Category Archives: Law

Precincts on Election Day 2012 in Lowndes County, Georgia


Naylor
There’s an election going on!
Here are some pictures of precincts around Lowndes County today.
I’ve seen no lines, and everything seems to be flowing smoothly.
Except there are multiple reports that when people call the Board of Elections
to ask where they vote they’re getting a “this number disconnected” message.
Apparently there are ten phone lines down there but only three people
answering them, and the phone is not rolling over properly.
Given all the recent changes in precincts, this is a problem.


Ready for you to vote at Pine Grove

Sara Crow voted at Pine Grove (Clerk of Court, Lowndes County)
Around 1PM Sara Crow said she heard at Pine Grove that about 900 people had
already voted there today.


Rainwater
I’m not blogging much today because I’m out helping

Gretchen for Lowndes County Commission Chair.
If you’ve got something interesting,

send it in;
I’m checking in frequently.

Here’s
a slideshow:


Everyone Matters, so go vote!

Pictures by John S. Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE),

Lowndes County, Georgia, 6 November 2012.


Everyone Matters, so go vote!
Everyone matters, so go vote!

-jsq

Most Early Voting Ever in Lowndes County, Georgia


Backed up onto the street
More people have voted early in Lowndes County than ever before,
with cars often backed up onto the street waiting to get into
the Board of Elections.

Eames Yates wrote for WCTV Friday,

Record Breaking Number of Early Voters in Lowndes County,

More people have now voted early in Lowndes County than any time in
history. Sherrie Luther was voter 22,00[0]…

People waiting to vote
making her ballot the one
that broke the previous record set four years ago.

In the 2008 presidential election, there were 45 days of early
voting in Lowndes County. In this year’s election there were just 16
days. Nevertheless the record was broken.

Sherrie was rewarded

Continue reading →

Fair bidding practices and community public input —Barbara Stratton

Received today on

County trash plan already failing. -jsq

Yet another example of government contracting not following the fair
bidding practices or allowing community public input. Even if you
attend government meetings no bid information is made public & even
if bids are referred to the amounts are always in those elusive
"packets before you" that only the members have access to.

In a recent Hahira City Council meeting the city attorney ruled that
the city council did not have to put out the garbage service for
bids & that it did not even have to have a contract. As of December
31, 2012 the city collection services will not be under contract at
all so who knows what the rates may be or if a lower bid would have
saved citizens money?


Barbara Stratton
I've been involved in government contracting for years & I can tell
you that the recent path government bodies have endorsed is leading
further & further away from the bidding procedures that were enacted
to prevent good old boy politics & kick backs & is opening the door
wide for public/private partnerships that never answer to the
citizens.

The state attorney general's office which should regulate bidding
practices will not interfere with county or municipal issues unless
a citizen is willing to pay $500 to a lawyer to present the case to
them. They justify this as catering to "home rule" but in actuality
they are turning a blind eye because it is within their jurisdiction
to rule on non-adherence to proper bidding practices.

If the state believes in "home rule" why is Governor Deal pushing a
state charter school board amendment that will take away local rule?
The state seems to pick & choose its standards.

-Barbara Stratton

-jsq

Vote No on Amendment 1 —LAKE WALB Ad


John S. Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange
The

WCTV news report
didn’t mention something else LAKE has done about
the Tim Golden use of a LAKE video without the required attribution:
LAKE paid for

a TV ad on the same WALB market as Golden’s ad.
That

LAKE ad
is still playing today: watch the news and football on WALB
in Valdosta and Hahira.

Bikram Mohanty is a man of integrity running for Georgia state Senate.


Creative Commons Attribution license
The incumbent Tim Golden’s attack ad misuses a video I took
of Bikram Mohanty, without the credit its YouTube license requires.

Tim Golden voted to put on the ballot an amendment that could siphon off
your local tax dollars for charter schools,
even if your school board doesn’t want them.

Vote for integrity;
vote for Bikram Mohanty for Georgia state Senate,

Vote No on Amendment 1 on Nov. 6th
and vote No for Amendment 1.

This WALB ad, like

the WCTV news interview,
is another rare instance of the LAKE politburo deciding LAKE would
go on record as an organization, so I was speaking for LAKE.

TL;DR: If you want to use LAKE materials, cite the source.

-jsq

Tim Golden campaign admits using LAKE video without attribution —WCTV


Greg Gullberg WCTV
WCTV got Tim Golden’s campaign on record admitting it used a LAKE video
without attribution.
Golden’s spokesperson claimed (erroneously) that they didn’t need to
cite the source.
As you can see below, that’s not what the license says.

Greg Gullberg wrote for WCTV last night,

Valdosta Man Takes Legal Action Against GA Senator Over Use Of Video,


John Quarterman, Lowndes Videographer
A videographer in Valdosta is taking legal action against Georgia
District 8 State Senator Tim Golden.

John Quarterman says video he shot was used in an “Attack Ad”
against Senate candidate Bikram Mohanty without his permission.

“A video posted on Youtube that clearly says that attribution is
required. And there’s no attribution, no sources sighted, and he
didn’t ask permission. That’s mis-use of our material,” Quarterman
said.

Continue reading →

Calvert Cliffs nuke terminated

Yesterday on Nuclear Information and Resource Service’s

website:



Update, November 1, 2012: UniStar is seeking review of decision by
NRC Commissioners, Nuclear Energy Institute filed motion in
support. NIRS and NRC staff support the ASLB decision. We
will post the Commissioners’ decision when filed. However,
today the ASLB officially issued an order terminating the
Calvert Cliffs-3 licensing proceeding.

That continues

what happened after EDF pulled out
and

neither Southern Company (SO) nor Duke would step in.
Another one down, SO:
watch out for your

three-legged nuclear regulatory-capture stool
at Plant Vogtle on the Savannah River!

-jsq

PS: Owed to Star Priscilla.

 

The power of going solar —John S. Quarterman


Solar panels on farm workshop --John S. Quarterman
My op-ed in the VDT today. Remember
to vote today or Tuesday.
-jsq

This spring,

the University at Buffalo turned on 750 kilowatts of
solar electricity.

Rutgers U., in New Jersey, installed 1.4
megawatts in 2009 and started on 8 MW this summer. Down here with a
lot more sun, how about solar panels on VSU parking lots?

There’s

plenty of private solar financing available. Also in New
Jersey, a company installed 6 MW of solar on high school land and
leased the power to the school supplying most of its needs win-win.


You can go see a solar farm already working fine here,

200 kilowatts at Mud Creek Wastewater Plant.
Why not do the same


View Larger Map


at Lowndes High School, where all the world on I-75 could see,

attracting business to our community?

Why not?

Continue reading →

New solar in New Jersey, Massachusetts, Florida: where’s Georgia?

What are these

new solar projects?
Here are a few FERC lists,
in New Jersey, Massachusetts, and Florida,
and there are more in Texas.
Not so many in Georgia.



  • Zongyi Solar America’s 20 MW Tinton Falls Solar in Monmouth County,
    New Jersey, is online. Tinton Falls Solar is the largest
    photovoltaic project in New Jersey.
  • Southern Sky Renewable Energy LLC’s 5.6 MW Canton Landfill Solar
    Project in Canton County, Massachusetts is online. This photovoltaic
    project is built on the closed and capped Canton Landfill. It is the
    largest solar facility in New England. The electricity generated is
    sold to the Town of Canton under a long-term agreement.

New Jersey again!
20 Megawatts is even larger than the

6.1 MW at Lawrenceville School.
And Massachusetts, even farther north.
Let’s also look just south of us:



  • SunEdison’s 3.6 MW Phase 2 Lakeland Regional Airport Solar Project
    expansion in Polk County, Florida is online. The Lakeland Regional
    Airport Solar has a total capacity of 6.3 MW. It is the largest
    photovoltaic project in Florida. The electricity generated is sold
    under long-term contract to Lakeland Department of Electric Water
    Utilities.

Ah, but

that’s illegal in Georgia!
Here you can sell electricity only to your one and only monopoly utility,
predetermined for you by the 1973 Territorial Electric Service Act.
Maybe we should change that?

The Lakeland Chamber of Commerce

helped promote that solar project.
Maybe better PR than

feuding with the newspaper?

Also only slightly farther south of us,

Continue reading →

Wind and solar were all the new U.S. electric generation in September 2012

Wind and sun provided all the new electric power generation
deployed in September 2012.
As Moore’s Law continues to decrease solar prices, solar
power gets deployed still more rapidly,
and wind also gets installed on time and on budget.
Meanwhile, nuclear takes a

three-legged nuclear regulatory-capture stool
and hardly any new reactors get finished anyway.


Stephen Lacey wrote for TP Climate Progress 24 October 2012,

Wind And Solar Make Up 100% Of New U.S. Electricity Capacity In September,

September was tied for the

hottest of any September on record
globally. It was also a very hot month for renewable energy in the
U.S. According

to figures from the Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission, wind and solar accounted for all new electricity
capacity added to America’s grid in September.

New wind is up 25% Jan-Sep 2012 over the same period last year,
and new solar is up 78%.
For comparison, new coal is

Continue reading →

Two more charter school polls: Amendment 1 still losing support

Two more polls about the charter school amendment show conflicting
results, but even the most optimistic still shows decreased support
since September.
Opponents of the Amendment 1 power grab are winning.


Charter school Amendment 1 polls through 25 October 2012

Wayne Washington wrote for the AJC 12 October 2012,

Poll shows tight race for charter schools amendment,

Continue reading →