COMMUNITY CALENDAR Senator complains of ‘dark of night’ House GOP tax bill
TODAY
The Moon Gallery, Berry College, 2277 Martha Berry Highway, will host “Select,” a student group exhibition featuring student work made in the college’s studio art classes through Monday. The gallery is open from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Admission to the reception and gallery is free and open to the public.
The AIDS Resource Council will have a display of 10 panels from the AIDS Memorial Quilt at the Rome-Floyd County Library, 205 Riverside Parkway, through Dec. 5. For more information call the AIDS Resource Council office at 706-290-9098.
FRIDAY
Berry College ceramics students will be selling handmade ceramics Friday from 3-6 p.m. in the Moon Building, Berry College, 2277 Martha Berry Highway. This event benefits residents of The Ruth and Naomi Project, a homeless shelter for women and children in Rome. For each mug or set of ornaments sold, another set will be given to a resident at The Ruth and Naomi Project along with a handwritten card. Mugs range from $5-$20 while the ornaments will range from $2-$10. Cash or check only. For more information and ways to contribute visit daviesshelter.com.
SATURDAY
The Berry College Choir will perform the traditional Lessons and Carols service at 7 p.m. on Saturday in the College Chapel, Berry College, 2277 Martha Berry Highway. The event features Scripture readings, renaissance motets, new compositions and familiar carols such as “O Come, All Ye Faithful” and “Hark, the Herald Angels Sing.” Admission is free.
The Georgia’s Rome Office of Tourism will host the 2018 Winter Art Market on Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. at the Rome Civic Center, 400 Civic Center Drive. Admission and parking are free. For more information including a complete artist and vendor list visit LastStopGiftShop.com. For questions call 706-295-5576.
NAMI Rome will hold a free workshop on Saturday from 10 a.m.-noon to help people prepare and present a short message to use when talking to decision makers. While it will specifically relate to advocating for improved mental health legislation, the basic skills apply to any field. Registration is required. For more information call NAMI Rome at 706-506-5010 or email namiromega@gmail.com.
The Rome Area Heritage Foundation will present trolley tours of Rome’s historic neighborhoods on Saturday at 2 p.m., 3 p.m. and 4 p.m. Each tour will depart aboard the Toonerville Trolley from the Downtown Welcome Center, 300 W. First St., adjacent to the Forum River Center and Town Green. A limited number of tickets will be sold onsite for $10 each. Guests can make reservations by email at tonenajdake@yahoo.com and pay the day of the event. All proceeds benefit community preservation initiatives. The AIDS Resource Council will hold a World AIDS Day commemoration service at Garden Lakes Baptist Church, 2200 Redmond Circle, at 7 p.m. on Saturday. The theme for the service will be “Know your Status.” Jimmy Gentry, pastor of Garden Lakes Baptist Church, will be speaking. For more information call the AIDS Resource Council office at 706-290-9098.
Christmas in Lindale 2018, hosted by Restoration Lindale, will be held Saturday at the Gilbreath Recreation Center, Garden Avenue, Lindale. The Christmas parade will be at 3 p.m., arts and crafts festival from 3-6 p.m. and lighting of the Lindale star at 6 p.m. For information about participating in the festivities email restorationlindaleinc@gmail.com or call or text Misty Golden at 706-844-2231.
Spirit of the Season, a family show featuring The Polar Express and the Holiday Cabaret starring the Rome High School show choir, Dance Centre Troupe, soloists and a live pit orchestra, will be held Saturday at 10 a.m. at the Rome City Auditorium, 601 Broad St. Tickets are $5 each and will be available at the door only.
A Clock Tower Christmas, featuring the Clock Tower Jazz Ensemble and guest vocalists, will be held Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at the City Auditorium, 601 Broad St. Tickets are $10 for adults, $5 for students. Student tickets will not be available online.
Christmas in the Country arts fair and bazaar will be held at Rolater Park, 13 Old Cedartown Road, Cave Spring, on Saturday from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. and Sunday from noon-4 p.m. There will be 150-plus vendors in attendance. Admission is free and open to the public. For more information visit small town christmas in the country. com or email Frednsu@hughes.net.
Honda & Suzuki of Rome, 2595 Shorter Ave., will host their fourth annual Toys for Tots Toy Drive & Motorcycle Ride on Saturday. Riders will depart at 11:45 a.m. and return at approximately 1 p.m. for Santa’s arrival. Free hot chocolate, cookies and pictures with Santa will be offered from 1-3 p.m. A new, unwrapped toy or $10 donation will be accepted for rider registration. For more information call 706-232-2624 or email hondasuzukiofrome@gmail.com.
MONDAY
The City of Summerville will host their 2018 Christmas Parade on Dec. 3 at 7 p.m. The parade will be broadcast live on the All On Chattooga YouTube page at 6:45 p.m. Church groups, civic organizations, clubs, schools and business may participate. Entry is $25 and forms are available at the Summerville Recreation Department, 220 Highway 100. To register or for additional information contact the Summerville Recreation Department at 706-859-0910.
The Ridge & Valley Storytelling Guild will host A Time to Tell: A Time for Adult Storytelling on Dec. 3 from 6:30-7:30 p.m. in the Oostanaula Room at Rome-Floyd County Library, 205 Riverside Parkway. Share a story or listen to others tell theirs. The December theme will be “Holiday.” For more information contact TerrellShaw@me.com.
To list an event email RomeNewsTribune@RN-T.com or call 706-290-5252. To have an event listed in Roman Record as well, please send it at least 10 days in advance. Not seeing your club or meeting date? Check the Clubs & Meetings calendar every Sunday.
WASHINGTON (TNS) — Sen. Chris Van Hollen said a 200-page-plus tax bill released late Monday by House Republicans would receive a cool reception from Democrats.
“It was sort of put together in the same way their huge tax bill was put together, in the dark of night,” Van Hollen said, referring to the tax code overhaul signed into law last December. Van Hollen’s comments came at a “Election Impact: Tax Policy in 2019,” a Roll Call Live event held at FiscalNote headquarters on tax policies expected to take center stage in the 116th Congress.
“We’ll take a look at the individual elements,” the Maryland Democrat said of the complex bill released by House Ways and Means Chairman Kevin Brady. “Democrats are not going to allow this bill to be used as sort of a vehicle” to repair problems with last year’s bill, he said.
Instead, Democrats will support incoming Ways and Means Chairman Richard E. Neal, D-Mass., who plans hearings delving into problems with the tax code overhaul in detail, Van Hollen said.
That would lead to an effort by Democrats to try to reopen the tax code overhaul law, though not for the “small benefit” the bill brought to the middle class. But the “tax break for millionaires, that will definitely be revisited,” he said.
Brady, R-Texas, surprised Democrats on Monday night when he released his large collection of tax provisions.
That put the lame-duck session effort to pass a major package of tax provisions in the spot light.
Few features in the bill were unexpected. All 26 tax extenders — tax breaks that had expired last year and were in line to be extended another year — were in the bill, though two of them did get special treatment. Tax incentives valued at $3.3 billion a year for the biodiesel industries would be extended four years, followed by a three-year phase out. And a railroad maintenance tax credit would be made permanent, though cut from 50 percent to 30 percent.
The bill also includes technical corrections to the taxcode overhaul, and changes from existing bills that would overhaul the IRS, make changes to retirement and savings laws. The other major section of the bill extends temporary tax relief for those in declared disaster areas hit by Hurricane Michael which made landfall in Florida in October, Hurricane Florence which pummeled the Carolinas in September, Typhoon Mangkhut which hit Guam in September, and Typhoon Yutu, a late season storm that hit the North Mariana Islands.
The bill also includes temporary tax breaks for victims of California wildfires and the for those who suffered losses following the eruption earlier this year of Mount Kilauea on the Big Island of Hawaii.
Van Hollen, who is chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, painted the election as a success for Democrats despite the growing Republican majority in the upper chamber.