This serious wreck in front of Saddle Ridge School during Thursday morning rush hour had traffic backed up for miles.

Per observers, a parent failed to yield and pulled out in front of the pickup truck depicted. None of the people involved were seriously injured.

Beyond verifying the uselessness of a “55 MPH” school zone sign, this accident again shows the need for a regular traffic light in front of the school and rrandom visits from law enforcement to make sure drivers on 27 AND exiting the school obey traffic laws and drive safely.

Be careful out there – the school year has just begun.   

Days before bulldozing one of the prettiest pieces of land in Noble, Walker County Development Director Larry Brooks admits to local media we still have no idea how many jobs the Project Eagle / Audia International investment will bring to the area.

WQCH Radio, 08/27/14: “WALKER COUNTY’S NEWEST INDUSTRIAL NEIGHBOR SENT MEMBERS OF THEIR HUMAN RESOURCES DEPARTMENT TO VISIT OTHER INDUSTRIES IN THE LAFAYETTE AND ROCK SPRING AREA, LAST WEEK.

“DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY DIRECTOR LARRY BROOKS SAID THEY WERE SENT TO ‘REACH OUT’ TO THEIR SOON-TO-BE INDUSTRIAL NEIGHBORS. FIRST, TO GET ACQUAINTED, AND SECOND, TO REASSURE THEM THAT AUDIA INTERNATIONAL WON’T BE TRYING TO ‘STEAL THEIR EMPLOYEES’. THE EXECUTIVES WERE ALSO LOOKING AT HOUSING OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE ‘HANDFUL’ OF AUDIA EXECUTIVES THAT WILL RELOCATE TO WALKER COUNTY.

“BROOKS SAID AUDIA IS STILL DECLINING TO SAY JUST HOW MANY EMPLOYEES THEIR NEW OPERATION IN THE NOBLE BUSINESS PARK WILL BE HIRING.

“MORE EARTH-MOVING EQUIPMENT WAS BROUGHT ON-SITE LAST WEEK, AND MOST OF THE TREES AND HILLS THAT ARE NOW VISIBLE FROM U.S. 27 WILL BE TAKEN DOWN IN THE BUILDING PROCESS. THE ‘VIEW’ FROM THAT ANGLE, ‘WILL CHANGE DRAMATICALLY’ BROOKS SAID.”

Millions of dollars invested, the county’s natural beauty paved over, and he can’t guarantee a single job will be created when it’s all said and done. AND the company has essentially admitted it won’t be hiring any locals.

This is NOT how you do development deals.   

Final arrangements for Frances Middleton held today at Wilson Funeral Home.

The family asks for donations to help with funeral expenses instead of flowers. Those interested in helping pay for the poor lady’s burial can send a check to Wilsons at PO Box 1992, LaFayette or give online here. Middleton’s survivors apparently need about $4,000 to cover everything.

(As previously reported, Middleton was found dead last weekend in her LaFayette apartment after suffering a medical emergency and bleeding to death.)     

LHS Ramblers start the 2014 football season tonight in Gordon County.

Released convicts are legally prohibited from owning or using firearms, unless their rights to do so are restored.

In Georgia the committee responsible for restoring those rights operates with no transparency. In the last six years some 1,400 ex-cons (including violent felons and sex offenders) have been given legal access to guns – without explanation.

This should outrage everybody, even those who support unrestricted gun ownership, because THESE people with guns are the ones who will do things that give all gun owners a bad name.   

Here’s another BS article prepared with (or by) the county regarding upcoming property tax increases.

THIS one claims a 59% increase, not the 69% Commissioner Heiskell’s actual plan will produce, and again quotes county leaders and planted citizens without balance from the majority of people outraged at the county’s money grab.

But for LaFayette’s city government, taxes will remain the same level they’ve been for almost a decade:

WQCH Radio, 08/28/14: IN A CALLED MEETING TUESDAY, THE LAFAYETTE CITY COUNCIL APPROVED THE TAX MILLAGE RATE FOR FISCAL 2015…

“..COUNCIL ‘HELD THE LINE’ AT THE CURRENT RATE OF 2.99 MILLS. THAT RATE HASN’T CHANGED IN YEARS, BUT FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE 2008, THAT SAME RATE WILL BRING IN MORE MONEY. THE DIGEST, WHICH IS THE TOTAL VALUE OF ALL PROPERTIES IN THE CITY, WENT UP BY 7.2-MILLION DOLLARS OVER THE PAST YEAR AFTER YEARS OF DECLINE DUE TO THE RECESSION. THAT MEANS MORE VALUE ON WHICH TO COLLECT TAX, AND WILL NET THE CITY ABOUT 21-THOUSAND DOLLAR’S MORE, THIS YEAR. THE TOTAL ANTICIPATED PROPERTY TAX FOR THE CITY, IS JUST OVER 435-THOUSAND DOLLARS.

“THE CITY OF LAFAYETTE IS ABLE TO KEEP PROPERTY TAXES LOW, BECAUSE MOST OF THE BUDGET IS FUNDED BY PROFIT FROM THE SALE OF UTILITIES: ELECTRICITY, GAS AND WATER.”

Reappraisal and growth inside the city results in more taxes coming in without raising the tax rate.

Outside the city, per the Commissioner, the opposite has happened. Property values are down? and she has to raise taxes. Is that a people problem or a management problem?

(Of course the City of LaFayette hasn’t spent the last twelve years buying every piece of property it could like the county has.)     

Next Tuesday Ironman Chattanooga and local officials will hold two meetings about a race expected to bring over 2,000 bicyclers into Walker County in late September.

Meetings will be held at Mountain Cove Farms and in Chickamauga.

If you’re curious, here’s the bike race route.   

This month 14 Walker County “alternative education” students graduated from Ombudsman. Eight of the fourteen didn’t show up for graduation ceremonies.   

Annual Kensington Rodeo will be held this weekend, Saturday and Sunday, beginning at 6 PM.   

Another eatery – Wyatt’s Cafe – has opened in the old Chestnut Flat gas station where Chow House formerly operated.

“‘We stay open when we say we will and the customers are coming back,’ said owner Nancy Wyatt..”

That’s half the battle.. Set hours and stick to them. Give it a year and you’ll have a customer base.   

Is “Common Core” inevitable? Rejection of the standards by an odd coalition of conservatives AND liberals in government mean the new school rules might not stick around. (Free registration required to read.)

That rejection process has already started in Louisiana: LA Governor sues federal Department of Education for tying federal funds to the controversial standards.

Meanwhile in Georgia, the current governor and his November opponent both support the continuation of Common Core, although one candidate for School Superintendent wants Georgia to step away from the rules.     

DFCS offices in Walker and Chattooga are hiring.   

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