Newspaper Page Text
Page 4 — Wednesday, March 3, 2021, The True Citizen
OPINIONS
★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★
The Pledge Of Allegiance
1 pledge, allegiance, to the flag
of the United States of America
and to the Republic for which
*it stands, one Nation under
God, indivisible, with liberty and
justice for all.
★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★
LOOKING BACK
{this week in Burke County history}
10 YEARS AGO-MARCH 9,20ll
Two Burke County men, Lindsey Ward and Kadeem Wilk-
erson, were each sentenced to 30 years in prison in connection
with the armed robbery of the McDonald’s restaurant on Jan.
10,2010.
Unrest in the Middle East had driven gas prices up across
the country and the world. In Waynesboro, regular gas was
ranging in price from $3.45 to $3.69 per gallon.
The Burke County Emergency Management Agency was
testing its Code Red Alert system which was available to all
residents through text messages, phone calls or e-mail alerts
regarding potential emergency situations.
25 YEARS AGO-MARCH 7,1996
Waynesboro Mayor Martin Dolin instructed city attorney
Beth Ann Smith to strictly enforce the city’s dilapidated
housing ordinance.
Willie Palmer, accused of the September, 1995 murders
of his estranged wife, Brenda Jenkins, and her daughter
Christine,pleaded not guilty in his arraignment before Judge
Carl Brown.
Pat Shaw of Waynesboro was named manager of the new
42-room Jameson Inn opening here. Construction was also
underway on a new Holiday Inn Express just south of the
Jameson Inn on North Liberty Street.
50 YEARS AGO-MARCH 3,1971
Joyce Odom, news editor of The True Citizen for the past
14 years, accepted a position as assistant state editor of The
Augusta Chronicle.
Burke County’s official population in the 1970 census was
18,225, down 11.4 percent from the 1960 total of 20,596.
Representing the Waynesboro High School basketball team,
“Mule” Abrams and Robert Allen accepted the trophy for
the Region 2AA Championship. It was the Hurricanes first
Region title since 1966.
70 YEARS AGO-MARCH 8,1951
The City of Waynesboro received a check for $3,287.78
representing Georgia Power Company’s franchise tax. The
check was delivered by district manager Sidney Barnes to
Mayor H. Cliff Hatcher.
Mayor H.C. Hatcher met with Georgia’s congressional
delegation in Washington D.C. to discuss possible funding
of a bridge over the Savannah River to link this area to the
H-Bomb plant under construction.
Mack’s Department Store, owned and managed by Mr. and
Mrs. Julius Rubnitz, was set to open in the building formerly
occupied by the Thrifty Food Store.
We welcome your letters
Letters to the editor of The True Citizen are welcomed and encour
aged. These are pages of opinion, yours and ours.
Letters to the editor voice the opinions of the newspaper’s readers.
The True Citizen reserves the right to edit any and all portions of a
letter. Unsigned letters will not be published. Letters must include the
signature, address and phone number of the writer to allow our staff
to authenticate its origin. Letters should be limited to 400 words and
should be typewritten and double-spaced or neatly printed by hand.
Deadline for letters to the editor is Tuesday at 9 a.m.
Email Letters to the Editor to: truecitizennews@live.com.
P.O. Box 948 • 629 Shadrack Street
Waynesboro, Georgia 30830
Telephone: (706) 554-2111 • Fax: (706) 526-4779
Published every Wednesday by The True Citizen, Inc.
Periodical Postage Paid at Waynesboro, Georgia (USPS
642-300)
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The True
Citizen, P.O. Box 948, Waynesboro, GA 30830.
Roy F. Chalker Roy F. Chalker Jr.
Publisher Publisher
1945-1970 1970-
Lavonna Johnson, Managing Editor; Jill DuMars,
Advertising Manager/Printing Assistant; Diana Royal,
Feature Writer/Reporter/Copy Editor; Marianne Smith,
Office Manager; Martha Chalker, Advertising Sales; Roy
F. Chalker, Jr., Printing Manager.
SUBSCRIPTION RATES
$1 per single copy at locations all over Burke County. By
mail: In Burke County, 6 months, $18.90,1 year, $29.10,2
years, $49.20; outside Burke County, 6 months, $25.30,
1 year, $44.30; outside of Georgia, 6 months, $31.30,1
year, $55. Student rate: 9 months in state: $25., outside
of Georgia, $30; One-year online subscription, $20. All
prices include state and local tax.
BEN ROBERTS
benroberts@bellsouth.net
Property rights are a fickle
thing. Ask someone if they be
lieve they should be allowed to
do what they want on their own
property and most owners will
answer, “of course.”
Ask that same group if they're
willing to give their neighbors
the same leeway and most - al
though maybe a slightly smaller
group - will still say “yes.”’
But start rattling off things
like hog farms, junkyards,
liquor stores and gun ranges
and suddenly the discussion of
property rights can head south
real quick.
Which is exactly what has
occurred on the north end of
the county in the form of a pro
posed 50-space RV park on the
property commonly known as
“Scott’s Lakes” and a possible
church on four acres in the Big
Bend subdivision off Greiner
Circle.
A pretty good contingency
of residents of the area showed
up at last week’s planning com
mission (PC) meeting to clearly
state that neither project was
wanted in the neighborhood and
that they expected somebody, in
this case the PC, to stop them.
The catch is, both the RV park
and the church are allowed on
their respective pieces of prop
erty based on the Burke County
zoning ordinance and there’s
nothing the PC can legally do
to stop them.
In the case of the RV park,
it’s roughly 20 acres of a nearly
600-acre tract of timber that
butts up against the Richmond
County line. Technically, the
new owner has the acreage to
put in hundreds of RV spaces,
again, with virtually no permis
sion necessary.
In the case of the church, I’ll
admit I was surprised to learn
churches are allowed in just
about any zoning in the county
without any sort of variance.
In the City of Waynesboro,
churches are allowed in resi
dential zones but require the
approval of a conditional use
permit, which requires a public
hearing in which neighbors can
voice their support or objection
to the property’s possible use.
Don Lively
Well, I wasn't overly casti
gated for my declaration last
week that I sometimes prefer
humans over animals, or for
gently poking fun at some of the
wacky ways that some folks try
to elevate animal behavior over
that of humans.
Perhaps I was spared because
I stated at the end of the piece
that, I too, am an animal lover,
and that this week I would
expound.
So, here goes.
Much of my love for animals
has been burnished by things
I've seen at The Pond, a nearly
sacred place in my family.
One day I was working alone,
replacing some rotten wood
on a deck that overlooks the
fishpond. When I saw fast
movement out of the corner of
my eye, I turned to look just
in time to see an osprey dive
toward the surface and snatch
an unsuspecting fish out of the
water. The large raptor rose up
and over the water with such
agility that I had to see it to
believe it.
I love ospreys, though when
they are flying high I sometimes
mistake them for bald eagles.
Another time, at the same lo
cation, again while I was alone,
I saw a turkey hen come mosey
ing down the dam toward where
I was sitting. Behind her were
several turkey chicks following
along behind the hen in perfect
single hie. When the group was
about 100 yards from me, the
mother turned off into the trees
toward the spring. A tree had
fallen a few months before and
was laying from bank to bank
over the stream. As I watched,
the mama turkey hopped up
on the log and started across.
Each of the babies followed
suit and the whole rafter (that's
what a group of turkeys is
called; don't believe me? Look
it up.) crossed the creek with
out incident. I was amazed as
I wondered how the hen would
have gotten her brood across
the stream if there hadn't been
a tree bridge.
I love the ingenuity of ani
mals in the wild.
At that very same pond, on
a sultry Saturday afternoon,
myself and several of my kins
man were on the backside of the
fishing hole trying to construct
a new spillway. We were taking
a break from the heat, sitting in
I’m not qualified to speak on
the legal ins and outs of zoning
codes, but I’m told by folks
with more knowledge than
myself that religious institu
tions are treated a bit different
from other types of property and
putting limitations on them can
get tricky.
That being said, in my opin
ion, a church is pretty similar to
a commercial building. It’s typi
cally bigger than a house and
you can expect what might be
a large group of people and ve
hicles at one time. I don’t think
it’s unreasonable for property
owners to not necessarily want
to live across or down the street
from such activity, especially if
the residential subdivision came
before the church. And there
are valid questions as to what
effect a church might have on
future development or property
values.
The county building official
says the RV park is moving
forward and property sales re
cords indicate the lots have been
purchased by a church. When
or if a church is actually built
remains to be seen at this time.
ALL CREATURES
the shade. We had been hearing
the scree of a red-tailed hawk
from back in the trees, but it
being a fairly common sound,
we paid it little mind. Suddenly,
from around a group of trees
on the edge of the pond, came
a second hawk flying not much
higher than our heads, carrying
a three or four foot long snake in
its beak. The hawk flew directly
over our heads into the woods
where the other bird had been
calling. I have no doubt that the
two hawks shared a quiet dinner
of "snake-ala-pond" while we
finished up our work.
Hawks are my third favorite
animal, behind only wolves and
eagles.
I love animals.
Recently I was sitting on
the north porch in my Cracker
Barrel rocker when two squir
rels decided to put on a show
for me, high over the forest
floor. There are several pines
on my property which are well
over 100 feet high. The squir
rels chose the highest point in
the tallest pine to play a game
of "catch me if you can". One
squirrel chased the other around
and around the top ten feet of
the pine for at least a half hour,
while I watched from down
below, totally entertained.
Wild animals enjoy having
Barring some change in
circumstances, though, these
situations may not be all that
different from any other neigh
bor relations. Most of us can’t
control who moves in next door,
so you’ve just got to figure out
a way to make the best of it and
try to be good neighbors.
In last week’s editorial, I was
critical of Waynesboro Police
Chief Willie Burley for what
I thought was his failure to
defend his department during a
recent Public Safety Committee
meeting. I received a call from
one of the officers I thought
Burley failed to defend, and he
explained that my impression
of the situation was wrong and
that he and a second major in
volved did not expect Burley to
intervene nor was it a failure of
the chief’s leadership.
I want to correct my criticism
of Chief Burley and apologize
both to him and his department
for my mischaracterization.
fun as much as humans do.
So, my love of animals is
largely rooted in the wildlife
kingdom.
But, not all.
If you've read me for a while,
you probably know all about
Lucy AKA LooseE, the last re
maining "wild girls gone wild",
a trio of mutts that some lowlife
dumped off beside the road
near the homeplace. I ended
up adopting her, and her two
sisters who are no longer with
us. Lucy became a great little
companion and would go with
me on most of my treks through
the woods, but in recent months
she's slowed down. She's at
least 14 years old and is pretty
much deaf and blind, so now,
most or our interactions simply
involve me scratching her ears
or her belly.
I love Lucy.
And then there's Maggie.
Maggie is the newest addi
tion to the family. I'll tell you
all about her in the future,
but for now, suffice to say,
she's become the queen of the
household.
And that's fine with me.
I love Maggie.
Because, I'm an animal lover.