|
ROGERSVILLE - Firefighters don't yet know what caused a fire Monday night that destroyed a four-unit modular apartment building, but a faulty heater is suspected. Firefighters from three departments were called to the apartment building at 211 Jackson Road just west of the Rogersville city limits around 10:30 p.m. Monday. Striggersville Volunteer Fire Department Assistant Chief Gary Murrell said when he arrived on the scene the building was fully engulfed in flames. Although it was a mobile modular building, the building was divided into four separate apartment units. At least two and possibly three of the apartments were occupied, but Murrell said everyone made it outside and there were no injuries. Firefighters believe the construction on the modular unit helped create a huge fire that took a little less than three hours to suppress.
The state's forest industry, a sizeable chunk of which can be found in Middle Georgia, had a $16.1 billion economic impact last year. That's 14 percent higher than in 2004, according to a Georgia Tech report released this month. The industry's nearly 67,700 jobs keep it among the top in the state. "It's a big part of the economy around these parts," said Scott Thackston, a forester with the Georgia Forestry Commission who works in six Middle Georgia counties. "There's a lot of wood and forest in this area." The tree business touches private forest owners, land managers, timber companies, forestry consultants, loggers, timber buyers, paper producers, furniture makers, home builders - nearly anyone whose livelihood can be traced back to the available supply of woody raw materials.
PALMER - Amid a mix of support and opposition from some Mat-Su Borough residents Monday evening, the borough planning commission unanimously voted to send the Point MacKenzie prison site to the assembly as its preferred site.As in most meetings where public comment has been taken, residents of the areas where a prison could be built - Point MacKenzie and Sutton - showed either complete support or total opposition for the development.Just before voting to agree with the site selection committee, members of the planning commission expressed concern about environmental impacts on a designated wildlife area and watershed adjacent to the proposed prison site in PointMacKenzie.The same concern was shared by many residents from the Lost Lake area, who said the tranquil area with year-round residences and vacation homes would be destroyed by a prison development.Officials with various organizations in charge of planning the prison said the environmental issues would be looked at more closely in the near future.And, even as the Point MacKenzie Community Council adamantly opposed the prison during a Nov.
The Minister of Labour and Home Affairs Major General Moeng Pheto has said that the Construction Industry Trust Fund (CITF) competency based modular training programme is crafted to improve the welfare of communities, especially those in remote areas. He said the training programme is a systematic approach to skills development in order to perform work based tasks in building and construction. The minister was speaking after surveying a CITF competency based modular training unit in Oodi on Tuesday. He said that the training is a deliberate stride to re-enforce government tailored initiatives to address unemployment and promoting sustainable and appropriate skills development across sectors of the national economy. He said this will empower Batswana with the right tools to participate in the national economic process of the country.
|
