/PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Commerce Department's National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) today announced more than 231,700 over-the-air households in Georgia, those that rely on an antenna for broadcast TV, have requested coupons from the TV Converter Box Coupon Program. With two months until the nation's full-power TV stations transition to 100 percent digital broadcasting, the agency is urging consumers who rely on over-the-air television and need a TV converter box coupon to apply by the end of the year.
"There may be two months until the digital television transition concludes, but consumers who want to buy a TV converter box with a coupon should apply for it in the next two weeks or possibly risk losing use of their analog TV temporarily," said Acting NTIA Administrator Meredith Baker. "It takes approximately six weeks to apply for the coupon, buy the box and try it out so it is imperative that consumers take action by December 31 or look at other options to make the transition prior to February 17, 2009."
Below are the percentages of coupons requested by over-the-air households for each DMA in Georgia.
DMA % OTA Households Who Requested Coupons
(Data as of December 14, 2008)
Albany, GA 82%
Atlanta, GA 86%
Augusta, GA 101%
Columbus, GA 89%
Macon, GA 84%
Savannah, GA 77%
Tallahassee (FL) -Thomasville (GA) 71%
For a complete listing of the markets and their participation rates by "over-the-air" TV household, go online at www.ntia.doc.gov and for more information about the Coupon Program, go to www.DTV2009.gov.
Background
The Digital Television Transition and Public Safety Act of 2005 requires full-power television stations to cease analog broadcasts and switch to digital after February 17, 2009. The Act authorized NTIA to create the TV Converter Box Coupon Program, which is funded by the $19 billion airwaves auction and not tax dollars. The Act funded the Program at $1.5 billion, including $1.34 billion for coupons. Currently, NTIA has obligated $1.1 billion in coupons. This obligation is a combination of coupons redeemed as well as coupons that have been ordered.
Digital broadcast television offers consumers a clearer picture, more programming choices and will free up the airwaves for better communications among emergency first responders and new telecommunications services.
Consumers receiving free, over-the-air television on analog TV sets will need to act now to ensure their televisions continue to work when full power television stations go all-digital. Viewers of over-the-air television need to look at each analog set in their home that is not connected to cable, satellite or other pay television service and make a timely decision. They can connect their television to cable, satellite or pay television service; they can replace it with a digital TV; or they may keep it working with a TV converter box.
For consumers choosing the converter box option, the TV Converter Box Coupon Program permits all households to request up to two coupons - each worth $40 - toward the purchase of certified converter boxes. Coupons may be requested while supplies last, and only one coupon can be used to purchase each coupon-eligible converter box. Consumers can purchase a converter box at one of the more than 34,500 participating local, phone or online retailers. Consumers will receive a list of eligible converter boxes and participating retailers with their coupons. Coupon applications can take several weeks to process and mail so consumers opting to purchase a converter box should act now, and should call stores before shopping to ensure the desired converter box is available. Converter boxes generally cost between $40 and $80, and coupons expire 90 days from the date they are mailed.
Consumers who choose to transition to digital television by purchasing a TV converter box with a coupon need to follow three steps and act by the end of the year because the process may take six weeks. Consumers should immediately apply for their coupons, buy a converter box when the coupons arrive and try the box with their television to address any potential technical issues before full-power broadcasters switch to digital.
Some viewers watch programs over translators or other low-power stations which may continue broadcasting analog signals after February 17, 2009. Those viewers may wish to select a converter box that will pass through analog signals.
Households may apply now for coupons online at www.DTV2009.gov, by phone at 1-888-DTV-2009 (1-888-388-2009), via fax at 1-877-DTV-4ME2 (1-877-388-4632) or by mail to P.O. Box 2000, Portland, OR 97208-2000. Deaf or hard of hearing callers may dial 1-877-530-2634 (English TTY) or 1-866-495-1161 (Spanish TTY). Nursing home residents may apply with the paper application available downloadable at www.DTV2009.gov.
For more information about the Coupon Program, please visit www.DTV2009.gov and for questions about the DTV transition, go to www.dtv.gov or call 1-888-CALL-FCC.
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Sunday, December 21, 2008
Commerce's NTIA Urges Georgia Consumers to Apply for TV Converter Box Coupons by December 31
Thursday, November 13, 2008
CAGW Questions Healthcare Plan Options Presented to the Dougherty County Commission
PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- On behalf of its 24,965 members and supporters in Georgia, Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) today called for the public release of the details related to how insurance broker Kirk Rouse made recommendations to the Dougherty County Commission on changes to the health care plan for county employees. CAGW President Tom Schatz sent a letter to the county commissioners expressing concerns and asking questions about the process.
Schatz wrote, "The Commission ... has an obligation to select a plan through an open, fair and competitive bid process that provides the best possible quality health care at the lowest possible cost. ... Mr. Rouse owes the Commissioners and the taxpaying public a full accounting of how he arrived at his recommendations. He should reveal all options that were available to him. Simply comparing various forms of exclusive deals for Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital is not the kind of rigorous exercise that the county employees and the public deserve."
The letter questioned whether or not a formal request for proposal was issued, whether competitive bids were considered that did not require exclusive bids for Phoebe Putney or Palmyra Medical Center, what kind of criteria Mr. Rouse used, and how he reached his recommendation for the commission.
Mr. Schatz's letter added, "Basic free market principles dictate that identifying an alternative health care plan that offers a choice should provide better savings than an exclusive arrangement with either hospital. Dougherty County taxpayers deserve the benefit of any additional savings that can be achieved by identifying a plan that offers in-network choice. Mr. Rouse has not done his job until he has explored this option for the county employees and taxpayers."
The Dougherty County Commission is scheduled to meet Monday, November 17, 2008, at 10:00 a.m. at the Central Square Government Center, 222 Pine Avenue, Albany, Georgia to make a final decision on the proposed changes to the County employee health care plan.
Citizens Against Government Waste is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement in government.
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Monday, September 1, 2008
Andersonville National Historic Site, Rolling Thunder Chapters from 11 States, Georgia Southwestern State University to Honor Nation's POWs/MIAs, Sept
PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Rolling Thunder's 2008 Ride Home -- a multi-day annual activity held in conjunction with the National Park Service's Andersonville National Historic Site and Georgia Southwestern State University to recognize and honor the nation's Prisoners of War (POW) and those Missing in Action (MIA) -- will be held in Andersonville and Americus, Ga., Sept. 17-20, 2008.
"The 2008 Ride Home, which is supported this year by Rolling Thunder(R) chapters from 11 states, is part of a series of events conducted jointly with the National Park Service in Andersonville to honor those former POWs from all wars who have returned home and remember those who are still listed as MIA," said Jim Moyer, Ride Home board chairman.
According to Moyer, more than 1,000 Rolling Thunder members are expected to gather in Andersonville and Americus to honor an estimated 100 former POWs scheduled to attend this year's program of events as guests of Rolling Thunder.
While Friday, Sept. 19, is the official National POW/MIA Recognition Day, the four days of recognition activities begin at 11 a.m. Wednesday, Sept. 17, with a convocation sponsored by the National Park Service and hosted by Georgia Southwestern State University at the Student Success Center in Americus.
The guest speaker will be Joseph Hudson of Alamogordo, N.M. He was a 23-year-old U.S. Army specialist with the 507th Maintenance Group, Fort Bliss, Tex., who was shot three times, captured and held by Saddam Hussein's Iraqi Army from March 23, 2003 until April 13, 2003.
On Thursday, Sept. 18, through Saturday, Sept. 20, the Park Service will host Bataan Death March survivor Colonel Glenn Frazier at the National Prisoner of War Museum at the Andersonville National Historic Site. Frazier, who was an underage U.S. Army volunteer from Fort Deposit, Ala., in 1941, will be autographing his book, "Hell's Guest," which is his account of three harrowing years as a prisoner of war.
On Friday, Sept. 19, the official National POW/MIA Recognition Day, Rolling Thunder's formal activities will begin at 10 a.m. with a tribute service, "Keeping the Promise, We Will Not Forget" at the First Baptist Church in Americus.
Scheduled speakers include: U.S. Air Force Major General Albert G. (Jerry) Rodgers whose final active duty assignment was Deputy Chief of Staff for Logistics at Tactical Air Command Headquarters at Langley, AFB, Va.; U.S. Navy Captain Ronald Harrell, Commander of the FFG (Fast Frigate) Class Squadron 14 at Naval Station Mayport, Fla.; Stephen E. Thompson, Family and Veteran Liaison for the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command in Honolulu, Hawaii; and, Dr./Rev. Chuck Gass, the staff chaplain at the VA Medical Center in Gainesville, Fla.
A Rolling Thunder escort to the tribute service for the former POWs is scheduled to depart for the Baptist church from the Wal-Mart parking lot in Americus at 9 a.m.
At 1 p.m. that afternoon the National Prisoner of War Museum in Andersonville will unveil a commemorative plaque honoring POWs from the U.S. Army's 42nd "Rainbow" Division.
Formed in August 1917, the "Rainbow" nickname was given to the division after Colonel Douglas MacArthur, the new division's Chief of Staff (and ultimately its commander), remarked that "the 42nd Division stretches like a Rainbow from one end of America to the other" because it was comprised of National Guard units from 26 states and the District of Columbia.
The division, which saw service in both World Wars, was deactivated in 1946; however it returned in 1947 as a National Guard Division for New York, the state of its birth. Currently headquartered at the Glenmore Armory in Troy, N.Y., the division includes Army National Guard units from 14 states: Connecticut, Main, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Vermont and Wisconsin.
Activities on Friday will continue at 4:30 p.m. with Rolling Thunder's annual tribute dinner followed by a candlelight remembrance ceremony scheduled to start at 7 p.m. Both activities will be at the Windsor Hotel in Americus.
The Missing Man Table, which honors the nation's POW/MIAs, will be the focal point of the evening. The single round table with six empty place settings symbolize Americans from each of the five services -- Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, Coast Guard -- and civilians who cannot attend and will be participating in the evening's activities in spirit only.
On Saturday, Sept. 20, Rolling Thunder's Annual POW Recognition will begin at 10 a.m. at the Rostrum at Andersonville National Cemetery. The ceremony honors POWs who have returned home from World War II, Korea, Vietnam and the Gulf wars.
A Rolling Thunder Heroes Escort Ride is scheduled to depart for the Andersonville National Historic Site from the Wal-Mart parking lot in Americus at 9 a.m.
The 1-14th Aviation Regiment from Fort Rucker, Ala., will open the 10 a.m. ceremony with a helicopter flyover of an AH-64D Apache Longbow and an OH-58D Kiowa Warrior.
A Roll Call of former POWs attending the ceremony will precede a special presentation to each.
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Friday, August 22, 2008
Georgia Power Seeks Approval for Coal Plant Conversion to Biomass
PRNewswire/ -- Georgia Power today asked the Georgia Public Service Commission (PSC) for approval to convert coal-fueled Plant Mitchell to renewable wood biomass.
Upon conversion, Plant Mitchell - near Albany - would be capable of producing 96 megawatts of renewable energy - or enough electricity to power 60,000 homes. The plant would have lower emissions, and would be one of the largest wood biomass plants in the United States. It would also have lower fuel and operating costs when compared to continued operation using coal, thereby making the plant more cost-effective for customers.
Surplus wood fuel for Plant Mitchell would come from suppliers operating within an approximately 100-mile radius of the plant.
"Georgia Power is taking an important step toward continued diversification of its fuel sources and making renewable energy more affordable for customers," said Mike Garrett, Georgia Power president and CEO. "By converting Plant Mitchell to biomass, we hope to not only help grow the renewable resource base in Georgia but also to expand the market for renewable energy credits, which ultimately will foster additional renewable energy development."
Renewable energy credits are created when a renewable energy facility generates electricity or uses renewable fuel. The PSC is expected to rule on the proposal to convert Plant Mitchell to biomass by spring of 2009. Retrofit construction would begin by spring of 2011 and the biomass plant would likely begin operations in June 2012.
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