Bring our troops home —Gretchen Quarterman Farm Bill Forum, Senator Saxby Chambliss, Gary Black, Charles Hall, Robert Redding, John Maguire, Tifton, Tift County, Georgia, 16 March 2012. Video by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE).
Moody AFB helps USAF lead the military and the country in solar installations
by adding solar thermal.
Did you know?
Federal mandates require that 25% of Air Force facility energy use
comes from renewable energy sources by 2025 and Moody will help….
It’s a shame we have to go to Binghamton and Ithaca, New York, to get the equipment.
You’d think we could build solar thermal hot water heaters right here
in sunny south Georgia, and install them, too.
The architect, however, was local.
Congratulations to Moody AFB and Slone Associates for installing solar hot water!
The installer, Intelligent Green Solutions (IGS) of Ithaca, New York,
has the details:
The installation is a large solar thermal system that includes:
What does a Community Corrections Director do?
What is the proposed modification to the alcohol ordinance?
We don’t know, because the county doesn’t post the details of
agenda items, just cryptic shorthand that may mean something
to Commissioners or staff, but that means nothing to the public.
At this morning’s work session and tomorrow evening’s regular session,
the Lowndes County Commission has a brief but eventful agenda,
including a modification to the alcohol ordinance, an alcohol license,
a DHS grant
a GDOT grant for a road project on Davidson Road (presumably related
to the new Moody AFB gate),
two road abandonments,
and this interesting item:
6.h. Request from Superior Court to establish salary of the Community Corrections Director
LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2012, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2012, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor
We still don’t know what the county is going to do about
that cost overrun for the Moody AFB gate.
Nobody said at the work session yesterday morning; maybe they’ll say
at the regular session tonight when they vote on a contract with
some sort of revised dollar figures in it.
County Manager Mike Fletcher waved around a copy of the revised
contract with Scruggs Company for the new Moody AFB gate,
but said he had not provided it to the Commissioners.
I wonder if they’ll see it before they vote tonight?
He said it was 226 pages long, but most of that was DOT boilerplate,
and only something like 20 pages was the actual county contract.
Seems like they could read that much by tonight.
So could we, the public, if it was somewhere we could see it.
He also didn’t say what happened to the
$128,497.05 cost overrun.
The Commissioners asked no questions.
Commission had not seen Moody AFB gate contract with Scruggs before Work Session @ LCC 2012 01 23
Work Session, Lowndes County Commission (LCC),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 23 January 2012.
Videos by Gretchen Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.
Staff presented the
agenda item
“7.b. Entrance Gate at Davidson and Roberts Roads”:
Lowndes County received
a $2M grant from the Federal Highway Administration
for construction of a new Moody AFB entrance gate,
the gate to be located located at the intersection of
Davidson and Roberts Roads.
$477,991 of this money has already been taken for the
railroad crossing improvements,
leaving a balance of $1.52 million.
The low bid is from Scruggs Company, $1,648,497.05.
Wait, what?
The low bid is for more than the funds available?
Surely somebody will explain that?
Nope, no discussion. Instead, Commissioner Crawford Powell said:
I’ll make a motion we approve the bid as presented by staff.
Commissioner Evans seconded, and they all voted for it.
Hey, what $128,497.05 discrepancy?
Commission voted for $128,497.05 road cost overrun without discussion @ LCC 2012 Jan 10 Part 1 of 2:
Regular Session, Lowndes County Commission (LCC),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 10 January 2012.
Videos by Gretchen Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.
If we look at the previous morning’s work session (9 January 2012),
we do find a bit more information.
The grant was presented as involving both the Federal Highway Administration
and Homeland Security, and:
Videos of 9 Jan 2012 LCC Work Session
Work Session, Lowndes County Commission (LCC),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 9 January 2012.
Videos by Gretchen Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.
Just another Wal-Mart Fired Untrained Department Manager.
This is an
initial introduction to a much bigger story of truth that cannot and will
not be hidden forever! Nor will Wal-Mart Workers here in American continue
to be mistreated and ignored as if we were in the Republic of China or in
some other third world nation. Galatians 6:7, Saint Luke 4:18……
Georgians have until Dec. 23 to comment on new state and congressional
district maps. The U.S. Department of Justice is in the midst of its 60
day-review of the maps. Voter advocate groups say this may be the last
chance to comment before the maps go into effect for a decade.
…
Elizabeth Poythress, president of the League of Women Voters of Georgia,
says the Justice Department is eager to receive citizen comment.
“We’re just encouraging people to take the advantage they have
By now you’ve probably seen the video of UC Davis police pepper spraying peaceful protesters who were simply sitting on the gorund.
But have you seen what happened next?
Police were forming up with weapons raised surrounded on three sides by protesters, when someone yelled “Mic check!”
Follow
this link.
Or, if you want to see it starting with the pepper spraying:
The one with the two pepper spray cans appears to be the same police
lieutenant who pepper sprayed the protesters.
As the protesters say through the human microphone that they are
willing to let the police just walk away, even after the police
had assaulted them with pepper spray,
that same lieutenant motions to the police, who lower their weapons
and back away.
Look at all those other railroads converging on Valdosta in
that GFRR project proposal map.
Valdosta is a historical rail hub for passenger traffic to Atlanta,
Savannah, Jacksonville, Orlando, Thomasville, Tallahasssee, and
beyond. All the tracks are still in place and still in use for freight.
With some rolling stock and a few deals with the railroads, Valdosta
and Lowndes County could become again a passenger rail hub with a mass
transit system for local commuting to jobs and for long distance travel.
Add
a bus system and local commuting becomes very practical.
People could take the train to town and catch a bus to work.
Many people could walk or take a bicycle to their work from the
train station.
This could work the other way around, too.
People could live in Valdosta and work in Ray City or Lakeland or
Hahira or Lake Park or Clyattville and not have to drive to get there.
That would save
a lot of wasted time and wasted fuel.
This kind of mass transit would attract the knowledge-based workers
we supposedly want around here.
Including jobs our high school and college graduates could take,
so they wouldn’t have to move elsewhere.
And upgrading the railroads, building stations, building
and refurbishing houses and apartments near the stations, etc.,
would employ a lot of construction workers;
probably as many as road projects and sprawling subdivision projects,
but without the sprawl.