About Fayette County news. (Fayetteville, GA) 2009-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 1, 2023)
A6 Fayette County News Wednesday, February 1,2023 Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints aid in Griffin Cleanup Efforts More than 300 local volunteers from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints aided in cleanup efforts projects around Griffin to help families and residents af fected by the EF-3 tornado that hit Spalding County in January. Volunteers came from congregations in Griffin, Thomaston, Fayetteville, Brooks, Jonesboro, Sharpsburg, Peachtree City, Newnan, and Car rollton on Saturday, and helped at more than 14 different locations throughout the city. “Our hearts and prayers go out to all those affected by the recent tor nadoes in our com munity,” said Rob Richards, Fayetteville Stake President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. “We are also grateful we could offer a hand of service and provide help where and when it is needed most.” Much of the group’s work involved helping res idents clean up fallen trees, limbs, and debris in yards. They also helped with the removal of a large tree that had fallen in the cemetery of Mt. Pleasant Baptist Church in Griffin. “My heart always goes out to those that are deal ing with having their homes or their yards de stroyed,” said David Nielsen, a volunteer from the Brooks congregation in Fayetteville. “I’m glad that I can share some of my time to help if it means less for them to worry about.” One family that re ceived help sat in their car as the tornado hit, and watched large trees fall around them. Before Sat urday’s work, the family had not been able to move their car from their yard because downed trees were blocking the way. Another group that worked on removal of a Crime Update, Continued from Front taking, at 43 percent. The next two top crimes were shoplifting and entering auto at 29 percent. The top “Part I” crime, however, was larceny. Fraud reports in 2022 increased 26 percent from 2021, including identity thefts, transaction card fraud, cryptocurrency fraud, email and malware scams, and others, accord ing to the report. When it came to traffic trends, Peachtree City Po lice reported 966 roadway crashes with only six per cent of those having re- Ludwig, Continued from A4 day I bumped into a wall because I lost my balance turning a corner. In my own house. Either that, or there was a powerful mag netic force field at work pulling on my dental im plants (I’m no scientist, but it probably wasn’t that). The very next day, I lost my balance simply stand ing in one spot to - ahem - take care of business. I won’t say what that busi ness was, but I will tell you that Cindy made me clean up the little mess I made. But I’m learning. When Cindy and I hike on Pine Mountain, I use walking poles. When I’m having a “bad balance day,” I’m considering using them when I go running. That way they could serve a dual purpose as my run ning poles. I even use walking poles when I make the trek down and back up my long driveway to get the mail. (Just kidding; I drive the golf cart for that.) I took a yoga class sev eral years ago. While my bendiness improved - it’s called namaste, Latin for “no starch” - my balance didn’t change. When the instructor asked us to as sume the flamingo pose - which means standing on m ** 1 felt' 'EMjBW® 5 1 » jjfcCSjK •' - 1 mu—it an *2gf*.*i*4 1 '' m t tiWfr $ V . large tree that had fallen credible experience to join at Mt. Pleasant Baptist those of different faiths Church said it was an in- and backgrounds to help a ported injures, and three fatalities, due to DUIs. As golf carts are also used as modes of transportation in the area, 22 cart crashes were reported, with 19 cart crashes involving injuries. The report continued to state that 51 percent of traffic stops resulted in ci tations, while 49 percent of traffic stops resulted in warnings only. Trends listed in the re port were counted from 2019 to 2022, with 2022 having the highest number of DUI arrests (273) and felony drug arrests (184). PCPD is currently look ing to hire new officers and members to its team. one leg -1 moved my mat over by the nearest wall so I could put my palm on it to keep from falling over. I often wonder how gymnasts can do all those amazing things on the bal ance beam. Did you know a balance beam is only four inches wide? I’m cer tain I couldn’t walk on a balance beam that was four times that width. Maybe if it was four feet wide, I might stand a fight ing chance. How about those amaz ing people able to walk on a high wire? The width of the steel cable is only an inch, sometimes even less. Can you imagine what would happen if they fell? I have trouble walking a straight line on a sidewalk, where there’s not even any real fear of falling (al though, let’s be honest, you know that I have). I have about as much of a chance of balancing on a beam or performing on a high wire as I do of flap ping my arms real fast and soaring with the eagles. What’s the point of mentioning all of this? I’m not really sure, other than to offer this warning: If you see me coming, you might want to go the other way. Either that, or help me get back up on my feet when I inevitably fall down. group that was praying for assistance. “To recognize that I was an answer to some one’s prayer made me feel like I was on the Lord’s er rand,” said Craig Sultan of Fayetteville. “My heart was full and I made friends that I wouldn’t have if I didn’t offer serv ice today.” Several other groups helped families through out the city who had large trees to cut and remove from their yards. Vol unteers showed up as early as 8 a.m. and worked throughout the day. “It was amazing that we were all able to get to work so quickly,” said Mike Donaldson, from the Fayetteville congregation. “So many hands made for light work. We all worked in unison and harmony. By noon, we had com pleted the cleanup. It was a great testimony to the selflessness of all of those involved.” Studdard, Continued from A4 pull. Among the viewers of Baldwin’s trigger confab was none other than the Santa Fe County District Attorney Mary Carmack- Altwies and special prose cutor Andrea Reeb. Ah, they mused, while reopen ing their partially closed briefs, a smoking (pun in tended) gun; the guy’s a liar, as well. Indictments to follow. As a denouement to this article, I ask you to circle back to the first paragraph. Mr. Baldwin, you should have just shut the hell up. Harper, Continued from A4 sent stock and bond in vestments show declines for 2022, meaning there will be few capital gains on investments to tax. Real estate prices have peaked and, in some areas, declined slightly, with transaction volumes also declining. Fewer trans actions with relatively stable prices means fewer one-time capital gains here as well. While the state will surely capture some cap ital gains taxes this year, the amount shouldn’t be anywhere near the level paid when Georgians filed their taxes for 2021’s profits and paid taxes on the windfall. More trouble some, because of quirks in tax code changes at the federal and state level, it’s possible that some taxes paid to the state over the past 12 months are actual overpayments, and the state will owe a reasonable portion of this surplus back to taxpayers as re funds. Because of the one time nature of this surge in revenue, the governor’s budget team and the legis lature are both reluctant to embark on new spending for recurring programs, which would assume this money will come in this year and again the next. Instead, a large portion of it will be rebated back to taxpayers. The governor’s budget plan before lawmakers in cludes rebates to Geor gians who filed income taxes, as well as one-time grants to those who pay property taxes, in order to offset expected property tax increases that come with rising home values. It was roughly a decade ago that Georgia’s rainy- day fund was empty and we were furloughing state employees and teachers to make the expenses match the revenue. While our economy has transformed and grown steadily since, the lessons of these hard times are not lost on those writing the budgets of today. Surpluses are better than deficits. The proper disposition of a surplus goes a long way to prevent the deficits of tomorrow.
