Newspaper Page Text
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 7, 2009
THE JACKSON HERALD
PAGE 5A
The unknown Newsmaker of the Year
HE’S A WEEK
late - by choice. He
didn’t want to horn in
on the space allotted
to all of the deserving
individuals featured
in last week's paper.
And he was hesitant
to take up valuable
space in this week’s
edition.
“Why do you want
to write about me?”
he asked. “Nobody will read it.
I haven’t done anything unusual,
interesting or worthwhile. I’m
not famous or anything.”
That’s true. Whoever came
up with the word “ordinary”
must have had this guy in mind.
However, there is something
about him that makes him news
worthy in this celebrity culture.
He is...what? Different? You
might even say that he is nor
mal, and normal people don’t
get much ink or air time.
That’s about to change.
He didn’t make a lot of money
in 2008, but he took care of his
family. He didn’t beat his wife,
abuse his kids, or kick his dog.
He went to his kids’
soccer, football, basket
ball, baseball, softball
and volleyball games,
and their track meets
and wrestling matches,
and never once cursed
a referee.
The one time a
teacher sent one of his
kids to the principal’s
office for misbehav
ing, he sided with the
teacher and paddled the little
boy’s butt when he got home.
He didn’t get elected to any
office or get kicked out of one.
He didn’t get arrested for any
thing; no speeding ticket, no
DUI, no drugs.
Although he didn’t make a
lot of money, he didn’t go out
on strike. He didn’t even ask for
a raise, but accepted his com
pany’s pay with gratitude.
He loved his job, did his best,
was always on time, and was
never absent.
Most of the time he remem
bered the Sabbath Day and kept
it holy. He attended church fair
ly regularly and sat on the back
pew with three of his buddies,
but occasionally went fishing
with them on Sunday.
They went to Braves games
a couple of Saturday nights and
had a beer with their hot dogs.
Away from the plant he
was neatly dressed, but I don’t
remember him ever wearing a
necktie.
He didn’t do a whole lot of
partying, didn’t visit much, talk
ed little, was not very sociable.
He didn’t have a lot of friends,
but when a neighbor was sick or
in trouble and needed a helping
hand, he was there for them.
He did a four-year hitch in
the Army, saw some action in
Vietnam, but doesn’t talk about
it much. He doesn’t hate because
he was spit on when he got back
home.
He is a member of the Lions
Club and does his part in the
broom and light bulb sales. But
he’s never been asked, nor does
he aspire, to hold any office in
the club.
He doesn’t care much for
politics, but he votes.
He pays his taxes. Never
cheats.
His modest home was not
featured in Southern Living, but
it is always clean. He keeps the
grass cut, and has a vegetable
garden out back.
Who is this newsmaker? I
don’t know. I don’t recall seeing
his name in the paper.
He is just an ordinary, nonde
script character. He’s no show-
off, doesn’t draw attention to
himself. When he enters the
room, you might wonder who
just left.
Some folks might call him
a nerd, a wimp, or a timid
Milquetoast sort of guy.
Salt of the earth is what we
ought to call him.
So he didn’t make the news.
But he made the world a better
place.
Because he did what he was
supposed to do, and did it well
without a lot of fanfare, he is
the unknown Newsmaker of the
Year - and the backbone of our
country.
Virgil Adams is a former
owner/editor of The Jackson
Herald.
Comments on Jefferson red light cameras
Dear Editor:
I was pleased to see our city
council table the issue of install
ing red-fight cameras until more
research could completed. There
is so much data from a multitude
of studies that I have researched
that to share my opinion I will
summarize them Most of the
references can be obtained on
line.
The results I read are simply
across the board of supporting
and not supporting the use of
these cameras. Some cities have
shown decreases in accidents
and violations, some have shown
mixed results, and some have
increases in rear-end crashes
and left-hand turns. The Institute
of Transportation Engineers
(ITE) conducted a survey of
selected cities in Georgia tided,
“Experience in Georgia with
Photo Enforcement.” Their find
ings simply could not find a
clear trend in violations and that
crash frequency varies with or
without red-light cameras.
Counter-measure fisted on
the Georgia Department of
Transportation website, I believe
will have a significant impact at
the proposed intersections. The
“Guidance for Permitting Red-
Light Cameras” that is required
by House Bill #77 and utilized
by the GDOT, contains useful
information that promotes the
use of public safety equipment
and practices that is solely for
the purpose of driver safety at
intersections. Some of these
counter-measures are as follows:
advance signal-ahead signs
with flashers, rumble strips,
and all-red clearance intervals.
The GDOT requires that a city
conduct a traffic engineering
study to determine if counter
measures and or design changes
would likely reduce the number
of crashes and violations before
issuing a permit for installation
of these cameras. This is just one
of the many requirements that
must be completed by the City
of Jefferson for the GDOT to
approve the use of cameras.
There also seems to be con
cerns and reservations among
our state lawmakers about the
use of these cameras. It will be
addressed when they convene
in January. The aforementioned
House Bill #77 outlines many
requirements that the GDOT
must enforce and cities must
abide by. The primary purpose
of this bill was to ensure that
cameras are installed as pub
lic safety measures and not
revenue-makers. This is one of
the points that some legislators
have reservations along with the
double-standard of enforcement
that may have an adverse affect
on “due process.” For example;
if you are cited for running a red-
light by a camera you receive a
citation in the mail with a fine
capped at $70. It is only a civil
offense payable by fine, it is
not reported to the DMV, no
points are assessed on your driv
ing record therefore no affect
on insurance rates. If you are
cited for the same offense by a
police officer it will become a
moving traffic violation, the fine
increases significandy, points are
assessed to your driving record,
and you make a court appear
ance. There is a consensus
among our legislators that many
constitutional fines are breached
and gray areas of inconsistent
enforcement start to appear.
Revenue obtained, appears to be
the only constant.
In conclusion, I have a ques
tion that I have not found an
answer for. If these cameras are
approved and installed, and if
over a period of time they begin
to reduce crashes and violations,
then the revenue collected will
also decline. Will the cost to
install and maintain also decline
or is the contract signed bind
ing at the original cost? I hope
someone can answer this. This
was the case of one Georgia city
that installed cameras in 2001
and as of late September 2008
have had to dip into the general
tax fund to subsidize the opera
tion of these cameras. Needless
to say there is a pending pro
posal to now remove them.
In my opinion the use of pub
lic safety equipment is the best
route for Jefferson to take, not
these cameras that only provide
one sure thing, revenue.
Sincerely,
David B. Smith
Jefferson
Says road improvements needed
Dear Editor:
I read your column in the
paper Dec. 3, about the logo
that the commissioners bought
with our tax money. Then, I read
the letter in the Dec. 10 paper
written by Sylvia McCart. She
said that Mike Buffington was
wasting paper. Well, it is his
paper. And I thank him very
much for keeping us taxpay
ers informed about what the
county government is up to or
we would never know.
Sylvia also said Mike doesn’t
know a lot about the marketing
business. Well if he did not,
he could not run a paper. It’s
not dumb to think that it was
a waste of money to buy a
logo when we already have
two. Does the county even use
them? If so, what are they? It
was crazy to pay $ 4,000 for
just two words.
Sylvia says she works in the
marketing business. Well, let
me tell you something Sylvia,
if they took all that I draw
from Social Security to pay
$4,000 for that logo, I would
just have $2,000 left to live on
all year. There are other people
out there drawing on less tham
$6,000 a year and they have to
do without a lot of things they
need. You try to live on that
little all year, then I think you
would think differently. If you
had any compassion for these
people, you would not say that
it is a good idea to throw away
$4,000 for something that is of
no value to anyone. To some
one with a good job, that is
just chump change.
Mike was right and good to
write that column. And I thank
him very much for keeping us
informed on what our county
government is up to. She said
in her letter that there are other
things in the county to be done
and that she would not mind
contributing her taxes next year
for an animal shelter. Well, I
think our dirt road needs to
be made safe. I have lived on
both Chandler Cemetery and
Old Miller Road for 40 years.
These two roads join. We have
worked hard to get them wid
ened or paved. We have some
of the landowners that have
signed to a right of way. But
the people that control the
most property won’t sign for a
right of way. Jackson County
refuses to take the right of
way. That forces the people to
travel on unsafe roads. These
roads are not safe. There are
several dangerous curves and
one real bad hill. It is so nar
row that two full-size pick-up
trucks can hardly pass without
one of them getting against the
bank. It’s only by the grace
of God that someone has not
been killed.
It’s been a good while but
my daughter-in-law came over
that hill and met another car,
she went against the bank and
turned the car over twice. The
car turned over on her left arm
and we were blessed that our
two-year-old grandson wasn’t
badly injured or killed. Even
our road superintendent says it
is a bad hill. Even the places in
the road that are wide enough,
you still have to slow down
really slow or go in the ditch to
pass a car. The road is mound
ed up in the middle so the
water runs off in the ditch and
this makes the road narrow.
We pay the same land taxes as
people on Hwy. 98 and it’s not
fair. Our road superintendent
told my son Mark and me
that it would be cheaper for
the county to pave these roads
than to maintain them. They
scrape them, sometimes every
month, sometimes twice, and
in a few days they are full of
ruts again. We just ask that the
county makes them safe for
our children. There are three
school buses that travel these
roads every day. So I ask the
new commissioner to please
make our roads safe. We are
counting on you. That is why
we voted the other ones out
and you in, so please let us
hear from you about this.
Sincerely,
Shirley Montgomery and
son, Mark Montgomery
Maysville
Appreciates JCCO support
Dear Editor:
On behalf of the members and
board of the Jackson County
Community Outreach (JCCO),
I wish to express our appre
ciation to the Jackson County
community for their support of
our 2008 community activities.
Without the support of the busi
ness, governmental, religious,
educational sectors and private
citizens, the level of our volun
teer, non-profit community ser
vice would not be possible.
2008 was a very eventful and
satisfying year for the JCCO.
With your support, we were able
to award 11 scholarships, bring
ing our 10-year total to $59,500.
Our 2008 annual county-wide
essay contest was a tremendous
success - under the three-year
chairmanship of Mrs. Doris
Brown, we had 1,062 students
participating, honoring 12 win
ners at a reception. The JCCO
endowment fund continues to
grow and we thank all those
who contributed this year. We
also thank those who supported
our other fundraisers to support
our operating expenses.
Our 10th anniversary annual
awards banquet on Nov. 22 was
a record breaker with over 300
in attendance. We are indebt
ed to Georgia Commissioner
of Community Affairs, Mike
Beatty, who served as our key
note speaker and delivered a
very timely, motivational, direct
message to all in attendance.
Our appreciation likewise goes
out to Jackson County com
missioner Jody Thompson for
his welcome message and his
support. Thanks also to Mr.
Michael Williams, Boys and
Girls Club director, and Dr.
Howard Ledford for their superb
dedicated service as master of
ceremonies and banquet honor
ary chair, respectively.
Our thanks go out to the
Rev. Dr. David Bowen and the
Rev. Mitchell Appleby for their
inspirational and devotional ser
vice and their attendance at this
historic event. We congratulate
all of our 2008 award honorees
for their service and devotion to
this community. Our 2008 ban
quet being 10 years of encour
aging educational excellence
was designed to inspire our
members and the entire Jackson
County community, that as we
focus on our future the sup
port of our education systems is
an investment in our economic
growth.
The JCCO is excited about
the work to be done and we are
exploring future service oppor
tunities to widen our scope. This
banquet event is a tribute to the
team work of our faithful and
dedicated JCCO members to
plan and execute to make this
event a success.
And last, but not least, the
generous support of the great
majority of our citizens enables
us to use the gross proceeds
of our banquet to award schol
arships to deserving Jackson
County area high school gradu
ates each year. We invite those
who have not contributed to our
work to do so at any time during
the year. We anticipate that, con
sidering the increased cost of
post high school education and
our present economic situation,
that the need for scholarship
assistance will be great.
We realize many of our spon
sors, supporters and friends
have been adversely affected
by the economic downturn and
we are grateful for those who
sacrificed and contributed to our
work according to their ability.
The value they place on citi
zen volunteerism and education
support is of the highest order.
Again, thank you, Jackson
County and we look forward to
2009 with great hope. God bless
you and God bless our United
States of America.
Sincerely,
Jim Scott
President, JCCO
Appreciates help with
‘Shop with a Cop’ program
Dear Editor:
On behalf of Sheriff Charles
Chapman, Sheriff Stan Evans
and the employees of both the
Jackson County and Banks
County Sheriffs Office, we
would like to thank several
people for making this years
Shop with a Cop program a
success.
We would like to thank all
the employees and manage
ment team at Wal-mart for
working with us. Not only is
Wal-mart a corporate sponsor
of the event, but they are always
more than willing to help us
pull this event off every year.
They always have the attitude
of doing whatever it takes to
make it a success.
We would like to thank
Commerce Cafe for donating
the food every year to feed
everyone. We would also
like to thank Caleb McCoy,
Ashley McCoy, Kayla Mabry,
Savannah Ervin, Kelly Mize
and Calli Savage for donating
their time to also help organize
Fareha Rahim, MD
Internal Medicine
We are now located at our new office at
613 Hospital Road
Commerce, Georgia 30529
Commerce Medical Center
706-335-9411
MCR, MCD, BC/BS, CIGNA (HMO/PPO) AMERIGROUP, AARP, UHC
and do whatever it took to make
the event a success.
And last but not least, we
would like to thank all the
individuals and businesses that
have donated money to this
event. Without your donations,
it would not have been possible
to make a difference in 44 kids
from the Banks and Jackson
county area. It is always a bless
ing for all of us to see how
happy and excited each one of
these kids are every year.
Sincerely,
Clint McCoy and
Mark Savage
Organizers of the Shop
With a Cop event
LEAVES
COVERING
YOUR
YARD?
Now offering leaf removal
starting at $65.
Removal off property by
machine into truck so
excess is totally off your
property.
Ask how to receive a
Wal-Mart gift card.
SWEETWATER
LANDSCAPE
GROUP
Adam Hardigree
706-614-0440
Scott Hawks
706-207-7614
General Liability &
Workers’ Comp. Ins.
This notice paid for with public donations.
FREE to the public!
Weight Loss & Stop Smoking Hypnotherapy
Health Awareness Clinics is
providing therapists to
administer weight loss and stop
smoking group hypnotic
therapy.
For many people, this therapy
reduces 2 to 3 clothing sizes
and/or stop smoking.
Funding for this project came
from public donations. Anyone
who wants treatment will receive
professional hypnotherapy free
from charge.
An appointment
necessary. Sign
not
and
immediately receive treatment.
Health Awareness Clinics is a
non-profit organization. They
rely on donations to make
treatment available to those in
need. A modest $5.00 donation
from each person when signing
in is appreciated.
Only one 2 hour session is
needed for desirable results.
Sign in 30 minutes early.
Wednesday, January 7, 7:30 PJM.
Lumpkin County Senior Center
266 Mechanicsville Road
DAHLONEGA
Thursday, January 8, 7:30 PJM.
Chamber of Commerce - Event Facility
212 Kelly Mill Rd. (Behind Main Bldg.)
CUMMING
Friday, January 9, 7:30 P.M.
City Clubhouse
302 Longview Drive
JEFFERSON
(702) 373-0897
Jackson County Board of Commissioners
PUBLIC NOTICE
Commissioner Bruce Yates will be holding a Town Hall Meeting
at the depot in Pendergrass on Tuesday, January 13, 2009 at
7:00 p.m.
Topics for discussion to include the road construction and
closing of John B. Brooks Road, the county budget, animal
control, and any citizen concerns.
The public is invited to attend.
V