Tag Archives: Law

Lowndes County Sheriff Deputy enforces First Amendment

Lowndes County, an oasis of constitutional rights. Yes, really. Here’s video evidence. This kind of good news could do more to attract businesses here than many things the local powers that be are doing.

Carlos Miller wrote for Photography is Not a Crime 25 June 2014, Georgia Deputy Surprises us all by Respecting Constitution,

It started off with a federal protective service officer pulling up to Jeff Gray in a patrol car for taking pictures from a public sidewalk outside the Moody Air Force Base in Georgia Monday.

Gray told the officer that he was photographing the railroad. But the cop had his doubts and accused him of photographing the entrance to the base — as if it would make any difference within the scopes of the law — and decided to call the local sheriff for backup.

When Gray tried to walk away, the cop informed he was being detained.

When Gray asked for his name and badge number, the cop informed Gray Continue reading →

More precinct consolidation by Board of Elections 2014-07-22

Again like every year, more precinct consolidation. Why?

Public notice via the VDT, The Lowndes County Board of Elections will hold a Special Called Meeting on 8 July 2014,

The Lowndes County Board of Elections will hold a Special Called Meeting on 8 July 2014, at 5:30 p.m., and a regularly scheduled meeting on Tuesday, 22 July 2014 at 9 a.m., to discuss precinct consolidation. The public is invited to attend.

The meeting will be held at the Lowndes County Board of Elections office at 2808 N Oak St., Valdosta, GA 31602.

For more information call Continue reading →

Open meetings needed for county attorney selection?

Could there be any problem with selecting a county attorney without any open process?

CNHI in VDT today, Officials violate Iowa’s open meeting law,

CENTERVILLE, Iowa. — The Appanoose County Board of Supervisors and County Auditor Linda Demry violated the state open meeting law three times in less than three weeks recently when they interviewed candidates for the vacant county attorney’s position, a state agency has determined.

Well, apparently we don’t have that problem here Continue reading →

Videos: DFCS and ZBOA appointments + guns, lawyers, and money @ LCC 2014-06-10

They wouldn’t say what they would do to secure their own building after July 1st when the Georgia guns-everywhere law goes into effect. A split vote for not opposing the Hahira annexation recommended against by the Planning Commission plus unanimous approval of everything else under For Consideration, including declaring some Finance computers surplus. They voted to approve their opaque selection of auditing services and to buy an unnamed firewall replacement among other things for unknown amounts. Maybe somebody should bring that up at the county Budget Hearings.

They reappointed Lonnie Denton to a sixth five-year term on the Lowndes Division of Family and Children Services (he spoke) and Willie Houseal and Gretchen Quarterman each to a third three-year term on the ZBOA (they spoke yesterday morning). Also Public Hearings for well and septic and a special events change to the ULDC. in their Luke Bryan balancing act.

Here’s the agenda, with links to the videos and a few notes. See also the videos of the Work Session of the previous morning and the videos of the 27 May 2014 Planning Commission meeting.

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, JUNE 9, 2014, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, JUNE 10, 2014, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street — 2nd Floor
Continue reading →

What else you missed: Landfill public hearing 2014-07-17

In Georgia Public Notice for the VDT, but not on the county’s calendar or website public notice list:

NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING

300x273 0058 002B Veolia ES Evergreen Landfill Inc., in Evergreen Landfill, by John S. Quarterman, for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE), 20 June 2014 In accordance with Section 12-8-24(d) of the Georgia Comprehensive Solid Waste Management Act, the Board of Commissioners of Lowndes County gives notice of a public hearing to be held at 5:30 p.m. on July 17, 2014, in Chambers of the Board of Commissioners in the Lowndes County Judicial and Administrative Complex, located at 327 North Ashley Street, Valdosta, Georgia. The purpose of the hearing is to receive public comments regarding the issuance by the Georgia Environmental Protection Division of a proposed modification to the solid waste handling permit for an expansion of the existing Evergreen Municipal Solid Waste Landfill located off Wetherington Lane in Lowndes County, Georgia, requested by Advanced Disposal Services Evergreen Landfill, Inc., for the purpose of modifying the boundaries and waste disposal capacity of that solid waste handling facility.

Board of Commissioners of Lowndes County

00073850

6/13/14

Here’s the law the public notice cites: Continue reading →

Guess what you missed: Lowndes County Budget Hearing

Asking the full Commission and staff in a public meeting wasn’t enough to get an alert on the budget meeting that was held Tuesday:

Lowndes County Budget Meeting (6/17/2014)

Lowndes County Board of Commissioners
327 N. Ashley St – Commission Chambers, 2nd Floor Administration Building
Valdosta, GA
5:30 p.m.

Apparently everyone is really supposed to watch the county’s website every day. They did send email to department heads about that meeting. They could have also sent that to interested parties. But they didn’t. And almost nobody showed up.

There’s another one Tuesday: Continue reading →

Seven Out Superfund Assessment Public Meeting @ GA EPD 2014-07-17

6-8PM Thursday 17 July 2014
Memorial Stadium, 715 Dewey St., Waycross, GA 31501

The Environmental Protection Agency, GA Environmental Protection Division, and Georgia Department of Public Health will be present to discuss sample collection and results from the Seven Out Tank site in downtown Waycross.

EPD will also be available to address issues and answer questions regarding CSX.

From Satilla Riverkeeper’s facebook event. Here’s a map: Continue reading →

Videos: appointments, well, events, annexation @ LCC 2014-06-09

They vote tonight on their opaque selection of auditing services and to buy an unnamed firewall replacement among other things for unknown amounts not revealed in yesterday morning’s Work Session. Maybe somebody should bring that up at the not-yet-scheduled county Budget Hearings. They will also vote on their Luke Bryan musical neighbor balancing act and on reappointing Lonnie Denton for a sixth five-year term to the Lowndes Division of Family and Children Services (he will speak tonight) and reappointing Willie Houseal and Gretchen Quarterman each to a third three-year term to the ZBOA (they spoke yesterday morning as you can see in these videos). Also Public Hearings for well and septic and a special events change to the ULDC. The Hahira annexation recommended against by the Planning Commission is still waiting for signatures from the applicants under For Consideration, along with a request from Finance to declare items surplus and several purchase requests from Finance and IT.

Here’s the agenda, with links to the videos and a few notes. See also the videos of the 27 May 2014 Planning Commission meeting.

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, JUNE 9, 2014, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, JUNE 10, 2014, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street — 2nd Floor
Continue reading →

Two arrest warrants issued for $1 mllion landfill scam

Interesting things sometimes turn up when a landfill is investigated.

Taylor West wrote for the AJC 5 June 2014, Police: Arrest warrants issued in connection with $1 million scam,

Robert Stevens (Fulton County Sheriff’s Office) Multiple arrest warrants have been issued in relation to a trail of criminal activity resulting in the theft of more than $1 million from a Fulton County business, authorities said.

Police began an investigation in mid-April when Waste Management Inc. made a complaint regarding Willow Oak Landfill, which it owns, following an anonymous tip and a private investigation, according to the Palmetto Police Department today.

In this case it was the landfill operator that filed a complaint. Waste Management is one of the two largest solid waste companies in the U.S.; the other is ADS.

The complaint alleged Continue reading →

Energy Policy Act of 2005 considered harmful

The same Energy Policy Act of 2005 that subsidized dirty oil and fracked methane including LNG exports also funded that oxymoron “clean” coal such as Southern Company’s Plant Ratcliffe in Mississippi, ethanol production lining the pockets of Monsanto, and the $8.3 billion loan guarantee to Georgia Power for the new nukes at Plant Vogtle.

2005 was a very long time ago in solar PV years: prices are halved, and installed solar power production is up more than ten times and growing exponentially like compound interest. We need to stop throwing money at dirty, water-sucking, centralized baseload 20th century non-solutions and get on with clean 21st century distributed solar and wind power for jobs, for energy independence, and for clean air and water, not to mention less climate change.

-jsq