Greene County Democrat

Month: August 2021

  • COVID-19

    As of August 10, 2021 at 10:00 AM

    (according to Alabama Political Reporter)

    Alabama had 615,901 confirmed cases of coronavirus,

    (23,484) more than last week with 11,648 deaths (106 ) more

    than last week)

     

    Greene County had 1010 confirmed cases, (17 more cases than last week), with 38 deaths

    Sumter Co. had 1,123 cases with 34 deaths

    Hale Co. had 2,424 cases with 79 deaths

    Note: Greene County Physicians Clinic has Johnson and Johnson, one dose vaccination for COVID-19; Call for appointments at 205/372-3388, Ext. 142; ages 18 and up.

  • Newswire: Despite short-term rental eviction reprieve, No permanent solution found

    U. S. Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.) stages a protest outside the U. S. Capitol Building, drawing national attention to homelessness and the need for the eviction reprieve. The Rev. Jesse Jackson (left) and Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) stand in support of her. PHOTO: Roy Lewis/Trice Edney News Wire

    By Charlene Crowell

    (TriceEdneyWire.com) – On August 4, an estimated 11 million American consumers facing imminent evictions gained a short-term reprieve, thanks to an eviction moratorium extension ordered by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Effective August 3 through October 3, counties experiencing substantial and high levels of COVID-19 levels, many of which are driven by the surging delta variant are eligible for 75% of the approved $46 billion still available. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has an online Rental Assistance Finder at http://www.consumerfinance.gov/renthelp, designed to connect renters and landlords with state and local programs distributing federal emergency rental assistance (ERA) nationwide. It is critical for states and localities to turn their attention to distributing ERA funds more quickly. Program administrators can and should utilize the flexibilities the Treasury Department provided, and ensure that programs’ barriers – like burdensome documentation requirements – are minimized. According to CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky, “The emergence of the delta variant has led to a rapid acceleration of community transmission in the United States, putting more Americans at increased risk, especially if they are unvaccinated. This moratorium is the right thing to do to keep people in their homes and out of congregate settings where COVID-19 spreads.” The action came on the heels of a ‘sleep-in’ protest on the steps of the Capitol, led by freshman legislator Rep. Cori Bush. Representing St. Louis and adjoining areas, Ms. Bush herself was once a homeless single mother, and vowed that the peaceful protest would continue until actions were taken to protect renters. She is also a registered nurse, ordained pastor, and the Deputy Whip for the Congressional Progressive Caucus. Her activism first gained public attention following the death of Michael Brown, Jr. in Ferguson, MO. Upon learning of the CDC moratorium extension, Rep. Bush said, “Over the last five days, our movement has received support from many of our House and Senate colleagues. Especially as a formerly unhoused person, I am grateful to each and every one of them for recognizing and working to end this eviction emergency and for amplifying the call to extend the eviction moratorium. It will take all of us working together to get this done. Each day that passes without a federal moratorium is another day of evictions, uncertainty, and instability for millions of people who are at risk of being removed from their homes.” Only a few days earlier on July 27, the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis, led by South Carolina Congressman Jim Clyburn, heard from another single mother, Katrina Chism of metro Atlanta, who testified to her lengthy and ongoing struggle to keep a roof over her family’s head. “The fear of homelessness became a reality for me,” testified Ms.Chism. “I had never faced this type of stress before and I had no idea what I was going to be able to do with little income and no home…. In May, I ended up moving to another county further outside Atlanta, where I felt forced into a lease where my rent increased by several hundred dollars per month. I went from paying $1245 to $1600. It was really expensive to move. I had to pay for (movers, a U-Haul junk remover, a large deposit, application fees, etc.).” Her testimony went on to recount details of the personal ordeal she endured that began with an August 2020 job layoff. During the two months it took to secure alternative work, she fell two months behind on her rent. On February 12 of this year, she applied for rental assistance – the first day that the Tenant-Landlord Assistance Coalition in DeKalb County began accepting applications. Her approved application was sent to Atlanta Legal Aid to help negotiate a resolution with her landlord using rental assistance through the county. A month later in March, Ms. Chism again lost her job. Her legal aid attorney tried to negotiate repayments with the landlord over several weeks, including an updated proposal with higher numbers when another month’s rent was due. But by mid-April, the landlord rejected the proposal and issued notice that the lease set to expire in mid-May would not be renewed. The alternative housing for herself and her son prevented the family from becoming homeless; but the rent charged with the new landlord rose by $355 each month. “I felt expendable, and they showed me I was”, testified Ms. Chism. “I was not given any consideration as a long-term tenant with no evictions on my record ever. I felt as if I had broken the law somehow while we were in the middle of a pandemic…. There are so many people in this situation, and it is unfair. There is assistance out there to help relieve everyone of financial burden, but when corporations are greedy, they ignore the everyday person doing everything they can to survive.” According to a related Aspen Institute report. “Currently, 22% of Black renters and 17% of Latinx renters are in debt to their landlords, compared to 15% overall and 11% of White renters. Rental debt is also challenging for renters with children, with 19% unable to make payments.” Even so, in early June four private real estate entities joined with the Alabama and Georgia Associations of Realtors in an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court for an emergency ruling to end the nationwide moratorium on evictions and foreclosures. Suing the Department of Health and Human Services, the CDC, and the U.S. Department of Justice, the plaintiffs said in part that “the CDC shifted the pandemic’s financial burdens from the nation’s 30 to 40 million renters to its 10 to 11 million landlords— most of whom, like applicants, are individuals and small businesses—resulting in over $13 billion in unpaid rent per month.” The lawsuit also claimed that “the total effect of the CDC’s overreach may reach up to $200 billion if it remains in effect for a year.” “In reality, the eviction moratorium has become an instrument of economic policy rather than of disease control,” stated the appeal. “And even if that were debatable, the same cannot be said for the lack of any public interest in prolonging unlawful Executive Branch action.” In response, on June 29 the Court denied the realtors’ application, leaving the moratorium in place through the end of July. In a concurring one-page opinion written by Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote, “Because the CDC plans to end the moratorium in only a few weeks, on July 31, and because those few weeks will allow for additional and more orderly distribution of the congressionally appropriated rental assistance funds, I vote at this time to deny the application to vacate the District Court’s stay of its order,” wrote the Associate Justice. “In my view, clear and specific congressional authorization (via new legislation) would be necessary for the CDC to extend the moratorium past July 31,” concluded Kavanaugh. This opinion drove White House and lawmaker debates over whether the CDC had the legal authority to extend the eviction moratorium. It also explains President Biden’s remarks on the better-late-than-never order. “Whether that option will pass constitutional measure with this administration, I can’t tell you. I don’t know,” said President Biden. “There are a few scholars who say it will, and others who say it’s not likely to. But, at a minimum, by the time it gets litigated it will probably give some additional time while we’re getting that $45 billion out to people who are in fact behind in the rent and don’t have the money.” But neither the extension, nor CDC remarks explain why emergency rental assistance sent to state and local jurisdictions is taking so long to reach consumers who desperately needed help. “The ability of states and localities to distribute critical ERA funds was hindered early on by harmful guidance released by the Trump Administration on its last day in office, January 19, 2021. … The Department of Treasury rescinded the Trump Administration’s harmful FAQ [frequently asked questions] and released a new one in February 2021 that directly addressed the significant flaws in the previous administration’s guidance,” testified Yentel. With no end in sight for the global pandemic, Congress and the White House still bear the onus of developing more permanent solutions to the nation’s housing crisis.

    Charlene Crowell is a senior fellow with the Center for Responsible Lending. She can be reached at Charlene.crowell@responsiblelending.org.

  • Newswire: Rihanna tops $1 Billion in net worth

    Rihanna singing
     

    Stacy M. Brown NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent

    You can call her Ri-Ri, wear her Savage X lingerie or Fenty perfume. And Rihanna wouldn’t mind. But the pop superstar and business mogul probably doesn’t mind anyone calling her a billionaire. According to Forbes magazine, the 33-year-old Barbadian beauty has achieved billionaire status. With an estimated net worth of $1.7 billion, the Grammy winner now counts as the wealthiest female musician globally. The “Work” singer only trails Oprah Winfrey as the world’s richest entertainer. “A lot of women felt there were no lines out there that catered to their skin tone. It was light, medium, medium-dark, dark,” Shannon Coyne, co-founder of consumer products consultancy Bluestock Advisors, told Forbes. “We all know that’s not reality. She was one of the first brands that came out and said, ‘I want to speak to all of those different people.’” Born Robyn Rihanna Fenty on February 20, 1988, in Saint Michael, Barbados, the tantalizing starlet delivered hit after hit with songs like “Umbrella,” “Rude Boy,” and “Diamonds.” With well over 100 million social media followers, Rihanna’s fans have pleaded with their idol to deliver new music. But with her Fenty and Savage X Fenty business white-hot, Rihanna appears to have settled in as an entrepreneur and business magnate. Cutting deals with Puma in 2014, Dior in 2016, Fenty Beauty in 2017, Savage X Fenty in 2018, and Fenty Skin in 2020, Rihanna kept her business-focused. Forbes writer Madeline Berg described Rihanna’s rise this way: “When Robyn Fenty, known to the world as Rihanna, launched Fenty Beauty in 2017, she sought to create a cosmetics company that made “women everywhere (feel) included.” A perhaps unintended consequence: The beauty line has helped her enter one of the world’s most exclusive ranks: Billionaire.” Berge concluded by providing commentary from Coyne, the consultant. “She is creating a brand outside of herself. It’s not just about Rihanna. Even if you don’t like her music, she’s created a real style in the fashion and beauty space.”

  • Newswire: Senate passes $1.2 Trillion infrastructure bill; Dems poised to push through $3.5 Trillion budget

    U. S. Capitol

     

    By Stacy M. Brown NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent

    The Senate on Tuesday, August 10, passed one of President Joe Biden’s most ambitious pieces of legislation, a $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure package. The bill, which now must pass the House, counts as the largest federal investment in America’s public works system in more than 10 years. According to the Brookings Institution, from 2007 to 2017, total public spending on infrastructure fell by $9.9 billion in real terms. “While federal, state, and local governments have spent nominally more on infrastructure in recent years, the rising cost of materials has reduced their real spending power. As a result, real infrastructure spending nationally has fallen over the past decade, from $450.4 billion in 2007 to $440.5 billion in 2017,” Brookings researchers wrote in a report. The Senate-passed infrastructure bill encompasses each part of the American economy and should strengthen the United States’ global warming response. The bill increases funding to modernize America’s power grid and it provides funds to better manage climate risks. Aging public works projects around the nation would receive hundreds of billions of dollars for repairs and replacements. “This infrastructure bill’s major investments in transit will connect many more Americans to opportunities,” stated Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. To gain bipartisan support, lawmakers reduced the original amount and scope of President Biden’s initial proposal for infrastructure. The President initially sought more than $2 trillion, but the White House said the paired down plan still addresses major problems including American roads and transit. Still, following a United Nation’s panel of scientist issuing a “Code Red” alert on climate, Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), reminded her social media followers that $1 trillion isn’t enough. “This dire warning from the world’s scientists comes as the Senate is preparing to vote on an infrastructure bill that utterly fails to meet the scale of the climate crisis,” the always outspoken congresswoman argued. “Reconciliation is now our country’s best chance to help stop the worst effects of climate change,” she concluded. It’s the reconciliation process that Democrats are eyeing to push through a $3.5 trillion budget blueprint that includes more aid to protect the environment. The budget plan also would expand Medicare coverage to dental, vision and hearing benefits. It would lower Medicare’s eligibility age below its current 65, and expand the child tax credit beyond 2022, meaning the $300 monthly checks would continue. The budget also includes tax breaks for low-wage earners and for childcare. The package provides funding for health care, climate change, education, and it would increase taxes on corporations and those considered wealthy. It helps secure universal education for children three and four years old and makes community college free for two years. If passed, the budget plan would increase the Pell Grant award, and invest in Historically Black Colleges and Universities, other minority-serving institutions, and tribal colleges and universities. The bill also would accomplish a major goal of the Biden-Harris administration, installing the first federally paid family leave program. Funds also are earmarked for home health care, housing, job training, child nutrition, and to reduce the cost of health insurance and medication. Investments would go toward green and sustainable housing, production and housing affordability, and workforce development. Also, millions of immigrant workers and families would gain a path to citizenship and the government would make “the largest one-time investment in Native American infrastructure projects,” a White House official stated. The Internal Revenue would see more money, enabling the agency added resources to collect unpaid taxes. It’s expected that Democrats will employ the reconciliation process, avoiding a GOP-led filibuster of the legislation.

  • Newswire: United Nations issues ‘code red’ for humanity in climate crisis

    Climate change

     

    Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent

    A United Nations panel on the climate released a scathing report on Monday, August 9, about a manufactured atmospheric crisis that has jeopardized the world’s future. “It is unequivocal that human influence has warmed the atmosphere, ocean, and land,” stated the authors of the report the “AR6 Synthesis Report: Climate Change.” “Widespread and rapid changes in the atmosphere, ocean, cryosphere, and biosphere have occurred, concluded the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the UN’s body for assessing the science related to climate change. Two hundred and thirty-four authors from 66 countries analyzed more than 14,000 scientific reports about climate change for the report, which officials will present during climate talks later this year. The report came as the Biden-Harris administration announced three pre-disaster funding opportunities to help states and communities prepare for significant disasters they said are costing lives and livelihoods and devastating local communities and businesses. Administration officials said the programs would allow communities to apply for nearly $5 billion to increase their preparedness in advance of climate-related extreme weather events and other disasters and improve their ability to recover after these events. They include $1 billion in funding for the administration’s Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program for Fiscal Year 2021. This program provides grants to states, local communities, tribes, and territories to proactively reduce their vulnerability to natural hazard events before they occur and make themselves and the nation more resilient. The money also includes $3.46 billion in funding for the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP). The 59 states, tribes, and territories that received a major disaster declaration in response to the COVID-19 pandemic will be eligible to receive 4 percent of the disaster costs. That figure relates to mandates to invest in mitigation projects that will help better prepare and protect communities from natural disasters and the impacts of climate change. Finally, $160 million in funding is earmarked for the Flood Mitigation Assistance (FMA) grant program for the Fiscal Year 2021 to reduce or eliminate the risks of repetitive flood damage to homes and buildings insured by the National Flood Insurance Program. Still, the United Nation’s report counts as a stunning rebuke of ignorance toward global warming. The report from the United Nations researchers noted that warming temperatures continue to drive more extreme events in every part of the world, which is in danger of experiencing more heatwaves, longer warm seasons, and shorter cold seasons. If temperatures increase an average of 2 degrees, the researchers found that will threaten human health and agricultural systems. The study concluded that the average global temperatures had increased as much as 1.3 degrees Celsius, and “some recent hot extremes over the past decade would have been extremely unlikely to occur without human influence on the climate system.” Regardless of any preventative measures, the researchers found that global surface temperatures will continue to increase until 2050. Without a drastic reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, the world will exceed 1.5 degrees of warming in 20 years. Immediate, rapid, and large-scale reductions must occur, the panel wrote. “Human-induced climate change is already affecting many weather and climate extremes in every region across the globe,” the report’s authors stated. “Evidence of observed changes in extremes such as heatwaves, heavy precipitation, droughts, and tropical cyclones, and their attribution to human influence, has strengthened.” Former Vice President Al Gore, long an environmental advocate, said climate action must occur immediately. “We cannot rely on vague pledges with distant deadlines,” the Democrat asserted. “We need concrete plans to phase out fossil fuels in the near term. As the scientists at the IPCC make clear, there is no time left to waste.”

  • Funeral Notice

  • Eutaw Housing Authority added to Sub-Charity group Sheriff reports $502,350.98 in bingo gaming distribution for June

    On Friday, July 30, Greene County Sheriff Department issued a listing of the distributions for June, 2021, totaling $502,350,98 from four bingo gaming facilities licensed by Greene County Sheriff Jonathan Benison. The June distribution reported by the sheriff does not include the additional $71,000 from Greenetrack, Inc. distributed to the same recipients, independent of the sheriff. The bingo facilities distributing through the sheriff include Frontier, River’s Edge, Palace, Bama Bingo. The recipients of the June distributions from bingo gaming include the Greene County Commission, Greene County Sheriff’s Department, the cities of Eutaw, Forkland, Union, and Boligee, the Greene County Board of Education and the Greene County Hospital (Health System). Sub charities include Children’s Policy Council, Guadalupan Multicultural Services, Greene County Golf Course, Branch Heights Housing Authority, Department of Human Resources, the Greene County Library and newly added Eutaw Housing Authority.

    Bama Bingo gave a total of $114,990 to the following: Greene County Commission, $30,570; Greene County Sheriff’s $33,750; City of Eutaw, $9,250; and the Towns of Forkland, Union and Boligee each, $3,875; Greene County Board of Education, $10,500, and the Greene County Health System, $12,500. Sub Charities, each received $1,132.50.

    Frontier (Dream, Inc.) gave a total of $114,990 to the following: Greene County Commission, $30,570; Greene County Sheriff’s Department, $33,750; City of Eutaw, $9,250; and the Towns of Forkland, Union and Boligee each, $3,875; Greene County Board of Education, $10,500; Greene County Health System, $12,500. Sub Charities each, $1,132.50.

    River’s Edge (Next Level Leaders and Tishabee Community Center Tutorial Program) gave a total of $114,994.98 to the following: Greene County Commission, $30,570; Greene County Sheriff’s Department, $33,750; City of Eutaw, $9,250; and the Towns of Forkland, Union and Boligee each, $3,875; Greene County Board of Education, $10,500; Greene County Health System, $12,500. Sub Charities each, $1,133.33.

    Palace (TS Police Support League) gave a total of $157,376 to the following: Greene County Commission, $41,358; Greene County Sheriff’s Department, $45,765; City of Eutaw, $12,543; and the Towns of Forkland, Union and Boligee each, $5,254.80; Greene County Board of Education, $14,238 and the Greene County Health System, $16,950; Sub Charities each, 1,536.80.

  • School board authorizes use of masks; superintendent presents goals for 2021-2022 school year

    The Greene County Board of Education met in a call meeting Thursday, July 29, 2021, focusing on three specific agenda items: Personnel, Masks in the school system and Superintendent Dr. Corey Jones Goals for 2021-2022 school year.

        The three board members present (Kashaya Cockrell, Leo Branch and Carol Zippert) voted to authorize Superintendent Jones to implement the use of masks, as needed, in the school system for 2021-2022. The Alabama Department of Health is urging mask-wearing for all students and staff, following the recommendation of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for universal mask-wearing in schools, regardless of vaccination status, due to a sharp increase in COVID-19 cases as the contagious delta variant of the virus spreads through the country. 

        Following a brief executive session, the board approved the following personnel items recommended by the superintendent for the 2021-2022 school term.

    Employment at Robert Brown Middle School: Carlie Rhodes as 4th Grade Teacher; Tavoris Lacy as 7th/8th Grade English Teacher; Tyletha Lord as Library Media.

    Employment at Greene County High School:  Calvin Finch as History Teacher; Jakayla Woods as Science Teacher.

    Eutaw Primary School: Dothea Smith as long-term substitute, 2nd Grade Teacher.

    Resignation: Alphonzo Morton,III as Science Teacher, Greene County High School.

        For the remainder of the meeting, Superintendent Jones presented 10 goals he will focus on for the 2021-2022 school term, including the strategies for implementation and measurements.  Dr. Jones noted that his goals correspond to goals and areas of focus in the system’s Strategic Plan.

        As he presented each goal, Dr. Jones and board members engaged in discussions that provided more specifics relative to the strategies for implementation with timelines and measurements.  The board members requested that these additional approaches and means are included in the superintendent’s document of goals. 

        The following is a listing of the superintendent’s goals 

    Goal 1: Maintain a safe and healthful environment that maximizes learning for students and      staff. 

    Goal 2: Analyze and evaluate all aspects of the district’s academic and curriculum work.  Continue to improve student mathematics and reading achievement at all grade levels for all students and decrease achievement gaps where they exist.

    Goal 3: Work in partnership with the community to enrich educational programs and create a true school community. Schedule quarterly town hall community meetings to enhance collaboration, communication and engagement.

    Goal 4: Meet monthly with Superintendent’s Advisory Council to learn more about what our students’ value in their education and their ideas for improvement of the Greene County School District.

    Goal 5: Develop and monitor a plan to improve and maintain a graduation rate of at least 90%.

    Goal 6: Meet with local and state elected officials to continue to develop collaborative relationships.

    Goal 7: Ensure that the district is financially solvent by continuing to monitor the district financial position and ensure that the district maintain the state mandated operating reserve.  Work with the CSFO to ensure that all funds are expended in the most efficient manner.

    Goal 8: Attend professional development opportunities to increase leadership skills.

    Goal 9: Develop and monitor a plan to reduce the district’s long term financial obligations.

    Goal 10: Develop and monitor  plan to access and meet the professional development needs of          the administrative leadership of the district.

  • Rep. Sewell co-Sponsors bill to create Medicaid-style program for Americans in non-expansion states like Alabama

    U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell

    Washington D.C.  – Today, U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell (AL-07) announced that she will be an original co-sponsor of the Medicaid Saves Lives Act, legislation that would create a federal Medicaid-style program for those living in states like Alabama that have refused to expand Medicaid. The bill, led by Reps. Kathy Manning (D-NC-6), Kathy Castor (D-FL-14), Nikema Williams (D-GA-5), Lucy McBath (D-GA-6), Marc Veasey (D-TX-33), Gwen Moore (D-WI-04) and Deborah Ross (D-NC-2), was introduced today.

     

    “Improving access to quality, affordable health care continues to be one of my top priorities in Congress,” said Rep. Sewell. “Because of the State of Alabama’s refusal to expand Medicaid, at least 300,000 low-income Alabamians who would otherwise qualify for health insurance coverage are being forced to go without care, putting their health and their lives at risk.” 

     

    “This is simply unacceptable,” continued Sewell. “That’s why I’m proud to be co-sponsoring the Medicaid Saves Lives Act which would create a Medicaid-like program to cover hard-working Americans in states like Alabama that are putting politics above the lives of our people. This bill would help thousands of Alabamians see a doctor, obtain medications, and afford life-saving care.”

     

    While the American Rescue Plan Act offered the 12 states—including Alabama—that did not expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act robust financial incentives to do so, it has become increasingly clear that many of these states do not plan to expand. This means 4.4 million low-income Americans will continue to be denied health coverage as communities across the nation are still working hard to recover. Americans who are most harmed by this inaction from state leaders are people of color: 60% of people in the coverage gap are Black, Hispanic, Asian, or Pacific Islander.

     

    The Medicaid Saves Lives Act would address the coverage gap by creating a federal Medicaid look-alike program that is run and administered by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), providing the same full benefits of Medicaid. It would also add to the incentives in the American Rescue Plan Act by giving states additional and extended funding to expand Medicaid through a significant federal medical assistance percentage (FMAP) increase. Since Congress already paid for Medicaid expansion in the Affordable Care Act, the federal Medicaid program in the Medicaid Saves Lives Act has already been funded once and should require no additional offsets.

     

    Congress must pass the Medicaid Saves Lives Act to right away because this legislation would:

     

    • Increase free and affordable health coverage to millions of Americans;
    • Expand access to health care and provide access to preventative health services;
    • Improve health outcomes and prevent premature deaths;
    • Reduce uncompensated care costs which would reduce the number of hospital and provider closures; and
    • Improve economic mobility that would enable low-income individuals to work.

     

    This program created in the Medicaid Saves Lives Act would also include the robust Medicaid benefits provided under the Affordable Care Act such as:

     

    • All essential health benefits;
    • Non-emergency medical transportation;
    • Prescription drug benefits;
    • Coverage for rural health clinics and federally qualified health centers;
    • Preventative services;
    • Maternity and newborn care;
    • Mental health and substance use disorder care; and
    • Hospitalization services.

     

    Companion legislation was introduced in the Senate by Sens. Reverend Raphael Warnock (D-GA), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and Jon Ossoff (D-GA).

     

    The Medicaid Saves Lives Act can be found on Congresswoman Sewell’s official web page. 

     

  • Eutaw City Council approves matching requirements for Airport and National Guard Armory improvement grants; tables action on water leak insurance

    During the past week, the Eutaw City Council held two meetings, a Special Called Meeting on Thursday July 22 and its regular meeting on the fourth Tuesday, July 27 at 5:00 PM. 

    The special meeting was called to consider matching support for two grants to assist the city in improving the airport and rehabilitating the National Guard Armory Building. 

    The Council approved $125,000 match for a $600,000 state and Federal grant to repair and light the runways at the Eutaw Airport which has not been operation for a number of years. This grant will enable the Eutaw Airport Authority, a board operating under the auspices of the City of Eutaw to repair and improve the airport facilities and make them operational again.

    Danny Cooper, representing the Airport Authority said, “This grant will help us restore a $5million dollar and facility, enable small planes to fly in and out of Eutaw and help to restore the airport as a self-supporting facility from fees for parking and fueling planes.” The Council approved a resolution for the matching fund allocation to come from the existing funds in the airport account, supplemented with equal support from the Special Street Fund (bingo) and the Capital Improvement Fund.

    At the Special Meeting, the Eutaw City Council approved use of the National Guard Armory building as a matching for a USDA RISE (Rural Innovation for a Strong Economy) grant for up to $2 million in funding to rehabilitate the National Guard Armory Building for use as a job training center and business development incubator. The Greene County Industrial Development Authority, together with Rural Business and Training Center, a regional group based in Demopolis, are developing this grant, which must be submitted by August 2nd.

    At the regular meeting on Tuesday, most of the meeting was devoted to a discussion of a water leak insurance, provided by SERVLINE, a company affiliated with the National Rural Water Association. Corey Martin, Water Department Operator, presented the program to the Eutaw City Council. 

    For a Monthly charge of $1.75 per month on each water bill, the company would provide a one-time annual insurance payment, up to $500, to cover repair and payment of expanded water bills incurred because of the leak on the customer side of the meter.

    Martin explained that due to old pipes and connections, many Eutaw customers have experienced water leaks which boost their water bills to high amounts, that they often cannot pay without a payment plan. This insurance would cover these cases and help people to pay high water bills caused by leaks and plumbing failures.

    Martin further explained that the company would send a notice to all city water customers, informing them of the $1.75 a month ($21/yearly) insurance charge and offering them the chance to ‘opt-out’ of this service and not be charged for the insurance. Council members tabled this resolution because they felt the water customers needed to be more informed and consulted about the increase in water costs to cover this new insurance policy.

     

    The Council set a working meeting with City Engineer Babb for Tuesday, August 3, 2021 at 2:00 PM at City Hall to discuss changes to city ordinances to be incompliance with the 2015 International Building Code, standards for small cities. Babb said he would also report on progress with GPS mapping of all city utilities, which is needed to plan future growth of the city.

    In other actions, The Eutaw City Council:

    • Approved travel for City Attorney, Zane Willingham and City Judge Joshua Swords to attend League of Municipalities Law Conference in October.

    • Approved rental of a room for Breia’s Nails at the Robert H. Young Community Center.

    • Approved monthly contract for $500/moth for Total Care Service to cut grass and maintain city right of ways in the area around Interstate Exit 40,

    where Love’s Truckstop is located.  

    • Approved a proposal by the Eutaw Chamber of Commerce to place signage on buildings in the downtown Eutaw area.

    • Approved use of storage space at a shed near the National Guard Armory for the Black Belt Folk Roots Festival to house some of its materials and files.

    • Agreed to pay the bills present for the month of July.

    • Agreed to give city employees, the state holiday on July 30 – Confederate Memorial Day- but renaming it John Lewis Memorial Holiday, as the Greene County Commission has done.

    • Police Chief Tommy Johnson announced that two of his officers, Kendrick Howell and Robert Jeter, had completed training as investigators. He also introduced Jonquesha Daniels, a cadet who is attending the Police Academy,

    with the intention of joining the Eutaw Police Force upon graduation.