Category Archives: History

Videos: New judge, river gauge, park deed, personnel costs, pest control, and retirement @ LCC 2013-08-27

Unanimous approval for a third no-bid contract this month for Lovell Engineering, this time for for a sports complex in Hahira, but surprisingly the opaque pest control bids were tabled indefinitely. Also unanimously approved were three new fine-processing positions for the Clerk of Court, the Little River stream gauge, The special presentation was for the retirement of Gene Roberts from Public Works. No mention of the previous morning’s presentations by Judge John Kent Edwards Jr. asking for a new State Court Judge or about fines moving from Sheriff to State Court. Dr. Michael Noll said Moody AFB once again couldn’t get access to the site for the Moody Family Housing the Commission already approved, despite the sinkhole on the adjoining land.

Here’s the agenda, with links to the videos and a few notes. See also videos of the previous morning’s Work Session.

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, AUGUST 26, 2013, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, AUGUST 27, 2013, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor
Continue reading →

Gene Roberts retires from Lowndes County Public Works @ LCC 2013-08-27

Long-time county Public Works supervisor Eugene Roberts retired Tuesday, and the county did a special presentation at the 27 August 2013 Regular Session of the Lowndes County Commission, in which the County Manager missed his microphone and the Commission yet again violated one of its own ordinances.

Gene Roberts retiring from Public Works
Public Works Employees

Inaudible Joe Pritchard next to his microphone Inaudible County Manager Joe Pritchard, making no effort to speak into the microphone a foot to the left of his face, said someone was retiring. No name was listed in the agenda, but I think Pritchard said Continue reading →

Japanese government forced to take over Fukushima nuclear crisis

This is not the type of “crisis” or “leak” that ends quickly even with the Japanese government now taking over from TEPCO: radioactive water has been seeping into groundwater and the Pacific Ocean for two years, many of those tanks holding radioactive water, built with rubber seams only meant to last five years, are leaking, and the containment wall next to the ocean is making groundwater rise behind it, spreading into the aquifer and spilling over it into the ocean, with every tuna caught off California bearing radioactive signatures from Fukushima. The radioactive uranium cores are somewhere in or under their containment buildings, with no known way to extract them, still requiring cooling water poured over them for some unknown number of years, and continuing to be radioactive for thousands of years. Remember, the Fukushima reactors are the same GE Mark I model as Plant Hatch on the Altamaha River. Why are we building more nuclear reactors in Georgia when ten U.S. nukes have been cancelled or will never be built in the past year? Google already installed on time and on budget almost as much solar and wind as both new Plant Vogtle nukes would produce and for less than what has already been spent on them, plus solar panels and wind farms don’t leak radioactivity.


Photograph by Kyodo/Reuters

Latest Radioactive Leak at Fukushima: How Is It Different? by Patrick J. Kiger for National Geographic 21 August 2013,

The water from the leaking tank is so heavily contaminated with strontium-90, cesium-137, and other radioactive substances that a person standing less than two feet away would receive, in an hour’s time, a radiation dose equivalent to five times the acceptable exposure for nuclear workers, Reuters reported. Within ten hours, the exposed person would develop radiation sickness, with symptoms such as nausea and a drop in white blood cells.

Mari Yamaguchi wrote for AP 28 August 2013, Fukushima Leak Upgraded To Level 3 Severity, Continue reading →

Bloomberg illustrates 63% solar growth in 2012

A graph Bloomberg New Energy Finance posted illustrates the recent 60%+ growth deployed solar capacity, but BNEF fails to project solar’s compound interest growth forward.

Look at the solar numbers in that graph:

2008200920102011 2012
1.6 2.0 2.9 4.9 8.0
Change 25% 45% 69% 63%

Then look at that last row I added, which is each year’s percentage increase over the previous year, as in 8.0 for 2012 divided by 4.9 for 2011 = 1.63 or 63%. Slightly more for the previous year, and less in years before that. In other words, the annual compound growth rate for solar is around the 65% rate reported by the solar industry.

And slightly higher than the 60.9% FERC rate I used Continue reading →

Pull out your phone, MacGyver, and take a picture of cars powered by rooftop solar

MacGyver needs to show an imprint on a floorboard to someone. Pull out your phone and take a picture! No, in 1986 he MacGyvers a chisel and hammer and pries the floorboard up.

Even in 1996 the telcos and most of the public thought dedicated copper and fiber connections were needed for reliable communications. (“Allison, can you explain what the Internet is?”)

But now you can pull out your phone and take a picture and post it over the packet-switched Internet to facebook for all the world to see.

In 2023 baseload nukes and coal plants and oil pipelines will be like phone booths connected by dedicated copper, while rooftop solar charging cars will be as common as phones in your pockets. Solar power will win like the Internet did, beating all other sources of power within a decade.

Meanwhile, Continue reading →

Entergy shutting down Vermont Yankee nuke: tenth down or never to be built in past year

As Entergy has been preparing to do for some time, it’s down forever for Vermont Yankee. That’s at least ten (10) down forever (Vermont Yankee, Kewaunee, Crystal River 3, San Onofre 2 and 3) or never to be built (Calvert Cliffs 3, South Texas Nuclear Project 3 and 4, Bellefonte, and Levy County) in the past year. How many will it take before Southern Company (or more likely GA PSC or even the Georgia legislature) realizes new nukes make no financial sense and terminates the Plant Vogtle 3 and 4 boondoggle on the Savannah River?

Entergy blamed Vermont Yankee on shale gas, but you ain’t seen nothing yet, as Moore’s Law for solar really kicks in. Next one to go: I say Entergy’s often-down Pilgrim 1 in Massachusetts; everything Entergy said about Vermont Yankee applies in spades to Pilgrim 1. Or maybe ten-times-down-this-year Palisades. Or bouncy man-killer Arkansas Nuclear One. So many to choose from!

Entergy PR on Market Watch today, Entergy to Close, Decommission Vermont Yankee –Decision driven by sustained low power prices, high cost structure and wholesale electricity market design flaws for Vermont Yankee plant –Focus to remain on safety during remaining operation and after shutdown,

NEW ORLEANS, Aug. 27, 2013 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ — Entergy Corporation ETR -0.21% today said it plans to close and decommission its Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station in Vernon, Vt. The station is expected to cease power production after its current fuel cycle and move to safe shutdown in the fourth quarter of 2014. The station will remain under the oversight of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission throughout the decommissioning process.

“This was an agonizing decision and Continue reading →

New judge, river gauge, park deed, personnel costs, and pest control @ LCC 2013-08-26

The request for a new State Court Judge by Judge John Kent Edwards Jr. took 27 and a half minutes, plus his eight minute explanation of fines moving from Sheriff to State Court. More people might have showed up to hear if anybody had known about these items. Commissioners asked a surprising number of questions about them and about the Little River stream gauge and the opaque pest control bids. Of course, then people might have seen the proposed third no-bid contract to the same firm this month. They vote tonight.

Here’s the agenda, with links to the videos and a few notes:

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, AUGUST 26, 2013, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, AUGUST 27, 2013, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor
  1. Call to Order
  2. Invocation
  3. Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag
  4. Special Presentation

    See separate post.

  5. Minutes for Approval

    As is his custom, Chairman Bill Slaughter directed Commissioners to tell the Clerk of any changes, so we don’t know what they are. Then he introduced the special presentation out of agenda order.

    1. Work Session — August 12, 2013
    2. Regular Session — August 13, 2013
  6. For Consideration
    1. Environmental Engineering Services for GDOT Land Deed for Parks and Recreation

      Invisible Engineer proposed a third no-bid contract for same firm proposed this month; see separate post.

    2. USGS Funding Agreement for Hwy 122 Stream Gauge

      This time Emergency Director Ashley Tye said it’s on the Little River, why it’s there, how it’s maintained, etc. See separate post.

    3. Budget Adjustment — Personnel Costs

      Judge John Kent Edwards Jr. explained that many of the people going through his court or paying fines in Lowndes County don’t live here; they come off of I-75, and now the fine-collecting needs to move from the Sheriff’s office to the Clerk of Court; see separate post.

  7. Bid-Pest Control Service

    Pest control for an unannounced amount with no bond from one of two unannounced bids. See separate post.

  8. Reports-County Manager

    County Manager Joe Pritchard requested an Executive Session for pending litigation and they adjourned into that.

  9. Citizens Wishing to be Heard Please State Name And Address

Here’s a video playlist:


Work Session, Lowndes County Commission (LCC)
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 26 August 2013.
Videos by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE).

-jsq

Fine collection moving from Sheriff to State Court @ LCC 2013-08-26

Could you have guessed what this was about from the agenda item? Why do we the taxpayers of this $130,000 or $173,000 have to guess? They vote tonight about what was proposed at the 26 August 2013 Work Session of the Lowndes County Commission.

6.c. Budget Adjustment — Personnel Costs

Judge John Kent Edwards Jr. explained that many of the people going through his court or paying fines in Lowndes County don’t live here; they come off of I-75. The Sheriff’s office, in attempting to comply with state law, decided it didn’t want to continuing handling fines. There’s a piece of new legislation proposing to have the Clerk of Court process and retain all the relevant information; Judge Edwards thinks it will pass next year. This requires shifting funding from the Sheriff’s office to the Courts. But it will simplify processing (and presumably costs) by not having it go through both Sheriff and State Court. Meanwhile, Judge Edwards is not aware of any other county that still does this processing through the Sheriff’s department.

Here’s Part 1 of 2: Continue reading →

Gauging the Little River west of Hahira @ LCC 2013-08-26

After the 2009 floods, Lowndes County agreed to help USGS fund a stream gauge on the Little River west of Hahira. It’s time to renew that. They vote tonight about what was proposed at the 26 August 2013 Work Session of the Lowndes County Commission.

6.b. USGS Funding Agreement for Hwy 122 Stream Gauge

This time Emergency Director Ashley Tye said it’s on the Little River.

He said during ihe 2009 floods the county only had a gauges on the Withlacoochee River at Skipper Bridge and US 84, and no way to monitor the level of the Little River, so he contacted USGS, who supplied and installed the equipment. The county since then pays for the maintenance. If something breaks, USGS comes and fixes it. He’s also worked with the National Weather Service to establish flood stages for better warning for residents. It’s time to renew the funding.

Commissioner Demarcus Marshall wanted to know how many inspections were carried out by USGS.

Answer: Continue reading →

Solar will overtake everything –FERC Chair Jon Wellinghof

“Everybody’s roof is out there,” for solar power, so natural gas or oil pipelines are a waste of time. Solar prices dropping exponentially drive solar deployment up like compound interest, eventually onto everybody’s rooftops, where eventually means in about a decade, after which we’ll be ramping down natural gas like we’re already ramping down coal. It’s time for Georgia Power and Southern Company and all of Georgia’s EMCs to get on with solar and stop wasting resources on dead ends, especially that bad idea of fifty years ago, nuclear power.

Herman K. Trabish wrote for Green Tech Media yesterday, FERC Chair Jon Wellinghoff: Solar ‘Is Going to Overtake Everything’: One of the country’s top regulators explains why he is so bullish on solar.

“Solar is growing so fast it is going to overtake everything,” Wellinghoff told GTM last week in a sideline conversation at the National Clean Energy Summit in Las Vegas.

If a single drop of water on the pitcher’s mound at Dodger Stadium is doubled every minute, Wellinghoff said, a person chained to the highest seat would be in danger of drowning in an hour.

“That’s what is happening in solar. It could double every two years,” he said.

Indeed, as GTM Research’s MJ Shiao recently pointed out, in the next 2 1/2 years the U.S. will Continue reading →