VSU is with the big schools, leading the stigmatization of fossil fuel
companies and the exodus from those stranded assets.
Students are leading on that and related issues,
more than our local elected bodies, but there’s an election going on.
Mary Schellentrager posted for PowerShift 29 April 2014, NATIONAL PHOTO ROUND-UP: BOLD ACTION FOR #BEYONDEARTHDAY: Continue reading
How many mistrials does it take before the whole Quitman 10 +2
case gets thrown out of court?
Two and counting, as of Friday.
George Boston Rhynes interviewed Brooks County Commissioner James Maxwell outside the courthouse in Quitman on a rainy day:
Mistrial! Another mistrial.
And the prosecutor wants to schedule another trial. George asked the Commissioner how much another trial would cost Brooks County.
It will cost quit a bit of money. We could use that money on a day like today to repair roads. People can’t get in and out and here we are wasting the taxpayers on another mistrial.
No evidence! No evidence! And another mistrial.
Here’s Part 1 of 2: Continue reading
George Boston Rhynes is reporting the retrial of Lula Smart
of the Quitman 10+2
in Brooks County, Georgia, and its serious issues of voting rights,
justice, and education;
his first three videos are linked in below.
First an amusing observation from yesterday, posted here with permission.
I am lounging outside the Brooks County Courthouse and this is just what I was thinking. We have been here since 8 AM and jury selection is ongoing. To actually eyeball perceived enemies is an humbling experience. How pitiful you have to be to live your life consumed with hatred, venom, bigotry, and a multitude of demonic spirits! Anyway, the greatest take away from day one of the Lula Smart retrial aka the Quitman 10 + 2 is the prosecuting attorney’s question to potential jurors: “have you read or talked to or followed a blog called “On the Lake Front?” Hilarious for those of us who knows what that means!! This kind of evil does kill, but I refuse to allow it to rob me of my joy! Blessed nite. Nite!
-Fannie MJ Gibbs
I’ve always said we had a reader. I just didn’t know it was the Quitman 10+2 prosecution.
Here are George’s first three videos:
Continue readingPR from Students Against Violating the Environment (S.A.V.E.) today. -jsq
Hi everyone,
I’m very glad to announce that under the direction of President McKinney, there will soon be a new special committee on sustainability. One of the goals of it will be to investigate fossil fuel divestment and create a report that will be presented to the Board of Trustees. The description is as follows:
“The Valdosta State University President’s Special Committee on Sustainability is charged with Continue reading
Candidates for Lowndes County Commission went on the record ( Mark Wisenbaker and Tom Hochschild both running for District 3, and Norman Bennett and Gretchen Quarterman both running for District 5), plus a statement by County Chairman Bill Slaughter, in addition to essential background information from directly affected landowners in the audience and from the panelists on why the proposed Sabal Trail methane pipeline is bad for property values, is hazardous here and elsewhere, and will be obsolete in a few decades, all at a SpectraBusters panel on the Sabal Trail pipeline at VSU, Saturday 29 March 2014.
The panelists were Continue reading
It’s a good thing the county held these first-ever (as far as I know)
comprehensive budget sessions.
Here are videos of the first day.
Most of the departments are asking for more money,
due to increased population and increased demand for services
during a period of economic downturn.
Something needs to be done, and these sessions are one step in
getting to doing something.
Here’s the agenda.
I got redistricted into LCBOE District 1,
and Districts 1, 2, and 3 are all up for election,
with 1 and 2 contested.
If, like me, you can’t tell which district you’re in or who’s
running without a map and a list,
see the list Gretchen drew up.
-jsq
VDT editorial yesterday,
Violating public trust,
Georgia Attorney General Sam Olens successfully fought for and implemented changes to the state’s Open Records law, believing that transparency in government is essential to the public trust. The law passed in 2012 states, “The General Assembly finds and declares that the strong public policy of this state is in favor of open government; that open government is essential to a free, open, and democratic society; and that public access to public records should be encouraged to foster confidence in government and so that the public can evaluate the expenditure of public funds and the efficient and proper functioning of its institutions.”
The VDT asked for records from the Lowndes County school system and didn’t get them. Their experience sounds quite similar to many LAKE has had with the county government in particular, with records not being provided in the statutory three days, and sometimes not even an excuse or a list of what might eventually be available.
That plus
failure to make even agendas for the Planning Commission available
in a timely fashion so citizens can see whether they need to attend
(somebody explain to me
the expense of agendas; clearly I don’t understand this
Internet suff),
and even in response to open records requests returning paper
when the documents are obviously composed in electronic formats,
agendas for County Commission meetings that are
just plain incorrect, resulting in people taking time off from work
to show up unnecessarily for a Sabal Trail pipeline item that didn’t happen,
a
public hearing that wasn’t listed as such on the agenda,
a secretive retreat “work session”,
and not
even being clear about what tax dollars for SPLOST would go for.
That’s not even all; just a sample of county government lack of
transparency.
And it’s not just the County Commission.
Look at Continue reading
LTE in the VSU newspaper, The Spectator, today. -jsq
To the Editor,
Climate change is the defining issue of our time. Ninety-seven percent of scientists agree that humans are the cause. S.A.V.E. believes that it’s time for people to become the solution. Globally, we are feeling the impacts of record-setting temperatures, most notably in the extreme weather patterns and rising sea levels.
Recent chemical (W.VA) and coal ash spills (N.C.) add to the urgency of moving beyond fossil fuel. Yet here on our campus there’s a remarkable disconnect between the classroom and the board room. Shockingly, the VSU Board of Trustees includes science deniers, oblivious to the threat of climate change—and to the academic integrity of this institution of higher learning.
Recently, the Board dismissed S.A.V.E.’s request that VSU rid its portfolio of fossil fuel holdings. Board Chairman, Wayne Edwards, a financial analyst, cast doubt on
the study that accompanied our request. But we ask you, who knows more about climate, a team of 2,000 scientists from 154 countries who have compiled data from more than 9,000 studies, or a stock broker? Our point is that serious decisions at this institution are being taken by people who lack the proper credentials.
Chairman Edwards dismissed socially responsible investing as Continue reading
It reads:
Climate Action.
Divest Now!
Nobody seems to know how it got there.
-jsq
