Garry Gentry from Tifton at Saxby Chambliss's Farm Bill Forum in Tifton wanted to know how much of food prices was due to Wall Street speculation.
Here's the video:
School lunches, speculators —Garry Gentry
Farm Bill Forum, Senator Saxby Chambliss,
Gary Black, Charles Hall, Robert Redding, John Maguire,
Tifton, Tift County, Georgia, 16 March 2012.
Video by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE).
-jsq
Gretchen Quarterman asked the first question at Saxby Chambliss' Farm Bill Forum in Tifton:
Bring our troops home.
That way we'd have more money for everything else.
Here's the video:
Bring our troops home —Gretchen Quarterman
Farm Bill Forum, Senator Saxby Chambliss,
Gary Black, Charles Hall, Robert Redding, John Maguire,
Tifton, Tift County, Georgia, 16 March 2012.
Video by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE).
-jsq
The only speaker that got applause at the Farm Bill Forum organized by Senator Saxby Chambliss in Tifton was Mr. Robinson from Brooks County:
If we don’t get the immigration thing solved, I don’t see a future for any of the farmers.
He didn’t like HB 87. Speaking of local immigrants he knows:
They worked hard for what they got, and I think they deserve a little bit more respect.
Saxby Chambliss said it was very complex and said the federal government should step up. Wait, which branch of the government is he elected to?
Here’s the video:
They worked hard for what they got —Mr. Robinson from Brooks County
Farm Bill Forum, Senator Saxby Chambliss, Gary Black, Charles Hall, Robert Redding, John Maguire,
UGA Tifton Campus Conference Center, Tifton, Tift County, Georgia, 16 March 2012.
Video by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE).
-jsq
Here are videos of “Local Heirloom Tomatoes and More”, the 22 March 2012 Lunch and Learn by Healthy Living Task Force, organized by Diane Howard (dhoward202@mchsi.com) and Traci Gosier (tqgosier@dhr.state.ga.us) 229.245.8758
The program has been grant funded and has had previous topics of:
The final session will be 26 April 2012, 12:00PM til 1:30PM at Valdosta City Hall Annex.
Here’s a playlist:
Local Heirloom Tomatoes and More,
Lunch and Learn, Healthy Living Task Force, (HLTF), Healthy Living Task Force,
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 22 March 2012.
Videos by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE).
-gretchen
Received yesterday on ALEC, Trayvon Martin, CCA’s private prisons, and charter schools?. -jsq
I could use quite a few verbs, adjectives, nouns to describe my year with K-12 and NONE of those would be complimentary. Public funds are used to the pay salaries plus all other expenses for this privilege to freely HOME SCHOOL a child. The lead educator is the LEARNING COACH (who is the stay-at-home relative). If I had wanted to be a TEACHER, I would have chosen an education career. Bottom line-slick way to divert public funds for private profit…. And now those kids can participate in public school sports. All those voices that rose up to defeat Lowndes-Valdosta Consolidation should RUN-not WALK to stop the PRIVATIZATION of PUBLIC EDUCATION in Georgia!Checking tosee where Amy Carter, Ron Borders, Jay Shaw and other POLITICIANS stand on this issue. Been out of loop for a minute..Trying to make up for lost time with K-12..I am sure someone will update me. Thank you for your advocacy.
-Fannie Jackson
I don’t think Ron Borders holds any elected office, and Jay Shaw is retired; his son Jason Shaw was elected to the same statehouse seat. Here’s a list of our state elected officials.
On HR 1162, “state-wide education policy; clarify authority – CA”, 
in the House, Amy Carter and Ellis Black voted for it, and Jason Shaw voted against it. In the Senate, Tim Golden voted for it. I believe that means it now goes to a statewide referendum in November.
On HB 797, “State chartered special schools; revise funding”, 
in the House, Amy Carter and Ellis Black voted for it, and Jason Shaw did not vote. In the Senate, Tim Golden voted for it Monday.
There is one new candidate running for one of these statehouse seats so far, JC Cunningham, and K-12 education is top of his issues list:
I will work to improve our schools so our children have every opportunity to succeed. Too many students have dropped out of high school, and we have lost far too many good teachers due to budget cuts to our K-12 schools because, “…we live in challenging times and tight budgets”. The budget could not have been that tight if they were $23.5 million dollars available to fund an Administration building for Valdosta State University. Our elected representative should have been advising the Governor to Ear Mark that $23.5 million for the Georgia Department of Education in order to retain and hire more teachers and Para Pros.
Saturday I heard him say he opposes the charter schools constitutional amendment.
-jsq
These are videos of the Work Session, Lowndes County Commission (LCC), Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 26 March 2012. They vote at their regular session tonight, 5:30 PM.
See also these special presentations:
Here’s a playlist of everything except the above two special presentations.
Videos
Work Session, Lowndes County Commission (LCC),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 26 March 2012.
Video by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE).
-jsq
George Page, Executive Director of the Valdosta-Lowndes County Parks and Recreational Authority (VLPRA), gave a presentation to the Lowndes County Commission Work Session, 26 March 2012.
Here’s a playlist:
Parks and Rec
Work Session, Lowndes County Commission (LCC),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 26 March 2012.
Video by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE).
-jsq
Why is Georgia Power still peddling misinformation about solar power instead of moving ahead with it? What’s happening in Germany could be a clue.
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The first graph illustrates what a typical day on the electricity market in Germany looked like in March four years ago; the second illustrates what is happening now, with 25GW of solar PV installed across the country. Essentially, it means that solar PV is not just licking the cream off the profits of the fossil fuel generators — as happens in Australia with a more modest rollout of PV — it is in fact eating their entire cake.So solar is taking the profits out of coal and natural gas. So sad!
Deutsche Bank solar analyst Vishal Shah noted in a report last month that EPEX data was showing solar PV was cutting peak electricity prices by up to 40%, a situation that utilities in Germany and elsewhere in Europe were finding intolerable. “With Germany adopting a drastic cut, we expect major utilities in other European countries to push for similar cuts as well,” Shah noted.You know, if the utilities got out in front and generated energy from solar and wind themselves, they wouldn’t be having this problem.Analysts elsewhere said one quarter of Germany’s gas-fired capacity may be closed, because of the impact of surging solar and wind capacity. Enel, the biggest utility in Italy, which had the most solar PV installed in 2011, highlighted its exposure to reduced peaking prices when it said that a €5/MWh fall in average wholesale prices would translate into a one-third slump in earnings from the generation division.
Here in Georgia, even Georgia Power could get going and do that, instead of fighting this:
Continue reading 
Andrea Schruijer, Executive Director of the Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority (VLCIA), made a presentation to the Lowndes County Commission at their Work Session 26 March 2012. VLCIA Board member G. Norman Bennett was also present. Congratulations to VLCIA on proactively getting the word out about what they are doing!
Here's a playlist:
Industrial Authority presentation
Work Session, Lowndes County Commission (LCC),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 26 March 2012.
Videos by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE).
-jsq
Update 21 May 2012: Fixed meeting date. See also Planning Commission discussion of this item.
An issue of conservation records came up at the 28 February 2012 13 March 2012 Lowndes County Commission meeting, regarding a rezoning at Lake Alapaha, in far northeast Lowndes County, near the Alapaha River.
County Planner Jason Davenport described the problem, which came up in a request to rezone a piece of property that was partly zoned RA (Residential Agriculture) and partly Conservation:
We did get help from the clerk’s office to try to clear up when this property was zoned and why it was zoned conservation. I just don’t have anything [unintelligible]. We have minutes that say one thing and a zoning map that says another.
He said they had had limited time to investigate, and had not been able to resolve this issue.
That issue is still on the table. I would just remind you that in the grand scheme it is a minor issue.
Commissioner Richard Raines made the motion:
For my part I’m for rezoning the entire property RA and eliminating the conservation.
And that’s what they did. Which raises issues of what we should do.
Here’s a playlist:
Conservation records
Regular Session, Lowndes County Commission (LCC),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 28 February 2012 13 March 2012.
Videos by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE).
The issue here is at least fourfold:
Continue reading