Latest news with #CultureandRecreation
Yahoo
6 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Construction progresses for Panama City Garden Club project
PANAMA CITY, Fla. (WMBB) – For decades, members of the Panama City Garden Club have worked hard to beautify the community. Recently, city officials have focused on beautifying the garden club's home. Crews are close to completing the rebuild at the garden club facility and city officials are proud of the community partners that have helped make the project a success. Walton County to break ground on Driftwood Road 'Any time that you have local businesses that are willing to give back to the community, I think the community deserves to know that,' said Parks, Culture and Recreation Director Keith Mefford. The Panama City Garden Club is a prime example of partnership turned into progress. 'This is one of my favorite projects, me, and one of the other team members of the city have kind of taken charge of. It's great that you call it my baby because I, do, have really a lot of value and buy-in in this building,' Mefford continued. Mefford said community use of the space has already been booming, with several recent additions, like a disc golf course, newly planted trees, walking paths and more. But the completion of this clubhouse will cement the revival for the Panama City Garden Club and for the public as a whole. 'A whole new energy, I think. So they're really excited. We talk weekly, but as far as this location, I think it'll be a great gathering place for receptions, birthday parties and weddings in the park. And we got our trails back in place, we have exercise equipment,' Mefford added. NWF Health Network announces first annual Fatherhood Conference The space will hold around 175 people, and renting out the space will eventually create revenue for the city. Mefford estimated the city has saved somewhere between $750,000 and $1 million on the project, thanks to businesses donating design plans, special rates or volunteering their time. Mefford said construction on the space should be wrapped up sometime in July. The garden club is looking for new members. They'll also need help moving into their completed clubhouse. To learn more about one of the oldest organizations in Panama City, click here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
IOL News
6 days ago
- Business
- IOL News
The R13 million library in Orange Farm: A year of unfulfilled promises
The Drieziek Community Library has not seen opened its doors to the community since it was officially inaugurated by the Gauteng provincial government over a year ago. Image: Supplied A state-of-the-art R13 million public library in Drieziek, south of Johannesburg, opened by the Gauteng provincial government five days before the May 2024 national and provincial elections, remains unused. This emerged this week in correspondence sent by DA member of the Gauteng provincial legislature, Kingsol Chabalala, to the province's Sport, Arts, Culture and Recreation MEC Matome Chiloane, demanding that the abandoned facility in Orange Farm be finally opened. Inside the Drieziek Community Library in Orange Farm. Image: Supplied Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ Ad loading Chabalala said construction of the library started in February 2014, with a total cost of over R13m. Chiloane's predecessor as Sport, Arts, Culture and Recreation MEC, Morakane Mosupyoe, who is now the speaker of the Gauteng provincial legislature, on May 24, 2024, officially opened the library five days before last year's elections on May 29. The DA is demanding answers on why the Drieziek Community Library has still not opened a year later. Image: Supplied It was scheduled to open to the public on May 27 and offer lending services (print and online), reference service and research support, study space and support with access to dedicated study areas and programme implementation, including reading development programmes such as the Battle of the Books and the Story Skirmish starting from July last year. Other promised offerings included e-learning programmes such as digital skills and basic coding for children of all ages, children's services, including homework assistance, story hours, and holiday programmes, as well as photocopying services. The Drieziek library was also meant to fulfil various community-centred roles, such as a community centre, which would be a place for learning, socialising, meetings, business, research, and education for children. There would be an entertainment space offering fiction, audiobooks, and online resources for community enjoyment, an empowerment centre providing digital skills training, reading and learning skills, and assistance with online job applications. Other services were a knowledge and information centre supporting lifelong learning through various print and online resources, an education space encouraging quiet reading, learning and research, and community discussions. However, Chabalala complained that a year later, it remains inaccessible and unbeneficial to Orange Farm residents, while funds are wasted on security and maintenance. He said that when the provincial legislature's Portfolio Committee on Sport, Arts, Culture and Recreation conducted an unannounced oversight visit on May 21 this year, members found only a security guard present. 'The DA has tabled questions in the legislature to Chiloane, to determine why this facility is closed to the public and inquire about the amount spent on security and maintenance,' said Chabalala, adding that residents were frustrated because they must commute to nearby townships to access libraries while their own is gathering dust.
The Citizen
02-06-2025
- General
- The Citizen
Gauteng 2026 Grade 1 and 8 online school admissions open July 24
The Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) has announced the 2026 Online Admissions for Grade One and Grade Eight Application Period, which will open on July 24 at 08:00 and close on August 29 at midnight. Gauteng MEC for Education, Sport, Arts, Culture and Recreation, Matome Chiloane said it had been 10 years of online admissions. Since its introduction in 2015 in Gauteng, the GDE Online Admissions Application System has successfully assisted hundreds of thousands of parents and guardians in securing a space for their children entering Grade One and Grade Eight at Gauteng public schools. • This system has proven to be much more advanced than the previous manual application approach, which led to thousands of parents and guardians camping outside of certain schools, especially in high-pressure areas, for days when seeking placement. • Accordingly, the system has a 98% placement rate of all complete applications submitted online for 10 consecutive years up to and including the 2025 academic year, when close to 400 000 learners were placed. • For the 2026 academic year, the department intends to continue to ensure that all learners in the Gauteng Province are placed in schools based on reasonable, fair and just admissions criteria. Online admissions system The Online Admissions Application System was created with the intention to achieve the following objectives: • Easy online submission of Grade One and Grade Eight applications by parents and guardians from the comfort of their homes, offices or any one of the Decentralised Admissions Walk-in Centres across the province; • Queue elimination – eliminating the need for parents to wait in long queues at schools during application periods; • Timely placement – all learners are placed within specific timeframes using a sophisticated system; • Capacity-based placement – schools place learners according to their capacity, adhering to infrastructure norms and standards (learners are placed according to the admissions regulations and the school's entry grade capacity, adhering to infrastructure norms and standards); • Efficient management – streamlining of admissions processes across Gauteng; • Provision of accurate statistics for planning and reporting purposes; • Immediate access to data and statistics to facilitate a transparent admissions process; • Centralised database to inform resourcing needs across all functions. The process All parents and guardians in Gauteng with children going to Grade One and/or Grade Eight in the 2026 Academic year must apply online to be admitted to a Gauteng public school. • All applications for Grade One and Grade Eight learners will be processed through the GDE Online Admissions System only. • Parents and guardians applying for Grade One and Grade Eight must all apply during the application period (July 24 to August 29). • Parents must apply within the application period because schools become full and will not be available for late applications. Parents applying late do not have a wide choice of schools. • Entry grade for 2026 admissions is Grade One. • Parents with children who are currently in Grade R must also apply online for their children to be admitted to Grade One (there's no automatic progression to Grade One). • All Grade One applications will be processed and qualified in line with the admissions regulations. • Parents are reminded that the GDE Online Admissions System currently only services applications to Grade One and Grade Eight. • Applications to other grades must be made directly at the school(s) of your choice. 2026 online admissions application period To apply, parents and guardians must first register on: which will go live on July 24 at 08:00 for applications • Parents will not be able to access the system before it goes live on July 24. • All parents are expected to register, as previous login details will no longer be valid. • Only parents with children going to Grade One and/or Grade Eight seeking space at a public school in Gauteng for the 2026 academic year will be able to register and apply online. • Applications will then close on August 29 at midnight. • No new applications will be accepted once the application period has closed. • After registering on the system will prompt parents to create login credentials (username and password), which they will use to access the Online Admissions System to view and manage their application details. At Caxton, we employ humans to generate daily fresh news, not AI intervention. Happy reading!
The Citizen
01-06-2025
- General
- The Citizen
Register for 2026 academic year
The Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) has announced the 2026 Online Admissions for Grade One and Grade Eight Application Period, which will open on July 24 at 08:00 and close on August 29 at midnight. Gauteng MEC for Education, Sport, Arts, Culture and Recreation, Matome Chiloane said it had been 10 years of online admissions. Since its introduction in 2015 in Gauteng, the GDE Online Admissions Application System has successfully assisted hundreds of thousands of parents and guardians in securing a space for their children entering Grade One and Grade Eight at Gauteng public schools. • This system has proven to be much more advanced than the previous manual application approach, which led to thousands of parents and guardians camping outside of certain schools, especially in high-pressure areas, for days when seeking placement. • Accordingly, the system has a 98% placement rate of all complete applications submitted online for 10 consecutive years up to and including the 2025 academic year, when close to 400 000 learners were placed. • For the 2026 academic year, the department intends to continue to ensure that all learners in the Gauteng Province are placed in schools based on reasonable, fair and just admissions criteria. Online admissions system The Online Admissions Application System was created with the intention to achieve the following objectives: • Easy online submission of Grade One and Grade Eight applications by parents and guardians from the comfort of their homes, offices or any one of the Decentralised Admissions Walk-in Centres across the province; • Queue elimination – eliminating the need for parents to wait in long queues at schools during application periods; • Timely placement – all learners are placed within specific timeframes using a sophisticated system; • Capacity-based placement – schools place learners according to their capacity, adhering to infrastructure norms and standards (learners are placed according to the admissions regulations and the school's entry grade capacity, adhering to infrastructure norms and standards); • Efficient management – streamlining of admissions processes across Gauteng; • Provision of accurate statistics for planning and reporting purposes; • Immediate access to data and statistics to facilitate a transparent admissions process; • Centralised database to inform resourcing needs across all functions. The process All parents and guardians in Gauteng with children going to Grade One and/or Grade Eight in the 2026 Academic year must apply online to be admitted to a Gauteng public school. • All applications for Grade One and Grade Eight learners will be processed through the GDE Online Admissions System only. • Parents and guardians applying for Grade One and Grade Eight must all apply during the application period (July 24 to August 29). • Parents must apply within the application period because schools become full and will not be available for late applications. Parents applying late do not have a wide choice of schools. • Entry grade for 2026 admissions is Grade One. • Parents with children who are currently in Grade R must also apply online for their children to be admitted to Grade One (there's no automatic progression to Grade One). • All Grade One applications will be processed and qualified in line with the admissions regulations. • Parents are reminded that the GDE Online Admissions System currently only services applications to Grade One and Grade Eight. • Applications to other grades must be made directly at the school(s) of your choice. 2026 online admissions application period To apply, parents and guardians must first register on: which will go live on July 24 at 08:00 for applications • Parents will not be able to access the system before it goes live on July 24. • All parents are expected to register, as previous login details will no longer be valid. • Only parents with children going to Grade One and/or Grade Eight seeking space at a public school in Gauteng for the 2026 academic year will be able to register and apply online. • Applications will then close on August 29 at midnight. • No new applications will be accepted once the application period has closed. • After registering on the system will prompt parents to create login credentials (username and password), which they will use to access the Online Admissions System to view and manage their application details. • Parents must remember to read and accept the terms and conditions. At Caxton, we employ humans to generate daily fresh news, not AI intervention. Happy reading!
CBC
14-02-2025
- Business
- CBC
Marble Mountain is back up for sale with launch of new RFP, minister says
The Newfoundland and Labrador government has issued a new request for proposals, seeking a buyer for the Marble Mountain Ski Resort. Speaking with CBC News on Thursday, Tourism, Arts, Culture and Recreation Minister Steve Crocker said the province hopes to bring the ski hill into the future with an investor in the private sector. A similar RFP was shared in June 2018, but was cancelled in July 2021 when only three submissions were received. An expression of interest for the purchase or long-term lease of the resort was also issued this past August, which Crocker said garnered two interested parties. "We sort of scoped what an RFP would look like from their expression of interest," he said Thursday. "Those parties now do have the opportunity to come back in the RFP process, along with others." Marble Mountain, currently owned by the province, is the largest ski resort in Atlantic Canada and averages around 65,000 skiers annually, according to a news release. But with a changing climate, Crocker said the resort's future needs to be a year-round enterprise. "With climate change and challenges around ... how our seasons have changed and how our winter has certainly changed … we feel that in order for Marble Mountain to be successful going forward, it would have to evolve into more than just a ski hill," he said. The sale of Marble Mountain was recommended by both the premier's economic recovery team and the 2022 review of provincial assets performed by multinational bank and financial services company Rothschild and Co. Crocker said the province has given the Steady Brook, N.L., resort around $1.2 million per year since 2016. He said the province remains committed to placing the resort in the hands of the private sector. "Government is not the proper operator of a ski hill," he said. "There are people out there that keenly see the value of Marble Mountain.... We're optimistic that we can [find] somebody interested in purchasing Marble Mountain." Steady Brook Mayor Bill Dawson told CBC News he's eager to see where the RFP goes, calling the hill a key economic driver for western Newfoundland. "We want to see a vision of partnerships with proponents at the hill, at Marble, that will bring long-term employment, you know? Big vision, big jobs, lots of opportunity," he said. "You want to bear fruit ... let's shake the tree and see what comes out of it." The province's RFP is scheduled to close on April 9.
