Archive for January 2011

FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION TO HOLD SCHOOL CHOICE EXPO

January 21, 2011 Education Comments Off

In honor of School Choice Month, the Florida Department of Education will be hosting a School Choice Expo tomorrow, Jan. 22, in Tampa. The Expo will highlight educational options available to parents ranging from public and charter schools, to dual enrollment and Advanced Placement courses. Speakers, school performances and an exhibit hall will be available to all participants attending the Expo.

Featured speakers at the event include Florida Commissioner of Education Dr. Eric J. Smith, Superintendent of Hillsborough County Public Schools MaryEllen Elia, Rep. Betty Reed (D-Tampa), Rep. Dennis Baxley (R-Ocala), Rep. Kelli Stargel (R-Lakeland), Executive Director of the Florida Alliance for Choices in Education Michael Benjamin, Chairperson of the Florida Chapter National Coalition of Public School Options Wendy Howard and Director of the Florida Parental Information and Resource Center Karyn Lindsay, among many others. In addition, many local schools will perform at the event.

For those not able to attend in person, the Panhandle Area Education Consortium and the Florida Virtual School will be providing live web streaming of the day’s events. The live streams can be accessed by clicking on their names above.

For more information about the event, visit www.floridaschoolchoiceexpo.com.

The event will take place:

Jan. 22, 2011

9:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.

Florida State Fairgrounds

4800 US Hwy. 301 North

Tampa, FL 33610

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Journey Aust Wins Fourth Grade Spelling Bee

January 21, 2011 Education, Front Page, Uncategorized One comment
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 Journey Aust, left, won the fourth grade spelling bee held Friday, Jan. 21. She is pictured with Aubrey Day, who placed second in the bee.

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Tyler Burnett Wins Spelling Bee

January 21, 2011 Education, Front Page 3 comments
Tyler Burnett won the overall spelling bee held at Madison County High School on Friday, Jan. 21. She is pictured with Dianne Phillips, center, and Ceridwyn Griffin, who finished second.

Tyler Burnett won the overall spelling bee held at Madison County High School on Friday, Jan. 21. She is pictured with Dianne Phillips, center, and Ceridwyn Griffis, who finished second.

Tyler Burnett, left, won the overall spelling bee. She is pictured with Ceridwyn Griffis, right, who finished second, and Dianne Phillips, who was the moderator.

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Road and Lane Closures for Jan. 22-28, 2011

January 21, 2011 Around Madison Comments Off

LAKE CITY:  The following is a list of roadwork underway by the FDOT that may impact traffic.

ALACHUA COUNTY:

 

Archer Road (State Road 24)  Nighttime lane closures Monday through Thursday from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. between Interstate 75 and Southwest 34th Street (State Road 121) for work on the medians. Also, crews will be working in the medians during daytime hours but no lane closures allowed.  

Northeast and Northwest 39th Avenue (State Road 222)  Daytime lane closures from Interstate 75 to west of State Road 26 to allow inmate crews to repaint the roadway markings.

Northwest 34th Street (State Road 121)  Daytime lane closures at Northwest 58th Avenue for driveway work to the Gainesville Senior Recreation Center.

South Main Street (State Road 329)  A detour is in place to reconstruct the intersection with Second Avenue (by the Courthouse). Southbound through traffic is detoured to University Avenue, Southwest Sixth Street and Southwest Fourth Avenue. Northbound through traffic is detoured to Southeast Fourth Avenue, Southeast Third Street and University Avenue. Local traffic has access and all businesses in the area are open and accessible. 

State Road 26  Daytime lane closures from US 301 to State Road 21 in Melrose to allow inmate crews to repaint the roadway markings. Traffic is now using the new overpass over U.S. 301 and the CSX Railroad.

State Road 121  Crews will be repainting the roadway lines from US 441 by the FHP station to the Union County line.

State Road 235  Crews will be repainting the roadway lines from County Road 340 to the Bradford County line.

US 301  Daytime lane closures from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. between Orange Heights and Waldo for work on drainage structures in the median as part of the resurfacing project. Also, daytime lane closures in Waldo for northbound traffic just south of the Waldo Flea Market to modify the driveway to a new Dollar General store.

BAKER COUNTY:

US 90  Daytime lane closures after 8:30 a.m. for shoulder work between Glen St. Mary and Sanderson and work on the sidewalks in Macclenny. The final layer of asphalt is expected to begin in two weeks.   

 

BRADFORD COUNTY:

 

US 301  Daytime lane closures for southbound traffic at the Alligator Creek Bridge, half a mile south of State Road 100 Monday through Wednesday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. for routine bridge maintenance.

 

Weldon Street (County Road 229)  The work should be completed between State Road 16 and Starke Elementary School to build a bike and pedestrian path. No more lane closures are scheduled.

CLAY COUNTY:

 

State Road 100  Daytime lane closures from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. including this weekend for resurfacing from the Bradford County line to the Putnam County line and working on sidewalks in the Keystone Heights area.  

COLUMBIA COUNTY:

County Road 245 (Price Creek Road) The road is closed at the Olustee Creek Bridge about a mile north of State Road 238 through September.  Northbound traffic is detoured to State Road 238 to U.S. 441 to C.R. 349 and back to C.R. 245.  Southbound traffic is detoured to C.R. 349 to U.S. 441 to S.R. 238 and back to C.R. 245.

US 41/441  Crews will be repainting the roadway lines from the Santa Fe River Bridge to U.S 90.

US 441 North  Daytime lane closures for northbound traffic just north of County Road 100A (Bascom Norris Drive) near the weigh station to repair damaged sidewalk Tuesday through Thursday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

DIXIE COUNTY:

State Road 349  Daytime lane closures after 8 a.m. from U.S. 19 at Old Town to the Lafayette County line to work on the roadway shoulders and drainage pipes.   

HAMILTON COUNTY:

 

Interstate 75  Daytime lane closures for northbound traffic from north of  US 129 (Exit 451) to State Road 6 (Exit 460) to resurface the outside lane. Also, lane closures to remove some trees that are in the designated recovery zones.

Interstate 75  Daytime lane closures for southbound traffic at the State Road 6 (Exit 460) overpass on Wednesday from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. for routine bridge maintenance.

LEVY COUNTY:

 

Alternate 27 (US 27A)  Possible daytime lane closures from Southeast 10th Street in Williston to the Marion County line for sidewalk repairs and to work on drainage pipes in preparation for resurfacing.Also, daytime lane closures from U.S. 129 in Chiefland to Williston to repaint the roadway markings.

MADISON COUNTY:

 

State Road 145  Daytime lane closures after 8 a.m. to work on the 2-foot wide paved shoulders and to replace guardrail between Madison and Hanson. Also, crews will be placing old asphalt removed from the travel lanes onto the bike trail being built between U.S. 90 in Madison and Hanson.

US 19   Daytime lane closures begin Monday to resurface from the Taylor County line to the Jefferson County line.

US 221  Daytime lane closures from the Taylor County line to Greenville for ditch cleaning.

SUWANNEE COUNTY:

County Road 252   Daytime lane closures between County Road 137 and U.S. 129 for paving and work on the road shoulders. Motorists should expect delays and allow extra time to reach their destination. 

US 129  Possible shoulder closures on the west side of the road between U.S. 27 east of Branford and the Santa Fe River Bridge to build a bike path.

TAYLOR COUNTY:

 

US 221  Daytime lane closures from Shady Grove to the Madison County line for ditch cleaning.

UNION COUNTY:

 

State Road 100   Daytime lane closures at the Swift Creek Bridge just east of County Road 231A onWednesday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. for routine bridge maintenance. Crews will be repainting the roadway lines between the Bradford and Columbia county lines.

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Winter Orchard Management Program Offered by UF/IFAS Small Farms Academy, North Florida Research and Education Center

January 21, 2011 Outdoors Comments Off

The University of Florida/IFAS Small Farms Academy in the Suwannee Valley area will be offering the second in a four-part series on Orchard Management on February 11.  The four-part series is intended to walk a participant through an entire year of marketing and management practices of a typical mixed fruit and nut orchard in North Florida. Although encouraged, it is not necessary to attend all four courses and participants may choose the course(s) they wish to attend.

             The second workshop of the series, Winter Orchard Management, will provide the participants with a hands-on approach to pruning stone fruit and muscadine grapes, cold protection, pest control, and market research and strategies. The featured crop in this second part of the series will be cold hardy citrus.

             Linda Landrum, Regional Specialized Agent at the North Florida REC-Suwannee Valley states, “With the growing interest in locally grown food, area farmers can improve farm cash flow, particularly during the summer months when other crops are scarce, by planting  a small mixed orchard for direct markets sales.” 

             The workshop will be held at the North Florida Research and Education Center – Suwannee Valley (NFREC-SV) Research Farm at 8202 County Road 417, Live Oak, Florida.

            NFREC-SV serves the diverse agricultural interests in the region including vegetables, mushrooms, fruit crops, protected culture, forestry, and forage crops. 

            The registration fee is $180.00 for the remaining 3 parts of the series and $80.00 per individual workshop. This fee includes lunch, refreshments, plant liners and educational materials. A second family or farm participant may register as an auditor for $80.00 for the remaining 3 parts, or $50.00 for each individual workshop. The auditor fee includes lunch and refreshments. Registration is confirmed when a registration form and payment is received. The course is open to 20 attendees. Visit

http://nfrec.ifas.ufl.edu and click Small Farms Academy, then Available Courses for the Orchard Management Series brochure and registration form. For more information call Sarah White at (386) 362-1725 ext. 102 or email sewhite@ufl.edu. Registration forms with payment should be made out to University of Florida and sent to North Florida REC – Suwannee Valley, 7580 County Road 136, Live Oak, FL 32060

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