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7 Killer Ways to Get Rid of Weeds

May 5th, 2012 by lharder

Published: March 14, 2012

Here are 7 ways to murder weeds with household items. You’ll save money and show no mercy to your garden’s uninvited guests.

1. Newspaper: A carpet of newspaper, which blocks sunlight and oxygen from reaching the soil, will smother weeds already sprouted and prevent new ones from growing. Throw down newspaper in 10-sheet layers, wet to hold it down, and cover with an inch or two of mulch. If weeds begin to grow in the mulch, add more layers, making a mulch-newspaper lasagna, which eventually will decompose and nourish the soil.

2. Old shower curtains and carpet samples: Spreading these useless items in garden paths or between rows will keeps weeds from ever showing their unwanted heads. Cover with mulch.

3. Corn gluten meal: This corn by-product stops seeds from growing into weeds. Since the meal will prevent germination, spread it around established plants, and after seedlings and transplants have taken hold in the soil. After harvest, spread the meal to prevent late-season weeds.

4. Vinegar: The acetic acid in 5% vinegar is a desiccant that sucks the life out of plant leaves. It’s most destructive to young plants with immature roots, though it just rolls off weeds with waxy leaves, like pennywort or thistle.

Make sure you cover desirables before spraying, because vinegar is an equal opportunity killer. Keep your spray on-target by removing the bottom from a 2-liter plastic soda bottle, and placing it over the weed. Spray vinegar into the mouth of the bottle, which will keep it from splattering on your vegetables.

5. Vodka: Don’t know if vodka makes weeds fall down dead or drunk, but 1 ounce mixed with 2 cups of water and a couple of drops of dish soap will dry out weeds that live in the sun. Doesn’t work that well on shade-loving weeds. Protect desirables, because vodka will dry them out, too.

6. Soap: The oil in soap can break down waxy or hairy weed surfaces, making them vulnerable to desiccants. So add a few drops of liquid dish detergent to vinegar or vodka sprays to keep the solution on leaves. The soap also makes leaves shiny, which will help you keep track of what you’ve sprayed.

7. Boiling water: After you’ve made yourself a cup of tea, take the kettle outside and pour the boiling water on weeds, which will burn up. This is a particularly good way to whack driveway and walkway weeds, because the boiling water can run off impervious surfaces and cool before it reaches border plants.

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It’s Time to Make Short Sales Shorter

April 26th, 2012 by lharder

By: Gavin Mathis

Published: April 24, 2012

New Fannie and Freddie rules and bipartisan bills aim to speed the short sale process, preventing more home owners from slipping into foreclosure and keeping the economy on its feet.

Imagine you’re underwater on your mortgage, but you’re trying to sell your home. Your REALTOR® has a buyer lined up. Everything looks good to go. Except there’s one small problem: Your lender isn’t responding to your repeated requests to approve the sale.

This predicament is plaguing home owners across the country who are pursuing short sales — real estate transactions that require your lender’s OK because you want to sell your home for less than what you owe on the mortgage. About 13% of residential transactions are short sales, according to the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®.

Fannie, Freddie act on short sale delays

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-backed agencies that guarantee many mortgages, recognize the problem. They recently set new rules, which take effect June 15, requiring banks that do business with them to respond within 30 days to home owners asking permission to do a short sale. If the lender needs more than 30 days, it has to send you a weekly update. In all, it can’t take more than 60 days to respond.

Unfortunately, that rule doesn’t apply to home owners whose loans weren’t guaranteed by one of the two mortgage market giants.

Bipartisan short sale bills

But two bipartisan bills aim to bring lenders to heel on short sale delays.

Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Scott Brown (R-Mass.), and Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) introduced the Prompt Notification of Short Sale Act last month to speed up the housing recovery. The bipartisan bill would require lenders to respond one way or the other to a short sale request from a home owner within 75 days, rather than three times that long as is sometimes the case. If the lender doesn’t comply, it could face a $1,000 penalty along with legal fees.

“There are neighborhoods across the country full of empty homes and underwater owners [who] have legitimate offers, but unresponsive banks,” Murkowski said. “What we have here is a failure to communicate. Why don’t we make it easier for Americans trying to participate in the housing market, regardless of whether the answer is ‘yes,’ ‘no,’ or ‘maybe?’”

Last year, Reps. Tom Rooney (R-Fla.) and Robert Andrews (D-N.J.) introduced thePrompt Decision for Qualification for Short Sale Act of 2011, which would require lenders to respond to short sale requests in 45 days.

Why do short sales take so long to get approved?

Short sales languish on the market or fall through altogether even when a REALTOR® has a seller and a buyer lined up, because it can take months for short sales to work through a bank’s complicated bureaucracy.

Short sales can also be held up by second mortgage lenders or mortgage-backed securities investors that refuse to accept the deal even though the bank that has the first mortgage wants to do the deal.

Currently, it can take as long as nine months to approve a short sale. That’s too long to ask home buyers to wait for a response to their offer. Can you imagine putting in an offer on a house only to be told: “We’ll get back to you in nine months?”

“The current short sale process can be time-consuming and inefficient, and many would-be buyers end up walking away from a sale that could have saved a home owner from foreclosure,” said Moe Veissi, president of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®.

Short sale benefits

Not only does a short sale help the home owner get out of an unworkable situation, it helps the neighborhood: A short sale typically forces down surrounding home values less than a foreclosure does.

And lenders benefit, too. Foreclosures cost lenders more than short sales — they have to maintain those properties. That’s why banks are willing to do short sales at all.

Seeing Republicans and Democrats come together to offer solutions to speed up the housing recovery should give home owners hope. Although most of Washington remains paralyzed to act on most issues and both these bills are stalled, the housing economy should be one issue that Democrats and Republicans can agree on.

Congress must realize that housing isn’t a Democratic or a Republican issue — it’s a national issue.

Do you think imposing a deadline on lenders will spur more short sales? Do you think a short sale bill will be passed?

Tags: short sale, Warner Robins
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Verizon Wireless bringing 4G LTE technology to Warner Robins

April 19th, 2012 by lharder

Verizon Wireless will be bringing 4G technology to Macon that will affect areas from north Bibb County to Houston County.It will allow customers to access the Internet faster and watch videos on their phones with speeds up to 10 times faster than before, according to a news release. No time line was given in the release, only that it would be “in the coming weeks.”

When Verizon Wireless turns on its 4G long-term evolution network in Macon, customers in commercial, downtown and residential areas of Macon, Warner Robins and Perry will have access. As of March 15, Verizon’s 4G network covered 203 markets across the country and the company plans to more than double that.

Tags: 4G, LTE, Verizon, Warner Robins
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Warner Robins Area One Of Fastest Growing In Nation

April 10th, 2012 by lharder

Author: wcrenshaw@macon.com (WAYNE CRENSHAW)

Posted: 04/06/2012 7:35 AM

Warner Robins, GA Census WARNER ROBINS — Census data released Thursday showed the Warner Robins metro area was one of the fastest growing parts in the country between 2010 and 2011.

Metro Macon, meanwhile, showed only slight growth while some Middle Georgia areas lost population.

The figures, based on the metropolitan statistical area including all of Houston County, show the Warner Robins area grew by 2.9 percent to 143,925 between April 1, 2010, and July 1, 2011. That makes it the sixth fastest-growing metro area in the nation, according to the Census Bureau.

The fastest growing metro area was the Kennewick-Pasco-Richland, Wash., area, population 264,133, with 4.3 percent growth.

Metro Macon, which includes Bibb, Crawford, Jones, Monroe and Twiggs counties, grew by .03 percent to 232,920. The Dublin and Milledgeville areas, termed micropolitan areas by the Census Bureau, lost population, and the Fort Valley area saw marginal gains.

The 2010 figures are based on the census, while the 2011 figures are estimates. For the estimates, the Census Bureau looks at births, deaths, administrative records and survey data.

The estimates reflect changing growth patterns nationwide, according to a Census Bureau release. Of the 50 fastest growing areas in the last decade, only 24 were on the fastest growing list since the 2010 census.

Houston County Commission Chairman Tommy Stalnaker attributed metro Warner Robins’ growth to a variety of factors, including a low crime rate, good school system, low cost of living and the overall quality of life in the community. Many people move here to work at Robins Air Force Base, then stay here when they retire, contributing to a continuous source of growth, he said.

“People are moving here obviously because Warner Robins and Houston County have gotten a lot of good publicity as a great place to raise a child, and once they do that they end up staying here,” Stalnaker said.

He said he believes the 2.9-percent growth estimate is probably a good one, and if anything it may be on the low side. As evidence of that, he cited growth in sales tax revenues during a time when revenues have dropped in other areas and more people are pinching pennies. Houston County has generally been isolated from the economic woes that have impacted the country, he said.

“I remind people not to be too down in the dumps because we are a lot better off than they think we are,” he said.

Warner Robins Mayor Chuck Shaheen said he was not surprised the Warner Robins area was identified as a fast growing one.

“We are the greatest city in the country,” he said. “We are a military town, a faith-based town and we are a giving town. The future is going to continue to be bright.”

He said the construction of the new law enforcement center near Robins Air Force Base and $2.5 million in sales tax funds to spur economic development in that area will help spur growth in a part of the town that has struggled.

Perry Mayor Jimmy Faircloth said he has seen the signs of growth in his city. One indicator is commercial and residential building permits, which were stagnant a couple of years ago but have been growing steadily since then. He attributed the growth to Robins and people coming to area to retire, among other factors.

“We’ve had a slow but steady growth rate, and that to me is the best kind to have because you don’t have those wild swings that cause problems,” he said.

Among those retiring in the Warner Robins area are Tim and Gina Parish, who are looking to return to the city this year after a six-year absence. The couple lived in Warner Robins for 18 years before Tim Parish’s job as a air-traffic controller took them and their two children to Prattville, Ala., in 2006.

But Warner Robins always felt like home, Gina Parish said Thursday.

So when Tim Parish retired this year, they looked to move back to Warner Robins. Good schools along with continued growth influenced the Parishes’ decision. Their daughter, a rising 10th-grader, will attend a Houston County school. Their son is a student at Auburn University.

“The schools are a big part of it because you have excellent schools there,” Gina Parish said. And while other cities struggle in a tough economy, Warner Robins “is just wonderful because it’s growing.”

“You see new stores and restaurants opening up,” she said.

The Parishes are in the process of purchasing a home and hope to move to Warner Robins after school is out in late May.

Meanwhile, Macon Mayor Robert Reichert said the growth in Houston County is good news for the entire region.

“I’m one of those who thinks regionally and that we are joined at the hip,” he said. “What’s good for Warner Robins is good for Macon, and what’s good for Macon is good for Warner Robins.”

He also pointed out that the census figures look at where people are at night. During the day, he said, Macon’s population swells as people drive in from surrounding counties to work.

“We continue to be a prospering and dynamic economic center,” he said.

Staff writer Caryn Grant and Houston office editor Jennifer Burk contributed to this story. To contact writer Wayne Crenshaw, call 256-9725.

Tags: Growth in Warner Robins, Warner Robins Census
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Down Payment Gift a Leg Up to Home Ownership, But Know Tax Rules

March 24th, 2012 by lharder

By: Dona DeZube

Published: December 28, 2011

Home Sizes in Warner Robins We explain the tax details around giving the gift of a home down payment.

With lots of inventory and low home prices, your gift of a down payment to your credit-worthy children can be a stepping stone to getting into a first or next house. A nice thought at this time of year. (I’m speaking both of the holidays and the upcoming tax season.) Speaking of which, there are rules — like there’s no tax deduction for giving a non-charitable gift. But your gift of up to $13,000 can be given tax-free.

My husband and I used our parents’ generous wedding gift as a down payment rather than spend it all on the wedding. And we’re not the only couple boosted into home ownership by parents, according to blogger Amy Hoak. She says about one-quarter of first-time home buyers get a down payment gift from relatives or friends (note to my friends: My birthday is coming up in February and nothing says you’re my BFF like a down payment!).

“Many times a gift will allow a buyer to make a down payment without severely depleting their savings — a big plus in an uncertain economy,” writes Hoak. “Most lenders will require borrowers to have some money in the bank after closing. And some parents would rather their adult children keep saving for a rainy day than use all of their funds to make a down payment.”

The rules for using down payment gifts differ depending on which lender you use and whether your loan is guaranteed by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, or FHA. Hoak outlines the rules for each in her blog.

If you’re the one making the down payment gift, you won’t have to pay federal income tax, nor will the recipient, as long as you give $13,000 or less in 2011 or 2012. You can give up to $13,000 per person without tax implication to any number of people in one year.

In addition, you and your spouse can each give separate gifts to your child. The IRS calls this gift splitting. For instance, if you’re planning to give to your two children, you and your spouse can each give each child up to $13,000 for a total of $52,000 ($13,000 x 4), says CPA Sue Medicus, owner of Liberty Tax Service in Catonsville, Md.

If you want to give more, you still may not owe taxes, but you have to inform the IRS of your gift using Form 709. Check with your tax adviser to see if the amount above $13,000 counts against a lifetime exclusion that we all get to use to pass along assets via gifts and estates, Medicus says.

You can’t deduct the value of gifts you make (other than gifts that are deductible charitable contributions) or any federal gift resulting from making those gifts.

For more, IRS Publication 950 outlines the rules about gift and estate taxes.

What do you think about making down payment gifts to children? Have you done it? Would it have helped you?

Tags: Down Payment, Home buying
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Did you know?

March 15th, 2012 by lharder

Just read today that the Encyclopaedia Britannica will stop publishing print editions of its encyclopedias for the first time in over 200 years!

Wow it brought back memories for me. I remember my parents having a set of World Books and I recall spending hours reading on different animals, when I was in high school my parents bought a set of the Britannica. That was way cooler until my sister was doing a report on flags and lost the F book. Still remember what a stink that caused.

Loretta and I are avid book readers and we both saw the article on the same day. Great minds do think alike…

Sad to say that with the internet it is pretty much a dead resource to have that information in book form. “A printed encyclopedia is obsolete the minute that you print it,” that from the CEO of Britannica . “Whereas our online edition is updated continuously.” Online versions of the encyclopedia now serve more than 100 million people around the world, this information comes from the company and they now have mobile device apps on most smart phones. According to the company the encyclopedia is being coming a social source as users around the world send comments and updates on information to the editors.

Here is a little history on the great books thanks to the Macon Telegraph.

The book-form of Encyclopaedia Britannica has been in print since it was first published in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1768. It will stop being available when the current stock runs out, the company said. The Chicago-based company will continue to offer digital versions of the encyclopedia.

Officials said the end of the printed, 32-volume set has been foreseen for some time.

“This has nothing to do with Wikipedia or Google,” Encyclopaedia Britannica Inc. President Jorge Cauz said. “This has to do with the fact that now Britannica sells its digital products to a large number of people.”

The top year for the printed encyclopedia was 1990, when 120,000 sets were sold, Cauz said. That number fell to 40,000 just six years later in 1996, he said. The company started exploring digital publishing the 1970s. The first CD-ROM version was published in 1989 and a version went online in 1994.

The final hardcover encyclopedia set is available for sale at Britannica’s website for $1,395.

“The sales of printed encyclopedias have been negligible for several years,” Cauz said. “We knew this was going to come.”

The company plans to mark the end of the print version by making the contents of its website available free for one week, starting Tuesday.

Just thought we would share some very random and pretty much useless knowledge with you today. Have a great one

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Do Neighborhood Watch Groups Cut Crime and Insurance Costs?

March 12th, 2012 by lharder

By: John Morell

Published: November 12, 2010

Your neighborhood watch program isn’t guaranteed to cut crime in your community, but if it does, that can lower insurance costs and raise property values.

Neighborhood Watch Some studies report a reduction in crime after a watch starts, while others found an increase, according to a study by the U.S. Department of Justice.

The DOJ report looked at 18 studies from the United States and the United Kingdom. The studies paired neighborhood watch areas with similar neighborhoods that had no neighborhood watch. In 15 of the 18 areas, crime fell in the area with the watch. In three areas, crime increased despite the neighborhood watch.

None of the studies was perfect. Some of the watch programs did other projects that might also have helped lower crime rates, like engraving owner information on valuables or working with neighbors to improve the security of their homes.

If your program does reduce crime, you’ll win in two ways:

1. Your insurance rates could go down. Property insurance is all about risk. The higher the risk, the more you pay for insurance. Crime isn’t the only factor affecting your rates, but it plays a role. The more claims insurance companies have to pay crime victims in your neighborhood, the more they charge you for insurance premiums.

If a neighborhood watch group helps lower crime and that leads to fewer insurance claims, insurers will eventually adjust premiums, says Mike Barry, spokesman for the Insurance Information Institute.

2. Your property values could rise. Who doesn’t want to live in a safe neighborhood? Like insurance rates, home values are affected by more than just crime. But having a neighborhood watch certainly won’t hurt your values.

A strong-knit community means people care, and that improves a neighborhood’s atmosphere, which can increase property values, says Robbi Woodson, neighborhood watch program manager for the National Sheriffs’ Association.

Look at it this way: Thousands of communities nationwide wouldn’t have started neighborhood watches if the program caused values to drop, she says.

Tags: Neighborhood Watch, Warner Robins
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Okay I admit I am addicted!

March 7th, 2012 by lharder

Have you heard about Pinterest?

If not you are missing an entire new world out there. I am so addicted to the site. It has everything. I have been on it for about 6 months and find it is my go to site when I am bored or if I want to get in touch with my creative side. I keep hearing from family and friends “Oh I saw that on Pinterest” or “I made it from Pinterest” I do find it hard to go a day without seeing whats new. I have pretty much kissed Facebook goodbye. I still have that acct but very seldom log in.

Pinterest is being heralded as one of the fasest growing social online sites.
Below is an article from the Macon Telegraph that grabbed our attention this morning so we decided to Blog about our favorite site.

Simply stated, Pinterest is a virtual bulletin board that allows users to share photos, poster quotes and most anything visual that you find interesting on the Web. The entertainment value of Pinterest shouldn’t be underestimated; it’s downright addictive, especially for adult women, the site’s single largest demographic. With that said, there’s something for everyone on this aesthetically pleasing network. You may wonder why, until you begin “pinning” material that depicts your own faves: your lifestyle, your personal tastes in tangibles, your cute pets, people you admire, places you’d like to visit, and just about anything you want to display that represents and reflects the unique person you are. But perhaps the secret to Pinterest’s wide appeal is its ultra-easy functionality, its rapid-fire results, and its instantaneous gratification. Plus, its clean interface is pretty hard to resist.

Start by adding a “bookmarklet” to your menu bar (easy drag-and-drop instructions included when you join), or download one of several Pinterest “pinning” apps that are compatible with — and offered by — your preferred browser. These handy pins allow you to browse the Web and collect photos at random that inspire you, identify you, make you laugh, relate to you or whatever. Pinterest automatically collects the photo’s attributions and sources when you choose a picture to “pin” on one of your boards. Keeping your boards relevant and fresh is easy, too, eliminating any upkeep angst.

Your personal Pinterest “pin boards” are categorized by subject matter under broader categories already listed. You can add boards, too, displaying as many as you want on your Pinterest home base. For instance, if you wanted to display a new board that featured photos of the newest digital cameras you saw on various Websites, you would create a new board and name it something like “Cameras I Crave” or simply “Cameras.” This new board would be created under Pinterest’s “Technology” category, giving the Pinterest techies a way to catalog particular users’ specific tastes so they can recommend your boards to others. “Repinning” photos you see on other boards created by your followers is a favorite Pinterest pastime, and it results in a viral effect that is remarkably rapid and interesting to follow. It also interfaces well with Facebook and Twitter accounts, making it easy to share material you’ve pinned with your friends on your other networks.

Pinterest protocol tells us to refrain from conspicuous self-promotion, stating that the site was built more for “discovery” than marketing. It’s too soon to say how things will unfold on that scene, however; today’s marketers have creative ways of working around the most daunting systems.

Because Pinterest is still in a beta testing stage, you can’t just log in and sign up … you must be invited. Send an e-mail my way, and I’ll give you an invitation. But I give you fair warning: Once you get started …

Paige Henson (paigechenson@gmail.com) is a new media consultant for businesses and nonprofits. She specializes in inbound marketing and content management.

Tags: Pinterest
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Houston County 1% Sales Tax

March 5th, 2012 by lharder

WARNER ROBINS — The time has come for Houston and Peach voters to decide whether they want to continue 1 percent sales taxes in their respective counties.

On Tuesday ballots, voters in those counties will face referendums asking whether they are willing to continue paying special purpose local option sales taxes to be used for major capital improvements.

Both Peach and Houston’s proposals are renewals. If voters approve the measures, the sales tax in the respective counties would remain at 7 percent.

Houston project list varied

Houston County commissioners estimate a six-year continuation of the SPLOST would generate about $155 million between October 2012 and September 2018.

With previous two SPLOSTs that were mainly dedicated to road projects, Houston County Commission Chairman Tommy Stalnaker has said he and officials in Centerville, Perry and Warner Robins have purposely diversified the 2012 project list.

About 24 percent, or about $37.5 million, would be dedicated to public safety improvements; about 27 percent, or $42.4 million, would be for transportation improvements; about 19 percent, or $28.9 million, would be used on economic development projects; about 12 percent, or $18.9 million, would be used for general capital obligations; about 12 percent, or $18.6 million, would be used for water and sewer improvements; and about 6 percent, or $8.7 million, would be used for recreation projects.

The projects vary, from about $8.2 million of upgrades to the county’s E-911 center systems to a $550,000 amphitheater in Warner Robins. Officials have highlighted the $7 million that would help alleviate encroachment on the northern side of Robins Air Force Base, which has been an issue for years.

The largest project for the city of Centerville is a $3 million Law Enforcement Center, while the least costly is $637,000 for water and sewer retirement.

Four of the most costly projects in Warner Robins are: $5.5 million for water and sewer system improvements, $5 million for a new recreation complex, $4.7 million for City Hall and Civic Center upgrades, and $4.5 million to add to funds for the new Law Enforcement Center — which is currently under construction at Watson Boulevard and North First Street. The least costly item on Warner Robins’ list is $50,000 for computer system upgrades.

The county’s most costly item is a $5 million expansion of the jail to add a 40-bed mental health unit. Sheriff Cullen Talton said the state used to take inmates with mental illnesses and drug problems but has done so less and less. He said those inmates cannot be housed with the general population for safety reasons.

The county’s least costly project is $45,000 for equipment for the Investigations Division of the sheriff’s office.

The city of Perry did not budget funds for specific projects. Categorically, the city would spend about $1.8 million on public safety, about $3 million on transportation, about $4.1 million on the water and sewer system, and about $900,000 on recreation.

Peach proposes SPLOST early

Peach county commissioners estimate a SPLOST renewal would generate about $22 million between April 2015 and March 2021. The SPLOST is up for renewal three years early because the county wanted it approved before residents faced a General Assembly-initiated transportation SPLOST, or T-SPLOST.

The new regional T-SPLOST is set for a July vote, and counties throughout the state have moved up SPLOST votes to avoid residents’ fatigue of sales taxes, according to the Association County Commissioners of Georgia.

The proposed Peach County SPLOST project list includes $2 million for a long-awaited sewer system expansion into the southwest part of the county, $3 million for a Workforce Development Center, $1 million for recreation facility improvements and about $4.4 million for public safety improvements and equipment.

The most costly item of the county’s projects is $3.8 million for improvements to roads, streets, bridges and drainage. The most costly item on Byron’s list is a stormwater utility, at $2.8 million. Fort Valley’s mostly costly item is a streets and stormwater drainage system at $800,000.

The least costly item on the Peach County list is a vehicle, budgeted at $25,000, for county administrative staff’s training and travel between the two county buildings. Walker said one such vehicle is in the county’s current budget.

The money

Peach County Commissioner Melvin Walker has admitted his county’s current SPLOST will fall short of previous estimates. Originally, officials estimated the 2009 SPLOST would generate about $24 million, but officials say collections have been lower than expected. The new estimate is about $21 million.

Walker said the proposed 2015 SPLOST is based on current sales and does not include inflation, as the 2009 SPLOST did.

“Once you tell the taxpayers those projects are going to be done, they still need to be done,” Walker said in January. “And that money has to come from somewhere.”

Stalnaker said estimates for the past two SPLOSTs in Houston County have been accurate. He said the 2001 SPLOST collected a little more than the planned $85 million, and the 2006 SPLOST is on schedule to reach the previously estimated $130 million.

“We schedule projects accordingly,” Stalnaker said. “We have never been able to jump out there and say we’re going to do every project imaginable right now.”

Businesses send sales tax revenue to the state. Then the state sends counties their portions of the sales tax on a monthly basis, and funds are distributed among the local governments. Stalnaker said those monthly payments have about a 60-day lag.

He said it’s part of the reason a few projects in the 2006 SPLOST have not been completed.

All 2001 and 2006 project lists have been started. Stalnaker said unfinished 2001 SPLOST projects are in the preparation phases, which include obtaining right-of-way access and easements.

If residents are interested to know the progress of approved projects, they can visit the Houston County website at www.houstoncountyga.org.

To contact writer Christina M. Wright, call 256-9685.

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Warner Robins Demonettes are preparing for State Title Run

February 23rd, 2012 by lharder

The Warner Robins Demonette girls are on the road to the GHSA State Basketball Championship that begins this week. The region tournaments are over and the cream of the crop plays off.

Coach Mobley and his lady demonettes are seeded as number one (Not really sure what that means but my husband told me that was important) Regardless this is wonderful for our girls. This is the second year for girls to vie for the title. They finished this season 23-4. They play Friday at 7:30 here in Warner Robins against Effingham.

Tags: Warner Robins Demonettes
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