Newspaper Page Text
August 20, 2008
On the outside looking in
State’s futile
attempt to
kill kudzu
W herever you ride on state highways in
Monroe County, you would think we
had an early frost when you see the
kudzu turning brown. Nope, we didn’t
have an early August frost but a futile
attempt by the Georgia Department of Transportation
to kill kudzu.
If goats turn their noses up to the stuff and cows
won’t eat kudzu, I wonder why
the DOT thinks their spraying
will kill kudzu. When they use
the poison—scientifically
described as a defoliant— indis-
cretionally, I want it proved that
the stuff is not contaminating the
soil, running off into ditches and
subsequently into rivers and
streams and possibly contam
inating the aquifer that sup
plies well water to a lot of
Monroe Countians.
A lot of people thought the
defoliant used in Viet Nam,
Agent Orange, was non-toxic.
Here’s my idea: gather up some soil, mix it with
water, and strain the soil out. Then offer a glass of the
strained water to a DOT employee. If he or she, with
out hesitation, drinks the water then I will feel safe.
The same challenge applies to the Electric
Membership Cooperatives that spray defoliant on the
vegetation under their power lines. Have a drink on
me.
At one time, way back in the early 1900s when
kudzu was brought to this country to prevent soil ero
sion, nobody had an inkling it would become such a
nuisance. The only use I have seen for kudzu was t-
shirts advertised as dyed with kudzu.
HERE’S THE REAL STORY on the Bolingbroke fire
station. Several months back, the district 1 commis
sioner, who represents Forsyth, proposed to the com
missioners that the Bolingbroke fire station needed
updated with some major repairs. The roof leaked, ren
ovation and expansion was direly needed.
So, the district 1 Forsyth commissioner assured the
other commissioners $20,000 would cover the needed
improvements particularly since (prison) inmate labor
was going to be used and the only thing us taxpayers
would have to pony up would be the costs of building
materials. The vote was a vote-getting unanimous
since all agreed expansion was needed to provide fire
protection for the Maconites and Bibbonians moving to
south Monroe County.
At the time, it was rather odd that the commissioner
who represents the Forsyth district and not the com
missioner representing the Bolingacon district made
the motion for a renovated fire station, which was out
side his district.
(Here’s an interruption to the story and why we need
a county manager form of government. Although the
request was made that it would only take $20,000 for
the work, all of a sudden, the inmate labor was not
available, more building materials were needed and
the concrete pad where the fire trucks would be
parked needed re-bar and more concrete re-enforce-
ment.)
So, the Forsyth district 1 commissioner, comes back
to the commission table and requests an additional
$30,000 to complete the project. Then the Bolingacon
commissioner makes his television news appearance
as the guiding light for a completely renovated fire
station. Wonder where the Forsyth district commis
sioner was when the television cameras were turned
on? Probably supervising the courthouse grounds
landscaping and looking for another tree to cut down.
GOT THIS e-mail from Carol Z. Horne in reference
to last week’s column: “Trane, Inc., is a major manu
facturer located in Monroe County. They ship to all
continental US states and Canada. Trane also exports
air conditioning products. Landstar Ranger, a local
freight agency is fortunate to provide transportation
for this member of our business community.” Carol
Horne is an agent with Landstar Ranger.
I thought Trane was closing down their plant here in
Monroe County. Hopefully Carol’s company will contin
ue shipping for Trane once they move to Macon/Bibb
County.
LOOK FOR some survey crews and spray paint to be
on the streets in downtown Forsyth. There just may be
some action on the Streetscape Project getting ready
to take place. Ever wonder what those spray painted
numbers mean? My guess is they have something do
with surveying and nothing to do with the Georgia
Lottery.
I wondered why it has taken five years since the
project was announced to see some action. I asked a
Georgia Department of Transportation official oversee
ing the project why it has taken so long to get the
project underway. With a promise of anonymity, he
commented, “There’s a lot of blame to go around.”
Interesting.
AND STILL, the latest Monroe County Commission
meeting minutes on the county web site are from
March 3! Simply stated, nobody on the commission
thinks minutes of their meetings on the web are
important but yet they can change the minutes after
they are approved! And, we wonder why we have an
image problem...duh! Just proves the county commis
sion is dysfunctional and needs a county manager who
could manage the big picture and the minute details.
Donald Jackson Daniel is the founder and former
publisher of The Reporter. He can be contacted at tul-
laybear@bellsouth. net.
^Reporter
PAGE 5A
Around the Bend
«be Hardy was always the cutest
I woke up from a much-needed
nap Saturday evening to hear
singing. Hannah Montana was
crooning her latest time on the Dis
ney Channel. I must have fallen
asleep during a behind-the-scenes look at
Disney World or something. How else
could I explain the TV being set to the Dis
ney Channel. My kids are
grown. I didn’t even know we
had the Disney Channel.
I have never watched that
show before, but know all
about the Hannah Montana
craze. I would have had to
been living in a cave for the
last few years not to know
who Hannah Montana is.
I watched for a few
minutes and thought,
This is the dumbest
show I have ever seen.
OK, wait, let me take that back.
“The Greatest American Dog” is the
dumbest show ever in the history of
television, but Hannah Montana. . .
well. . . . it’s pretty bad.
I guess I am just too old to get the
appeal.
This girl, played by Miley Cyrus, is
a normal regular girl during the day
and then at night, she puts on a
blonde wig and some cool clothes. . .
and presto-chango. . . she becomes
superstar Hannah Montana and no
one knows but her family and a few
friends. No one is even suspicious.
Huh?
Not since Clark Kent took off his
glasses and slicked back his hair to
become Superman has a disguise
been so flimsy.
But the kids go wild for this silly
show. It’s a license to print money
I’m telling you. Hannah Montana
merchandise is everywhere. Lunch
boxes, bed sheets, backpacks, posters,
books, there’s even Hannah Montana
paper towels.
Kids can’t get enough of it. And the
parents of these Hannah-crazed kids
are camping out, standing in line,
even selling body parts to procure
Hannah Montana concert tickets for
little Kaylee and Maddie.
At least Miley Cyrus has a pretty
good voice. That’s more than I can
say for the other latest and greatest
Disney creation .... the Jonas
Brothers.
Lately, I can’t turn on a morning
show without seeing that moptop sib
ling singing trio. There’s
just one problem. . . . they
can’t actually sing.
Of course, they don’t have
to sing. They’re young and
cute. All they have to do is
step on stage, strum a few
notes on the guitar, flip
their hair back and
approach the microphone
and the girls go wild,
screaming at the top
A" of their lungs through
' the entire concert.
Those guys don’t have to hit one
note. No one can hear them anyway.
AS I SAT there watching Miley-
slash-Hannah trying to get out of her
latest mess, I wondered . . . Were
David Cassidy, Leif Garrett and Scott
Baio just as bad?
Were Shaun Cassidy and Parker
Stevenson merely just mediocre
actors on a lame show (The Hardy
Boys), not the super-sexy teen idols I
drooled over in Tiger Beat magazine?
My room was covered in posters of
the Hardy Boys. I never could figure
which Hardy brother I liked best, Joe
or Frank.
I swooned over them. One week, I
pretended to be Mrs. Shaun Cassidy
and the next week, Mrs. Parker
Stevenson. I practiced writing it all
over my notebooks.
I had a Hardy Boys lunch box and
a Hardy Boys book bag. Man, I wish
I still had those things. I could get a
fortune on E-Bay.
When I wasn’t watching the Hardy
Boys, I was drooling over David
Cassidy sing, “I think I love you”
only to me on the Partridge Family.
I guess every generation has their
idols. My grandma once confessed
she was in love with Rudy Vallee as
a young teen. He used to sing into a
megaphone, she told me. The girls
screamed just as loud when he came
on the radio. That was long before
MTV or any TV.
As teen idols go, Rudy Vallee was
pretty impressive. Star of stage and
screen, he hosted the first-ever radio
talk show, which debuted in 1928
with 200 million listeners. Wow!
WHEN MICHELLE was a pre-
teen, or a tween as they’re now
called, ... it was the Backstreet Boys
and N’Sync who lined her bedroom
walls.
Right over her bed was a Tiger
Beat cut-out poster of Backstreet Boy
Nick Carter taking a nap.
“Shhhh.... Nick Carter is sleeping”
it said.
When we got our first computer
and went online in 1997, the first
thing she wanted to do was look up
pictures of Hanson, another trio of
brothers who couldn’t sing.
I HAVE TO SAY, Hanson and the
Backstreet Boys were a big improve
ment over Michelle’s first music true
love— none other than Hannah
Montana’s daddy himself - Billy Ray
Cyrus. Long about 1992, he and his
trademark mullet burst onto CMT
with “Achy-Breaky Heart” and a
video where he danced and sang,
amid screaming fans. No matter
where she was in the house, four-
year old Michelle would come run
ning as soon as she heard the first
few notes of the song — screaming
“Oh, Billy Ray!” She would stand in
front of the TV and dance and sing
and scream.
I’m quite sure if she knew how to
write back then, she would have
been writing Mrs. Billy Ray Cyrus all
over her notebooks.
Too bad that didn’t work out for
her. Then I’d be Hannah Montana’s
grandmother.
Gina Herring may be reached at
ginaherring@bellsouth. net
Cohabitating: Recipe for trouble
I t’s the last place one
would expect to read
something controver
sial, but there it was
on the cover of the
Atlanta Journal-
Constitution’s
“Homefinder” sec
tion of all places -
an article high
lighting the rising
number of unmar
ried couples who
are buying homes
together.
The article
seemed so matter-
of-fact about this
trend pointing out
that unmarried
couples are the
second fastest growing seg
ment of home buyers in
America. It then extolled
the benefits of combining
assets to afford a home and
explained many of the
legal and financial consid
erations necessary to navi
gate when making a pur
chase. One subhead in the
article read: “Buying a
Home Together Can Be a
Win-Win.”
“It works as a win-win
for everybody,” said one
realtor. “Usually they have
more money to put down,
therefore they may be able
to go in with an 80 percent
loan with a lower interest
rate and lower monthly
payment ... And now both
people may be splitting all
expenses as well as the
mortgage payment.”
Perhaps this could be a
financial “win-win” on the
front end, but entering one
of the largest financial
decision of your life with
someone you are romanti
cally involved with, but not
committed to in marriage,
sure sounds like a recipe
for complications that may
not only endanger the rela
tionship, but the economic
advantages as well.
Something is amiss
when you are more willing
to commit to hundreds of
thousands of dollars in
mortgage debt with some
one before you are willing
to commit to them in mar
riage.
When you
make the major
step of buying a
house together
before marriage,
you run the risk
of the tail wag
ging the dog. In
other words, it’s
entirely possible
that a cohabiting
couple purchas
ing a house
together is enter
ing into a finan
cial commitment that is
disproportionately greater
than the level of the rela
tional commitment. Things
could get messy in a hurry
if one individual’s confi
dence in their relational
future wanes.
Unfortunately, those con
cerns might be suppressed
in favor of financial consid
erations (i.e., the jointly
owned home). Hence, the
(financial) tail wagging the
(relational) dog.
The problems may begin
with the process of buying
the home. It’s an exciting
experience, filled with emo
tion and anticipation. It
can even create the illusion
of intimacy. But all of the
emotion of buying a home
can distract from the more
important work of cement
ing the relationship first.
Once you have become
intertwined both relation-
ally and then financially it
becomes much more diffi
cult to make objective and
subjective assessments of
the relationship and where
it is headed. The relation
ship has been sealed by
more than just an emotion
al connection; it’s commit
ted contractually and
financially too.
The effect on communi
cation can be hazardous.
Expressing misgivings
about a relationship that is
sealed with a deed will cer
tainly be more difficult
than doing so when each
person can return home to
their separate dwellings.
Freedom to adjust a rela
tionship, including taking
time apart or breaking up
completely becomes much
more difficult too. As you
can imagine, the pressure
on someone to remain in
the wrong relationship is
much greater when they
share a mortgage payment
with the other person.
In effect, becoming finan
cially obligated to each
other in such a big way
takes leverage away from
the person who may want
more commitment from the
other person. Their power
to say, “I need you to do
this in our relationship
before we move forward” is
gone because the issue of
mutual obligation has
already been settled.
Suppose one person wants
to improve their communi
cation by attending rela
tionship training? Or that
person wants to get mar
ried? If the other doesn’t
agree, what happens then?
Getting out of the relation
ship will require a lot more
than just saying goodbye
and walking away. It will
be complex and possibly
expensive.
Meanwhile, the other
person who is less inclined
to invest in the relation
ship has more leverage.
After all, what incentive is
there for them to agree to
more, when their partner
can’t just walk away? The
contract has been signed.
Contrary to popular
belief, living together
before marriage does not
improve the chances of a
successful marriage.
Research has found that
couples who cohabit before
getting marriage are more
likely to divorce. One of the
reasons unmarried cohabi
tation is harmful to future
marriage is because of
what I call an “escape
route” mentality - if the
relationship isn’t working,
they can walk out.
Unfortunately, this mind
set can be carried over into
the marriage. Instead of
doing whatever is neces
sary to save the marriage
when things get tough,
they abandon it instead.
Purposeful dating and
engagement while living
separately provides the
time to evaluate each other
and to commit to develop
ing the various parts of the
relationship. Doing so
apart from financial ties
like a mortgage means
that if you do get married,
it is based on a strong rela
tionship - not economic
convenience.
The home purchase deal
made by an unmarried
couple is more likely to fall
apart. That doesn’t bode
well for their mortgage
lender, but most impor
tantly, it doesn’t bode well
for the couple’s future.
Their biggest investment
should be into the health of
the relationship first and
then the marriage if it gets
that far. Otherwise, some
one may experience a
whole new kind of buyer’s
remorse.
Randy Hicks is president
of the Georgia Family
Council, a non-profit
organization that works to
strengthen and defend the
family in Georgia by equip
ping marriage advocates,
shaping laws, preparing
the next generation and
influencing culture. For
more information, go to
www.georgiafamily. org,
(770) 242-0001,
stephen@gafam. org.
By
Randy
Hicks