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♦ TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 2006
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OPINION
Daniel F. Evans
Editor and Publisher
Julie B. Evans
Vice President
Don Moncrief Foy S. Evans
Managing Editor Editor Emeritus
It is just the beginning
Centerville is moving ahead with plans
for a real downtown. Architects now will
have to come up with some idea of what
it should look like and what areas it will
encompass.
The idea for a downtown originated
with former Mayor Ronnie Brand. It
sounded like pie in the sky, but enough
people liked the idea that the Centerville
city officials have forged forward steadi
ly-
One wise thing that city officials have
done is keep the public involved every
step of the way.
Public hear
ings have .
been held
and public
input has ,
been taken
seriously. I
Once plan- I
ners have <
something to
show, there
will be more i
public meet- i
ings and the -
public will be
given opportunities to offer suggestions
for changes.
This is the way to do things and to get
things done.
Moving ahead without public input is
a good way for second guessers to come
forward and scuttle an otherwise good
project.
Of course, there will be many obstacles
to overcome once a downtown plan is
approved.
First, there will be the need for money.
A lot of it.
Present plans call for private enterprise
to step in and do the actual developing,
which may or may not include both
commercial and residential buildings.
Developers must be convinced the proj
ect is viable and, for them, profitable.
There are advocates for stores on the
street level and loft apartments on the
second floors of buildings. The belief is
that this would make downtown more
attractive as a place to visit and could
prevent, as one person has said, “rolling
up of the sidewalks at 5 in the afternoon.”
There are some who do not want down
town to be a mixed use development.
These conflicting ideas probably can be
ironed out before the first spade of dirt
is turned.
An important - and expensive - ele
ment of creating the downtown will be
acquisition of the property that will be
needed. Already some property has been
promised as a donation, but there will
be easements and even the necessity of
tearing down some existing structures.
This will cost money. Maybe big money.
Once a design is approved, the real,
hard work will begin.
This is not something that will happen
in a few weeks or months. Probably not
in a few years.
But, if all the stars are in alignment, it
could become something very special in
the future.
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Friday.
Of course, there
will be many
obstacles to
overcome once a
downtown plan is
approved.
First, there will be
the need for money.
A lot of it.
Plenty of opportunities of everyone
Racist remarks about mom-and-pop
store owners made by former Atlanta
Mayor Andrew Young continue to keep
.editorial writers and columnists busy
dissecting what he said. Some are casti
gating him. Some are defending him.
Here’s what he said, in a nutshell:
Mom-and-pop stores - run by Jews,
Koreans and Muslims - have been sell
ing inferior, stale merchandise to black
customers at outrageous prices. He
said there were no black mom-and-pop
stores to serve them.
He made it sound like blacks are fro
zen out and not given an opportunity
to have their own stores. Not so. The
business world is wide open for anyone
with a spirit of entrepreneurship.
The government did not set up the
Jews, Koreans and Muslims in busi
ness. Many of them are immigrants
who took it upon themselves to ven
ture into the business world. Blacks
have the same opportunity and if there
are not any of them serving blacks in
his neighborhood, as Young implied,
then it is because they prefer not to.
For the record, there are successful
black mom-and-pop businesses, but not
enough to satisfy Young, or in the right
places, which apparently was reason
enough for his racist comments. He is
supposed to be a diplomat, but on this
occasion was quite undiplomatic.
The first negro-owned neighborhood
store that I knew of (back in 1933) was
operated by Norman Cole. He was a
Fireman for the Seaboard Railroad. He
and his family owned a little grocery
store in the section of Americus where
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Jackson one of my favorite singers
Those who know me know that my
kind of music is country. The love of
country music began sixty plus years
ago when our family entertainment on
a Saturday night was sitting around a
radio listening to the Grand Ole Opry
out of Nashville, Tennessee.
After 50 years of marriage Frances
has become somewhat of a country
music fan. She has been nice enough
over the years to allow me to program
our car radio into six or so country
stations. This probably should not be
told, but when a station begins to play
a commercial one of the buttons are
touched until country music is floating
through the car again.
One of my favorite country sing
ers is Alan Jackson. Alan was raised
in Newnan which is 45 miles from
Manchester. He was an auto mechan
ic by trade until he made it big in
Nashville. A portion of Interstate 85,
which runs close to his hometown,
has been dedicated and named in his
honor.
One reason Jackson’s music has
always appealed to me is that the vast
majority of his songs are good songs
that young people can listen to. They
carry a good message. In contrast most
of the music sung by singers such as
Gretchin Wilson make me hit the next
station button because the majority of
her songs are trash.
American Profile in one of its recent
issues did a story on Jackson that
was written by Alanna Nash. The
magazine’s Cover Story was focused
on Jackson’s most recent gospel CD
“Precious Memories” that he recorded
OPINION
negroes lived.
Norman Cole was respected by
whites, as well as blacks, in Americus.
I, personally, have a very good rea
son for having liked, appreciated and
respected him and someday I may
write about it.
Opportunities existed, even in the
dark days of segregation, for someone
with initiative and a willingness to
work.
Comments such as those made by
Andrew Young distort reality and target
people of different races and nationali
ties for criticism and scorn and foment
hate. As the song goes, what the world
needs now is love, sweet love and
there’s just too little of it.
* * *
If we are not all blown up some
day, education will be the weapon that
determines which countries dominate
the world in future decades.
And the outlook for our country to be
the leader is not great.
While we proudly point out the prog
ress that our local schools are making
on standardized tests in relation to the
rest of the nation, we are overlooking
as a gift for his mom. The CD is a col
lection of 15 classic hymns that Alan
and his wife, Denise, who sang togeth
er in the First Baptist Church choir,
selected from 30 of their favorites in
the Baptist hymnal.
The album has been a big success
since it was recorded. It is the only
gospel recording ever to debut at num
ber one on Billboards’ Top Country
Albums chart. Jackson also is the
first country entertainer to produce an
album of all spiritual music that went
to number one on the Top Christian
and Gospel Albums charts. He did
this with no intention of selling the
recording.
Jackson says that his mother has
been after him for years to produce a
gospel CD but he just kept putting it
off. The breakthrough came last year
when his father-in-law died and he
sang “Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus”
at his funeral. Throughout the CD he
delivers the old hymns in the heartfelt
manner he remembers from church as
a child.
Alan has been to the top of the
charts with his country music songs
with more than 44 million albums sold
and 31 number one hits. However,
Foy Evans
Columnist
loyevansl9@cox.net
m r
Bob Tribble
columnist
HOUSTON DAILY JOURNAL
the fact that our competition is over
seas.
We are in a global economy. In the
future we will compete, as individuals
and as a nation, with other countries.
Education will be at the core of the
weapons we use.
Here’s something to think about:
Only 16 percent of undergraduate
students in the United States receive
degrees in science, technology, engi
neering and math. More than half get
degrees in these subjects in China.
In a few years the battlefield will be
dominated by China and other Asian
countries.
According to a retired chairman and
CEO of Lockheed Martin, U.S. stu
dents finished in 27th place in a recent
test involving understanding of math
ematics.
Foreign languages are important.
There’s not much exposure to foreign
languages in this country. In China, the
European Union, Thailand and other
countries it is compulsory for students
to learn two or three foreign languages.
Americans have been satisfied to stick
to English and expect the world to talk
the way we do. It is changing rapidly.
The seriousness of this educational
gap cannot be overemphasized.
Many college students in this country
are wasting their time with liberal arts
and other more or less useless degrees,
which leaves them at the starting gate
in worldwide competition. Of course,
students in our colleges probably take
first place in drinking and partying.
Give them credit for something.
despite all the success, riches and
awards he stays true to himself and
keeps close to his common man roots.
He is a private person who reveals
more about himself in his songs than
in his interviews and is a little embar
rassed about all of the attention, Ms.
Nash says in her article. He doesn’t
feel comfortable talking about him
self, he doesn’t grandstand or pound
his chest and he makes his own state
ments in his own soft spoken way.
No matter how the new project turns
out, “Precious Memories” will always
be special to the Jackson family. Today
they worship in a laid back kind of
church, where you can wear shorts
or a suit, not far from their home in
Nashville. Jackson remembers that
his wife and daughters, Mattie and
Ali, were nervous about singing on the
album, but now they are just tickled to
death with it, he says.
Jackson’s mother is the proudest of
all however. “Every time I talk with
her she can’t tell me enough how she
loves it,” he says. “She never was a
real heavy duty country music fan, so
she loves it better than any music I
ever made.” And he notes with a smile
curling under his trademark blonde
mustache, he has released an album
his mom and all of her friends can lis
ten to. It doesn’t have a drinking or a
cheating song in it.
Frankly, not many of Alan Jackson’s
songs are filled with words that could
be distasteful to anyone. In many of
his recordings he will mention God or
Jesus in some way. And that is why he
is one of my favorite country singers.