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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. 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