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BELIEF (ykadferAjjitL SP TH j h IAI ¥ ♦ SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2007 4A Daniel F. Evans President Editor and Publisher Julie B. Evans Vice President Be it resolved A week ago the U.S. Senate passed a reso lution naming next week “National Veteran’s Awareness Week.” The resolution acknowledged something both sad and significant, which is that many young people are not as aware of the sacrifices of the Armed Forces as they once were, despite the hundreds and thousands who have given their lives, and the countless others who have served with valor. One reason they are not so aware, according to the resolution, is the advent of the all-volun teer Armed Forces, which has resulted in a sharp decline in the number of individuals and families who have had any personal connection with the Armed Forces. For older generations who had family members and former schoolmates fighting in far off lands, this disconnection is hard to understand. Those who turn out for Veterans Day commemorations and Memorial Day observances are remember ing those they knew - and often those, they lost, and the crowds are often mostly older people. We can all do our part in making the younger generation aware of’a history of valor, courage and sacrifice. We can and should make sure that young people understand the reasons for setting aside days to remember those who have fallen in battle, those who fought and returned to serve their communities in other ways, and those who are fighting now. How can this be done? With words. We need to talk to our children and grandchildren at a personal level, to be sure that they understand something of the past and something of what’s still to come, and that they are never indifferent to the courage and sacrifice of others. Those growing up now need to be especially aware of the country’s sacred obligation to those who have been seriously injured in recent con flicts. They don’t need our pity. They need for See RESOLVED, page Letters to the editor Repaving project ‘pitiful’ I have seen a lot of road projects in Houston County over the last 25 years, but the recent repaving of Lake Joy Road from Hwy. 96 to Hwy. 127 is pitiful. The contractor widened the road by a foot on each side and never bothered to clean up all of the dirt, rocks and asphalt that was left on the shoulder. Then, after the road was repaved, they dumped more dirt on the shoulder, on peoples driveways and the side streets, making more of a mess. Many of these already had manicured lawns right up to the road edge. They are now destroyed. This extra dirt, asphalt chunks and debris will also cause runoff problems when it rains and will probably damage the county and homeowners mowers when they cut the grass. The widening of the intersection of Lake Joy Rd., and Langston Rd., was also part of the project. It is STILL incomplete and no one is working on it. The road surface through the intersection is very uneven and bouncy. Even the asphalt surfaces don’t match - A real third rate job. See LETTERi, page Disappointed in voter turnout; taxes Well I guess I can only say I am disappointed in the voters of Warner Robins yet again. Macon had a voter revolt this year that I truly enjoyed watching. Why is it we in Warner Robins and Houston County find it so hard to vote for persons who will represent US rather than rep resent themselves? Any candidate that thinks we should vote ourselves a tax increase like a SPLOST will never get my vote. It is time we send a message to county commissioners and the City Councils that enough is enough. I just received my property tax bill and saw a nice note on the bottom left that says “My tax savings were $237.21 ” - due to the SPLOST I assume. Now how pan that be when based on what my SPLOST taxes are for food, gasoline and other purchases? Remember a SPLOST IS a tax. See LETTERi, page $A HOW TO SUBMIT: There are three ways to submit a letter to the editor: E-mail it to hhj@evansnewspapers.com, mail it to Houston Home Journal at 1210 Washington St., Perry, GA 31069, or drop it off at the same location between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Letters should not exceed 350 words and must include the writer’s name, address and telephone number (the last two not printed). The newspaper reserves the right to edit or reject letters for reasons of grammar, punctuation, taste and brevity. Foy S. Evans Editor Emeritus Don Moncrief Managing Editor Community that no longer exists With some reluctance, I share portions of the email that I received from Pete Donaldson with you. I am reluctant because it has to do with the self inflicted death of Janice’s brother, Jeff, and because I’ve written of this before. And, yet, I feel that Pete’s words are so profound and open that they deserve to be printed. If you read what Pete wrote, I believe you will agree. Albany, Oct. 30. Larry: Sometimes I get so caught up in the “urgency” of the day that I forget to take time to reflect. Thank you for shar ing your thoughts about Jeff. You gave me pause to remember that there are things more important than “being right” or prevailing in every conflict. Jeff and I had only a handful of conversations, but each was more than the typical “jailhouse inter view.” I sensed that he sometimes just wanted to talk. He loved his family and worried that he would not see his mother again. When we worked out the arrangement to go to Bridges of Hope, he said that before he went he wanted to see his mother “one last time.” I wish I had understood what he really meant. The tragedy is that we discard the Jeff Knightons of this world. We deny them the chance to over- yi Interesting week holds some twists, turns It has been an interesting week, with some twists and turns: ■ Residents of Centerville voted to continue giving a 100 percent property tax exemption to homeowners 70 and older. Mayor “Bubba” Edwards asked voters to change the exemption to $25,000 to raise more taxes the city needs. I have heard people ask the question, “Doesn’t Centerville have money to burn, considering all the business that are opening there?” I am surprised how many people actually believe that all the commercial development in the Centerville area is actually in that small city. To the contrary. ■ Most of the commercial develop ment going on is in Warner Robins. Here is why: Centerville’s city lim its are confined to the area on the north side of Watson Blvd. between Vinson Parkway and Margie Drive. This includes Lowe’s, but not Home Depot. It includes Wal-Mart, Warner Robins Supply and Galleria Mall. All of the businesses east of Vinson Parkway and on the west side of Margie Drive and beyond, as well as everything on the south side of Watson Blvd., are in Warner Robins and pay taxes there. ■ Actually, Centerville is more a bed room community than a commercial one. ■ Centerville residents voted approv al of sale of alcohol by the drink on Sundays. There are only two restau rants that can benefit at present. Look Larry Walker Columnist lwalker@whgb-law.com come their pasts. There are rea sons we do that . . . some of them are good reasons and some are not. We lump misdirection together with evil and “just to he safe” we call all of it evil: a pity because of the lives we throw away, believing we do not have the time or energy to look beyond our own problems. We are wrong, of course. There are countless examples of broken people who were mend ed and produced so much more because of the experience. I think you said you knew my grandfather. He raised me from my early teenage years when my parents sent me to him in Tifton to get me away from some truly bad influences in Dallas, Texas, where we lived in the early 60s. My grandfather taught me the values of community . . . values that have largely been lost in our “urgent world.” One of the great est of those values was that the community knew us, knew our “people,” and knew our histories. They knew the difference when we did something stupid, as opposed to evil. They knew when "Remember, son...every veteran is a hero!" "Who said all the news is bad? Scientists this week said that being 25 pounds overweight is good." for more to open. ■ Will Warner Robins respond by approving sale of alcohol at restau rants on Sundays, too? Surely Mayor Donald Walker is not going to let all that potential revenue leave his city. ■ Gov. Sonny Perdue does not like Speaker Glenn Richardson’s plan to replace property taxes with a sales tax and he has gone on the offensive to keep the present system of taxation by declaring that it is not broken, so why try to fix it? ■ The second richest American - Warren Buffett - is worth billions of dollars. He is going around saying that Americans with any more than a mod est income do not pay enough income Up v jSsi : 1 i ißil B Foy Evans Columnist foyevansl9@cox.net HOUSTON HOME JOURNAL we had a problem and they knew if we were THE problem. They knew when to call our families and when to call the law. Jeff-Knighton had problems . . . many of them . . . but he was not THE problem. Sadly, we no longer make that distinction. The “com munity” that cared about him did not know how to help him. How could they? They were too scat tered and they were too confront ed with their own urgencies. The definition of “community” has changed drastically since I had the privilege of living with my granddad. The community that you and I knew as young men no longer exists. We have substituted “authority” for “responsibility,” and we look to government to do what commu nity once did. So, Jeff was locked away for seven months ... just long enough to rob him of hope and lead him to the only conclusion he could understand: there was nothing left for him. Of course, he was wrong. He loved his family and 1 believe they loved him. There is always hope where there is love, but I suspect his ability to see or feel hope had been dimmed by months in jail where circumstances told him over and over that he was failure itself. It is too sad to explain. My grandfather taught me many things; one of the most important See WALKER, page $4 taxes. He said that he should be pay ing more. Good. Let him write a check to the government in the amount he believes he underpays, but cut out the effort to get everyone else’s taxes raised. If he believes anyone in the upper middle class is paying too much, cut their taxes. Don’t raise taxes on people struggling to get ahead and save a few bucks. ■ California is a beautiful place, but I can’t imagine living there. Year-round they have natural disasters ranging from fires, earthquakes, flooding, very high taxes and sky high cost of living. That’s too high a price to pay for beau tiful scenery. ■ Alpharetta and Roswell do not like those trucks used as mobile advertis ing signs. These cities are imposing SSOO fines on them, according to the AJC. ■ The London Daily Mail has report ed that Anthropologist Oliver Curry has taken a look into the future. He pre dicts that by the year 3000 the human race will be divided into two separate species, i.e., (1) attractive, intelligent ruling elite and (2) an underclass of dimwitted, ugly, goblin-like creatures. I doubt that any of us will live long enough to see if he is right. ■ Who said all the news is bad? Scientists this week said that being 25 pounds overweight is good. Millions of Americans probably already are lining up for extra helpings of their favorite desserts. Count me in.