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Yours • • •
Clean Community Comm, praised
Dear Editor
Each year, Americans throw
away 16 billion disposable diapers,
1.5 billion pens, 220 million tires
and enough aluminum to rebuild
the entire U.S. commercial airline
fleet every three months. In 1990,
Japan recycled 50 percent of its
trash, Western Europe about 30
percent and the United States only
10 percent.
Every day we are made more
aware of the environmental prob
lems that plague our earth and make
the continuation of life has we
know it less and less possible. Each
of us has unwittingly contributed to
the environmental problems we are
facing, and each one of us can con
tribute to solving these problems.
One organization in our county
that is doing an excellent job is the
Peach County Clean Community
Commission. As one of the newest
members of the Commission, I am
delighted at the progress that has
been made. Although the commis¬
sion is relatively new, commis¬
sioners, the director and volunteers
have all ready instituted a number
Camellia Festival says 'thanks
Dear Mike:
The First Annual Camellia
Festival was a great success. Many
more people are now aware of
camellias and their beauty as well
as Massee Lane Gardens. None of
this would have been possible had
it not been for community partici¬
pation and volunteer help.
We wish to thank The Leader
Tribune for the great part you and
your staff played in the marvelous
coverage the paper gave the
Camellia Festival. The pre-Festival
coverage was great and the
Camellia Festival Commemorative
Edition was just outstanding. A
copy of the Commemorative
Edition was mailed overnight to
U.S. Soldier in Saudi Arabia
Hy James Turner
Wc have moved at least two
times since we last communicated.
Wc got here today. We worked real
hard to get set up. All soldiers are
asleep except those on guard duty,
Wc ended up one light cable short,
Army leadership teaches me to take
care of my soldiers first. Often that
means going without - like now.
1 his letter is being written by flash¬
light. Reminds me of parenting -
going without so that your kids can
be provided for.
I was able to call my wife today
to let he know that I'm okay.
About three days ago, I got
card from my sister. Tonight,
an hour ago, I hot a chance to read
it. It brought tears to my eyes
touched deeply in my heart. But
pain! She knows that I love
miss her and pray for her always.
She spoke of our lives
childhood to adulthood. But
words most treasured were the
written not by the author but by
sister - that if it is the Lord's will
us to see each other again on
let's make the best of it. I love you!
lUater-'&t'iturae
I THE COUNTY, OFFICIAL THE LEGAL CITY OF ORGAN FORT OF VALLEY PEACH
AND THE CITY OF BYRON SINCE 1988.
P.O. BOX 1060
FORT VALLEY, GA 31030
912-825-2432
Mike Lowom Editor and General Manager
Hallie Rigdon News Editor
Melissa Smith Bookkeeping, Office Manager
Susan Plummer Advertising Manager
Krista Cantril Advertising Representative
Donald Cornwell Pressman
Eric Zellars Photo/Darkroom Tech.
Stacey Shy Head Typesetting
Dawn Middlebrooks Typesetting Asst.
The Leader-Tribune (USPS No. 307740) is published weekly at 109 Anderson
Avenue, Fort Valley, GA 31030. Subscription rates: $15.90 per year in Peach
County, $21.20 per year elsewhere in Georgia, $26.00 per year out-of-state.
Second-class postage paid at Fort Valley, GA. POSTMASTER shoudl send
address changes to The Leader-Tribune, P.O. Box 1060, Fort Valley, GA 31030.
The Leader-Tribune Wednesday, February 27,1991
of programs including Adopt a
Highway, Project Wild Flower,
Christmas tree recycling and litter
control. We are also giving
monthly awards to a business and
home that have made special efforts
to look well maintained. We are
also working hard to develop a re¬
cycling program for Peach County,
But we need everyone's help. If
you are asked to volunteer your
lime and talents on one of our pro
jects, please say "yes. Become
more aware of the problems of
waste management in our county
and start throwing away less and re
cycling more. Much information is
available from the Commission on
recycling, and recycling is not very
difficult; it just takes small changes
in our behavior.
As Chief Seattle said in the
1850’s, "Man did not weave the
thread of life; he is merely a strand
of it. Whatever he does to the Web,
he does to himself...Contaminate
your bed, and you will one night
suffocate in your own waste."
Sincerely,
Judy Josiah
Byron
the ACS Convention being held
this week in Pasadena, California.
The ACS Board of Directors and
Governing Board were very
impressed with the coverage.
Many thanks also for co¬
hosting Chamber After Hours
along with Walton & Walton and
ACS.
We hope to continue the
Festival next year with even more
promotion, better attendance and
more events. Your support of the
Festival and the American Cam¬
ellia Society is very much apprec¬
iated.
Sincerely,
Ann Blair Brown
Executive Director
Man in ana out is becoming
more restrictive as things tighten up
as the terrorist threat becomes
greater.
I would love to tell you of my
family, or about my job, but reports
suggest that a large number of let
ters have been opened and even tak
en.
So shall I tell you about some
my family here;
"Ta" - She is the "spoiled" brat
our family. Hard worker though,
"Toot" - Mother of a beautiful
year old daughter. Writes five
ters a day to her husband.
"B" - Knows a lot about our
sion and works real hard. If he’s
working hard then he gets
ed.
Corporal" - Great attitude.
oh him to do ANY job.
"JJ" - Okay kind of guy.
sometimes. Telling a million jokes
minute, sometimes. Always
his fair share and more.
"LD” Been a real spiritual
for her. We both grew closer to
Lord. She had spent the past
Cont'd on Page 10A
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7
Thank you Mr. Reagan, and Carter
How well we remember the theoretical
debate during the Ronald Reagan years in
the White House about anti-missile defenses
systems. How well we remember the
defense skeptics and arms control pushers
who sought to scrap or curb Reagan's "Star
Wars,” and were successful in part.
How well we remember the problems the
four "S's” presented during arms negotiations
during the mid-1980's. They were the targets
of endless assaults, yet Reagan and Bush
persisted with this advanced defense space
system.
On January 18 when a U.S. Patriot mis¬
sile shot down an Iraqi scud missile ballistic
aimed at the U.A. airbase in Saudi Arabia,
the former president and his Star Wars sup¬
porters must have felt proud. Most
Americans did, and they had little to do with
development of the Patriot, except to have
supported Reagan's initiative during these
years.
History was made that January 18, for it
was the firm time a ballistic missile was
downed in combat. The Patriots success,
and those that have followed, has shown that
the United States has a defense system
capable of knocking enemy missiles out of
a ' r und ® 1 ' combat conditions. Thus the
verdict is in; Ronald Reagan's vision of a
defense against nuclear armed ballistic mis
s '' es was no P'P e dream -
Most °* those in the know credit former
President Jimmy Carter with the idea to
develop such weapons as the cruise missile
and the stealth fighter. The Georgian Started
out determined to cut military outlays, but
Newspapers are a business "for profit n
There are weeks when working for a
newspaper is lots of fun, when people are
friendly and interesting and stories write
themselves. There are other weeks when
everyone is complaining and news is scarce.
Rarely is there a happy medium between
the two!
Last week and early this week it seems
that nothing I did was right and everyone
had a complaint to air - none too softly. I
made the comment to one of my co-workers
that I was beginning to feel like a rubber
band that was being stretched to the
breaking point. Everyone in town wanted a
picture for their pet story - right now. Friday
alone we made four trips to Hunt Primary
School.
There will no doubt be complaints about
this week’s paper not carrying all the
pictures that were taken or all the copy that
was submitted. And they may not make it
next week either.
What people don't seem to realize is that
the number of pages in a newspaper is
based on the amount of advertising you
have and the point at which you do show a
profit for the week. We'd love nothing more
than to run fifty pages a week with six
sections and a gillion pictures. As soon as
the businesses in the area start advertising
to support it, we will.
Until then there are some things I'd really
like our "audience" to understand.
There is a saying in news that anything
anyone thinks is news is news - if only to a
limited group of people.
%
Bob Tribble
Publisher
r - •
late in her term wound up as being in favor of
across the board increases.
But it was without doubt Reagan who
fought the battles from Capitol Hill to the
Kremlin to expand on Carter's ideas and
finally sell Congress on most of the Star
Wars program. As one knowledgeable insid¬
er put it, "Carter brought the technology to
the party, Reagan brought the money."
Throughout most of the 1980's, most
Democrats in Congress refused to accept
the SDI Program. They labeled it as unrealis¬
tic, wasteful, irresponsible, not needed and
that it would not work. SDI critics have been
proven not only wrong by the success of the
Patriot in the Gulf, they have been shown
what tunnel vision they had.
Ironically, we cannot offer our own citi¬
zens, at this point, the protection from missile
attacks provided to the Israelis and Saudis.
Patriots are capable of shooting down the
short range scuds which travel about 3,000
WMMM mk |§
■tJ I
I I Hallie
P I ' Rigdon,
| ^ News
Editor
?
Part of our job is to determine what is
news, what is timely, and what matters.
What goes into the newspaper is determined
by those "yardsticks" as well as how much
advertising is sold to support the cost of
printing an issue.
The layout and design of our newspaper is
geared to having good pictures and a story
that fits it well. It may mean that we crop a
picture and shorten a story every now and
then, but usually we don't. By the same
token, we can't continually print page after
page of newscopy sent into us by a special
interest group or school just because they
think it is news.
If you'll look at the paper objectively, you
will see that we carry club news, civic news,
school news and sports, "hard” community
news and various columns, legals, classified
ads and events of interest to the area.
It takes making a iot of decisions each
i
MPH. But they would be useless against
ICBM's traveling towards this country at
15,000 MPH.
Had the Gulf war not broken out, Saddam
Hussein could well have developed a nuclear
armed missile capable of striking Washington
or New York by the end of this decade. He
had made his move a few years earlier, or
later once this capability was developed, we
would have been more vulnerable.
Of course, Iraq is not the only country
developing ballistic missiles, and this
prompts the reason why out nation must pro¬
vide the security against ICBM’s that most
certainly will be needed not too long down
the road. Maybe it won't be as hard to get the
ear of the Democratic controlled Congress
next time around.
The Bush Administration is presently con¬
sidering one SDI Program option called
Global Protection Against Limited Strikes
(GPALS). Advanced versions of the Patriot
would be deployed on the ground and in
space capable of destroying ICBM's shortly
after being launched or in space. A system
such as this could provide this country with
near total defense against limited enemy
strikes.
America cannot afford to wait until hostile
nations develop the nuclear capability to
attack military targets or civilian populations
in this country before developing a workable
defense system. Saddam has proven that
the threat of missile attacks is real and must
be taken seriously. If there are still skeptics
out there, maybe they should walk the
streets of Riyadh or Tel Aviv.
week as the space allows. It is obvious that
we can never please all the people all the
time. Some teacher will be mad because her
class project didn't make the paper. A civic
group will be upset that ti .air story wasn’t
printed. Someone's pet project was a couple
weeks late in appearing. It happens.
Space is dictated by advertising.
A few weeks ago I had to remind a caller
that I didn't work for her - she was not
pleased.
People need to remember that we do all
we can as a newspaper to serve the com¬
munity in which we survive with a spirit of
public service. But we are not a public
service and are not controlled by the Public
Service Commission. We don't have a
license to operate from a government
agency, other than a business license. We
are a "for-profit" business that depends upon
advertising dollars.
And every now and then we like to do
some creative writing - that's what we get
paid to do. There are stories about people
and things we want to share with you and if
it comes down to your story or ours, ours
may just outweigh yours in our eyes.
Please realize that a community
newspaper just can't accommodate
everyone every week! We try. We appreciate
the support of our community and want to do
all we can to earn your trust and respect.
By the same token, we'd appreciate your
respect and patience with the job we have to
do. It only seems fair.