Tag Archives: Law

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

Executive Session for Real Estate @ VLCIA 2014-05-27



The Industrial Authority is having a Special Called Meeting Tuesday at 4:45 PM,
the agenda for which goes straight into Executive Session for no stated reason.
Is that even legal, as

I’ve asked before about a VLCIA executive session?

Also, why is
G. Norman Bennett still listed as a board member and Vice Chairman, even though according to the VDT
he resigned from VLCIA 13 March 2014?
I asked him about that in Hahira
a month ago today
and he said he’d talk to VLCIA.
Somebody didn’t follow through.

Here’s

the agenda,
which says they’re having an invocation for the purpose of discussing real estate
and gives no reason for the Executive Session.
Also from the
Georgia Open Meetings Act of 2012, 50-14-3(b)(1): Continue reading →

Insurers suing for lack of preparation for record floods

What if, in addition to the record floods of 2009 and 2013 and 2014
apparently caused by local lack of planning in our watersheds,
what if we got 15 inches of rain in one 24 hour period like
Pensacola did a few weeks ago?


Local governments might get sued by insurers for lack of planning,
like 200 communities in the Chicago area already got sued.
Maybe we should plan ahead for greater weather variability
caused by climate change.

Eric Holthaus wrote for Future Tense on Slate 30 April 2014,

The Calamitous Climate Responsible for Florida’s Record Rainfall, Continue reading →

Unnecessary lawsuit against local business in GA Supreme Court today

Why is the Lowndes County Commission spending our tax dollars to sue
a local company for collecting trash, in appeal at the Georgia Supreme Court this morning?
Why not just let Deep South Sanitation compete with

Advanced Disposal Services?
Perhaps we should “stop wasting taxpayer money”,
as

Gretchen said to the Commission a year ago.

From
DSS’s facebook page 5 May 2014,

LOWNDES CO & ADVANCED DISPOSAL VS DEEP SOUTH UPDATE:



Dear Friends of Deep South, we have been notified that a date for
the “APPEAL” has been set for Monday, May 19, 2014 @ 10am to be held
in Atlanta, Ga. before the Supreme Court. The Lowndes County
Attorney along with Advanced Disposal’s Attorney’s will have the
opportunity to argue their case. Our Attorney, Rob Plumb will speak
on behalf of Deep South and for the people. There will not be a
ruling on this day. We will post the results of the Court’s ruling
on our FB page as soon as we receive word.—As always, we thank
all of you for your prayers and support. God Bless America!

And from
DSS’s facebook page yesterday:

Appeals Court Tomorrow Morning @ 10am.



“Thank you” to every one for your thoughts and prayers. Cary and
Trevor just left headed to Atlanta. The appeal will be heard by the
Supreme Court and a ruling should come at a later date. Hopefully,
this will be the end of the lawsuit filed by the County and Advanced
Disposal. We will post any news on our FB page as soon as we get
word from our Attorney. Thanks again, your support means the world
to us.

As Gretchen said

a year ago to the Commissioners who voted for that unnecessary
lawsuit,



I wonder which one of you said “This will really attract
people to start or relocate business in our county when we sue one
of our local business owners.”

If I were considering a business move, I wouldn’t move to a county
that eats its own.

I ask that you drop the lawsuit and stop wasting taxpayer money.
Thank you.

We don’t have to be a county like that.
Let’s change some Commissioners and stop this waste of taxpayer money.

LAKE supports

Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes County Commission District 5.
Please vote tomorrow, Tuesday May 20th.
It’s not a primary: that’s Election Day for this Special Election
for District 5.
Your vote matters.

-jsq

Precincts changed yet again for May 2014 Special Election and Primary



Where can you vote on Tuesday May 20th,
Election Day for the Special Election for Lowndes County
Commission District 5, for the Lowndes County Board of Education,
for the elections for judges, and for the primaries for the Georgia
statehouse, statewide offices, and U.S. Congress?
Yes, precincts have changed yet again,
but you can find your polling place in

My Voter Page by the Georgia Secretary of State.
Or you can zoom and pan on the

VALOR GIS Election Boundary Map.

Whichever way you find your polling place,
it’s time to get out and vote.
If we don’t, why should Atlanta pay any attention to us poor rural
stepchildren?

Continue reading →

Local elections affect you most: time to vote



It’s time to vote,
today and tomorrow in early voting at
the Board of Elections, 2808 North Oak Street, Valdosta, or
Tuesday May 20th at
your polling place.
Turnout is very low for elections that will affect everyone in Lowndes
County and beyond.

Two of the Lowndes County Commission districts will be decided
May 20th (District 5 is a Special Election and District 2
has only candidates in one party): they will affect your
water, sewer, trash, rezoning, road building, and taxes.
All the Lowndes County School Board elections Continue reading →

Georgia Power wants more new water for Vogtle nukes than Savannah uses @ GA EPD 2014-05-08



Today is the last day to

comment to GA EPD about Georgia Power’s demand for
more new water for the Plant Vogtle nukes than Savannah uses.
As Southern Company CEO Tom Fanning said two years ago,
“water, more than air, is the issue of the future”.
Comments may be emailed to EPDComments@dnr.state.ga.us with the subject line “Plant Vogtle.”
See below for videos of what people said at a recent public hearing.

Mary Landers wrote for SavannahNow.com 7 May 2014,

Nukes thirst for Savannah River water, Continue reading →

Follow the law and be aware what the citizens want –Judge Ellerbee @ Lake Park 2014-04-28



Apartments are expensive to local governments, developers don’t sue
unless there is actual discrimination (which there isn’t in this case),
water use is a big issue,
and the primary responsibility of elected officials is to the citizens
who elect them:
Judge Wayne Ellerbee made these and other points relevant to many
rezoning requests as he spoke for some of the opponents at
the

Lake Park Brookhaven rezoning.

He pointing out that the question before the Lake Park City Council was
the rezoning,
but the developers needed to take into account the effects on the
entire city of Lake Park.
He mentioned studies from the University of Georgia
saying that the most expensive zoning Continue reading →

ICLEI and sustainability

Have you heard there’s a U.N. agency going around getting
local governments to sign “Agenda 21” into ordinances that
will take away your private property through eminent domain?
If not, you’ve avoided the propaganda put out by
fossil fuel companies to subvert sustainability.
If you have, here’s why it’s bunk.

There is an organization that promotes measures for
sustainability to local governments.
Sustainability as in arranging for local resources to
be available for us and our children and grandchildren.
Clean air, clean water, forests, education, and private property
rights including not letting developers or big corporations
damage your private property.
Are you against any of those things?

An organization promoting sustainability with local governments is called

ICLEI–Local Governments for Sustainability.
ICLEI says it is:


the leading global network devoted to local governments engaged in
sustainability, climate protection, and clean energy initiatives. The
organization was formerly known as the International Council for Local
Environmental Initiatives.

ICLEI has heard about the conspiracy theories and has written up

a rebuttal. Continue reading →