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Issue 10.29 | Friday, July 9, 2010 |
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TODAY'S FOCUS LAWRENCEVILLE,
Ga., July 9, 2010 -- Jackson
Electric Membership Corporation (EMC) is offering industrial members
in its 10-county service area the opportunity to have a comprehensive
energy and water use Industrial Energy Assessment, valued at $10,000 and
up, at no charge.
Lee Chapman, Jackson EMC director of commercial/industrial marketing, says: "Our cooperative has felt this recession's impact, and we know how important energy efficiency and cost reduction is to our members. Energy and water are among the largest manufacturing expenses. The assessment we're offering will help industries identify and determine the best methods to add value to their operation by reducing their energy and/or water consumption." Funds are limited for this project, and a limited number of participants will be selected to participate. Jackson adds: "The program will get underway in August, with an interactive application form available on our website at www.jacksonemc.com/assessment. Those area industries selected to participate will receive an assessment valued at $10,000 or more absolutely free. Our end goal is to improve those industries' profitability, sustainability and competitiveness, which benefits the community through additional job creation, increased environmental sustainability and an improved business environment." Industries selected will begin with a pre-assessment where information about the facility, manufacturing processes, production data, and energy and water consumption is gathered and analyzed. From that information, energy experts develop potential energy saving recommendations and a strategy for the next phase. An assessment day at the plant follows, including a review of a typical day's manufacturing process and operations, plant tour, brainstorming potential energy saving opportunities, and gathering data through measurements, monitoring and diagnostic testing. At the end of the day, energy experts and plant management discuss initial findings. Once the assessment is completed, the manufacturer will receive a report with a description of findings, recommendations and estimates to implement cost reduction measures. Follow-ups will help answer questions and track implementation. Chapman
also says: "We know a major roadblock to achieving energy efficiency
is the cost of implementing those recommendations, so our energy experts
will also assist manufacturers to determine if any grants or other financial
opportunities are available that can make their improvements a reality.
Jackson EMC has a long history of encouraging efficient use of energy
resources, and we're really pleased to have this opportunity to help our
members, especially with the economic pressures we're all facing." EEB PERSPECTIVE JULY 9, 2010 -- Easily the most talked about event in Gwinnett in recent days has been the brouhaha over the charge of County Commission Chairman Charles Bannister being arrested, booked, shackled and blood-tested over a DUI charge. Even those not in the Bannister camp were asking questions over the sequence of events and the way the incident was handled from prior to arrest through his being released on bond.
The short answer to the question, "What really happened" is that no one either knows, or is talking about it, on or off the record. The official response now is that "the GBI is investigating it." While we hold our hope that we'll understand this when the investigation is complete, we'll admit it's a poor hope. In reality, we may never know, or understand, the complications behind or in front of all this. This is the type of incident that gives politics a bad name. Granted, there are some obvious violations of public policy all around this case. And in our judgment, there's not a lot of good that comes out of the chairman holding routine after-work meetings at a bar and grill, whether with friends, supporters or business associates. Yet the procedures leading to his arrest raise questions, too. Best thing to happen now is for the investigation to be concluded quickly, letting the chips fall where they may, and the county get on with the business of running the day-to-day activities without this morass being front-and-center. Gwinnett's got enough fish to fry as it is. * * * * * The second-biggest story of the week in Gwinnett is the new trash hauling program for 185,000 Gwinnett households. If you have issues with trash hauling, the fastest way for action is to call directly to your individual hauler for fastest resolution of any problem. Or you may contact the Call Center at 770 822 7141. It slows the system down for you to first call your district commissioner. The Call Center is averaging about 450 calls a day, but not all are complaints. Some do not know about the new system, or do not realize they have a new trash collection day. There were just under 100 complaints the first week that no collection cart had been delivered. These came mostly where a building was not identified as a single-family residence. Relatively speaking, it seems the new trash hauling program, with its kinks, went surprisingly well. * * * * * If you tried to divide the history of our country (and perhaps the world) into periods of emphasis on the key mechanical power development of each era, you might come up with something like this:
Yes, it's simplistic. Who has anything that would change this description of the years since 1776? * * * * *
When Gwinnett schools opened its Sports Hall of Fame recently, among the attendees was Ezzard Charles II, grandson of the boxer who was among the first inductees of the hall. His family sends along added and corrected information given at the ceremony about the famous boxer who was native to Gwinnett. They say that Charles:
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The public spiritedness of our sponsors allows us to bring GwinnettForum.com to you at no cost to readers. Today's underwriter is The IMPACT! Group, a full-service housing assistance agency based in Lawrenceville. The IMPACT! Group provides a range of housing assistance services, including foreclosure prevention, homebuyer education, financial education, and transitional housing to the residents of Gwinnett County and greater Atlanta. In the past year alone, the agency operated over 60 percent of the transitional housing units available to homeless families in Gwinnett and provided over 5,000 of your neighbors with housing counseling and education. Awarded the 2009 D. Scott Hudgens Humanitarian Award by the Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce, The IMPACT! Group is able to provide all of its services in both English and Spanish. If you or a loved one are facing a home foreclosure or are looking to access down payment assistance to buy a home, The IMPACT! Group may be able to help. All IMPACT! housing counselors are HUD-certified and all homeowner counseling sessions are kept confidential. Visit their website at: www. theimpactgroup.org.
McLEMORE'S WORLD ARCHIVE
FEEDBACK Editor,
the Forum:
UPCOMING For the fifth straight year, 19 Gwinnett restaurants are offering special three course meals for $21.21 (plus tax/gratuity) during Gwinnett Restaurant Week. The program runs from Monday, July 19 through Thursday, July 22, 2010. Lisa Anders,
of the Gwinnett Convention and Visitor's Bureau (GCVB), says: "Great
meals and a great deal; that is kind of our motto for Gwinnett Restaurant
Week. The GCVB conceived Restaurant Week for a couple of reasons: one,
to showcase some of our best restaurants to both our visitors and our
locals, and by offering great value to diners."
Most participating restaurants require reservations for Restaurant Week, and Anders suggests making them early to confirm space. "A number of our restaurants sell out each year, so the earlier the better for making reservations; people are really excited by the variety of menus and the great price point." Restaurants
are also excited by the event; with Melting Pot proprietor Layla Haddad
Gunn adding, "We are very excited to be a part of Gwinnett Restaurant
Week! Gwinnett has so many wonderful restaurants, and it's a great way
for the community to dine at old favorites or find new hot spots."
All restaurants/menus can be viewed online here. Reservations are made by contacting the restaurants directly. Anders notes that while a number of restaurants are long-time participants, several new restaurants (Bonefish Grill, Char 88, Prime Parc, Luciano's and Dominick's Buford Village) are participating for the first time. Speedy cycling returns to downtown Norcross on July 24 On Saturday, July 24, Downtown Historic Norcross will again be a hotspot for one of cycling's most exciting events. Cyclists come from all over the United States and other countries to compete in a series of races that define the Gwinnett Bike Fest Criterion. Downtown Norcross will be transformed with plenty of high-speed, two-wheel action. Even those who aren't avid cyclists will be amazed at the energy and excitement this event generates. From entry-level kids' races, to amateur competitions, to Olympic-level race professionals qualifying for world-class competitions, this year's Gwinnett Bike Fest is a part of the newly formed Georgia Cycling Gran Prix. For a complete list of races and information, go to www.GeorgiaCycling.net. NOTABLE Bids for renovation of the former Southern Railway train depot in Duluth are being sought by the Southeastern Railway Museum. The depot, now positioned at the entrance of the museum in Duluth, is a wood-framed building of 1,600 square feet. Bids for the project are due by 10 a.m. on July 22. An on-site meeting for those interested in bidding on the work will be held on July 8 at 10 a.m. Specifications for this work are available at Moreland Altobelli Associates at 2211 Beaver Ruin Road in Norcross. Chris Kingsbury is the lead person on the project. Bidders are expected to furnish all labor, materials and equipment to complete the project. The depot dates from about 1888. It was in 1984 that the building was moved to the W.P. Jones Park on Pleasant Hill Road, so that the building could be saved. Scott Hudgens provided funds for the move. In 2008 the former depot was moved again to the Southeastern Railway Museum for preservation. Gwinnett Parks plan whirlwind of outdoor activities for July Gwinnett
County Parks and Recreation (GCPR) is encouraging residents of Gwinnett
to kick off National Park and Recreation month by getting up, getting
out and explore your parks!
Get out,
explore and get your creative juices flowing. There will be month-long
photo contest and art show with the theme "Explore Your Parks."
Park patrons can show how they enjoy and explore their parks by submitting
two dimensional art projects or photos. Art projects can be submitted
and will be displayed during regular hours of operation at any Community
Recreation Center. Photos can be emailed to parks@gwinnettcounty.com
the winning photos will be featured on the Gwinnett County Parks &
Recreation Web site. Complete contest rules can be found at www.gwinnettparks.com. Several
events are scheduled at various parks during July where GCPR staff and
sponsors will share park safety tips, host special activities and survey
citizens. They include:
GEORGIA ENCYCLOPEDIA
(Continued from previous issue) In the 1870s, there were attempts to reform the system of convict labor in Georgia, although such efforts were never successful, in part because of the sheer profitability of the convict lease system. In 1881, expressing intentions to improve the prisoners' quality of life, the state legislature passed a law requiring that only one person in each work camp be authorized to administer punishment. Rather than ease the difficulties of leased convicts, however, this legislation enabled the harsh treatment of prisoners by men known as "whipping bosses."
In an 1894 report for the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Office of Road Inquiry, O. H. Sheffield, a civil engineer from the University of Georgia, endorsed the utilization of convict labor on state roads. However, because almost all of the state's 2,000 felons were leased to private companies, only misdemeanants could be used in road construction. In 1903 the state legislature gave counties the opportunity to use felons who were serving less than five-year sentences for roadwork projects. Convict leasing became less profitable during the first decade of the 20th century as a rising tide of progressivism, culminating with the election of Governor Hoke Smith, swept across the state. Progressives, influenced by the media exposure of convict leasing's inhumane conditions, pushed through legislation in 1908 outlawing the convict lease system. This wave of anti-convict leasing was coupled with a depression in 1907, which made enlisting prisoner labor less economically feasible for companies. When convict leasing was abolished, the use of roadside chain gangs took its place. The chain gang system relied upon the idea that prisoners were repaying their debts to society through labor on public projects, which the state government supported because it could be done "on the cheap." By 1911 the Georgia Prison Commission reported that 135 of the state's 146 counties utilized convict labor on road projects. The chain gang system lasted for several decades. The media, investigators, and prisoners complained of harsh treatment during the course of its implementation. Robert E. Burns book I Am a Fugitive from a Georgia Chain Gang!, adapted as a film in 1932, brought nationwide attention to the treatment suffered by these prison laborers. In the mid-1940s the national media focused again on the harsh conditions of Georgia's chain gangs, which led to a movement to abolish them. Governor Ellis Arnall's investigation of the prison system ultimately resulted in a prison reform act, which modernized the Georgia prison system and sent chain gangs the way of convict leasing. Convict labor in Georgia no longer endangers the health of prisoners. However, Georgia's convicts are still expected to work on various projects, including roadside beautification. CREDITS GwinnettForum is provided to you at no charge every Tuesday and Friday. If you would like to serve as an underwriter, click here to learn more. Send
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© 2010, Gwinnett Forum.com. Gwinnett Forum is an online community commentary for exploring pragmatic and sensible social, political and economic approaches to improve life in Gwinnett County, Ga. USA. |
TODAY'S QUOTE "You can make the argument that there's no such thing as the past. Nobody lived in the past. They lived in the present. It is their present, not our present, and they don't know how it's going to come out. They weren't just like we are because they lived in that very different time. You can't understand them if you don't understand how they perceived reality."
For the 2010 primary season, GwinnettForum asked all candidates facing primary opposition in Gwinnett County to provide answers to a few questions. You can read their answers below by clicking on the links. Candidates with no primary opposition are noted. They'll be asked in the fall by us to fill out issues surveys, which we'll publish before the November election.
PROFILE KEY
2010 FEDERAL CANDIDATES U.S. Congress, District 4
U.S. Congress, District 7
2010 STATEWIDE CANDIDATES Georgia Governor
Georgia Lieutenant Governor
Georgia Attorney General
Georgia Commissioner of Agriculture
Georgia Commissioner of Insurance
Georgia Labor Commissioner
Georgia Secretary of State
Georgia State School Superintendent
Georgia Public Service Commission
2010
LEGISLATIVE CANDIDATES Republicans
State Senate, District 40
State Representative, District 51
State Representative, District 88
State Representative, District 95
State Representative, District 96
State Representative, District 98
State Representative, District 101
State Representative, District 102
State Representative, District 103
State Representative, District 104
State Representative, District 106
2010 GWINNETT COUNTY CANDIDATES Gwinnett County Commissioner, District 2
Gwinnett County Commissioner, District 4
MORE RECENT COMMENTARY
ABOUT US GwinnettForum.com is a twice-weekly online community commentary for exploring pragmatic and sensible social, political and economic approaches to improve life in Gwinnett County, Ga. USA. Contact us today. © 2001-2010, Gwinnett Forum.com is Gwinnett County's online community forum for commentary that explores pragmatic and sensible social, political and economic approaches to improve life in Gwinnett County, Ga. USA. PHONE: 770.840.1003 |
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