Newspaper Page Text
Page4A—Wednesday, October 13, 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 - OCTOBER 12,2011
Burke County High School marked a critical academic
milestone when the school met criteria for Adequate Yearly
Progress (AYP), a set of stringent requirements for school
improvement set forth in the No Child Left Behind Act.
Father Jim Shumard oversaw the Blessing of the Pets
at St. Michael’s Episcopal Church. Animals receiving the
blessing ranged from a one-inch beta fish to a Tennessee
Walking Horse.
Early voting was about to begin in the Waynesboro may-
oral race. Candidates included incumbent George DeLoach,
Pauline Jenkins and Gregory Carswell.
25 YEARS AGO-OCTOBER 17,1996
Two Waynesboro police officers were beaten, one severely,
by several men they were questioning in Magnolia Acres.
Investigator Ron McMillan was treated at the Medical Col
lege of Georgia. Cpl. Mark Benson was also beaten in the
incident. Three men were arrested in connection with the
incident.
Norfolk-Southern Railway was in the process of cleaning
up a site on 11th Street that had been leased to a chemical
company in the 1940s. Area residents were warned to stay
away from the area during the project.
Advertisers included Vaughn Motor Company, Bailey’s
Barbecue, Unique Chevrolet and Dave’s lakeside Outfitters.
50 YEARS AGO-OCTOBER 13,1971
Former Waynesboro High School principal James D. Smith
hied suit against the Burke County Board of Education. Smith
was asking for reinstatement and $100,000 in damages. On
Feb. 11 Smith had been notified that his contract would not
be renewed. No reason was given.
Employees of Samsons Manufacturing Company voted
to allow the Upholsterers’ International Union into the
company.
Burke County Commissioners were exploring the possi
bility of completely renovating the courtroom in the county
courthouse.
70 YEARS AGO-OCTOBER 18,1951
Hitler’s armored car was scheduled to be on display at the
upcoming Burke County Fair, sponsored by the Waynesboro
Rotary Club. Rotarian John J. Jones was in charge of a pie
eating contest during the fair.
Funeral services were scheduled for PFC Allen Lou
Rountree of Keysville, who was killed in action in Korea.
The pastor of the Berlin Methodist Church, where Rountree
was a member, would officiate at the service.
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 Citi
zen, P.O. Box 948, Waynesboro, GA 30830.
Roy F. Chalker Roy F. Chalker Jr.
Publisher Publisher
1945-1970 1970-
Lavonna Johnson, Managing Editor; ShellieSmitly, Fea
ture Writer/Reporter/Associate 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, $22,1 year, $34,2 years,
$56; outside Burke County, 6 months, $29, 1 year, $49,
2 years, $82; outside of Georgia, 6 months, $34, 1 year,
$59, 2 years, $96; One-year online edition only, $25. All
prices include state and local tax.
SET THE NO
SHOT. \
PlftPEl T ,
6ETTHE SHOT/
I
COME ON,
OUST GET IT NOT
AUWDY! gjg|i
Mi
WNEED OKI ok!
T06ETTHE TD-6ET
Mef SHoT/! THE shot,,,
THE FUJ SHOT.
BEN ROBERTS
benroberts@bellsouth.net
If you opened this newspaper
looking for answers to the ques
tion of whether or not someone
took money from the City of
Waynesboro, I’m afraid you
won’t find them here.
Unfortunately, they don’t ap
pear to have found any at city
hall either.
I emailed a list of questions
regarding the alleged embezzle
ment to the Waynesboro City
Manager last week. Monday
evening I got an email back
from interim Mayor James
“Chick” Jones. It was short on
actual words and details.
For example, one of my ques
tions was: Is there an expected
timeline for when the city’s in
vestigation might be complete?
Jones insightful answer:
“No.”
According to his email, the
city was first alerted to the pos
sible theft “around the 20th of
September and the accusation
came from the upper manage
ment of WPD (Waynesboro
Police Department).”
This story went public on
Friday, Oct. 1, with aFacebook
post by The Austin Rhodes
Show alleging more than
$120,000 had been siphoned
from the City of Waynesboro.
The post also accused “the
Mayor and city council” of
inaction.
It’s worth noting that some
body with knowledge of the
supposed crime had to have
tipped off Rhodes, an Augus-
ta-area radio personality, but
failed to share any of that info
with Burke County’s own lo
cal newspaper. That gives the
impression that the leaker was
not interested in justice but
instead simply wanted some
folks with the city to look bad.
Unfortunately for city officials,
and possibly city taxpayers, it
had the desired effect.
My email also asked: At this
point, is there any evidence
to suggest that any amount of
money is missing?
Jones answered,“No findings
at this present time; however,
investigation is not complete.”
So, 21 days after being noti
fied by your own police de
partment to the possible theft
of $120,000 and 10 days after
being publicly accused of look
ing the other way, your official
Don Lively
Now, where was I?
Oh yes, I was finishing up my
latest road trip.
Last week I told you about
some of the old friends that
I got to visit with, folks who
meant so much to me during
my years Out West.
On my last day before head
ing back for the Blessed South,
I saw a couple of other friends
but with them the conversation
was one-sided.
All of those friends are in
Heaven.
I seem to visit cemeteries a
lot these days.
Because I lived out there for
so many years, when I moved,
I left behind some of the best
friends I ever had so it seemed
only right that I visit with them
regardless of the fact that they
have “changed addresses”. All
of these friends passed from
the Earth before I got to say
goodbye but it was comforting
to know that we all shared the
most important thing in the
universe.
We all loved the same God.
And, speaking of God, when
I road trip, due to the solitude, I
am more aware of His presence
than I normally am during my
daily routine.
Let me give you some ex
amples.
I decided to take a slight de
tour on my return trip because
I wanted to check out a small
town in eastern Colorado that
plays a role in the novel that
I’ve been working on. I’ve
been writing the book for ten
years, but, that’s another story
for another time. Anyway, I’d
waited until later in the day to
leave since my Georgia Bull-
Dawgs needed me to watch
the game in its entirety, which
I did. One scene in the future
novel describes a sunset over
the eastern plains and, wow, did
I get one. I kept glancing in my
rearview mirror and as the sun
sank lower the sky got dramati
cally redder. I pulled over and
watched the sun disappear and
made notes as it did. You’ll be
able to read about it when my
book comes out, perhaps as
early as Christmas 2032.
Just kidding. Hopefully
sooner.
God sent me a gift that late
afternoon near Cheyenne Wells.
Throughout the time I was in
the Rockies I witnessed some
response is that “we still don’t
know, maybe; we’re still work
ing on it”?
Would someone like to bor
row a calculator and a sheet of
scratch paper?
If I were a Waynesboro
elected official, I would have
given folks about 72 hours to
determine if any amount of
money was missing. If, after
that amount of time, we still
couldn’t definitively say “yes”
or “no,” I’d have called in
someone with better expertise
to sort out the issue.
I called Jones Monday eve
ning after reading his email.
When I suggested the delay in
providing a definitive answer
was a bad look for city officials,
he responded, “The wheels of
justice turn slow.”
While I’ll give him credit for
the metaphor, his public rela
tions skills need some work.
I’ll tell you what else can be
slow: the ability to regain the
public’s trust, especially when
the people of Waynesboro and
Burke County haven’t had
much reason to put their faith
in city leaders as of late.
Jones was at Magnolia Acres
Monday when I called, wait-
GETTING HOME
of the most beautiful scenery
imaginable. I told you about
that last week. What I didn’t see
much of was wildlife, which the
West is rife with. The whole
week I didn’t see the first elk
or deer, no bears, not even a
coyote. So, in one of my many
conversations with God, I
asked for some.
“Hey, Lord. What’s up with
the lack of animals this trip? I
haven’t seen any. How about
sending me some.”
Those might not have been
my exact words but it’s close.
Not two minutes later I saw
movement ahead of me. Small
movements. Then, as I got
closer, I saw two chipmunks
chasing each other across the
highway.
Chipmunks?
I asked for wildlife and I get
chipmunks?
I busted out laughing.
Good one, Lord.
Don’t ever think for one
second that God doesn’t have
a sense of humor.
My route home took me
through Illinois, a state which is
tied with two others as my least
favorite. One of several reasons
that I don’t like the Prairie State
(I’ve never seen a square foot of
prairie land in the parts I drive
through) is that Chicago is in
ing out a police standoff with
someone in the apartments.
There was a shootout in down
town Waynesboro a little over a
week ago, at a club that nobody
seemed to know was even there,
even though every Monday
morning, the beer and liquor
bottles on the sidewalk sat as
evidence that something had
gone on over the weekend, but
nobody thought to ask what it
might have been.
Our elected mayor is sus
pended from office and await
ing trial for felony theft charges.
A portion of Shadrack Street
has been unusable for almost a
year due to failing infrastructure
below it.
There are two seats on city
council up in November’s elec
tion, and at this point, there’s
no way to know how that will
affect the situation.
Could a change in representa
tion be for the better or will it be
like throwing gas on a fire and
finally bum the whole thing to
the ground?
I guess we’ll have to wait on
that answer as well.
For more Burke County po
litical news, follow Bird Dog
Politics on Facebook,
Illinois. After another road trip
a while back, I got bills in the
mail for tolls that I supposedly
drove through, though I wasn’t
aware that I had. Apparently,
Chicago thinks so highly of
itself that you have to pay for
the privilege of driving through.
I don’t share that sentiment.
Unfortunately, sometimes it’s
necessary to pass through Il
linois but I can at least take a
stand. I made a conscious deci
sion not to spend a single penny
there. I didn’t buy gas. I didn’t
buy food. I certainly didn’t buy
any souvenirs.
In fact, I only made one
stop along the stretch of Il
linois interstate, at a rest area
just a few miles north of the
Kentucky line. I figured that
answering nature’s call would,
in no way, add to the economy
of Illinois. I started to pull into
a parking space but for some
reason changed my mind and
went two spaces further down.
It was raining and as I got out,
I glanced down to avoid any
puddles. Laying there, wet and
soggy, was another little gift.
A hfty-dollar bill.
I think God agrees with me
about Illinois.
And I’m still laughing about
the chipmunks.