Newspaper Page Text
Page 23 October 15, 2023
Commentary
StarNews / StarNews Online
www.starnewsgaonline.com
“Not just what happened, but what matters”
Susan m. horn
EDITOR/PUBLISHER
ADVERTISING DIRECTOR: GRAPHICS DESIGNER:
Wayne Reynolds Sherry Reynolds
REPORTERS: JANICE DANIEL WAYNE REYNOLDS
Our goal is to produce a quality newspaper.; locally oriented and designed with the readers ’
interest in mind. Letters to the editor are welcomed and should include a signature,
address/email addrees, phone number. Liability for an error will not exceed the cost of the
space occupied by the error. We welcome reader input, ideas and criticisms. Your right to
read this newspaper is protected by the First Amendment of the United States Constitution.
Published monthly. Periodical postage paid permit #16154 Carrollton GA.
Delivery mail/carrier $20 per year. $30 out of county. Send address changes: PO.
Box 680, Carrollton, GA 30112.
suehorn.starnews @ gmail.com
cell: 770-301-1275
P.O. Box 680 Carrollton, GA 30112
© 2023 Palindrome Enterprises
dba StarNews / StarNews Online
Georgia Environmental Protection Division:
you had one job to do, protect our environment
Do you remember the Perdue chicken
commercials of the 70s to 90s?
Successful television advertising in
which company founder Frank Perdue
himself extolls the natural health and
deliciousness of his product: “Perdue
chickens grow up healthy, eating a diet
of wholesome natural foods like golden
com and marigold petals” making the
point “the better the breeding, the better
the eating”. In fact, Perdue chickens consume so much crushed marigold
petals, their skins have a distinctive golden yellow hue: a testament to what
Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin, French lawyer, politician, and gastronome
wrote in 1826: ‘’Dis-moi ce que tu manges, je te dirai ce que tu es”, which
translates to “Tell me what you eat and I will tell you what you are”, or the
shortened version today, “You are what you eat”.
In Russia, Perdue sells its chickens under the name “Golden Chicken”
boasting of the connection between what the Perdue chickens eat and what
the consumer then gets to enjoy eating, too. Nutritional value of consuming
marigold flowers includes microscopic-sized carotenes/carotenoids which
are “precursors for production of Vitamin A”. Eating chicken that has eaten
marigold petals will also put Lycopene in your body, which has been
reported to be beneficial for good oral health and good bone health.
On our front page, StarNews breaks the news of a large, years long, raw
human waste sewage flow spilling into Carroll County’s Buck Creek, its
watershed, and then into the Little Tallapoosa River. The watershed’s
drainage area is 32.4 square miles.
The original complaint of a “sewage smell” was made by duck hunters.
Yuck.
What about deer hunters? Anyone been fishing in the past two decades in
in Buck Creek or the Little Tallapoosa River? Has anyone, in the past
twenty years or so, taken the fish, duck, or vension home, cooked it, and ate
it? If so, were cooking temperatures hot enough to kill any lingering,
wriggling microscopic bacteria? These are questions concerning public
health risks for us in Carroll County, and perhaps beyond our county lines.
What are the long term and reaching effects of a probable twenty-year-long
insertion of large quantities of wastewater containing aeromonas hydrophila
and Cryptosporidium into the biosystem of tins watershed and downstream?
What loss of biodiversity has occurred due to probable higher than normal
oxygen depletion? (See videos of the spill: www.starnewsgaonline. com)
Are there farms located within tins watershed or downstream along Buck
Creek and Little Tallapoosa River? If so, could this affect Carroll County’s
farmgate value of cattle (goats, etc.) if these animals bred for human
consumption were found to have been drinking water containing much
higher than normal contamination? River water naturally contains bacteria,
and soil and sand can naturally help “clean” the wastewater, but, human
urine contains much higher levels nitrogen and phosphoms. Yuck, again.
Major questions must be answered by Georgia EPD. How could this have
gone on for so long? When did EPD last inspect the facility’s sytems? Did
inspections include both the newer and older system? EPD can’t declare
ignorance of two systems, as EPD does the permitting process. If EPD
inspected, how could the older onsite treatment plant possibly have passed?!
What paperwork was shown concerning up-to-date inspections for the
these sewage systems on signing day August 5, 2021 when Blue Stone
Realty purchased the facility from Great Oaks Nursing Homes for S13.9M?
Great Oaks Nursing Homes was owner and operator for 26 years, 1995-
2021. It is my opinion that, on signing day, someone had to have known of
this sewage miming through a defunct system and out past the property line.
I am grateful to Carroll County Department of Environmental Health
Manager Jake Holloway. He is my hero. He stepped out of his job comfort
zone and did not let up on trying to get the attention of Georgia’s EPD,
dogging them with a ‘Hey! Hey! Over here!’ Thank you, Mr. Holloway.
But I am sad for Carroll County, Georgia.
My thoughts on what makes for good government
My name is Jim Watters and I’m
running for a fourth term on the
Carrollton City Council.
I believe Carrollton is one of the
greatest cities in Georgia. In this arti
cle I will lay out why strong, consis
tent conservative leadership has been,
and will continue to be, the key to our
success. But first, I’d like to provide
my thoughts on what makes for good
government and the role of our Mayor
and Council.
Government is necessary in a func
tioning society. However, it also needs
to be constrained as much as
possible to operate effectively
“for the people”. In Carrollton,
we strive to maximize freedoms
for residents, and in return we
ask citizens to take personal
responsibility and be law-abid
ing contributors to society.
The City of Carrollton is a business
that operates on tax revenues and pro
vides various services to the commu
nity such as law enforcement, fire
protection, municipal court, parks and
recreation, cultural arts, and public
works (engineering, streets, water and
sanitation).
The Mayor and Council acts as the
board of directors for the city and
serves as the voice of the community
to our City Manager, David Brooks.
David is responsible for the city’s
day-to-day operations and reports
directly to the Mayor and Council.
Jim
WATTERS
COUNCILMAN
WARD 3
CITY of
CARROLLTON
j.watters@carrollton-ga.gov
Each month the Mayor and Council,
the City Manager and city staff have
at least two public meetings where
I am running again because
Carrollton is truly a special community
with many unique qualities and a local
government that functions efficiently.
We should not change course now.
decisions regarding ordinances,
finances and land usage are made. We
all work for you, our customers, and
together we strive to provide you with
a good return on your tax dollar
investment.
I am running again because
Carrollton is tmly a special commu
nity with many unique qualities and a
local government that functions effi
ciently. We should not change course
now.
Building a great community such
as ours does not happen by accident.
It takes hard work and consistent con
servative leadership. I have spent my
entire career in the private sector as
an electrical engineer and sales man
ager, and having done so, I under
stand the work it takes to make and
sell products and services, control
expenses, and turn a profit. The same
mles for success in the private sector
apply to government. You can tmst
that I will continue to do the job well.
I vow to Keep Carrollton Safe,
Vibrant and Prosperous! I made this
my campaign motto because it sums
up what I believe are the core tenants
of what makes our town
Altogether Original™.
Safe: In Carrollton, we back
the blue! The City’s public
safety budget has almost dou
bled over the last ten years,
from $6M to $11M annually.
We have very little turnover in
our police and fire departments due to
competitive pay, benefits and an
emphasis on teamwork culture. Laws
are efficiently and fairly enforced, and
most crimes are solved quickly.
Supporting our first responders will
remain a top priority for me.
I (brant: Whether it’s Market Night
at the newly renovated Lakeshore
Park, to Mayfest, the Art Takeover,
Taste of Carrollton, Summer Concerts
Series, Locals Live and Movie Nights
at The Amp, programs at the Center
for the Arts, the Carrollton Half
See JIM WATTERS page 31
The (original) 1787 Founding Fathers’ definition of “Misdemeanor”
The President, Vice President, and
all civil Officers of the United States,
shall be removed from office on
Impeachment for, and Conviction of
Treason, Bribery or other high
Crimes and Misdemeanors. ” -
Article II, Section 4 of the
Constitution.
“The prosecution of them will sel
dom fail to agitate the passions of the
whole community, and to divide it
into parties more or less friendly or
inimical to the accused. ” - March
1788 Federalist Papers, “The
Powers of the Senate Continued”
Alexander Hamilton
While expulsion from pub
lic office goes back to the
days of the Roman Republic,
the modem view traces back
to the English Parliament like
most of other American politi
cal practices. The first public
official known to have been
impeached was Baron
William Latimer in 1376 for aiding
and abetting the King’s enemies,
accepting bribes, and extortion.
Latimer was a close friend to King
John’s son. Crazy how family can
affect public office.
In 1787, as the Constitutional
Convention was closing, “High
Crimes and Misdemeanors” were
added to “Treason and Bribery” at the
behest of George Mason of Virginia.
Misdemeanor had a vastly different
meaning to the Founders than is
widely accepted today, hi their politi
cal system, the term “misdemeanor”
would apply to an official using his
office for personal gain or influence
(Nathan Bailey’s Etymological
Travis
PITTMAN
GEORGIA TECH
Beta Theta Pi
tpittman4787@comcast.net
Dictionary of 1721).
Impeachment has been fairly rare
as it has only been used 19 times in
our 240+ year existence. Judges hold
In 1787, as the Constitutional
Convention was closing, “High Crimes
and Misdemeanors” were added to
“Treason and Bribery” at the behest of
George Mason of Virginia. Misdemeanor
had a vastly different meaning to the
Founders than is widely accepted today.
the lead with 14 instances resulting
with 10 convictions and four acquit
tals. Only one cabinet-level position
was impeached for receiving pay
ments in exchange for making offi
cial appointments, but was acquitted.
Significant, since the house is debat
ing the fate of Garland and
Mayorkas.
Four impeachments are recorded
and no convictions for three presi
dents, withholding a special place for
two efforts to convict Trump. Nixon
resigned before the vote in the house
was accomplished.
Recently on the state level, there
was an impeachment process started
in Texas against Ken Paxton who has
thwarted efforts by Democrats that
proposed unconstitutional legislation.
Political impeachment aside, research
the federal government’s successful
conviction of General Flynn of crimi
nal “process” crimes. For both Flynn
and Paxton, their private funds were
exhausted when facing the unlimited
funds of the Fed. This process has
gone wild concerning January 6th
“crimes”.
In the last few years, the two
Trump indictments show a penchant
for controlling our political system
with the Machiavellian purpose that
the “end justifies the means”. In
the first impeachment, a phone
call by Trump to Zelenskyy
(Ukraine) was interpreted to be an
effort to hurt a potential political
opponent. So how do you investi
gate corruption when actions look
to be very questionable? Look at
the phone call verbiage and the
current findings surrounding
Hunter Biden and decide for yourself.
The second impeachment read that
Trump had incited an insurrection on
January 6th. Again, read the speech
and form your own conclusions.
An interesting read is “Profiles in
Corruption” by Peter Schweizer
which points out many of the people
in power today and how they have
used their office for financial gain. He
started with the book “Clinton Cash”
in his investigations of political
corruption.
Currently, the Republicans are tak
ing their turn at the process. Hard to
imagine that any investigation will
result in a conviction in the Senate or
See TRAVIS PITTMAN page 27