PC contribution to city schools a double boost
Strained relationships between school boards and municipal governments are nothing new in American communities, including this one -- on both sides of the river. But Phenix City's presentation of a brightly gilded olive branch to the school system certainly relegates any conflicts to the distant background for the time being.
That olive branch comes in the form of a $200,000 contribution from the city government to the Phenix City Board of Education, the largest since the 1990s and twice the amount the city has provided each of the last two years.
It helps, of course, that Mayor Eddie Lowe has seen the relationship from both sides of what has been, but doesn't seem to be at the moment, the city-school system divide, having served for years as a member of the school board.
Superintendent Randy Wilkes, despite the school board having requested $1 million from the city, described himself as "elated" at the contribution -- which, as Lowe pointed out, the council approved unanimously and with no conditions on its use.
Not surprisingly, the money will be used toward the Phenix City School System's ambitious STEM education project, which involves a $3.1 million expansion at Central High and a $2.1 million Dyer Family STEM Center at Phenix City Intermediate School.
Developments like this make past conflicts seem like bygones that nobody misses.
Home-front security
The Consumer Protection Unit of Georgia Attorney General Sam Olens' office is putting together a program to protect soldiers' financial security while they are protecting our national security.
Americans serving in the armed forces in Georgia, Olens said at a Monday news conference, "deserve protection, not to have their minimal salaries squandered by unscrupulous businesses."
The two-legged parasites the AG has in mind, of course, are all too familiar in this community. Soldiers have been victimized by predatory pawnbrokers, car salesmen and loan sharks, just to name some of the most familiar.
The end result of this year-long project, which will draw on the experience and expertise of the Pentagon's Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, will be a reference guide to help service members and their families distinguish between the vast majority of honest businesses and the shysters who hide in plain sight among them.
Georgia Watch, a consumer protection nonprofit, and Emory University law students will use the Pentagon's consumer intelligence information to write legal advice and warnings on different kinds of financial transactions, purchase, mortgages, credit agreements and loans.
Members of our armed services are willing to take more than enough risks on our behalf. This is one kind of risk we can do more to prevent.
This story was originally published October 6, 2015 at 5:23 PM with the headline "PC contribution to city schools a double boost."