Hamilton Correctional inmate pronounced dead

JASPER, Fla. — A Hamilton Correctional Institution inmate was pronounced deceased on Jan. 22, according to Florida Department of Corrections.

The inmate has been identified as 23-year-old Jacob Cummings. Press Secretary Ashley Cook stated the death is currently under investigation by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, with assistance from the Department’s Office of the Inspector General.

 

Rhythm and Ribs festival set for March

TIFTON, Ga. — The Rhythm & Ribs Barbecue Festival has grown in popularity each year since its inception and festival organizers believe this year’s event will be the largest yet. The event, presented by 41 & Main Restaurant, will be held on Saturday, March 4 at Fulwood Park and will combine another day of great music and competitive barbecue cooking and other activities. The professional cooking competition is sanctioned by the Georgia Barbecue Association and will feature teams from around the state. In the Backyard contest, teams will have a preliminary round and a final round and the prize money has increased. The Backyard Grand Champion will receive $1,000 while the winners of each category (Pulled Pork, Ribs, Chicken) will receive $500. Cash prizes will also be awarded in each category for second place ($400), third place ($300) and fourth place ($200). Barbecue teams and vendors can still sign up to participate in the festival by contacting Elder or Abbey Bowen at The Spearman Agency at 229-386-0216. More information about the festival can be found at www.tiftonribsfest.com or at the festival’s Facebook page under 2017 Tifton Rhythm & Ribs Festival. 

 

Child advocates to attend CASA Day in Atlanta

TIFTON, Ga. — CASA Day at the Capitol will take place on Tuesday, Feb. 7, at the State Capitol in Atlanta. Two child advocates, Julie Mitcham and Miles Drummond, from Coastal Plain CASA plan to attend.  An annual event hosted by Georgia Court Appointed Special Advocates (Georgia CASA), Inc., the day revolves around CASA volunteers, board members and staff from across the state meeting with members of the Georgia Legislature and sharing their concerns about the abused and neglected children in foster care that their CASA programs serve. For more information about your community’s CASA program and/or local attendance at CASA Day at the Capitol, contact Kristin Morrison at (229) 386-9765 or kmorrison@cpcasa.org. To learn more about the CASA organization throughout Georgia, visit www.gacasa.org or call 404.874.2888/800.251.4012.

 

Homeless count underway

VALDOSTA, Ga. — The homeless in Valdosta and Lowndes County  are being counted as part of a statewide effort to assess the homeless population in Georgia. The count happens every two years and is conducted locally by the city’s Neighborhood Development Division and at the state level by the Georgia Department of Community Affairs. In 2015, there were 86 homeless people in Lowndes County and around 14,000 in the state, the official count said. Vanassa Flucas, Valdosta’s Neighborhood Development manager, said the count determines how much funding homeless services and programs will receive. “For any program to succeed, it has to have data,” Flucas said. “Why are you placing funding in certain areas? Why are you taking funding away from certain services? This is another event in an effort to make sure that we have the correct data for our community in reference to our homeless count. “A lot of the services, the different organizations that we have throughout a community and the funding that’s associated with it, hinges on the numbers that we receive from our homeless count.” The city worked with local non-profits and social-service organizations to tally a point-in-time count the night of Jan. 23 but data collection will continue through Jan. 30. The official reports won’t be available until May or June, Flucas said. Volunteers are needed to help with the count, and residents can also participate by donating items for care packages for the homeless. For more information, contact Neighborhood Development, (229) 671-3617.

 

Deputies complete drunk driving enforcement training

DALTON, Ga. —  Deputies James Caraway, Kenneth Henderson and Sebastian Salazar of the Whitfield County Sheriff’s Office completed an advanced roadside impaired driving enforcement course taught by the Georgia Police Academy Division of the Georgia Public Safety Training Center in Forsyth. The program is designed to enhance law enforcement officers’ ability to recognize the role of traffic enforcement and its relationship to highway safety. Officers are trained to recognize psychophysical and clinical indicators of impairment that are consistent with a subject who is under the influence of drugs alone or in combination with alcohol, and to take appropriate action.

 

Georgia College gets $80,000 grant to continue prevention of childhood obesity

MILLEDGEVILLE, Ga. — Live Healthy Baldwin – a program at Georgia College’s Center for Health and Social Issues – recently received an $80,000 grant from the Healthcare Georgia Foundation. The grant will continue to fund childhood obesity prevent efforts that began in 2010.Funding will expand four key areas: the Bicycle Friendly Community program in Milledgeville; promotion of physical activity in local schools; the Safe Routes to School work with Baldwin County; and the Live Healthy in Faith initiative. Live Healthy Baldwin’s focus is to reverse the childhood obesity epidemic in Baldwin County by 2020 – through policy and environmental change by creating opportunities for physical activity and increasing access to healthy food. The organization was created in 2009 and funded until December 2103 by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the country’s largest foundation supporting improvement of health and healthcare. This new grant extends that funding.