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PAGE 8B PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS THURSDAY. JUNE 3. 2021
Georgia scores AAA bond
rating again this year
By Dave Williams
Bureau Chief
Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA - The state of
Georgia will be able to able
to sell more than $1.1 billion
in bonds next month for
building projects at the low
est possible interest rates.
The three main credit rat
ing agencies have again
given the Peach State a AAA
rating on its general obliga
tion bonds, Gov. Brian Kemp
announced Thursday.
Georgia has benefited
from AAA ratings for
decades, but that top score
was far from guaranteed in
2021.
“In a year of unprece
dented challenges - working
with the General Assembly -
we cut taxes, balanced the
state’s budget, invested in es
sential services and avoided
draconian budget cuts,”
Kemp said.
“These decisions resulted
in an unemployment rate
below the national average
and the lowest of the 10 most
populated states, record job
and investment growth and
being named the top state for
business for the eighth year
in a row.”
The state’s financial situa
tion looked precarious last
year. After the coronavirus
pandemic forced businesses
to close and lay off workers,
Kemp and the legislature im
posed 10% spending cuts on
state agencies across the
board.
But the pandemic-driven
recession didn’t have nearly
as much impact on tax col
lections as had been ex
pected. As a result, the fiscal
2022 state budget taking ef
fect July 1 restores many of
this year’s spending reduc
tions.
Georgia is among only
nine states to receive a AAA
credit rating on its general
obligation bonds this year
from Fitch Ratings, Moody’s
Investors Service and S&P
Global Ratings.
“Georgia’s AAA long
term rating is supported by
our view of the state’s overall
strong credit fundamentals,
including its large and di
verse economic base that ex
hibited comparative
resilience relative to the U.S.
in light of uncertain public
health and safety risks pre
sented by COVID-19,” S&P
wrote.
“In our view, Georgia
made necessary budget ad
justments and emerged from
this challenging social and
economic landscape in a
comparatively steady finan
cial position.”
Initial jobless claims continue
declining in Georgia
By Dave Williams
Bureau Chief
Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA - First-time
unemployment claims in
Georgia fell last week, mir
roring a decline in claims at
the national level.
Jobless Georgians filed
24,553 initial claims last
week, down 888 from the
week before, the state De
partment of Labor reported
Thursday.
Meanwhile, the depart
ment was being forced to
deal with growing cases of
fraud among the more than
60,000 Georgians thrown out
of work by the coronavirus
pandemic more than a year
ago who have refiled for pay
ments for a second year.
“A high number of
claimants who have applied
for their second year of ben
efits ... have been found to
possibly be committing
fraud,” Georgia Commis
sioner of Labor Mark Butler
said Thursday.
“Couple those investiga
tions with the majority of re-
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cently filed claims failing to
verify their identity and we
are left manually sifting
through a myriad of fraudu
lent claims searching for the
small percentage that are ac
tually valid.”
Butler’s remarks came
one day after Democrats in
Georgia’s congressional del
egation sent the commis
sioner a letter demanding that
the labor department share its
plan for addressing a claims
backlog.
“While factors such as ini
tial understaffing and limited
technology may have pre
vented [the department] from
processing claims, after a
year there still remain exten
sive questions on how the
agency plans to identify solu
tions to address the serious
backlog that currently ex
ists,” said U.S. Rep. Carolyn
Bourdeaux, D-Buford.
“Georgians are lawfully
entitled to the benefits they
applied for. They are also en
titled to transparency and ac
countability from their
government. It’s time for an
swers - and solutions.”
The backlog of unemploy
ment claims also drew a re
sponse from the
Republican-controlled Gen
eral Assembly during this
year’s legislative session.
Lawmakers passed a bill call
ing for the state to hire a chief
labor officer to work with
Butler on resolving the back
log.
However, Gov. Brian
Kemp vetoed the measure,
arguing it would have inter
fered with the commis
sioner’s constitutional
authority as a statewide
elected official and failed to
delineate a way to resolve
conflicts between the com
missioner and chief labor of
ficer.
The labor department has
processed more than 4.8 mil
lion first-time unemployment
claims since March of last
year, more than during the
last 10 years prior to the pan
demic, while paying out
more than $21.8 billion in
state and federal jobless ben
efits.
The job sector accounting
for the most initial claims last
week was accommodation
and food services with 5,140
claims. The administrative
and support services sector
was next with 2,033 claims,
followed by manufacturing
with 1,460.
More than 234,000 jobs
are listed on the labor depart
ment’s EmployGeorgia web
site.
Claimants are being urged
to register with EmployGeor
gia to avoid intemiptions in
their payments. Video tutori
als on how to register are
available at https://employge-
orgia.com.
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business
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Call us at 706-253-2457
Plants of the Southeast (supermarkets)
“Malanga," Xanthosoma sagittifolium
photo/John Nelson
“Malanga," Xanthosoma sagittifolium is a common sta
ple in Caribbean and found in supermarkets here.
By John Nelson
They don't often let me go
to the supermarket to pick up
anything, because I always
end up spending too much
time there. Not exactly buy
ing stuff, but just looking at
it and reading the labels. Sar
dines, wine, macaroni,
roasted chickens, sushi,
cheese, mustard (how many
kinds can there be?), rice,
grains, milk, hot sauce,
candy, cosmetics, beach
stuff, dog toys...it goes on
and on.
But I went by myself the
other day (still wearing a
mask, although I’ve had my
shots) and I'm coming up
with a theory that modern
grocery stores have two soci
etal functions: satisfying our
nutritional and every-day
needs, as well as cheap in
door entertainment. In fact,
I'm one of those lucky people
who can spend hours looking
at the stuff: it's cheaper than
going to a movie, after all.
(And the floors are cleaner.)
For a botanist, the most
interesting part of the grocery
store is its produce section, of
course. WOW. Figs from
down the street, plantains
from Guatemala, and straw
berries from Chile. Peaches
from South Carolina (sorry,
Georgia), persimmons from
the Orient, and lychees from
Australia. Beautiful fresh
fruits and vegetables.. .too
much fun for a plant person.
It's like being in a garden.
You never know what you
might run into on your next
trip.
The things in this picture
are the edible underground
parts of a very tropical
species, (Xanthosoma sagitti
folium) a species that is a
philodendron relative.
“Malanga," as it’s commonly
called, a plant that grows in
clumps, and has plenty of
dark green, arrowhead
shaped leaves about two-feet
long, held in a cluster above
the ground, resembling a cul
tivated elephant-ear. The un
derground structures aren't
exactly roots but are more
like the corns of a gladiolus
plant, only elongated.
Tons of these things are
grown as a crop and con
sumed annually in the
Caribbean nations, where it
is something of a staple. The
species is probably native to
northern South America but
was transported widely as a
food crop by early explorers,
and is now commonly con
sumed worldwide throughout
the tropics. (You probably
know about cultivated taro
and “yuca”, which are also
root crops, but are not the
same as Malanga.)
Although the fibrous exte
rior of the corm is rough and
scratchy, the interior is per
fectly white, and crispy. The
nutritionists tell us that these
have a very high starch con
tent, and so probably would
n't be very good for a
low-carb diet. Nevertheless,
they are full of vitamins and
minerals, quite nutritious as a
peeled, cooked vegetable,
and definitely worth a try,
baked, boiled or steamed.
Now, I am no cook, but I un
derstand that it's versatile by
itself or as a component of
savory stews or turned into
fritters.
They also make popular
chips when thinly sliced and
then deep fried. I think I can
safely recommend a gener
ous sprinkle of sea salt after
they have drained a bit on
paper, just out of the fryer. Be
sure to serve them hot and
give them a healthy squeeze
of some lime juice or a bit of
hot sauce, too.
John Nelson is the retired
curator of the A. C. Moore
Herbarium at the University
of South Carolina. As a pub
lic service, the Herbarium of
fers free plant identifications.
For more information, visit
www.herbarium.org or email
johnbnelson @sc. rr. com
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Attention Veterans!
We are your American Legion!
We are dedicated to:
♦ Veterans
• Emergency assistance for homeless Veterans.
• Coordinating with Home Depot for Veteran related projects.
• Benefits counseling so that Veterans get what they earned.
• Fellowship for Veterans-We have served our country so we understand
what you are feeling.
• Monthly meetings, weekly lunches, participation in community events
throughout the year.
❖ Community
• College scholarships for Pickens County Veterans.
• Scholarships for two high school students each year.
• Youth Sports Sponsorship for 5 teams and 50 baseball players.
• Sponsorship of Scouting at the Senior and Cub levels.
♦ Patriotism
• Dedicated to the preservation of our country, its symbols
and its values.
• Participation in community events and presentation of our flag.
• Instructing in flag etiquette and proper disposal of worn flags.
♦ Remembering the Cost of Freedom
• You know the cost because you helped to pay the bill.
• All gave some. Some gave all.
We know a thing or two, because we have seen a thing or two.
Contact your
American Legion Post:
American Legion Post 149
P.O. Box 477
Jasper, GA 30143
706-253-1715 alpost149@gmail.com
www.americanlegion149.com
Donations are tax deductible.