Newspaper Page Text
Page 4 — Wednesday, July 14, 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 — JULY 13,2011
Terri Lodge Kelly was sworn in as the first female mem
ber of the Burke County Commission. She won the vacant
District 2 seat with 67 percent of the vote.
An Augusta man employed by FIAMM Industries of
Waynesboro was arrested and charged with stealing more
than 2000 pounds of lead ingots. William Douglas Griffin,
38, had sold the metal to a recycling center for $800.
The Burke County Recreation Department was scheduled
to hold the grand opening of the new tennis center in Citi
zens Park.
25 YEARS AGO-JULY 18,1996
Former Waynesboro Mayor Holder Watson died at the
age of 83. He had managed the Burke County Airport for
28 years. A veteran pilot and flight instructor, his ashes were
scattered over the airport from a plane piloted by one of his
former students.
Six percent salary increases for teachers mandated by the
state increased the BCPS budget by just under $1 million,
according to Superintendent Doug Day.
The Olympic Torch travelled through the county with a
number of local citizens taking part in the ritual. A crowd of
several thousand gathered around the courthouse for the event
50 YEARS AGO-JULY 14,1971
Southern Bell Manager Jim Williams said a nationwide
strike by the Communications Workers of America would
have little effect on telephone operations here. He said that
the automation of most equipment would likely keep the
system operating during the strike.
Tom Mitchell was installed as the new president of the
Waynesboro Exchange Club. Other officers and directors
included Mickey Horton, Raymond DeLaigle, Lloyd Martin,
John Jackson, Carl Chalker, Ben Story, Marvin Saxon, Martin
Dolin and Fred Stewart.
70 YEARS AGO-JULY 19,1951
Beloved local citizen John F. Rackley celebrated his 95th
birthday and said he planned to make it to 100. He was a
retired farmer who attributed his good health to daily exercise
and eating anything he likes.
Several local citizens observed the birthday of the Nancy
Hanks by taking the train trip to Atlanta. They included
Mayor Cliff Hatcher, Porter Carswell, L.W. White, Mr. and
Mrs. Louis Pintchuck, Mr. and Mrs. D.L. Stone and Mr. and
Mrs. Sidney Barnes.
Hugh M. Scott competed in a track meet in Ireland at
tended by more than 15,000 people. He participated in the
event while his ship, the U.S. Navy Destroyer Buckley, was
in port there.
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9
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Waynesboro, Georgia 30830
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tising Manager/Printing Assistant; Diana Royal, Feature
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TBe WAY THE V/Y-QNAliOU
rate is going, we vWt
REACH HERD ItAMUhlTTSOOM.
BirrouR family poeskt meed
MASri 'CAUSE WE FISHED OUR
SH0TSI THE COUNTRY IS
close; but were not
QUITE THERE Yet SQ, ,
LEfeKEEP60ltfcWrm\
SOCIAL DISIAMONS
AND HAND SALTIER,
AS WELL AS,,,
BEN ROBERTS
benroberts@bellsouth.net
A fair amount of the stories in
this space begin with some sort
of tip based, often times, on a
rumor. Now I’ve lived in Burke
County long enough to know
you can’t believe everything
you hear, but when my phone
started ringing two weeks ago
and the rumors started swirl
ing about the missing mayor’s
vehicle being found at Gregory
Carswell’s house, I started
scrounging for details.
Unfortunately, the July 4th
weekend made it difficult to
get all the information I needed
and I was heading out of town
for vacation myself. Rather
than rush something, I decided
to wait.
I’m glad I did since the ru
mors turned out to be just that.
While the vehicle was and had
been in Carswell’s possession
since he announced his leave
of absence as Waynesboro’s
mayor, it does not appear it
had left his driveway in those
six weeks.
According to city manager
Valerie Kirkland, the GPS that
tracks the car’s movement had
not been disabled and there did
not appear to be multiple trips
out of town as some of the
rumors suggested. The city let
tering has been removed from
the vehicle, but Kirkland said it
is part of a group of surplus ve
hicles headed to auction soon,
so she can’t say when that might
have happened, but that it is
necessary prior to the car’s sale.
In response to a text message
I sent him, Carswell said he had
used the vehicle for a function,
and it had been parked at his
house ever since. Kirkland said
as far as she is aware, that state
ment is true.
A follow-up text to Carswell
as to why he still had the vehicle
a month after stepping aside and
being suspended by Gov. Brian
Kemp went unanswered.
The proposed split of the Au
gusta Judicial Circuit can move
forward as of this Friday, July
16, allowing for the creation
of the new Columbia Circuit,
made up of only Columbia
County.
In a hearing Monday, Senior
Judge Adele P. Grubbs ruled
that Senate Bill 9, the legisla
tion that created the new circuit,
was constitutional, clearing the
final hurdle to the split.
The hearing was in response
to two separate lawsuits that
sought to halt the split using a
variety of arguments. Doomed
to failure all along, the suits
were a last ditch effort to stop
what had become one of the
most politicized efforts outside
of metro-Atlanta and involved
both houses of the Republican
controlled legislature as well as
the governor’s office.
While it has been common
knowledge in political circles
that Columbia County has
wanted out of the Augusta Cir
cuit for some time now, it does
appear the loss of Republican
District Attorney Natalie Paine
to Democratic challenger Jared
Williams in the November elec
tion was the final straw.
According to an Augusta
Chronicle story about Mon
day’s hearing, one item of the
plaintiff’s evidence included
a text message from Columbia
County resident and state Rep.
Barry Fleming, who, you may
recall also serves as the Burke
County attorney. Fleming’s
text, sent the morning after
Williams’ win, asked Columbia
County Commission Chairman
Doug Duncan “does the board
of commissioners want to be
there (sic) own judicial circuit."
With the divorce now final
ized and Columbia County set
to move on, Augusta-Richmond
and Burke County must now
sort out how to move forward
without their third member.
In the coming months, Burke
County will be able to judge
just how much this split will
ultimately cost taxpayers and
what, if anything can be done
about it.
For more Burke County po
litical news, follow Bird Dog
Politics on Facebook.
Don Lively
I was tired.
But, it was a good tired.
If you've ever felt the ex
hilaration of being rapturously
exhausted, you know what that
means. For those of you unfor
tunate enough to never have
experienced the phenomenon,
let me explain. Rapturously
exhausted means that you have
been so busy living your life,
enjoying your life, relishing
your life, that one day the hustle
and bustle that accompanies
that enjoyment causes you to
hit a wall.
Not a literal wall.
That only happens when Mr.
Jameson or Captain Morgan
come by and stay too long.
I'm referring to a metaphori
cal wall.
That's how I felt on a recent
Wednesday afternoon, so, I
texted my praise team director
and told her I couldn't be at
practice. I played hooky from
music practice and from Bible
study.
I know, shame on me.
Rapturously exhausted.
I had spent the previous two
weeks in nonstop activity pre
paring for two major events,
a fireworks show that I'm in
charge of, and a family reunion
which I presided over this
year. In addition, I spent hours
chasing after about half of my
progeny who were in town for
the week’s visit.
The fireworks show and
the family reunion were both
great successes and, obviously,
spending non-stop time with
my kids and grands was fan
tastic, but when it was all over
I was tired.
Again, a good tired.
So, on the night that I acted
like a heathen and skipped
church, I perched myself on
one of my favorite spots in the
universe.
The north porch.
It hadn't rained for several
days as evidenced by the fact
that my tomato patch was
beginning to turn brown. But,
as luck would have it, just as I
eased into the Adirondack chair,
the heavens opened and the
rain started. I was once again
made aware of how extremely
blessed I am.
My life is far from perfect.
I experience drama and heart
ache just like you do.
But God blessed me with a
fertile mind that allows me to
put things into perspective.
There are people in my life
CONTENTEDLY EXHAUSTED
who don't understand how I can
sit for hours at a time simply
listening to the nothingness that
surrounds the wooded enclave.
That nothingness to some is a
symphony of sounds to me.
There are crickets and cicadas.
Treefrogs and bullfrogs. Whip
poorwills and owls. Occasion
ally the coyotes join in. During
the times when I sit pondering,
I can’t actually see any of those
woodland minstrel critters,
they’re all well-hidden,but they
make their presence known.
There’s no better way, in
my opinion, to recover from
fatigue.
Times like that bring me an
hour or two of utter content
ment.
That’s what I felt on that re
cent Wednesday evening.
Contentment.
I was so content that when
I saw a mosquito land on my
forearm, I didn't bother to
swat it. I figured he needed my
blood to survive. But, then the
little devil looked at me with
puzzlement in his eyes and flew
off before he set his stinger. I
guess he wished he could be his
content as I was.
I was so content that when
my porch dog Lucy AKA Loo-
seE, knocked over my carefully
concocted drink and spilled
it all over the porch, I didn't
utter a single cuss word. I
just reached down and started
scratching her behind the ears.
When she realized I wasn't mad,
she started to eagerly lick up the
spilled drink. Within minutes
she had a look of contentment
on her own face.
I was so content that I didn't
even get annoyed when a car
blasting music with nasty lyr
ics and a bass beat that actually
rattled the windows in the house
passed by a quarter mile away.
Okay, maybe I got a little an
noyed. But still, no cussing. I
wasn’t going to let some jackass
ruin my evening. Within sec
onds the car and the noise had
disappeared to wherever cars
that play filthy music go.
I was so content that I didn’t
even notice when midnight
rolled around.
That’s contentment.
So, for my part, I don't un
derstand people who are not
willing to simply waste time in
order to re-energize their hearts,
their minds and their souls.
Rapturously exhausted.
It’s a malady that’s joyously
contracted.
It’s also easily cured.
Just find yourself a porch sur
rounded by woods and a dog to
scratch behind the ears.
A rainstorm doesn’t hurt
either.
A cure for what ails you.