheriff’s department.
Here’s Part 1 of 2: Continue reading
After the 2009 floods, Lowndes County agreed to help USGS fund a stream
gauge on the Little River west of Hahira.
It’s time to renew that.
They vote tonight about what was proposed
at the
26 August 2013 Work Session of the Lowndes County Commission.
6.b. USGS Funding Agreement for Hwy 122 Stream Gauge
This time Emergency Director Ashley Tye said it’s on the Little River.
He said during ihe 2009 floods the county only had a gauges on the
Withlacoochee River at Skipper Bridge and US 84, and no way to
monitor the level of the Little River,
so he contacted USGS, who supplied and installed the equipment.
The county since then pays for the maintenance.
If something breaks, USGS comes and fixes it.
He’s also worked with the National Weather Service to establish flood stages
for better warning for residents.
It’s time to renew the funding.
Commissioner Demarcus Marshall wanted to know how many inspections were carried out by USGS.
Answer: Continue reading