Newspaper Page Text
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2010
THE JACKSON HERALD
PAGE 5A
Change is coming to everything
ATLANTA'S mayoral
race is over. Kasim Reed
beat Mary Underwood by a
little more than 700 votes. I
believe something needs to
be added; a footnote, so to
speak.
This election was unique.
It was different because Reed
is black (nothing unusual
about that; you expect an
African-American to run
for mayor in Atlanta) and
Underwood is white. Furthermore, Reed is a
man and Underwood is a woman.
Redd’s campaign staff included whites
and blacks. Underwood's included blacks
and whites. Whites voted for Reed. Blacks
voted for Underwood. It was a close race.
I remember when blacks couldn't sit
down at the lunch counter at Woolworth’s in
Atlanta. Before the 19th Amendment to the
Constitution became law, women couldn't
even vote, much less run for office.
Change, change - the constancy of
change.
Politics isn’t the only thing that's changed.
We are blessed with seasons that change,
too.
Beautiful as Hawaii is, I'm glad I don't
live there. From January to December, the
temperature varies very little; it's always
spring in the Aloha State. I would find that
very boring.
Georgia gets cold in the winter and hot
in the summer, but we have variety. Things
even out (moderate) in the spring and fall,
and that makes everything all right.
And what a terrain! The Appalachian
Mountains cover about 1,850 square miles
of Georgia, and the coastline measures 2,344
miles. “From Rabun Gap to Tybee Light” is
a great - and accurate - slogan. Terrain influ
ences temperature.
If you go to the mountains in the fall
to see the leaves, go back in the winter to
see the trees. And the rocks: they are laid
bare when the foliage is on the ground,
and if you look closely, you might see the
den of a hibernating bear.
In the spring and summer, wherever
you are in Georgia, you are surrounded
by beauty. Everything is budding out in
March, April and May, and in June, July
and August, the buds burst into blooms of
many shapes and colors.
It's change we can count on, every winter,
spring, summer and fall... in the great State
of Georgia.
Change is also coming to the entertainment
and news industries, but more is needed.
It must have been a slow news day. I don’t
know why, what with all that was going on in
the U.S. and around the world. Nevertheless,
television and newspapers wasted a lot of
time and space on Conan O'Brien and Jay
Leno's bickering over who was going to be
on when. (Both were affiliated with NBC at
the time. O’Brien is probably on his way to
Fox.)
As I understand it, Leno had been com
ing on at 10 p.m. but wanted to come on at
11:35. But there was a problem; that's when
O'Brien came on.
NBC wanted O’Brien to give up his 11:35
spot and move to 12:05, following “The Jay
Leno Show.” They would call O’Brien's slot
“The Tonight Show,” but O'Brien argued -
correctly - that it could not be “The Tonight
Show” because 12:05 was five minutes into
a new day. My Mama would call this “split
ting hairs.”
Leno and O'Brien started out with some
good-natured bantering back and forth. Then
it got ugly. David Letterman and other night
time comics started weighing in. It became a
brouhaha and got real ugly.
Keep in mind that all this frivolous stuff
was going on - and taking up valuable time
on TV and space in newspapers - while Haiti
lay in ruins and terrorists were bombing Iraq
and Afghanistan off the map.
NBC finally settled their catastrophic
dilemma by giving O’Brien's $45 million -
$30 million for himself and $15 million for
his staff - to abandon his 30-minute show.
Not bad for a half hour of nothing.
All any of these late night “funny” guys do
is a 10-minute monologue during which they
tell jokes somebody else wrote for them,
then sit down and chat with some overpaid,
solipsistic celebrity.
And I'm wondering whatever happened
to Johnny Carson. Now there was a guy
worth his salt - and then some. And I didn’t
have any trouble staying up late to watch
him.
Now I am fast asleep while Leno, O’Brien,
Letterman, et al are still warming up to go
on stage. Maybe that's why I think the hul
labaloo is ridiculous and that - even on a
slow news day - the media coverage was a
waste of time and one big joke.
But I wonder: if it was a waste of time and
one big joke, why am I still talking about it
here? I guess a frustrated old columnist will
resort to anything to fill his allotted space.
But you see, I am a bit older now and see
things in a dimmer light. That may be why I
am beating a dead horse.
And perhaps that is why I miss Johnny
Carson ... and Lewis Grizzard, Celestine
Sibley, Walter Cronkite, Ernie Pyle, Amos
and Andy, Fibber McGee and Molly, et al.
Old age and old memories will do that
to you. Change, change - the constancy of
change. Change is coming to everything.
Are you ready?
Virgil Adams is a former owner/editor of
Tire Jackson Herald.
Daisy Festival kickoff
held in Nicholson
Resident questions need for new library
Dear Editor:
I guess I should not have been surprised,
but I was. In the worst economy we have
seen in decades, with record numbers of
families losing their homes to foreclosures,
the Jefferson City Council agrees to move
forward with plans for a new public library
that will cost the city at least $2.8 million!
I am delighted that the library is being
used by so many people. I had the privilege
of serving on the Library Board when the
present library was built. At that time, we
had to raise $50,000 of matching funds and
we did it through private donations. The
library was built with expansion in mind.
If we need more space, why not add onto
the present library? The cost would be so
much less.
Yes, we need to plan for the future, but
now is not the time to obligate the citizens
of Jefferson to additional debt. Most people
have to tighten their budgets right now and
I think it is time that government at all
levels does the same. Let’s trim budgets
back to cover the essential needs, and wait
until better economic times to start on our
nonessential wish list.
Sincerely,
Beverly Guthrie
Jefferson
Rep. Benton: Cuts likely in state’s FY 2011 budget
BY MARK BEARDSLEY
HAVING PASSED the sup
plemental budget last week, the
Georgia General Assembly can
focus on its most important legis
lation - the FY 2011 budget.
“I'll tell you what, it doesn’t
look good,” said Rep. Tommy
Benton, whose District 31 covers
most of Jackson County.
Two major problems loom,
from Benton's viewpoint.
First, Gov. Sonny Perdue
wants to levy a 1.6 percent “bed
tax” on Georgia hospitals to raise
money that would leverage more
federal Medicaid funds. Every
dollar spent would bring in three,
Benton notes.
“But it would hurt rural hos
pitals and some of the big hos
pitals that are already doing $20
million or $30 million in comp
fees and indigent care,” Benton
complained.
An alternative is an additional
tax on cigarettes dedicated to
medical use.
“In this way you’re taxing the
people that would eventually put
a drain on the systems with what
ever illnesses they have,” Benton
reasoned. The legislation would
be couched as a constitutional
amendment requiring approval
of the voters.
“Nobody wants a new tax,
but this way the people decide,”
Benton said.
Contact Rep. Benton
Rep. District 31 Rep. Tommy Benton can be reached by
phone at 706-367-5891 (home) or at 404-656-0177 (office); or
by e-mail at tommy.benton@house.ga.gov.
For daily updates on legislative action and links to Georgia
representatives, U.S. Congressmen, Senators and other offi
cials, visit Benton’s Web site at www.tommybenton.com.
The tax would be “less than
a dollar a pack,” according to
Benton, and would be legisla
tively earmarked to prevent its
proceeds from being drained for
other purposes.
The other problem with
Perdue’s budget is the governor's
revenue estimate, which calls for
four-percent growth in available
funds.
Benton attended a GOP cau
cus meeting where the chairman
of the House Appropriations
Committee outlined the gover
nor’s revenue estimate.
“There was nobody in the cau
cus that thought we were going
to grow by four percent,” Benton
reported. “We think maybe he'll
have to lower the revenue esti
mate, which will help some.
We've got over 10 percent unem
ployment and people aren’t pay
ing as much in income taxes.”
But with just six items mak
ing up 93 percent of the bud
get (including K-12 education,
47 percent; and Medicaid, the
Regents and public safety/correc
tions, 10 percent each), Benton
said it’s hard to trim substantial
money without hitting core pro
grams.
“I hate to say it, but education
is going to take a cut,” Benton
predicted. “This is not something
we want to do, but it’s either
that or find other sources of rev
enue.”
As for that, Benton said he's
“heard a little talk,” but sees noth
ing substantial on the horizon.
“We’re looking at all the
exemptions as far as sales tax is
concerned,” he offered.
OTHER BILLS
Benton said the long-anticipat
ed transportation bill was to be
dropped Tuesday, and he urged
constituents not to get too hyper
ventilated if they don't like what
they see.
The bill will call for a regional
approach to funding - local option
sales taxes by region, more or
less - and is likely to change
substantially before it comes to
a vote.
Benton said he cast an “aye”
vote for a bill that cleared the
Transportation Subcommittee
Tuesday morning to allow fines
of $75 for people who impede
traffic by driving under the speed
limit in the left lane of multi-lane
highways. He notes that the bill
does not change the law, but just
applies a fine.
“According to the law, the left
lane is not a traveling lane; it’s a
passing lane,” he said.
Benton introduced legislation
last week to allow schools to ask
for waivers to increase classroom
size by up to one student in grades
K-5 and two students in grades
6-12. He estimated that adoption
of the measure would save the
Jackson County School System
“a little over half a million”
dollars a year, while Jefferson
could save around $200,000 and
Commerce slightly less.
That bill is among a number
of measures passed to try to give
financially pressed school sys
tems something.
“All of these measures for stuff
like this have been at the request
of school boards,” Benton notes.
“They really need some relief for
a little while.”
BY SHARON HOGAN
NICHOLSON Mayor
Ronnie Maxwell, council
members Howard Wilbanks
and Chuck Wheeler and city
clerk Wendy Carter met with
several Nicholson residents on
Thursday morning to kick off
plans for the annual Nicholson
Daisy Festival.
The Daisy Festival will
be held Friday, April 30,
through Sunday, May 2, in
the Nicholson park.
The festival will include a
parade, arts, crafts, food and
entertainment throughout the
festival.
The Mellow-Yellow chug
off will be held again this
year. A competition kara
oke contest will be held on
Saturday night with a $1 fee
to enter. A hoola-hoop contest
is also on the schedule.
The city is currently accept
ing applications for food and
craft booths. Craft booths
should contain mostly hand
made items. No retail or flea
market items will be allowed.
The deadline to register for a
booth is Friday, April 16.
To register for a booth or
for more information, call
Nicholson City Hall at 706-
757-3408 or email to nichol-
son06 @ windstream.net.
BOE continued from page 1A
OTHER BUSINESS
In other business at the
Jefferson BOE meeting
Thursday:
•the board was briefed on
how JHS’s scores on the End
of Course Tests (EOCT) com
pares to state scores. In the
percentage of students exceed
ing what's recommended,
Jefferson exceeded the state
average in each content area.
In the percentage not meet
ing recommended scores, the
school average was lower than
the state average.
•it was announced that in
recent years, more students are
taking the SAT than in previ
ous years. In 2009, Jefferson
had 66 test takers with an aver
age score of 1562. To date,
71 students have taken the test
with an average score of 1568.
However this does not include
those who took the SAT in
January.
•the school system was rec
ognized for recent achieve
ments for students with dis
abilities.
•a break in a waterline was
reported in the Bryan/Baxter
Art and Computer Center. It
was discovered when the city
replaced the water meter.
The leak was repaired, but an
increase in water usage appears
on the month’s utility report.
•a pump at Jefferson
Academy was recently rebuilt
and reinstalled after water pres
sure dropped significantly last
week.
•it was announced that the
Martin Institute Vocational
Building is not in the city’s
historic district, so plans to
build an awning over the side
entrance may proceed without
having to make an application.
•there’s been an increase in
the number of bats nesting in
certain buildings owned by the
school system. The issue is
being evaluated, but one wild
life expert said that the bats
are probably looking for a new
place to nest due to the court
house renovation project.
•three additional furlough
days were announced for May
13, 14 and 26.
•a list of old band equipment
was approved as surplus.
•Clara Logue was recog
nized as the Star Student for
the 2009-2010 school year at
JHS. She chose Jim Bryan as
her most influential teacher.
•Clara Logue, along with
Marcayla Hester were rec
ognized as National Merit
Scholarship Finalists.
•Jacline Griffeth was named
to All State band as a flutist.
•Lucas Redd was named to
All State for football.
•Mary Harkness, a fifth grad
er at Jefferson Academy, was
recognized as the spelling bee
champion.
Stringer contd from page 1A
understand. They died. He should have to die too. We want to make
sure he never gets out to enjoy what those little kids never got to
enjoy.”
A sister of one of the victims said, “I will never get over this. My
sister was a good person. She took him into her house and then he
turned on her.”
A niece of the victim said, “These are two beautiful children that
he murdered for no reason. We want to know why so we can have
closure.”
1 START YOUR CAREER IN REAL ESTATE
only $395
Next Class Starts
Includes Book &
Soon in Braseltonl
Study Materials
Day, Evening & Online
REAL ESTATE
Classes Available
Jjjjm RESOURCES ACADEMY
Irera
(678)318-7949
J www.RERAcademy.com
D&rmatolocjy has arrived.
in Commerce
■o
GEORGIA SKIM CAMCER
&< Aesthetic Dermatology
Specialized Medical Care for Your Skin
Ross AA Campbell AAD, FAAD
Jonathan Nix, PA-C
Now Commerce has the closest
fellowship trained Mohs Surgeon and
Dermatologist to Northeast Georgia
Call 706-543-5858 for an appointment
www.georgiaderm.com
Commerce • Athens • Gainesville
Stay Cozy Year Round...
...with our Winter Service Special
Service Your Heating Unit Today!
1st Unit
Only $45
each additional unit
Only $35
NO TRIP
CHARGE
DOC'S SERVICE
678-725-2607 • docshorses@live.com