Phyllis Dawn Marshall, age 78, of Cornelia, Georgia, passed away on Wednesday, September 18, 2024.
Born in Greensboro, North Carolina, on August 23, 1946, she was the daughter of the late Charles William McCluskey and Lillie Virgie Jones McCluskey. Mrs. Marshall was a teacher for Habersham County Schools for many years and attended Cornelia First Presbyterian Church faithfully.
In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her daughter, Kimberly Dawn Marshall; brother, Larry D. McCluskey.
Survivors include son and daughter-in-law Mitch Marshall (Dorinda); grandchildren Landen, Carah, and Tylar Marshall; sister-in-law Ann McCluskey.
Funeral services are scheduled for 2 pm on Saturday, September 21, 2024, in the Chapel of McGahee-Griffin & Stewart. Interment will follow in Level Grove Cemetery.
The family will receive friends from 1-2 pm on Saturday, September 21, 2024, at the funeral home prior to the service.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, Tennessee 38105 or Gideons International C/O Habersham North Camp P.O. Box 1855, Clarkesville, Georgia 30523.
Now Habersham has received details of the severance package as outlined in the county manager’s amended employment agreement.
County Manager Alicia Vaughn’s current base salary is $203,278.40 annually, plus payment into the senior management retirement plan. According to a reliable source, Vaughn will receive approximately $122,385.08 as her severance package. That amount is to be paid on or no later than January 17, 2025.
The amended contract states that the county will pay six months of her base salary ($101,639.20), her COBRA insurance for health coverage for the same period (approximately $5,500), plus an additional 15% of her severance will be paid to senior management retirement program (approximately $15,245.88).
The amended employment contract also includes a non-disparagement clause. That clause states that both parties waive any claims against the other. The county agrees not to disparage her personally or professionally in any manner to any person or entity. The county also agrees to provide her or any third party a positive professional reference.
According to Habersham County Chairman Ty Akins, Vaughn did not submit a resignation letter to the commission. He is only aware of the amended employment contract.
Asked by Now Habersham what led her to resign, Vaughn said, “No comment.”
On the night of September 16, Now Habersham submitted an open records request to county attorney Donnie Hunt for a copy of Vaugh’s amended contract. He has not responded to our request.
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In a surprise move, Habersham County Manager Alicia Vaughn is preparing to step down from her job.
At their meeting Monday night, county commissioners announced Vaughn has amended her employment contract. Her last day will be December 27, 2024.
The amended contract is, in effect, a resignation. The Habersham County Commission approved the change unanimously after returning from executive session during the meeting.
According to Commission Chairman Ty Akins, Vaughn will receive a severance package as outlined in her amended employment contract. However, the commission did not outline the details.
Now Habersham filed an open records request to obtain a copy of Vaughn’s amended contract and severance package. The county defers all such requests to the county attorney. As of publication, he had not responded to our request.
“Tonight we approved an amended contract for County Manager Alicia Vaughn. This contract will end on 12-27 of this year.” Akins said after the meeting. “This definitely leaves the county in a tight spot. We have multiple high level projects in the works that she was the lead on,” he said.
After the meeting, Palmer commended Vaughn as county manager. “She has done an excellent job as County Manager and has dealt with a lot of big issues.” He added, “I’m very happy with the job she has done for Habersham County.
Contacted by Now Habersham after the meeting Vaughn said, ”I wish to take a moment to express how much I have enjoyed working with the county staff and especially my dedicated team of department heads.”
Vaughn continued, “It’s been a real pleasure meeting the citizens of Habersham County and the friends whose help has made it feel like home to me.”
“I’m proud of what my team has been able to accomplish for the county over the last three years and I wish to express my sincere gratitude to the commission for supporting me during my tenure,” she said.
Akins explained the commission’s immediate focus. “The county will now have to focus on hiring an interim manager so that whoever that is can get up to speed as much as possible as soon as possible,” he said.
Vaughn came to Habersham County from Catoosa County in July of 2021. She was initially appointed interim county manager after Phil Sutton resigned. Six months later, commissioners appointed her to succeed him.
Evelyne Turner Fowler, age 87, of Demorest, Georgia, passed away at Gainesville’s Northeast Georgia Medical Center in the afternoon hours of September 17, 2024.
She was born on June 22, 1937, in the Rock Springs Community of Banks County, Georgia, to the late W.F. and Floyce Chambers Turner. In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her first husband, Herman Brown; her second husband, Ardell Fowler; sister, Mary Ruth Dill; and brother, Howard “Bud” Turner.
Evelyne retired from Johnson & Johnson with over 35 years of dedicated service. Following her retirement, she returned to work with United Community Bank in Cornelia for ten years.
Survivors include daughter Marcia Brown Brock and Lawrence Pell of Mount Airy. Also surviving are very special friends J.L., Barbara, James Davis, and Steve Evans, all of whom were beacons of kindness throughout her adult life.
Private Graveside Services will be held at the Rock Springs Baptist Church Cemetery in Banks County with the Rev. Trent Smith officiating.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Hazel Creek Baptist Church, 243 Hazel Creek Church Road, Mount Airy, and/or to the Rock Springs Baptist Church, 747 Rock Springs Road, Lula, GA.
Arrangements are with Whitfield Funeral Homes & Crematory, North Chapel, 245 Central Avenue, Demorest, Georgia 30535. Telephone: 706-778-1700.
Federal Reserve Board Chairman Jerome Powell speaks during a news conference at the Federal Reserve in Washington, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve on Wednesday cut its benchmark interest rate by an unusually large half-point, a dramatic shift after more than two years of high rates that helped tame inflation but also made borrowing painfully expensive for American consumers.
The rate cut, the Fed’s first in more than four years, reflects its new focus on bolstering the job market, which has shown clear signs of slowing. Coming just weeks before the presidential election, the Fed’s move also has the potential to scramble the economic landscape just as Americans prepare to vote.
The central bank’s action lowered its key rate to roughly 4.8%, down from a two-decade high of 5.3%, where it had stood for 14 months as it struggled to curb the worst inflation streak in four decades. Inflation has tumbled from a peak of 9.1% in mid-2022 to a three-year low of 2.5% in August, not far above the Fed’s 2% target.
The Fed’s policymakers also signaled that they expect to cut their key rate by an additional half-point in their final two meetings this year, in November and December. And they envision four more rate cuts in 2025 and two in 2026.
In a statement and in a news conference with Chair Jerome Powell, the Fed came closer than it has before to declaring victory over inflation.
“We know it is time to recalibrate our (interest rate) policy to something that’s more appropriate given the progress on inflation,” Powell said. “We’re not saying, ‘mission accomplished’ … but I have to say say, though, we’re encouraged by the progress that we have made.”
“The U.S. economy is in a good place,” he added, “and our decision today is designed to keep it there.”
Though the central bank now believes inflation is largely defeated, many Americans remain upset with still-high prices for groceries, gas, rent and other necessities. Former President Donald Trump blames the Biden-Harris administration for sparking an inflationary surge. Vice President Kamala Harris, in turn, has charged that Trump’s promise to slap tariffs on all imports would raise prices for consumers even further.
Rate cuts by the Fed should, over time, lead to lower borrowing costs for mortgages, auto loans and credit cards, boosting Americans’ finances and supporting more spending and growth. Homeowners will be able to refinance mortgages at lower rates, saving on monthly payments, and even shift credit card debt to lower-cost personal loans or home equity lines. Businesses may also borrow and invest more. Average mortgage rates have already dropped to an 18-month low of 6.2%, according to Freddie Mac, spurring a jump in demand for refinancings.
In an updated set of projections, the Fed’s policymakers collectively envision a faster drop in inflation than they did three months ago but also higher unemployment. They foresee their preferred inflation gauge falling to 2.3% by year’s end, from its current 2.5%, and to 2.1% by the end of 2025. And they now expect the unemployment rate to rise further this year, to 4.4%, from 4.2% now, and to remain there by the end of 2025. That’s above their previous forecasts of 4% for the end of this year and 4.2% for 2025.
Powell was pressed at his news conference about whether the Fed’s decision to cut its key rate by an unusually large half-point is an acknowledgement that it waited too long to begin reducing borrowing rates.
“We don’t think we’re behind,” he replied. “We think this is timely. But I think you can take this as a sign of our commitment not to get behind. We’re not seeing rising (unemployment) claims, not seeing rising layoffs, not hearing from companies that that’s something that’s going to happen.”
He added: “There is thinking that the time to support the labor market is when it’s strong and not when you begin to see the layoffs. We don’t think we need to see further loosening in labor market conditions to get inflation down to 2%.”
The Fed’s next policy meeting is Nov. 6-7 — immediately after the presidential election. By cutting rates this week, soon before the election, the Fed is risking attacks from Trump, who has argued that lowering rates now amounts to political interference. Yet Politico has reported that even some key Senate Republicans who were interviewed expressed support for a Fed rate cut this week.
Powell pushed back Wednesday against any suggestion that the Fed shouldn’t cut rates so close to an election.
“This is my fourth presidential election at the Fed,” he said. “It’s always the same. We’re always going into this meeting in particular and asking, ‘What’s the right thing to do for the people we serve?’ We do that and we make a decision as a group and we announce it. That’s always what it is. Nothing else is discussed.”
The Fed’s move Wednesday reverses the inflation-fighting effort it engineered by raising its key rate 11 times in 2022 and 2023. Wage growth has since slowed, removing a potential source of inflationary pressure. And oil and gas prices are falling, a sign that inflation should continue to cool in the months ahead. Consumers are also pushing back against high prices, forcing such companies as Target and McDonald’s to dangle deals and discounts.
The Fed’s decision drew the first dissent from a member of its governing board since 2005. Michelle Bowman, a board member who has expressed concern in the past that inflation had not been fully defeated, said she would have preferred a quarter-point rate cut.
But the Fed’s policymakers as a whole recognize that after years of strong job growth, employers have slowed hiring, and the unemployment rate has risennearly a full percentage point from its half-century low in April 2023 to a still-low 4.2%. Once unemployment rises that much, it tends to keep climbing.
At the same time, the officials and many economists have noted that the rise in unemployment this time largely reflects an influx of people seeking jobs — notably new immigrants and recent college graduates — rather than layoffs.
“The labor market is actually in solid condition,” Powell said. “Our intention with our policy move today is to keep it there.”
Sen. Raphael Warnock (R-GA) oversees a hearing on student lending by the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs on Tuesday, September 17, 2024. (livestream image)
WASHINGTON (Georgia Recorder) — As private student loan companies take heat over accusations of predatory behavior and deception, members of a U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs panel and student advocates voiced concerns over the industry at a hearing Tuesday.
The Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Protection hearing came as the broader student debt crisis impacts millions, with more than $1.74 trillion in outstanding student loans as of the second quarter of 2024, according to the U.S. Federal Reserve.
Subcommittee Chairman Raphael Warnock said he and his staff analyzed some of the myriad complaints the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau received related to private student loans and federal student loan servicing in roughly the last year and were “struck by the sheer scope and magnitude of the problem.”
“Private lenders and servicers routinely misled or deceived borrowers, and the stories are frustrating and heartbreaking,” the Georgia Democrat said.
Some borrowers have found loans offered by private lenders to be extraordinary burdens, Aissa Canchola Bañez, policy director at the Student Borrower Protection Center, an advocacy group, told the panel.
“Student loans were supposed to grant all families — regardless of race and economic status — the chance to unlock the promise of a higher education,” she said.
“But for too many, student debt has become a life sentence, holding borrowers back from buying a home, starting a small business and even starting or growing a family,” Canchola Bañez said.
Canchola Bañez said “the absence of comprehensive data in the private student loan space has too often left borrowers, policymakers and advocates in the dark” and that “this has allowed for significant gaps in protections for the millions of Americans forced to take on private student loan debt and has made it harder for policymakers and law enforcement officials to protect borrowers.”
Dalié Jiménez, a law professor and director of the Student Loan Law Initiative at the University of California, Irvine School of Law, said the private student loan industry had transformed in the last decade.
“New financial products have emerged, offering alternatives to traditional loans, but they’ve come with added risks that we’re only beginning to understand,” Jiménez said, adding that “many are offered by schools that provide dubious value in return for costly credit.”
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat and member of the subcommittee, has led investigations into Navient for nearly a decade.
Warren said Tuesday that “Republican extremists want to return to the days where borrowers were just at the mercy of predatory servicers like Navient” and that “the Biden-Harris administration has a different vision.”
Warren added that it’s “long past time for Navient to do the right thing by their countless defrauded borrowers and cancel out these loans for the private student loan borrowers as well.”
On the other side of the aisle, GOP Sen. Cynthia Lummis defended the industry’s basic mission.
“While individual cases of malfeasance certainly exist in the private loan market — as they do in any market — private lenders fill a crucial gap in higher education financing and equip borrowers with the tools to meet the barriers to education in place today,” Lummis said.
Lummis, a Wyoming Republican, also noted that the private student loan market only accounts for 8% of outstanding loans and that the vast majority of loans are federal loans.
Beth Akers, senior fellow at the conservative think tank the American Enterprise Institute, pointed out that while “private student loan origination and servicing, both for federal and private loans, hasn’t been perfect” and “lending institutions and those that service loans are fallible,” these private entities supporting student lending “don’t deserve the ire of lawmakers looking for a quick fix or even a scapegoat for what is happening more broadly in student lending.”
The countdown is on to the presidential election, but here’s your chance to vote on something fun!
On September 18, Now Habersham will launch the Best of Northeast Georgia contest. We invite you to participate by nominating your favorite people, places, and businesses.
Why regional awards?
Life in our community transcends county lines. Whether you live in one county, work in another, play in a different one, or have family scattered throughout the region, we want to honor everything that makes Northeast Georgia special. From dining and shopping to local services and business professionals, we want to celebrate all that is good across our beautiful corner of the state.
Nominating opens September 18 and runs through October 15, 2024. Don’t miss out! Submit your choices here.
Vote for your favorites in these categories
Best of Northeast Georgia will take write-in nominations through the deadline. After that, we’ll tally the top nominees and move into the final voting phase on October 25th.
The winners will be announced on December 1st!
Who will be crowned the Best of Northeast Georgia? You decide! Make sure to get your nominations in before the deadline, October 15, at Best of Northeast Georgia, brought to you by NowHabersham.com.
Scott Faber of the Environmental Working Group speaks Tuesday, Sept. 17, at a Capitol Hill briefing urging the EPA to ban the use of the herbicide paraquat dichloride to protect farmworkers. (Ariana Figueroa/States Newsroom)
WASHINGTON (States Newsroom) — Public health advocates and farmworkers called for a federal ban on a toxic herbicide they say led to their Parkinson’s disease during a Tuesday briefing for congressional staffers.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will determine next year if the herbicide, paraquat dichloride, should have its license renewed for another 15 years. The herbicide is used for controlling weeds in agriculture settings. It’s currently banned in more than 70 countries and has several serious health conditions it’s linked to, such as cancer and increases the likelihood of developing Parkinson’s disease.
Nora Jackson, a former farmworker of Indiana, said that her cousin, whose job it was to spray paraquat on farms, developed Parkinson’s at 55 years old. Signs of Parkinson’s usually appear around 60 years old.
“Farmworkers often have to do extremely risky jobs … but it doesn’t have to be that way,” Jackson said. “It is possible to have an agriculture system that does not depend so heavily on paraquat and it does not have to be a pesticide that puts so many people’s lives at risk.”
The disease has drastically affected his life, Jackson added.
“He now relies heavily on medication and uses a walking stick to be able to walk every day,” she said.
The briefing on the health risks of paraquat was hosted by the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research, Alianza Nacional de Campesinas, which is an alliance for farmworker women, and the Environmental Working Group, a nonprofit that produces research and advocates for public health.
The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research was established by the actor who starred in blockbusters Back to the Future, Doc Hollywood and Teen Wolf. Fox was diagnosed with early onset Parkinson’s at the age of 29.
Ban necessary
The EPA has until Jan. 17 to make a decision on paraquat’s future availability.
Advocates at Tuesday’s event called for the agency to deny paraquat’s license renewal, saying other regulations to reduce exposure to the herbicide have come up short.
“Keep in mind that people have been using this chemical as directed, and are still developing Parkinson’s disease,” Scott Faber, Environmental Working Group’s senior vice president of government affairs, said. “So putting more restrictions on how it’s used, when it’s used, what equipment you use, and so on, is not the answer.”
Parkinson’s disease affects the nervous system and causes unintended shakiness, trouble with balance and stiffness. There is no cure.
The California Legislature is moving to ban the herbicide.
David Jilbert, of Valley City, Ohio, a former farmworker with a background in engineering, was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 2021.
“As a longtime environmental engineer, I understood the importance of personal protection equipment, and I particularly followed all safety protocols,” he said.
He sold his vineyard in 2019 because he wasn’t feeling well and his hands were beginning to move slowly.
“My diagnosis changed everything, affecting every aspect of my life, from physical capabilities to emotional wellbeing, financial stability,” he said. “There is no cure for Parkinson’s. It is degenerative and it will only get worse, not better.”
Charlene Tenbrink of Winters, California, was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 2020. She worked on her family farm from 1993 to 2000 where she would mix, load and spray paraquat.
Tenbrink said she felt let down by the federal government because she was unaware of the health risks that paraquat could pose.
“We’ve been trying to change this for a long time,” she said.
Baldwin Public Works Director Scott Barnhart "cuts the ribbon" during the ribbon cutting ceremony for the new Public Works Building. (Jerry Neace/NowHabersham.com)
The city of Baldwin held a ribbon cutting ceremony Tuesday evening for its new public works building. Approximately 60 people attended the ceremony that began at 6 p.m. Food and refreshments were served to those that attended the “drop-in” open house.
According to Baldwin Administrative Assistant John Dills, the building will be the center for the Public Works Department. It will serve the employees with better work conditions to serve Baldwin residents and water customers. The previous building was built in the 1980’s.
Mayor Stephanie Almagno led the ceremony thanking Public Works Director Scott Barnhart and the public works staff for all of their hard work and dedication to the project and the city. She also thanked Engineering Management, Inc. and all of the various contractors that worked on the project for the last several months.
Barnhart expressed his feelings of seeing the finished project. “It’s a tremendous feeling,” he said. He explained that from drawing an idea on a piece of paper to a finished building took nearly nine years. “It’s quite a feeling from sitting at a desk and drawing it out, to being built, and actually working out of it, is tremendous.”
He explains that the employees that work there now and for those that come, they will be able to enjoy the building for many years.
The city of Baldwin dedicated the new public works building to Junior Robinson, a 38 year employee with the city. (Jerry Neace/NowHabersham.com)
The building was dedicated as the Junior Robinson Public Works Building. Robinson is a 38 year employee with the city in the water department.
Robinson was shocked when he found out the building was named after him. “It was a shock and a surprise and still is,” he said. He added, “It’s breathtaking. I’m really grateful. Words can’t describe it.”
“Dedicating the new Public Works Building to Junior Robinson and his 38 years of service to the city is only fitting. We hope that the building is a constant reminder to others of the appreciation we feel for Junior’s faithful service,” Almagno said.
City staff and citizens gather in the shop area of the new building for refreshments during the Baldwin Public Works building open house. (Jerry Neace/NowHabersham.com)
The building has been in the works for eight years. Land acquisition, funding sources, and design changes delayed the project. The city broke ground for the new building last November and took 10 months to construct the $1,573,283 million project. The project was funded with American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) and Habersham SPLOST VII funds. The building is located at 201 Industrial Park Road in Baldwin.
Sheriff-elect Robin Krockum attended the Rodeo to help honor first responders. (Nora Almazan/NowHabersham.com)
Commissioner of Agriculture Tyler Harper attended the Chattahoochee Mountain Fair Rodeo on Friday, September 13 along with Representative Victor Anderson and Senator Bo Hatchett to honor first responders.
“Fairs are inherently rooted in agriculture,” Commissioner of Agriculture Tyler Harper said. “Rodeo is all about agriculture. It is always great to get around the state and visit. As the Ag Commissioner, it is an awesome opportunity to get out and be a part of the state’s number one industry, which is agriculture.”
This young cowgirl stole the hearts of rodeo fans during the Barrel Racing Contest. (Nora Almazan/NowHabersham.com)
Harper expressed his gratitude for first responders, being in Northeast Georgia, and being around something he loved – the rodeo, the fair, and the people of Georgia.
In an opening ceremony, first responders were applauded and thanked by the community.
Harper opened the night talking about his deep love for agriculture. As a 7th generation farmer, he expressed his appreciation for farmers and the deep-rooted values farming and agriculture bring to the community.
The Commissioner applauded the State Legislature’s passing of SB 420. This Bill restricts the purchasing or leasing of agricultural land and land adjacent to military bases by “agents of a foreign adversary” in the State of Georgia. His statement brought huge applause from those attending the rodeo.
First responders were honored on September 13 at the Chattahoochee Mountain Fair Rodeo in Clarkesville, GA. (Nora Almazan/NowHabersham.com)
Senator Bo Hatchett and Representative Victor Anderson thanked first responders for their service and all that they do for the people of Habersham County and surrounding areas. Both Hatchett and Anderson attended the rodeo with their family.
Robin Krockum, Habersham County Sheriff-elect, was in attendance. “It is always a great night to celebrate and honor our first responders,” Krockum said.
From calf roping, barrel racing, and bull riding to cotton candy, boiled peanuts, and Kona Ice, there was something for everyone. Even though the rain was heavy at times, fans of the rodeo stayed until the end to see the bull riders.
FILE - A detail of the Federal Reserve building in Washington is shown on Nov. 16, 2020. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
WASHINGTON (AP) — Having all but tamed inflation, the Federal Reserve is poised to do something Wednesday it hasn’t done in more than four years: Cut its benchmark interest rate, a step that should lead to lower borrowing costs for consumers and businesses just weeks before the presidential election.
And yet an unusual air of uncertainty overhangs this week’s meeting: It’s unclear just how large the Fed’s rate cut will be. Wall Street traders and some economists foresee a growing likelihood that the central bank will announce a larger-than-usual half-point cut. Many analysts foresee a more typical quarter-point rate cut.
With inflation barely above their target level, Fed officials have been shifting their focus toward supporting a weakening job market and achieving a rare “soft landing,” whereby it curbs inflation without causing a sharp recession. A half-point rate cut would signal that the Fed is as determined to sustain healthy economic growth as it is to conquer high inflation. This week’s move is expected to be only the first in a series of Fed rate cuts that will extend into 2025.
High interest rates and elevated prices for everything from groceries to gas to rent have fanned widespread public disillusionment with the economy and provided a line of attack for former President Donald Trump’s campaign. Vice President Kamala Harris, in turn, has charged that Trump’s promise to slap tariffs on all imports would raise prices for consumers much further.
Over time, Fed rate cuts should lower borrowing costs for mortgages, auto loans and credit cards, as well as for business loans. Business spending could grow, and so could stock prices. Companies and consumers could refinance loans into lower-rate debt.
FILE – Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell walks outside of the Jackson Hole Economic Symposium at Jackson Lake Lodge in Grand Teton National Park near Moran, Wyo., on Aug. 23, 2024. (AP Photo Amber Baesler, File)
Chair Jerome Powell made clear last month in a high-profile speech in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, that Fed officials feel confident that inflation has largely been defeated. It has plummeted from a peak of 9.1% in June 2022 to 2.5% last month, not far above the Fed’s 2% target. Central bank officials fought against spiking prices by raising their key interest rate 11 times in 2022 and 2023 to a two-decade high of 5.3% to try to slow borrowing and spending, ultimately cooling the economy.
Wage growth has since slowed, removing a potential source of inflationary pressure. And oil and gas prices are falling, a sign that inflation should continue to cool in the months ahead. Consumers are also pushing back against high prices, forcing such companies as Target and McDonald’s to dangle deals and discounts.
Yet after several years of strong job growth, employers have slowed hiring, and the unemployment rate has risen nearly a full percentage point from its half-century low in April 2023 to a still-low 4.2%. Once unemployment rises that much, it tends to keep climbing. But Fed officials and many economists note that the rise in unemployment largely reflects an increase in new workers seeking jobs — notably new immigrants and recent college graduates — rather than layoffs.
Still, Powell said in Jackson Hole that “we will do everything we can to support a strong labor market.” He added that any “further weakening” in the job market would be “unwelcome.”
Some analysts have said that such a sweeping declaration suggests that Powell would favor a half-point rate cut. Other economists still think a quarter-point reduction is more likely.
At issue is how fast the Fed wants to lower interest rates to a point where they’re no longer acting as a brake on the economy — nor as an accelerant. Where that so-called “neutral” level falls isn’t clear, though many analysts peg it at 3% to 3.5%. Economists who favor a half-point reduction argue that the Fed’s key rate is much higher than necessary now that inflation is in retreat.
But others note that the Fed typically cuts its rate by a half-point or more only in an emergency. The last time it made an equivalent cut was in March 2020, when the pandemic paralyzed the economy. With consumers still spending and the economy likely to grow at a healthy pace in the July-September quarter, more cautious Fed officials can argue that there’s no rush to cut.
One hopeful sign is that as Powell and other Fed officials have signaled that rate cuts are coming, many borrowing rates have already fallen in anticipation. The average 30-year mortgage rate, for example, dropped to 6.2% last week — the lowest level in about 18 months and down from a peak of nearly 7.8%, according to the mortgage giant Freddie Mac. Other rates, like the yield on the five-year Treasury note, which influences auto loan rates, have also tumbled.
Habersham County Health Department is offering a Drive Thru Flu Vaccination Clinic September 19 until 3 p.m. (Nora Almazan/NowHabersham.com)
It is that time of year again – time for your flu vaccination.
Thursday, September 19, the Habersham County Health Department will be giving flu vaccinations until 3 p.m. in a Drive Thru Flu Clinic.
The service is fast and efficient. You never have to leave your car if you do not want to do so.
“We are so excited to be able to help the community in this way,” Jami Bolman, County Nurse Manager said. “We’d love for you to come and get your flu vaccination. If someone does not have the ability, we will make sure they can receive the vaccination.”
Medicaid and most major insurances are accepted. If you are self-pay, it is $30 for a regular dose and $66 for a high dose. Cash and cards can be used for payment.
The Habersham County Health Department is located at 185 Scoggins Drive, Demorest, GA. You can call 706-778-7156 for more information.
People wait in line ahead of a "Jimmy Carter 100: A Celebration in Song," concert at the Fox Theatre, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024, in Atlanta. Former President Carter turns 100-years old on Oct. 1. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
ATLANTA (AP) — A range of stars from the stage, screen and sport paid tribute Tuesday to former President Jimmy Carter ahead of his 100th birthday, the eclectic lineup meant to highlight the 39th president’s emphasis on human rights and his love of music as a universal language.
“Everyone here is making history,” Jason Carter, the former president’s grandson, told more than 4,000 people who filled Atlanta’s Fox Theatre to toast the longest-lived U.S. executive in history. “This is the first time people have come together to celebrate the 100th birthday of an American president.”
The benefit concert, with ticket sales funding international programs of The Carter Center that Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter founded in 1982 after leaving the White House, brought together artists that crossed generations and genres that traced back to his 1976 campaign. The concert will be aired in full on Georgia Public Broadcasting on Oct. 1, Carter’s birthday. Carter remains in hospice care at his home in Plains, Georgia.
“He really was the rock-and-roll president,” said Chuck Leavell, whose Georgia-based Allman Brothers Band campaigned with Carter in 1976. But more than that, Leavell said, Carter always understood music as something “that brings people together.”
Artist Chuck Leavell arrives ahead of a “Jimmy Carter 100: A Celebration in Song” concert at the Fox Theatre on Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
Indeed, Tuesday’s run of show assembled artists as varied as India Arie singing R&B and soul draped in a resplendent purple gown; the B-52s, formed in Athens, Georgia, singing “Love Shack” and projecting psychedelic imagery across the concert hall; and the Atlanta Symphony Chamber Chorus bringing a classical and patriotic repertoire.
Former President Barack Obama, known for releasing his summer playlists on social media, marveled at the range.
“Now I have another reason to respect you,” Obama said in a video message. “He has got great taste in music. … I’ve never thrown a concert that features pop, rock, gospel, country, jazz, classical and hip-hop.”
Of course, Obama noted, “Jimmy never passes up the opportunity to send a message,” and several artists referenced one of Carter’s widely circulated quotes about music: “One of the things that has held America together has been the music that we share and love.”
Leavell took the stage multiple times Tuesday, reprising music he played and sang almost 50 years ago when Carter, then an underdog former Georgia governor, outpaced better-known Democrats to win his party’s nomination and the presidency in the wake of the Vietnam War and the Watergate scandal.
“Music was such an important part of his political legacy,” Jason Carter told The Associated Press. “The Allman Brothers helped get him elected. Willie Nelson helped get him elected. He truly believed that.
Actress Renee Zellweger arrives ahead of a “Jimmy Carter 100: A Celebration in Song” concert at the Fox Theatre on Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
“When he was coming out of the South, running for president of the United States, the Allman Brothers and some of these other folks were really announcing this New South that was turning the page on the days of segregation – their lyrics, their whole vibe,” the younger Carter continued. “He used that to connect across generations.”
Leavell traced Carter’s love of music to his upbringing in church; the former president has written about his early church experiences, including visiting a Black congregation near his home just outside Plains. Carter recalled being more captivated by the music there than what he heard in his all-white congregation. At the Naval Academy, Leavell noted, Carter and one of his friends would buy classical recordings of the same pieces to study how music can be interpreted differently.
Part of the evening involved recounting Carter’s legacy as president and with The Carter Center, which advocates democracy, resolves conflict and fights disease across the world.
Hannah Hooper, a lead singer of the alternative rock band Grouplove, praised Carter for dramatically expanding nationally protected park lands, most of it in Alaska. Actress Renee Zellweger narrated the lifelong relationship between the former president and his wife, whom he first met when she was just days old and who died last November after 77 years of marriage.
Two former Atlanta Braves baseball stars, Terry Pendleton and Dale Murphy, celebrated Carter as the team’s No. 1 fan. They recalled what it was like to play with the Carters sitting in a field-level box, and they presented the former president’s great-grandsons with a Braves jersey to give their great-grandfather. The jersey number: 100.
Martin Luther King Jr.’s daughter, Bernice King arrives ahead of a “Jimmy Carter 100: A Celebration in Song,” concert at the Fox Theatre, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
Bernice King, the daughter of slain civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr., recounted Carter’s relationship with her family — he was close to her mother, and her grandfather was instrumental in Carter’s 1976 election. Though Carter was not actively involved in King Jr.’s work, Bernice King thanked the former president for publicly crediting her father for his indirect role in Carter’s political rise. Without the successes of the Civil Rights Movement, she recalled Carter saying, the nation never would have elevated a Southern governor who came of age in the era of Jim Crow segregation.
The night was mostly void of partisan politics. But there were signs of Democratic allegiances to Carter and shadows of the 2024 election.
Patterson Hood of Drive-By Truckers praised Carter as being ahead of his time and added that the country would have been better off if he had gotten to “finish the job” — an obvious reference to Carter’s landslide defeat to Republican Ronald Reagan in 1980.
The list of former presidents paying tribute was bipartisan: Democrat Bill Clinton and Republican George W. Bush were packaged with Obama. President Joe Biden added his greetings, recalling that he was the first U.S. senator to endorse Carter’s White House bid. “I admire you so darn much,” Biden said, calling Carter, “Mr. President.”
But there was a notable omission: former President Donald Trump. The 2024 Republican nominee has this year repeatedly cast Carter as a failed president as he tries to make a comeback bid. After the 2016 election, Carter questioned Trump’s legitimacy.
Jason Carter, center, grandson of President Jimmy Carter, with his sons, Henry Lewis Carter, right, and Thomas Clyde Carter, left, attends the “Jimmy Carter 100: A Celebration in Song,” concert at the Fox Theatre, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024, in Atlanta. Former President Carter turns 100-years old on Oct. 1. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
Arie’s selections, meanwhile, included “What If,” the lyrics of which include first names of Black women who have broken barriers. Among them: Kamala. That reference to the vice president and Democratic nominee, Kamala Harris, drew roars from the crowd.
Jason Carter, for his part, said his grandfather has been captivated by Biden’s decision to end his reelection bid and the possibility that Harris could become the first woman in the Oval Office. The younger Carter, who now chairs The Carter Center board, said Jimmy Carter struggled in the months after Rosalynn Carter’s death but now is excited by another campaign.
“He’s ready to turn the page on Trump,” Jason Carter said, but more driven by the opportunity to vote for Harris. “When Kamala came onto the scene, it really galvanized the party, and it really energized him as well.”
