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THE COMMERCE (GA) NEWS, WEDNESDAY. TANUARY 21. 2009 - PAGE 7 A
Work linking and improving the traffic lights at Washington Street, Homer
Road and Central Avenue is due to be completed in March.
Traffic Light Improvements
To Be Completed In March
By Mark Beardsley
It’s not likely motorists
will notice, but come March,
traffic flow along Broad and
Elm streets in downtown
Commerce should be more
efficient.
The Department of
Transportation is upgrading
all of the signal lights from
Washington Street to Hwy.
326 (at Jay’s Department
Store). The project started
in September and has been
extended through March.
“These are some of the
oldest traffic equipment in
the district,’’ explained Steve
Jones, of the DOT’s signal
office in Gainesville. “They
are really out of date.’’
All three signals —
Washington Street,
Jefferson/Homer roads and
Central Avenue — will be
interconnected. One of the
more laborious parts of the
project is drilling beneath the
city streets and sidewalks to
install the conduit for the
interconnecting cables.
“We will be able to have
the signals coordinated,
which will help the flow of
traffic,’’ Jones predicted.
The project was let in
December 2007, but the
contractor did not start
work until last September.
As a result, the contractor
had to get an extension past
the original completion date
of November 2008, Jones
said. The new completion
date is in March.
Cyber Safety Seminar Upcoming
The Commerce Police
Department will hold a free
seminar Thursday, Jan. 29,
to update parents on ways
to keep their kids’ computer
activities safe.
Max Briggs, the school
resource officer (SRO), will
present the program at 6:00
p.m. in the Commerce High
School media center. He
promises it will provide par
ents and adults “more than
just information about the
Internet.’’
Those wishing to attend
are asked to call the school
office at 706-335-1801 to reg
ister. Space is limited, and
no children will be allowed
in the seminar.
“Today, more than ever
before, children and teenag
ers are faced with incred
ible pressures arising from
social networks, Internet
gaming sites and peer-to-
peer transactions such as
instant messaging and text
messaging,’’ Briggs points
out. “Many parents feel
intimidated, left out or at
the very least, far behind in
their skills to not only navi
gate the cyber world, but in
their abilities to maintain
connection with their cyber
savvy kids.’’
Cpl. Briggs gives presen
tations to Commerce stu
dents as a regular part of his
job as SRO. Thus far, when
presenting on cyber safety,
he has not been surprised
to discover what kids know
about computers and the
Internet. But he says he is
surprised — and troubled
— to learn what they don’t
know about protecting their
identities, guarding against
predators and just how easi
ly it is to cross the line, legal
ly speaking, using technol
ogy. Moreover, when talk
ing to students about their
activities on the Internet, he
finds “no parents allowed’’
as the universal theme.
Many parents agree, fear
ing to “trespass’’ in their chil
dren’s private worlds.
Briggs, when talking
to students, stresses that
allowing parents to have at
least emergency access to
their social sites and other
Internet activities can save
their lives. Across the coun
try there has been a marked
increase in instances of
cyber-bullying and, tragical
ly, some of those instances
have led students to com
mit suicide. In addition, says
Briggs, predators are chang
ing their strategies to avoid
detection by law enforce
ment and to secure private
and dangerous cyber rela
tionships with children.
Those topics will be dis
cussed at the seminar.
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Chamber Ends 2008
More Than $18,000 In Black
Upcoming Chamber Events
Thursday, Jan. 22: Visioning Meeting, 8:30
a.m., Jefferson Civic Center. University of Georgia
Archway professionals will meet with county leaders
about a proposed "community visioning project" to
seek input on what Jackson County should look like
in the future.
Friday, Jan. 23: Annual Awards Banquet, 6
p.m., Jefferson Civic Center.
Thursday, Jan. 29: Marketing roundtable,
noon, at the chamber office. President Shane
Short will lead a follow-up to the Small Business
Development Groups "marketing on a budget"
Lunch & Learn session from January. It is a brown-
bag luncheon event.
Monday, Feb. 2: New Member Orientation,
4 p.m., at the chamber office. Open to all new
chamber members.
Wednesday, Feb. 4: Chamber breakfast, 7:30
a.m., Jefferson Civic Center. $5 for chamber mem
bers, $10 for nonmembers.
Monday, Feb. 16: Lunch & Learn, noon, Beef
O'Brady's, Jefferson. The topic will be "how to
protect your business from identity theft." The cost is
$ 15, including lunch.
Monday, Feb. 23: STAR/TOY Reception: 5:30
p.m., Lanier Technical College Commerce campus.
STAR teachers and students and teachers of the year
from the Commerce, Jackson County and Jefferson
school districts will be recognized.
Tuesday, March 17: Business After-Hours at
Funopolis, U.S. 441 North, Commerce. This is a
social and networking event.
By Mark Beardsley
The Jackson County Area
Chamber of Commerce
will likely adjust its budget
in February to reflect the
souring economy, but its
board of directors got some
good news last Friday.
Treasurer Keith Johnson
reported that the chamber
ended 2008 $18,586 in the
black, thanks to a strong
December.
For the year, Johnson
reported, the chamber
had income of $500,653,
about $24,000 lower than
budgeted, but its expenses
were $482,096 — more than
$40,000 less than budget
ed.
The chamber ends the
year with more than $48,000
cash on hand.
By February, the cham
ber will have a better
picture of its 2009 rev
enues, because most of its
members are invoiced for
renewals during January.
The group has 529 active
members, according to
Finda Foster, director
of member services, but
it is anticipated that the
economic downturn will
claim some of them.
The first meeting of 2009
marked Gina Mitsdarffer’s
first as chairman, and her
first order of business was
to change the meeting time
of the group from noon on
third Fridays to 8:00 a.m. on
third Fridays.
Mitsdarffer said a poll
of directors showed “over
whelming’’ support for
keeping the meeting on
the same day, and “a large
response’’ for moving it to a
breakfast meeting.
The location of the meet
ing remains up in the air.
Since the size of the board
was increased last year, the
chamber’s conference is
not large enough to host
the event. Directors will be
notified when the location
is set for the Feb. 20 meet
ing.
In other housekeep
ing activities, Mitsdarffer
announced the commit
tee chairmanships, includ
ing Kay Parks, Education
Committee; Jennifer
Thurmond, Women In
Business; and Hasco
Craver, Tourism Council.
Chairs are still being sought
for the Small Business
Development Group and
the Economic Development
Council.
On the economic deve
opment front, Short repor
ed that while 14 project
are still pending, “not a lc
is moving — nothing ha
moved in some time.’’
He said the chambe
received an inquiry for
project requiring rail acces
and a half-acre of land, bt
had no other information.
However, he also said tha
while things are slow, the'
are not as dead in Jacksoi
as in other counties.
“Although things hav
slowed down greatly, we ar
still seeing some project
come through,’’ Short toll
the board.
BANKS
JACKSON
COMMERCE
MEDICAL
CENTER
ANNOUNCEMENT
BJC Medical Center would like to
announce the implementation of our
new Point of Service Collection
Policy. This policy states that ALL co
payments, deductibles, and self-pay
accounts will be due and payable at the
time services are rendered unless prior
arrangements for payment have been
made with the Patient Financial
Counselor located in the hospital busi
ness office (706) 335-1127.
For your convenience, we gladly accept Cash, Visa,
MasterCard, Discover, American Express, Money Or
ders and Persona! Checks.
“ We Treat you Like Family ”
BJC Medical Center
(706)335-1127
www. hjcmc. org
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