Mrs. Betty Earl Hines, age 70, of Summerville, passed away Saturday, January 24, 2009 at LaFayette Healthcare Center.
Mrs. Hines was born in Chattooga County, Georgia on August 28, 1938, daughter of the late Earl Rose and Rosa Bell Bryant Rose. Prior to her retirement, she was employed as a Creeler with Bigelow-Sanford. In addition to her parents, Mrs. Hines was preceded in death by her husband, Claude L. Hines; a son, Donnie Hines; sisters, Frances LeBlanc and Pauline Laney; brothers, Mark McGuire and Marty McGuire; and a granddaughter, Tonya Weaver.
Mrs. Hines is survived by a sons, Jason Hines, Lexington, KY, and Robert Lee Hines, Davidsboro, GA; daughters, Elizabeth Hall, Trion, Terry Hines, Rome, Linda Hines, Subligna, Christy Fowler, Subligna and Kim Mincey, Trion; Brothers, Roy Rose, Flintstone and Nicky McGuire, Dalton; sisters, Shirley Pike, Walker Co., GA, Barbara Millaway, Cleveland, TN, and Marilyn McGuire; 21 Grandchildren and 42 Great Grandchildren.
Funeral Services for Mrs. Hines will be held Monday, January 26, 2009 at 4:00 P.M. in the Mason Funeral Home Chapel with Rev. Kevin Norton officiating. Interment will follow in the Chapel Hill Cemetery.
Pallbearers will be Grandsons, Caine Railey, Doug Railey, Tracy Hines, Corey Gentry, Nick Hines, A.J. Stricklin, Michael Mincey, Kenneth Hines, Ren Adams, Justin Ward, Jake Hines, Adam Godfrey and Josh Hines. Honorary Pallbearers will be Grandchildren and Great Grandchildren.
Mrs. Hines will be in state at the Mason Funeral Home where the family will receive friends Sunday evening from 6 until 8 P.M.
The Georgia labor commissioner fears rates paid by employers could go up if the recession lingers.
People fill out unemployment claim forms and look through job listings at the Department of Labor’s Career Center on Riverside Parkway on Monday afternoon. (Lindy Dugger Cordell / RN-T)
Despite the rising number of jobless Georgians, the state’s trust fund for unemployment benefits is in good shape, with $958 million in reserve, according to state Labor Commissioner Michael Thurmond.
“Georgia’s trust fund is relatively stable compared to the majority of the rest of the nation,” Thurmond said. Whether the state might have to raise the taxes that employers pay into the fund “would depend on the length and the depth of this ongoing recession. The trust fund is a finite resource,” he said.
“We hope we can get through this recession without increasing taxes,” Thurmond added. “But this downturn is unprecedented. No one knows how long it’s going to last or how deep it’s going to go.”
Georgia’s unemployment rate for December reached 8.1 percent, the highest since March 1983. It continues to lead the nation, whose unemployment rate is 7.2 percent.
Also in December, the number of people filing first-time unemployment claims in Floyd County jumped 351 percent as compared to December 2007.
Approximately 40 percent of people statewide who’ve lost jobs are getting unemployment insurance benefits.
Unemployment insurance is a temporary income for workers who are unemployed and either looking for a job, will be recalled to their job within six weeks or are in approved training.
The funding for unemployment insurance benefits comes from taxes paid by employers. Workers do not pay any costs.
Eligibility for benefits is based on past wages, reason for job separation, and availability and job search requirements.
Private, or contributory, employers pay taxes on the first $8,500 of each employee’s salary to the state’s trust fund. (Government and non-profit employers pay dollar-for-dollar as unemployment claims are filed.)
That tax is based on an administrative assessment of .08 percent applied to the $8,500, according to Brenda Brown, the labor department’s assistant commissioner for unemployment insurance benefits.
A person qualifies when he is separated from a job — from a lack of work, layoffs or the employer going out of business.
The labor department looks at the unemployed person’s wages during a base period — the first four of the last five calendar quarters, Brown said.
To establish a claim the person has to have had wages in at least two of those quarters. The maximum claim that can be established in Georgia is $330 a week, and the maximum length on a regular claim is 26 weeks.
“Not everyone gets 26 weeks, though,” Brown said.
If a person quits a job, he or she has to show good cause to establish a claim. “There are very few reasons you can quit and qualify,” Brown said.
In disputed claims, both parties, the former employer and the claimant, have the right to appeal, first through a tribunal of hearing officers and then a board of review.
It’s necessary throughout the process to seek employment. Claimants have to report weekly job search activity.
They also can take advantage of DOL assistance.
“We want to make sure they understand we not only want to give them benefits, but we want to help them find a job,” Brown said.
The labor department provides a wide range of transitional services to laid-off workers, including on-site employee information sessions describing services available through the labor department, assistance in filing claims for unemployment compensation, re-employment services, access to retraining opportunities, skills assessment and correlation with available employment opportunities, special workshops about career options, local and national job listings, and resume writing and interviewing skills.
The Georgia labor commissioner fears rates paid by employers could go up if the recession lingers.
People fill out unemployment claim forms and look through job listings at the Department of Labor’s Career Center on Riverside Parkway on Monday afternoon. (Lindy Dugger Cordell / RN-T)
Despite the rising number of jobless Georgians, the state’s trust fund for unemployment benefits is in good shape, with $958 million in reserve, according to state Labor Commissioner Michael Thurmond.
“Georgia’s trust fund is relatively stable compared to the majority of the rest of the nation,” Thurmond said. Whether the state might have to raise the taxes that employers pay into the fund “would depend on the length and the depth of this ongoing recession. The trust fund is a finite resource,” he said.
“We hope we can get through this recession without increasing taxes,” Thurmond added. “But this downturn is unprecedented. No one knows how long it’s going to last or how deep it’s going to go.”
Georgia’s unemployment rate for December reached 8.1 percent, the highest since March 1983. It continues to lead the nation, whose unemployment rate is 7.2 percent.
Also in December, the number of people filing first-time unemployment claims in Floyd County jumped 351 percent as compared to December 2007.
Approximately 40 percent of people statewide who’ve lost jobs are getting unemployment insurance benefits.
Unemployment insurance is a temporary income for workers who are unemployed and either looking for a job, will be recalled to their job within six weeks or are in approved training.
The funding for unemployment insurance benefits comes from taxes paid by employers. Workers do not pay any costs.
Eligibility for benefits is based on past wages, reason for job separation, and availability and job search requirements.
Private, or contributory, employers pay taxes on the first $8,500 of each employee’s salary to the state’s trust fund. (Government and non-profit employers pay dollar-for-dollar as unemployment claims are filed.)
That tax is based on an administrative assessment of .08 percent applied to the $8,500, according to Brenda Brown, the labor department’s assistant commissioner for unemployment insurance benefits.
A person qualifies when he is separated from a job — from a lack of work, layoffs or the employer going out of business.
The labor department looks at the unemployed person’s wages during a base period — the first four of the last five calendar quarters, Brown said.
To establish a claim the person has to have had wages in at least two of those quarters. The maximum claim that can be established in Georgia is $330 a week, and the maximum length on a regular claim is 26 weeks.
“Not everyone gets 26 weeks, though,” Brown said.
If a person quits a job, he or she has to show good cause to establish a claim. “There are very few reasons you can quit and qualify,” Brown said.
In disputed claims, both parties, the former employer and the claimant, have the right to appeal, first through a tribunal of hearing officers and then a board of review.
It’s necessary throughout the process to seek employment. Claimants have to report weekly job search activity.
They also can take advantage of DOL assistance.
“We want to make sure they understand we not only want to give them benefits, but we want to help them find a job,” Brown said.
The labor department provides a wide range of transitional services to laid-off workers, including on-site employee information sessions describing services available through the labor department, assistance in filing claims for unemployment compensation, re-employment services, access to retraining opportunities, skills assessment and correlation with available employment opportunities, special workshops about career options, local and national job listings, and resume writing and interviewing skills.
A statewide privatization proposal would close facilities including Northwest Georgia Regional.
Pivatization of Northwest Georgia Regional Hospital in Rome would be far better than closing the state-run mental health facility, Sen. Preston Smith said Saturday.
A proposal to close NWGRH as well as others hospitals in Augusta, Savannah, Thomasville and Columbus generated questions from lawmakers Friday during a budget presentation.
The Department of Human Resources has asked for proposals from private companies interested in running two or three new hospitals that would replace the network of regional facilities. The plan is part of a reorganization of mental-health services offered by the department and those by the Department of Community Health, merging them into their own separate department.
Friday’s meeting came on the heels of a scathing U.S. Department of Justice report indicating that NWGRH and the state’s other mental hospital have been providing substandard care.
Smith, R-Rome, said he would do what he could to make sure the facility keeps operating but also pointed out that privatization was discussed years ago with little being done to pursue the option.
“I warned then that failure to consider options for changing the status quo could well result in facility closure, job loss and decreased availability of care,” said Smith, who did not attend Friday’s meeting.
Smith said some states like Florida have seen some benefits in privatization.
“Patient care has seen improvements, illness relapse decreased and most of the former employees of the state facility kept their jobs with the privatized system,” said Smith.
Georgia Human Resources Commissioner B.J. Walker told members of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees during a budget discussion that the reorganization idea is designed to create savings that would then be plowed into creating services in communities across the state. Those new services would treat people with mental illness through regular home visits which would ensure patients are taking their medicines, she said.
“If we can’t get the savings, we can’t get the dollars” for community services, she said.
She pointed to Georgia Regional Hospital in Savannah as an example. It was built to house 35 patients but typically housed 47 — 12 long-term — in a facility not designed for modern treatment practices.
Discussions with families, public officials and patients since the proposals became public last summer have prompted some modifications. In Savannah, the plan now would include constructing a small, long-term hospital for those chronic patients in place of the bigger, older facility.
Another change in the plan announced Friday is the addition of two small hospitals in South Georgia and one centralized facility in Atlanta. The original scheme called for two centralized, state-of-the-art hospitals.
Walker said that before a final decision about the fate of the regional hospitals is made, she will travel the state to hear from the public.
Rome News-Tribune Staff Writer Karissa Stewart contributed to this report.
Sheriff John Everett told AM 1180 Chattooga County Radio that the new program for the elderly has been welcomed by area residents.The program is designed for a deputy to check up on elderly residents on a daily basis.Initially the program had around 15 people sign up for the service, and more have been added since.Sheriff Everett said that the word is getting around about the service and the Senior Center has passed out fliers to area residents.
The Sheriff also stated that he is planning a new program that would e-mail area residents in the case of an emergency.Everett stated that the service would be beneficial to help keep the public notified in the case of a tornado or even in an incident like the escape from Hays State Prison in October of last year.Everett hopes to implement the new program as soon as the software is received by the Sheriffs Department.
ATLANTA (January 23, 2009) — The Senate and House Appropriations Committees concluded their state budget hearings today with the Departments of Human Resources and Community Health. Lawmakers also had the chance to address specific areas of the budget during the Office of Planning and Budget’s presentation on their approach to how the FY 2009 and 2010 budgets were structured.
DHR presented an overview of spending cuts within each program, including their spending plans for the future reorganization of the department. The governor announced in August the creation of a new Department of Behavioral Health, encompassing mental health and addictive disease programs, while the Department of Community Health will be merged with the public health and health regulation programs of DHR to make up a reconstituted Department of Health. Lawmakers are most concerned with how the department will cut costs while creating new departments.
Department of Community Health Commissioner Dr. Rhonda Meadows spoke to the committee to address the governor’s proposed 5 percent cut to their operating budget for the rest of FY 2009. She mentioned several initiatives such as utilizing new technologies, stricter eligibility requirements and hiring freezes that her agency will implement to meet the requirements but is concerned that any additional rises in unemployment and subsequent Medicaid enrollment than what is already projected could cause a higher deficit for DCH. Lawmakers were extremely hesitant to endorse the governor’s proposed hospital provider fee designed to help offset a projected $428 million budget hole that would cover Medicaid and Peachcare funding for FY 2010. Dr. Meadows confirmed for the committee that this provider fee is a tax and very few hospitals would be eligible for any exemptions under the proposed plan. She noted that DCH was in the preliminary stages of gauging the hospital fee’s potential impact on legislator’s district hospitals, trauma centers and the method of collecting the tax.
Director Trey Childress from the governor’s Office of Planning and Budgeting then addressed the committees to explain the reasoning behind cuts in the governor’s proposed budget. He emphasized that they were careful not to make broad based cuts, and looked at each agency individually to assess what reductions could be made. Legislators showed great concern regarding the disparity of pay raises in education compared to those for other state employees, such as state troopers. Childress explained that pay raises in education could not be reduced due to contracts that were signed before mid fiscal year adjustments. Members of the committees once again questioned the reasoning for the proposed elimination of $30 million in state support for school health programs, which includes school nurses. They cautioned that the reduction could result in negative consequences, such as children being absent from school and parents missing work to provide essential services usually administered by school nurses.
Upon completion of the budget hearings, Sen. Hill held a public meeting for block grants that will be distributed in FY 2010 to agencies across the state for programs including mental health, low-income home energy assistance, substance abuse and treatment, and preventative health. These hearings give legislators an opportunity to hear how the general public feels these funds should be used. Public recommendations included directing additional funds to senior citizens.
The Senate and House Appropriations Committees will move forward in the budget process by holding subcommittee meetings to discuss their individual budget areas in more detail.
Walker County Commissioner Bebe Heiskel is considering the purchase of a 15 acre sight in the Kensington area that currently belongs to the Lookout Mountain Community Services. Heiskel said the sight could be used as a headquarters for emergency services including the newly created Walker County Ambulance Service and she also believes that it could be used for a Regional Training Facility for Northwest Georgia Emergency workers.
Lookout Mountain Communtiy Services is being forced to shut it’s doors due to state budget cut backs. Walker County attorney Don Oliver is negotiating the terms of the possible purchase.
After decades of planning and preparation, the long-awaited Canyon Center grand opening is weeks away.
The Jacksonville State University Canyon Center will open to the public on Feb. 22. A public opening will be from 1-5 p.m. that will include tours, programs, presentations, music, food and artists.
“The JSU Canyon Center is for everyone, and it is also set up to help everyone,” said Director Pete Conroy. “The building will provide the community with spaces for meetings, family gatherings, events and celebrations. It will become a place with regularly scheduled educational programs and cultural activities, such as concerts and workshops.”
Conroy said even though National Park Service employees and JSU students may be the people who see the Canyon Center the most, all local residents should feel welcome.
“Starting on Feb. 22, the Canyon Center’s Web site will post hours of operation,” Conroy said. “Also posted will be a calendar with the programs, classes, service projects and opportunities provided by JSU, the NPS, volunteers and other partners of the project.
“In addition to the activities that will be provided, the Canyon Center will act as a positive regional addition, promoting Fort Payne and DeKalb County as a destination for students, tourists and outdoor enthusiasts.”
Little River Canyon National Preserve Chief Ranger Kim Kirk said the center’s proximity would greatly help both visitors and employees.
“It will be closer to the park, which will be an asset to the visitor,” Kirk said. “That will help the park a great deal with visitor services. This will be everyone under one roof.”
Conroy said the Canyon Center should also contribute to DeKalb County’s tourism industry.
“The Canyon Center should not only add to the region’s reputation but also to its revenue accounts,” Conroy said. “The Canyon Center is certain to increase revenue for local retailers, hotels, service stations, restaurants and other related establishments. It will provide easy access to information about JSU, the NPS and its other partners.”
Conroy said the design of the center only adds to its attractiveness.
“The Canyon Center will serve as a national model for sustainable design and architecture,” Conroy said. “Registered as a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design building, it is the largest geothermally heated and cooled facility in Alabama also featuring a wide variety of eco-friendly building materials and construction techniques that have minimized its impact.”
He said volunteer opportunities would also be available.
“Those who successfully complete the training will be provided with a variety of opportunities to do things, such as greeting visitors, organizing literature, distributing information, assisting in the gift shop or maintaining the grounds, gardens and trails,” Conroy said.
On Feb. 21, Conroy said an invitation-only event is scheduled for Canyon Center donors and contributors.
