A Case of Dollars & Census

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

Tifton, Georgia

478-227-7126 ~ www.tiftongrapevine.com

Miriam Jordan with the Tift County Census Complete Count Committee on Tuesday discusses the importance locally of the U.S. Census.

DON'T TAKE LEAVE

OF YOUR 'CENSUS'

FULL CENSUS COUNT MEANS MORE FEDERAL FUNDS FOR TIFT

By FRANK SAYLES JR.

Tifton Grapevine

Tift County has lost $164 million in federal funds during the past decade because 8,204 county residents were not counted during the last U.S. Census , community leaders were told Tuesday night.

That is why it is important to get an accurate count of all Tift residents for the 2020 Census , Miriam Jordan said during the Tift County Census Solutions Workshop .

" Tift County had a 78.8 percent response rate to the Census in 2010 ," said Jordan , who helps lead the Tift Census Complete Count Committee.

During the workshop, participants suggested ways of reaching the county's hard-to-count population, such as the school system helping get information to families, and the committee identifying influencers in those under-counted neighborhoods to help reach those residents.

Tift County has 38,607 people living in 14,999 households, and another 1,924 people living in group quarters, according to the Center for South Georgia Regional Impact at Valdosta State University .

Appromimately 27 percent of Tift's population lives in what the VSU center calls " hard-to-count neighborhoods."

Based on the 2010 Census , Georgia has received $15.88 billion in federal funds during the past decade. In 2015 , Georgia received $1.6 billion federal dollars for education-related programs . The state says federal funding helps support Head Start, special education, Title 1 grants and national school-lunch programs .

Currently in Georgia , 18 percent of high school students are not graduating on time ; 69 percent of eighth-graders are not proficient in math ; 63 percent of third-graders are not proficient in reading ; and 50 percent of three- and four-year-olds are not in school.

EARLY VOTING ALREADY UNDERWAY: MONDAY-FRIDAY, 8-5 P.M.

THERE'S A NEW DAWG IN TOWN

Georgia Power’s "Kilowatt" is the newest member of the University of Georgia Tifton Campus' dawg family.

Unleashed this week, the 11th dawg statue in town is located outside the UGA Tifton Campus Conference Center .

"Call the Dawgs to Tifton" is an ongoing initiative of the UGA Tifton Agribusiness Club and Collegiate FFA .

The dawgs around Tifton do not just help promote the UGA Tifton Campus ; they aid the many different clubs on campus as well. Funds from the dawg sponsorships allow students to do extra-curricular activities outside campus to gain more knowledge about the community and agriculture .

THIS MONTH'S COMMERCIAL 'BEAUTY SPOT'

The Keep Tift Beautiful committee has named The Howard Center at 1948 Old Ocilla Road as this month’s Commercial Beauty Spot .

Georgia Farm Bureau President Gerald Long, center, poses with recipients of the GFB Harvest 20 Research Grants. UGA faculty awarded grants are, from left, Lawton Stewart, Govindaraj Dev Kumar, Angelita Acebes, Sudeep Bag and Jonathan Oliver.

UGA TIFTON PROF RECEIVES FARM BUREAU GRANT TO STUDY BLUEBERRY DISEASE

A plant pathologist at the University of Georgia Tifton campus is using a grant from the Georgia Farm Bureau to study a bacterial disease that is harming the state’s blueberry crops .

Jonathan Oliver , an assistant professor in the Department of Plant Pathology in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, says the $7,000 grant will fund his studies of a new strain of the bacterial pathogen Xylella fastidiosa.

While the grant supports blueberry research, the pathogen can also affect grapes, peaches and pecans , as well as oak and elm trees .

The pathogen clogs the xylem , or the conductive tissue of the plant, which is essential for water and nutrient transport. As a result, the infected crop will often show symptoms like leaf scorching or drying , which can be mistaken for drought damage.

Xylella is a leading cause of plant death in southern highbush blueberries in Georgia. The known strain of Xylella affects yields and fruit quality , which impacts profits. Oliver says his study of bacterial leaf scorch on blueberries led to his discovery of this new strain of the pathogen .

Oliver's grant is one of seven among a total $94,000 in research grants that the Farm Bureau awarded recently to Georgia scientists addressing production issues affecting farmers .

ALLMAN BROTHERS TRIBUTE COMING TO TIFT THEATRE

Music from a legendary Georgia band comes to the Tift Theatre on Nov. 7 when "Tribute: A Celebration of the Allman Brothers Band" rocks the "ABAC at the Tift" series.

Wayne Jones , Arts Connection director at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College , said the concert begins at 7:30 p.m. at the city's Tift Theatre , managed by ABAC personnel.

“Rigged with all the vintage equipment , these guys interpret the Allman Brothers ’ catalog in such a way that these classics from the ' 60s and '70s come alive again,” Jones said. “This should be a whale of a concert.”

Based in Atlanta , Tribute began playing Allman Brothers ’ music in 2013 . The musicians have earned a reputation for the authentic Allman Brothers’ sound . Tickets are available online at www.purplepass.com/ABAC or by calling 229-391-4895 .