Time capsule

As reported 28 years ago in the pages of The Columbia News and The Martinez-Evans Times, Wednesday, July 18, 1979:

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Unemployment rises

The jobless rate for Columbia County increased by 0.3 percent in May, from a revised 3.8 percent in April to 4.1 percent the next month.

The rate is lower than May of last year, which was 4.5 percent with 12,754 persons working and 594 others still looking for jobs. However, the county unemployment rate's increase contrasts the state's decrease of .3 percent from April to May.

Plans are announced

Despite uncertainty regarding the Corps of Engineers' lease renewal intentions at Clark Hill, Augusta area residents now have the op-portunity to own land on the lake. Local Realtor Tom Asche of Mulherin-Scott & Asche John Van Haastrecht announced Wednesday, July 18, 1979, plans to build the first combined residential and recreational community.

The community, called Plantation Point, is located a few miles past Little River bridge. Some planned features include lakefront property, a sandy beach and natural-looking landscaped homes.

County to conserve

Columbia County Administrator Bill Griffin said all county department heads were informed Monday to keep temperatures inside at 78 degrees. However, Griffin said there is a problem with the county complex in Martinez concerning the required temperature for housing the recently acquired computer. It must be housed between 65 and 75 degrees, he said.

The new computer is used to prepare the county payroll and eventually utility billing.

To accommodate the computer, the Martinez complex will remain at 75 degrees in order to avoid costly repairs.

Other energy conservation measures taken by the county include a record system to determine the fuel efficiency of county vehicles. The county must account for all gasoline used and assess which vehicles are not operating at full efficiency.