Newspaper Page Text
Page 4A — Wednesday, May 5, 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-MAY 4,20ll
Gary E. Jones was named as the new police chief in Sardis.
He had served for eleven years with the Richmond County
Sheriff’s Office.
The State Fire Marshal opened an investigation into a fire
and series of explosions that destroyed a vacant Vestal Street
home in Sardis. Arson had been determined to be the cause
of the blaze.
EBA eighth grader Carter Mobley shot a 69 in the Region
2-AA golf tournament at Jekyll Island. That gave Mobley the
low medalist honors for the event.
25 YEARS AGO-MAY 9,1996
Eleven applicants, including assistant police chief Alphonso
Williams, were seeking the post of Waynesboro Chief of
Police following the retirement of H.L. Ivey
Former Richmond County Commissioner Hobson Chavous
qualified to run against incumbent 199th District Represen
tative George DeLoach in the November General Election.
Joanne Dixon qualified for the 116th District post held by
Alberta Anderson.
BCHS senior Tiffany Howard signed to play basketball at
Mercer University. She had lettered in basketball four years
and in softball for three.
50 YEARS AGO-MAY 5,1971
Doug Day succeeded Buck Brannen as head basketball
coach at Waynesboro High School. Brannen was named
Athletic Director for WHS and Blakeney Schools.
William H. Craven, Jr. assumed his duties as Burke County
Agent. The South Carolina native had been county agent in
Saluda County for over 14 years.
Miss Nancy Turner, 17 year-old daughter of Mr. and Mrs.
Cecil Turner, was named Teen-Queen of the Georgia chapter
of the National Campers and Hikers Association.
70 YEARS AGO-MAY 10,1951
Frank M. Cates, chairman of the Burke County Hospital
Authority, was set to oversee the dedication of the new 40-
bed facility. Mr. Cates was saluted for dedicating the past six
years toward making the hospital a reality. Georgia Governor
Herman Talmadge was to be the featured speaker at the event.
For the third straight year the Waynesboro High School
golf team placed in the District Golf Meet in Statesboro.
The group, consisting of Louis Pintchuck, Frank Griffin and
Bobby Oliver, placed third in the event.
Dr. R.C. Bailie was elected commander of the Waynesboro
American Legion for the coming year. Other officers included
Bill Parker, Bill Smith, Roy Chalker, P.B. Lewis, J.P McDow
ell, G.C. Anderson and Walter Galloway.
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Cte €mt Ciiisrn
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P.O. Box 948 • 629 Shadrack Street
Waynesboro, Georgia 30830
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BEN ROBERTS
benroberts@bellsouth.net
In the public relations world,
they say there is no such thing
as bad publicity.
If you subscribe to that no
tion, then the Augusta Judicial
Circuit is riding a wave of
publicity that most PR folks
would kill for. The rest of us,
however, would probably agree
nobody likes to be the lead story
in the news, especially when it’s
every local news outlet talking
about you.
According to multiple Au-
gusta-area news stories, Chief
Judge Carl C. Brown Jr. will
immediately step down as chief
judge and retire from the bench
all together on June 30,2021.
Brown was facing multiple
charges of ethical misconduct,
among them the accusation
that Brown sought to triple his
daughter’s salary with the ju
venile court. When that failed,
he enlisted the help of now-
deceased juvenile court judge
Doug Flanagan to use grant
funds to give her a raise from
around $60,000 to more than
$90,000.
On the local level, Brown
was accused of interfering
in the appointment of Burke
County’s assistant magistrate
judges when he refused to sign
off on chief magistrate Cyn
thia Kelley’s choices for those
positions. Brown had sought to
force Kelley to hire former chief
magistrate Andrew Palmer, who
had faced off against Kelley in
a special election in November.
There are other similar al
legations, each of which boils
down to the basic principle that
Judge Brown used or attempted
to use his position of power
to influence other people. In
stepping down, somewhat qui
etly, Brown’s long career will
simply end, rather than having
his alleged misdeeds paraded
throughout the news for an un
known amount of time.
The saga of Columbia Coun
ty’s split with the Augusta Judi
cial Circuit continues as well.
You may recall a bill allow
ing Columbia County to pull
away from Richmond and
Burke counties to become its
own judicial circuit passed the
Georgia legislature a few weeks
ago. That bill was spearheaded
by local state senators and
representatives that included
Rep. Barry Fleming, who also
serves as the attorney for the
Burke County Board of Com
missioners.
The bill was signed by Gov.
Brian Kemp and is set to take
effect July 1; however, a lawsuit
hied last Wednesday hopes to
stop the split based on several
legal arguments.
It is a last ditch effort to slow
what I believe is the inevitable
coming of the split, which will
create new problems for each
new circuit - mainly in the form
of how the counties of Rich
mond, Columbia and Burke
will pay for their new services
and what those final bills might
look like.
Then, of course, there is the
news surrounding newly ap
pointed Superior Court Judge
Jesse Stone, a Waynesboro na
tive and former mayor as well
Don Lively
GRACEFULLY
“What did you say?”
“Say that again?”
“Can you repeat that?”
Those are questions that I
probably asked a thousand
times over the past few years.
It wasn't that I wasn't paying
attention, sometimes I'd be
looking directly at the person
speaking and still needed to
hear it again.
Hear, being the operative
word.
I finally had to admit that I
couldn't hear very well.
We'll get back to the hearing
issue in a bit, but first let's talk
about sight.
On almost exactly my 40th
birthday, a while ago now, I
started to notice that my arms
had apparently gotten shorter
since I could no longer push
whatever I was reading far
enough away from my eyes
to bring the print into focus.
Of course, like many folks, I
quickly realized that my arms
weren't the problem, my eye
balls were. Up until that time,
I'd had better than perfect vi
sion, so it was quite a blow
to my ego, but the eye doctor
assured me that it was normal
and that all I had to do was buy
some reading glasses. I didn't
need a prescription.
That was then.
This is now.
These days I can often be
spotted with three different
and distinct pair of glasses
hanging from my torso, ready
to be utilized. My readers, for
books and computer screens.
My "long distance" glasses,
for concerts, church services
where I want to see the preacher
clearly, or for sightseeing. And,
my sunglasses to protect my
baby blues from UV rays.
As you might expect, keep
ing up with that many pairs
of lenses can be quite burden
some. Since they all serve a
specific purpose, I need all of
them with me at all times. So,
if I'm not searching for one or
another of my glasses, I'm wip
ing off one of them wondering
how they got so smudged when
I wasn't even wearing them. It's
not unusual for me to grab the
wrong pair, for instance, when
reaching for my readers in
order to see an upcoming sign
while driving, only to find that
it makes long distance seeing
even worse.
Lord.
Y'all, aging ain't for sissies.
A few months ago, my family
was gathered at Miss Debbie's
house for Sunday dinner. As
is usually the case, everybody
was talking, some louder than
others, with several conversa
tions going on at the same
time. In addition, there were a
half dozen kids there and we
all know how loud the rug-rats
can be. My niece, Fireball, was
sitting close to me and ques
tioned me about something. To
this day I don't know what she
asked, but, I tried to fake it. I
just nodded and grunted some
sort of acknowledgement.
"Uncle D, you have no idea
what I just asked you, do you?"
Well, nope, I didn't.
That, and numerous other
similar incidents, prompted
me to get my hearing checked,
which eventually led me to get
ting some help for the problem.
Yes, I am now the audio-
logically improved but slightly
embarrassed owner of hearing
aids.
But, by golly, I can hear
again.
In fact, I had forgotten just
how loud the world we live in
really is.
The first evening that I had
the new devices, I sat on the
as the former state senator for
Burke County.
Stone was appointed in Feb
ruary by Gov. Kemp to fill a
superior court judgeship in
the Augusta circuit. A lawsuit
alleges Kemp’s appointment
is invalid because he waited
almost an entire year to fill it
and well beyond what would
have been the end of the term
for the retiring judge Stone was
replacing.
A final ruling on that lawsuit
is expected in the coming days.
Judge Stone is also currently
hearing arguments in a dispute
over open records between sev
eral Augusta area news outlets
and the City of Augusta.
The city is currently trying
to hire a new fire chief but has
refused to release information
regarding all but one of its po
tential candidates.
You may have gathered that
I am a fierce proponent of the
public’s right to
know, regardless SEE
of how pesky that BIRD DOG,
knowledge might 6A
north porch and could clearly
hear the frogs and crickets and
other tree critters better than I
had in years.
I put my headphones on over
the hearing aids and found out
that Jerry Jeff Walker sounds
even better after the hearing
in both ears was pretty much
restored.
On Wednesday nights at
church, I am now able to hear
even the quietest speaking per
son when they ask for prayers
or offer a praise report.
I can hear.
Of course, that has it down
sides.
I'm sometimes tempted to
temporarily remove both of
my hearing aids so I don't have
to listen to the loud thump and
filthy lyrics coming from the
low-rider pumping gas at the
same place I'm filling up.
But, other than those oc
casional unpleasant moments,
being able to hear normally
again has been a joy.
I'll never again take sights
and sounds for granted.
On a recent road trip, I clearly
heard the laughter of all five of
my grandchildren and the ban
ter of all of my kids.
During the same SEE
trip, I had the long LIVELY,
awaited experience 6A