| Obama leading local funds race
JACKSONVILLE -- U.S. Sen. Barack Obama leads the field of presidential candidates in campaign contributions collected from Northeast Florida residents, with nearly double that gathered locally by fellow Democratic U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton. With little more than a year until the election, Obama has raised $247,000 in the five counties of metro Jacksonville and Flagler County, which is $55,000 more than the area's second biggest fundraiser, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who leads all Republicans. In third place, Clinton has collected about $137,000. Republican Sen. John McCain, $117,000; Democrat John Edwards, $103,000; former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, a Republican, $57,500; and former Sen. Fred Thompson, Republican, $27,000, followed as of Oct.
Community Foundation has grown over years
When Harmar Elementary School needed $4,000 in additional funds to complete a playground project before the start of school this year, the Marietta Community Foundation was there.
When a local food pantry was short on staples and winter was coming on, the foundation was there, too.
When a young family needed help with new quintuplets, the foundation was there.
It is amazing the way this has grown over the years, said Bill Thompson, president and chief executive officer of the Marietta Community Foundation. Its very nice, unusual, for a city the size of Marietta to have a $10 million community fund.
Since the Marietta Community Foundation was established in 1974, funds have steadily grown and continue to grow.
It began with $500,000.
Regents Formula will Cost State More Money
The Louisiana Board of Regents says a plan to reformulate the way the state funds Louisiana colleges, by creating methods to reward performance, will cost the state about $35 million more annually. The existing formula does little to factor in graduation rates and research success. Governor-elect Bobby Jindal said creating performance incentives to reward college quality is a good first step. Jindal often criticizes the state's current higher-education funding formula, which is based primarily on enrollment. The pending proposal from the Board of Regents mostly adds incentives to the existing funding formula, rather than restructuring the formula. The proposal will eventually go to the Legislature. The colleges plan to ask for an estimated $177 million in new money for next year.
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