“Turf Care in 10 Easy Steps” presented at the Chattooga County
Extension Office on Thursday, March 19th 6:00 pm
The Master Gardener Extension Volunteers of Chattooga County invite the community to the first meeting of 2015 to hear Paul Pugliese present “Turf Care in 10 Easy Steps”. Paul Pugliese is the County Extension Coordinator and Agricultural and Natural Resources Agent in Bartow County. Mr. Pugliese will teach you how to get a good start to a great lawn with his presentation. This presentation also will give one credit hour to those who hold a commercial/private pesticide license.
March through October, the Master Gardeners of Chattooga County host monthly community meetings on a range of horticulture subjects. You do not have to be a Master Gardener to attend these meetings! Come meet fellow gardening enthusiasts while learning something new! You can see our list of speakers for 2015 on the Chattooga County Extension web page at www.ugaextension.com/chattooga or call 706-857-0744 for more information.
Once again, sleet and ice threatened metro Atlanta this week, forcing all state government offices to close at noon on Wednesday to ensure the safety of all state employees and Georgians. I think we can all agree that we were glad to see the winter weather pass and hope it will be the last of this kind of weather for the year.
On Monday, the Senate unanimously passed Senate Bill 95. Currently, real estate brokers are only allowed to accept funds from designated escrow accounts which must be a federally insured bank checking account. SB 95 amends Georgia law to allow any FDIC insured account, including money market and savings accounts, to be used during a real estate transaction. SB 95 now goes to the House for consideration.
Senate Bill 34 passed with a vote of 50 to 2 and protects individuals who enter a parked vehicle to remove someone that is in imminent danger. SB 34 amends Georgia’s “Good Samaritan” law which offers protections for individuals rendering emergency care from liability of property damage or injury. Sadly, we have lost too many children who have been irresponsibly left in vehicles. This law simply protects those upstanding citizens who take action in hopes of protecting those in need of immediate help.
Police lineups have always been an efficient way to identify criminals or witnesses. Senate Bill 94 passed on Thursday by a vote of 53-0, and requires law enforcement agencies to adopt new policies regarding the identification of witnesses in a physical or photo lineup before July 1, 2016.
Senate Bill 88 authorizes employers to pay employee wages and salaries by a prepaid debit card from which funds may be withdrawn or transferred. Any employers who choose this method must provide their employees with an explanation of the requirements, along with the option to participate or not to participate. SB 88 passed in a vote of 43-8.
The Senate ended the week with Appropriations subcommittee meetings to review House Bill 76, which is the Fiscal Year 2016 general appropriations bill. Each subcommittee will conduct a careful line-by-line evaluation of the budget over the next several weeks to ensure we are making fiscally responsible decisions that contribute to the overall growth and prosperity of our state.
As always, I am honored to represent you in the 53rd Senate District. Please feel free to contact my office at any time to talk about pending legislation or address other concerns in our district – my door and phone lines are always open!
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Sen. Jeff Mullis serves as Chairman of the Rules Committee. He represents the 53rd Senate District, which includes Catoosa, Dade, and Walker counties and portions of Chattooga County. He can be reached at his office in Atlanta at 404.656.0057 or by email at jeff.mullis@senate.ga.gov.
Georgia Northwestern Technical College (GNTC) is offering a two week extension to the free GED® practice tests originally scheduled to end February 28. The tests will be available through March 14 to all current or potential adult students at one of the local Adult Education Learning Centers in GNTC’s nine county service area. The free practice test must be taken at a GNTC Learning Center.
Students who take the GED Ready® practice test will find out if they are ready to pass the GED® test, what skills they need to work on to pass the test, and will receive a personalized study plan. Students can also learn about classes and other resources to help them prepare for the GED® test.
For more information on how to benefit from these offers, please contact GNTC’s Office of Adult Education at (706) 295-6976.
The Adult Education program at Georgia Northwestern Technical College served 3,245 students and graduated 699 students with a GED® Diploma in Fiscal Year 2014. The Adult Education program at GNTC serves approximately 3,000 students in nine counties with campuses located in Floyd, Gordon, Polk, Walker, and Whitfield counties and off-campus learning centers in Catoosa, Chattooga, Dade, Floyd, Murray, Polk, and Walker counties. Classes are also held in five different Correctional facilities. GED® Testing Centers are located on campus in Floyd, Gordon, Walker, and Whitfield counties.
GNTC is an official General Educational Development® Testing Center and a site for computer-based GED® Testing in partnership with Pearson Vue and the Technical College System of Georgia. The mission of GNTC’s Adult Education program is to enable every adult learner in the service delivery area to acquire the necessary basic skills to be able to compete successfully in today’s workplace, strengthen family foundations, and exercise full citizenship.
Georgia Northwestern Technical College serves Catoosa, Chattooga, Dade, Floyd, Gordon, Murray, Polk, Walker, and Whitfield counties in Georgia with campuses located in Floyd, Gordon, Polk, Walker, and Whitfield counties. Approximately 16,000 people benefit from GNTC’s credit and noncredit programs, making it the largest college in Northwest Georgia and the fifth largest technical college in Georgia.
Changes are coming on Orchard Hill Road. The changes are the result of a study by law enforcement that was requested by Chattooga County Commissioner Jason Winters after a four year-old girl was killed on the road last year. The commissioner requested advise from the Georgia State Patrol and the Chattooga County Sheriff's Department about changes that could be made to increase the safety of commuters and residents in the area.
The recommendations were to first, reduce the speed limit on Orchard Hill Road between Hair Lake Road and Martin Dairy to 35 miles per hour. Second, create a three way stop at Orchard Hill Road and Denson Road due to limited site distance. Lastly, place “Stop Sign Ahead” signs on approach to Denson Road on Orchard Hill Road in both directions.
Chattooga County Public Works Director Joe Reed said that his department installed the stop signs this week and placed bags over the signs. Those bags will be removed on Monday morning when the new rules go into effect.
Both the Sheriff's Department and the Georgia State Patrol has promised extra patrol for the area to first warn motorists of the new changes, and then to enforce any violations after a few weeks.
CHS will hold tutoring sessions for the upcoming Georgia Milestones testing beginning Monday, March 9th. The tutoring will be held on Mondays from 9am – 12 noon. The testing will run on Monday mornings for 6 weeks. Tutoring sessions are open for any High School student to attend. For more information contact CHS at 706-857-2402
Chattooga Cheerleading will host tryouts for the 2015-2016 season on Monday, March 2nd, from 4:30 – 7:00pm at the gym at Summerville Elementary School. This tryout wil be for competitive and spirit cheerleading. The tryout is for girls and guys currently in 5th – 11th grade in all Chattooga County Schools. Tryouts will continue at the same time through Friday. All athletes must have a current physical on file with CHS or bring a copy to tryouts.
