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).
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COMMERCE
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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
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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
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