Q: What happened to Jim Kosek, the former chief meteorologist for CBS46?
—Carol Buchsen, Sharpsburg
A: Kosek, one of five CBS46 employees let go on June 23, told Q&A on the News that he intends to remain in Atlanta, and is looking for jobs in the area. The veteran weatherman had been the channel's chief meteorologist since December 2014.
Q: Why was the issuing of the Golden Fleece Award (from the 1970s and '80s) discontinued? It was a wonderful way to expose wasteful government spending; for example, the spending of $6 billion on the "shrimp on a treadmill" study.
—Caroline Russu, Snellville
A: Sen. William Proxmire, a Democrat from Wisconsin, was the creator of the monthly "awards," which he announced in press releases to single out wasteful, ridiculous or ironic uses of taxpayers' money. They continued from 1975 until he retired in 1988.
Taxpayers for Common Sense, a national budget watchdog group, revived the awards in 2000, upon the request of Proxmire, who was honorary chair of the organization’s advisory committee.
“The Golden Fleece Award embodies both outrage and humor as it puts a spotlight on projects that waste taxpayer money,” according to the watchdog group’s website. It adds that “projects receiving the Golden Fleece Awards did not necessarily have high costs, but rather violated a principle of responsible government spending.”
Proxmire died in 2005.
Recent recipients of Golden Fleece Awards include the U.S. Air Force (October 2016) for refusing to release the overall cost of the B-21 “Raider” bomber program, according to the group.
Fast Copy News Service wrote this column. Dillon Thompson contributed. Do you have a question? We’ll try to get the answer. Call 404-222-2002 or email q&a@ajc.com (include name, phone and city).
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