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Friday, December 25,2015
Lake Oconee News
Page A5
Letters to the Editor
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Schools' success vital to community's success
I wish I had
been there.
In Bethlehem.
Tom and Kathy Kelly are
two of the most success
ful educators in Greene
County for the last 15 years.
The Dreamers program led
by the Kellys, is the model
program to assure the
children of Greene County
receive a high quality edu
cation.
Tom’s Op-Ed in the Lake
Oconee News discusses
The 'not-so' Civil War in Greene County
Yes, we have a civil
war raging in Greene
County. Not a war with
guns, rockets and explo
sives. This one is being
waged with words, money
and accusations - pitting
neighbor against neighbor,
friend against friend and
child against child.
Clearly the collater
al damage here is - the
children. Children on
bothsides of this imaginary
-yet oh so divisive- Mason
Dixon line will eventually
suffer the wounds inflicted
upon them by thoughtless,
callused, greedy adults.
Remember, much of
this conflict began when
the charter school came
into existence through the
efforts of certain develop-
Vason thanks firefighters for quick response
I want to publicly thank
the Madison (18 respond
ers) and Morgan County
(nine responders) Volun
teer Fire Departments for
their prompt response to
the recent fires in the Vason
Building.
Their quick and careful
attention prevented the
damage from being much
worse. They also covered
and protected art in the
upstairs galleries and equip
ment and furnishings in the
Antiques Sweets space on
the ground level with tarps. lost.
We are all very for- Madison and Morgan
tunate that Patrick County are fortunate to
Alligood was working have such capable and
early Tuesday morning and responsive volunteer fire
called police, or else the fighters!
1870 Building and much of Wayne Vason
the block could have been Atlanta
Too many questions remain for Morgan Hospital
right for our children all of
us prosper - the focus must
be on what is good for the
child.
My challenge to every
adult in Greene County:
Commit to making our
schools the model for the
state of Georgia.
Respectfully submitted.
Louie Seabolt
Greene County
It is much worse than
that! It is damaging
Greene County at its core.
His actions are fueling this
raging fire. The Chairman
has demonstrated time
and again that he is inca
pable and undeserving of
the trust placed in him by
the electorate. His actions
demonstrate that he cannot
serve without bias.
Certainly the Profession
al Standards Committee
and the School Board As
sociation of Georgia needs
to take action in Greene
County. And don’t forget
that little item - an audit!
What’s going on with our
money? Will they? Don’t
hold your breath waiting.
Yvonne Heidbrider
Greene County
On Tuesday, Dec. 15,
the Morgan County Board
of Commissioners voted
2-1 in favor of an Inter
governmental Agreement
with the Morgan Hospital
Authority - Commission
ers Warren and Harris in
favor and Commissioner
Milton opposed. Several of
us delivered a letter to the
Commissioners and the Au
thority before that Tuesday
meeting, asking that the
Commissioners table the
IGA for 90 days, further
consider that the IGA does
not include requirements
which had been presented
to the public, and noting
that it is otherwise flawed in
many respects.
We noted that the health
care industry literature is
replete with reports of the
drastic changes during the
our school system activity
as well as I have ever
read. You may ask why do
I care about our schools.
My wife and I moved to
Greene County five years
ago. While we will never
have children in our school
system, we will live in the
lake country for the rest of
our lives. We believe quality
schools are essential to the
ers whose minions took
their cause to the Develop
ment Authority and com
pletely bypassed the voters.
They went directly to the
Georgia Charter School
Board where the likes of
Janice Gilmore stated, “I
am the Chairman of the
Greene County Board of
Education...and yes we
are failing to educate the
students of Greene. We
need this Charter School.”
Her damaging statements
were reinforced by then Su
perintendent, Shawn Mc
Cullough, who confirmed
her claims.
The voters were com
pletely denied a voice in
this issue.
Now, almost eight years
after the fact, the same
last five or more years. They
paint a distressingly bleak
picture for rural commu
nity hospitals around the
country and, closer to home,
the reports of failures of
five Georgia hospitals since
the beginning of 2013. It is
not a pretty picture by any
measure.
That bleak picture has
caused the CEO of Home
Town Health, an association
of rural hospitals in Georgia
(Morgan County Hospital
is shown as a member), to
observe that recent Georgia
rural hospital closings, “Is
nothing new, we have no
clue how to stop it, it’s gone
so far.” Furthermore, he
believes that, “This industry
is an extremely complex,
changing industry that
requires a new mindset and
transformation. If they don’t
long-term success of any
community and that is why
I care.
Recently I was listening
to some wonderful music
when the Josh Groban tune
“You Raise Me Up” started
to play. That song captures
the essence of our respon
sibility to support a quality
education for our children.
When we adults do what is
school is coming up for its
charter renewal. Their
people seek an expansion.
Now, residents who dare to
express their years’ stifled
opinions are being singled
out, mocked and denigrat
ed.
We now see adults
bullying adults, and parents
attacking parents. We see
children taunting their
friends. We are witnessing
discrimination from both
sides of this issue.
Sad? No, it is way beyond
sad now! And it doesn’t
help when you have an
elected Chairman of the
Board of Education who
calls for a “show of hands,
who is for LOA... and who
is against.” Is this repre
hensible?
do it, they close. There’s defi
nitely the potential for more
closures.” There seems to be
little, if any, good news.
For example, the latest
reported failure is the
Hutcheson Medical Center
in Fort Oglethorpe, serving
Walker, Catoosa and Dade
Counties. Lenders told
the bankruptcy court they
believed they could make
more money in a liquida
tion fire sale than working
to keep Hutcheson open.
After a four-year struggle to
sustain itself that included
the infusion of approxi
mately $20,000,000 in
private funds and another
$20,000,000, combined,
from Walker and Catoosa
Counties, its eventual
bankruptcy and costly lit
igation, the lenders closed
Hutcheson’s doors at 7 a.m.
on Friday, Dec. 4.
The essence of the IGA as
reported and presented to
Morgan County citizens lies
in the proposition that $25
million ($1 million a year for
25 years) of Morgan County
taxes will be paid to the
Authority for the construc
tion of a new hospital and
other Authority’s costs and
expenses. The IGA has been
characterized from time
to time over the last year
or more as one in which
the County would be “off
the hook” if certain things
happened: 1. A default by
the Author ity in the con
struction loan, and 2. The
hospital was not built; 3.
The IGA would be an “in
lieu of’ agreement for 25
years (that is, during that
SEE HOSPITAL » A6
This column has become
a Christmas tradition and I
share with you once again
this year. It is dedicated to
all who believe.
I wish I had been there.
In Bethlehem.
I wish I had witnessed
the birth of the baby Jesus
in a lowly manger. Was it
really as cold that night as
it is sometimes depicted on
our Christmas cards or was
it as cool and comfortable
an evening as it is predicted
to be this year in Bethle
hem?
I wish I could have seen
firsthand Mary’s face as
she looked lovingly at her
new baby and that I could
have asked her if she knew
her life and ours would be
changed forever. Did she
really understand what
God had wrought? And
Joseph. Poor simple Joseph.
What must have been
going through his mind?
He was in Bethlehem only
because he was required
to register for the census in
his hometown as decreed
by Caesar Augustus. Did he
have any idea what he had
gotten himself into?
I wish I could have seen
the star that guided people
to the manger. I am sure I
would have been stupefied
and afraid, even though
the angels said not to be. I
think even hearing from a
bunch of angels would have
scared me.
I wish I could have
observed the shepherds
as they came pouring
into Bethlehem from the
hills where they had been
tending their flocks, headed
for the manger to see for
themselves what the angels
had proclaimed to them.
What did this rough-hewn
bunch think when they saw
that little baby? The Bible
says they went back and
told others what they had
seen. I wish I could have
heard what they said about
what they had seen. Shep
herding was probably never
the same for them after that
night.
I wish I could have
been there when the Magi
arrived. That must have
been quite an event in
Bethlehem to have three
kings from the East appear
to pay homage to the little
baby and to present him
with gifts of gold and
myrrh and frankincense.
Why those three particular
gifts? I am sure the gold
had some practical appli
cation and frankincense
probably helped sweeten
the air around the stables,
but myrrh? Did anyone see
the irony in the fact that
myrrh would be one of the
spices that would be offered
Dick
Yarbrough
Columnist
to Jesus at his crucifixion
to dull the pain of the nails
and the crown of thorns
and later would be used to
prepare his body for burial?
Was this a sign of things to
come? God’s ways are mys
terious.
I wish I could have
talked to the other people
in Bethlehem who were
there to register for the
census along with Mary
and Joseph and to try and
explain to them that a child
had been born in their
midst that would change
the course of history. I am
not sure they would have
believed me if I could have
even gotten them to listen.
Anyway, they probably had
no interest in what was
going on in town. They just
wanted to get out of Bethle
hem and back home so that
they could get on with their
routine lives.
I wish I could figure out
what has happened to us
Christians since that fateful
night in Bethlehem 2,000
years ago. Where is our
awe? Where is our rever
ence? Where is our wonder
ment? Why have we allowed
the birth of our Savior
to morph into cocktail
parties, Black Fridays,
Cyber Mondays and gaudy
light displays? Why did we
permit this sacred event
to be hijacked by retailers
who make money off of our
holy day, but don’t allow the
term “Merry Christmas” to
be uttered, printed or ac
knowledged lest someone
be offended? And we go
along with it as though it
doesn’t matter? Shame on
us.
This is why I wish I had
been there. I wish we all
had been there together.
In Bethlehem. With Mary
and Joseph and the babe.
With the shepherds. With
the angels. With the Magi.
Maybe if we had witnessed
these things for ourselves,
then we would understand
how special Christmas
really is.
You can reach Dick Yar
brough at yarb2400@
bellsouth.net; at dickyar-
brough.com or on Facebook
at www.facebook.com/
dickyarb.
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