Newspaper Page Text
4A
. THE HOUSTON HOWE JOURNAL WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 4. 1992
Perry viewpoint
— n
The Houston Home Journal
OFFICIAL ORGAN. CITY OF PERRY AND HOUSTON
COUNTY. GEORGIA. SINCE 1870
PUBLISHED EACH WEDNESDAY ANO SATURDAY MORNING
807 CARROLL ST., P.O. DRAWER M, PERRY, GA. 31069
TELEPHONE (912)987-1823
The Houston Home Journal (USPS 252-780 ) s punished semi weekly for
$lB Der year by the Houston Home Journal, Inc., 807 Carroll St, Perry, Ga.
31069. Second Class Postage pad at Perry, Ga. POSTMASTER: Send
address change to The Houston Home Journal, P.O. Drawer M, Perry, Ga.
31069.
ROY H. PARK, Pmident A Chairmwi oI !h« Board, Park Newtpapan
JAMES B. KERCE
Editor & General Manager
BRIGETTE HAMILTON TERESA HAWK
Managing Editor Advertising Manager
V
Time to unite
This year’s election campaigns were unusually colorful,
and attracted above-average voter attention.
There were three candidates in the presidential race.
Scandal and misdeeds in Congress led to voter disgust and
a larger turnover in congressional membership.
All that is behind us; the need for domestic progress and
unity is now paramount, real problems must be addressed.
The new president and Congress should work together
harmoniously in the national interest without the usual de
lay in the opening months of Congress.
The deficit, recession, trade gap, health care, educa
tional reform, poverty and other problems demand urgent,
disciplined attention. All Americans should accept the hard
fact that sacrifice will be required to solve them; and most
important, members of Congress must exhibit courage and
will power in speedily enacting necessary legislation.
Postal service blues
A semi-government bureaucracy w hich needs financial
and efficiency surgery is the L'.S. Postal Postal Service.
The new Postmaster General is making an effort to reduce
costs and make delivery service competitive.
Marvin Runyon, in office three months, has eliminated
30,000 managerial jobs. But the main problem is that all
those hundreds of thousands of postal employees who
can't be fired.
Runyon is also closing many regional offices, in effect
copying private carriers by utilizing a few major distribu
tion centers. But this and eliminating excessive managerial
jobs may not be enough. So the postmaster is studying a
reduction in mail service-talking about four-day or five
day delivery of mail!
Before delivery service is curtailed-it's slow in many
areas alreadv-Congress should enact legislation to provide
for the dismissal of lazy carriers.
The Postal Service is a strange combination of unionized
Civil Service-like employees. It's very difficult to dismiss
inefficient gold bricks once they're on the payroll. And the
service has more than its share if deadbeat carriers in pro
tected entrenched jobs.
The union of carriers threatened to strike a few years
back. Thankfully, President Reagan stood up to the threat,
and would have used the military, if necessary, to continue
some mail service.
Because Reagan had fired airport controllers who
struck-Reagan felt they too had no right to strike-the
postal unions backed.down.
The carriers would have disrupted postal service for
250,000,000 Americans if Reagan had not stood firm.
The two postal unions lobby Congress: Letter Carriers
and American Postal Union; each has spent more than half
a million dollars already this year to influence Congress.
This money comes from union members. But the Postal
Service wastes far more, millions, advertising-as if n
were a private business--on television.
Instead of reducing service to American homes-which
will give United Parcel Service and Federal Express and
other private carriers an even greater share of total deliver
ies--Runyon should stop wasting millions on TV trying to
get back business already lost to FEDEX and UPI, and
prevent these private carriers from taking more Postal
Service business.
The service's share of urgent mail delivery was 33 per
cent a decade ago and is now down to 12 percent-thus the
desperate, costly and wasteful advertising campaign.
A number of members of Congress are finally consider
ing the problem, among them key members of the Senate
Governmental Affairs Committee and House Post Office
and Civil Service Committee.
Godbee is searching for
information about missing cat
Dear Editor:
I hope that you will print this letter in your paper for me
and my children. To some people this letter may seem
stupid. But for me, this is my last hope.
The weekend of Oct.. 24, our 11 year old Siamese cat
Please see LETTES, page 12A
“Fool You Once, Shame On Me.
Fool You Twice../’
Voters limit county property taxes in 'B2
-10 years ago
Nov. 4, 1982
Two measures limiting property
taxes in Houston County were
passed by voters.
The amendments placed a ceiling
on the amount of taxes levied by
the Houston County Commission
and the Houston County Board of
Education and call for a one percent
local option sales tax for educa
tional purposes.
* * *
An apparent administrative mix
up delayed a proposed project to re
place two bridges on Lake Joy Road
with one bridge, said county admin
istrators.
Lake Joy residents appeared before
the Houston County Commission
five months ago requesting the
“dangerous” bridges be replaced.
Commissioners asked State Rep.
Ted Waddle, R-Warner Robins, to
look into the Department of
Transportation’s progress on the
projects.
* * *
The Perry Players re-scheduled
their production of “Arsenic and Old
Lace” to coincide with the commu
nity’s Christmas at the Crossroads
celebration.
Players President Joyce Jones an
nounced the board of directors had
voted to postpone the play from
mid-November to Dec. 2-4.
15 years ago
Nov. 3, 1977
Perry High School’s chapter of
the Future Farmers of America was
recognized as the top chapter in
Georgia at a recent Georgia FFA
State meeting in Macon.
President Bill Bennett and chapter
reporter Charlie Davis were present
College grads should lose the attitude
Were you sold that bill of goods
about going to college, getting
your degree and automatically get
ting a $30,000 a year job?
A rude awakening hits simulta
neously with graduation day. The
truth is a college degree only gets
your foot in the door these days.
The battle still exists after receiving
that piece of parchment.
All of a sudden it's time to hit
the pavement with those SIOO dol
lar resumes you drained your sav
ings for to have prepared. 1 remem
ber intensely reading the Atlanta
Journal & Constitution's want ads
and thinking how easy it was going
to be to get a job since there were
several. Wrong. Another reality
blow when I called about the jobs,
Remember |
when? I
News items from past issues
to receive the F.W. Woolworth
sponsored plaque and a SIOO check.
* * *
Perry City Council learned
Tuesday night that over three
fourths of the city’s 1977 city taxes
had not been paid.
With 12 days left before city ad
valorem taxes were past due, the
council learned 594,000 in taxes
had been paid, but 5303,533.77
were still outstanding.
* * *
Lewis Bledsoe, Hilt Gray and
Herbert Moore were appointed as
registrars for the December 6 city
election. Forrest Purdom was
named polls manager, and a list of
polls workers named by Purdom
was adopted. Total cost of the elec
tion for polls workers and voting
machine maintenance were
5614.50.
25 years ago
Nov. 2, 1967
New pay schedules for some
9,200 Robins AFB civilian em
ployees in the sew'age board cate
gory were issued by the Army-Air
Force Wage Board, Washington,
D.C., effective Oct. 29.
Wage rates were to be increased by
an average of 13 cents per hour for
regular Wage Board employees,
14.2 cents for leaders and 19 cents
for foremen.
* * *
About 1,500 freshmen were ex
jf« Anissa I
■ Clemonsl
■ Staff writer
and 1 was told 500 other people had
applied.
Nevertheless I persisted until I
got a job. The weird twist is that
my job offers came at one.
Remember that saying, "It's either
feast or famine?”
A friend told me it takes a
month of job searching for every
thousand you want to make. I don't
f The Houston Home f
Journal
peeled to enroll in Macon Junior
College next September, announced
Dr. Jack Carlton, president of the
new two year college, at the Perry
Rotary Club meeting Monday.
Carlton said it was his opinion
that the new college would have a
big impact on the entire Middle
Georgia area, drawing students from
all counties in the mid-state area.
* * *
Houston County High was slow
to get started but scored 25 points
in a big third quarter and went on to
defeat A.S. Clark High at Cordele
Friday night, 41 to 0.
It was Houston’s eighth straight
victory without a loss this season.
50 years ago
Nov. 4, 1942
At the request of the Treasury
Department, 30,000 members of
the Georgia Department of the
American Legion and Auxiliary
have accepted active sponsorship for
the sale of S 9 million worth of War
Savings Bonds in Georgia during
the month of November.
* * *
Houston County people collected
and sold 500,000 lbs. or 250 tons
of scrap iron, tin and other metals
in October during the Newspaper
Scrap Metal Drive, according to re
ports received. Mrs. J.L. Hodges,
editor of The Home Journal,
thought this w'as a fine showing for
Houston County.
* * *
The General Election in Houston
County attracted the attention of
only 136 voters. With the excep
tion of four votes, all votes were
cast for the Democratic Party nom
inees chosen in the September state
primary.
know [hat I agree with that, but I
do know it can take a while to get
any job in your career field. I've
heard several employers complain
about recent college graduates ex
pecting everything to be handed to
them on a silver platter.
I'm not trying to belittle the
value of a college education. I’m
thankful for mine and realize its
importance. But today employers
expect a four-year degree. It’s not an
extra bonus any longer.
Even though you may not find
that ideal first job after graduation,
that doesn't mean don’t work. I have
friends who won't work because
they haven't found a job that’s
"good enough" for them. That's
Please see CLEMONS, page 11A
SBrigette L
Hamilton!
Managing
editor I
There is
definitely
a change
in the air
I could feel it as 1 arrived at my
designated voting location in
Wonderful Robins early this mom
ing-there's a change in the air.
It's time to say goodbye to the old
and hello to the new which, hope
fully, be better than what we're used
to.
Os course I arn writing this before
the official results of the votes have
been announced, so my following
predictions may be totally wrong.
Personally, I don't like to discuss
politics, it gets too heated. Just last
weekend I was at my college alma
mater and saw a fellow classmate
who was also visiting Statesboro
for the weekend.
We were talking about the lack of
good jobs available to college grad
uates and how we'd both been lucky
to find employment in our chosen
field of study. When he learned I
was working at a newspaper, he
said, "No offense, but the media re
ally makes me mad. All those lib
erals have done is make Clinton
look like God and pushed him off
as the only choice for president."
To make this more understand
able, I must tell you this guy is an
auditor/accountant in St. Simons. I
am sure he thanks George Bush ev
ery' day that companies and small
businesses are having financial
problems.
But, as I said earlier, I stay away
from political arguments, so be
lieve it or not, I just sat there and
smiled.
Personally, I think a person's po
litical opinions and/or convictions
are their own business.
1 don't like to try and push my
candidate down the throats of others
and 1 like to keep myself out of sit
uations where someone is trying to
throw their political views down
my throat.
With all that being said, I'd like to
make a few predictions about this
election. If you think this will in
fringe on your personal right to
have an opinion I apologize in ad
vance.
I'm not going to say there won't
be a lottery, although all I've heard
through my job are the voices of
opposition, or that Bush is going
to lose to Clinton as the polls indi
cate.
My only prediction is that incum
bents better watch out. I think more
Republicans will be elected to state
posts because they offer a change.
On the same note if Clinton does
win it will be, not because every
one despises Bush, because people
are ready for a change.
Os course any journalist’s perfect
scenario would be a Perot win. It
would be great, not necessarily for
the country, but because newspa
pers would have no problem getting
stories from the president for the
next four years. I think Perot would
probably tell the public more than
the other two candidates about the
state of our country’s affairs.
Well, that wasn’t too bad was it? I
tried not to discuss my personal be
liefs about who or what should
happen and I hope no one is of
fended by this point.
•And before I do offend anyone I
guess I will move on to another
subject.
As many of you may or may not
know, Perry's Mayor Jim Worrall
is at Emory having surgery this
week.
Mayor Pro Tern Hcrvia Ingram
has been standing in for Worrall and
will continue to do so I assume un
til he can return to his job.
I would like to let Mayor Worrall
know that I have been thinking
about him and wish him the best.
Mr. Ingram has been great in his
absence but I hope the mayor re
turns soon.
When I first came to Perry, the
mayor was one of the first people I
met. He has always been nice to me
and helpful whenever he could on a
story I was working on. In fact,
when I was looking for stories on
slow weeks, he would always try
and help me come up with some
thing.
I certainly don’t get to talk to the
mayor or anyone at city hall as
much as I used to, but I know ev
eryone there misses him and feels
the same way I do in that I hope he
comes back soon.