GA-FL At a Glance

Published 11:36 am Thursday, January 12, 2017

Daryle Singletary heading to Tift Theatre

TIFTON, Ga. — The Tift Theatre is getting ready to welcome country singer Daryle Singletary on Jan. 13. Singletary came into country music in the 90s with his self-title debut album that included hits such as “I Let Her Lie,” “Too Much Fun,” and “I’m Living Up to Her Low Expectations.”Fellow Georgia native Jacob Bryant will open the show. Bryant’s latest EP “Up In Smoke” came out in September 2016. Tickets are available at www.freshtix.com/events/mcalpin-entertainment-presents-daryle-singletary- and will be available at the door. Doors open at 7 p.m.

Annual totes 2 tots drive underway

MILLEDGEVILLE, Ga. —Georgia Cancer Specialists (GCS) and Northside Hospital are hosting the 15^th annual totes 2 tots drive to collect backpacks and suitcases for foster children in Georgia. Donations of new or nearly new backpacks, duffel bags and suitcases will be accepted at locations across the state, including the Milledgeville office located at 624 W. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive. The Milledgeville event is slated from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Friday.

More than 13,000 children, from infants to teenagers, are currently in the foster care system in Georgia. Many of these children shuffle their belongings in garbage bags when they are removed from their homes. totes 2 tots aims to change that by giving every foster child in Georgia a new or gently used backpack, duffel bag or suitcase. Since totes 2 tots launched in 2003, the annual volunteer event has collected and distributed more than 48,000 bags. GCS and Northside Hospital partner with the Georgia Division of Family and Children Services (DFCS) to distribute the bags in the counties in which they’re collected. Bobby Cagle, director of DFCS, praised those who support the program, which helps to bring a measure of comfort and respect to Georgia’s foster children. For more information about totes 2 tots and a list of drop-off locations, visit fb.com/totes2tots. To make a secure online donation, visit give.northside.com/totes2tots.

Duke Energy to build solar power plant in Suwannee County

LIVE OAK, Fla. — Duke Energy announced Wednesday that Suwannee County will be home to its next solar power plant. The new plant will be built on 70 acres east of the existing Suwannee River Power Plant in western Suwannee County near the Madison County line. The Suwannee Solar Facility will produce 8.8 megawatts of carbon-free energy, which could power around 1,700 average homes at peak production, according to the Duke Energy release. The company expects to break ground on the plant in the spring with full operation by the end of 2017. Last month, the company retired three natural gas units at the Suwannee River Power Plant. The units were constructed in the early 1950s and could generate 129 megawatts of electricity. Three other natural gas units remain in operation at the Suwannee River Power Plant and the units built in the 1980s are capable of producing 155 megawatts. “We are committed to expanding clean energy in Florida,” Harry Sideris, Duke Energy state president – Florida, said in the release. “Retiring older units like those at Suwannee River and building new solar power plants provides the greatest amount of renewable energy for customers, in the most economical way.”

The Suwannee Solar Facility will be Duke Energy’s third solar plant in Florida as the Perry Solar Facility opened in Taylor County in October and the Osceola Solar Facility in Osceola County opened last May.

Graves to chair subcommittee

WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep. Tom Graves, R-Resaca, said Wednesday he was selected to chair the House Committee on Appropriations’ Financial Services and General Government Subcommittee for the 115th Congress. The subcommittee has jurisdiction over the Department of the Treasury, District of Columbia, the Judiciary, the Executive Office of the President and more than 20 independent agencies, such as the Federal Communications Commission, Internal Revenue Service and Securities and Exchange Commission. “I can’t wait to start working with the Trump administration to mop up the mess the Obama administration made of our nation’s financial infrastructure,” Graves said in a press release.

Valdosta National art exhibit unveiled 

VALDOSTA, Ga. — The Valdosta National art exhibit has become one of the best annual art shows in Valdosta. While the Annette Howell Turner Center for the Arts’ Spring Into Art is the premier exhibit to showcase local and regional artists, Valdosta State University Art’s Valdosta National has become the region’s premier showcase of art from across the nation. Granted, anyone nationwide can enter the open Spring Into Art, and anyone local can enter the juried Valdosta National, and occasionally these lines do cross, the Valdosta National allows area art patrons the opportunity to see distant artists’ styles and themes. The show opening Tuesday will be VSU’s 29th annual juried art show open to artists nationwide. Julie Bowland, VSU Fine Arts Gallery director, said 437 works were submitted this year by more than 150 artists stretching from across the U.S. From the hundreds of entries, 43 artworks representing 41 artists from 22 states were selected for the show, she said. “The exhibition is a colorful and diverse collection of contemporary art which includes oil, acrylic, and mixed-media painting, graphite and colored pencil drawing, ceramic, mixed-media sculpture, printmaking, silver gelatin print, digital photography, collage and video,” Bowland said. Bryce Speed is the person making the choices. He is an assistant professor of art in painting at the University of Alabama, with a bachelor of fine arts in painting and drawing from the University of Mississippi and a master of fine arts in painting from the University of Alabama, according to biographical information provided by VSU.  “He has taught at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. His work has been exhibited extensively over the last decade, and in 2014 he held a solo exhibition at Valdosta State University,” according to the bio information. Winners will be announced during the reception Tuesday evening, Jan. 17.  Winners will split $1,500 in prizes, Bowland said.