Tag Archives: LAKE

At the door of the most educational meeting —Karen Noll

Received today on A most educational meeting. -jsq
Thank you, John for that accurate description of the most bizarre meeting that I have ever attended.


Karen Noll and Dean Poling at the door
As I was not invited I remained at the door. Dean Polling came to the door 10 minutes late because he’d been roaming around Rainwater conference center with a few other folks before he found out the meeting was located here. This meeting was held on the date that the CUEE had given when it would unveil its education plan. So many assumed it would be at the conference center and open to the public.(LOL)

The plan put together by the unnamed education task force a sub committee of cuee pushed Levy into having it at VSU, when VSU has clearly stated they are taking NO side!! So CUEE’s educational plan was presented before the vote has been taken to an invited group at a public institution that is staying out of the whole stinking affair. This is all to strange to not ask why and who is behind this mess?

At the end when I told Myrna Ballard about the location

Continue reading →

Count the Vote No Marchers

Some said 200, others 250, others 300, for how many marchers following this banner Friday:

Here is the entire march southbound crossing the tracks.

Here’s Video 1 of 3: Continue reading →

Occupy the Voting Booth @ Vote No for Consolidation March 22 October 2011

There was quite a bit of overlap between Marching to Occupy Valdosta and the Vote No March. Gretchen’s sign says Occupy the Voting Booth.

Here’s Part 1 of 2:


Occupy the Voting Booth @ Vote No for Consolidation March 22 October 2011 Part 1 of 2:
No school consolidation,
Vote No for Consolidation March, Friends of Valdosta City Schools (FVCS),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 22 October 2011.
Videos by Gretchen Quarterman and John S. Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.

Amber Smith, intrepid subjective VSU Spectator reporter, wrote LHS Alum Against Consolidation.

Here Amber, Bobbi Anne Hancock, LHS student Nathan Wilkins, and VSU professor Karen Noll all march together. They all Marched to Occupy Valdosta. (Erin was in Atlanta, and Austin and others were out of town due to VSU’s Fall Break.) Doubtless there were others; nobody tried to take a head count of the crossover.

Here’s Part 2 of 2: Continue reading →

CUEE you have done what you tried to do —Sam Allen

Sam Allen summed it up before the march:
CUEE you have done what you tried to do.
You have brought us together.
United we stand.

Here’s the video:


CUEE you have done what you tried to do —Sam Allen
No school consolidation,
Vote No for Consolidation March, Friends of Valdosta City Schools (FVCS),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 22 October 2011.
Videos by Gretchen Quarterman and John S. Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.

Although maybe this isn’t exactly what CUEE wanted FVCS, SCLC, NAACP, both school boards, the Valdosta City Council, etc. united about:

What are we gonna do?
Vote!
How we gonna vote?
No!

Here’s the video: Continue reading →

A most educational meeting: VSU, Wiregrass Tech, CUEE, FVCS, et al.

Only Lemony Snicket could do justice to the peculiarity of last night’s most educational meeting at VSU’s Continuing Education building, about K-12 education even though neither school superintendent was there, most of the school board members were not present, and it was presided over by two very uneasy college presidents.

Who called it was unclear, who was invited even less, for what purpose there was no consensus, yet there was a decision by the pair of presiding college presidents. It was somehow about the general state of education in Valdosta and Lowndes County, Georgia, although the topic of consolidation was discussed only by the frequent admonitions that it was not to be discussed, and for that matter that nothing else related to educational improvements should be discussed until after the November 8th consolidation referendum. Both school system superintendents were elsewhere at a conference of school superintendents. A few Valdosta City School Board members were in attendance, although none of them said anything. I didn’t recognize any Lowndes County School Board members. There were no introductions to the group, other than self-introductions by the two college presidents. Maybe you can identify some of the attendees.


CUEE Vice-Chair Rusty Griffin near left, Chamber President Myrna Ballard far right, VBOE Member Jeana Beeland and CUEE Board Member Tom Kurrie near corner of the tables, SCLC President Rev. Floyd Rose to Kurrie’s right. FVCS President Sam Allen is near the far end of the left side of the table. CUEE Board Member Walter Hobgood is near the far end of the right side of the table.

There was no agenda. There was a document to be presented, but it was not handed out to the attendees, and the principal presider, VSU interim president Dr. Louis Levy, refused Continue reading →

At the MLK Monument —Occupy Valdosta

Many people stood up at the Martin Luther King Jr Monument last Friday and spoke. Here they are (we may have missed a few).


At the MLK Monument —Occupy Valdosta
We are the 99%,
Marching to Occupy Valdosta, Occupy Valdosta,
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 14 October 2011.
Videos by Gretchen Quarterman and John S. Quarterman
for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.

-jsq

WCTV says Occupy Valdosta made No Consolidation impossible to ignore

WCTV gets it right in most of the story:
A familiar scene from the Big Apple reaches Southern Georgia. It’s called “Occupy Valdosta.” More than 100 protesters take to the streets to fight corporate greed and social injustice.

Greg Gullberg wrote Friday for WCTV, Occupy Wall Street Comes To Valdosta,

Chanting before banks, monuments and courthouses, the rally reached its summit at the Chamber of Commerce.

There the crowd cried two familiar words: ‘No Consolidation’.

In a demonstration designed to fight corporate greed and social inequality, the protest ultimately turned to the fate of the school systems and the children of Valdosta.

“My children go to city schools. I live in the county. I can’t vote. That’s not right,” said Susan Smith.

WCTV’s low estimate of 100 who chanted “no consolidation” on the Chamber’s doorstep is several times Continue reading →

Police encounter! @ Occupy Valdosta

Words do not describe this:

Here’s the video:


Police encounter! @ Occupy Valdosta
We are the 99%,
Marching to Occupy Valdosta, Occupy Valdosta,
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 14 October 2011.
Videos by Gretchen Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.

OK, these words might: Thanks to the Valdosta Police for being completely professional and courteous throughout!

Just as we were leaving the Chamber of Commerce, they even called back with the permit for today’s event, 11AM this morning at MLK Memorial Park.

-jsq

WALB links corporate greed to school consolidation @ Occupy Valdosta

Jade Bulecza reported for WALB yesterday, Occupy Valdosta protests issues,
The occupy wall street movement that’s spreading around the country arrived in south Georgia.
That’s her with the big camera in front of the palm tree, come to see what democracy looks like.

More than 100 demonstrators marched through the streets of Valdosta Friday.

They’re protesting issues from corporate greed to unemployment all the way down to local issues including school consolidation.

There you have it: WALB links school consolidation to corporate greed.

How’s this for an ad linked to Martin Luther King Jr.?


Sam Allen says Vote No School Consolidation at the Martin Luther King Monument
Videos and pictures of Occupy Valdosta by John S. Quarterman
for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange

Back to Jade Bulecza: Continue reading →

Take your money out of Bank of America Day –Occupy Valdosta

Erin Hurley spoke for Occupy America to Bank of America.
It’s national Take Your Money Out of Bank of America Day.
Who got bailed out?
They did!
Who did it?
We did it!
All right!
[laughter]
They are the 1%; we are the 99!
Nobody came out to respond.

Here’s Part 1 of 2:


Take your money out of Bank of America Day –Occupy Valdosta Part 1 of 2:
We are the 99%,
Marching to Occupy Valdosta, Occupy Valdosta,
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 14 October 2011.
Videos by Gretchen Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.

Then everyone headed on to the MLK monument.

Here’s Part 2 of 2:


Take your money out of Bank of America Day –Occupy Valdosta Part 2 of 2:
We are the 99%,
Marching to Occupy Valdosta, Occupy Valdosta,
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 14 October 2011.
Videos by Gretchen Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.

-jsq