Literacy Matters

Societal expectations center upon the belief that children in grade four should be competent in terms of literacy skills and having acquired the necessary foundational skills to be successful in grade four. Instructional practices, reading programs, and resources are linked to reading achievement and literacy acquisition of students. In Southwest Georgia, teachers' instructional practices from 12 schools in urban Dougherty County were examined. The researcher examined the instructional practices of fourth grade reading teachers in the Dougherty County School System to determine the perceived impact on reading achievement and literacy acquisition of struggling fourth grade readers.

Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in Georgia, USA, 2020

ABSTRACTObjectiveSARS-CoV-2 has significantly impacted Georgia, USA including two major hotspots, Metro Atlanta and Dougherty County in southwestern Georgia. With government deliberations about relaxing social distancing measures, it is important to understand the trajectory of the epidemic in the state of Georgia.MethodsWe collected daily cumulative incidence of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Georgia. We estimated the reproductive number (Re) of the COVID-19 epidemic on April 18 and May 2 by characterizing the initial growth phase of the epidemic using the generalized-growth model.ResultsThe data presents a sub-exponential growth pattern in the cumulative incidence curves. On April 18, 2020, Re was estimated as 1.20 (95% CI: 1.10, 1.20) for the state of Georgia, 1.10 (95% CI: 1.00, 1.20) for Dougherty County, and 1.20 (95% CI: 1.10, 1.20) for Metro Atlanta. Extending our analysis to May 2, 2020, Re estimates decreased to 1.10 (95% CI: 1.10, 1.10) for the state of Georgia, 1.00 (95% CI: 1.00, 1.10) for Dougherty County, and 1.10 (95% CI: 1.10, 1.10) for Metro Atlanta.ConclusionsTransmission appeared to be decreasing after the implementation of social distancing measures. However, these results should be interpreted with caution when considering relaxing control measures due to low testing rates.

A new syntopic species of Stygobromus Cope, 1872 (Amphipoda: Crangonyctidae) from groundwaters in Georgia and Florida, USA, with notes on S. floridanus Holsinger & Sawicki, 2016

Stygobromus doughertyensis n. sp. is described from groundwater habitats in Jackson County, Florida and Dougherty County, Georgia, USA using both morphological and molecular methods. This species occurs syntopically with the morphologically similar S. floridanus, which is newly recorded in Jackson County. The occurrence of S. floridanus in Jackson County marks a range extension for this species, which was described from two caves in Washington County, Florida. The description of S. doughertyensis n. sp. brings the number of described species in the genus Stygobromus to 142 and marks the second species of Stygobromus to be described from the Floridan aquifer.

The Merits of Specialized Microfinance Instruments and Their Feasibility in Alleviating Poverty in Albany-Dougherty County, Georgia

Albany-Dougherty County, Georgia has poverty-related indexes that include unemployment and economic disparity. The high unemployment and deteriorating economic climate can be traced to an exodus of major manufacturing employers. Public health issues and educational services continue to decline. These proxies of misery must be addressed by a contemporary mix of market related factors of financing and entrepreneurial enthusiasm. This research addresses the ever increasing poverty and related challenges on the road to prosperity. Secondly, this exploratory study highlights the relevance of a mix of micro-financing instruments that could assist the community to engage market-based economic activities that could enhance economic profiles. Based on the data collected with a survey instrument, the study highlights an apparent reluctance of concessionary financial institutions to lend.

Survey of Free Market Principles for Encouraging Market: Participation of African American and the Economically Challenged

This study targets to challenge African American and other economically challenged to embrace free market principles to enhance their participation in the economy of Albany/Dougherty County, Georgia. With a market-based questionnaire, this study assess the understanding of these principles from among the students of Albany State University, the major educational institution in the county. Among other compelling actions, the responses provided on the survey highlight the need for effective education, increasing interest in taking market risks, elevation of access to capital, and fairer and inclusive society.<br /><p align="center"> </p><p> </p><p align="center"> </p>

Mapped Fractures and Sinkholes in the Coastal Plain of Florida and Georgia to Infer Environmental Impacts from Aquifer Storage and Recovery (ASR) and Supply Wells in the Regional Karst Floridan Aquifer System

The regional Floridan aquifer system (FAS) extends from the submerged carbonate platform of the Atlantic Ocean, Gulf of Mexico, and Straits of Florida in the southeastern United States (US), throughout Florida and the coastal plain of Alabama, Georgia, and South Carolina. This carbonate aquifer system is characterized by bedding planes, fractures, dissolution cavities, and other karst features that result in preferential flow of ground water, particularly in response to anthropogenic perturbations such as groundwater withdrawals and aquifer injections. The FAS was divided into six sub-regions for groundwater-modeling purposes in 1989, with results concluding that breaches of those groundwater divides had occurred and those breaches were attributed to large withdrawals of ground water in the US southeastern coastal plain. Those results suggest the model did not elucidate preferential flow conditions through fractures and other karst conduits. We hypothesized that incorporating fractures and sinkholes into groundwater models could improve results and predict adverse impacts to environmentally sensitive areas. We analyzed extensive fracture networks and sinkholes previously mapped throughout Florida and in Dougherty County, Georgia. Some of those fractures extend from one sub-region into an adjacent sub-region of the FAS and may be facilitating the breaching of groundwater divides described in the 1989 groundwater model for this regional aquifer system. The greater total fractures and fracture density in Dougherty County (1,225 and 141.3/100 km2, respectively) compared to 21 north-Florida counties (10-91fractures per county and 0.6-3.8/100 km2, respectively) presumably is due to the scale of fracture mapping and shorter mean lengths of mapped fractures in Dougherty County (1.2 km), compared to north Florida counties (26-118 km), rather than to orders of magnitude increases in fracture densities in that part of the FAS. The number of sinkholes identified in Dougherty County in a recent, unrelated project using 2011 Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) images, was approximately an order of magnitude greater than the number of sinkholes mapped in analog form in that county and published in 1986. Extension of the dense network of those fractures that occurred within the boundaries of a Priority Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Area (PARCA) that encompassed Dougherty County covered the Elmodel Wildlife Management Area (WMA) and ASR demonstration well in Baker County, Georgia. Those extensions also passed through numerous agricultural areas with center-pivot irrigation wells in southwest Georgia; intersected other Georgia PARCAs near the Florida-Georgia state line; and clumped in two areas of dense sinkhole clusters in northwest Florida. No determination has been made regarding the contributions of pirated water from the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint (ACF) River Basins and Wakulla Springshed from the magnitude and extent of agricultural, municipal, and industrial groundwater withdrawals in Georgia’s coastal plain, that exceed groundwater withdrawals in Florida for that area of the FAS, to the increase in sinkholes in Dougherty County and the dense clusters of sinkholes in northwest Florida, via preferential flow through fractures. Similarly, the survival and recovery of at least 24 animal species in Georgia that are either federally listed or high-priority state species may be jeopardized by adverse direct, indirect, and cumulative impacts from preferential flow through fractures, sinkholes, and other karst conduits in response to aquifer injections and withdrawals that have not been evaluated. Currently no regional groundwater model has been constructed to evaluate such preferential groundwater flow in the FAS. A model incorporating preferential flow via mapped fractures and sinkholes is essential to determine the magnitude and extent of environmental impacts from ASR wells and other supply and disposal wells in this regional aquifer system, such as pirated water from the ACF and other river basins, alterations in submarine groundwater discharge to Apalachicola Bay and other coastal areas, saltwater intrusion, upconing of saline ground water and resulting impacts to federally endangered and threatened species and high-priority state species.

Exploratory Study Of The Relationship Between Poverty And Crimes In Albany/Dougherty, Georgia

Both the crime andpoverty rates in Albany/Dougherty County, Georgia, are substantially high. Therefore, the objective of this study is tohighlight the sources of the relationships between poverty and crimes in thisarea. The paper makes additionalcontributions by exploring the impact of non-market factors of segregation anddiscrimination on poverty in the remote Dougherty County that is also characterizedby both dualistic and restricted environments.The crimes seem to be driven by poverty that is characterized by otherfactors - the remoteness of the county, exit of some big establishments, decliningurban education, increasing unemployment rate, non-harmonized economic environments,and by the presence of teenage pregnancy. These prevailing adversities have cumulativelysuppressed the real average weekly wage rate, proxy of poverty. Crimes and poverty control measures areincluded in the study.

Sources, Stigmatization, And Alleviation Of Poverty In Albany/Dougherty, Georgia

The objective of this study is to highlight the impacts of and solutions to the major sources of poverty in the City of Albany and Dougherty County, Georgia. White, as well as Black middle class residents, are leaving the City of Albany and Dougherty County to the other Albany MSA counties that are experiencing increase in commercial activities and median family incomes. This movement seems to reflect increasing City vices and very low educational achievements from the public school system. These along with a low consideration of the county for professional careers, lead to depressed business opportunities that cause exit of businesses. Cautiously speaking, depressed employment and a low real average weekly wage earning, a proxy for poverty, explain the poverty. There is a need for specialized micro financial lending especially in the impoverished areas of the county. Poverty is being addressed by some temporary measures. In the long run, individuals understanding of how market economy works would resolve poverty.