Week in Review
March 3 to March 9, 2007
--A local lawyer was found dead in the backyard of his home.
--Thomasville authorities worked to mitigate a hazardous materials situation downtown.
--Among the fire calls was one to SWSH.
--The state struggles to rescue the PeachCare program.
--A new political poll is showing the current favorites of Georgians for President.
--State insurance officials said damage statewide from storms was at $135 million dollars and likely to increase.
--State Department of Revenue officials say revenue coming to the state rose over revenue from the same month last year.
--Legislators work to fund PeachCare and storm damage.
--Two tickets are sold for a record Mega Millions lottery drawing and one is in north Georgia.
LOCAL LAWYER DEAD
A local lawyer was found dead in the backyard of his home Wednesday afternoon, March 7. Thomas County Coroner Sam Brown said Walter Van Heiningen, 59, was the victim of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. He apparently shot himself about 1PM when a neighbor told police they heard the gunshot. Van Heiningen had left his law office on North Broad Street about noon and his body was found about 2:15PM by his secretary who had come by to check on him. He lived alone at the house at 219 Edgewood Drive.
HAZARDOUS MATERIALS INCIDENT
Thomasville authorities worked as quick as they could Thursday, March 8, to mitigate a hazardous materials situation downtown. Several barrels of unknown, but potentially dangerous, chemicals were found in the partially collapsed Motor-Mart building at 601 North Madison Street Thursday morning. Thomasville Fire-Rescue Chief Bryan Croft said Thursday, “Some thirty-four 55-gallon barrels of chemicals were found by the City’s code enforcement authorities and they called us to make sure the scene was safe. There was a serious lack of labeling and we didn’t know exactly what we had, but we did know some of the barrels were leaking, some could have had flammable materials, some could have been explosive. It was a very serious situation.” Chief Croft said the fire department was on the scene beginning about 12:40PM. There were 34 barrels found in the building with 20 grouped in the front of the building, 12 grouped in the back and two others isolated. Chief Croft said Safety Kleen of Tallahassee was called to bring specialized equipment and personnel to clean up. Early this Friday morning fire officials said the Tallahassee company said there needed to be analyses done on the chemicals before cleanup could continue. The company told fire officials it could take several weeks for the location to be secured. Chief Croft said the Moultrie Fire Department was alerted to be ready to bring their hazardous materials handling unit and another fire engine to Thomasville, but the Tallahassee company indicated they could handle the incident.
--The building that had been vacant for more than thirty years had its front collapse about 9:35AM, Tuesday, March 6. No one was hurt in the collapse, but a power line by the street was brought down and concrete and lumber were scattered about. The building was an old car dealership known as Motor-Mart. Pete Desantis, jr., owned the building until his recent death.
FIRE CALL AT SWSH
Thomasville fire units were called to Southwestern State Hospital on South Pinetree Boulevard at 9:05PM Thursday night, March 8, for a fire around an air-conditioning unit on the roof of one of the buildings. Workers for a roofing company had spent the day repairing the roof on the Dual Diagnosis Building of the facility and were using heat torches to seal seams in the roof's membrane barrier. Fire officials said a wooden support under the air-conditioning unit had been overheated and was apparently smoldering when the workers left the roof. During the early evening the wood flashed into flames. Smoke was detected and the building was evacuated. Fire personnel staged on the roof of the building and put the fire out around the air-conditioning unit and made sure there was no flame extension.
--There were a couple of relatively minor fire calls dealt with over the weekend in the community. About 7:10AM Sunday, March 4, Thomasville fire units went to a house at 206 Spruce Pine Drive, which is off of Summerhill Road, when residents smelled an electrical fire. Fire personnel found overheated electrical wires in the attic of the house that had problems because of a malfunctioning heating unit. Fire personnel secured the scene and advised repairs.
--At 1:55PM Sunday, Thomasville fire units were called to Wildwood Apartments at 221 Covington Avenue. A portion of a wooden fence and the pine straw around the fence behind a set of apartment buildings was burning. Fire personnel put the fire out without a problem. Investigations indicated that someone had earlier put coals from an outdoor grill on the pine straw by the fence.
--A Thomasville Housing Authority apartment had fire damage in an incident beginning about 8:35AM Monday, March 5, at 305 North College Street in the City. When fire units arrived on the scene they found a fire on a cloth-covered stool in a bedroom and they secured the scene. The resident had accidentally placed an cloths-iron on the stool and set it on fire, causing flame damage to the iron, stool, the wall next to the stool and an electric wall outlet. No injuries were reported.
--About 10:20PM Monday Thomasville fire units went to Noah's Ark Day Care Center at the Cornerstone Church of Christ just south of Thomasville on US-319 when a fire alarm activated. Fire personnel found smoke from dust burning on heating strips in a heating unit had set the alarm off. Fire personnel secured the scene and advised repairs.
PEACHCARE UPDATE
The state health board voted Thursday, March 9, to halt enrollment of new children in the state’s PeachCare program to try to deal with a potential shortfall in funding, but there was also news out of Washington that indicated Congress may be able to makeup the shortfall in Georgia’s program and in 13 other states. Democratic leaders in Congress said they will include $735 million dollars to fund children’s health care in the supplemental budget it is currently considering for funding the Iraq war.
--The state Board of Community Health voted unanimously to freeze the enrollment in the children’s health care program starting March 12. The state is trying to makeup a predicted $131 million shortfall in the state program. State officials said the PeachCare program could run out of money by the end of March. Those state officials have been hoping Congress can help meet the crisis. Georgia Legislators are in the middle of a two-week break in their current session to see if the problem can be solved before a final supplemental budget is written and a budget for the next fiscal year. If Congress fails to help the state, the Legislature would have to alter significantly the budgets currently proposed. The Legislature is due to begin work again on March 19 and it seems unlikely that Congress would be able to act before then. State House Speaker Glenn Richardson said Thursday the state is waiting, "The Legislature is going to do what the Legislature has to do to continue its partnership with the federal government.
--The Republican leadership in the state Legislature said Saturday, March 3, that no matter what Congress may or may not do to rescue children's health care programs, PeachCare, the state's program for low-income children health care, will likely have its funding cut. The result will be cuts from the programs of those already enrolled, premium raises and more expensive dental and vision coverage. The Legislators says even if the federal government covers the current shortfall in the state program, PeachCare needs to scale back. House Speaker Glenn Richardson said the funding problem has "has given us a good clean opportunity to give the program a fresh look." Lieutenant Governor Casey Cagle said Georgia's program is one of the most generous in the country and questioned if the state could continue to afford the coverage.
--The state is facing a $131 million-dollar shortfall in money coming to the state from the federal government for PeachCare. The program serves 273,000 children. State officials have already said they will stop enrolling new children in the program on March 11.
STATE POLITICAL POLL
A new political poll is showing the current favorites of Georgians for President. Strategic Vision, LLC, a political consulting firm usually associated with Republican causes released a three-day poll of 800 likely Georgia voters conducted on February 23-25, 2007, that has a margin of error of 3%. In the poll, 368 (46%) Republican voters were surveyed; with 328 (41%) Democratic voters surveyed; and 104 (13%) Independents and other party affiliation polled.
--When Republicans were polled on whom they would support in 2008 for the Republican Presidential nomination, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani received 28%; Senator John McCain received 21%; Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich 14%; Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney received 8%; Congressman Tom Tancredo 4%; former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee received 3%; Kansas Senator Sam Brownback received 2%; former Wisconsin Governor Tommy Thompson received 1%; Senator Chuck Hagel 1%; former Virginia Governor Jim Gilmore 1%; California Congressman Duncan Hunter 1%; and 16% undecided.
--On the Democratic side, New York Senator Hillary Clinton led with 28%; Illinois Senator Barack Obama 25%; former North Carolina Senator John Edwards received 18%; former General Wesley Clark received 5%; Delaware Senator Joseph Biden received 3%; New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson received 2%; Connecticut Senator Chris Dodd received 1%; Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich 1%; and 17% were undecided.
--The poll found that 55% of respondents approved of Governor Sonny Perdue's job performance, with 33% disapproving, and 12% undecided. Senator Saxby Chambliss received a 52% approval rating with 37% disapproving, and 11% undecided. Senator Johnny Isakson received a 55% approval rating, with 34% disapproving, and 12% undecided. When asked if they thought Georgia was headed in the right direction or wrong direction, 55% said right direction; 32% said wrong direction; and 13% were undecided.
--President Bush's overall approval was 40% approving, 46% disapproving, and 14% undecided. When asked if they approved of the President's handling of the Iraq War, 36% approved; 50% disapproved; and 14% were undecided. When asked if they approved of the President's handling of the war on terrorism, 48% said approved; 37% disapproved; and 15% were undecided. When asked if they approved of the President's handling of the economy, 48% approved; 38% disapproved; and 14% were undecided.
--Asked if they thought the United States was doing everything possible militarily to win the war in Iraq, 24% said yes; 55% said no; and 21% were undecided. When asked if they would support Congress denying the funding needed to send the additional troops to Iraq as outlined in President Bush's surge plan, 38% would support such a move; 53% would oppose; and 9% were undecided. When asked if they believed Democrats in Congress had a better plan to resolve the Iraq War, 29% said yes; 58% said no; and 13% were undecided. When asked if they favored an immediate withdrawal of United States military forces from Iraq within 6 months, 42% said yes; 48% said no; and 10% were undecided.
--Asked if they favor changing the law to allow Sunday sales of alcohol, 53% of the respondents said yes; 33% said no; and 14% were undecided. Asked if they favored legislation that would allow judges to modify prison sentences in certain sex crimes involving consensual acts between teenagers in which the teenagers are serving felony sentences, 42% said yes; 35% said no; and 23% were undecided.
DAMAGE ESTIMATES MADE FROM STORMS
State insurance officials said Monday, March 5, that damage statewide from last week's storms is at $135 million dollars and likely to increase. More than half of the damage was reported out of Sumter County alone. State Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine said the documented damage estimates covered insured losses to homes, autos and commercial buildings only. The American Red Cross has estimated that 173 homes were destroyed in Americus and 198 were heavily damaged. The insurance estimates do not include losses by utilities and roads, bridges and other civic infrastructures. Oxendine said the losses were so great in Americus because a tornado struck directly downtown and damaged many commercial structures. Most of the other damage in the state was in residential areas.
--President Bush approved on Monday a federal disaster declaration for Sumter County. The Georgia Emergency Management Agency says the declaration covers individual assistance and includes grants to help pay for temporary housing, home repairs and other disaster-related expenses. Governor Sonny Perdue has also declared a state of emergency in Baker, Clay, Crawford, McDuffiee, Mitchell, Muscogee, Stewart, Sumter and Taylor counties.
GEORGIA REVENUE UPDATE
State Department of Revenue officials say revenue coming to the state rose in February, 2007, by 8.5% over revenue from the same month last year. The officials say the growth was driven by what they called a strong 20.7% increase in individual income taxes and a good 10.6% rise in sales taxes. The officials said the sales tax numbers were especially encouraging since those numbers had been sluggish in recent months.
--Tax revenue was up 6.7% for the fiscal year to date compared to the same time as last year. Revenue from corporate income taxes were down 72% for February, 2007, versus the same month 2006. For the year, corporate income tax collections are up 10.5%. Overall, the state has collected $11.3 billion for the current fiscal year, compared to $10.6 billion for the same period last year. The state's fiscal year runs from July 1 to June 30.
LEGISLATIVE UPDATE
Legislators proposed Tuesday, March 6, that two of Governor Sonny Perdue's initiatives be drastically cut to try to meet a budget shortfall in the state's health insurance program for poor children, PeachCare. Legislators also say they a have to try to save enough money to meet the needs of people and businesses impacted by the tornadoes that struck South Georgia last week. A House subcommittee approved a budget that cuts Perdue's land conservation grants in half, from $50 million dollars to $25 million. The proposal goes along with another House committee that last week cut the Governor's "Go Fish" initiative from $13 million to $5 million. A spokesperson for Perdue, Dan McLagan, said Tuesday the cuts were part of the usual legislative process, and the Governor was not concerned.
MEGA MILLIONS UPDATE
Lottery officials say at least two Mega Millions tickets are the top winners in the record $370 million jackpot drawing from Tuesday night, March 6. At least one of the tickets was sold in Georgia and according to Georgia Lottery officials that was in Dalton, 90 miles north of Atlanta. The other ticket was sold in New Jersey. The Mega-Millions Lottery is operated in 12 states.
--After several rollovers, the big prize had risen to a record $370 million if taken as an annuity. The winning numbers in Tuesday's drawing were 16-22-29-39-42 with a Mega Ball number of 20. The jackpot's estimated cash option value was $221 million, before taxes. The odds of winning the Mega Millions jackpot are about one in 176 million. The largest previous multi-state lottery jackpot was $365 million dollars in 2006, when eight workers at a Nebraska meat processing plant won the Powerball lottery. The Big Game lottery, the forerunner of Mega Millions, paid out a $363 million dollar jackpot in 2000.