Tag Archives: LAKE

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.

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Make the Industrial Authority be accounted —Tony Daniels at MLK Occupy Valdosta

Tony Daniels called for accountability at the MLK monument:
Stand up! Make the Bank of America be accounted. Make the Industrial Authority be accounted. Make the United States government be accounted.

Here’s the video:


Make the Industrial Authority be accounted —Tony Daniels at MLK 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.

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Marching for rights —Mario Bartoletti @ MLK Monument Occupy Valdosta

Mario Bartoletti stood up at the Martin Luther King Jr. Monument in Valdosta and said to Occupy Valdosta:
I’m just shy of 79 and I’ve been out here marching all the way today, and I’ll tell you why.
When I was your age, we were marching for civil rights. We made it. Now we’re marching for another kind of rights, and I guarantee we’re going to make it! I want you to promise, when you’re my age, you’re going to be leading a demonstration for those who march for those kinds of rights.

Here’s the video:


Marching for rights —Mario Bartoletti @ 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 for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.

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Marching to Occupy Valdosta 14 October 2011

Will someone pick up that sign? As you can see in the playlist, why yes, someone did!

More than 100 people (estimates ranged from 110 to 150) went Marching to Occupy Valdosta.


Tony Daniels and Freddie Richardson carry the Occupy Valdosta banner

They marched more than three miles from Drexel Park to Bank of America, where they noted BoA got bailed out and we got left out and recommended withdrawing your money. Then to MLK Park, where many people spoke on a variety of subjects ranging from stand together, to make the Industrial Authority be accounted, to vote No on School Consolidation on November 8th, to if MLK was alive he would be here today, to marching for rights for a lifetime, to no private prison, to tax the rich, and and of course come back here (MLK Park) tomorrow (Sat 15 Oct) at 11AM! Then to the VDT (where the Assistant Managing Editor was surprised by a cheer) and the Chamber (where the President didn’t care for a thesaurus lesson); more on all those stops later.


Marching to Occupy Valdosta, 14 October 2011:
Drexel Park, Bank of America, MLK Park, VDT, Chamber of Commerce.
Videos by Gretchen Quarterman and John S. Quarterman
for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.

Videos are still uploading, so check back later. I’ll also blog more about specific events along the way.

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Videos of Lowndes County “Your Top 50 Answered” Lunch and Learn

The latest Lowndes County Lunch and Learn was yesterday, with County Clerk Paige Dukes answering the top 50 questions the county receives. Code Red! Road paving! Tax Assessment! CHIP grants! Some of these things affect all of you, and many of them could help you specifically. Gretchen was there and videoed most of it, as well as asking some followup questions.

Among other surprising answers was that the new Commission districts as shown on the maps on the county website have still not been approved by the Department of Justice. All of the Commissioners and several of the staff travelled to Atlanta a few weeks ago to tweak the lines. Paige assured us that tweaking would be completed in time for next year’s Commission elections.

Paige noted Carmella Braswell is the go-to person for many questions about what to do if you want to sink a will or put up a building. She addressed the CHIP grant in question 3, in the second video below, noting Carolyn Selby’s comments at a previous Commission meeting: Continue reading →

Videos of Candidates Forum by VLCoC last night

Videos of the Candidates Forum put on last night by the Valdosta-Lowndes County Chamber of Commerce (VLCoC) are starting to appear in this playlist. The three Valdosta Mayoral candidates are there already (in order of appearance): There’s one more candidate video to come.

Here are the videos so far:


Candidates Forum, Valdosta-Lowndes County Chamber of Commerce (VLCoC),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 11 October 2011.
Videos by John S. Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.

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Chamber opposes hidden taxes while proposing taxation without representation

Chairman Tom Gooding of the Valdosta-Lowndes County Chamber of Commerce said that the Chamber was opposed to government adding hidden taxes, and Roy Taylor can be heard going “Amen!”. Yet both of them back the Chamber and CUEE’s school “unification” referendum, which would raise taxes for everyone in Valdosta and Lowndes County plus making conditions more difficult for business. None of the school consolidation proponents seem to see the irony.

Gooding’s talk about the Chamber’s Government Affairs Committee spelled out the Chamber’s theory of local government, which is all about helping business, and apparently not about anything else. He didn’t say a word about government providing public benefits for the common good. Which is the tail and which is the dog?

Also, Gooding promised at least three times (1 2 3) that Continue reading →

Valdosta City Council voted to oppose school consolidation

Mayor Sonny Vickers said he thought it was important for children and grandchildren and proper for the City Council to take a stand against school consolidation, and City Manager Larry Hanson read the statement (transcript appended).

For:
City Council District 1 - James Wright
James Wright
District 1

City Council District 3 - Hoke Hampton
Hoke Hampton
District 3

City Council District 4 - Alvin Payton Jr.
Alvin Payton
District 4

City Council At Large - Ben Norton
Ben Norton
At Large

Didn’t Have
to Vote:
Valdosta Mayor - Sonny Vickers
Sonny Vickers
Mayor
Against:
City Council District 6 - Robert Yost
Robert Yost
District 6

City Council District 5 - Tim Carroll
Tim Carroll
District 5

Missing:
City Council District 2 - Deidra A. White
Deidra White
District 2
After very brief discussion, the vote was 4 for (James Wright of District 1, Hoke Hampton of District 3, Alvin Payton of District 4, and Ben Norton At Large) and 2 against (Robert Yost of District 6 and Tim Carroll of District 5).

That means Ben Norton changed his vote since since their last non-binding vote related to school consolidation. (Nonbinding because they didn’t have any authority to decide whether the referendum went on the ballot or not.) Council Deidra White of District 2 was absent throughout the meeting, which I find rather odd since she seemed quite aware when I spoke to her the previous day that this vote was going to occur. Back in August she voted against putting the referendum on the ballot. Yes, I know the motion was not exactly the same, so the votes are not exactly comparable. In any case, this time there was no tie and thus no need for the (new) mayor to break a tie.

Here’s the video:


Valdosta City Council voted to oppose school consolidationo
education, consolidation, resolution,
Regular Session, Valdosta City Council (VCC),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 6 October 2011.
Videos by Gretchen Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.

Here’s the statement transcribed as accurately as I could from the video: Continue reading →

Hahira Honeybee Festival 8 October 2011

Hahira’s biggest event of the year, the Hahira Honeybee Festival, filled up Main Street from the Middle School to Branch Street. Last year reputedly drew 25,000 people; I’m no expert, but I’ll be surprised if there weren’t at least as many this year.

Here are pictures in a slideshow and videos in a playlist.

No local parade is complete without the Georgia Bridgemen Lowndes High School band marching.

You can tell by all the City Council candidates that there’s an election going on. See if you can spot the mayor. (I didn’t, until I was revewing the pictures.) My favorite is this one of Charles Henry Hobrat.


Hahira Honeybee Festival, Hahira, Lowndes County, Georgia, 8 October 2011.
Pictures and Videos by John S. Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.

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