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HOUSTON DAILY JOURNAL
Grandparents have power, too
Dear Mr. Rockefeller,
My co-workers and
I enjoy your col
umn very much. We are all
grandparents. Someone in
the group asked if I would
e-mail you with a few con
cerns . . . What is Georgia
Law regarding grandpar
ents’ rights concerning visi
tation?
Dear Reader, In today’s
society, grandparents are
probably one of a child’s
most precious and under
appreciated resources.
Unfortunately, in many fami
lies, grandparents are thrust
aside in anger over separa
tions or battles over child
support. What a shame!
In acknowledgment of the
importance of grandparents,
the Georgia Legislature has
provided some legal muscle
for grandparents’ rights.
One such reference you will
find is at O.C.G.A. §l9-7-
l(b.l), concerning the rights
of “third party” relatives,
including grandparents,
where there is evidence of
“deprivation” (like both par
ents being dead) or “aban
donment” of a minor child.
The guts of this stature
provides that defined rela
tives (or any other qualified
adult) can be awarded cus
tody of their grandchildren
if such an award “is for the
best interest of the child or
children and will best pro
mote their welfare and hap
piness.” So, any relative can
file an action seeking cus
tody of a child, if they can
show the child is in some
condition of deprivation.
As stated in a previous
column, grandparents also
have rights to adopt their
grandchild and/or can seek
What are corns and calluses?
Corns and calluses are caused by the
friction or pressure against the skin. The
affected are in which the friction takes place
causes the skin to thicken.
Skin also gets caught between bone and
shoe or bone and ground builds up when a
bone is not in the normal position. In either
case, the outer layer of the skin thickness
protects unusual pressure
experienced by the foot.
Although, the appear
-311C6 Ox corns and calluses
are not pleasant looking,
they are not harmful.
However, severe corns
and calluses may become
infected destroying healthy
tissue or affecting the foot
movement. Corns and cal
luses can be controlled.
Corns vs. calluses:
Where do they form?
Corns can range form a slight thickening
of skin to a painful hard bump that grows on
top of a toe joint. Hammertoes are usually
the location of where corns form.
Toes that curl under cause corns to grow
on the tips of the toes. When shoes rub
against your toe, corns may develop at the
end of the toe. Corns can also grow between
the toes most commonly between the first
and second toes.
Calluses spread on the outer edge of a
toe or heel or the bottom of the foot. A cal
lus that occurs at the bottom of the foot
sometimes is due to a problem with the
metatarsal.
Metatarsal is a long bone at the base of a
toe near the ball of the foot. A pinch callus
WR Area Chamber announces
Spanish business seminar
Special to the Journal
The Hispanic American
Center for Economic
Development and Warner
Robins Area Chamber of
Commerce announced this
week they would hold for
the first time the “How To
Start Your Own Business”
seminar in Spanish.
The seminar is set for
Sept. 21 from 6-8 p.m. at the
Warner Robins Chamber of
Commerce.
The chamber is located at
1420 Watson Blvd. in Warner
Robins.
The cost is free.
According to a release, in
this seminar you can learn
the basic steps and begin the
process of getting your busi
ness registered in the state
of Georgia.
Business registration
organization, licenses and
guardianship in probate
court. The latter is usually
done as a temporary/volun
tary measure (such as a par
ent being sent overseas on a
military mission) or where
both parents are dead.
Guardianship is a common
and inexpensive means of
addressing custody issues,
since the necessary forms
are available from the local
probate courts. Adoption is
the “nuclear” option, in that
it forever terminates paren
tal rights. It can involve
a voluntary surrender of
parental rights or it can be
done forcibly, but only if the
parent is truly “unfit.”
Jim Rockefeller
Columnist
Applying the traditional
principle, “best interests of
the minor child,” the “gold”
standard for any issues con
cerning a child’s welfare, cus
tody, and visitation, a grand
parent (and specifically only
a grandparent) can file an
“original” (that means ini
tiated by the grandparent)
action, or a motion to inter
vene in an existing court
action, seeking “reasonable
visitation.” A grandparent
can only file for this once
every two years and cannot
do so if the parents are not
“separated” and the minor
child lives with both par-
The Stay Well Company
Corns
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The Stay Well Company
Calluses
may grow along the outer edge of the heel
or the big toe. Instead of spreading on the
outside of the foot some calluses press up
into the foot.
A callus may form a central core or plug of
tissue where pressure is greatest.
Dr. Jokhai
Columnist
The Foot Doctor
Employer Identification
numbers are some of the
topics that will be explained,
according to the release.
This seminar will be con
ducted in Spanish by a rep
resentative if HACED. Those
interested are asked to call
in advance to register.
Call Gabriela Marulanda
of HACED at 770-457-6770
Ext. 2229 or e-mail her at
gmarulanda@haced.org or
Assessing Your
Leadership Skills
-SBS/person
ents. This statute does not
designate what is meant by
“parent” if the child is bom
out-of-wedlock and/or if the
parents live together and are
not married.
This sounds simple enough;
except for one little problem
. . . the Constitution. The
relationship between a par
ent and child is deemed a
“fundamental right” and,
therefore, “due process” pro
vides that this bond cannot
be disturbed without a find
ing, by “clear and convinc
ing” evidence (which is just
a shade less than “beyond a
reasonable doubt”), of a par
ent’s unfitness. Essentially,
the Constitution requires
that to initiate a case using
this statute, a parent has
to be proven as much of a
nightmare as if an adoption
were sought; it is not clear
to me what type of right a
grandparent has to inter
vene in an existing court
case (such as a divorce).
So, as you can see, a grand
parent has quite a few legal
tools to cement a relation
ship with a child. Much can
be accomplished voluntarily,
however, involuntary legal
action carries with it a very
high burden. I hope this
answers your questions . . .
Good luck!
Warner Robins attorney
Jim Rockefeller is the for
mer Chief Assistant District
Attorney for Houston County,
and a former Assistant State
Attorney in Miami. Owner
of Rockefeller Law Center,
Jim has been in private
practice since 2000. E-mail
your comments or confi
dential legal questions to
ajr@rockefellerlawcenter.
com.
Bu t ,
what you
are proba
bly asking
about is
O.C.G.A.
§l9-7-3;
this stat
ute spe
cifically
addresses
grand
parent
visitation.
call Frank Feild (Warner
Robins Area Chamber of
Commerce) at 478-922-
8585 or e-mail him at
ffeild@warner-robins.com.
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Building leaders and
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(478) 988-0237 dhooper2&}jiin».com
LOCAL
Building future leaders
in your organization
Have you built a suc
cessful business? Do
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tion of exceeding your cus
tomers’ expectations? Have
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Many entrepreneurs find
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So, where do you go
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Have you built the lead
ers necessary to take your
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not, how can you make up
for lost time?
As a leader of an organi
zation, here’s how you can
build future leaders, and
make “building future lead
ers” a norm in the organi
zation.
Believe that building
future leaders is valu
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organizations fail. They
either haven’t thought
about it, or they’ve never
“gotten around to it.” Or
they believe that focusing
on today’s “real work” is
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You can probably cite sev
eral reasons for not spend
ing time and energy on
building future leaders. I
maintain that none are jus
tifiable!
Studies indicate that
improving the qual
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ity of leadership skills
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Everything rises or falls on
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When the decision is made
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top leader’s skills grow the
most! Why? Because when
you have the responsibil
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a group, you learn much
more than when you are
just a student!
Actively work to build
your competencies.
m Igk
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it. %
Dennis Hooper
Leaders Building
Leaders
ment, folks believe what
they observe.
Establish a process
for making “leadership
development” happen.
Don’t fall in the trap of try
ing to create (or purchase)
specific • training sessions.
No successful leader built
skills by attending classes.
Oh, teaching some particu
lar topic is fine, but that’s
not how leaders generate
competency.
Assessment tools are com
mercially available. Select
one that you will use for
evaluating current leader
ship skills. Encourage your
future leaders to focus on
enhancing their strengths.
Most of them will also want
to address their limita-
Subscribe today
Call 987-1823
THURSDAY, AUGUST 31, 2006 ♦
tions. '
With each of your direct
reports, decide on two or
three specific attributes
that they’ll ■ improve.
Identify action steps that
will provide opportunities
for growth.
Make leadership devel
opment a priority in the
organization. In the con
text of your vision for the
organization, express why
“leadership development”
is a necessary contributor.
After you build your lead
ership development plan,
insist that each of your
direct reports generate
theirs.
Provide lots of encour
agement and account
ability. The Center for
Creative Leadership advis
es that building leaders
requires bosses to provide
challenge and support.
Building awareness and
skills does not occur by
wishing it so. Studies show
that 70% of all development
occurs right there on the
job, but the boss needs to be
a major contributor.
Expect leaders to build
future leaders. Build into
the performance evaluation
process an assessment of
how each leader has devel
oped those individuals under
his or her authority. After
several years of including
“building the capacity of
the organization” as part of
each person’s assessment,
you’ll find that the expecta
tion has embedded itself in
the culture.
From this point forward,
the future of leadership in
the organization is assured.
You can reach Dennis
Hooper at dhooper2@juno.
com.
People
will see
that you
are com
mitted to
personal
growth.
No mat
ter how
much you
preach
about
sel f •
develop-
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