Commerce Hospital Cuts Jobs

45 jobs have been cut from a northeast Georgia hospital due to what it says is declining revenue from Medicare and Medicaid. The BJC Medical Center in Commerce says it provided more than $1.3 million in services to indigent patients last year. The hospital also says it absorbed $5 million in losses from unpaid medical bills. Support staff took the brunt of the cuts, but positions were also eliminated from medical staff. The Commerce hospital has a staff of about 400.

Barber, former PSC commissioner, dies

Former Georgia Public Service commissioner J. Mac Barber has died. He was 91. A memorial service Friday will honor Barber, one of Georgia's longest-serving elected officials who died in Macon on Sunday. Barber served as a member of the Georgia House of Representatives from 1949 to 1973. He was then elected to the PSC five times and briefly served as mayor of Commerce in the late 1980s. Barber is remembered as an eccentric politician, sometimes sleeping in his office to avoid long commutes.

(Associated Press)

Commerce hospital to drop labor/delivery services

The weak economy has made a direct impact on certain hospital services in Commerce. MainStreetNews.com reports this morning that BJC Medical Center will close its labor and delivery services as of December 9th. The hospital’s CEO says the closing will help trim the facility’s deficit by up to $750,000. BJC Medical Center officials say they cannot sustain services with current Medicaid reimbursements. Patients will be sent to hospitals in Athens and Gainesville.

Albany included in nat'l poverty study

A national study examining concentrated poverty nationwide includes a glimpse of Albany. The Brookings Institution detailed its findings Friday in "The Enduring Challenge of Concentrated Poverty in America," a two-year study that profiles 16 high-poverty communities. The study included larger cities, like Miami, down to smaller areas like the eastern region of Albany. The report describes an area with no major commercial or real estate development and few social services, where 90 percent of the money made is spent outside the region, and where year 2000 statistics showed a 45 percent poverty rate. The report says signs of improvement include new subsidized housing - though some national housing experts blame public housing enclaves for concentrating poverty.

(Associated Press)

Darien starting 4-day work week over fuel costs

The town of Darien on Georgia’s Atlantic coast is one of the first in the state to go over to a four-day work week, due to rising fuel prices.

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City Manager Brett Cook says the town's 2,400 residents has been hammered with a 48-percent increase in gas prices since 2006:

“Finances are a lot more difficult with the smaller budget, and we’re not a large city by any means, so a small increase in fuel on us would affect us a little bit more than a large city.”

Darien runs a fleet of almost 30 vehicles, including heavy trucks and machinery that run on diesel fuel.

Cook says he hopes the shorter work week will also benefit the city’s employees, many of whom live far from town.

Click here for more GPB News coverage of gas prices and their effect on Georgia.

Student faces 17 counts for bomb threat

Authorities in northeast Georgia have charged a student with 17 counts in connection with a bomb threat made earlier this month. On October 3rd, state schools superintendent Kathy Cox had just walked through the front doors of Jackson County Comprehensive High School in Jefferson, when the school was ordered evacuated by district officials. In all, 17 schools were cleared in Jackson, Jefferson, and Commerce school districts. Prosecutors have not decided whether they will try to prosecute the 15-year-old in Jackson’s Superior Court, or Juvenile Court.

Former state senator passes away

Former state senator Steve Reynolds died today after a long battle with lung cancer. The 87-year-old was admitted into a hospice last week after his condition began deteriorating rapidly. The Commerce native was first elected to the Senate in 1968, and he served 14 years. After leaving the Senate, Reynolds served for two decades in the state Transportation Board, many of them as chairman.