The Coffee County Commission authorized chairman Tom Grimsley to enter into an agreement with the Alabama Department of Transportation for the purpose of resurfacing Coffee County Road 537 during its Jan. 13 meeting.

Theres a small section of that road that doesnt qualify for federal funds, Coffee County Engineer Randy Tindell said. We have budgeted county funds to complete it all the way out to Bethlehem Church.

Tindell said the county would pay about $100,000 for its portion of the resurfacing.

In other news, commissioners approved a new contract with Trawick Gardens and Landscapes, LLC.

The New-Brockton-based business will perform landscaping and lawn maintenance at the Enterprise Courthouse and the Coffee County District Attorneys office.

County Administrator Rod Morgan said a monthly rate would include basic lawn care services such as soil testing, weed eating, replacing pine straw, clearing leaves, applying herbicide, mowing and edging.

Any additional work will cost $75 per hour for a three men crew plus the costs of any materials needed.

In other business, the commission agreed to extend its current liability fund contract with the Association of County Commissions of Alabama.

Because the measure was approved before March, the commission will receive a longevity bonus for staying with its current plan.

The new contract will begin in January of 2015 and will run through Dec. 31, 2017.

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County to fund portion of 537 resurfacing project

In a poker game, if one player is better than others and wins 75 percent of the time, he gets...

Democrats plan to demagogue income inequality and the wealth gap for political gain in this year's elections. Most of what's said about income inequality is stupid or, at best, ill-informed. Much to their disgrace, economists focusing on measures of income inequality bring little light to the issue. Let's look at it.

Income is a result of something. As such, results alone cannot establish whether there is fairness or justice. Take a simple example to make the point. Suppose Tom, Dick and Harry play a weekly game of poker. Tom wins 75 percent of the time. Dick and Harry, respectively, win 15 percent and 10 percent of the time. Knowing only the game's result permits us to say absolutely nothing as to whether there has been poker fairness or justice. Tom's disproportionate winnings are consistent with his being either an astute player or a clever cheater.

To determine whether there has been poker justice, the game's process must be examined. Process questions we might ask are: Were Hoyle's rules obeyed; were the cards unmarked; were the cards dealt from the top of the deck; did the players play voluntarily? If these questions yield affirmative answers, there was poker fairness and justice, regardless of the game's result, even with Tom winning 75 percent of the time.

Similarly, income is a result of something. In a free society, for the most part, income is a result of one's capacity to serve his fellow man and the value his fellow man places on that service. Say I mow your lawn and you pay me $50. That $50 might be seen as a certificate of performance. Why? It serves as evidence that I served my fellow man and enables me to make a claim on what he produces when I visit the grocer. Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page are multibillionaires. Just as in the case of me serving my fellow man by mowing his lawn, they served their fellow man. The difference is they served many more of their fellow men and did so far more effectively than I and hence have received many more "certificates of performance," which enables them to make greater claims on what their fellow man produces, such as big houses, cars and jets.

Brin and Page and people like them created wealth by producing services that improve the lives of millions upon millions of people all around the globe. Should people who have improved our lives be held up to ridicule and scorn because they have higher income than most of us? Should Congress confiscate part of their wealth in the name of fairness and income redistribution?

Except in many instances when government rigs the game with crony capitalism, income is mostly a result of one's productivity and the value that people place on that productivity. Far more important than income inequality is productivity inequality. That suggests that if there's anything to be done about income inequality, we should focus on how to give people greater capacity to serve their fellow man, namely raising their productivity.

To accomplish that goal, let's look at a few things that we shouldn't do. Becoming a taxicab owner-operator lies within the grasp of many, but in New York City, one must be able to get a license (medallion), which costs $700,000. There are hundreds of examples of government restrictions that reduce opportunity. What about the grossly fraudulent education received by so many minority youngsters? And then we handicap them further with laws that mandate that businesses pay them wages that exceed their productivity, which denies them on-the-job training.

Think back to my poker example. If one is concerned about the game's result, which is more just, taking some of Tom's winnings and redistributing them to Dick and Harry or teaching Dick and Harry how to play better? If left to politicians, they'd prefer redistribution. That way, they could get their hands on some of Tom's winnings. That's far more rewarding to them than raising Dick's and Harry's productivity.

WALTER WILLIAMS, a Washington Examiner columnist, is nationally syndicated by Creators Syndicate.

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Income inequality says nothing about income fairness

This post comes from Donna Freedman at partner site Money Talks News.

You want to save. You swear you're going to save. But you said that last year, too, and your bank account doesn't look much healthier.

Saying "I need to save" means you've recognized a basic financial fact: You need to take responsibility for your financial life. You really intend to do it -- one of these days. (Read: Sometime between next week and never.)

Or maybe you're just financially overwhelmed, especially if you haven't gotten a raise lately or if you've undergone a spell of unemployment. It's easy to convince yourself that you'll save "later."

The best time to start saving money? Ten years ago. The second-best time? Today.

Want 2014 to be the year you turn things around? Four simple tactics can make all the difference.

Step 1: You need a goal

The first thing to do is set a specific goal. "In 2014 I'm going to start an emergency fund" or "I resolve to have a healthy bank account this time next year" are both fatally vague. How much of an EF? What's a "healthy" account? Try this instead: Pick a specific sum. It could represent, for example,your emergency fund, the cost of a long-deferred vacation or a down payment on a house. Your choice.

You could divide that amount by 12 and put that resultinto savings each month. Or you coulddivide that goal by 52. Why 52? Because a small, weekly savings plan is less traumatic than a once-a-month withdrawal. You learn to live on what's left week by week, vs. losing a (relatively) big chunk all at once.

Let's start with an easy example: the $500 that personal finance writer Liz Weston recommends as a starter emergency fund. Divide $500 by 52 and you get $9.61, which rounded up makes $10.

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4 simple tips to fatten your bank account

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's inspector general will investigate a federal agency whose mission is to exterminate birds, coyotes, mountain lions and other animals that threaten the livelihoods of farmers and ranchers.

The investigation of U.S. Wildlife Services is to determine, among other things, "whether wildlife damage management activities were justified and effective." Biologists have questioned the agency's effectiveness, arguing that indiscriminately killing more than 3 million birds and other wild animals every year is often counterproductive.

Reps. Peter A. DeFazio (D-Ore.) and John Campbell (R-Irvine) requested the review, calling for a complete audit of the culture within Wildlife Services. The agency has been accused of abuses, including animal cruelty and occasional accidental killing of endangered species, family pets and other animals that weren't targeted.

DeFazio says the time has come to revisit the agency's mission and determine whether it makes economic and biological sense for taxpayers to underwrite a service, however necessary, that he argues should be paid for by private businesses.

"Why should taxpayers, particularly in tough times, pay to subsidize private interests?" said DeFazio, ranking Democrat on the House Committee on Natural Resources. "I have come to the conclusion that this is an agency whose time has passed."

Wildlife Services was created in 1931 as part of the USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. It has wide-ranging responsibilities, including rabies testing and bird control at airport runways. But the bulk of its work is exterminating nuisance wildlife by methods that include poisoning, gassing, trapping and aerial gunning.

The agency acts as a pest management service not only for agribusiness and ranches, but also for other federal agencies, counties and homeowners who might have such problems as raccoons in an attic. Other services include protecting endangered species and maintaining game herds for hunters.

The services are free or substantially subsidized, which many private predator- and pest-control companies say unfairly undercuts their business. States and counties complain that they are responsible for an increasing share of the costs.

DeFazio and Campbell are also calling for congressional oversight hearings. DeFazio says he has spent years asking for but not receiving information from Wildlife Services, which he calls "the least accountable federal agency" he has ever seen.

He said he had to learn from the Los Angeles Times about an internal audit the agency conducted last year. The audit found the agency's accounting practices were "unreconcilable," lacked transparency and violated state and federal laws. Further, the audit revealed that $12 million in a special account could not be found.

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Congressmen question costs, mission of Wildlife Services agency

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Troy Lawn Mowing Service in Oakland and Macomb County Michigan

Gary Hershorn / Reuters

Aereo picks up TV signals broadcast from the tower atop the Empire State Building in New York.

In 2014, Apple, Aereo and big telecom mergers will generate headlines, along with important legal rulings about net neutrality and U.S. surveillance, oversight and transparency. Upstart companies like Uber, Airbnb, and Square will enjoy dramatic growth, and some will announce plans to go public. Smartphones and tablets will continue to spread worldwide as cities and countries race to boost broadband speeds. Here are six tech stories to watch in 2014.

1. Apple will sell more than 30 million iPhones on China Mobile, at the high-end of Wall Street expectations. Its hard to overstate what a coup Apples recently announced pact with China Mobile to sell the iPhone is for CEO Tim Cook. Without question, this is the biggest business deal of Cooks two-and-a-half year tenure, and the consummation of years of negotiations overseen by his late mentor, Apple co-founder Steve Jobs.China Mobile is the worlds largest wireless carrier with 760 million subscribers.

After years of meteoric gains fueled by category-busting product launches like the iPod, iPhone and iPad, Apples revenue growth has slowed.Apples stock price was essentially flat for 2013, although the shares soared 33% in the second half of the year, reversing steep losses in the first six months. Some Apple analysts and shareholders have expressed concern about Apples vaunted innovation machine, but those fears are overblown. The latest iPhone and iPad models are huge hits, and Apple will soon report the highest quarterly sales in the companys 30-year history. New international markets will help re-accelerate Apples growth and theres no bigger emerging consumer technology market than China.

(MORE:Apples China Mobile Pact Opens Massive New iPhone Market)

2.The United States Open Internet Rules will suffer a serious defeat in federal court early this year. Telecom giant Verizon hassuedthe Federal Communications Commission, arguing the agency lacks the authority to enforce the principle of net neutrality which is designed to prevent Internet service providers like Comcast, Verizon, and AT&T from favoring their own services in order to disadvantage rivals. In practice, that means that the broadband providers are prohibited from blocking or slowing down services like Skype or Netflix on their wired networks.

A losing verdict in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit will be a setback for the Obama administrations technology policy, and will present a thorny challenge for new FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler. If the court rules the FCC lacks the authority to enforce the Open Internet Rules, Wheeler could move to reclassify broadband service under existing telecommunications law, restoring the agencys regulatory authority. That, however, would trigger a major showdown between the FCC and broadband giants like AT&T and Verizon, which are extremely powerful on Capitol Hill. More likely: the court asks the FCC to change its rules and reach an agreement with the industry.

(MORE:Landmark Verizon Net Neutrality Case Tests Open Internet Rules)

3.The U.S. Supreme Court will agree to hear the major TV broadcasterscaseagainst Aereo,the upstart online video company that has been giving ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX fits. This prediction is a very close call, because the Supreme Court declines to grantcertiorariin most cases. However, given that the broadcasters and Aereo haveboth askedthe high court to hear the case, I believe that will tip the scale, along with the fact that there is a looming U.S. circuitsplit, where federal courts in different jurisdictions disagree on the legality of Aereos technology.

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The 6 Most Important Tech Bombshells Coming This year

Our 23rd Year Providing Quality Lawn & Landscaping Services

Tom Grosh Receives Certificate of Merit Award for 2012

At Grosh's Lawn Service, Lawn Mowing is what we do. We are a total care Lawn Mowing Service & Landscaping Company serving Hagerstown, MD & Washington County, MD area since 1990. If you want your Grass Cut or Lawn Mowed in Hagerstown, MD, we can take care of it for you. It's that easy!

We offer total care Lawn Service to our clients for everything from Lawn Mowing to Landscaping. Our lawn service offers Shrub Removal, Shrub Planting, Shrub Pruning, Shrub Trimming & Thinning to help accent your homes appearance. You can also take advantage of our Tree Trimming and Tree Removal Services all season long. In the fall of the year we offer Lawn Repair, Lawn Aeration & Over Seeding. Grosh's Lawn Service offers a complete Professional weekly lawn mowing service. During the months of April through October, we mow well over 84 1/2 acres of turf grass on a weekly basis, and can accommodate small residential and large commercial properties alike. We like to work with Realtors to enhance the curb appeal of the homes that they are offering for sale.

Our Lawn Treatment program consists of Fertilization and Weed Control on five (5) yearly visits. Our Fertilizer will help provide your lawn with the nutrients needed all season long. We use Weed Control to get at those pesky Broadleaf Weeds. All Lawn Service Treatments are completed by a Maryland Department of Agriculture Licensed Applicator. We treat lawns in the Hagerstown, MD area every day. We offer a Spring & Fall Cleanup to keep your lawn and landscape beds free of all leaves, limbs and debris. Leaf Cleanup is also done each week during the Fall Season. All waste is hauled away from your home or office. This would also be a good time of year to think about freshening up the Mulch Beds after Spring Cleanup. We always like to have at least a 3 in. layer of Mulch to help keep Weeds under control and retain much needed moisture for the Shrubs & Flowers.

Our unique landscaping services also include Butterfly Gardens, Hummingbird Gardens, Flower Gardens, Healing Gardens and Memorial Gardens to add a special touch to your Backyard or Church. We also offer Tree Planting and Tree Removal for that special area in your lawn. Our Landscaping service areas besides Hagerstown MD are Williamsport MD, Big Pool MD, Hancock MD, Clear Spring MD, Sharpsburg MD, Keedysville MD, Halfway MD, St. James MD, Maugansville MD, Fountainhead, South Pointe, Boonsboro MD, and Chewsville MD & Smithsburg MD.

We also offer 24hr. Emergency Storm Cleanup to the Hagerstown, MD, Washington County, MD and surrounding counties to clean up Storm Damage when needed.

Our weekly lawn mowing service areas besides Hagerstown MD are Williamsport MD, Big Pool MD, Hancock MD, Clear Spring MD, Sharpsburg MD, Keedysville MD, Halfway MD, St. James MD, Maugansville MD, Fountainhead, South Pointe, Boonsboro MD, and Chewsville MD & Smithsburg MD. Our weekly Lawn Service includes cutting all Grass, string trimming, Edging of all beds and sidewalks and blowing of roadside, driveway, sidewalks, patios, porches, and decks.

Our Lawn Treatment service areas besides Hagerstown MD are Williamsport MD, Big Pool MD, Hancock MD, Clear Spring MD, Sharpsburg MD, Keedysville MD, Halfway MD, St. James MD, Maugansville MD, Fountainhead, South Pointe, Boonsboro MD, and Chewsville MD & Smithsburg MD. Grosh's Lawn Service treat lawns in the Hagerstown, MD area every day. Our unique 5- Step Lawn Treatment program of time released fertilizer, crabgrass preventer, broadleaf weed control, insect control, and fungus management (when needed) is based on your lawns requirements. Our state-of-the-art equipment allows our lawn techs to reduce the amount of herbicides applied to your lawn and spot treat weeds as needed. All fertilizer applications are carefully applied at the proper time and at the proper rate so your lawn only receives the correct amount of fertilizer. All Lawn Treatments are completed by a Maryland Department of Agriculture Licensed Applicator.

If I can help you in any way, call or e-mail Tom Grosh at Groshs Lawn Service today. I can offer you a solution to your Lawn Care problem.

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Lawn Mowing | Landscaping | Groshs Lawn Service Around ...

THREE LIVES HAVE BEEN TOUCHED FOR THE BETTER THIS HOLIDAY SEASON. THE MAGICAL INGREDIENT, SHOES. IT'S A POSITIVELY JAX STORY ABOUT A MAN YOU MAY HAVE SEEN ON THE WESTSIDE ON I-295 AND NORMANDY BOULEVARD. JOHNNY ADDISON MOWS LAWNS FOR A LIVING AND ADVERTISES HIS SERVICES BY STANDING ON A STREET CORNER WITH HIS LAWN MOWER AND A SIGN THAT SAYS "WILL WORK FOR FOOD." HE DESPERATELY NEEDED WARMER SHOES NOT LONG AGO AND ONE SUNDAY, HIS PRAYER WAS ANSWERED. WHEN HE'S NOT MOWING THE LAWN, YOU'LL FIND 42-YEAR-OLD JOHNNY ADDISON ROAMING THE WESTSIDE, PUSHING HIS MOWER, HOPING SOMEONE WILL GIVE HIM WORK. I'M VERY CONTENT. I'M BLESSED. I CAN'T COMPLAIN. WE CAUGHT UP WITH JOHNNY AT THE PLACE HE CALLS HOME, BEHIND THIS DILAPIDATED HOUSE ON A SLAB OF CONCRETE. YOU SEEM HAPPY. I'M VERY HAPPY WITH IT. JUST COMING HOME EVERY NIGHT TO MY TRANSITER RADIO AND MY CATS, HAVING THEIR ATTENTION, MY BED, I LOVE IT. I MEAN, I MAKE THE BEST OF A NEGATIVE SITUATION. THIS IS, WELL, HOME. ONE OF HIS MOST PRIZED POSSESSIONS, THE SHOES ON HIS FEET, GIVEN TO HIM BY A GOOD SAMARITAN WHO READ HIS HAND MADE SIGN HE WAS HOLDING ON AN INTERSTATE OFF RAMP ONE COLD SUNDAY MORNING. IT WAS REALLY COLD, WINDY. I THINK IT WAS HITTING AROUND THE 40'S THAT DAY. AND I HAD SANDALS ON, NO SHOES ON WHATSOEVER. HE WAS LIKE, SIR, DO YOU REALLY NEED SHOES? I SAID YES, SIR, AND I'M WILLING TO WORK FOR THEM RIGHT NOW. I SAW HIM TAKING THEM OFF AT THE WHEEL AND HANDED THEM TO ME. I THOUGHT YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME. IT HAPPENED SO QUICKLY AT THE INTERSECTION. JOHNNY NEVER GOT A GOOD CHANCE TO REALLY THANK THAT GOOD SAMARITAN AND THAT GOOD SAMARITAN HAD NO IDEA HE WAS BEING WATCHED BY SOMEONE ELSE. IT TOOK A FEW DAYS, BUT WE FINALLY TRACKED DOWN THAT GOOD SAMARITAN. I WAS ACTUALLY LOOKING FOR NATE WES COT. IS THAT YOU? ANOTHER DRIVER CONTACTED ME ON FACEBOOK, ASKING ME TO PASS ALONG A GIFT TO NATE, LETTING HIM KNOW SOMEONE ELSE ALSO APPRECIATED HIS ACT OF KINDNESS. THIS PERSON WANTS TO ANONYMOUSLY REWARD YOU AND SAY THANK YOU FOR DOING JUST A GREAT THING. THIS IS FROM THEM. I APPRECIATE THAT. WOW, ALL RIGHT. I DIDN'T WANT ANYTHING FROM THAT. I JUST WANTED TO GIVE HIM SOME SHOES. NATE'S GIFT WAS A SURPRISE, JUST LIKE THE SURPRISE GIFT HE GAVE JOHNNY. AND AGAIN, I'M WEARING THEM. VERY COMFORTABLE, TOO. PAYING IT FORWARD, ONE STEP AT A TIME. YOU DO SOMETHING GOOD, SOMETHING GOOD WILL FIND YOU, EVERY TIME. NEVER FAILS. I PROMISE YOU. NATE, THE GOOD SAMARITAN, WAS GIVEN A RESTAURANT GIFT CARD BY THAT ANONYMOUS GIFTER. NATE WAS ALSO GIVEN A SPORTS AUTHORITY GIFT CARD WHICH HE SAYS HE'S GOING TO USE TO BUY EVEN MORE SHOES AND GIVE THEM TO OTHER PEOPLE IN NEED. AMAZING JOY. WHAT AN IMPRESSIVE SURPRISE FOR NATE, OF COURSE. JOHNNY GOT HIS PAIR OF SHOES, BUT HE SAYS IT GETS TOUGH FOR HIM ON THE STREETS, ESPECIALLY DURING WINTER. WHAT WILL HE DO? JOHNNY IS HOPING ALL THIS GOOD KARMA WILL SEND HIM WINTERTIME WORK, HELPING SOMEONE MOVE, PAINT A HOUSE, WASH A CAR. IF YOU'VE GOT WORK FOR JOHNNY, WE POSTED HIS CONTACT INFORMATION ONLINE.

Continued here:
With the news that…

The circle is large for a parlor room chat 50 people.

They are seated in folding chairs in a room with a Jesus portrait on one wall and a woven picture of the Last Supper on another. One person speaks and then theres 15 to 20 seconds of silence, as if everyone is savoring the words just spoken. The silence is broken by another voice, then the silence falls again, and the cycle repeats. The group is discussing something fairly radical what their churchs Sunday morning services should look like and even whether to have one at all. Yet, theres no rancor here. Just an exchange.

Members of Englewood Christian Church have been gathering for these Sunday night conversations for 17 years, but theyve been holding regular Sunday morning services for more than a century. In the 1970s, the church bused in folks from all over town for the Sunday morning service that would attract 1,100 people. Today, 200 may come on a really good Sunday, and in this circle of friends, that doesnt bother anyone in the least.

More interesting to just about anyone you speak with at Englewood is what goes on around the church for the 166 hours a week other than Sunday mornings. And thats quite a lot. So much, in fact, that the Sunday morning ritual that is the staple of American Christianity is now almost an afterthought.

Sunday service is still held, said lifelong Englewood member Jim Aldrich, 62. But it may be the event that is most not a part of what Englewood is now.

Still, the event, as Aldrich calls it, is the one constant that has remained at Englewood through the 118-year lifespan of the church. It was there when the church was born in the late 1900s in the middle of the citys newest streetcar suburb. It was there in the early 20th century, when a pastor was fired for not allowing the Ku Klux Klan to meet in the building. It was there during the booming mega-church years of late 1960s and early 1970s. It was there during the long, slow decline of both the church and the Near Eastside neighborhood that surrounds it.

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But today, Englewood looks at its mission as one of almost communal living with its surroundings. The churchs focus has morphed into improving neighborhood quality of life providing housing, offering quality child care, creating jobs. What happens for two hours a week on Sunday morning seems almost inconsequential.

Some people think if you dont have Sunday morning, if you dont have a worship service, you dont have a church. I think we are beyond that now, Aldrich said. If we didnt have Sunday morning we would still exist as a church. And thats the best thing you can say about where were at right now.

Where Englewood is right now is more firmly tied than ever before to the Near Eastside, an area that has been decimated by factory closings in the past 40 years and the abandoned houses that followed, a place where many residents still struggle to get by in an area where crime is always a looming concern.

Continued here:
Englewood Community Church, by being a good neighbor first, tries to live its faith

Brace yourselves...winter is coming. Beat the rush & call now to get on the schedule for fall cleanups & residential snow removal! 513-259-7566

Call or email today to get on the schedule.

(513)-259-7566

contact@lawnbrothers.org

Lawn Brothers has been proudly serving the the Cincinnati Metro area since 2002. We pride ourselves on providing quality organic lawn and landscape services at great prices, and we always strive to exceed your expectations.

We care about the environment and take a natural approach to lawn care and landscaping so we do not apply synthetic pesticides.

We use a balanced, organic fertilizer, which promotes more natural growth and healthier turf. Please check out the Organics page to learn more about caring for your lawn without using so many chemicals! We offer many lawn and landscaping services, including lawn mowing, spring and fall cleanups, lawn and shrub fertilization, aeration, lawn seeding, landscape and hardscape design, installation and maintenance, brush removal, and more! Please see our services page for details.

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Lawn Mowing and Landscaping Cincinnati, OH -Lawn Bros.-