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4A ♦ SATURDAY, AUGUST 5, 2006 M&u&ixm ©aily Ijmxxtuxk OPINION Daniel F. Evans Editor and Publisher Julie B. Evans Vice President Don Moncrief Foy S. Evans Managing Editor Editor Emeritus We'll just have to wait Fishermen looking forward to wet ting hooks in the new Flat Creek Fishing Area will just have to hold their horses and wait a while. Biologist Steve Schlelger says that the wait may be a long one unless “we get a hurricane” to fill the lake. The 106 acre man-made lake bed prob ably will not be filled with water for at least two years. State officials expected normal rain to fill the lake in much less time. But the drought we have been experiencing also is a reason it will be a long time before the lake is ready for stocking. A creek, which was supposed to help fill the lake, has dried up as a result of the drought, so plans have been sabo taged. The Department of Natural Resources plans to begin stocking the lake with fish once it is approximately one-third filled. Maybe we will get a hurricane or the effects of one this fall. If so, fish will be jumping in the lake sooner than expect ed. Mayor gives his opinion English is now the official language of the City of Perry. Why not? Ours has been an English-speak ing country since its inception. The City of Perry expects anyone doing business with the city to speak and use the official language English. It sounds good. And in the ideal world it could and would work that way. But reality tells us the there are thou sands of people in Houston County who speak little, if any, English. They cannot do business with the City of Perry or anyone in the English language. That is why so many businesses are hiring bi-lingual employees. That is why governments must have some employees who can deal with these people in a lan guage they understand. We deplore the fact that it has come to this point in our country. But it has. And we have to be realists. Everyone who comes to this country to work should learn the preferred language of the country and, hopefully, eventually they will. For the present we have to find a way to communicate with them. WORTH REPEATING “Of the six men who have done most to make America the wonder and the joy she is to all of us, not one could be the citizen of a government so constituted; for Washington and Franklin and Jefferson, certainly the three mightiest leaders in our early history, were heretics in their day, Deists, as men called them; and Garrison and Lincoln and Sumner, certainly the three mightiest in these later times, would all be disfranchised by the proposed amend ment. Lincoln could not have taken the oath of office had such a clause been in the Constitution.” John White Chadwick, 1840-1904 Unitarian Minister HOW TO SUBMIT LETTERS We encourage readers to submit letters to the editor. Letters should not exceed 350 words and must include the writer’s name, address and telephone number. All letters printed in The Home Journal will appear with the writer’s name and hometown - we do not publish anonymous letters. The news paper reserves the right to edit or reject letters for reasons of grammar, punctuation, taste and brevity. Letter writers are asked to submit no more than one letter per person per week. We cannot guarantee that a letter will be printed on a specific date. The Home Journal prefers that letters be typed. Letters to the editor are published in the order they are received as space permits. A Journal employee will call to verify the author of each letter. There are three ways to submit a letter to the editor: E-mail it to hhj@evansnewspapers.com, mail it to The Houston Home Journal at P.O. Box 1910, Perry, GA 31069, or drop it off at 1210 Washington St. in Perry - between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. A creek, which wes supposed to help (HI the lake, has dried up as a result of the drought, so plans have been sabotaged. Jewell finally gets chance to shine Considering how many problems political candidates say they will solve if elected it is hard to believe we have any problems left. With school in session, parents are facing the challenge of getting their children out of the summertime habit of sleeping late. It isn’t easy. Many parents are concerned because of the trouble their children can get into through use of the Internet. There are vultures out there in large numbers just waiting to snare boys and girls for many unsavory reasons, including sex ual abuse. Some parents are unaware that there are programs that make it possible to block out sites they do not want their children to visit. However, there is the reality that children at a fairly young age are much more com puter literate than their parents and can figure ways to get around efforts to control what they see. I feel for the high school coach in Rockdale County where a football player died during practice. The bad thing is that this is the'second time this coach has lost a player this way. He hasn’t been accused of causing the deaths, but you have to know how bad he feels. While we suffer from the overbear ing heat wave and ask, “Have you ever T WWfcPtM&’fl NAMtfOR W \ »I'MPLfcM D J f IMEMTS' PLAN A WIEW ) AW MY MOWER OME NOT I ZZI k ©2006 je faGAzerre > syndicate,Tnc Stars, bars do not always define a leader A lot has been made lately of the Air Force first saying it was going to do away with two star generals who run depots - like Robins AFB - and then deciding it wouldn’t. The school of thought in the end result locally seems to be: “Hallelujah! The base has been saved!” “What could have possessed the lead ership on Capitol Hill or wherever into this crazy way of thinking, anyway?” Hmm, let me see. Maybe Loring Air Force Base, Maine (now closed) for starters. The year was 1991. The deadline set by United Nations Resolution 678 for Iraq to withdraw from Kuwait had come and gone. Our unit - along, as you know, with many others - was ordered to deploy. We mobilized all of our B-52 bombers and KC-135 tankers and off we - actu ally “they”, I was left at home; more on that in a second - went. Leading the charge was Terry Burke, our wing commander and full-bird “colonel.” Not "general." He led the unit into battle, bombing mission after bombing mission, refuel- OPINION seen it this hot?” we need to remember that temperatures were just as high or higher only two summers ago. We tend to forget. It has been pointed out to me that a citizen of the United States does not have a constitutional right to vote, which I knew. However, there have been laws passed by congress to pro tect the voting rights of various seg ments of the population and, of course, there is the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. It is a gray area, where scholars, as well as charlatans, like to engage in debate. However, any attempt by poll workers to deprive anyone (especially a protected group) of the right to vote would bring down the full power and fury of the federal government. I’m glad that Gov. Sonny Perdue honored Richard Jewell, the security guard who discovered the bomb and issued a warning that saved lives at the Olympics 10 years ago. Jewell, who should have been honored as a hero, was victimized by the press and for at least two weeks was accused of being the bomber. He was harassed beyond ing mission after refueling mission, and when he returned, he returned with “everybody” he left with. Not one loss - minus a plane. If you just could have seen the wel coming home. I didn’t think the grate ful family and military members left behind would ever stop cheering and clapping for him. Also of note: Back home and in charge of the public affairs office while they were gone was me - a senior enlisted noncommissioned officer. And lest you think I didn’t have any respon sibilities, think again. I orchestrated that welcome home. I was responsible for dozens of media queries, morale videos and on and on - my PA officer and I laughed later about the fact Foy Evans Columnist foyevansl9@cox.net . • v'. . Don Moncrief Columnist Managing Editor HOUSTON DAILY JOURNAL belief. He had to hire an expensive attorney to clear his name. Eventually he was exonerated and, several years later, the real bomber was captured. However, Jewell suffered a terrible fate, his life was shattered, and he is remembered by most people as the bomber. Recognizing Jewell’s heroism at this late date can only partially atone for what he has gone through. Sonny did the right thing. I hear that members of the Houston County Planning and Zoning Board are not happy that the county commis sioners approved construction of a cell phone tower after they recommended twice that it be denied. Board members were upset when they learned that the person wishing to erect the tower had put up SIO,OOO to persuade some homeowners to withdraw their objec tions, which influenced their decision. You have to wonder if, in the future, opponents of any zoning application will have a price tag that will persuade them to drop their opposition. Motorists are going to have to get used to slowing down in school zones again and it may take some doing. Some people just can’t wait to get to the next traffic light, where they can wait a couple of minutes for it to turn green. Speeding on our crowded streets may save a few seconds, not much more, but the time saved certainly is not worth the risk of hitting a student crossing the street. she ate lobster and sun-bathed while deployed while I had nothing but snow and -30 degree or less temperatures for comfort. We, Burke, the “colonel”, and I must have done pretty good. The wing was given the Outstanding Unit Award and I was selected NCO of the Year for Strategic Air Command. Is there a point to this? Yes, it is: Leadership comes from within. (And note: I’m not calling myself a great leader. The fact is there were thou sands who could have done a much better job than I.) It is not defined by what you wear on your shoulder or your sleeve. I’ve known lots of airmen with stripes on their shoulder who could run circles around officers any day in regard to things accomplished. I’ve known lots of colonels whose wisdom far exceeds those with a star on their shoulder. “Yay,” the people cry out. “the base has been saved.” From where I sit as long as they chose a "true" leader, it was never in any danger.