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Pickens County
Editorial
Quote of the Week
My dream is of a place and a time where
America will once again be seen as the last
best hope of earth. - Abraham Lincoln
• Opinions • Community Views • Good Old Common Sense
January 19, 2017
corecard from earlier wish lists
You don’t always get
what you want
At the start of recent years we have
published a wish list detailing improve
ments we’d like to see. Looking back is
unfortunately a lesson in cold reality. But
to borrow a line from the Rolling Stones,
“You can't always get what you want
But if you try sometimes well you might
find You get what you need. ’’
From January 2016
• More focus on ways to capitalize on
Pickens as a great bedroom community;
marketing and growing economically on
this being an awesome place to live and
commute from - not as a tourist destina
tion. No sign this has hap
pened.
• For Kirby Smart to fire
up the Dawgs. Maybe in
2017. While the record was
n’t anything to get excited
about last season, a highly
ranked recruiting class is
coming to Athens so Smart
may have done more than
meets the eye.
• Boys and Girls Club
built and funded. It is open and running
and doing great things for young people.
• A revival of the arts - Nope.
• More support for veterans. Maybe
there is some improvement with the vet
erans court, but obviously not enough as
our front page last week featured a story
on a homeless vet and his wife needing
help.
• One good snow before spring - Got
it.
•More sports role models - Could
Matt Ryan get there or one of the other
Falcons? We may find out this season.
• A more courteous tone in politics -
Not only no, but Hell no, clearly not hap
pening.
• More adoptions at local animal shel
ters - They seem to be holding their own
keeping strays off the streets. But more
spays and neuters are always needed.
• Jon Stewart coming out of retirement
- Didn’t happen on The Daily Show. One
can only imagine his take on the latest
election.
In 2015, we updated a previous wish
list for 2014. Here is how those went:
• Development around Walmart -
Dunkin Donuts, the shopping area adja
cent to Walmart and a new gas station so
some small steps forward. But it’s sure
not crowded out there.
• Unique shops on Main - In 2014 we
wrote that over the previous year Main
Street development had gone in the
wrong direction. Here in 2017 we’d add,
new year, same old stuff.
• Take off at airport tech
park - We wanted it in 2014
(and it was overdue then).
Now, there is some reason
to be optimistic with a re
vised airport authority.
After all this time, though,
we’ll have to see some bona
fide construction before we
get too excited.
•Another movie shoot -
Nothing significant. No
more Clint Eastwood sitings.
• Some normal weather - There hasn’t
been the storms we wrote about in 2015,
but the drought is far from normal and
it’s not over. We need a real wet spring.
• A tax cut from the county - Ha. The
exact opposite occurred.
• Beat the national averages on SATs
- In 2016, Pickens High posted an aver
age SAT of 1450 (old style test based on
a 2400 scale). We did worse than the state
average of 1459, but better than neigh
bors Gilmer and Fannin counties. The
state average under the old 2400 scale
was 1500.
• A drop in child abuse numbers here
- Hard to say. A lot of people are working
on it, and Pickens County may not be as
bad as statistics show due to such a low
total population. But we sure don’t rank
well.
From Main Street
development
to movie shoots
to a revival of the
arts, what
we have asked
for before.
Tell us your thoughts with a letter to the editor. E-mail to news@pickensprogress.com
or mail to Pickens Progress, PO Box 67, Jasper, Ga. 30143. All letters must have a valid
e-mail address, full name and telephone number for verification. 400 word limit.
The Essential Bad Attitude
By Alan Gibson
The Mood of the War Years
1941-45
how to run the war, he lis
tened but didn’t defer and lit
another of the cigarettes
whose ashes dusted his coat.
History accelerates dur
ing wartime. For example,
no one would have been at
all surprised to spot a Japan
ese invasion fleet off San
Francisco. You’d casually
light a cigarette - everybody
smoked - and go to an Andy
Hardy movie full in the
knowledge that real life Sgt.
Mickey Rooney would stem
the tide.
Some other World War II
blurbs: Ration cards were
generally accepted although
not inviolable. Your butcher
might have a porterhouse
under the counter for a fa
vored customer.
Need to go to another
town? Gas was rationed so
you took the train. The
klackety-klack of passenger
rail was syncopation to rival
the big bands.
There were German sub
marines off Florida and at
the mouth of the Mississippi.
The teens knew; they had
maps with pins protrading
from Dakar to Guadalcanal.
You went to the movies
three times a week to see
Rita Haworth, Betty Grable
and Van Johnson (very big)
and The Three Stooges who
could have lost the war
through raw ineptitude. And
of course there was radio:
fireside chats and Charlie
McCarthy bantering with
W.C. Fields and Hope and
Crosby feuding merrily with
interlacings of Frances
Langford as seasoned with
Jack Benny and a name
you’ll never forget: Fibber
McGee.
Speaking of FDR, his
ebullience was not that of a
handicapped patrician. When
the generals tried to tell him
(USPS 431-820)
Published by Pickens County Progress, Inc.
94 North Main St. P.O. Box 67 Jasper, GA 30143
(706) 253-2457 FAX (706) 253-9738
www.pickensprogress.com
JOHN A. POOL DAN POOL
Publisher Editor
WILLIAM E. POOL
Managing Editor
Published each Thursday at Jasper, Pickens County Georgia. Entered
at the Post Office at Jasper Georgia 30143 as Mail Matter of Second
Class. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to THE PICKENS
COUNTY PROGRESS, PO. Box 67, Jasper, GA 30143.
One Year’s Subscription: $29.96 in Pickens County and in Gilmer,
Cherokee, Dawson and Gordon Counties. $39.59 in all other Georgia
Counties; $44.94 out of state.
The USO was Bob Hope
and then some. Jolson’s last
hurrah was entertaining G.I.
conclaves while back home
John Wayne was making
western movies in two days,
appropriate since the prints
were barely 60 minutes long.
And Ed Murrow wore his
trenchcoat and Bette Davis
washes dishes at the Stage
Door Canteen.
On V-E Day, the Andrews
Sisters knew there’d be no
sitting under the apple tree -
no no no no - and V-J Day
saw a sailor kissing a nurse in
Times Square. War made
them immortal. So the mood
of the country was at once
grim and giddy. Wars are like
that.
[Gibson is a regular
columnist for the Pickens
Progress.]
Spot a
mistake?
Let us hear about it.
dpool@pickensprogress.com
WEATHER
By William Dilbeck
Jan. 10 - Jan.26
HI
LOW RAIN
Tuesday
49
32
.04
Wednesday
55
46
.08
Thursday
64
51
.00
Friday
67
53
.00
Saturday
71
49
.00
Sunday
69
47
.00
Monday
61
48
.00
Did you see where Georgia
is third in credit card debt?
wallet has!
Other Voices
2017 legislature can act on tax,
health and education reform
By Benita M. Dodd
Opportunity is knocking
as the door opens on Geor
gia’s 2017-18 legislative ses
sion. In a state with a
Republican governor since
2002 and GOP majorities in
both chambers since 2004,
it’s time for legislators to
welcome policy reforms that
can improve income, oppor-
Umity and well-being.
In 2014, the Legislature
capped the personal income
tax rate at 6 percent. That’s a
start. But legislators ignored
a provision in the 2015
Transportation Funding Act
(HB 170) to create a “Special
Joint Committee on Georgia
Revenue Structure” that
would “during the 2016 leg
islative session cause to be
introduced in the House of
Representatives one or more
bills or resolutions relating to
tax reform.”
Reforming Georgia’s in
dividual income tax rate was
on the table long before the
stellar 2010 work by the spe
cial tax reform council
(shelved since). Meanwhile,
North Carolina’s rate ratch
eted down, reaching 4.75
percent this year, and Florida
has no personal income tax
rate. Tennessee does not tax
wages and salaries and
phases out taxes on divi
dends and interest by 2022.
How much difference
would tax reforms make?
The Georgia Department of
Labor reports 99.8 percent of
Georgia’s nearly 300,000
employers are small busi
nesses; 77.7 percent with
fewer than 10 employees.
The Tax Foundation reports
94 percent of businesses are
“pass-through,” filing indi
vidual instead of corporate
tax returns
Instead of seeking com
petitive advantage by picking
winners and losers through
tax breaks and incentives,
how about embracing a
lower rate and a broader
base? That’s pro-growth and
fair to Georgia’s hardwork
ing taxpayers. Businesses
could add equipment and
workers; employees could
control more family income.
Without an educated
workforce, opportunity lags
and the economy suffers. Un
fortunately, the November
referendum on a statewide
Opportunity School District
for “chronically failing” K-
12 schools failed. Parents of
the 68,000 children trapped
in those schools deserve re
sults. Low-income families,
who have few options, de
serve the respect of a choice
to give their children a
chance.
In 2015, the Governor’s
Education Reform Commis
sion proposed a funding for
mula focused more on
student achievement so
schools would not be re
quired to spend funds on
items that do not appear to
boost student learning. With
such “student-based budget
ing,” more money follows
the child, with greater ac
countability.
Georgians already
demonstrate their support of
school choice: The tuition tax
credit scholarship fund
reaches its $58 million cap
on voluntary contributions
on Day 1 each year. It’s a
small step to enhance choice
by simply raising that cap.
Education Savings Ac
counts empower parents to
personalize their child’s
learning. Operating in five
states including Florida and
Tennessee, ESAs can fund a
variety of authorized educa
tion services through a debit
card using the child’s public
education funds.
When it comes to Geor
gians’ well-being, legislators
need not wait on Congress to
improve health care access
and affordability. First, facil
itate direct primary care,
which operates much like a
gym membership: low
monthly premiums, unlim
ited use and hefty discounts
on many procedures. Physi
cians need assurance this
high-quality, low-cost ap
proach will not be regulated
as insurance.
Next, reduce protectionist
scope-of-practice restrictions
and eliminate costly, unnec
essary licensing require
ments for health care
professionals; end certificate-
of-need requirements for
health care facilities and in
crease staff by streamlining
occupational licensing.
Finally, seek reimburse
ment for the unfunded fed
eral mandate requiring
hospitals to treat all ER pa
tients regardless of ability to
pay. A block grant could fluid
uncompensated care and
allow Georgia to take the
lead in fast-tracking cus
tomized, affordable coverage
for the estimated 565,000
uninsured low-income Geor
gians.
Other states have done
much of this, but Georgia
now, especially, has a vested
interest in leading the nation
on health care reform.
[This commentary by
Benita M. Dodd, vice presi
dent of the Georgia Public
Policy Foundation, origi
nally appeared in the Janu
ary 8, 2017, Atlanta
Journal-Constitution.
The Foundation is an in
dependent think tank that
proposes market-oriented
approaches to public policy
to improve the lives of Geor
gians.
© Georgia Public Policy
Foundation (January 13,
2017). Permission to reprint
in whole or in part is hereby
granted, provided the author
and her affiliations are
cited.]
Counseling
Individual, Couples and Family Therapy
with Adults, Teens and Children
Robin W. Dunn M.S.
Licensed Professional Counselor
Over 25 years experience helping people live better
770-548-1966 • 505 Cove Rd. • Suite 3 • Jasper
www.robinwdunnlpc.com
CANDIDATE QUALIFYING FEE
NOTICE
Pursuant to O.C.G.A. §21-2-131 (a)(1), the following
qualifying fees for candidates seeking office in 2017
were set by the Mayor and Council of the City of Jasper
at the January 9,2017 regular council meeting:
Councilmember $35
Qualifying for the offices listed above will begin at 8:30
a.m. on Monday August 21,2017 and will end at430p.m.
on Friday, August25,2017. The General Election will be
held on Tuesday, November 7,2017.
TRADITION
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C: 678-848-1751
H: 706-253-0122