About The Madison County journal. (Hull, Ga.) 1989-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 25, 2024)
THE MADISON COUNTY (GA) JOURNAL WEDNESDAY. DECEMBER 25. 2024 - PAGE 5A Looking to spring, sign-up opens for youth birding competition As winter rolls in, the start of registra tion for Georgia’s popular Youth Bird ing Competition is a reminder that the annual birdathon and the spring migra tion it centers on are only a few months away. The 2025 competition held by the state Department of Natural Resources and partners is set for April 4-12, with an awards ceremony and banquet the last evening at Charlie Elliott Wildlife Center near Mansfield. Teams of kinder garteners through high-schoolers will pick a 24-hour stretch during the nine- day span and compete by age group to find the most birds statewide before 5 p.m. April 12. Entering its 19th year, the event has changed slightly, said founder and DNR wildlife biologist Tim Keyes. But the fo cus is the same: “Introducing kids to the thrill of the natural world, where they hone their skills by planning a route and finding, identifying and tallying birds in a fun competition with others their age.” Keyes added that the banquet is a great way to meet other young birders and make connections that can last a lifetime. “Seeing the exhausted but excited teams arrive, sharing highlights, best birds and adventures, is always one of the highlights of the year. Stepping back, it is also incredibly rewarding to see many ‘graduates’ of the YBC con tinuing into wildlife careers,” Keyes said. Since 2023, the competition has in cluded a week-plus window for teams to bird and an option to submit check lists early via email, allowing judges to review them before teams check-in at Charlie Elliott conference center, about an hour east of Atlanta. The 2024 competition drew 32 teams and some 100 youth. That interest in birds is reflected nationwide, with four- in-10 Americans taking part in bird watching in 2022. Keyes is hoping that even more organizations, from Scouts and schools to nature centers and bird ing groups, enter or sponsor a Youth Birding Competition team in 2025. Teams can register at https ://georgi- awildlife.com/ybc. The deadline to en ter is March 15. The event is free and birding expertise is not required. There is also a compan ion T-shirt Art Contest (https://georgi- awildlife.com/YBCTshirtArtContest). The deadline to submit art contest en tries is Jan. 31. Youth Birding Competition sponsors include The Environmental Resources Network or TERN — friends group of DNR’s Wildlife Conservation Section - the Georgia Ornithological Society and Birds Georgia. Heating assistance for elderly and medically homebound available for county residents Ninth District Oppor tunity’s Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program is now under way, assisting qualifying households with a one time payment to their primary heating/utility vendor. As of Dec. 2, house holds where all appli cants are 65 or older or medically homebound (unable to leave their home due to medical rea sons) may contact NDO for an appointment. Depending on the availability of funds, the general public may con tact the scheduling sys tem for an appointment beginning on Jan. 2 at 8:30 a.m. To schedule an ap pointment, applicants should call (855) 636- 3108 or schedule online at https ://ndo. appoint ment, works/ea/home Appointments for Madison County res idents will take place at the Madison County Government Complex, 91 Albany Ave., Daniels- ville. IMPORTANT INFORMATION Program funding is allocated on a coun ty-by-county basis. All applicants are required to reside in the county selected for the appoint ment location. Applicants selecting a county in which they do not reside will be denied. NDO is unable to ob tain any of the required documents on an appli cant’s behalf. Applicants should be prepared with the required documen tation to prevent a delay in processing the applica tion. An appointment for en ergy assistance does not guarantee processing or payment. Approvals will be made when and if cus tomer eligibility status is determined and funds are received from the State. Appointments are scheduled on a first- come, first-serve basis. Each household may receive assistance only one time per year. In order to prevent scheduling conflicts, all applicants are asked to provide their full legal name when requesting an appointment. Nicknames, initials and abbreviated names may result in de layed appointments. The program is avail able by appointment only, walk-ins are not allowed. Should program chang es occur, the agency will update its website along with the Ninth District Opportunity, Inc. Face- book page. A minimum of the fol lowing items will be re quired to verily eligibility for this type of assistance: •Verification of all household income for every person living in the home for the past 30 days. •Social Security Cards for every household member. •A recent gas bill with the service address and account number. •A recent electric bill for residence verification. •Verification of U.S. citizenship (Driver’s Li cense and/or U.S. Citi zenship Cards). PUBLIC MEETINGS... FOR ONLY $5 PER MONTH you can list your groups meetings! Banks County News • Jackson Herald Madison County Journal • Braselton News Call 706-367-5233 to list your meetings! COMMERCE @ AMERICAN LEGION Post 93 • Meets 2nd Thurs., 7:00 p.m. Wayne Brown, Commander Phone (404) 310-7177 Commerce Civic Center, Commerce, GA 12971 MADISON COUNTY DEMOCRATS Meet Monthly For Time, Date & Location: Facebook: MadisonCountyGaDemocrats Or mcgaclemocrats.wixsite.com/mcdp JEFFERSON ROTARY CLUB Meets Tuesdays 12:00 Noon Jackson County Historic Courthouse 85 Washington St., Jefferson Holly McShane, President 706-768-0456 i 26 26 4660 St. Catherine Laboure Catholic Church Mass Schedule: Sat. 4:00 p.m. Sun. 10:00 a.m,, Tues, 12:10 p.m. Illon,, Wed, Thurs. S Fri. 10:00 a.m, Spanish Sun. 8:00 a.m. Website: www.stcatherinelabourega.org 706-367-7220 BANKS COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY, INC. Meets first Monday each month 7:00 p.m. in the Banks County Historical Courthouse at 105 U. S. Hwy441 North in Homer, GA 43k 12972 JL, ROCKWELL 7W\ LODGE F& AM No. 191, Hoschton, GA 2nd Tues. at 7:30 p.m. • Dinner at 6:30 p.m. www.rockwelllodgel91.com Two blocks behind Larry's Garage West Broad at Hall Street I 12969 . Tri-County J Shrine Club 3rd Thurs. of each month 7:30 p.m. Rockwell Lodge 191 1 12619 ik JEFFERSON @ AMERICAN LEGION Post 56 • Meets 3rd Tues., 6:30 p.m. Joe Ruttar, Commander Phone (860) 949-4037 309 Lee St., Jefferson, GA KIWANIS 8 OFJEFFERSON Meetings every 2 nd & 4 th Monday at Noon Cream & Shuga Contact Darryl Gumz at 770-605-6656 for more info. Call 706-367-5233 For all your Printing and Advertising needs! State News 2024: Trump turns tables on Georgia Democrats By Dave Williams Capitol Beat News Service Politics dominated 2024 in Georgia, a presidential election year that saw fonner President Donald Trump turn the tables on Democrats in the Peach State. But Republican Tramp’s victory four years after Pres ident Joe Biden became the first Democrat to capture Georgia’s 16 electoral votes since 1992 was far from the only political news to reverberate under the Gold Dome. Two high-profile crimes that occurred this year in Georgia — the murder of nursing student Laken Riley at the University of Geor gia and a mass shooting that killed four at a Barrow County high school — drove state lawmakers’ agendas. Here’s a look at the top Georgia stories of 2024: Feb. 23: Nursing student Laken Riley is murdered while jogging on the Uni versity of Georgia cam pus in Athens. Jose Ibarra, an illegal immigrant from Venezuela, is convicted in the killing. In the wake of the murder, majority Re publicans in the General Assembly pass legislation cracking down on illegal immigration, largely along party lines. March 20: The legisla ture’s Republican majorities pass a private-school vouch ers bill after years of failed efforts. The measure pro vides up to $6,500 in annu al funding to students who reside in a public school at tendance zone that is in the lowest-performing 25% of all public schools in the state and wish to transfer to a pri vate school. April 29: After years of delays and cost overruns, the nuclear expansion at Georgia Power’s Plant Vog- tle goes into full commercial operation with the comple tion of the second of two new nuclear reactors. June 27: President Joe Biden and fonner President Donald Tramp take part in a nationally televised debate in Atlanta. Biden’s halting perfonnance leads Demo crats to replace him on the ticket with Vice President Kamala Harris. July 12: Fonner Georgia Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine is sentenced to three and a half years in prison for conspiracy to commit health-care fraud in connection with unneces sary lab testing. In a guilty plea, Oxendine admits that his insurance consulting business ordered the tests from a lab company in Tex as in return for hundreds of thousands of dollars in kick- backs. Sept. 4: A teenage gun man is arrested and charged with shooting two teachers and two students to death at Apalachee High School in Barrow County. Colt Gray’s father Colin is charged with giving his son access to the murder weapon, prompting Georgia lawmakers to call for legislation incentivizing gun owners to safely store their fireanns. Sept. 27: Hurricane He lene tears a path through South Georgia north through the Augusta area, killing 34 Georgians and causing heavy rainfall and wide spread flooding as well as extensive power outages. Oct. 19: A gangway on Sapelo Island collapses un der the weight of passengers waiting to take a state-oper ated ferry to the mainland following the annual Sapelo Cultural Day celebration, killing seven people. Nov. 5: Republican Don ald Tramp carries Georgia by more than 115,000 votes over Democrat Kamala Har ris on his way to winning the 2024 presidential election. Nov. 24: Georgia Com missioner of Labor Brace Thompson dies at age 59, eight months after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Trump names Herschel Walker to ambassador post By Dave Williams Capitol Beat News Service President-elect Donald Trump has nominated for mer University of Georgia football standout Herschel Walker to serve as U.S. ambassador to the Baha mas. Trump recruited Walker, a longtime friend and ally, to run for the U.S. Senate in 2022, but the Repub lican lost to incumbent Democratic Sen. Raphael Wamock. “A successful business man, philanthropist, former Heisman Trophy winner and NFL great, Herschel has been a tireless advocate for youth sports,” Trump posted on his social me dia site this week. “Dining my first term, he served as co-chair of the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness, and Nutrition.” Trump and Walker’s friendship goes back to the 1980s, when the Unit ed States Football League team Trump owned, the New Jersey Generals, signed Walker to his first professional contract. Walker is just the latest Republican with Georgia ties nominated by Trump to serve in his administration. The list includes former Sen. David Perdue, R-Ga., to serve as U.S. ambassa dor to China, former Sen. Kelly Loeffler, R-Ga., to head the Small Business Administration, and former U.S. Rep. Doug Collins, R-Gainesville, to serve as director of the Veterans Administration. All of the nominations are subject to confirmation by the Senate, which will be in Republican hands when the new Congress convenes next month. LOCAL NEWS Local News - In whatever format you prefer Yes! Sign me up for one year of: Madison County Journal $ 45/YEAR - 52 issues* (55 and older is just %40/year) Please mail to: Subscriptions Madison County Journal P.O. Box 908 Jefferson, GA 30549 *Taxes and USPS delivery is included in prices. Offer is good for new & existing customers. Please allow two weeks for processing. Subscribe at MadisonJournalTODAY.Com Or mail in this coupon Delivery Address_ City State Check Enclosed $_ . Email (for access to web site)_ Or charge to: □ Visa DMasterCard DAMXCard# Billing Address (if different from delivery address) City State_ _Amt Charged_ Exp. Date_ Signature_ Name Phone
