Ft. Valley To Get Stimulus $$ for Superfund Site

The Superfund program was established during the Carter administration. It requires chemical and manufacturing companies to pay for cleaning up thousands of contaminated sites around the country. Sixteen such sites are in Georgia. They're part of the EPA's National Priority List or NPL.

The $5 million dollars heading toward Fort Valley is part of President Obama's American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Fort Valley officials say the Woolfolk site will become the nexus of its redevelopment efforts in an area which includes downtown Fort Valley as well as Fort Valley State University.

Woolfolk sits close to downtown Fort Valley and to the state university which bears the city's name. Since the site was deemed eligible for Superfund in 1990, 27 million dollars has been spent to partially cleanup its 31-acres. Fort Valley mayor Dr. John Stumbo knows the site's history.

"The Woolfolk Chemical Plant started operations there in about 1924. They made agricultural pesticides that were arsenic lace. In those days, of course, there was no air conditioning and because of the heat, most of the mixing of this dry material was done in sheds that simply had a roof and no side walls. So, as the winds blew through there, it would carry this contamined dust all over the area. The second company came in there in the 1970s, they were called Canada in Georgia, and they were doing the same thing."

Recently, Fort Valley's City Council voted to designate Woolfolk part of its redevelopment plan. But, commercial developers have shied away from the area since in some places contaminated soil remains below the surface. So, instead the City Council is considering a recreation center and Fort Valley's mayor says he'd like a new police academy. And, there is also this idea from Fort Valley State University.

"They're trying to develop plants that indeed clean on their own by their growing process, contaminants out of soils. Well, this would be an ideal situation, because there is still some contamination in the soil."

In the early 1980s, citizen complaints prompted the Georgia environmental officials to investigate Woolfolk amid allegations of discharge of waste products into a drainage corridor heading away from the site. No injuries have been reported but one lawsuit forced a former Woolfolk owner to reimburse residents for declining property values.

Today, according to the US EPA, all excavation of arsenic from residential soil is complete, as well as the removal of arsennic contaminated dust from residential attics.

Finally, in 2002, then President Bush elmininated the Superfund tax for chemical companies, which generated approximately $1 billion dollars a year. The Obama administration has reinstated the program starting in 2011, which is expected to add about $17 billion dollars over ten years to the program.

Fort Valley hopes this latest infusion of $5 million dollars from President Obama's stimulus plan will complete the cleanup of Woolfolk, fulfilling its promise of downtown revitalization.

Former Mexico Prez To Speak At Emory Graduation

Former Mexican President Vicente Fox is scheduled to speak at Emory University’s spring commencement May 11th. The Atlanta school will also give Fox an honorary degree.

Fox was elected Mexico’s president in 2000. Following the end of his term in ’06, Fox founded Centro Fox. The presidential library and museum is loosely modeled on the humanitarian work of former U.S. President Jimmy Carter at Atlanta’s Carter Center.

Fox earned an MBA from Harvard University and also held the post of president of Coca-Cola Mexico.

Habitat for Humanity Co-founder Dies

Habitat for Humanity co-founder Millard Fuller has died. He was 74.

Fuller's wife, Linda, says Fuller died about 3 a.m. Tuesday after visiting a Georgia hospital, but she says the cause of death is unknown.

Linda Fuller says her husband had complained of chest pains, headache and that his throat was tightening up. She says she took him to an emergency room in Americus in south Georgia, and he was being taken to another hospital in Albany, Ga., about 35 miles away, when he died.

Former President Jimmy Carter issued a statement calling Fuller "one of the most extraordinary people I have ever known."

After running Habitat with his wife for nearly three decades, Fuller lost control of the charity in a conflict with the organization's board.

According to the Fuller Center for Housing's website, Fuller will be buried at Koinonia Farms in Americus, Ga.

Click here for more GPB News coverage about Habitat for Humanity.

(AP)

Officials: Plains State Visitor To Remain Open

In Georgia Public Broadcasting Radio’s occasional “MoneyCrunch” series, which airs on Georgia Gazette news magazine weekday evenings at 6 P.M., we explore the effects of proposed budget cuts on communities and constituents around the state.


Duck pond in front of the Georgia Visitor Information Center at Plains. (Photo: Dave Bender)

Last week, an obscure state law saved a state welcome center in Plains from the chopping block, to help cover a $2.2 billion shortfall in the 2010 budget.


Entrance to visitor center. (Photo: Dave Bender)

But, on Monday, officials at the Georgia Department of Economic Development said The Georgia Visitor Information Center will remain open, despite a pending recommendation to slash its $186,000 budget.


Democratic State Sen. George Hooks at the Capitol. (Photo: Dave Bender)

Americus state Senator, George Hooks cites a 1977 statute that says Georgia, by law, must have a visitor center in any town whose resident becomes a president:

“'...and it shall be,' - not 'may be,' but 'shall be,' - maintained and supplied with materials," Hooks told legislators.

Those materials feature the state’s charms in hundreds of glossy tourism magazines, colorful photos and souvenirs.

A visitor’s center at Sylvania was also facing closure. The two centers are among eleven similar facilities around the state.

The GDEcD’s Alison Tyrer, however, says her office would like to keep both the Sylvania and Plains centers open:

”We are looking at all possible options for both centers. However, it’s very early in the legislative process so we would prefer not to speculate on what those options might be at this time,” Tyrer said in a written comment on the issue.

The Plains center is a replica of a rustic wooden farmhouse, surrounded by fields and piney woods. A pastoral two-lane road out front links the town to nearby Americus. The road, and the parking lot of the 31-year-old building are both empty on this Monday afternoon.


Map, pins and and "Post-its" left by guests who have visited the site. Penny Smith, who manages the facility, is behind the desk. (Photo: Dave Bender)

Manager Penny Smith sits inside and waits for tourists:

“…you don’t get bored, because it’s God’s nature… and that’s why the visitors love it so much, because you’re in another world, and when you’re here you don’t think about the outside; what’s going on outside this area - it’s just peace and harmony and such a wonderful feeling…”

She's worked here for eight years, and says the visitor center is her whole world. Smith shared her patch of Georgia with 56,000 folks who stopped by last year:

"Our visitors are 'destination visitors;' they're not just stopping to go to the restroom or get a roadmap. They're here to spend time and money and see what there is to see in the state."

Sign of town's pride. (Photo: Dave Bender)

The biggest local attraction is former President Jimmy Carter, who lives in Plains with former First Lady Rosalynn.

While a National Park Service visitors center closer to Carter’s home focuses on the 39th president, Smith says her facility offers a lot more:

"When we have the visitors captured here, we use that time to tell them about other places in Americus, down the road; make motel, hotel reservations – just service the visitor overall. They don’t do that at the park service.”

Their money's part of more than thirty-four billion tourism dollars that Georgia raked in last year. Those dollars paid for almost 250,000 jobs – among them, Smith’s and two assistants.

Plains peanut processing facility and road sign on the way to the visitor center. (Photo: Dave Bender)

Plains Mayor Boze Godwin says the 700 residents of his struggling rural town – and the vicinity - need every tourist dollar that comes through the center:

“I think it’s important not only for Plains, but for the whole county because they do refer people to businesses here. In the past we had a tog shop here, and that closed – but they would send people to that to buy clothes – so they helped the whole area, not just Plains … and they do a great job.”

Hooks, Godwin and Smith hope that statute will be enough to keep the visitor center open to greet the next busload of tourists.

Click here for more GPB news coverage of the state budget.

Lawmaker: Ga. Can't Close Carter Visitor Center

(National Park Service)

Georgia economic development officials were left red-faced as a veteran state lawmaker said the department's plans to shutter a visitor center in former President Jimmy Carter's hometown of Plains violated state law.

The Georgia Department of Economic Development's budget plan eliminated $186,407 for the visitor center as part of agency budget cuts.

But at a budget hearing Thursday at the state Capitol, state Sen. George Hooks, a Democrat from Americus, said Georgia law dating from 1977 requires the state to "construct, operate and maintain a tourist center" near the home of any Georgian elected president.

Economic Development Commissioner Ken Stewart said he was not aware of the law and said "we will certainly go look at our options."

(AP)

Click here for more GPB coverage about budget cutting statewide.

Georgians Ready for Inauguration Festivities

Thousands of Georgians have made the trek to Washington D.C. to take-in today’s Inauguration events. Last night, about a thousand people attended a ball put on by the Georgia State Society.

Among some Georgia-connected names in D.C. today--the Reverand Joseph Lowery. He will deliver the benediction at today's Inauguration. Lowery is the co-founder of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and retired pastor of Atlanta’s Cascade United Methodist Church.

Across Georgia, there will be viewing parties and events for the Inauguration. Those include in Plains. Some of the people who once helped Jimmy Carter win the nation's highest office are gathering in Carter's hometown. The Jimmy Carter National Historic Site is hosting a special Inaugural Day event at the Plains High School Museum/Visitor Center.

Complete Inauguration coverage can be heard on the Georgia Public Broadcasting radio network. You can also get updates anytime by going to our website: gpb.org

Carter Center urges end to Gaza violence

The Carter Center is urging both sides to cease violence in and around Gaza, saying it threatens peace talks and Israel's long-term security.

The center, founded by former President Jimmy Carter and his wife - which has offices in Gaza, Jerusalem and the West Bank – said Wednesday that Israel must cease attacks endangering civilians in the densely populated territory and Hamas leaders must halt rocket attacks against Israel.

The Atlanta-based Carter Center released a statement saying Israel has a right to protect its citizens but "these operations are disproportionate and detrimental to the ongoing peace efforts."

It said bombing "contributes to the further radicalization of the Palestinian population and undermines Israel's long-term security interests.

(AP)

Click here for more GPB News coverage about the Carter Center.

Georgia hosts human rights conference

Human rights activists from around the world are gathering in Georgia this week. The Carter Center in Atlanta is hosting a conference aimed at focusing support for international political, economic, social and cultural rights in the administration of President-elect Barack Obama. Former President Carter told about 50 conference delegates today that the U.S. image has been tarnished over the past seven years in the name of fighting terrorism. Carter said he believes the Obama administration "will be looking to restore the reputation of my country."

(Associated Press)

Weekend peanut festival gears up

The 12th Annual Plains Peanut Festival kicks off this Saturday. Georgia is the nation's leading peanut producer and it's the official state crop. The state's most famous peanut farmer and Plains native, Jimmy Carter, is scheduled to attend the festival with his wife Roselyn. Visitors will be able to learn more information about the southwest Georgia peanut industry in the nearby Plains Community Center. The festival also will feature a parade on Main Street at 11 a.m.

Perdue unveils plan to target state mental health

Governor Sonny Perdue says a reorganization of the state’s health and social services will help pave the way toward fixing Georgia’s severe deficiencies in mental health care.

Perdue says a newly-created Department of Behavioral Health would handle only mental health and addiction programs. The plan also creates a Department of Health, to oversee programs such as Medicaid and Peachcare, and a Department of Human Services--handling welfare and elderly issues.

The state has been under federal scrutiny for what investigators say are dangerous conditions in Georgia’s seven mental hospitals. Perdue says this new arrangement is vital.

"I firmly believe by separating these functions organizationally, the resulting standalone department focused on mental health will be a nimble, flexible, responsive unit better able to fully implement the commission’s recommendations".

The announcement comes on the heels of a report from the Governor’s task force on how to improve the state’s troubled mental hospitals and services.

While the reorganization looks good, it still makes Lei Ellingson cautious. She’s assistant director for mental health programs at the Carter Center in Atlanta.

"I think it’s a good step to have mental health and addictive diseases pulled out and brought closer to the Governor, if there’s this direct link. But the budget has to be there".

The reorganization would take-hold on July 1st of next year, if approved by lawmakers.

Deal Still Pushing Flint Dams

A plan to build a series of dams on the Flint river will move forward despite vocal opposition from environmentalists and a former president.

Damming the Flint River is an idea dating back to the 1946. And with record drought throughout the state, Gainesville Congressman Nathan Deal says dams should go up. Deal says his proposal will increase Atlanta’s water supply during times of drought. Environmentalists, along with former President Jimmy Carter, say the plan will create an ecological mess. Still, Deal says the plan will move forward, and offered this challenge to President Carter.

"Jimmy Carter---if he has a better way of supplying water to the Carter Center in Atlanta, I’d like to hear what it is. I haven’t heard anything from him in that regard."

President Carter vetoed a funding bill for a Flint dam project during his time in the Whitehouse. In the 1980’s, Congress abandoned plans to build a series of three dams on the river. Essentially, Deal wants to reauthorize that project.

Carter political strategist dies

Hamilton Jordan, 1944-2008. Jordan answers questions at a news conference in Dallas on June 4, 1992. (AP Photo/Pat Sullivan, File)

Hamilton Jordan, a political strategist from south Georgia who helped propel Jimmy Carter to the White House and served as his chief of staff, died Tuesday. He was 63.

Jordan died at his home in Atlanta after a long battle with cancer, said Gerald Rafshoon, a former Carter spokesman.

Jordan graduated from the University of Georgia with a political science degree in 1967 and became a key adviser to Carter during the 1976 presidential campaign. After Carter was defeated by Ronald Reagan in 1980, Jordan ran in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate in 1986. He lost to Wyche Fowler, who won the general election.

Jordan worked for H. Ross Perot's presidential bid in 1992.

Later he worked with Unity08, an independent political group founded by independent Angus King, the former governor of Maine, along with Rafshoon and Doug Bailey, a former staffer on President Ford's 1976 campaign.

Jordan's family is planning a memorial service at the Carter Center on Friday, according to a report.

For more GPB News coverage about Georgia politics, click here. For more about Carter, click here.

(The Associated Press)

Carter, Condi in diplomatic dustup

Former President Jimmy Carter on Wednesday continued to insist that the Bush administration never warned him against meeting with leaders of Hamas during a recent trip to the Middle East.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Tuesday that the State Department told the former president "that we did not think meeting with Hamas was going to help" further a political settlement between Israel and the Palestinians. The Palestinian faction is regarded as a terror group by the U.S., Israel and the European Union.

In a statement issued by the Carter Center on Wednesday, the former president said he never got that message.

"President Carter has the greatest respect for Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and believes her to be a truthful person," the statement said. "However, perhaps inadvertently, she is continuing to make a statement that is not true."

"No one in the State Department or any other department of the U.S. government ever asked him to refrain from his recent visit to the Middle East or even suggested that he not meet with Syrian President Assad or leaders of Hamas."

In Washington, the State Department again rejected Carter's claim that he had not been advised against meeting with Hamas officials, referring to comments from Rice and other top officials.

"We stand by those statements," spokesman Sean McCormack said. "We stand by them as statements of fact, we have nothing more to add.

Carter had said earlier this week in a interview with NPR that he never received a warning from the State Department when he discussed the trip with officials there.

Carter said top Hamas leaders told him during seven hours of talks in Damascus over the weekend that they are willing to live next to Israel. However, a top Hamas official said the group would never outright recognize the Jewish state.

Rice said U.S. policy remains that it will deal only with the elected Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, and his West Bank-based government as it tried to help Israel and the Palestinians broker terms for an independent Palestinian state.

Rice said she that Carter's visit could confuse the message that the U.S. will not deal with Hamas.

Click here for more GPB News coverage of Carter's Mideast visit.

(The Associated Press)

Carter Hints at Supporting Obama (Updated)

Former President Jimmy Carter has hinted that he may cast his superdelegate vote for Illinois Senator Barack Obama as the Democratic presidential nominee, according to a report appearing in an African newspaper.

Carter is said to have made the statement on Wednesday at an award ceremony at the Carter Center in Abuja, Nigeria, according to a local news website.

“We are very interested in the primaries. Don’t forget that Obama won in my state of Georgia. My town which is home to 625 people is for Obama, my children and their spouses are pro-Obama.

"My grandchildren are also pro-Obama. As a superdelegate, I would not disclose who I am rooting for but I leave you to make that guess," the website quoted Carter as saying.

Carter's press secretary confirmed the comments Thursday and reiterated the President's intention to remain uncommitted to a specific presidential candidate until the Democratic Party Convention in August.

Click here for more GPB News coverage of the race for the White House.

Beauty queens grace the Senate

Miss Georgia 2007














Left to right: Sen. Tim Golden (D-Valdosta), Sen. Joseph Carter (R-Tifton), Leah Massee Ms. Georgia 2007, Lt. Governor Casey Cagle
(Photo courtesy: Tyna Duckett, Senate Photographer)


Peanut Queens

















First row; Lt. Governor Casey Cagle; 18-year old Kelsey Richter from Albany, 12-year old Destiny Allen from Sumner, Sen. John Bulloch (R-Ochlocknee)

Second row: Jennifer Eadie, 15, of Sylsvester, Terry Pickle, President- Georgia Peanut Producers Association
(Photo courtesy: Tyna Duckett, Senate Photographer)


Ms. Special Henry County














1st row, l-r: Burke Sisco, April Sisco, Ms. Special Henry County 2008 Shelly Sisco,
Joan Angelini, Director, People First of Henry County, Sen. Gail Davenport (D-Jonesboro)
2nd row: Sen. John Douglas (R-Social Circle), (center) Connie Dodgen, Director, People First of Henry County, Tina Mills, Director, People First of Henry County
3rd row: Sen. Emanuel Jones (D-Decauter), Lt. Gov Casey Cagle
People First is a local self-advocacy group helping people with disabilities.
(Photo courtesy: Tyna Duckett, Senate Photographer)

Nepal: Carter offers bid to end deadlock

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter meets Nepalese Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala, June 15, 2007. (Nepal Dep't of Information)

Former President Jimmy Carter offered a proposal Saturday to Nepal's government and former communist rebels to help end a political deadlock that has held up the country's elections.

The former guerrillas, known as Maoists, suspended their armed revolt last year. They signed a peace accord and joined Parliament and the ruling coalition this year.

However, they quit the government two months ago, demanding that the monarchy be immediately abolished - a move that forced the postponement of the elections, initially planned for Nov. 22. No new date has been set.

Carter told reporters he had suggested that all sides should agree that the monarchy would be abolished immediately after elections for an assembly to draft a new constitution, and that minor changes be made to the election system.

Carter, who also visited Nepal in June, gave the proposal to Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala.

"It is a specific proposal that I think will not only meet the need of all major parties and also the marginalized groups, but also provide strong encouragement for all the major parties, including the Maoists, to participate in the election," Carter said.

Carter held talks with Koirala, the Maoists and leaders of the main political parties during his four-day visit, which ended Saturday.

Nepal's government has asked the former president's Carter Center, based in Atlanta, Georgia, to observe the election for a Constituent Assembly, which is to rewrite the constitution and decide the country's future political system. The assembly would have the option of restoring the monarchy if it were abolished as Carter suggested.

Click here for more GPB coverage about Jimmy Carter.