10.05
Commissioner Heiskell takes home a $105,000 annual salary, and spends tens of thousands a year on projects like Mountain Cove Farms. She pays NWGAJDA $90,000 of our tax dollars to keep Jeff Mullis from having to work a real job. But the Rossville Library will probably close next year because of a $12,000 budget shortfall. Heiskell says she can’t give them anything until she hears from the people, so here’s your chance to let her know how you feel – sign this petition demanding that Bebe give the library system the funds it needs to keep all three branches in Walker County open.
As noted earlier in the week, the library board had to decide if they would close Rossville, cut back hours, or run it as-is until funds expire. They expect the money to be totally gone for that branch in the spring, and the LaFayette or Chickamauga branches could also close for the same reason. Tell Bebe to stop wasting our money on her pet projects and fund things that benefit a majority of county residents instead of just her friends and supporters.
After years of planning and a lot of money, the new Walker County Planetarium has finally hosted a group of students. The facility will be open to the public for free twice a month on the first Sunday at 2:30 and last Tuesday at 7:30. That means it’ll be open this weekend.
Candidate campaign finance reports for the 3rd quarter of 2012 (July-September) are beginning to trickle in to the state. So far there are reports posted for Ales Campbell, John Deffenbaugh, and Steve Wilson. Q3 forms for Heiskell or Deffenbaugh are not yet available, and it looks like Tim Westbrook hasn’t filed any all year, online anyway. More should be available soon – just search here by last name.
Candidates who only file by paper report sometimes don’t have anything posted for months and months. That’s the state’s fault, not the candidate’s, but it does hamper a voter’s ability to figure out where the money goes and who it comes from.
Georgia Attorney General Olens issued a statement Thursday confirming the illegality of school boards, school systems, and other tax-funded offices using their resources to advocate for or against issues like the charter schools amendment.
Some criticize Olens on this for politicizing the issue, but it’s against the law to use a tax-funded department to campaign for candidates or issues – and the sword cuts both ways. As a response to Olens’ letter, Governor Deal also removed pro-charter material from his own section of the state Web site.
Fresh from the Bebe Heiskell YouTube, which mixes official county videos with campaign messages from the Commissioner, is last week’s meeting where Heiskell formalized the county property tax rate for fiscal 2013.
If there’s any doubt in your mind what Heiskell thinks of the county’s library system, watch as Cherokee Regional Library director Lecia Eubanks practically begs at the Commissioner’s feet for more funds and gets nothing in return but disrespect. Heiskell suggests a non-binding “exit poll” for November’s election to judge the will of the people even though she already knows the majority of county residents want the system funded – or at least funded at a higher priority than Jeff Mullis and Mountain Cove Farms.
The Commissioner’s attitude towards Eubanks is almost disgraceful and embarrassing as the quality of this video.
The family of bears bothering people in Chatsworth were captured and then euthanized Wednesday after wildlife experts determined they had already been relocated from the Dawson County area for doing the same thing there.
Tip for the future: If you’re planning a big event or activity, a fundraiser, church event, or whatever… Announcing it to media and posting about it on Facebook for the first time less than 48 hours before it’s supposed to occur is not a good idea.
LU has (we think anyway) a very nice local calendar page, where effort is taken to keep it updated and post things early enough for people to plan around them. Unfortunately most event planners don’t think that way. To add upcoming events to the LU Calendar (and maybe see them discussed and promoted to people in a Daily Update) just e-mail cal@cityoflafayettega.com.
That said, here are some events for Friday and the weekend:
The Ramblers take on Southeast Whitfield at 7:30 for a road game. Hopefully LHS will finally get a win, otherwise they’ll fall to 0-4 for the season. Tonight and next week are probably the best shot at winning games this season.
“The Diary of Anne Frank” play continues tonight and Saturday night, 7:30 at the Civic Center.
Marsh House Heritage Day at the Marsh House and Joe Stock Park will begin Saturday at 11 AM. The annual activity has food, vendors, music, and tours of the house with raised funds going to keep it somewhat open to the public.
The city’s last downtown Cruise In car show for 2012 will be Saturday evening at 6.
And best of all, Saturday morning between 10 and noon, the 630 locomotive from Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum will head through town on its way down to Summerville. Some time later, around 3 PM, the same train will come back through town heading north.
More upcoming events from the LU Local Calendar…
Georgia is estimated to hit 9.98 million residents this weekend, and is expected to cross the ten million mark before the end of 2012. GA is the 8th most populated state, right behind Ohio’s 11 million and a few thousand ahead of Michigan.
- Friday Advertiser Spotlight: October is here, fall is creeping in, and Halloween is just around the corner. Outfit the kids (or yourself) from thousands of costume choices at Costume Discounters
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