Some Georgians hope a higher power can better guide the Georgia General Assembly, and a local legislator did his best.

Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle made Sen. Cecil Staton, R-Macon, the Chaplain of the Day on Feb. 8 for the state Senate.

“I was honored to offer the daily devotional to my fellow colleagues in the Senate chamber,” Staton said in a statement. “As elected officials, it is important for us to take a decisive stand for our faith and maintain the highest degree of integrity while we serve the people of this great state.”

Staton preached from Jeremiah 6:16, which calls for people to follow the ways of God and heed his wisdom.

Aaarrr, aargh!

The Pirate Party of Georgia fired broadsides against proposed state legislation this week.

In an e-mailed statement, party spokesman Andrew Norton blasted House Bill 282 as a means of stifling communities that are served only by fictional high-speed Internet. The bill seeks to regulate how local governments can offer such Internet service.

Norton, a Jasper County resident, said maps show nearby Monticello has some of the fastest Internet speeds. Yet some broadband providers don’t offer services at all, and others offer only older technologies such as 3G phone service.

“To base legislation and restrict availability and competition based on unverified claims by competitors is absurd and foolish,” Norton said in a statement.

Norton also takes issue with House Bill 39, which would prohibit electronic copying-and-pasting of one person’s face on a nude or otherwise obscene picture. Norton protested State Rep. Earnest Smith’s statement to FoxNews.com that “no one has a right to make fun of anyone. It’s not a First Amendment right.” To the contrary, Norton says that mocking political speech is clearly parody protected by the First Amendment.

Easy campaign announcement

While other incumbent politicians and hopefuls are making announcements about why they’re running for the new Macon-Bibb County consolidated government, a former candidate kept it simple.

“I have an announcement: No,” wrote Chris Horne, who lost two years ago in a close race with incumbent Macon City Councilwoman Elaine Lucas.

Horne’s announcement was much easier than campaigning: He sent the statement to his Facebook wall using his cellphone.

Road to the future

The Macon-Bibb County Planning & Zoning Commission is hosting an open house and public hearing for the draft 2040 Long Range Transportation Plan and the Conformity Determination Report. The documents guide how transportation planning is done in and near Bibb County. The hearing is set for 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Thursday in the 10th floor conference room of the commission, 682 Cherry St., Macon.

The draft plan is located online at www.maconbibbpz.org.

Coming together

A transition team working to consolidate Macon and Bibb County governments has several meetings this week.

Committee meetings Wednesday include Technology at 9 a.m., Human Resources at 10 a.m., Laws at 1:30 p.m. and Finance at 2:30 p.m.

The full consolidation task force is scheduled to meet at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday.

On Thursday, the Human Resources Committee is slated to meet again at 1 p.m.

All meetings will be held in the offices of the Middle Georgia Regional Commission, 175 Emery Highway, Macon.

Writer Mike Stucka compiled this report.