Dalton State hosting Fill the Feeder basketball game

DALTON, Ga. — Students at Dalton State College received more than 10,000 food and hygiene items from the Birdfeeder food pantry on campus last school year alone. To help replenish the not-for-profit food pantry, Dalton State Athletics is hosting a Fill the Feeder basketball game on Saturday at 2 p.m. The game is at the Dalton Convention Center against Brewton-Parker College. Anyone who brings in at least one nonperishable food item will receive free general admission to the game. Season ticket holders who bring in a donation will receive free popcorn. As many as a third of college students nationwide don’t have enough money to meet essential needs, such as food, and Dalton State’s students are no exception, said Heather Williams, assistant director for leadership and civic engagement at the college. More than 250 students used the Birdfeeder at least once during the fall semester, she said. And already this school year, more than 6,000 items have been distributed. Students can visit the Birdfeeder once a week to pick up groceries and hygiene items. Items needed include breakfast pastries, microwavable meals, canned meat, canned vegetables (not green beans), condiments, beans, rice, pasta and pasta sauce. This is the second year in a row the basketball program has hosted the Fill the Feeder game. Last year 862 items were collected.

Duke opens Hamilton Solar Power Plant 

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Duke Energy announced this week the completion and operation of its new 74.9-megawatt Hamilton Solar Power Plant in Jasper. The plant’s carbon-free power is enough to energize more than 20,000 homes at peak production. Across Duke Energy’s Florida service territory, the company’s 1.8 million customers — and the environment — are now benefiting from approximately 300,000 solar panels that generate clean, renewable energy. “Duke Energy solar projects bring the greatest amount of renewable energy on line for customers in the most efficient and economical way,” Catherine Stempien, Duke Energy Florida state president, said in a release. “Building solar power plants like Hamilton is part of our ongoing strategy to offer sustainable, diverse and smarter energy solutions that our customers have told us they value.” The Hamilton plant is part of the company’s strategic commitment to install or acquire 700 MW of solar energy in Florida through 2022, helping ensure residents have increasingly clean and diverse power sources. DEF currently owns and operates nearly 100 MW of solar energy resources throughout its regulated service territory. The company broke ground for the Hamilton plant in July 2018 and brought it online Dec. 22. The project, originally developed by Tradewind Energy Inc., was completed by Duke Energy. Also in 2018, DEF announced plans to break ground in 2019 on the Columbia Solar Power Plant in Fort White. It will be developed by Core Solar. DEF will own, operate and maintain the 74.9-MW facility, which is expected to be fully operational in March 2020. Together, the Hamilton and Columbia solar power plants are expected to eliminate approximately 645 million pounds of carbon dioxide emissions in Florida during their first year of commercial operation. That’s the equivalent of taking 63,000 passenger cars off the road. Duke Energy opened a solar plant in Suwannee County in November 2017. That plant contains 44,000 solar panels on 70 acres that produces 8.8 MW of solar energy.