As soon as summer weather hits, Americans light up the grill for more than just special holidays, according to Online Athens.   

Nearly three out of four adults own at least one grill or smoker.

Thanks to scientists at the University of Georgia College of Engineering and a company in Monroe, backyard grill masters can use more environmentally friendly and sustainable alternative to petroleum-based charcoal lighter fluids.

Lighter fluid can release compounds that leave an unpleasant taste and odor on grilled foods. Manufactured by ESCOGO, EcoGreen Charcoal Lighter is made of plant-based products.

“They had a product that worked great on lump charcoal but briquettes are much denser and the fluid would burn off before getting the briquette hot enough to ignite,” said Dan Geller, a research engineer in UGA’s College of Engineering. “We needed a product that burned really well and one that met the strict air quality concerns for volatile organic compounds.”

The product also needed to be priced to compete with other options already on the market.

UGA and ESCOGO performed trials on over 100 formulas and organic ingredients before finding an all-natural byproduct of the fermentation industry.

​“We looked at a lot of different options that would burn, that we could buy in large volume, and that were natural byproducts of other industries,” said Geller. “This really was a classic engineering design problem because we were trying to figure out a way to meet all these specific constraints.”
 
The Center of Innovation for Agribusiness, a state agency that provides technical assistance and connections to academic, business and government resources, provided funding for the project.
 
“We didn’t have the research and development expertise or the budget to come up with this new formula,” said Rick Huszagh, a founding member of ESCOGO. “Working with the University of Georgia, with the grant money we received from the innovation center, allowed us to come up with a formula that works great and diversifies our product line.”
 
Call Pachuta Insurance Today @ 706-769-2262

After months of hearing about several campaigns, initiatives and candidates, today is the day Athenians will get to vote for their representatives in the primary, general and special elections.

Before heading to the polls, there are some things voters should know, as reported in The Red & Black.
As for where to vote, there are 24 different precincts with voting locations that will be open until 7 p.m. today.

Voting locations are based on the local address given with voter registration. You can contact the Athens-Clarke County Board of Elections office at 706 613-3150 or visit the Georgia Secretary of State’s website to confirm your polling location.

Before you arrive to your location, residents will only be allowed to vote if they provide valid photo identification, according to the county website.

Accepted forms of ID include a Georgia Driver’s license, even if expired, a valid state government photo ID, government employee or U.S. military photo ID and a tribal photo ID.

Even though not all seats being voted on today are partisan, voters will still be asked to pick a political party. The Democratic ballot, which will only include Democratic candidates in the partisan elections, differs only in that manner from the Republican ballot.

A nonpartisan ballot is also available for those who do not want to pick a political party.

All ballots include primary elections for governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, state superintendent, state commissioners, and state and U.S. representatives and senators.

The Athens-Clarke County mayor will be either Richie Knight, Kelly Girtz or Harry Sims.

Local commissioner seats to be voted on are for districts 1, 3, 5, 7, 9 and 2.

After the polls close at 7 p.m., votes will be tallied. All votes will be considered “unofficial” until verified by the ACC Board of Elections, according to the county’s website.

With some exceptions, most candidates will not take on their new positions until this November.

If a single candidate does not receive the majority of the votes, a runoff will take place on July 24 between those candidates.
​
All vote tallies from today will be calculated by midnight.
 
Call Pachuta Insurance Today @ 706-769-2262
​

Monica Huff wanted to run her 100th marathon near home.

Originally from Clemson, Huff, who began running marathons in 1999, was at No. 99 and thought it would be a great idea to organize a Mother’s Day marathon in Athens to celebrate her achievement. But with a husband, three children and a demanding job, Huff decided to take another approach.

“Trying to organize a marathon became more like work, so I decided to make the Mother’s Day run a celebration, and in order to have a celebration, I had to go ahead and run the 100th marathon,” she told the Athens Banner-Herald. “So I looked online and the closest one I could sneak in before Mother’s Day was the Flying Pig Marathon in Cincinnati.”

With her in Queen City on May 5 was her 18-year-old daughter, Gabby Huff-Streiter, who will run at Oglethorpe University in the fall. She completed her 100th marathon in 3 hours and 37 minutes.

“It was kind of surreal,” she said.

What was originally going to be an Athens-based marathon turned into a Mother’s Day fun run, which took place at 7:30 a.m. on Milledge Avenue.

Huff, 48, ran her first marathon while working on her dissertation and didn’t run another one until 2003, after which she set a goal to run 50 marathons in 50 different states before she turned 50 years old.

She completed No. 50 in Las Vegas on December 2011 and then set her sights on 100. Huff is a member of the 50Sub4 Club, recognizing runners who have completed 50 marathons in all 50 states in less than four hours.

Huff now has a new goal, which is to become a member in the 100Sub4 Club by running 14 more marathons to qualify.

“I’m obviously not done with marathons – there’s always another goal,” she said. “I have to do 14 more for 100 certified Sub4. I have one state left. You just modify your goals.”

Huff is planning to run the Jack & Jill’s Downhill Marathon in July in North Bend, Washington, and will run in the Jackson Hole Marathon in Wyoming on Labor Day.

“I’ve been thinking about running all the ones in Georgia, and I’m looking for one in Georgia in the fall,” she said.

​Call Pachuta Insurance Today @ 706-769-2262

​Clarke County’s proposed 2018-19 school budget will include over $1 million to add 13 teaching positions and reduce average class sizes.

As reported in the Athens Banner-Herald, ten of the positions will be fourth- or fifth-grade teachers, one each at Alps Road, Barnett Shoals, Barrow, Fowler Drive, Gaines, Timothy Road, Whitehead Road elementary schools, and two at Chase Street Elementary School, according to a summary sheet schools Superintendent Demond Means presented at a Clarke County Board of Education work session last week.

Chase Street, the school district’s highest-scoring school on state achievement tests, has seen its enrollment grow by nearly 100 students over the past few years.

The new positions will add $1.525 million to the Clarke County School District’s proposed budget of about $150 million. The price for the 13 additional teachers was $1,001,000. The school district currently has more than 1,000 teachers.

Clarke Central High School will also get three more teachers, Means said.

The county will also add some positions in disciplinary support and instructional support, he said.

Some research shows that reducing class sizes has a positive effect, but other studies don’t support that, he said.

But smaller class sizes do contribute to teachers’ feelings of “efficacy,” and “parent comfort goes up when class size goes down,” he said.

Means stated two revenue sources to cover the new positions, which have a combined cost of $1.525 million.

The county will get an extra $1.3 million this year under the state “Quality Based Education” funding formula. Another $225,000 will come from property tax revenues.

The county tax assessor adjusted his estimate upward on how much the country’s tax digest has grown in the past year to about 5 percent.

The Clarke County Board of Education is scheduled to approve next year’s school system budget in June.

Call Pachuta Insurance Today @ 706-769-2262

Customer and tech support company Voxpro is planning to create at least 500 jobs and spend $4 million on a "center of excellence" in Athens.

As recently reported in the Athens Patch, Gov. Nathan Deal announced the plans of the Irish company last Wednesday.

"Georgia offers a wealth of resources for an innovative company like Voxpro to grow its business," Deal said. "Georgia's top-ranked business climate and highly skilled workforce is critical to attracting international business. We established a strong relationship with Voxpro leadership in Ireland and look forward to the company's continued investment in Georgia."

Headquartered in Cork, Ireland, Voxpro has more than 1,700 employees worldwide and provides customer support for clients including Google, Airbnb and Nest.

Voxpro offers several business services including multilingual customer experience and technical support, safety monitoring, social media management and product insight. The company works with tech startups and global giants.

"Voxpro partners with clients that are changing the world," said Voxpro co-founder and CEO Dan Kiely. "Our success is built on delivering beautiful customer experiences and it's our people and our culture that provide that point of difference. We know we've found those people in Athens."

Founded 20 years ago by co-founders Linda and Dan Kiely, Voxpro has three facilities in Cork, Ireland, and has offices in Dublin, San Francisco and Folsom, California.

"Voxpro's creation of 500 new jobs is exciting news for Athens and another example that our downtown is a destination for innovation and creativity,” said Athens-Clarke County Mayor Nancy Denson.

"Voxpro's core values align perfectly with the vibrant and innovative atmosphere we have here in the Classic City, and we are proud to have them call Athens home."

Call Pachuta Insurance Today @ 706-769-2262