On the LAKE Front

South Ga. officials expecting sinkholes after rain while NYTimes plays down the risk

Sinkholes aren't just for Florida anymore: Albany's got them. Are sinkholes risky? You may think so if one is under your house. And here above the Floridan Aquifer you probably won't know that until your foundations starts cracking. Maybe we should do something to prevent the problem, and to help people who are affected by it. Perhaps the Lowndes County government till pay attention when somebody's house falls into a sinkhole.

Jim Wallace wrote for WALB 9 March 2013, Expect more sinkholes,

Some sinkholes have opened up in South Georgia since the recent heavy rains.

And engineers and public works experts say they expect more sinkholes to develop in the coming weeks. It's just nature at work, but it can really cause some problems.

Really? Does "nature at work" include sinkholes predictably forming after massive water pumping to sprinkle strawberries during a cold snap?

The WALB story pooh-poohs the possibility of anything like that Sefner sinkhole showing up in south Georgia, and then details two Albany sinkholes:

Members of the press or citizens are not welcome at library board? —George Boston Rhynes

Received today. To quote a VDT editorial of 3 March 2012:

When officials act like they have something to hide, they often do....

Here's George's Open Records Request. -jsq

February 7, 2013

George Boston Rhynes (229-251-8645)
5004 Oak Drive
Valdosta, Georgia 31605

TO: Valdosta-Lowndes County; South Georgia Regional Library Director/Chair person along with Board Members Respectively, Georgia News Media Outlets concerned about open government and the sunshine brightness...

SUBJECT: An open records request on behalf of the general public right to know...

Challengers made statehouse incumbents work in south Georgia

Hardly-funded insurgents led by Haley Shank put a scare into turncoat south Georgia statehouse incumbents. What would happen with well-funded candidates?

As we've already seen, in new district 177 Dexter Sharper (D) won 2 to 1 over opponent J. Glenn Gregory (R). (All election data in this post is from GA Secretary of State.)

Conversely, Jason Shaw (R-176) ran unopposed, perhaps because he is the least offensive of the incumbents (he voted against HB 1162 that put the Atlanta-power-grab "charter school" amendment on the ballot, although he did vote for HB 797 that will funnel more of your local tax dollars to charter schools imposed by Atlanta even if your school board doesn't want them).

Other south Georgia statehouse incumbents, all Republicans, had challengers, all Democrats. All the challengers opposed Amendment 1. Haley Shank did best, in District 173 against Darlene K. Taylor, 8,324 to 12,048 (40.86% to 59.14%).

Next was

Vote No on Amendment 1 —LAKE WALB Ad

The WCTV news report didn't mention something else LAKE has done about the Tim Golden use of a LAKE video without the required attribution: LAKE paid for a TV ad on the same WALB market as Golden's ad. That LAKE ad is still playing today: watch the news and football on WALB in Valdosta and Hahira.

Bikram Mohanty is a man of integrity running for Georgia state Senate.

The incumbent Tim Golden's attack ad misuses a video I took of Bikram Mohanty, without the credit its YouTube license requires.

Tim Golden voted to put on the ballot an amendment that could siphon off your local tax dollars for charter schools, even if your school board doesn't want them.

Vote for integrity; vote for Bikram Mohanty for Georgia state Senate, and vote No for Amendment 1.

This WALB ad, like the WCTV news interview, is another rare instance of the LAKE politburo deciding LAKE would go on record as an organization, so I was speaking for LAKE.

TL;DR: If you want to use LAKE materials, cite the source.

-jsq

WALB on Lowndes County Commission Chair candidates

WALB says we have a choice for Chairman of the Lowndes County Commission.

Lydia Jennings wrote for WALB yesterday, Meet candidates vying for Lowndes Co. Commission Chairman,

Bill Slaughter and Gretchen Quarterman are two very different candidates. Both are running for Lowndes County Commission Chairman. Slaughter is the CEO of Waller Heating and Air Conditioning and Quarterman is a farmer and owner of Okra Paradise Farms.

"I'm very curious, I have a math and science background so I'm always asking why do we do it this way, not just what do we do, but why do we do it, what problem are we solving," said Quarterman.

Mayor starts walking back gay pride comments on WALB

Valdosta Mayor John Gayle starts practicing the non-apology apology by saying he's sorry people aren't happy while complimenting the content of the anti-bullying proclamation he wouldn't sign. He continues to provide earned media for the South Georgia Pride Festival.

Lydia Jennings reported for WALB yesterday, Valdosta Mayor denies Gay Pride event proclamation,

"I'm not asking him to proclaim that he's for gay marriage, I'm not asking any of that. It's just simply stating that we're here and we're apart of the community," said Williams.

"Too many times we give up our strong beliefs to make people happy, and I'm sorry that my decision didn't make a lot of people happy," said Gayle.

The Mayor says he compliments the organization for bringing awareness and education to bullying and hate crimes against the gay community. The event will be September 15 at the John W. Saunders Park in Valdosta.

Well, he looks apologetic, and he said he's sorry, but he for sure ain't signin' that proclamation, which was against bullying and hate crimes not just for the gay community, but "for all sexual orientations, races and religions." Is he not against bullying other races and religions?

Those rainbow flags seem quite festive, as do those Valdosta banners.

-jsq

Valdosta confused about water uses

Is there an outdoor water restriction in Valdosta, or isn't there? The city and the newspaper seem confused about that. Also remember much of Lowndes County gets its water indirectly from Valdosta through the county's utility system. And that with groundwater levels at all-time lows, we need to be conserving all the time anyway, and thinking about how much and what kind of growth we want.

The City of Valdosta front page says:

In the Spotlight

The City of Valdosta has issued an outdoor water restriction suspending all outdoor water uses for 72-hours, or until further notice. Click here for more.

Yet if you click there, you get this error page:

Error The page you have requested does not exist. Please click here to go back to the home page.

Similarly, there was a VDT article on that subject, but that link also goes nowhere now.

Stephen Abel wrote for WALB yesterday, Temporary water restrictions in effect for Valdosta,

Folks in Valdosta need to think twice about washing their cars, or doing anything else that uses much water, this weekend.

"The city of Valdosta is urging all citizens to immediately cease outdoor irrigation use and all other nonessential uses of water. Now and throughout the weekend," said Public Information Officer Sementha Mathews.

Severe vibrations in the water pumps is what put them out of commission. "The city's water treatment plant experienced some mechanical issues this week with two of its raw water well pumps which caused the low levels in water," said Mathews.

So, did the city fix its pumps? Or is it just confused about what to do?

WCTV posted this update, and seemed to indicate the water restrictions were still in place:

The City of Valdosta sincerely thanks the citizens who responded quickly to its request today to cease all outdoor irrigation and non-essential use of water. Currently, there are no water quality issues in the system, and the water provided by the city is safe for all purposes.

People should be conserving all the time anyway. These suggestions from the city are pretty good for a start:

Moody detonating tomorrow

Peculiar sounds from Moody are pretty common around here, but expect more tomorrow morning.

WALB at some unspecified time, perhaps today, Lowndes Co. 'booms' may be Moody detonations. This Moody PR is dated Tuesday, CONTROLLED DETONATION AT MOODY AFB,

4/24/2012—MOODY AIR FORCE BASE, Ga.— — The 23d Civil Engineer Squadron Explosives Ordnance Disposal team will clear practice ordnance from target areas at Grand Bay Bombing and Gunnery Range from Monday, April 23 thru Thursday, April 26 for target maintenance and regular range repairs. On Friday, April 27 between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m., the EOD team will safely dispose of any ordnance deemed unsafe during the clearance with 2-3 munitions detonations.

The detonations are expected to be heard throughout Valdosta and surrounding areas. They are part of a controlled reduction of unexploded munitions and will be overseen by Moody explosives ordnance specialists.

Grand Bay Bombing and Gunnery Range is used by military aircrew and ground personnel regularly for tactical and ground maneuvers and weapons training.

Should you have any questions pertaining to this topic, please feel free to contact Moody Air Force Base Public Affairs Office at 229-257-3007. Also, visit Moody's official website www.moody.af.mil for more information on Moody and to view current news releases. Information is updated daily on our Facebook page, simply search Moody Air Force Base Official.

-jsq

Gov. Deal suspended 3 Brooks Co. School Board members

The two local TV stations have an update on the Quitman 10: the governor has suspended the three who were elected to the Brooks County School Board. If the VDT has covered this, I must have missed it. (OK, I should look at today's paper....) There's also nothing about this on the Brooks County School Board website.

Jade Bulecza wrote for WALB yesterday, Governor orders Brooks Co. School Bd. suspensions

Superintendent Debra Folsom got the governor's order Tuesday suspending the three board members.

"This is all new territory for us," said Folsom. "We're consulting our attorney to see what the next steps we will take to fill the positions."

December 20 a review commission made up of the attorney general and two school board members from across Georgia were appointed by the governor to review the case.

"They heard evidence from the prosecution and from the accused and the conclusion of that they made a determination and forwarded that to the governor's office whether to suspend or not to suspend the three school board members," said South Georgia District Attorney Joe Mulholland.

December 30, the review panel unanimously made their decision.

That would be the same Joe Mulholland who's been on TV saying things like

This is what democracy looks like at the Chamber @ Occupy Valdosta 14 October 2011

A gentle reminder to the Valdosta-Lowndes County Chamber of Commerce of what just happened at the polls yesterday.

Myrna Ballard:

I understand that you have something that you'd like to say?

Occupy Valdosta:

This is what democracy looks like!

Here's the video:

This is what democracy looks like at the Chamber @ Occupy Valdosta 14 October 2011
We are the 99%,
Marching to Occupy Valdosta, Occupy Valdosta,
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 14 October 2011.
Videos by Gretchen Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.

That's Sam Allen, president of FVCS holding the front Vote No sign; Vote No for the Children is holding another one. Greg Gullberg of WCTV is standing in front of Myrna Ballard, Jade Bulecza of WALB has a camera in the lower right, David Rodock of the VDT is standing behind Myrna Ballard in the video, Desiree Thompson of the VSU Spectator was there, Valdosta Today was there, George Boston Rhynes of K.V.C.I. and bostongbr on YouTube was there, and LAKE was there.

-jsq