Fred Clark, president of Alabama Municipal Electric Authority (AMEA) which supplies Piedmont with electricity, announced to the City Council Tuesday night that their electrical rate to Piedmont will increase by 4.34 percent.

It took just one day for a balloon to float 147 miles, from the hand of a Piedmont Elementary student to the Horticulture research farm of the University of Georgia in Watkinsville, Ga. The balloon release that took place at PES on Jan. 27 marked the 100th day of school, and to celebrate the occasion students released the balloons along with a small ribbon telling of the event and to please write back if a balloon is found. Suzzanne Tate, a horticulturist at the University of Georgia’s Department of Horticulture, wrote a letter telling of her discovery. Tate wrote of the kinds of things she does at the farm; studying flowers, trees, shrubs, fruits and vegetables. She also studies ways in which plants can be grown using modern techniques.

It has been a cold winter. There’s no denying that, but some residents say that their utility bills are too high regardless. A few of those residents came to the city council meeting last week demanding some answers. “We have not raised the rates,” said Piedmont Mayor Brian Young.