Newspaper Page Text
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The Houston Home Journal
Official Organ City Os Perry And Houaton County, Georgia
NATIONAL NEWSPAPER A
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gj MEMBER-1976 ll,u, ' r N ‘ " t ' ,a P er
BOBBY BRANCH
PRESIDENT EDITOR PUBLISHER
PHILBYRD JIMMYCHAPMAN JOE HIETT
Sports Editor Production Manager News Editor
JANET LEWSADER JANICE COLWELL
• Classified Advertising Bookkeeper
HOUSTON HOME JOURNAL THURS., JUNE 17, 1976,
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Taxpayers Want Answer
More Or Less Taxes?
The furor over whether or not the school board will
have to pay the county about $125,000 to collect taxes is
enhanced by the fact that a tax hike, or cut, could
result. If the school board does NOT pay the fee, the
commissioners Tuesday indicated a tax hike of about a
half mill may be necessary
Commissioner Steve Byrd stated, "If they do not pay
it, we'll have to raise taxes." (The commissioners are
eyeing adopting a 10 mill rate, the same as last year,
but it includes revenue projections that include receipt
of the $125,000.)
Alton Tucker explained, "Our budget is made up as if
we get the money. If not, it'll change our budget."
County Commission Chairman Dr. V.W McEver, Jr.
asked, "Are they going to reduce their millage rate? If
not, they could be causing a fax increase. We should
have an understanding
Last year the school system assessed 18 mills for
school operations, and indications are that the rate will
be repeated But McEver added that he thinks the
school board should reduce its rate by a half mill if the
fee is not paid to the county.
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1
CBers Should Obey Laws
With hundreds of local CBers tran
smitting messages, many of them guilty
of violating federal laws which regulate
the use of citizens band radio, it might be
well to review some of she rules as set
forth in Title 47 of she Code of Federal
Regulations, Part 95, established by the
Federal Communications Commission
Here are 26 extractions from the most
pertinent rules:
1 You must be a citizen of the U S. and
at least 18 years old to be licensed.
2. Every station must have at least one
licensed operator,
3. Any member of your family, in
eluding children, may operate your CB
radio under your license if you supervise
their operation. But you will be respon
sible for any misuse of your radio or any
misconduct on the part of anyone under
your supervision
4 Your license is good tor five years and
must be renewed
5. Your antenna, including the mount or
structure on which it rests, cannot be
higher than 20 feet if standing on a tower,
mast, or pole It attached to a tree or
house, it may not extend more than 20 feet
above the top of the tree or house, (There
are other rules governing specific an
♦enna applications.)
6 You are limited to the 23 channels.
7. You may not broadcast on Channel 9
except for emergency or motorist
assistance communication
8 Channel 11 Is reserved tor calling
(conversations are prohibited.)
9 Use of Morse or other codes on CB
frequencies is prohibited
10. An AM CB transmitter may not
exceed 4 watts output, and an SSB
equipped CB transmitter may not exceed
12 wafts output.
11. You may not use your CB radio for
any purpose, or in connection with any
activity, that is contrary to federal, state,
or local law. There is some controversy
about whether reporting on the
whereabouts of the police is a prohibited
activity.
T’mdm Oh'mioH
The Georgia Power Co.
Atlanta, Georgia
Houston Home Journal
Dear Sirs:
This letter is forwarded
to commend Mr. M.H.
Witherington of your Perry
office and she men from
Hawkinsville who met an
emergency with ac
celerated speed and ex
pertise.
On Saturday, June 12,
1976 at 6.00 p.m. at the rear
of our property, a tran
sformer ceased to operate.
My wife called Mr.
12. You may not broadcast obscene or
indecent words.
13. You may not communicate with a
ham radio operator, most foreign
stations, or unlicensed CB operators.
14. You may not broadcast live or taped
program material for retransmission.
15. You may not intentionally interfere
with the communications of another
station
16. You may not broadcast music,
whistling, or other such sound effects.
17. You cannot operate a public address
system remotely That is, only the closed
circuit public address features on some
CB radios are permitted (when talking on
these circuits, the signal is not tran
smitted through the air).
18 You may not advertise or solicit the
sale of any goods or services over the
radio.
19. You may not be paid for making any
transmission.
20. You may not communicate with or
attempt to communicate with any person
more than 150 miles distant from your
station.
21. Emergency communications have
priority on any channel
22. You may not carry on any con
versation longer than five continuous
minutes. An interval of at least one
minute must be observed before resuming
conversation with the same person.
23. You must identify your station with
your call sign in English at the beginning
and end of every conversation. You may
also use your handle.
24. You must post a copy of your license
in a conspicuous place wherever you keep
your radio in a base station. It you are a
mobile operator, you need not post your
license (or a copy) but you must keep it
handy (like in your automobile glove
compartment).
25. The FCC has the right to inspect
your radio and your station records.
26. You must keep a current copy of
Part 95.
Witherington, who put his
work aside and was on the
site within twenty-five
minutes. He assessed the
damage and made some
tests and decided within
seven minutes help was
required from the line
crew located in Hawkin
sville, Ga. Mr.
Witherington left to call
them and give instructions
as to where the problem
was and what would be
required to make repairs.
We left the house and
returned in about an hour
and thirty minutes to find
repairs had been ac-
PAGE 4-A
complished and the men
had returned to their
respective stations
Such service as this
deserves our thoughtful
attention and I hope you
will pass on to the men
involved in this job "well
done" our deep ap
predation. You should be
very proud of these men.
Everyone should have to
be without electricity for at
least two hours once in
awhile to make us realize
how awful it used to be in
the "good ole days".
Sincerely,
Ralph Baker
HHJ NEWS EDITOR
Sfontect Qlde
BY JOE HIETT
v 1
County Deals With Base
A big game hunter was on his way back
to camp one evening when a huge tiger
appeared out of the jungle. As the tiger
coiled to spring, the bwana fired his last
cartridge, but missed. However the tiger
sprang too far and landed a few yards
beyond the hunter. The hunter then ran to
safety.
The next day our hero went behind the
camp to get firewood and to practice his
short range shooting. Hearing a com
motion in the bushes, he went to in
vestigate. There he discovered the
tiger practicing short jumps.
Unless something has occurred in the
last few days to the contrary, the Houston
County Commission seems to be holding
very firm in its dealings with Robins Air
Force Base. As most persons familiar
with the base are aware, its landfill is
exhausted and has reportedly been
condemned by the E.P A. So RAFB asked
permission to dump its waste in the
county landfill at Bonaire.
The commissioners said fine, as long as
♦he base pays the same amount per ton
$3.00 as other commercial ventures. A
few days later a typically over-long
document arrived the base's contract for
wate disposal but lo and behold it in
cluded a $2.00 per ton price!
Nothing doing, replied our com
missioners in firm tones. “They'll have to
pay whatever everyone else does" was
the predominant theme. So they have sent
♦he base a reply, insisting on three
bucks per two thousand pounds. To date
no reply has been received.
I told a friend the other day that I
wouldn't be surprised if the base finally
gets its way, but now I'm beginning to
-" \
HOW WE LOOK
IT ATOTHERS
* -Don
*
Therefore thou are
inexcusable, O man,
whosoever thou art that
judgest: for wherein thou
judgest another, thou
condemnest thyself; for
thou that judgest doest the
same things.
-Romans 2:1
When we were born, we
came into this world with
very little knowledge. We
could tell whether we were
being treated lovingly or
not, but could discern little
else. As we grew, we were
taught to know the dif
ference between one thing
and another, to know right
from wrong, to know what
doubt it. Those five fellows on the board
are known for their stubborn ways. Now
quite frankly 1 support the commissioners
in their stand on the matter, but there is
probably some sort of non sensical
"guvment'' regulation laying around
somewhere that makes people let the feds
dump garbage on county property.
I'm going to climb back on my band
wagon for a moment. Last week in
another newspaper was an article that
dealt with the bi-county drug squad. In my
opinion, that article should have been
labeled opinion or put on the editorial
page. It was full of conclusions, opinions,
and in fact almost tried to tell a county
agency which avenue of action to pursue.
But though I tend to disagree with
some of the article's major points, that
isn't why I am on the bandwagon. There
has in the last few years surfaced a new
type of reporting called "advocacy jour
nalism"- on all news media.
Those who adhere to such types of
reporting feel obligated to insert their own
opinions into what to me should be
"straight" news article. A reporter should
not be a "participant" in a news event,
but rather an observer and "reporter" of
if.
Opinions should be placed on the
"opinion" page, or at least labeled as an
"analysis" or subjectively written article.
Os course, 1 have been guilty of inserting
my ideas into articles before, and
probably will in the'future, but I will say
this. It was never a conscious effort, and
never will be. A good reporter prides
himself on reporting facts....not opinion.
standards. If we are at all
honest, we must admit that
we, too, are sinners, a fact
which makes us very poor
judges for the others about
us.
Montaigne has a grim
tale in one of his essays.
There was a Persian judge
who had given a biased
verdict and he had given it
under the influence of
bribery. When Cambysses,
the king, discovered what
had happened, he ordered
the judge to be executed.
Then he had the skin flayed
from the dead body and
preserved. And with the
skin he covered the seat of
the chair on which judges
sat in judgment, that it
might be a grim reminder
to them never to allow
prejudice to affect their
verdicts. Only a com
pletely impartial person
has a right to judge. It is
not in human nature to be
completely impartial; only
God can judge.
was good for us and what
was not. We were also
instructed in what was
right and wrong in the
conduct of others.
But as with all sin, we
put a good thing to bad
use, we learned to use our
skills in the ability to
detect the failings of our
neighbors and to delight in
comparing our own good
points with their short
comings.
Paul holds that there is
no quantitative measure of
iniquity. We have all failed
to follow the light which we
have been given; we have
not lived up to our own
-Bobluj ls%
Qmch ' "
Political Summer
The hot political summer in Houston County may not
be as hot as I had predicted several months ago. Many
of the local politicians will get a free ride into office in
this general election in November, and the Republicans
just disappeared, making the primaries on August 10, a
really one sided situation.
Incumbent Sheriff Cullen Talton is being challenged
by former Perry City Councilman D.K. (Dot)
Roughton. That race could turn into a hotly contested
battle. Roughton, in an advertisment in this week's
Home Journal, has put forth a strong platform to the
voters. This may develop into a race of issues, which is W
the way a political campaign should be.
Longtime Supt. of Schools David Perdue is being
challenged for his $38,000 a year job by a former Cen
terville public schools principal, M.E. Bailey. For the
past several campaigns, Perdue has overwhelmed all
takers for his job. However, Bailey says he has a large
group of campaign workers assisting him, but he has
his work cut out for him in a race with David Perdue.
But don't try to second guess in a political campaign in
Houston County.
Another long-time Houston politician, County
Commissioner Frank Rozar, attracted a lot of attention
as former public defender, Ned Pooser of Warner
Robins, and Warner Robins school teacher, Homer J.
Walker 111, both qualified for the Perry commissioner's
post. Although Warner Robins voters swing all the £
weight, Rozar has been solid in his job for many years
and will be difficult to beat, especially with two can
didates running trom Warner Robins. A run-off is a
possibility here.
The only other incumbent commissioner being tested
is Warner Robins physician Dr. V.W. McEver who is
being challenged by Warner Robins cabinet maker and
city councilman, Steve Morgan. Although Morgan now
lives in the country between Perry and Warner Robins
he apparently still serves on city council. This will, no
doubt, beaclose race - too close to call at this time.
Warner Robins jeweler Bruce Tamker is running
against incumbent Glen Heck for his job on the school
board. Tamker, you will recall, is the jeweler who
called the board's hand on the system of purchasing
senior class rings by filing a court action. Heck holds a 6
solid position in Warner Robins and Perry, but again,
politics take strange turns.
Former Warner Robins city councilman Jim Saddler
is challenging incumbent school board member Dr. Ben
Lowery, the newest member of the board. This may
develop into a close race with Saddler going into the
campaign well known from his service days on council
in Robins. Saddler is also a retired Robins Air Force
Base employee.
The rest of the field, as far as Perry voters are con
cerned, is all incumbents running without opposition. •
They include State Representative Larry Walker,
Senator Ed Barker, Superior Court Judge Willis Hunt,
Superior Court Clerk Tommie Hunt, Tax Commissioner
Joyce Griffin, Probate Judge Clinton K. Watson Jr. In
other words, only one of the courthouse crowd has 0
opposition and that is Sheriff Cullen Talton. That fact
speaks strongly for the political strength of the county
officers and, of course, for the fine job they have done in
the past.
The D.C. Scandals
"Round and round she goes and where she stops
nobody knows.'' That's about the only thing one can
comment about on the Washington sex scandals which
have dominated the front pages of all the major, daily
newspapers for the past couple of weeks and have been
aired like dirty linen on the television news shows each
evening during the so called ''family hour.'' Ye gads,
man, save us from any more of the billious news oozing
from the "Hill'' up yonder north of us; we have had
about all we can take.
But what does it all mean? Where will it all end? How
many men of Congress will fall from grace before the
scandalous statements cease pouring out? No one
knows, but I suspect the dirt will continue to pile up for
awhile as anxious Washington reporters and their
editors print every tid bit that comes their way.
Members of Congress make human errors just like
everyone else and I imagine there are many, many
skeletons lurking in the anterooms and back chambers
of Capital Hill.
One misguided soul told meat Kiwanis Tuesday they
should print some of the shenanigans pulled by some of *
the Washington reporters and editors. That's not news. “
The real news is when a man elected by the people, paid
by the people to represent the people, creates a scandal.
That's news and it ought to be printed. There is a lot of
difference between us folks out here and a man or
woman serving in the Congress of the United States.
When they take that oath, they sell their lives to the
Congress and by golly they knew that when they ran for
the office.
Hopefully all the sleazy news coming from
Washington at the present will serve some good in the
end Hopefully. In the meantime, watch the dirt continue
to pile up on the tront pages.
Goat Rustling * ■
In the past, I have heard of folks rustling cows,
chickens and hogs during hard times but it was a real
surprise to me to hear that there has been some "goat
rustling" taking place over in Lowndes County, near
Valdosta.
A farmer reported that someone backed up a truck
and loaded up his 15 tame goats and left 17 wild goats
behind. It seems to me there are animals more valuable
to rustle than goats but each rustler to his own liking..
Anyway, if you run up on a fellow trying to sell a goat
named "Big Billy" don't buy it because you are looking
at a stolen goat, according to the owner. Somebody, I
guess, really got that Lowndes County farmer's goat, t <
Ugh.