News from CommerceNewsTODAY

The Commerce Downtown Development Authority is accepting applications for the Christmas parade scheduled for Sunday, Dec. 5, at 3 p.m. There is no fee to enter. E-mail mainstreet@commercega.org for an application. The theme is “North Pole Fantasy.”

By Susan Harper In the last half-year or so, I’ve had the opportunity to get out and about a little, and to visit Chicago, Long Island, St. Augustine (Florida), Albany (New York) and one or two other points of interest – and I’ve found that one of the reliable pleasures of travel is coming home! I had started to take the blessings of our ... [Full Story »] 

A simple signing ceremony Monday afternoon at the Commerce campus of Lanier Technical College greatly expands educational options and opportunities for high school students in Jackson County. Lanier Tech president and local school superintendents Shannon Adams, Jackson County; James E. “Mac” McCoy, Commerce; and James Jackson, Jefferson; ... [Full Story »] 

In spite of a .79-mill increase in the city property tax rate, Commerce taxpayers still have the lowest total tax rate of any district in Jackson County — just as they have for the past decade or longer. Pendergrass residents are on the opposite end of the chart. They pay the highest tax rate in Jackson County. Commerce residents, counting ... [Full Story »] 

By Mark Beardsley The Oct. 27 Downtown Development Authority meeting yielded two related bits of information: Six new businesses (three of them food service) plan to locate in Commerce in the upcoming weeks, and the occupancy rate for city buildings is over 90 percent. The news of the new businesses is nice, but the 90-percent occupancy rate is ... [Full Story »] 

Commerce could wind up with substantially more off-street parking if a California woman makes good on an offer. The city learned last week that the owner of the former Oxford Building, located on State Street, wants to give the building to the city. The woman bought the building years ago in the hope of renovating it for loft apartments, but ... [Full Story »]