Newspaper Page Text
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 30, 2010
THE JACKSON HERALD
PAGE 5A
Living in the age of incivility
SOMETHING’S
bothering me. As
this unfolds, perhaps
you can determine
what it is. If you do,
please let me know.
What triggered
this outburst of
apprehension was
a recent column by
Leonard Pitts of
The Miami Herald.
Leonard talked
about “an era when fame has
been downsized and cheap
ened until it is a thing seem
ingly anyone can have if they
are, or do something, outland
ish enough.”
Why do I agree with that?
I guess it's because we’ve
become a nation of citizens
(citizens?) who don’t know
how to behave. Of course,
that’s my opinion. Ok, so I’m
hung up on civility. On sec
ond thought, that may not be
my problem.
Living in the limelight is
nothing new. Fifteen minutes
of fame has been a long-
sought goal. I suppose our
need (desire) for attention
began with Adam and Eve in
the Garden.
Let’s fast forward to this
present age of incivility.
Remember Old Blue Eyes?
When he, the Beatles and
Elvis walked on stage, the
audience went nuts. You never
saw and heard such frenzy
and screaming.
Of course, the audience was
made up mostly of teenage
girls, and teenage girls can
call attention to themselves
like nobody else. It was like
every one of them was trying
to out-frenzy and out-scream
all the others.
Now everybody’s doing
it. It’s not just teenage girls
and it’s not just where some
rap star or celebrity walks on
stage. Grown folks - adults, no
less - are screaming and hol
lering and gyrating and doing
whatever it takes to be sure
they are noticed. And it may
be at some event as serious as
a high school graduation or as
solemn as a funeral.
And if the screaming, hol
lering and gyrating are not
enough, there are the ever
present signs. The signs are
creative and carry a variety
of messages, one of which is,
“Look at me.” They are very
much in evidence at politi
cal rallies. If their purpose is
to promote intelligent, calm,
reasonable discussion of can
didates and issues. I’m afraid
they miss the boat. They only
serve to elevate the frenzy.
Some of them are downright
ugly and hateful.
But the best (excuse me,
the worst) is yet to come. The
screaming, hollering, gyrating
and frenzy is contagious.
Before long they’ll be
breaking out Vuvuzelas over
here. Vuvuzelas are those
loud, annoying, irritating,
obnoxious horns everybody
is tooting at the World Cup
soccer competition in South
Africa. The incessant drone
sounds like a zillion bees fly
ing in one ear and out the
other.
Sort of reminds me of the
racket bystanders make on
New York City’s Plaza while
Matt, Ann and A1 are trying
to talk. When Matt introduc
es the entertainment
of the morning, the
frenzy goes into high
gear. The screaming,
gyrating and sign
waving reaches a
fever pitch, and you
realize that those
people - young and
old alike - are there
for one reason. They
want to be sure that
the folks back home
see and hear them.
If you watch the Today
Show on NBC, you know
what I am talking about.
It didn’t use to be that way.
What happened was TV pro
ducers and directors started
watching Jerry Springer and
decided incivility is the way
to go if you want ratings to
soar.
So the folks running The
Price is Right abandoned
all semblance of appropri
ate dress and behavior, and
started recruiting contestants
who could holler the loudest
and gyrate (wiggle all over),
and put the strongest bear hug
on Drew Carey. They chose
Drew to replace Bob Barker
(a bad mistake) because Drew
most resembled the over
weight, wiggling, jumping-
for-joy contestants.
I can’t figure out why those
voluptuous, sexy, short-skirt
ed models are on that show
unless they want to be sure
Bubba watches.
The Price is Right used to be
educational. And it espoused
a good cause. Remember
how Bob ended the show by
urging us to spay or neuter
our pets? Now, all that show
does is encourage incivil
ity and behavior that’s got
our grandmothers and great
grandmothers turning over in
their graves.
What really bothers me is
that Pat and Vanna are catch
ing on. I told you this stuff
is contagious. The Wheel of
Fortune has become more
slapstick comedy and less
educational every day. The
producers and directors are
paying less attention to how
the contestant look and what
they know and more to how
excited and silly they can
be when they come up with
the right letter. When some
body makes it to the bonus
round and wins big money, it
reminds me more and more of
Drew and those rowdy con
testant on The Price is Right.
As of right now, Jeopardy is
about the only civilized game
show on TV. But you can bet
Alex is watching. And like
I said, screaming, hollering,
gyrating and frenzy is catch
ing.
PS. You don’t have to tell
me what’s bothering me. As
this unfolded, I figured it out
all by myself. I’ve reached
the stage and age in life when
I don’t get very excited about
anything anymore. When I
sit down in my easy chair to
watch TV, I don’t want any
Vuvuzelas, voluptuous broads,
hollering, kicking, screaming,
gyrating or incivility to wake
me up. Some of you old cod
gers out there understand. You
young folks don’t have a clue.
But just wait ....
Virgil Adams is a former
owner/editor of The Jackson
Herald.
virgil
adams
JEFFERSON TIRE
& BATTERY
367-9210
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• Oil Change • Tune-ups
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• Replace CV Joints
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HOURS:
Mon.-Fri. 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Sat. & Sun. Closed
Appreciates life saving work of paramedics
Dear Editor:
On June 23, my father-in-law
was outside working and started
having severe chest pains. My
mother-in-law called 911 and
EMS quickly responded. Had
it not have been for their quick
response and life saving skills,
my father-in-law would not
have made it.
I would like send many,
many thanks to the paramedics
on Med 3 for their hard work.
The names of the medics are S.
Adams and G. Webb.
I spoke with the EMS super
visor and he informed me that
Jackson County has the technol
ogy on board each of their units
that allows the medics to send
the EKG of the patient directly
to the receiving hospital. Had
this not been available to the
patient, the quick response that
was needed could not have
been delivered upon arrival at
the hospital.
My father-in-law bypassed
the emergency room and went
straight to the Cath Lab for
emergency procedure.
My family and I are very
blessed that we get more time
with him.
May God Bless each and
every one of the men and
women that serve our county.
Thank you again.
Sincerely,
Julie Doster
Jackson officially named Svork ready’ county
IT’S FINALLY official.
Jackson County is a certified
Work Ready county.
Gov. Sonny Perdue made
the announcement Tuesday,
naming Jackson and 10 other
counties.
Certification designates “that
a county has the skilled work
force needed to meet business
demands and drive economic
growth,” said the governor’s
news release. “Work Ready
Communities also have the
educational foundation to
build a pipeline of workers for
economic development.”
“By certifying and improv
ing the skills of their residents
with the Work Ready assess
ment and gap training, these
communities are setting the
stage for attracting business
es to their communities and
offering job seekers meaning
ful employment,” said Perdue.
“Businesses recognizing the
potential of Work Ready bol
ster Georgia’s ability to com
pete for new industries.”
Getting certified required
that Jackson County certify
hundreds of workers via the
Work Keys tests. Howard
Ledford, coordinator of
instruction at Lanier Technical
College was the driving force
in the Jackson County effort,
which required two years.
With 1,113 persons being
certified Jackson County met
118 percent of its goal. It also
increased its high school grad
uation rate from 71.7 percent
to 76.9 percent.
To earn the Certified Work
Ready Community designa
tion, counties must dem
onstrate a commitment to
improving public high school
graduation rates through a
measurable increase, and
show a specified percentage
of the available and current
workforce have obtained Work
Ready Certificates.
Braselton’s visitor’s bureau authority approves budget
BY KERRI TESTEMENT
THE BRASELTON Visitor’s Bureau
Authority approved its $322,000 budget
for the next fiscal year, which starts July
1.
The five-member authority approved
its 2011 fiscal year during a brief called
meeting on Tuesday. The group typi
cally only meets twice a year for a state-
mandated public hearing on a proposed
budget and its adoption.
The visitor’s bureau authority gets most
of its money from a two percent hotel/
motel tax, which is expected to generate
$255,000 next fiscal year — compared to
$284,000 this year.
Braselton also has a three percent hotel/
motel tax, which is used in the town’s
general fund budget.
The authority will dip $50,000 into
reserve funding for the FYE 2011 bud
get. The new budget is an almost 10
percent increase from the FYE 2009 of
$290,750.
A large portion of the authority’s money
— $130,000 — will be used for public
relations and special events, such as fes
tivals in the town. The authority will also
spend $75,000 on marketing.
And the $62,000 budgeted for historic
repairs and maintenance of town-owned
buildings will mostly finance an effort to
stabilize a historic gristmill in downtown
Braselton before a road project begins.
Members of the Braselton Visitor’s
Bureau Authority are: Jennifer Dees,
town manager; Kevin King, president of
YearOne; Doug Rollins, vice president
of sales and marketing for Chateau Elan;
Peggy B. Slappey, town council member;
and Dawn Thompson, visitor’s center
coordinator for Mayfield Dairy.
Banks continued from page 1A
While the bank saw growth
in both assets and deposits, it
lost $1 million in the first quar
ter and saw its troubled assets
climb from $39.5 million in
March 2009 to $64.6 million in
March 2010. Although based in
Northwest Georgia, the bank has
branches in Jackson and Banks
counties and other Northeast
Georgia locations.
PEOPLES BANK
STOCK OFFERING
At Winder’s The Peoples
Bank, leaders are preparing a
major stock offering to shore up
the banks finances, according to
CEO Chris Maddox.
“We are in the process of try
ing to get started to do a capital
raise, a stock offering, which
means we’ll be looking for
investors to help us get through
this really hard time,” he said.
Maddox said there are no plans
to sell the bank, but that follow
ing the stock offering, his fam
ily’s long-time ownership of the
bank could be diluted.
“We have a majority (of
stock), but there are many oth
ers,” he said. “So we may not
have a majority, but we will still
be shareholders and we will be
investing in the bank. We are
going out to have new share
holders. We will have a stock
offering and have existing and
new shareholders.”
This is the first time in the
bank’s 84-year history that it has
sought new stockowners.
“We never needed to in 84
years,” Maddox said of the
offering. “Eighty-four years
ago, everybody raised capital
and started the bank. Since then,
there hasn’t been a stock offer
ing.”
The problems at Peoples Bank
connect back to a sour real estate
market in Northeast Georgia.
The bank remained on the high
Texas ratio list in March at 232
percent, up from 64 percent a
year ago. With 44 percent of
the local market, Maddox said
the bank had been hit particu
larly hard by Barrow’s economic
downturn.
“We didn’t make loans out
side our community in all these
other places,” Maddox said. “We
made loans in our community,
and many of them went bad
because of our market. That’s
important, and that’s who we
are.”
While the bank has set aside
nearly twice as much funds
this year for loan losses than a
year ago, it also saw its troubled
assets climb to $55 million from
$26.7 million in March 2009.
The bank had a first quarter loss
of $1.7 million, three times its
loss in the first quarter of 2009.
Three area banks have failed
since the recession began, the
largest being Community Bank
& Trust, which failed earlier this
year. Last year. Freedom Bank
based in Commerce and First
Piedmont Bank based in Winder
failed. All three banks were taken
over by other institutions.
Other banks have left the mar
ket or curtailed operations in the
area in the wake of the housing
bust and others have heavy fore
closure properties they are deal
ing with. Newer banks, however,
appear to have missed much
of the downturn and remain
strong based on March financial
reports.
Some 78 banks in the state
have ratios above 100 and over
400 banks nationwide have trou
bled ratios above that level.
DFCS continued from page 1A
ty expense reports for March, April and
May. March totaled $1,868, April was
$1,366 and May was $1,500. Franklin said
as of the end of May the total due from the
county is $21,067. “We will be making
a call to the county about this,” Franklin
said.
•Franklin reported at the end of May
there were 68 active foster care cases; 16
active investigations; 28 ongoing Child
Protective Services (CPS) cases; 28 diver
sion cases; 15 CPS safety resources cases;
and 10 Out of Town Inquiries (OTI) cases.
•Terri Heliums presented the Office of
Family Independence (OFI) report for
May. Heliums reported 196 food stamps
applications in May, 221 Medicaid appli
cations and 30 Temporary Assistance for
Needy Families (TANF) applications. As
of May there were 3,534 food stamp cases,
2,723 Medicaid cases,79 TANF cases, 123
active child care cases and 1,311 active
adult Medicaid cases.
The next regularly scheduled meeting
of the DFCS board is set for 10 a.m. on
Wednesday, July 28, in the board room at
the DFCS office, Athens Street, Jefferson.
Early voting continued from page JA
Dublin; David Poythress, (D) Atlanta.
•Lieutenant Governor: Casey Cagle, (R)
incumbent, Gainesville; Tricia Carpenter
McCracken, (D) Augusta; and Carol Porter,
(D) Atlanta.
•Attorney General: Sam Olens, (R)
Marietta; Preston W. Smith, (R) Rome;
Max Wood, (R) Macon; Ken Hodges, (D)
Smyrna; Rob Teilhet, (D) Smyrna.
•State Superintendent of Schools: John
D. Barge, (R) Rome; Richard Woods, (R)
Tifton; Beth Farokhi, (D) Marietta; Joe
Martin, (D) Atlanta; Brian Westlake, (D)
Decatur.
•Commissioner of Agriculture: Gary
Black, (R) Commerce; Darwin Carter, (R)
Alma; and J.B. Powell, (D) Blythe.
•Labor Commissioner: Mark Butler, (R)
Carrollton; Melivn Everson, (R) Snellville;
Terry Coleman, (D) Eastman; and Darryl
Hicks, (D) Fayetteville.
NOTICE TO PUBLIC
Georgia, Jackson County
There will be sold at public outcry to the highest
and best bidder for cash, between the legal
hours of sale before the courthouse door in
Jackson County, Georgia on the first Tuesday in
July, 2010 the following property to wit;
2000 Mitsubishi Monterosport
VIN# JA4LS41R7YP811187
Said property found in possession of Amy
Ritchie, FKA Amy Smallwood, levied on to
satisfy a FI.FA. in favor of Tommy Smallwood
against Amy Ritchie, issued in the superior court
of Jackson County, Georgia levied on as the
property in the FI.FA.
This 25th Day of May, 2010
Stan E. Evans, Sheriff, Jackson Co.
Doug Bower: Enough is Enough
•z Seeking change by participation
Support Education
We are dealing with extended economic problems
Find and reduce wasteful state spending
Former Oglethorpe County Commissioner 2003-2006
Republican nominee for the GA State House 1994,1996,1998
Regional Economic & Leadership Development Certificate
The Academy for ACCG Leadership Certificate
Certified County Commissioner • Advanced Certified County Commissioner
Board member: Oconee River Resource Conservation & Development
706-742-7246
dougbower.enoughisenough@yahoo.com
Paid for and approved by Doug Bower.