Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 4
THE ADVOCATE DEMOCRAT, Crawfordville, GA, Friday, March 29, 2024
EOA Energy Assistance for Cooling
For Ages 65 +
Those ages 65 and up and those medically homebound
(life-threatening illness) can begin calling the Taliaferro Family
Connection office on Thursday, April 4 to schedule an appointment.
Bills with a credit of $1,000 or more will not be eligible to receive
an energy payment. NO EXCEPTIONS.
Household Size Total Gross Annual/Yearly Household Income
1
$0 -
$29,713
2
$0 -
$38,856
3
$0 -
$47,999
4
$ 0-
$57,142
5
$0 -
$66,284
6
$0 -
$75,427
7
$0 -
$77,141
8
$0 -
$78,855
9
$ 0 -
$80,570
10
$0 -
$82,284
11
$0 -
$83,998
12
$0 -
$85,713
Please bring the following items needed to apply
• Picture Id for all household members 18 years and older
• Social Security card for all household members
• Proof of income for past 30 days for all household
members
• Most recent electric/gas bills
(PLEASE NOTE - DO NOT COME TO THE APPOINTMENT
WITHOUT ALL OF YOUR PAPERWORK. INCOME, ELECTRIC/
GAS BILLS HAVE TO BE CURRENT.
Please call Taliaferro Family Connection office beginning
April 4 at 706-456-1250.
Friday
June 7
8-10 PM
OBC
Oconee Brewing Company
Doors Open at 6:30 PM
The Burch Food Truck will
be open.
From Atlanta, Georgia. Troubadour Project
faithfully recreates the music of some of the
greatest rock classics from the 1970's,
Seamlessly blending the iconic sounds of
Fleetwood Mac, Queen, Led Zeppelin, ELO, Peter
Frampton, Supertramp, The Eagles and more,
each performance is a tapestry of rock history-
Ticket Prices:
General Admission: $75
Table for 4: $400
Table for 8: $1000
Limited Tickets!
All proceeds from this event oenifit Circle of love Center, an emergency safe
shelter and resource center for domestic violence victims and their children.
Learn More & Purchase Tickets: www.COLinc.org
Ash sentenced to 20
years for kidnapping
Jaquin Ash pleaded guilty to
one count of kidnapping in front
of Superior Court Judge Terry
N. Massey on Monday, April 1.
He entered a non-negotiated
plea, which meant that both the
State and his attorney argued
for what the proper sentence
should be before Judge Massey
sentenced him.
The charge stemmed from an
incident in September of 2023 in
which Ash pushed his girlfriend
into the trunk of her car following
an argument. Ash then drove off
at high speed. The victim, while
trying to turn on her flashlight,
started recording the terrifying
ordeal. The video showed her
screaming for Ash to let her out
of the trunk. She then managed
to pull the emergency escape
latch and jumped out when Ash
slowed down. She was knocked
unconscious by the fall and Ash
can then be heard stopping and
telling her to get up.
The State, represented
by Assistant District Attorney
Blayne May, presented this
video in support of his argument
for the maximum sentence.
He emphasized that Ash was
already getting a benefit, as his
plea to kidnapping meant that his
maximum sentence was twenty
years, instead of the mandatory
life imprisonment sentence that
Ash would be facing if convicted
of kidnapping with bodily injury.
After hearing from both sides,
Judge Massey sentenced the
defendant to twenty years with
the first fifteen to be served in
prison.
Oconee Regional Humane Society
1020 Park Ave #101, Greensboro
706-454-1508
We are open Tuesday - Saturday 11 a.m. - 3 p.m
and by appointment.
Calling all Greene County Action
Daycare & Child Development students
for a fun day in the park
If you attended Action Daycare or Child Development
in Siloam, GA or Greensboro, GA
from 1972 to the early 2000,
you and your immediate family are invited
to come and share in the fun.
WHEN:Saturday, May 4, 2024
WHERE:Siloam, Georgia Community Park
TIME:10:00AM to 5:00PM
UNITY COLORS:Blue T-Shirt
If you would like a personalized Greene County Daycare T-Shirt,
please contact Tia Derrico @ 706-818-8670
There will be Free Food, Games and Prizes
You are welcome to bring your own tents and chairs.
(Tailgate style)
Looking forward to seeing you all there.
COME ONE, COME ALL, LET’S HAVE A BALL!!!
Toombs Circuit Record Clearing
& Community Resources Event
Assisting individuals with restricting and
scaling (expungement) of criminal
history resolved out of McDuffie, Wilkes,
Lincoln, warren, Taliaferro & Glascock
Counties.
Limited to the first 100 applicants!
Registration is required.
Saturday, June 29th | HAM- 3PM
Augusta Technical College - Thomson Campus
3134 W. Bypass Rd p Thomson GA 30824
GEORGIA
JUSTiCF.
PRO! FLIT
HOUI
AUTFtl
INC
>KITY
MakTFtt COUNTr
sH’jRiFFsomce
/
■K-- ■*
CK
YMLhLtp4WH(.>>.n|0gnnbi4lrtviC.-4pFlkj<lOT nn»n (he q R code** wtiei-r
Xpp'kiM'pnj ttfi MltmlHta Fn ptrwn n (H
■‘■.'tOufhe-Co. Sftwiffi'OlfiteiTSl Futile Wc-ty Drive, Trwm»nt GA. 3U-1H
ZiSAraSrt* prtv*. Wathmjierv
•Wlmo Le. SfitF.Tf 5 Office: LfilGA.BAWtrrtnEMl, GA 3UBZE
-Tilure^rfrCi, Jf. C-wf-irC-A JMJ1
’ C-ii-holY to ShtrilTi QflkcW E Mail JtrDrt, GiUor* GA 3MID
*UrtC4ln Cb, Jlwwi Off*K m Svt*l. IkWlftWi 4# H411
Completed appiiTtfionf jJid questions cjn Ite luMnittcd byent^n no McDuHr.c
Oeputy She*iH ftjr*V WhUf ieW -H 0 J rry.WHHflews? I hcmOMTJHMflrjIOV.
Civil
Criminal
Wills & Probate
Auto Accidents
• Divorce • Business & Corporate
• Family Law • Real Estate
• Personal Injury • Trial Practice
E j. Boswell
T
Law Office
Law Office of E. J. Boswell
P. O. Box 357
201 N. East Street, Greensboro, GA 30642
0:706-454-0032 F: 706-454-0035
If the Okefenokee isn’t worth saving, what is?
By Dink NeSmith
W ith a nod to William
Shakespeare, the question is
“To mine or not to mine?”
If you are talking about the
Okefenokee, I have made my opinion
dear. The humongous blackwater swamp
is a treasure, and nothing—absolutely
nothing—should be attempted that wil
risk harming our irreplaceable gem of nature.
But it ain’t that simple.
One of the first rules of
journalism is to follow the
money.
And while money talks, big
money screams.
Those big-money screams
under the Gold Dome
are keeping our leaders
from saying, “Twin Pines
Minerals, take your draglines
elsewhere. The Okefenokee
is too valuable to prostitute
for titanium or any other
minerals,”
But, oh, no.
Tire Alabama miners
have done their best to pave a route to Trail Ridge, the
eastern lip of the Okefenokee, with dollars, a bunch of
them. An army of Twin Pines lobbyists and strategic
campaign contributions have tamped down efforts of
the General Assembly to do what millions believe is the
right thing—save the swamp. If the Okefenokee isn’t
worth saving, what is?
Where is Georgia’s Department of Natural Resources
(DNR) board on this? If that governor-appointed group
isn’t our stalwarts for protection of the environment,
who—pray tell—is? Back when this Twin Pines proposal
surfaced, I made a personal appeal to each board
member. One DNS board member replied, “You’d be
surprised how little we get to decide? 7
Duh,
Under DNR’s organizational umbrella is the Georgia’s
Environmental Protection Division (EPD). That unit
granted a “draft permit” but left the matter open until
after an April 9 deadline for a 60-day public-comment
period. Already more than 100,000 have commented.
(You can comment by going to TwinPines.Comments#
dnr.ga.gov.) 1 am an eternal optimist. But short of a
miraculous change of attitude, Twin Pines is going to
get what it bought.
Why?
The big money and lobbyists have helped the General
Assembly find an excuse to say no—invasion of private
property rights. Twin Pines owns the property and
presumes the right to gouge and drain enormous holes
in Trail Ridge next to the Okefenokee. In addition, our
leaders appear to believe the miners’ will-do-no-harm
scientists rather than independent experts who are
waving the warning flags.
Whom would I trust?
It wouldn’t be Twin Pines
Minerals or its scientists.
Now about private property
rights.
1 am a private property
owner. I want my rights, too,
but there are commonsense
restrictions. For example,
I cannot do something on
my property that will harm
my neighbor’s property. The
Okefenokee National Wildlife
Refuge is Twin Pines’ neighbor,
in a big way, all 438,000 acres.
The fear is that mining will have a negative impact on
the swamp’s hydrology. Simply, nearby deep digging will
drain too much water for ecological sustainability.
Want a private-property-rights analogy?
I am an advocate of the First Amendment which
gives you and me the right to voice our opinions. That’s
what I’m doing right now. However, there are some
commonsense restrictions. We cannot shout “fire” in
a crowded theater if there’s no fire. We don’t have the
right to libel or slander someone. 1 add, “Your freedom
of speech ends within a quarter-inch of my nose.” As
for private property rights, Okefenokee’s “nose” is the
boundary line separating Twin Pines and the swamp.
Remember cartoonist Walt Kelly’s Okefenokee
philosophical possum, Pogo? Pogo mused, “We have
met the enemy, and he is usIf Georgians give up on
protecting the Okefenokee Swamp, truer words have
never been spoken.
dnesmith@cninewspapers.com
(For more commentaries visit www.dinknesmith.com.)
Anyone questioning the Okefenokee Swamp's irreplaceable
beauty and theneed to protect it should read Don Berryhill's
and Wayne Morgan's book, Okefenokee Swamp Wild &
Natural, Don's writing and Wayne's photos say it all.
