Friends of Music to present UNF Chamber Singers

LIVE OAK — The Friends of Music Concert Series continues its 2016 – 2017 season with a performance by The UNF Chamber Singers, directed by Dr. Cara Tasher. The concert will be Friday at 7:30 p.m. at Covenant First Presbyterian Church, 421 White Avenue, SE, in Live Oak. The performance is free and open to the public. A reception will follow. For more information, call 386-365-4941. The Chamber Singers are a group of 25-30 college students. Their director, Dr. Tasher, has served on the University of North Florida faculty in Jacksonville since 2006 as Director of Choral Activities.  Her choral ensembles have toured to Italy, Portugal and South Africa, performed at the 2013 State American Choral Directors Association Convention, the 2014 Southern Division ACDA Convention, with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in 2009, and are regular collaborators with the Jacksonville Symphony.  “I try not to schedule the same performers in successive years for the Friends of Music Series,” said Linda Poplin. “If there is one group I would not hesitate to have every year, it’s the UNF Chamber Singers. Those who hear  them keep requesting that they return.  This will be the third consecutive year they have performed on our series!”

 

Safety eduction program receives new training equipment

TIFTON, Ga. — The safety education program in Tift County Schools received a huge enhancement thanks to the Prince Automotive Group. In partnership with the National Automobile Dealers Charitable Foundation, Prince donated three CPR training dolls to the school system to be used by the school safety teams. Each school has a safety team that is trained regularly to respond to medical emergencies. Since the NADA Foundation’s Medical Grants program began in 1975, more than 4,900 CPR training units with a value of more than $3 million have been donated to organizations in all 50 states and Washington, D.C. More than 2 million people have been trained on CPR units donated by new-car dealers.

 

State Route 22 bridge joint sealing closing eastbound lanes next week

MILLEDGEVILLE, Ga. — Local drivers should expect lane closers on Monday and Tuesday near the U.S. Highway 441 bypass intersection with Roberson Mill Road. Eastbound traffic along the state Route 22 bridge between the 441 bypass-Roberson Mill Road intersection and Oconee Regional Medical Center will be affected, according to the Georgia Department of Transportation. One eastbound lane will close each day for bridge joint sealing from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. as weather allows. The bridge rehabs feature substructure strengthening, deck rehab, painting, joint replacement and co-polymer deck overlay. The DOT urges drivers to slow down when traveling through work zones and obey road crew flaggers.

 

Dalton school board not expected to raise taxes

DALTON, Ga. — The Dalton Board of Education is not considering a property tax increase this year. Board members and staff met earlier this month in an all-day budget retreat to review the first draft of its 2018 budget. The 2018 fiscal year starts July 1. The first draft of the budget calls for $74.3 million in spending, up from $71.2 million in spending for the current fiscal year. Some of the factors pushing spending up are step increases guaranteed to teachers when they reach certain levels of seniority as well as a 2 percent cost-of-living adjustment for employees. That draft budget projected some $71.4 million in revenue, up from $70.3 million in the current fiscal year. But Chief Financial Officer Theresa Perry cautioned that revenue projections are tricky at the point because the school system hasn’t received firm numbers from the state about its share of funding or from the Whitfield County tax assessor’s office about the local tax digest.

 

Turner Center seeks chairs for “chair-ity”

VALDOSTA, Ga. – The Turner Center for the Arts is seeking chairs for an upcoming “chair-ity” event. The center asks that people donate any unneeded chairs, preferably wooden, by 6 p.m. March 27. The chairs will later be turned into works of art by locals. Acceptable chairs can be any material that will hold paint and are not broken, according to Turner Center for the Arts Administrative Assistant Darby Boruff. After all donations are received, local artists will be asked to decorate or design a chair that will be displayed and auctioned off. They can either select a chair for free from the donations or provide their own. The deadline to turn in completed chairs is April 19 at 6 p.m. There is no specific theme required for the chair paintings. “We will sell them at auction, so any design the artist feels will sell and is artistically appealing to them,” Boruff said. The auction will take place April 24 at 6:30 p.m at the Turner Center for the Arts, located at 527 N. Patterson St. Proceeds will be directed by the Center for the Arts Guild toward educational programming.