Storytime at Towns County Public Library

It has been a wonderful summer at the library as 263 children enjoyed stories and crafts related to the “Make a Splash..READ!” theme. With the warm temperatures outside, the water theme was a welcome one. The children received prizes each week by “picking up ducks” from a pool of water. We also had 44 children to sign up for the Vacation Reading Program. These children kept track of the books they read all summer and received a certificate for their reading efforts. Thank you to our 2010 sponsors: Zaxby’s , United Community Bank, Bank of Hiawassee, State Farm Insurance, Noblet’s 5 & 10, Stephens Federal Bank, and Papa’s Pizza. A Fall & Winter storytime will be offered at Towns County Public Library starting in September. Please call 706-896-6169 the last week in August for day and time.

Georgia’s a winner in the second round of Race-to-the-Top. That means the state will get an additional $400 million to be used to improve student achievement.

Georgia is one of nine states and the District of Columbia to win a share in $3.4 billion that was established by the federal government to incentivize states to make educational improvements. All in all, there were 35 states and D.C. participating in this competition. Georgia lost out in the first round, but only by a hair. The state came in third just behind the two winners of Tennessee and Delaware, which received $300 million each. Once winners are announced, states are provided funds in proportion to their population.

Race to the Top is part of President Obama’s economic stimulus plan that awards states for taking up ambitious changes to improve struggling schools.

Gov. Sonny Perdue called Georgia’s second victory “a truly unique opportunity to implement a plan that will accelerate our work in improving student achievement.”

The competition for many states was an uphill struggle with teacher unions reluctant to sign on to reforms that tied teacher evaluations to student performance on standardized tests, and their leaders too concerned that if winning they would be giving up local control.

In the first round, U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan announced Tennessee and Delaware winners saying they scored more than 440 points out of a possible 500 points. In the second round, he said all 10 winners scored more than 440 points, showing improvement in the application process.

“These states show what is possible when adults come together to do the right thing for children,” Duncan told reporters. “Every state that applied showed a tremendous amount of leadership and bold commitment to education reform.”

Young Harris College Holds Ribbon Cutting Ceremony to Mark Official Opening of New Recreation Center
YOUNG HARRIS, Ga. – On Monday, Aug. 16, Young Harris College President Cathy Cox cut a ceremonial ribbon to mark the official opening of the Recreation Center. Following the ribbon cutting, students were invited to tour the facility while enjoying prize giveaways, smoothie samples and demonstrations of the rock climbing wall as well as kickboxing/abs, Zumba and body toning classes.

This 57,000-square-foot facility features a first-class, fully equipped weight room and fitness center, an impressive 37-foot-high rock climbing wall, an elevated indoor jogging track surrounding the facility and a state-of-the-art 1,100-purple-seat, NCAA-regulation arena that will serve as the new home of Mountain Lions basketball. The center also boasts the Balance Café, a healthy food and juice bar, multipurpose classrooms for yoga, dance and aerobics, office space and locker rooms for the athletic department and wide expanses of windows to enjoy the surrounding mountain-landscape views.

The facility has been designed and constructed to LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) standards and is expected to earn LEED certification later this year. The Recreation Center is the second new facility to be completed as part of Young Harris College’s strategic plan to make the transformation to four-year status and will be the second facility to earn LEED certification.

Young Harris College students have unlimited access to the facility’s amenities, and fitness center memberships are also available to YHC faculty members and staff as well as the local community. Special membership rates are available for Young Harris College alumni.

For more information regarding memberships and amenities offered by the Recreation Center, call (706) 379-4472 or visit www.yhc.edu.
About Young Harris College
Founded in 1886, Young Harris College is a private, baccalaureate degree-granting college located in the beautiful mountains of north Georgia. Historically affiliated with The United Methodist Church, Young Harris College educates, inspires and empowers students through the highest quality liberal arts education. Long known for nurturing students during the first two years of college, Young Harris College received accreditation in 2008 to grant bachelor’s degrees. The College currently has more than 800 students across four divisions—Fine Arts, Humanities, Mathematics and Science, and Social and Behavioral Science—and plans to increase enrollment to 1,200 over the next few years. The historic campus in Young Harris, Ga., is currently undergoing major campus improvements to accommodate the College’s growth. For more information, visit www.yhc.edu.

Photo Caption: Young Harris College President Cathy Cox (center) cut a ceremonial ribbon to mark the official opening of the Recreation Center on Monday, Aug. 16. President Cox was accompanied by members and coaches of the men’s and women’s basketball teams as well as Recreation Center staff members.

L to R: Brad, Cody, Lisa, Gibson

Local Dog Trainers Go To Duke University

Brad and Lisa Waggoner of Cold Nose College have just returned from their second trip to Durham, NC where they participated in a study in a canine cognition at Duke University.

Professor Brian Hare is testing hundreds of dogs to determine how they make decisions. It seems that dogs in many ways process information better than our closest relatives in nature, the chimpanzees and bonobos.  Last year Gibson, their 6 year old Aussie, was invited to take part in the study, now it was Cody’s turn. “Cody is a 2 1/2 year old Australian Shepard who came from the Valley River Humane Society and is a bit more active than his older brother, so we were interested to see how he would do with the exercises presented him.  The tasks were a little different from our first visit and were designed to determine whether a dog had a response strategy or a place strategy when released to find an object.  There were also tasks to determine whether there was a preference for left or right or one area over another based on the trials,” said Brad.

The responses from all of the dogs will be analyzed and compared with the responses of all the other dogs to pull together a better understanding of canine cognitive abilities. “All of this, of course, is fascinating to us as it relates directly to how we train at Cold Nose College. A better understanding of how a dog processes information will lead to more effective training techniques, better and faster learning and a better relationship with our dogs.” You can read more about the Duke Canine Cognition Center at www.evolutionaryanthropology.duke.edu/dogs

Brad and Lisa Waggoner, owners of Cold Nose College, are certified trainers dedicated to force free training. They provide training and behavior consulting in the tri-state area of North Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee.  www.coldnosecollege.com

Volunteers : People behind the Scenes Who Matter

Working behind the scenes  to improve and sustain the qualities of the mountain area are people you may not be aware of. Volunteers account for the numerous ongoing improvements found in Blairsville and surrounding areas. Some of them belong to a group known as the Hiwassee Rivershed Coalition, which is dedicated to the restoration of parts of Butternut Creek than runs through Blairsville.

Based on monitoring data collected over the past five years, Butternut Creek is one of the most degraded streams in the Nottely River Watershed. And members of the HRWC are dedicated to turning the situation around.

Taking advantage of the public’s love of outdoor concerts, Butternut Creek & Friends, a well known local musical group, recently presented the first in a series of free concerts to help raise funds and awareness for this much needed project. The group consists of Jennifer Cordier, who plays guitar and autoharp and sings lead vocals, her husband Don, performing on flute and percussion, Steve Harvey who sings and plays guitar, banjo and ukelele, and Brenda Hull, who sings and plays bass and guitar. They give the proceeds from concerts and recordings to charitable causes and take time to inform the audience of the needs for which the concert is being held.

For this concert, the audience was offered an exceptional treat: Mike Fenton , an internationally renowned autoharp performer from England, joined Butternut Creek & Friends. Mike is  multi-talented and also plays mountain dulcimer, mandolin, guitar, harmonica and jawharp. He charmed the audience with a variety of music, and it was clear why he was elected to the Autoharp Hall of Fame in 1997. And he seems equally pleased to be part of the stage under the banner ” Country Cousins”.

Closing out the concert was an audience singalong, which included a group known as The Harpers Bizarre, whose teacher for the past few years has been Jennifer, a person of boundless talent and infinite patience. The audience included both local residents and visitors, and even Commissioner Paris was seem tapping his toes during the performance.

Look for future fun and fund-raisers concerts to support this worthwhile project, and become more aware of how volunteers are impacting our community. In Fact, find a project you are interested in and join the group to lend your own hands and hearts.

Union County voters vote Deal; Georgia goes for Handel

Although Nathan Deal carried most of north Georgia counties including Union County where he racked up almost 38 percent of the vote compared to Karen Handel’s 20.5 percent (they were the two top vote getters in the county as well as the state.), Handel racked up the most voters in the Republican gubernatorial across the state with 258,443 votes for her as compared to 155,207 votes for Deal, which is 23 percent. Since neither had a majority of the votes, there will be a statewide runoff on August 10 to determine who will face Democratic candidate Roy Barnes, who has held the office of governor previously.
Barnes easily won the Democratic Primary with 258,443 unofficial votes over his closest rival Thurbert  Baker who garnered 85,192 or 22 percent of the votes. In Union County, Barnes got 72.5 percent of the votes compared to Baker’s 11 percent.

For 9th Congressional District, it looks like a runoff

Tome Graves was close to a majority but not quite. He racked up 38,824 votes or 49 percent compared to his closest rival Lee Hawkins, who got 20,947 or 27 percent. Steve Tarvin came in third with 11,522 votes. Unless Graves picks up enough absentee/military votes in the official count to push him over the 50 percent mark, it looks like he will face a runoff with Lee Hawkins.

Union County School Board for Post 5

Julie Barton came out on top for this seat with 52 percent of the vote compared to Tim Helton’s 48 percent.

By Frank Bradley

Sentinel writer

E.F. Truitt Construction Co., Inc. came in as low bidder on extending the water line to Jackrabbit campground in North Carolina. The Hiawassee City Council authorized the Mayor, City Clerk, City Manager and Project Engineer to contract with the low bidder on behalf of the City and execute all appropriate documents relating to the project.

Truitt’s bid price was $54,578 about $2,000 under the next lowest bidder.

Rick Stancil said he expects they will break ground on the project in 30 days.

The council approved a letter to Commissioner Kendall sporting SPLOST and agreement regarding the use of funds there for the Hiawassee Sewer Plant Improvements and Expansion. The cost for that project is projected at $1.8 million of which $1.35 million will be forthcoming in federal grants if the county moves immediately on it. The county would be funding $ 400,000 to be paid over time with the SPLOSH if county voters approve the tax.

The city would have to match with $50,000 over five years with $10,000 set aside for the first year.

Mayor Mathis and Rick Stancil updated the Council on the recent Comprehensive Plan Hearing held by the County and the Regional Development Center. The Council called for a meeting of its committees to review the County work and add the City’s items and priorities. All city committees will meet jointly from 10 a.m. until noon  on Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Here Come The Boats!

by Ann B. Doran, Sentinel writer

Locals and lake lovers converge on Chatuge for Independence Day.

Lake Chatuge’s annual patriotic boat parade started at 5 p.m. July 4 from Nantahala Landing in Clay County. More than 21 boats entered this year’s parade, which ended at the Ridges Resort & Marina in Towns County. A cook-out on the grounds of he Ridges was then provided for participants.

A number of people watched the boats from the Anderson Bridge next to Towns County Recreation Department. Each boat was required to show the U.S.A. flag. However, all the boats were decked out in detail with the red, white and blue. Boaters could be heard  singing “God Bless America”  and other songs related to loving our United States of America.

Lots of enthusiasm, singing, smiles and flag waving – just a plain great Independence Day – whether you were watching or riding.

Sentinel photos by Ann B. Doran

For exotic animals in roadside zoos, life’s not easy

By: Jacob Harris

You may have passed by it while driving to Murphy or Blairsville. Across from the Foster’s Flea Market, sits the King Kong  Zoo. A place where exotic animals are kept in captivity to draw a few bucks from curious tourists. Here the animals are crammed into a space hardly big enough to turn around in.

They are kept in unsightly, inadequate conditions where they suffer countless problems, including abuse, neglect, malnutrition, incompatible social pairings, unfitting climate, and lack of veterinary care.

With little or no opportunity for mental stimulation or physical activity, animals often become dejected and develop abnormal and self-destructive behaviors, known as zoochosis. These behavioral distresses include but are not limited to swaying, rocking, pacing, bar-biting, pulling out hair, and biting themselves.

There are thousands of below par exotic animal attractions across the U.S, spanning from so called “sanctuaries”, backyard menageries, and roadside zoos. They claim to be rescue, conservation, or rescue facilities, but in reality these roadside zoos are among the worst abusers of captive exotic, rare, and endangered species. Still over the past 30 years, the private zoo business has skyrocketed.

These profit-hungry zoo operators have attempted to clean up the corrupt image associated with roadside zoos, by proclaiming themselves as “conservationist.”

About the only thing people learn from these exhibitors is how animals behave in captivity, and a grudging acceptance of how wild animals are able to survive in bored, cramped, lonely conditions where they are kept far from their natural environment.

Then too, the public is misled by a show of meaningless certifications such as “federally licensed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture”.

While federal permits are required to exhibit, breed, or sell exotic animals, it appears they will be issued to anyone who pays a minimal fee and fills out a half page questionnaire that consists of your name, address, and and an animal inventory. Nothing is asked of the owner’s qualifications. While the USDA enforces the Animal Welfare Act, their standards are minimal, rarely addressing an animal’s psychological needs.

At King Kong Zoo, I was completely in awe by the large number of wild and exotic animals. I was appalled by their living conditions.

Almost every animal there was enclosed in a space by themselves, with the exception of the lions and tigers which were paired by twos for apparent breeding purposes. I found no cubs in the zoo, although

I have been told there were cubs there last year. Is it possible the cubs have been sold for thousands of dollars.

I am told that sometime these animals bring more money dead than alive for their hides. While the process of killing them is unethical and unlawful, a practice sometimes used to avoid damaging pelts, animals are killed by shoving ice picks through their ears and into their brains or suffocating them by wrapping plastic bags around their heads, and drowning them. I’m not accusing the local zoo of this behavior, but it seems suspicious that there have been several cubs born in the zoo, and now they are no where to be found.

During my visit, of the eight large cats I saw, only one was up pacing back and forth against the bars of its enclosure. The others were lying down seemingly exhausted and bored. Of the two bears at the zoo, one of them, an Asiatic Black bear, and the other, a neurotic brown bear, continuously paced back and forth pawing in the corners as if trying to get out. How exhausting that must be?

My greatest concern was for the Chimpanzee. I was shocked to see this human-like primate in such a small zoo. He was named Archie and lived alone in his small cage. His sad eyes and lack of hair down the front of both his arms suggested that he had been pulling out his arm hair, perhaps due to boredom and frustration. I am told this is a fairly common neurotic behavior in captive primates living alone in stressful environments.

Before leaving the zoo, I briefly stepped into the Reptile Room to glance at the smaller creatures. What I found was not only a room full of rare and dangerous reptiles, but an open door to the back room apparently for access the animal tanks. After taking a closer look I found that not only had this door been open, but it was accessible for children to browse about with the Tarantulas and Boas. There was no lock on the door to keep out children or even some curious adults.

Since September, 2007 the King Kong Zoo has undergone four USDA inspections, these inspections were minimal due to the lack of regulations, as well as, insufficient inspectors across the U.S. There are only 100 USDA exhibit inspectors for approximately 10,000 roadside zoos across the nation.

Governor Sonny Perdue announced June 16 that he would appoint Brad Bryant as State School Superintendent. Bryant will take office July 1, to fill the term of Superintendent Kathy Cox who resigned to head an education think tank in Washington, D.C.. Bryant will also run for election in November as an independent.

“Brad has a wealth of experience as a parent, local school board member and State School Board member,” said Governor Perdue. “He has done the big picture work and, on the other end of the spectrum, he understands what must take place in individual schools across the state to help students be successful. He understands the blocking and tackling that has to happen to increase learning.”

“It’s an honor to be asked to serve as State School Superintendent,” said Bryant. “As a parent who had children in public schools and whose wife continues to work in one, I know the challenges we face and how important a quality education is to our state’s future.”

Bryant resigned as the 4th District representative on the State Board of Education, where he has served since 2003. He is also the past President of the National Association of State Boards of Education.

“Brad Bryant is an excellent choice for State Superintendent. He is intelligent, experienced and passionate about ensuring success for all the students of Georgia,” said Superintendent Cox. “I have enjoyed working with Brad on the State Board Education the last seven years. I know that Brad is a supporter of the reforms we have begun in Georgia and will continue the hard work we have started.”

“Brad Bryant certainly has the experience and leadership skills to perform the duties of the state school superintendent in an outstanding manner,” said Steve Smith, Lowndes County Superintendent and president of the Georgia School Superintendents Association. “He commands the respect of board members, superintendents, teachers and his constituents.”

Brad Bryant