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-THE HOUSTON HOME JOURNAL, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 1993
4A
Perry viewpoint
The Houston Home Journal
OFFICIAL ORGAN, CITY OF PERRY AND HOUSTON
COUNTY, GEORGIA, SINCE 1870
PUBLISHED EACH WEDNESDAY AND SATURDAY MORNING
807 CARROLL ST., P.O. DRAWER M, PERRY, GA. 31069
TELEPHONE: (912) 987-1823
The Houston Home Journal (USPS 252-780) is published semi weekly for
$lB per year by the Houston Home Journal, Inc., 807 Carroll St., Perry, Ga.
31069. Second Class Postage paid at Perry, Ga. POSTMASTER: Send
address change to The Houston Home Journal, P.O. Drawer M, Perry, Ga.
31069.
ROY H. PARK, PrMktent A Chairman of tha Board, Park Newspapers
JAMES B. KERCE
Editor & General Manager
BRIGETTE HAMILTON
Managing Editor
Our view
Compulsive?
During political 1992, candidate Bill Clinton traveled the
nation promising various things to various special-interest
groups-as is the political custom, especially among the
outs seeking to get in.
A promise he kept on Day One, to end restrictions on
abortions, wasn't in this category. This, polls repeatedly
show, was favored by a sizeable majority. The
Republicans erred badly on this issue-and it may have
been the most decisive factor in giving Clinton the
women's vote and the vote of m,any others last
November.
But Clinton is now faced with his pledge to homos that
they not be treated differently by the military services. He
is attempting to honor it, risking the combat effectiveness
of the military services in the view of the majority in the
Pentagon.
He will soon face implementation of his pledge to pro
pose statehood for the District of Columbia.
There are others. The chickens always come home to
roost after the election-if one wins.
Include Congress
Congress is considering extending the independent
counsel state. Democrats control Congress and have in re
cent years much enjoyed Lawrence Walsh and his 0
lawyers probing the Bush Administration on foreign pol
icy.
The statute shouldn't be extended. The prosecutor is, in
effect, a fourth branch of government accountable to no no
one, and unelected. When the party out of power controls
Congress, the slant of investigations is almost certain to be
hostile to the executive branch, and even political.
If, however, Democrats extend the statute, members
should give the prosecutor power to investigate members
of Congress as well as the executive branch. The length of
authority voted this extra branch of government should
also be specifically and finally limited.
New trains
Amtrak, which only moves step by timid step, recently
began testing a 155 m.p.h. train on its northwest express
route. The train was leased from Sweden.
Cars and engine tilt as it rounds curves, making possible
greater speed. Fast, modern trains have been in service in
Europe and Japan for three decades.
Amtrak also says a new coast-to-coast train, the first in
years, will begin three-times-weekly runs between
Jacksonville and Los Angeles in April.
In re-building the nation's infrastructure, the Clinton
Administration should designate some spending to im
prove our rail roadbeds, so that U.S. train service can, at
last, begin to catch up. Fast, comfortable rail travel will
inevitably lessen demand for gasoline.
Your view
Thanks to those who helped
during recent crisis
Dear Editor:
The Emergency Response Teams of Houston County,
Perry and Warner Robins did an excellent job in the rescue
of the man who fell into the water tower Feb. 10, 1993.
Approximately 100 people responded to this emergency.
When the Houston County Chapter of the American Red
Cross received the 911 call, we called Mr. Chad Massey of
McDonald's on Russell Parkway. They provided 125 ham
burgers and five gallons of punch to feed the emergency re
sponse teams. We greatly appreciate Mr. Massey and his
crew for their support and quick response.
This was indeed a superior response on the part of the
Emergency Response Teams and McDonald's. Our thanks
to everyone for providing these valuable services to our
area.
Sincerely,
Sam Register,
Executive Director
Houston County Chapter,
American Red Cross
TERESA HAWK
Advertising Manager
*• \v w
HIT THE GROUND STUMBLING
City council works to save train depot
10 years ago
Feb. 17, 1983
Perry City Council unanimously
voted to ask the Southern Railway
Company if the city could lease
Perry's train depot in its present lo
cation for at least a one year period
in an effort to save the historical
landmark.
Railroad officials previously told
the Perry Area Historical Society
that the society could have the 110
year old depot if they would remove
it from its site adjacent to the rail
road tracks on Jemigan Street.
* * *
Twenty five contestants vied for
Little Miss Valentine Feb. 12 in
the Perry Annex Auditorium.
Michelle Lee Meadows was
crowned Little Miss Valentine in
the pageant sponsored by the local
Tsungani Club. Other finalists in
cluded Christalyn Sheridan, first;
Robin Griffin, second; Nicole
Green, third and Andrea Kirk,
fourth.
* * *
Local Jaycees offered to set up a
Jaycee chapter at the Houston
County Correctional Institute to
help prepare inmates for life after
they leave prison.
Mike Billrey, a past president of
the Warner Robins Jaycees, went
before County Commissioners at
their regular meeting with the re
quest. Billrey said the Warner
Robins and New Perry Jaycees
would help with the institutional
club chapter.
15 years ago
Feb. 16, 1978
Vandals and thieves continued to
wage campaigns of waste and de
struction on Houston County
schools according to the school
board.
A board report stated three electric
typewriters valued at $1,222 were
stolen from Perry High School's
business department. This upped
the total number of incidents of
Bills should improve state mental health services
Consumers, families and other
advocates are ioudly calling for
change in Georgia’s public mental
health, mental retardation and sub
stance abuse service system. They
say the system is too complex and
too often does not respond to their
needs.
A state commission on mental
health, mental retardation and sub
stance abuse services has heard the
advocates’ call. Last year this
commission was created by the
General Assembly to examine the
shortfalls in the current system and
recommend changes. This year, the
General Assembly is considering
legislation drafted by the commis-
Remember L
when? I
News items from past issues
. t f ’ ‘
vandalism reported for all county
schools since January to 48. The
total value of property destroyed
was placed at $784.
* * *
There was a traffic jam at the
Briggs and Stratton plant earlier in
the week as applications for
employment were being taken.
Nearly 1,000 people showed up for
the first day to file applications.
Company officials planned for the
large crowds and police officers
were on hand to handle the traffic
flow.
* * *
Perry Mayor James McKinley
predicted the intersection of Sam
Nunn Boulevard and Interstate 75
would soon be "lit up like a small
city," after Perry City Council
voted to authorize him to sign an
agreement accepting a $127,000
federal grant to erect seven light
towers on both sides of the
interstate at the heavily travelled
junction.
25 years ago
Feb. 15, 1968
Maynard B. Cliff, son of Mr. and
Mrs. Arthur F. Cliff, was named as
the STAR Student at Perry High
School. He chose Florence Harrison
as his STAR teacher.
The Perry Area Chamber of
Commerce sponsored the STAR
program to award outstanding stu
dents and teachers. Cliff and
Harrison were presented certificates
at the Perry Kiwanis Club meeting
Feb. 13.
***
Plans were being made for the an
nual Houston County Steer Show
to be held Saturday, March 2, on
Guest I
Column
Stanley S. Jones Jr.
sion to carry out its recommenda
tions and bring improvements to
the service system.
The State Commission on Men
tal Health, Mental Retardation and
Substance Abuse Service Delivery
listened to hundreds of citizens, pro
fessionals, advocates and others be
fore they outlined its bold plan. It
a The Houston Home a
Journal
the Perry High football field.
Steers would be shown by both
FFA and 4-H Club members and
would be judged by M.K. Cook,
University of Georgia Extension
Animal ScientisL
* * *
Rev. Dan Hodges, pastor of First
Baptist Church, announced the
cornerstone would be placed at the
new sanctuary at a brief service
Sunday, March 3.
The cornerstone would include the
signatures of all current members of
the church and a Bible. The dedica
tion of the new sanctuary was tenta
tively scheduled for the middle of
May.
50 years ago
Feb. 18, 1943
The Army, Navy and salvage
committee in Georgia were joining
in a huge Army-Navy salvage
campaign in which all agencies, as
well as citizens, participated to
round up thousands of tons of scrap
metal Feb. 24.
The Houston County Salvage
Committee urged Perry farmers and
business people to cooperate in this
scrap metal drive.
* * *
Twelve beef calves were entered in
the Fat Calf Show sponsored by the
Perry Kiwanis Club.
There were eight FFA boys with
10 calves and two 4-H club boys
with two calves.
This was the fifth annual Fat Calf
Show to be held in Houston
County under the sponsorship of
the Perry Kiwanis Club.
* * *
Georgia school children were go
ing to head a state-wide campaign
to produce clothing and shoes for
millions of Russian children.
Schools and colleges in Georgia
were asked to collect 2,000,000
pounds of shoes and clothing during
the week of Feb. 22-27 to be
passed on to the Russian War
Relief Industry of New York.
recommends pushing authority for
decision making out of Atlanta and
closer to local communities, where
the results of the decisions will be
felt by consumers and their fami
lies. It calls for formally involving
consumers and family members in
the decision making, because they
know what their needs are and they
have a stake in making the services
the best they can be.
The commission has proposed
setting up regional boards com
prised of local leaders, consumers,
families and other citizens. These
boards would plan for both hospital
and community services, decide
how money should be allocated, and
TV news report
could cause all
journalists grief
The integrity of the news media
is at stake as General Motors filed a
lawsuit against NBC this week
claiming the network rigged a fiery
crash test of a GM pickup truck for
a “Dateline NBC” broadcast on
Nov. 17.
NBC outfitted a GM truck with
model-rocket engines to ensure the
truck would catch fire when rammed
by a Chevrolet Citation. NBC
claims the rigged devices didn’t
cause the fire.
The controversy has emerged after
last week’s court decision to award
a $lO5 million negligence suit in
Atlanta against GM.
The most criticism has been
caused by NBC’s failure to reveal to
“Dateline” viewers that the truck
had been rigged with the devices.
If the charges are proven, it will
damage the credibility of the news
media in the public’s eyes. It will
be a sad day for journalism. NBC
had an obligation to tell its viewers
the truck was rigged to catch on
fire.
What is unfortunate is if the
charges are proven, journalists will
be grouped together as being uneth
ical. As a journalist, that worries
me. I don’t want to be classified
with being unethical.
Another incident could play a part
in the questioning of journalistic
integrity, and that is the ABC
“Prime Time Live” broadcasting of
the Food Lion stories. Food Lion
officials have issued a press release
insisting ABC News apologize.
Food Lion has also filed a lawsuit
charging ABC with making false
charges and slandering Food Lion.
Perhaps GM and Food Lion are
trying to find an escape to throw
some of the spotlight off them.
Maybe NBC and ABC were right
running the two stories. We don’t
know the whole story.
I hope for journalism’s sake they
did proceed ethically with their
broadcasting. If worse comes to
worse, and the networks are repri
manded, how will it affect print
journalism? Will newspapers’ in
tegrity be questioned along with the
electronic media’s?
I view the two mediums with
great differences. I have worked at a
television station, and obviously a
newspapers. Television can often
distort news since reporters are
given only a limited amount of
time to tell the story. Also the
shows are competing for rating
points. I’m sure they have to be
tempted to sensationalize the truth
as they know they might get the ax
if top ratings aren’t produced. Is
that true journalism? Can journal
ism be true when so much pressure
is added?
It seems to me it would be
tempting to add dramatics during
the networks’ reports knowing your
job is on the line. I know pressure
exists in every job, but not all jobs
affect the public as much.
I agree the two networks should
be reprimanded if they did act uneth
ically. However, don’t group all
journalists into one bouquet.
Maybe these incidents will wake all
journalists to the sincerity of our
job. These are giant corporations
with a lot at stake including their
employees’ jobs. Journalists have
to remember we can do a lot of
harm or a lot of good, but above
all, we need to be honest. Way to
go NBC and ABC if indeed you did
act ethically. If not, shame on you!
make sure that people get continued
care when they move from one type
of service to another. They will en
sure that citizens with substance
abuse problems, mental illness or
mental retardation do not fall
through the cracks.
The commission has empowered
citizens to make decisions on their
own behalf. It is a cherished tradi
tion in America. The people af
fected by the decisions will make
better decisions because they under
stand the problems better. The
commission’s market-oriented ap
proach breaks the mold of a tradi
tional style of autocratic govem-
Please see GUEST, page 12A