Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 2A- THE MADISON COUNTY (GA) JOURNAL. THURSDAY. JULY 6, 2023
Energy continued from 1A
the air conditioner com
pletely, as this forces the
system to work harder
when you turn it back
on. Each degree below
78 degrees increases op
erating costs by approx
imately 5%.
•Set your water heater
to 120 degrees for ener
gy efficiency.
•Use blinds, shades or
curtains to block heat
from the sun warming
your house.
•Keep lamps, televi
sions or anything that
creates heat away from
the thermostat, as they
will impact its accuracy.
•Restrict use of
heat-producing appli
ances like ovens, dish
washers and dryers to
the early morning or
late evening when tem
peratures are cooler out
doors.
•Do only full loads
when you use clothes
washers, dryers and
dishwashers.
•Activate “sleep”
features on computers
and office equipment
that power down when
the equipment is not in
use. Unplug “energy
vampires,” which are
electronic devices that
use energy even when
they’re turned off such
as coffee makers, TVs,
chargers, etc.
•Grill outside or use
a microwave or toast
er oven. A toaster oven
uses one-third to one-
half as much energy as
a regular oven and re
leases less heat into the
home.
•Trim foliage around
the air conditioning unit
to allow adequate air
flow around the unit.
For additional mon
ey-saving advice, visit
jacksonemc.com/ways-
tosave.
Lampe
continued from 1A
frugally as she had to.
So back to your ques
tion, my decision to vote
against the budget was
a vote against ANY in
crease in the local prop
erty tax. The weight room
was just an example of a
big ticket item that I have
knowledge of, it was used
in the discussion to illus
trate that a quarter of a
million dollars is a lot of
money to move a weight
room to an existing
structure, and that there
are ways to get what we
“need” while still being
cognizant of the finan
cial hardships that the
increased tax burdens
brings on individuals.
Respectfully,
Dan Lampe
Freeze damage to peaches
prompts disaster declaration
By Dave Williams
Capitol Beat News
Service
The U.S. Department
of Agriculture (USDA)
has declared 18 Georgia
counties natural disas
ter areas due to damage
to the state’s peach crop
and other commodities
caused by March freezes.
The declaration will
allow the USDA’s Farm
Service Agency to ex
tend emergency credit to
Georgia farmers.
“I’m grateful to USDA
Secretary [Tom] Vilsack
for recognizing the im
portance of delivering
much-needed relief to
Georgia farmers follow
ing the untimely freezes
in March,” state Com
missioner of Agriculture
Tyler Harper said Tues
day.
“Since the freeze,
we’ve worked with our
farmers and producers
to ensure USDA clearly
understood the severity
of the situation and the
needs of those impacted
by the freeze. Georgia
peaches are a symbol of
the success of our state’s
No.-l industry, and this
much-needed relief will
help farmers and produc
ers bounce back better
than before.”
The 18 counties listed
in the disaster declaration
- primarily in North and
Middle Georgia - include
Banks, Crawford, Fan
nin, Gilmer, Habersham,
Hall, Jackson, Johnson,
Macon, Madison, Meri
wether, Monroe, Peach,
Pike, Taylor, Towns,
Union and Upson.
Farmers in the follow
ing 38 contiguous coun
ties also are eligible for
assistance: Barrow, Bibb,
Butts, Clarke, Cowe
ta, Dawson, Dooly, El
bert, Emanuel, Forsyth,
Franklin, Gordon, Gwin
nett, Harris, Hart, Hous
ton, Jasper, Jefferson,
Jones, Lamar, Laurens,
Lumpkin, Marion, Mur
ray, Oconee, Oglethorpe,
Pickens, Rabun, Schley,
Spalding, Stephens,
Sumter, Talbot, Treut
len, Troup, Washington,
White, and Wilkinson.
USDA loans can be
used for a variety of re
covery requirements in
cluding replacing farm
equipment or livestock,
reorganizing a farm op
eration, or to refinance
specific loans. The Farm
Service Agency reviews
all loans based on the ex
tent of losses, available
security, and ability to
repay.
The application dead
line is Feb. 26 of next
year.
GA Lottery celebrates 30 years
By Dave Williams
Capitol Beat News
Service
Gov. Brian Kemp,
Georgia Lottery offi
cials, and heads of the
state agencies that ben
efit from the scholarship
program recently cele
brated the lottery’s 30th
anniversary.
“That is a significant
amount of time,” Kemp
told reporters during
a ceremony inside the
governor’s office at the
Georgia Capitol. “A
whole generation of stu
dents have benefited,
some twice.”
Since the first lottery
ticket went on sale on
June 29, 1993, the lot
tery has transferred more
than $26.5 billion to ed
ucation in Georgia. More
than 2.1 million college
students have benefited
from the HOPE Schol
arship and HOPE-re-
lated scholarship pro
grams, while more than
2 million youngsters
have been able to attend
pre-kindergarten through
the lottery.
Kemp and Gretchen
Corbin, president and
CEO of the Georgia Lot
tery Corp., highlighted
the addition of $61 bil
lion to the fiscal 2024
state budget to restore
100% of tuition coverage
to the HOPE program.
The additional coverage
will save the average
HOPE recipient about
$400 a year.
HOPE was hit with
benefit cuts in the after-
math of the Great Re
cession more than a de
cade ago and has been
gradually building back
toward full tuition cov
erage.
But Kemp said the suc
cess of HOPE amounts
to more than dollars and
cents.
“It is measured in the
students with good-pay
ing jobs because HOPE
gave them the opportuni
ty for higher education,”
he said.
Greg Dozier, com
missioner of the Tech
nical College System of
Georgia, said 51% of the
students attending the
state’s technical colleges
are first-generation col
lege students.
“When we change an
individual, we change a
family and a communi
ty,” he said.
Headmaster’s
Corner
by L - k
Steve Cummings ■
~mtM
CELEBRATING OUR LIB-
ERTIES! If we’ve learned
anything going through the pan
demic, we’ve learned how quick
ly we can lose our liberties. The
freedom to practice our religion.
The freedom to speak if our
speech is considered dissent. The
freedom to pray in public spaces.
This week, we have the great
privilege to celebrate our free
doms. To remember that the
freedoms of speech and the free
exercise of religion are so im
portant that they were secured
to us through The Bill of Rights.
We will lose the essence of
what we enjoy in America if we
lose these freedoms. Many peo
ple would like to silence Chris
tians. We must oppose those
who would attempt to silence
us, wherever and whenever that
may occur.
ATHENS
CHRISTIAN SCHOOL
‘Affordable Quality Education Since 1970”
K3-12TH CALL (706) 549-7586
w w w.athenschr istianschool .org
Anti-gangs bill enacted into law
By Dave Williams
Capitol Beat News
Service
Controversial legisla
tion imposing manda
tory minimum prison
terms for gang recruit
ment in Georgia has
taken effect as of July
1.
Senate Bill 44 is
one of dozens of bills
the General Assembly
passed this year that be
came law with the start
of the new fiscal year.
Passed by the leg
islature’s Republican
majorities along party
lines, the bill requires
judges to impose pris
on sentences of at least
five years on those
convicted of recruiting
gang members. It also
mandates tougher pen
alties for recruiting to a
gang anyone under age
17 or with a disability,
requiring at least a 10-
year sentence.
“Come after our chil
dren, and we will come
after you,” Gov. Brian
Kemp warned in Jan
uary during his annual
State of the State ad
dress to members of
the Georgia House and
Senate.
The governor made
Senate Bill 44 part of his
agenda for this year’s
legislative session and
signed it during a cere
mony in April.
“There’s no room for
street gangs in Geor
gia,” Sen. Bo Hatch
ett, R-Cornelia, one of
Kemp’s Senate floor
leaders, said when the
bill was debated on the
Senate floor in March.
“[Senate Bill 44] is go
ing to help prosecutors
across the state. It’s go
ing to help children. It’s
going to really provide
serious penalties for
someone that tries to
recruit a child into a life
of crime by asking them
to join a street gang.”
When the bill reached
the House, Republican
leaders amended it to
restrict judges’ abilities
to allow suspects ac
cused of certain crimes
to be released without
posting a bond if they
have been convicted of
bond jumping within
the past five years or if
a bench warrant for fail
ure to appear in court
has been issued within
the past five years.
Judges also will have
to consider the sus
pect’s criminal history
before allowing no
cash bail.
Senate Democrats ob
jected that the amend
ment broadened the
bill beyond its original
scope of cracking down
on gang activity.
“Let’s say you miss
court for some reason
and there are plenty of
reasons to miss court,”
said Sen. Josh McLau-
rin, D-Sandy Springs.
“Now all of a sudden,
the judge does not have
discretion for five years
to let you go on your
own recognizance.
They have to put a cash
dollar value on your
bail.”
Hatchett dismissed
those concerns as unre
alistic.
“If you do not show
up for court and you
have a bench warrant -
let’s say you had work
- and then you go back
to court, you tell them,
‘Hey, I didn’t show up.’
Then, the warrant will
be recalled,” he said.
“Once the warrant’s
recalled, the five-year
clock no longer applies.
That’s what it says in
the bill.”
Not all - or even a
majority - of the bills
the General Assembly
passes each year are
along party lines. The
following four mea
sures that took effect
July 1 had bipartisan
support:
•House Bill 31 en
sures that the money
that goes into the state’s
Hazardous Waste Trust
Fund is used to clean up
hazardous waste sites
and isn’t siphoned off
for unrelated purposes.
•House Bill 383 in
creases penalties for
criminal suspects
charged with assaulting
health-care workers or
hospital peace officers
on a hospital campus.
•Senate Bill 55, the
Lemonade Stand bill,
will allow Georgians
under age 18 to sell
non-consumable goods,
pre-packaged food
items and non-alcohol
ic beverages on private
property without re
quiring a permit or li
cense or paying a tax.
•Senate Bill 220 cre
ates a program to fund
preservation of agricul
tural properties from
development.
SEE MORE STATE NEWS ON 7A
HARRIS DOOR
AND MILLWORK
A Family Atmosphere Work Environment in Pendergrass, GA
Now Hiring for Certified
Fork Lift Operators
Average wage $950.00 paid weekly
Monday - Friday 6 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Closed Saturday and Sunday
• Full Benefits Package
• Health Insurance
(Starts within 30 days or less)
• Dental and Vision
(Starts within 30 days or less)
• Matching 40IK (Starts Day 1)
• 3 weeks paid vacation
(Accrual Starts Day 1)
• Long Term Disability Insurance
(Company Paid)
• Short Term Disability Insurance
(Company Paid)
• 1 hour lunch break and
two 15 minute breaks per day
(5786 Hwy. 129 N, Suite A)
Pendergrass, GA
Call 706-693-0060 (Jennifer)
or email HR@harrisdm.com