A homestead exemption lowers the property taxes on your home by lowering its value. If your home is valued at $50,000 and you receive a $25,000 homestead exemption, your home will be taxed as if it were worth $25,000.
GAZETTE PHOTO / ELLIS KNOX Jonathan P. Griffin earned a State First Division medal in the Solo Tenor Division. Walker B. Criss earned a non-state First Division medal in the Solo Bass Division. Pictured from L to R, are Walker Criss, Benjamin L Grigsby – PHS Choir Director, and Jonathan Griffin.
Earlier in January I was able to attend the SSAWG, Southern Sustainable Agriculture Working Group Conference. This was an “alternative agriculture” conference for lack of a better word. Now most professional development conferences I attend incorporate people from all over the country; but this one in particular included people from different socio-economic backgrounds and spiritual beliefs as well. There were producers, consumers, educators and everyone in between in the agriculture industry. There were presentations on “Certified Organic Practices,” “Sustaining Agriculture for the Future,” “Growing Hemp in the Southwest,” “Climate Change,” “Fertilizer Alternatives,” “Native Pasture for Grazing,” and many more. I was able to absorb a lot of this information and bring back quite a few resources for organic and alternative agriculture practices.
Several years ago I attended a 30th high school reunion. Because it was the first reunion I had attended, I could not help but notice how much I had to study some of my old classmate’s faces before I could recognize them. After all, people change over the course of three decades. However, in watching some of their kids at the homecoming game, there was no mistaking who belonged to whom. Even though I had never met these kids and did not know their names, I could immediately tell which kid was a Hutchinson, a Ward, a Cain etc. Similarly, those who saw my teen did not need to see us standing next to each other to recognize that we were family. What is old becomes fresh again with each rising generation.
