The Lowndes County Ham and Eggs show is
the only one in Georgia and
one of only two in the country. Now, you might wonder why? Many
folks are interested in good, local foods and the craft of curing
meats. Well, it has to do with regulations and having the hogs
slaughtered and cured in USDA certified facilities.
Years ago, men, women and children would cure the meats at home and bring the hams on the appointed day to the contest (and auction). But, now no meat can be sold Continue reading
Economist, author, and advisor to governments
Jeremy Rifkin
told an agent of the world's largest uranium field operator
at a conference of global investors that there's no business
future in nuclear power.
Jeremy Rifkin answered a question at the Wermuth Asset Management 5th Annual Investors Event 26 September 2012, Nuclear Power is Dead,
I don't spend much time on nuclear technology, unless somebody asks
me about it, because frankly from a business perspective, I think it's over….
Here's the video, followed by more transcript and discussion.
Continue readingNuclear power was pretty well dead in the water in the 1980s after Three Mile Island and Chernobyl. It had a comeback. The comeback was the industry said "we are part of the solution for climate change because we don't emit CO2 with nuclear; it's polluting, but there's no CO2".
Here's the issue though,
Surprise! The already-billing but not-built new nukes at Plant Vogtle are going to be even later and cost even more. In December they were to be 15 months late; now it’s 19 months late, and the cost overrun expected is $740 million. History is repeating itself from the last time Southern Company and Georgia Power built nukes on the Savannah River. How about we pass HB 267 to stop Georgia Power from charging that cost overrun to customers?
Kristi Swartz wrote for the AJC yesterday, Vogtle nuclear project to take longer, cost more,
Georgia Power’s Plant Vogtle nuclear expansion project will take about 19 months longer to complete than originally expected and cost about $740 million more than originally thought, the company said Thursday.
Georgia Power said its share of the estimated $14 billion project will rise to $6.85 billion, up from $6.11 billion, because of increased capital costs and additional financing costs. Customers, who have been paying the financing costs since 2011, now will pay them for a longer period of time.
And the amount Georgia Power customers have to pay for Construction Work in Progress (CWIP) keeps ratchetting up:
Continue readingAfter all, if all the people had fast Internet connections, they might provide their own content, ranging from local sports vidoed by fans to parties to local government meetings, and then they wouldn’t be “consumers”, would they? The people would be participants in their own community, ranging from local to state, national, and global. And the big cablecos and telcos wouldn’t be able to monopolize access to information, which is their cash cow now. It will take more than wishful thinking to get TW to help with affordable local high speed Internet access.
Klint Finley wrote for Wired 28 February 2013, You Don’t Want Super-High-Speed Internet, Says Time Warner Cable,
Time Warner Cable chief technology officer Irene Esteves says you
don’t really want the gigabit speeds offered by Google Fiber and other high speed providers.
On Wednesday, at a conference in San Francisco, Esteves downplayed the importance of offering a service to compete with Google, as reported by The Verge. “We’re in the business of delivering what consumers want, and to stay a little ahead of what we think they will want…. We just don’t see the need of delivering that to consumers,” she said, referring to gigabit-speed internet connections.
Esteves thinks only business customers will need that kind of bandwidth, and she noted that Time Warner already offers gigabit connections for businesses in some markets.
Right, “in some markets”. How many of you around here can get a gigabit Internet connection? And
Time Warner Cable says Irene Esteves is the Chief Financial Officer, which makes more sense than a Chief Technical Officer spreading this doubtfire.
No, it’s TW CTO Michael LaJoie‘s job to argue against net neutrality. Paul Rodriguez wrote for cabletechtalk at some unknown date, Cable’s internal and external technology picture,
Continue readingDear Bird Supper attendees,
Two things could greatly help south Georgia: better Internet access and solar power. You could help stop two telecommunications bills and help pass two energy bills for jobs and education in south Georgia.
The local Industrial Authority, Chamber of Commerce, Valdosta City Council, and Lowndes County Commission have recently realized that fast Internet access is essential to attract businesses, for their employees to work at home, for applicants to apply for jobs, for students to submit assignments, and for general quality of life.
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Brett Huntley responded
to the Commission's mysterious ruling against the public
at the
26 Febuary 2013 Lowndes County Commission meeting,
to close the only public access to the Alapaha River in Lowndes County.
Neither County Manager Joe Pritchard nor County Engineer Mike Fletcher
were paying any attention.
Continue readingI would like to publicly say that I am shocked with the decision. I feel the decision was in favor of a sole person, and not in the interests of the community and the citizens. We tried to speak and explain our side of the story. And the county road has not ceased to be used. It's been being used in our county for over 100 years. I feel your guys just made a decision that will have an impact on our culture and heritage in the community that is not good. It's a bad decision, I feel.
I kind of feel hurt. I feel it's a personal thing for our community. That whole road abandonment idea stems from one sole person
April Huntley
responded in shock to the Commission’s mysterious ruling against the public
at the
26 Febuary 2013 Lowndes County Commission meeting,
to close the only public access to the Alapaha River in Lowndes County.
The County Attorney and the County Manager appeared to be busy working
on something else and paying no attention.
I don’t know there’s a whole lot more to say. Really, really, shocking and surprising that this road would be closed as much public purpose that it serves.
[long pause]
I’ve done so much research on it and it’s in the best interests of the public to have this access that’s been there for over 100 years.
The 2030 plan that the county has, this would cause less destruction
to that area; less change. There’s already a road there. It only needs parking, and signs, and rules and regulations that people can abide by. And the county, after the last time when it was denied, should have worked with the landowner to mediate things, to get a decent set in place where this could kept for hundreds more years for our county.And I hope there will be a way to open it back up.
Here’s the video:
Really, really, shocking and surprising that this road would be closed as much public purpose that it serves —April Huntley
Regular Session, Lowndes County Commission (LCC),
Video by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE), Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 26 February 2013.
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At the 26 Febuary 2013 Lowndes County Commission meeting, Geraldine Houston wanted to inform the Commission on behalf of George Page, director of Parks and Rec, that she was back on the job. She sells cakes, cookies, peanuts, etc. in the parks. She had previously had a contract to do that, but someone else had gotten the contract. The someone else moved to Alabama, and now Geraldine has the contract again. She also sells at Valdosta Farm Days.
Here’s the video:
Back on the job in the park —Geraldine Houston
Regular Session, Lowndes County Commission (LCC),
Video by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE), Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 26 February 2013.
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Emergency Services Director Ashley Tye spoke about Local weather conditions
at the
26 Febuary 2013 Lowndes County Commission meeting.
He said the
Withlacoochee River at Skipper Bridge Road
was expected to crest at 20 feet within hours.
He didn’t expect Valdosta’s Withlacoochee Wastewater Treatment Plant to flood.
He said most of the rain fell to the west of Valdosta, so the Little River actually absorbed more water than the Withlacoochee this time. Only Shiloh Road and a few other roads were closed.
The boat ramps at Langdale Park were closed in conjunction with Parks and Rec.
A few schools were closed, but all expected to reopen the next day.
Commissioner Demarcus Marshall asked Continue reading
Did you know the Valdosta-Lowndes County Convention Center and Tourism Authority was meeting this morning? Well, if you happened by the Convention Center you would find this Announcement on the door:
Picture by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE), Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 27 February 2013.
Most boards post an actual agenda on the door, but this one is just an announcement. If they posted that on their website or their facebook page I can't find it.
Gretchen says they did have a quorum ( unlike last month) and they were quite welcoming of her and the LAKE video camera. However, they did not provide her with an agenda. She says they didn't give anything to the VDT reporter, either.
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