About Lake Oconee news. (Greensboro, GA) 199?-current | View Entire Issue (May 26, 2017)
A4 Lake Oconee News Friday, May 26,2017 Start the conversation Send us your opinions by Monday at 1 p.m. news@lakeoconeenews.us 11 i| .... trtgf Forgotten day for peace officers Memorial Day is now upon us and the national holiday continues to grow in size and scope in numbers of celebrations and remembrances. In Madison, around a 1,000 “Ride for America” mo torcyclists will thunder- down Main Street for Monday’s gathering in Town Park. The annual event, sponsored by the Calvin George Post #37 of the American Legion, pays homage to the fallen soldiers of America’s wars. Two national holidays honor our veterans each year and sometimes there is confusion. Memorial Day, held on the last Monday of each May, is designed to remember those who died in military service of our nations. Veterans Day, observed annually on Nov. 11, honors the active service of all U.S. veterans - living and deceased. There is also another memorial day in May that is less celebrated and less remembered. And I must confess that, until recently, this special day also eluded me. While covering a special event for the Mothers Against Crime group last week, I heard Putnam County Sheriff Howard Sills ask the at tending audience if they were familiar with Peace Hank Segars Lakelife Associate Editor Officers Memorial Day. Most of us didn’t know about it. In an emotional talk, Sheriff Sills explained that this particular day, held each May 15 in con junction with National Police Week, honors all federal, state and local officers who were killed or disabled in the line of duty. Aside from Memorial Day, this is the only other day when American flags are mandated to be flown at half-staff. “While Amer icans are familiar with Memorial Day, almost all Americans know little, if anything, about Peace Officer Memorial Day,” says Sheriff Sills. “Most don’t know about the National Law Enforce ment Officers Memorial in Washington, D.C. where the names of 21,186 officers who lost their lives in the line of duty are eon SEE SEGARS » A8 So it's happened again Repeat the names in your head, go through them in rough chronological order. A concatenation of cities, places most of us have not been to, all lined up like ever more ghoulish masks in a gallery, an entire area or population reduced to images of blood, smoke, and faces contorted in grief. Manchester. Berlin. Nice. Brussels. Paris. Paris again. Norway. New York City. And on and on it goes. The responses will be predictable, and heartfelt. People will extend love and prayer to the victims, stories of heroism will emerge. Those on the left will squirm uncomfortably when they Katherine Klimt Staff Writer think about 22-year-old Mancunian Salman Abedi blowing himself up and taking lots of little girls and moms with him, supposedly under the direction of the Islamic State, and rush to find a non-religious expla nation for the whole ordeal. And for members of Europe’s ever-emboldened right, explosions at a bub blegum pop show confirm once again that now, more than ever, is the time for the West to close itself off from immigrants and refugees, who pose an unacceptable and existential risk to not only Europe’s people, but her culture and history as well. It’s difficult to imagine what the bomber’s motive might have been at this point, besides that heady mix of noble fatalism and anti-West radicalism that the Islamic State and all ex tremists before them have offered their usually young and usually male followers. A son of Lebanese immi grants, at this early juncture we know little about who he was or what he came from, other than that someone or something convinced him that his cause was worth his own death and the death of others. I doubt that informa tion is ultimately relevant anyway. Any time this happens, whether it’s some shut-in in Connecticut with a mommy-supplied arsenal or a lonely dweeb in SoCal who can’t get girls, trying to parse their motives just SEE KLIMT » A9 "The Russians don't need to interfere with our democratic processes! We do a good enough job of that ourselves." Graduates, prepare for future uncertainties The school year is ending, which means a new class of high school graduates will join those of us in the “real world.” Everybody I’m sure has advice for them. It’s probably something along the lines of “go to college” or “get a job with great benefits.” These words aren’t wrong, but as a member of the “class of 2007,” the following years taught me quickly there was much more to life than that. Within a year, the nation was in the midst of a reces- Wil Petty Staff Writer Nationwide, people losing their jobs, in vestments and hope after the crash of crucial industries. My family wasn’t spared; my dad was let go from his job as well. Parents and others genu inely want the best for their children and future gener ations. I believe that senti ment goes beyond a political one-liner to get votes, but there is a clear difference between when they entered the working world and now. Attending university didn’t cost thousands of dollars each semester. Monthly rent wasn’t sky high, and you could work a job to pay for both. This isn’t a blame game or witch hunt, but that simply isn’t the case anymore. Some recent graduates will get lucky and find a job out of high school that pays enough to handle rent and make ends meet. Generally speaking, that’s the exception and not the rule. It was 10 years ago I walked across a stage at the old Loganville High School football field, getting my diploma before heading off to greener pastures. I thought I had everything planned out, and knew how my life would be 10 years from now. I’d be a successful music scout for a big label, ensuring the best artists were signed. Hell, I seriously thought people would hear artists I discovered on the radio, which still mattered in 2007. It turns out I was com pletely wrong. My mom would always say “if you think you have everything figured out in your life, just wait a minute. God will change it.” No one will ever know if it was spiritual discourse, but I didn’t go to work in the music industry. I wouldn’t have been happy scouting artists for record labels that would sign them to record deals in which they would receive none of the profits. Instead I went to the Uni versity of Georgia by way of Gainesville State College, and six years later wound up at another football field, SEE PETTY » A9 Lake Oconee News General Excellence Award Winner 2015-2016 GEORGIA PRESS ASSOCIATION President / Publisher A. Mark Smith Vice President Jo Ann Smith Vice President, General Manager Mark Smith Jr. Vice President, Circulation Matt Smith Vice President Michael Smith Associate Editor T. Michael Stone Sports Editor Justin Hubbard Staff Writer Wil Petty Staff Writer Dave Brown Staff Writer Shannon Sneed Staff Writer Katherine Klimt Display Advertising Manager Vicki Parker Advertising Representative Mary de Guiseppi Advertising Representative Michael Payne Eatonton Messenger Associate Editor Lynn Hobbs Lakelife Editor Beverly Harvey Lakelife Associate Editor Hank Segars National Advertising Manager Amy Hood Legal Advertising/Circulation Becky Meyer Production and Technology Manager Josh Lurie Graphic Artist Mark Brill Business Manager Cassandra Fowler DEDICATION Battle B. Smith EDITOR AND PUBLISHER 1956-1988 Micky Smith EDITOR AND PUBLISHER 1989-2003 ADVERTISING, NEWS AND INFORMATION Lake Oconee 1106 MARKET ST. • GREENSBORO 706-454-1290 Fax 706-454-1292 Madison 195 W. JEFFERSON ST. 706-342-9833 Fax 706-342-9839 Call 706-485-3501 for subscription information Subscription Rates One Year Two Years Putnam, Morgan, Greene counties $35 $65 Other Georgia counties $45 $80 Out of Georgia $55 $95 Postmaster: Send address changes to the ,1106 Market St., Greensboro, GA 30642. Periodicals postage paid at Greensboro, GA 30642. The (USPS 024-046) is published every Friday by Smith Communications Inc., 1106 Market St., Greensboro, GA 30642. All rights reserved. Reprints by permission of the and individual writers only. State and Federal Elected Officials Gov. Nathan Deal (R) 203 State Capitol Atlanta, GA 30334 (404) 656-1776 Web/e-mail: gagovernor.org Sen. David Perdue (R) B40D Dirksen Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510 Phone: 202-224-3521 Sen. Burt Jones (R) 407 East Second St., Jackson, GA 30233 Phone: (770) 775-4880 Fax: (770) 234-6752 Sen. Johnny Isakson (R) United States Senate Washington, D.C. 20510 (202) 224-3643 Rep. Dave Belton (R) 401-B Coverdell Legislative Office Bldg. Atlanta, GA 30334 404.656.0152-Office dc.belton@house.ga.gov Rep. Jody Hice (R) 1516 Longworth House Office Building Washington, DC 20515 Phone: (202) 225-4101 Fax: (202) 226-0776 Rep. Trey Rhodes (R) Room 612-B Coverdell Legislative Office Building Atlanta, GA 30334 404-656-0325 trey.rhodes@house.ga.gov The deadline to submit letters to the editor each week is Monday at 1 p.m. Send letters and other news to news@lakeoconeenews.us
