White Springs to apply for USDA grant

WHITE SPRINGS, Fla. — he town of White Springs voted to apply for a USDA Rural Development grant for public safety vehicles and equipment at a meeting Dec. 13.  The grant application will seek one fully-outfitted law enforcement patrol vehicle and two fully-outfitted quick response emergency vehicles for the fire department.  If the town received the grant, the town would be responsible for 25 percent of the requested amount of $70,900. According to Town Manager Stacy Tebo, the police department would trade in two patrol cars and the town would trade in a  2005 Ford Ranger used by the Utility Operator. The trade-in amount will be used towards the grant.  She added the town has the amount required to cover their share of the grant if received with the vehicle trade-in amount. 

 

New Beginnings plans Watch Night service

ENIGMA, Ga. – New Beginnings Worship Center will hold a Watch Night service at 8 p.m., Dec. 31. The service will feature The Faithful Servants and Donna Barber and Ronnie Harrell. New Beginnings is located at 551 Brookfield Turner Road.

 

Colquitt County employees who use tobacco will pay even more for health insurance

MOULTRIE, Ga. — Colquitt County Commission on Thursday postponed discussion of pay increases or bonuses for employees and approved doubling the tobacco penalty charged for health insurance to nearly $200 per month. Next year will be the third year that the county has charged employees who light up or dip. It increased from $23.08 in 2015 to $46.16 beginning in January 2016 and will double again in 2017 at $93.32. A comparison by the Taylor Benefit Resources, the Thomasville third party administrator of the county’s health care plan, indicated that tobacco users’ insurance claims are more than 28 percent greater than those of their non-smoking co-workers. The average annual claims for tobacco users is $7,523, compared at $5,837, County Administrator Chas Cannon said. “Additionally, tobacco users represent 14 percent of the total claims, but make up only 6 percent of the total population of the plan,” he said.

 

Study: Drowsy driving as dangerous as drunk driving

VALDOSTA, Ga. — Driving while drowsy is just as dangerous as driving drunk, a recent study by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety finds. In a work-obsessed culture that places supreme importance on deadlines and bottom lines, Americans often forego sleep to meet the daily demands of life, and that choice could have deadly consequences, the AAA study says. Losing one to two hours of sleep doubles a driver’s crash risk, and losing just two to three hours of sleep puts drivers at the same crash risk as drunk drivers, the study reports. A goes on to say drowsy driving is involved in more than one in five fatal crashes on U.S. roadways each year. Here are tips from the AAA and National Sleep Foundation on staying alert and safe on the road, especially during the heavily traveled holiday season:

– Plan to drive long trips with a companion.

– Schedule regular stops, every 100 miles or two hours.

– Avoid alcohol and medications (over-the-counter and prescribed) that may cause drowsiness.

– Travel at times when normally awake.

– Avoid heavy foods.

– Drink coffee.

– Get a good night’s sleep.

Symptoms of drowsy driving include heavy eyelids, difficulty focusing, trouble remembering the last few miles driven, drifting from your lane and feeling restless and irritable, according to the National Sleep Foundation. However, the AAA said a person’s body won’t always tell him or her when it’s not safe to get behind the wheel, and the company urged drivers to prioritize getting seven hours of sleep each night. The NSF adds that certain groups — such as young males, late-night workers, commercial drivers and overworked business people — are more at risk of not getting enough sleep and crashing due to their lifestyles.