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THE MADISON COUNTY (GA) JOURNAL. THURSDAY. JANUARY 15, 2009 — PAGE 5A
Mid-week windstorm damages home
Record number of farmers
participate in ag census
By Margie Richards
margie@mainstreetnews.com
Allen Collins and his wife,
Jo, were watching TV around
3:30 p.m. Wednesday in their
home on Hwy. 191, when
they heard a “ripping sound.”
The wind had been kicking
up for a while, but this was
different.
“I remember Jo said ‘well,
there goes the roof,’” Collins
said. The sound was terrible,
but thankfully lasted only a
few seconds. Once it quiet
ed down they went outside
where they saw most of their
tin roof, peeled “like a banana
skin” draped in strips and
shreds over an ancient oak
tree in the front yard. More
dramatic than that, the wind
had driven wooden strips into
the tree like stakes. Collins
hates to think what would
have happened if anyone had
been outside when it hap
pened.
It was a “fluke” since all
the tall old trees around their
house, which sits on a knoll
of their family farm, remained
virtually unscathed, as well as
an old bam with an ancient tin
roof just behind the house.
“That old tin is just rotten
and it (the wind) didn’t even
touch it,” Collins said of the
bam, shaking his head.
The roofers were busy on
Thursday replacing the dam
aged tin and removing the
Strong winds ripped the roof off the home of Allen and Jo Collins on Hwy. 191 last
Wednesday.
stripped roofing from the old
oak tree. For his part, Collins
said he’s just happy no one
was hurt. There will however,
be one more casualty of the
wind storm - this week the
old oak tree in the front yard,
a tree he grew up under the
branches of, is set to come
down. Collins pointed to holes
around the trunk that indicate
the root system is dying and
notes that if the wind had
been blowing the other way,
the old tree might have fell on
the house instead of the roof
landing in the tree.
“I hate to see it go,” Collins
said.
Two wooden strips were hurled into a tree at the
home of Allen and Jo Collins on Hwy. 191.
A record number of farmers participated in the 2007 Census
of Agriculture.
“They will soon see a return on that investment when Census
results are released Feb. 4 by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s
National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS),” the Census
press release stated.
Doug Kleweno, director of the NASS Georgia Field Office,
said the true value of the Census is the information it provides - it
charts trends in agriculture over time and provides the only source
of uniform, comprehensive data for every county in the nation.
The Census, which is conducted every five years, provides facts
and figures on virtually every aspect of U.S. agriculture, including
the number and types of farm operations, the economic aspects of
farm production and the demographics of U.S. farmers.
In addition, Kleweno said the information is used by all those
who serve farmers and rural communities, including government
agencies, community planners, agribusinesses, lenders, trade
associations and many others.
“They (farmers) took the time to tell us about what’s happening
in agriculture on a local and national level. That voice will be
heard by policymakers and other agricultural stakeholders now
and in the years ahead," Kleweno said.
Census results will now be available online and in various pub
lications to be issued by NASS. For more information, visit www.
agcensus.usda.gov or call 800-727-9540.
American Folklife Center seeks
recordings of historic sermons
The United States will inaugurate Barack Obama, the country’s
first African-American president Jan. 20.
In anticipation of citizens’ efforts to mark this historic time
around the country, the American Folklife Center will be collect
ing audio and video recordings of sermons and orations made
between Friday. Jan. 16. and Sunday, Jan. 25, that comment
on the significance of the inauguration of 2009. It is expected
that such sermons and orations will be delivered at churches,
synagogues, mosques and other places of worship, as well as
before humanist congregations and other secular gatherings. The
American Folklife Center is seeking as wide a representation of
orations as possible. For more information, visit http://www.loc.
gov/folklife/inaugural/.
Freeman, Hobbs sworn into
new terms on Ila City Council
Council members Don Freeman
and Nathaniel Hobbs were sworn
in by city attorney Pat Graham to
serve new four-year terms on the
Ha city council in January. The
council members qualified for new
terms last fall with no opposition.
The city council has chosen a
site for a back up well on William
Smith’s property. Smith and the
city recently entered into a con
tract for a lease for the well site.
The EPD will need to approve the
site before the well can be drilled,
according to the minutes.
The council asked attorney
Graham to send a letter to the
Dollar General store adjacent to
city hall "putting them on notice”
that when the city's fence falls,
they will be liable for replace
ment. since the city maintains that
a retaining wall was not properly
installed.
The council also asked city clerk
Susan Steed to send a letter to
a property owner on Campbell
Street following several com
plaints concerning a refrigerated
tractor-trailer parking at a vacant
residence there. The letter is to
request that the truck no longer be
parked there.
The council also asked Graham
to look into a possible storm
water mn off ordinance for com
mercial development in the city.
Councilman Hobbs said he has
noticed several areas in town that
wash out badly following a heavy
rain.
The council voted to have a large
dumpster brought to city hall for
use by city residents, but noted that
no metal or household garbage is
to be placed there.
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• The Jackson Herald • The Commerce News • The Braselton News
• The Banks County News • The Madison County Journal
Georgia Real Estate Investors
Association, Inc. - Athens
Meets the third Thursday each month
6:30 pm at the UGA Conferen ce Center
1197 South Lumpkin Street,
Athens, GA 30601
Tom Hewlett - Chapter President
thewlettl@charter.net pj 12/09
BANKS COUNTY
HISTORICAL SOCIETY, INC.
meets first Monday each month
7:00 p.m. in the Banks Co. Historial
Courthouse at 105 U.S. Hwy. 441
North in Homer pd.-07/09
Citizens Organized for
Pipeline Safety
investigating the health risks to citizens from
underground pipelines and booster stations in
Madison Co. Meetings 6:30 p.m. at the Colbert
Grove Baptist Church the 2nd Thurs. of each
month. 706-783-4702. Pd.04/09
JEFFERSON
Ip AMERICAN LEGION
Albert Gordon Post 56
Each 3rd Tuesday, 7:30 p.m.
Harvie Lance, Commander
Phone (706) 654-1274 aio
White Plains Baptist Church Pd 02/09
Faith Bible Class meets every Sunday morning
at 10:00 a.m. It is a place where strangers
become friends and friends become family.
706-367-5650
White Plains Baptist Church
3650 Hwy. 124 West, Jefferson, GA 30549
The Jackson Co. Republican Party
Would like you to meet us for
breakfast the second Sat. of each
month, 8:00 at The Jefferson
House. For more information, call
706-652-2967 or email
fishyglass@yahoo.com Pd.u/08
BANKS COUNTY
fgf AMERICAN LEGION
Post 215
Meets each 3rd Thursday, 7 p.m.
In Homer, GA at the
American Legion Building on
Historic Highway 441 pd.06/09
VETERANS OF
9 FOREIGN WARS
Post 4872, Hurricane Shoals Convention Ctr.
Each 4th Tuesdasy, 7:00 p.m.
Lamar Langston, Commander
Phone 706-652-2627 263
JEFFERSON EIONS CEUB
Meets 2nd & 4th Monday
Jefferson City Clubhouse
6:30 p.m. *(706) 387-1156
Mack Cates, President
542
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F&A.M.
No. 36, Jefferson, GA
1st Tuesday of each month, 7:30 p.m.
Dwayne Potts • 706-367-4449
Borders St. behind Tabo’s 260
JEFFERSON ROTARY CLUB
Meets Tuesdays
Jefferson City Clubhouse
12:30 p.m. -(706) 367-7696
Gina Mitsdarffer, President
547
Gov’t transparency website launched
Governor Sonny Perdue has announced the launch of the Open
Georgia: Transparency in Government website. The website can be
found at open.georgia.gov. The site allows Georgians online access to
agency expenditures on professional services, employee salaries and
travel, state financial reports and program reviews from the two previ
ous fiscal years.
“The Open Georgia website makes state government more transpar
ent to its customer, the taxpayer," Governor Perdue said. "By being
willing to further open the halls of government to the public, we give
citizens more confidence that their tax dollars are being spent wisely."
There are numerous ways to search for salaries for anyone employed
by state agencies, universities or even local school systems. Users can
search by name, title, description and agency. The site allows Georgians
to view professional service vendors doing business with the state and
view how much they were paid during the two previous fiscal years.
Once the information is accessed, it can be exported into Microsoft
Excel or Adobe pdf formats.
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