Newspaper Page Text
Page 8A, The Lee County Ledger, Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Idle Thoughts from the Street
Special to the Ledger
By Janisse Ray
At the Jesup library last
week I participated in a
discussion about the effects
of rising oil costs. An audi
ence of 35 people tackled
the question: What are you
doing, if anything, to scale
back your petroleum usage?
“We come to town a lot
less,’’ said Pat Nix. “Used
to, we’d run in for anything
we needed. Now we plan
ahead.’’ She made a motion
as if writing a list.
“We bought a hybrid,” said
Phyllis Bowen.
Carole Nelson said that
when she embarks on a
(more-infrequent) road trip,
she sets her cruise control
at 55. That way, she is not
tempted to speed. Even on
interstates, she drives 55
mph.
Another person, a self-pro
fessed leadfoot, is easier on
the acceleration.
My husband confessed that
he has been shutting off the
engine at long traffic lights
(not recommended!), and
that he has been coasting to
stops. Our motto, only half
a joke, has been: “If you’re
using your brake, you’re
throwing money out the win
dow.” We actually pushed
the car a few yards last week
when we didn’t quite judge
our momentum and rolled to
a stop shy of our driveway.
I am reminded of a book
seller friend who had the
idea of revising driver manu
als. “We could save a lot of
gasoline,” she said, “if we all
learned to drive better. We
should be teaching first-time
drivers how to save gas.”
One driving tip that will
save plenty is not idling.
For every two minutes
that a car idles, I’ve read, it
uses an equivalent of fuel
required to travel about one
mile. Idling gets zero miles
per gallon.
Most people believe that
a car needs to be warmed
up before being driven,
but research says that most
gasoline-powered cars built
after 1990 are designed to
need only 30 seconds of
warm-up time, and that this
should happen while driving
-- drive slowly and smoothly
for the first few miles of any
trip.
Excessive idling can dam
age engine components,
since fuel is only partially
combusted during idling.
(The engine is not running
at peak temperature.) This
leads to an accumulation
of fuel residues inside the
cylinders.
At what point should you
shut off the engine? The
magic number is 10. Idling
more than 10 seconds uses
more fuel than restarting.
The Jesup audience was
full of money-saving ideas
that also reduce pollution
and greenhouse gases. Even
more heartening is that the
evening proves that we are
changing the dialogue in this
country, from how to con
sume to how not to consume.
That’s big.
When author and activ
ist Janisse Ray idles this
summer, it is with a book in
hand! She lives on a farm
near Baxley.
Unemployment
Insurance Benefits
Extended
Special to the Ledger
State Labor Commissioner
Michael Thurmond said
that he commends Congress
and President Bush for their
efforts to extend unemploy
ment insurance benefits to
jobless Americans. He said,
“The Georgia Department
of Labor is preparing to pay
extended benefits to work
ers in Georgia who have lost
their jobs through no fault
of their own. These benefits
will become available as
soon as the federal govern
ment provides the necessary
funding.”
“The high price of food
and fuel together with
escalating layoffs has cre
ated a difficult situation
for job seekers and their
families. It is my hope that
these additional resources
will help those who qualify
bridge the financial gap as
they seek new employment,”
Thurmond said.
Monday, June 30, the
President signed into law
H.R. 2642, the supplemen
tal appropriations bill that
provides up to 13 weeks of
extended unemployment
insurance (UI) benefits.
Every jobless Georgian
who may be eligible for
extended benefits will be no
tified by mail and provided
with instructions on how to
apply.
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Metro Albany’s
unemployment
rate rises in May
Special to the Ledger
The Georgia Department
of Labor reported that the
unemployment rate in the
metro Albany area rose to a
preliminary 5.8 percent in
May, up seven-tenths of one
percent from a revised 5.1
percent in April.
Meanwhile, the state’s sea
To The Citizens of the Century District
Keep Experience and
Business Knowledge Working For You
I have 30 years of experience in local government. I served 26 years on
the Leesburg City Council and am competing my first four year term
on the county commission. I have served as commission chairman
for two years.
During my commission term:
We have completed the installation of water and sewer on U.S. Hwy
82 West. Several commercial businesses are expressing interest in
properties in that area.
Several new businesses have located in Lee County including Chili’s
and IHOP. The property at U.S. Hwy 19 South and Forrester Parkway
is being developed.
Several road paving, widening and extension projects using grants
and SPLOST funds have been completed or are planned including
Cedric Street, Graves Springs, Palmyra Road, Hickory Grove, Long
Dirt and Mayhaw Road.
Keep Experience and
Business Knowledge Working For You
The current year budget does not require a transfer from the reserve
fund to finish out the fiscal year. This is the first budget in six years
that did not require a transfer from the reserve fund account.
The budget just passed will not require a tax increase.
Keep Experience
and Business
Knowledge
Working For You
Re-elect
Morris Leverett
Century District County
Commissioner
Paid for by the candidate
Photo by Sharon Omahen
The best way to clean fresh produce at home
is to use fresh running water and friction,
say University of Georgia experts. Cleaning
cantaloupes and other produce with rough
exteriors can prove to be tricky.
Clean produce
with water and
‘elbow grease’
sonally adjusted unemploy
ment rate jumped to 5.8 per
cent in May, up five-tenths of
one percent from 5.3 percent
in April. The unemploy
ment rate increased because
layoffs in manufacturing and
other industries pushed the
total number of unemployed
workers up from 258,191 in
April to 284,816 in May, the
highest level ever recorded in
Georgia.
The current adjusted state
rate, which is three-tenths of
one percent higher than the
U.S. seasonally-adjusted rate
of 5.5 percent, continued to
top the national rate for the
past four months. The state
rate was the highest recorded
for the month of May since
1993.
Job growth in May failed
to keep pace with the num
ber of job seekers looking
for work, contributing to the
increase in the state unem
ployment rate. Preliminary
unadjusted data from April
to May show Georgia gained
only 9,400 payroll jobs, an
increase of two-tenths of one
percent. The data includes
workers who hold more than
one job. In metro Albany, the
number of jobs was down
200, or three-tenths of one
percent, from 64,800 to
64,600.
Special to the Ledger
By Sharon Omahen
University of Georgia
Regardless of fresh-food
contamination scares, pro
duce lovers should always
thoroughly wash their food.
It won’t guarantee that it’s
safe, but it helps, say Univer
sity of Georgia experts.
It has not been determined
whether the current cases
of salmonella illnesses
related to fresh tomatoes
are linked to contamination
on the fruit’s surface, said
Elizabeth Andress, a UGA
Cooperative Extension food
safety specialist.
“In reality, we don’t know
what the real problem is
yet,” she said. “We don’t
know if the bacteria are just
on the outside or if they are
on the inside, too. Until we
know where the problem is
coming from it’s hard for us
to give consumers advice.”
Fresh water and friction
The best way to clean pro
duce at home, she said, is to
simply rub it while running
fresh water over it.
Soaking the produce in a
weak chlorine solution will
reduce bacteria, too, but it
won’t get it all if it is con
taminated. “It is certainly
not an answer to the prob
lem,” she said.
Don’t soak produce for
more than one minute in a
chlorine solution. Still rub it
under fresh water after the
soak.
“Dirt or any kind of
organic material that the
vegetables add to the solu
tion will use up available
chlorine before any free
chlorine can sanitize,” she
said. “Free chlorine will
bind with organic material
first, and it’s only what is left
over that will be available to
kill microorganisms.”
Nooks and crannies
Cleaning the surface of
vegetables like cantaloupes
can be a difficult task.
“There are so many nooks
and crannies for bacteria to
hide in on produce,” said
Judy Harrison, a UGA Ex
tension food safety special
ist. “They can get down in
the openings for respiration
on the surface of leaves or
inside stem scars.”
In addition to providing
county agents with consumer
information, Harrison works
with UGA College of Agri
cultural and Environmental
Sciences food scientists to
develop post-harvest safety
recommendations for farm
ers.
The key to preventing con
tamination is to take precau
tions at all steps along the
way — from the farm fields
to home tables, she said.
Follow these tips
To reduce health risks
from contamination, Har
rison offers these tips:
* Wash hands with warm
water and soap for 20 sec
onds before and after prepar
ing fresh produce.
* Wash all produce before
eating.
* Don’t wash it with soap
or detergent or commercial
produce washes.
* Remove damaged or
bruised areas on fruits and
vegetables before preparing
or eating. Throw rotten-
looking produce away.
* Wash produce even if
you plan to peel it.
* Scrub firm produce, such
as melons and cucumbers,
with a clean produce brush.
* Dry produce with a clean
cloth or paper towel.
Norman
Hoover
Leesburg District ★ Commission Seat
“^Decisions with in AAincL”
As your commissioner:
* I will listen to the people
* I will use the taxpayers money wisely
* I will control spending
* I will keep
property taxes down
VOTE July 15th Republican Primary
Phone: (229) 485-7275
Email: gotapak4u@aol.com
Paid for by the candidate