“Maribelle” is available for adoption from the Walton County Animal Shelter. She is just one of those sweet dogs; a gentle, quiet companion always nearby and ready to give love when your heart needs it. She stayed calmly by my feet while in the exam room and didn’t leave my side when outside. She just melts when you talk to her and rolls over for that oh-so-good-feelin’ belly rub. She was a perfectly easygoing girl during her exam and vaccinations; never protesting, whimpering or offering a nip even while drawing blood. She stayed obligingly up on the table while we ran the tests. She occasionally jumps up on you, but very gently, and just for some lovin’. She does very well on leash too.
“Maribelle” keeps that sweetness when meeting other dogs. Around a bigger boy, she slightly turned her head and patted her tail on the ground. But as soon as he initiated play, she was right there with him! She was more self-assured when meeting other girl dogs, but never showed any aggression. She just kind of sniffed at a kitten, but didn’t show any immediate aggression (though it can be hard to test that here in the shelter).
Despite the photos, “Maribelle” is not a big girl. She’s 38 pounds which makes her a nice medium to small sized girl. She is in the five to six year old range, and overall appears healthy and in good condition.
“Zeus” is an 83-pound purebred Rottweiler who is available for adoption from Walton County Animal Shelter. He is very confident and loving with people. He sits on command, but would rather be playing and romping. His nub of a tail is constantly going. He does jump up now and again, but immediately jumps off and does respond to correction. He does great on the leash (and doesn’t really need the pinch collar they had around his neck). He was really good on the exam table while drawing blood and vaccinating, even licking our faces!
“Zeus” is happy to see other dogs, his nub still a-wagging! He’s a confident boy, very playful, and didn’t show signs of dog-aggression. When put with another dominant male, “Zeus” was continually trying to initiate play while the other dog was all hackles. When the other boy snapped at his face, “Zeus” backed off. He was good with females and other small dogs, but you can see this boy has been locked away and not neutered.
Here’s a way we can leverage our numbers to help save some dogs and cats.
Partners with Clayton County Animal Shelter is a group of volunteers who use social media to promote the adoption of dogs and cats in need of adoption; they’re doing God’s work and saving lives and they need our help.
They believe, and I agree, that high-quality photography like that from Walton County Animal Shelter will help them find more homes for the animals in the shelter. They’re raising money to buy a Nikon 50mm f/1.8G AF-S NIKKOR Lens
1. Click this link to buy them the Nikon 50mm f/1.8G AF-S NIKKOR Lens
2. For a smaller amount, click here and make an online donation in any amount.
I believe that good photography can make a difference. The Director of the Walton County Animal Shelter is a recreational photographer who uses his talent to put some extra effort into placing the dogs and cats that come into his care, and it shows. Let’s help the volunteers who are helping dogs and cats in Clayton County.
Georgia Politics, Campaigns & Elections
Senate Meeting Calendar
| 1:00 PM | AGRICULTURE & CONSUMER AFFAIRS | 310 CLOB |
| 1:45 PM | JOINT EDUCATION MEETING | 506 CLOB |
| 2:00 PM | DOT BOARD ELECTION – 8TH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT – CANCELLED | SENATE CHAMBER |
| 2:00 PM | INSURANCE & LABOR-CANCELLED | 450 CAP |
| 3:00 PM | DOT BOARD ELECTION – 1ST CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT | SENATE CHAMBER |
| 3:30 PM | SENATE APPROPRIATIONS-ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT SUBCOMMITTEE | 307 CLOB |
| 4:00 PM | DOT BOARD ELECTION – 2ND CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT | SENATE CHAMBER |
House Meeting Calendar
| TBD | Floor Session (LD12) | HOUSE CHAMBER (11:00am) |
| 9:00 AM – 10:00 AM | APPROPRIATIONS | 341 CAP |
| 9:00 AM – 10:00 AM | Jacobs (Subcommittee One) Judiciary Civil | 132 CAP |
| 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM | RULES | 341 CAP |
| 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM | INFORMATION & AUDITS | 403 CAP |
| 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM | DEFENSE & VETERANS AFFAIRS | 415 CLOB |
| 1:30 PM – 2:30 PM | GAME, FISH & PARKS | 406 CLOB |
| 2:00 PM – 2:30 PM | SPECIAL RULES | 606 CLOB |
| 2:00 PM – 4:00 PM | JOINT EDUCATION | 506 CLOB |
| 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM | RETIREMENT | 515 CLOB |
| 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM | INDUSTRY AND LABOR | 415 CLOB |
| 3:00 PM – 5:00 PM | HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES | 606 CLOB |
| 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM | REGULATED INDUSTRIES | 515 CLOB |
| 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM | REAPPORTIONMENT | 406 CLOB |
| 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM | STATE PROPERTIES | 403 CAP |
| 4:00 PM – 5:00 PM | JUVENILE JUSTICE | 406 CLOB |
Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Preibus will be meeting in Atlanta on Thursday.
The meeting has not been advertised, and apparently even some of the top brass at the state Capitol have not been informed, much less invited.
Election Results
Dr. Dean Burke (R-Bainbridge) will likely be sworn in this week as the new Senator from the 11th District, successor to former Senator John Bulloch.
Burke defeated Coolidge native Mike Keown in a special runoff election Tuesday night, with Burke getting 7,738 votes to Keown’s 5,507. Burke finished with 58.42 percent of the vote in District 11.
Burke easily won Decatur County on Tuesday night, defeating Keown by a count of 2,370 votes to 497 votes. He finished with 82.7 percent of the vote in Decatur County. In the Jan. 8 election, with four other candidates in the field, Burke had 2,005 votes and Keown had 333.
Burke also won in Colquitt County (1,144 to 744), Early County (442 to 320), Miller County (379 to 134), Mitchell County (348 to 235) and Seminole County (916 to 285). Keown won Grady County (1,165 to 811) and Thomas County (2,127 to 1,328).
Cherokee County voters chose Republican Scot Turner over Republican political consultant Brian Laurens to replace former State Rep. Sean Jerguson.
Turner received 903 of the total 1,502 votes cast, giving him 60.1 percent of the vote, according to unofficial election results. His opponent, Brian Laurens, earned 599 votes.
“I am just so proud of my team right now,” Turner said Tuesday night.
Campaign organizers Tori Wester and Robert Lee organized more than 50 campaign volunteers, Turner said.
“I am speechless about the amount of support we had help us get the word out about this race,” he said. “I’m excited for the opportunity to serve, and I want to enter into this with a servant’s heart.”
Turnout for the runoff was low, with 4.59 percent of the district’s 32,860 registered voters casting ballots.
In House District 71, Coweta and Fayette Counties, David Stover came in first in a six-candidate field and will be joined in a March 5 runoff election by Thomas G. Crymes.
Tea Party leader Debbie Dooley said of the results:
There have been three special elections in which ethics reform played a huge role. Brandon Beach, Scot Turner and Dean Burke all supported ethics reform and signed our pledge and won their races. Their opponents refused to sign the pledge and did not support caps on lobbyist gifts. People do care about ethics and limits on lobbyist gifts. Current legislators need to pay close attention to the results of those races.
Legislature & State Government
Dennis O’Hayer of WABE has a nearly-five minute audio interview with Governor Nathan Deal in which the Governor addresses several issues including Georgia’s resistance to the expansion of Medicaid.
Secretary of State Brian Kemp says that more than 3500 Registered Nurses have holds on their license renewals as the department waits to receive and process their citizenship documents.
In 2011, Georgia law was amended to require applicants for initial licensure or renewal to submit secure and verifiable documentation of US citizenship/qualified alien status.
Kemp sent a letter to the federal Citizenship and Immigration Services complaining that the agency is delaying the department’s access to records that would help verify the eligibility of people registering to vote.
“To avoid further unnecessary delay,” Kemp wrote, “I ask that your office promptly put aside any partisan politics that might be at the root of USCIS’ recent actions and grant the state of Georgia access to SAVE so that we can verify the citizenship status of voter registration applicants pursuant to Georgia law.”
Senator Buddy Carter has introduced a raft of bills to make more local offices nonpartisan.
Sen. Buddy Carter of Pooler drafted the bills. He says people who run for sheriff, for instance, just want to keep Georgians safe. He says political affiliation doesn’t have anything to do with it.
Supporters say many qualified candidates don’t want to run in partisan races for offices such as district attorney. They also say many voters stick to party affiliation in the voting booth even when casting ballots for school board or solicitor general. And they say that means they overlook good, solid candidates.
Motorists who lease a car would no longer face a double-tax whammy in Georgia under legislation the House Ways and Means Committee approved Tuesday.
The 2012 legislation requires Georgians who lease cars beginning March 1 to pay an upfront title tax of 6.5 percent — same as those who buy a car — but also pay a monthly use tax based on their local jurisdiction’s tax rate.
Healthcare navigators will be required to be licensed if House Bill 198 passes.
The new workforce of navigators, required under the Affordable Care Act, will help determine if they’re eligible for Medicaid, commercial health plans and federal tax subsidies, among other services.
House Bill 198 aims to ensure navigators are knowledgeable about the exchange and the insurance policies that will be available to consumers.
“We support any effort to insure that individuals who may provide insurance advice to Georgia citizens are qualified to do so,” Georgia Insurance Commissioner Ralph Hudgens said in a statement.
Under the bill, navigators would be required to go through 35 hours of training to be licensed and participate in continuing education to renew their licenses.
Senate Bill 65 by Senator Renee Unterman (R-Buford), passed out of the Senate Health & Human Service Committee, will add licensed professional counselors to doctors, psychologists, clinical social workers and other medical professionals, who can have someone involuntarily committed to a mental institution if they are deemed a danger to themselves or others.
In October, state Rep. Mike Jacobs, R-Atlanta, filed a complaint with the state attorney general alleging the MARTA board had conducted an illegal “secret” vote by email to decide which of four finalists should be selected general manager.
“Thankfully the MARTA board recognizes and admits it had problems,” said Jacobs, who chairs the legislative committee that oversees MARTA. “It is clear that future violations of the Open Meetings Act or Open Records Act at MARTA will be met with sanctions.”
But in Monday’s agreement with the attorney general, the board admitted only to what appeared to be two technical violations of the open meetings law.
The State House Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee is holding on to House Bill 35 by State Rep. Paul Battles, which would allow local school boards to decide whether an administrators should be allowed to carry a weapon in local schools. According to Georgia Public Broadcasting,
Chairman Alan Powell says he has questions about the kind of training that would be required, what kind of weapons would be allowed and effects on schools’ liability insurance.
WABE’s Denis O’Hayer asked Brooks, “So you’re saying these are lies, too?”
“Oh, absolutely, they’re lies,” Brooks replied. “I mean, there are many cases for them (Federal authorities) to go across this state and focus on bribery and corruption. But, I’m not one. I’m not one.”
Floating the name of former Georgia Labor Commissioner Michael Thurmond for Interim Superintendent of DeKalb County Public Schools was not well-received by state officials.
Fran Millar is a state representative from Dunwoody and former chairman of the House education committee. He says instead of focusing on a big name, like Thurmond, the board needs to find a “placeholder” to serve as interim and move on.
“It’s a distraction,” Millar says, “We’re disappointed this has come about. But, that is not the issue. You’ve got 100,000 kids and their parents. They’re sitting there, waiting. ‘Are we going to lose our accreditation?’ The board should be preparing for their February 21 hearing with the state board of education.”
Some think considering Thurmond is a political move, meant to put the DeKalb board in good standing with state officials. But Governor Deal told WABE it probably won’t.
“It was not the dynamic of who the school superintendent was that got them put on probation,” Deal said, “So, changing something that had nothing to do with the probationary reasons, which was governance by the board itself, I don’t think one really has any necessary connection to the other.”
Senate 2014
Congressman Paul Broun will formally announce his candidacy for United States Senate this afternoon, Wednesday, February 6th @ 4:00 pm EST at the Grand Hyatt Hotel, Library Room: 3300 Peachtree Road NE Atlanta, GA
Newton County Commissioner John Douglas sent out an email announcing yet again his campaign to succeed Broun. Here’s the part that will interest political junkies and horse race aficionados.
John Douglas has retained the services of political consultant Chip Lake
who recently directed the campaign of Congressman Doug Collins and has
several other successful Congressional races to his credit.
We’ve heard unconfirmed rumors that State Senator Bill Cowsert may enter this race and that he would be likely to hire Joel McElhannon, making this a rematch of last summer’s GOP Primary elections in the Ninth and Eleventh Congressional Districts, as well as the Primary between State Senator Bill Heath and a GOP Primary Challenger.
Georgia Republican Assembly Chartered
A long list of grassroots conservative activists and a statewide elected Republican announced yesterday that they have chartered a group called the Georgia Republican Assembly.
Tea Party Leader Julianne Thompson will serve as President of the organizations designed to push back against the likes of Karl Rove. Other charter members include State Senator Josh McKoon, Georgia Insurance Commissioner Ralph Hudgens, Debbie Dooley, Debbie Whelchel, and Georgia Conservatives in Action leaders Pat Tippet and Kay Godwin.
I caught up with Julianne and Kay yesterday at the Capitol.
Energy Policy
Anti-nuclear activists are comparing federal loan guarantees for construction of new nuclear reactors at Georgia Power’s Plant Vogtle to the Solyndra fiasco.
Doug Koplow, the report author and a founder of the watchdog group Earth Track, compared the loan slated for Vogtle to the one extended to the failed energy company Solyndra, which cost taxpayers at least $500 million.
Koplow says he wants the report to serve as a wake-up call to Washington.
“On the Solyndra loan guarantee there was a lot of discovery that happened as a result of congressional action and I hope that some people in Congress will view that as useful to do for this loan guarantee as well.”
In a written statement, Southern Company spokesman Mark Williams says negotiations with federal officials are ongoing and confidential. He added the $14 billion project doesn’t hinge on the federal loan.
Except for, you know, a 67-year history of financial stability and providing reliable energy to millions of Georgians 24/7/365.
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