Newspaper Page Text
The True Citizen, Wednesday, April 14, 2021 — Page 3A
BURKE
COUNTY'S
FIVE-DAY
FORECAST
TODAY
THURSDAY
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
SUNDAY
Mostly Sunny
30% Chance of Showers
84°60
Forecast of the National Weather Service
Guest Columnist-Alfonzo Williams burke county sheriff
The job of a police officer
is ever-changing. Over the
past three decades (since I
was hired right out of high
school by the APD), I have
seen a marked evolution in
the way law enforcement con
ducts business. Far too many
changes have come not from
learned experience but on the
heels of civil unrest by people
of color, emotionally fatigued
by a lifetime of desperate
treatment and - yes - systemic
racism. For far too long, our
profession has been reactive
rather than proactive.
Yet racism inherent within a
system doesn’t automatically
mean that all who serve within
that system are racists. It is
unfortunate that so often all
police officers - the vast ma
jority of whom, in my experi
ence, are dedicated, honorable
professionals - are painted with
the same wide brush as the
few in our profession, clothed
in arrogance, ego, and bigotry,
who lack sufficient knowledge,
skills, and training to do this
job in a way that strengthens
and restores trust, confidence,
and respect between law en
forcement and the communities
we serve.
I was sitting at a desk at the
police academy the morning
the world watched the beat
ing of Rodney King by four
police officers, three of whom
were acquitted. Historic riot
ing ensued and policies were
changed. Just a few short years
later (now a young detective) I
watched the trial of OJ Simpson
and learned - with the rest of
the country - how police slop
piness, lack of professionalism,
and at least one racist detective
could set a double-murderer
free. This case too changed law
enforcement practices, even if
those changes more pertained
to investigative rather than use-
of-force issues.
Both of these cases are ex
amples of a stubbornness in
our profession to address issues
before they become crises: of
the law-enforcement dog being
wagged by the public tail.
Fast-forward three decades.
The dog is still being wagged
by the tail. We are still plagued
by a pervasive perception of
racism in the criminal justice
system, fueled by the one per
cent of bad apples (bad police,
bad leaders, bad training, bad
policies, bad intentions) spoil
ing the whole bunch, and we
are still making reforms as a
reaction to public outcry rather
than instituting them in order
to prevent the causes of such
outcry.
Of course there exists a
double standard in the United
States of America - not just in
law enforcement itself but in
the way we as a society judge
people based on color instead
of actions. One needs to look
no further than the capitol
insurrection to make this case:
sure, there have been hundreds
of arrests, yet this dark day in
our history could have been
so easily prevented had there
been a proactive law enforce
ment response anywhere near
the magnitude of that which
greeted the relatively peaceful
BLM protests last summer.
“Justice for all” should begin
long before the handcuffs are
slapped on.
Racism has been the canary
in America’s coal mine for the
better part of our long history,
yet we still have people more
concerned with the reactions
to the racism - with curfew
violations and
protests and
SEE
looting - than WILLIAMS,
with the song 6A
‘Adopt a high school senior’ program returns
out to be quite the adventure
WHAT’S NEXT?
i * t i * * t t * t t * * f
BCHS GRAND MARCH
The Burke County High School will hold its prom on Saturday,
April 17, with the traditional grand march taking place at the
football held, 6-7 p.m. The prom will take place on the practice
held from 7-11 p.m. Couples tickets are $60, and individual
tickets are $30. Tickets to the grand march are $5 in advance
and $10 at the gate.
Felix wins creative
writing contest
DIANA ROYAL
jdianaroyal@gmail.com
What started out as a rainy
DIANA ROYAL
jdianaroyal@gmail.com
In the face of a pandemic,
the Class of 2020 was show
ered with love, mostly from a
distance or via porch drop-offs,
but they all got the message
loud and clear: your commu
nity supports you.
It all started with a Facebook
page. From there, the gener
osity grew and nearly 1,500
high school seniors across the
CSRA were treated to special
gifts of encouragement from
more than 6,000 “adoptees,”
some of whom were complete
strangers.
Vonetta Jackson Parham, the
brains behind the local opera
tion, recalls how a little kind
ness went a long way in such
sad, uncertain times.
"Last year was really monu
mental because so many se
niors found the silver lining in
the dark cloud of the pandemic
because of this group,” she
said, adding that she was asked
to make this an annual event.
“I thought that it should be.
It made me feel good that we
could help them have a sense
of normalcy."
Now, the tradition contin
ues. Seniors are connected to
their adoptee via the Facebook
group Adopt-a-Senior 2021.
More oversight is applied to city position
SHELLIE SMITLEY
thetruecitizen.shellie@gmail.com
The City’s Finance & Per
sonnel Committee decided
April 12 to add more oversight
to the City Manager position.
A review of the Procurement
of Service Ordinance showed
that the city manager could
spend up to $60,000 without
the city council’s approval.
City Attorney Delia DeBlass
suggested that the committee
consider lowering that amount.
“We recommend an overall
reduction of the contracting
amount that is given to the pur
chasing agent,” DeBlass said.
“As it stands now, the purchas
ing agent has the discretion to
contract on behalf of the city
in upwards of $60,000 with
little oversight from the City
Council. We thought it should
be a lesser amount.”
The city manager serves
the dual role of purchasing
agent according to the city
guidelines. The city manager
position allows the person to
provide written procedures
regarding implementing provi
sions for the role of purchasing
agent.
Since they are the same
person, and they are going
to provide the written proce
dures , DeBlass suggested there
should be more oversight.
The Committee decided
to lower the amount that the
purchasing agent has to con
tract on behalf of the city to
$45,000. Any amount over that
must be approved by the City
Council. An exemption to that
is in the event of an emergency.
The committee will present
the decision to the City Council
April 19.
Parents or students post a
photo of the soon-to-be gradu
ate, along with their hobbies
and favorite snacks, stores,
etc., and other members of the
group adopt them.
“I met a young lady last year
through this program and was
happy to be able to help make
her graduation a little brighter,”
one woman said. “We still keep
in touch. Participating in this
event was just as much good
for me as it was for her.”
Parham stated it isn’t too late
to join the group and encour
ages seniors and community
members to participate. Mem
bership is not limited to Burke
County. (To find the group,
search the social media site for
“Adopt-a-Senior 2021.” The
display photo has Class of2021
in black font with a tassel.)
for the main character in Co
hen Felix’s story “Dan the
Dreamer.”
Felix, a fourth-grader at Ed
mund Burke Academy, wowed
True Citizen readers with his
tale about Dan, a “cool kid”
who thought he was having a
bad dream but soon discovered
he’d not only been shrunk but
was also kidnapped by the
Easter Bunny.
In this story that reminds
readers things aren’t always
as they initially appear, Dan
learns a little about trust and
winds up with quite an impor
tant job many years later.
Felix was one of a dozen
finalists in the newspaper’s
annual Spring Creative Writ
ing Contest whose stories were
featured in last week’s edition.
Readers then voted online for
their favorites.
Cohen Felix
Of the 355 votes cast, Felix
garnered 44 percent with 155
votes. In second place was
his classmate Bray den Evans,
whose “The Box of Mysteries”
claimed 123 votes.
To celebrate his writing win,
Felix and his class will be
treated to an ice cream party,
courtesy of First National Bank
of Waynesboro.
In addition to EBA, par
ticipants in the contest included
students from Blakeney El
ementary School and Faith
Christian Academy.
CROSSWORD
Side effects shift classrooms to online learning
SHELLIE SMITLEY
thetruecitizen.shellie@gmail.com
Burke County Public Schools
have designated Friday, April
16 as a leam-from-home day
for all students. Employees
of the school system will re
ceive the second dose of the
Moderna COVID-19 vaccine
Thursday, April 15. Due to the
number of recipients who have
reported side effects following
the second dose, the students
will attend online, according
to Public Information Officer
Amy Nunnally. Employees
are expected to report to work
as normal, except for those on
the vaccination list.
Queensborough
^ NATIONAL BANK & TRUST CO M I* A X V
is proud to sponsor a
JV[&(nJes Panthu
MAY 8, 2021 • 9AM
WAYNESBORO
EXCHANGE CLUB
FAIR GROUNDS
156 MANAU LANE, WAYNESBORO
In partnership with
GOLDEN HARVEST
FOOD BANK
BRING A BOX FOR
CARRYING FOOD
The mobile pantry is a USDA TKFAP Commodities food distribution fortamilies and individual
that meet the federal poverty income guidelines No discrimination on the basis of race, color,
national origin, sex. age. or disability.
o ■
■ FreeDailyCrosswords.com
i ACROSS
Copyright (c)2016 uclick.com
I) Deadly shark
5) Up to the task
9) Poker challenge
14) "The Good Wife” actor
Gumming
15) Postal delivery
16) Freak out
17) Skimpy skin
18) " la Douce"
19) Amherst sch.
20) Exceeding one's wildest
dreams
23) Harmony, to a zen master
24) "Bye Bye Bye" group
27) "Who _?" (slangy query)
28) D.C. baseball team
30) "Got it!”
32) Spumante
35) Strikes out
36) New Jersey's Fort
37) Stay out of public view
41) Chemical suffix
42) Hard as (tough)
43) Like the Sahara
44) Court divider
45) Justice Dept, employee
46) Stubborn beast
48) Scarlett's guy
50) Serving dish
54) 2010 Denzel Washington
thriller
57) Come clean?
60) Tulsa's state (Abbr.)
61) Oil cartel
62) Elite military unit
63) Face-to-face exam
64) Sty cry
65) Oscar winner Davis
66) Indian bride’s dress
67) June 6,1944
1
2
3
'
'
6
7
'
’
10
11
12
13
14
■
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
1
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
1
44
47
43
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
I
60
1
"
62
63
“
65
66
"
DOWN
1) Dance originating in Cuba
2) Roswell visitor, supposedly
3) Kim's husband
4) Bowlful with chips
5) Surrounded by
6) Snarky comments
7) Key pie
8) Airline to Israel
9) "Sounds right"
10) Warm and cozy
11) Tiny battery
12) CD predecessors
13) Guitar master Paul
21) PBS funder
22) Lay to rest
25) Very bottom
26) Cook-off dish
28) In recent days
29) Skiers' paradise
31) Unceremoniously let go
32) Related (to)
33) Passover meal
34) Gear parts
35) "No dawdling!"
38) Object of loathing
39) Coffee bar order
40) Whoppers and Big Macs, e.g.
46) High-pH substance
47) Paulo, Brazil
49) Hawke of Hollywood
50) Of the Arctic
51) Not so hot?
52) Justice Kagan
53) Lucy's sitcom husband
55) Hecklers' chorus
56) Cajun veggie
57) Groceries holder
58) Chowed down
59) Pigskin prop
ANSWERS ON 6A