Snow days???

[carolinagirl]

I really like snow, even when it's non-existent.

Although the thermometer is still stuck in the 90s, the guv'nor of our wonderful state has declared Monday and Tuesday to be "early snow days," with no school and no snow in sight, just to save money on gasoline. No buses running for two days will save the state 500,000 gallons of diesel fuel.

Nobody employed with the board of education is to report to work to save gas, too. But I don't think that will work, because all the teachers will be out at Walmart shopping!

The kids are happy. And the school days don't need to be made up. I'm gonna get my keet to read his library book for two solid days... There's a book report due somewhere on the horizon. Wish me luck.

[jonesbeach10]

:: currently writing to Board of Ed ::

That's awesome. I'm moving to South Georgia!

[springparrot]

I really like snow, even when it's non-existent.

Although the thermometer is still stuck in the 90s, the guv'nor of our wonderful state has declared Monday and Tuesday to be "early snow days," with no school and no snow in sight, just to save money on gasoline. No buses running for two days will save the state 500,000 gallons of diesel fuel.

Nobody employed with the board of education is to report to work to save gas, too. But I don't think that will work, because all the teachers will be out at Walmart shopping!

The kids are happy. And the school days don't need to be made up. I'm gonna get my keet to read his library book for two solid days... There's a book report due somewhere on the horizon. Wish me luck.

Cool!

We are getting off 2 more days, but that's Rita's fault.
Wondering if we are going to have to make up these 4 days.

[buffettbride]

As a family where both parents work, I'd be outraged at the fact I had to take not 1 but 2 days off from work becuase someone in the administration doesn't know how to balance a budget.

[carolinagirl]

As a family where both parents work, I'd be outraged at the fact I had to take not 1 but 2 days off from work becuase someone in the administration doesn't know how to balance a budget.

Yeah, my husband said all his employees were saying, "What am I going to do with my kids?" This was just a sudden last minute thing at 4 p.m. on a Friday, no advance warning.

I thought about opening a babysitting service here for a couple days!

[buffettbride]

As a family where both parents work, I'd be outraged at the fact I had to take not 1 but 2 days off from work becuase someone in the administration doesn't know how to balance a budget.

Yeah, my husband said all his employees were saying, "What am I going to do with my kids?" This was just a sudden last minute thing at 4 p.m. on a Friday, no advance warning.

I thought about opening a babysitting service here for a couple days!

That would definitely be helpful. I think it's a pretty crappy thing for the school to do personally. I'm sure the kids love it, but I'd be in a pinch.

[LaTda]

As a family where both parents work, I'd be outraged at the fact I had to take not 1 but 2 days off from work becuase someone in the administration doesn't know how to balance a budget.

The prior administration had a surplus

[buffettbride]

As a family where both parents work, I'd be outraged at the fact I had to take not 1 but 2 days off from work becuase someone in the administration doesn't know how to balance a budget.

The prior administration had a surplus

HAAAAAAAAHAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Don't you know it!

[conched]

Was it done as a gesture to help with the gas shortage that was going to be created by evacuation from Rita?

[conched]

I really like snow, even when it's non-existent.

Although the thermometer is still stuck in the 90s, the guv'nor of our wonderful state has declared Monday and Tuesday to be "early snow days," with no school and no snow in sight, just to save money on gasoline. No buses running for two days will save the state 500,000 gallons of diesel fuel.

Nobody employed with the board of education is to report to work to save gas, too. But I don't think that will work, because all the teachers will be out at Walmart shopping!

The kids are happy. And the school days don't need to be made up. I'm gonna get my keet to read his library book for two solid days... There's a book report due somewhere on the horizon. Wish me luck.

Cool!

We are getting off 2 more days, but that's Rita's fault.
Wondering if we are going to have to make up these 4 days.

When we had to miss school for a week after the flood in 1998, the state didn't have us make up those days.

[Island_Lullaby]

What do you guys think of this...4 day week for school children...

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/tribune ... 73959.html

[CaptainP]

I agree with Mallory, but from a different perspective.

In running my business, a lot of our lunch-time employees are mothers who just work part-time while the kids are in school. It's a great job for them, the shifts are only 3ish hours long.

These fake "snow-days" would cause me to have half of my staff call in, since they wouldn't have anyone to watch the kids!



All irrelevant to me now, since CIP isn't open lunch, but I've had this happen often in the past.

[Ilph]

As a family where both parents work, I'd be outraged at the fact I had to take not 1 but 2 days off from work becuase someone in the administration doesn't know how to balance a budget.

I'm a teacher, and although I would love two free days, I think it's poor planning, also.

[Sam]

It is about saving fuel...for the state of Georgia. With refineries having been damaged, destroyed or just loss of production due to shutdowns.

It is not about a spending deficit or lack of surplus...Georgia was/is expecting a budget surplus this year.
Georgia Law will not allow a deficit spending.

As for planning ... how can one plan for something like this into a budget?
If there is no fuel available... there is no fuel available.

I don't seriously wonder what his critics would have done....as for parents with kids...I know it creates problems.... but what would they do in any other emergency or situation with their children???

People knew the fuel crunch was coming when Katrina came to visit....Most of the refineries were gearing up for the winter.... wait until this winter....if you think it is bad now...

The refineries in Houston supply somewhere around 25% of the fuel in America, and it takes days to get them operational again after going through a cold shutdown. Then you have to distribute it... roads and bridges being out forcing other routes to be found cause further delays...

We are looking at a loss of several hundred thousands of barrels a day.... that cannot be caught up....

*************************************************************
http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/mld/ledg ... 728513.htm

Posted on Sat, Sep. 24, 2005



M O R E N E W S F R O M
• Education Etc.
• Hurricane




Perdue closes Georgia schools

Governor says move will help conserve gasoline

BY HARRY FRANKLIN

State Editor


In an extraordinary measure to conserve fuel during the pending crisis with Hurricane Rita in the Gulf Coast, Gov. Sonny Perdue Friday called on Georgia's public schools to voluntarily close Monday and Tuesday.

Schools in Muscogee, Harris and Cusseta-Chattahoochee counties will close, school officials in each district said. Not only students, but teachers and other school system personnel are not to report. Classes are expected to resume Wednesday.

Fort Benning Schools will be open Monday and Tuesday, post spokeswoman Gail Wilson said. The University System of Georgia and its 34 institutions, including Columbus State University, will be open.

"We need to do all that we can to conserve energy in accordance with the request from the governor and in the best interest of those directly affected by the hurricane," said Muscogee County School Superintendent John Phillips.

Schools in Columbus that had scheduled makeup classes today will be open. Scheduled weekend athletic events also will take place, school officials said. But all school-related athletic events scheduled Monday and Tuesday that are not sponsored by Columbus Parks and Recreation Department are being called off.

"We had a conference call with the governor and state school Superintendent Kathy Cox at 2:45 p.m.," said Harris County School Superintendent Susan Andrews. "The governor asked school systems to voluntarily comply. He told us Colonial Pipeline is shut down. He said school buses in Georgia use more than 225,000 gallons of diesel fuel a day, and that he was letting us know as quickly as he knew. He said they had thought about doing it later next week."

Family impact?

Andrews said Cox was asked if schools must make up these two days and Cox said no.

But a spokeswoman for the Muscogee County School District said local school officials haven't determined whether the days will be made up here.

Andrews said she expects the word to get out quickly about the school closings and doesn't expect parents to drop off students Monday morning.

Perdue and Cox noted that school districts faced fuel shortages after Hurricane Katrina and are again facing effects on fuel supplies because of Hurricane Rita and a number of oil refineries in Texas that have shut down. The "emergency release days" are expected to conserve hundreds of thousands of gallons of diesel fuel from buses and allow for cooling energy conservation as it is coupled with the weekend.

Shortly after the governor's announcement, Secretary of State and Democratic candidate for governor Cathy Cox strongly opposed the move in a statement. "Clearly, the governor didn't consider the impact of this stunt on working Georgians," she said. "He must not realize how much Georgia families will have to spend for last-minute child care alternatives for their children on Monday and Tuesday. What was he thinking?"

Other plans

Saying Georgia would lead by example, the governor announced the following immediate fuel conservation actions:

• Perdue signed an executive order eliminating nonessential state travel and requiring alternate work schedules or telecommuting for all state employees, where possible.

• He asked local governments and businesses across Georgia to adopt active policies allowing employees to conserve fuel. He asked that alternative work schedules, telecommuting and other conservation methods be implemented immediately.

• He encouraged private citizens to carpool.

• He signed an executive order extending the relaxation of weight restrictions on fuel trucks coming into Georgia from Florida. The extension will expire Oct. 15.

• He announced he is prepared to extend enforcement of the price-gouging controls beyond the expiration date at the end of September, if necessary.

• He requested, through the Georgia Environmental Protection Division, that the federal Environmental Protection Agency extend waivers for gasoline regulations that require special additive gasoline in the summer months. Waiving this requirement will allow gasoline suppliers to bring available gasoline into Georgia to help alleviate shortages and keep prices to a minimum.

[Sam]

This is a related article about the fuel pinch, dated 02 Sept 2005 So people should have been expecting something to be done and done quickly.

*************************************************************

http://www.ajc.com/news/content/busines ... izgas.html


GASOLINE SUPPLIES

Pinches likely to continue

By MATT KEMPNER, STACY SHELTON
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 09/02/05
Metro Atlantans are getting a hint of another new normal, and it's a message many haven't heard with such emphasis since the oil crises of the 1970s: Conserve energy.

The area unsteadily regained its composure Thursday after a spate of panicked gas buying, long lines at pumps and overrun gas stations running dry.

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Exacerbated by Wednesday's buying spree, the metro area came within four days of running out of gasoline supplies, said U.S. Department of Transportation spokesman Brian Turmail. Hurricane Katrina had knocked out power to the two Gulf Coast pipelines that supply the Atlanta region's 7 million-gallon-a-day gasoline habit.

Power was partially restored Wednesday night and, by Thursday night, Alpharetta-based Colonial Pipeline Co. was nearing half capacity. The second, smaller pipeline was operating at 25 percent capacity.

Availablility of gas appears to be on the increase Friday in the metro Atlanta area, according to Tom Smith, director of the Georgia Association of Petroleum Retailers.

He estimates that one in every seven sellers in the metro region is completely without gasoline at their pumps. And perhaps one in five have run out of just a grade or two of fuel, he said.

A day ago --- on Thursday -- he had estimated that a quarter of all local gas retailers had no fuel to sell.

The message for drivers remained clear: Gas is still far from a certainty, even if the crucial pipelines approach full capacity by the middle of next week, as expected. About 90 percent of the Gulf's oil production, crippled by Katrina, still is out of commission, as is 11 percent of U.S. refinery capacity.

"This is not a one-day phenomenon," said Jay Hakes of Atlanta, a former head of the Federal Energy Information Administration who is writing a book called "Gas Lines: Nixon, Ford, Carter and America's First Energy Crises."

"We are dealing with something that is going to last for many months."

Hakes, who was appointed by former President Bill Clinton, echoed President Bush's call Thursday for Americans to conserve energy.

"If people do not conserve or cut back on their driving, we are likely to see very persistent lines" at gas stations, Hakes said.

Gov. Sonny Perdue has asked Georgians to telecommute and avoid unnecessary driving, as they approach one of the busiest travel weekends of the year. He encouraged thousands of state employees to work from home through next week.

No rationing plans

Heather Hedrick, a Perdue spokeswoman, said the state has no plans to ration gasoline to motorists. That's an option under Georgia law.

"Certain gas stations may do it on their own, but the state has no such plans," she said.

Richard Cobb, executive director of the Georgia Petroleum Council, worked in Gov. Jimmy Carter's administration when the state rationed fuel during the oil crunch of the early 1970s.

He said the current situation doesn't require such draconian measures. Back then, there were requirements to buy a minimum amount of fuel to discourage people from topping off their tanks. There were also odd-even sales, which banned drivers from buying gas every other day based on their license tag numbers.

Smith, the director of the Georgia Association of Petroleum Retailers, cautioned Georgians about their Labor Day weekend plans.

"If I were planning a trip this weekend, I might go to plan B," Smith said. "You would have enough fuel to get where you are going, but you might not have the product you need to get back."

Saraguay Petroleum Corp., which delivers fuel to retailers, was making some deliveries Thursday, said company President Tex Pitfield. "The public needs to back off and let us do our work. If they don't need gas, they need to get out of the way.

"But it's going to be a long process to refill the inventories," he said.


Price disparities

Oddly wide disparities in prices at the pump — as much as $1.50 per gallon — remained throughout the metro area Thursday.

Jim Tudor, president of the Georgia Association of Convenience Stores, said he believed most station owners were merely passing along the soaring costs they themselves were charged by suppliers.

Different stations paid sharply different prices for fuel this week, depending on contracts they had with suppliers. Some of those suppliers had significantly less inventory to tap.

Still, he said, there were a few instances of retailers who went beyond merely passing on higher costs.

"Some people made some bad short-term decisions," Tudor said.

By midday Thursday, the Governor's Office of Consumer Affairs had taken about 350 complaints about price gouging at the pump, spokesman Bill Cloud said.

"We're taking them in, lining them up and gonna take the worst ones first and work our way down," he said.

The "worst" included complaints of a station in Columbus charging $7 a gallon and one on the Southside of Atlanta selling regular gas for $6.19 a gallon, Cloud said. But gas prices appeared to "have retreated significantly" after Perdue said Wednesday evening that price gougers would face fines of up to $5,000, and up to $15,000 if the victim is a senior citizen.

Cloud said motorists who suspect price gouging should keep and copy their receipts. They can fax information to the Office of Consumer Affairs at 404-651-9018, or call 404-651-8600 or 1-800-869-1123 (toll-free in Georgia, outside the metro area).

Cloud said it's difficult to say whether a retailer is gouging customers, since there is no price cap.

But those who are accused of gouging may be forced to justify their price increases, Cloud said.

— Staff writers Michael E. Kanell, Nancy Badertscher and Joey Ledford contributed to this article.

[springparrot]

I really like snow, even when it's non-existent.

Although the thermometer is still stuck in the 90s, the guv'nor of our wonderful state has declared Monday and Tuesday to be "early snow days," with no school and no snow in sight, just to save money on gasoline. No buses running for two days will save the state 500,000 gallons of diesel fuel.

Nobody employed with the board of education is to report to work to save gas, too. But I don't think that will work, because all the teachers will be out at Walmart shopping!

The kids are happy. And the school days don't need to be made up. I'm gonna get my keet to read his library book for two solid days... There's a book report due somewhere on the horizon. Wish me luck.

Cool!

We are getting off 2 more days, but that's Rita's fault.
Wondering if we are going to have to make up these 4 days.

When we had to miss school for a week after the flood in 1998, the state didn't have us make up those days.

We had to miss a week one year---but it was declared an "Act of God", so we didn't have to make them up.
Guess we will see about these days

[ragtopW]

Where is Beerman???

[Ilph]

I really like snow, even when it's non-existent.

Although the thermometer is still stuck in the 90s, the guv'nor of our wonderful state has declared Monday and Tuesday to be "early snow days," with no school and no snow in sight, just to save money on gasoline. No buses running for two days will save the state 500,000 gallons of diesel fuel.

Nobody employed with the board of education is to report to work to save gas, too. But I don't think that will work, because all the teachers will be out at Walmart shopping!

The kids are happy. And the school days don't need to be made up. I'm gonna get my keet to read his library book for two solid days... There's a book report due somewhere on the horizon. Wish me luck.

Cool!

We are getting off 2 more days, but that's Rita's fault.
Wondering if we are going to have to make up these 4 days.

When we had to miss school for a week after the flood in 1998, the state didn't have us make up those days.

We had to miss a week one year---but it was declared an "Act of God", so we didn't have to make them up.
Guess we will see about these days

So did the people who don't believe in God have to go to school on those days?

[carolinagirl]

When we had to miss school for a week after the flood in 1998, the state didn't have us make up those days.

We had to miss a week one year---but it was declared an "Act of God", so we didn't have to make them up.
Guess we will see about these days

So did the people who don't believe in God have to go to school on those days?

[Big Phan]

Wait until this winter when the 'northern zone' schools try to heat school buildings. We may have to change the dress code to require 'thermal undies'!!