Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 4A
^Reporter
November 19. 2008
Opinion
Declare among the nations,
and publish, and set up a standard;
publish, and conceal not;
Jeremiah 50:2
OUR VIEW
This and that
T houghts on the passing scene:
• Some Monroe Academy parents were fran
tic last Wednesday when they arrived to pick
up their kids and found the school surround
ed by police cars and fire trucks. A bomb
threat had been called into the school around 2 p.m. A
search turned up nothing and police sounded the all
clear. As they consider suspects, investigators may
want to check the phone records for a call from David
Emanuel Academy. That’s the school that MA scored a
record 83 points on during the previous Friday’s foot
ball game. Bomb threats are no joke, but you can bet
the Mustangs hit on a couple of long bombs to score 12
touchdowns. Maybe they were still chafed.
• Monroe County is buying $5,000 worth of church
pews for the restored balcony in the historic court
house. Monroe County Superior Court Judge Tommy
Wilson picked the 20 pews from an Alabama company
called Rainsville Pew. Kristen Richardson, an employ
ee in the probate office, found the pews on the inter
net. County workers are expected to go to Alabama to
pick up the pews soon.
Then it will get interesting. The pews are so big
they’ll have to be funneled into the courthouse via a
second story window.
The restored balcony is another high note for the
courthouse renovation. Workers have also pulled up
the mangy royal blue carpet in the main courtroom
and refinished the hardwood floors. With the bigger
windows, the historic courtroom looks good enough to
be a set for Law & Order.
Once completed, we believe we’ll be very proud of the
courthouse renovations committee and its effort. Yes,
we have our opinions about the old trees coming down.
But taken as a whole, the project will leave us with a
courthouse we can be proud of for generations to come.
• The nation’s eyes are on Georgia as early voting
begins today, Wednesday, Nov. 19 for the U.S. senate
runoff. We humbly endorse U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss
over challenger Jim Martin. With Democrats in control
of the White House and Congress, the U.S. is about to
see government expand in its power and taxation to
European levels. We grieve this fact. But, if Chambliss
can win, it will give Republicans enough votes in the
senate to filibuster destructive legislation and act as
something of a firewall against liberal excesses.
Chambliss has a keen knowledge of foreign affairs, has
fought to preserve the Second Amendment to keep and
bear arms, and has been a champion for American
businesses and families against tax increases. He’s
what we need for these turbulent times.
Early voting continues until noon on Wednesday,
Nov. 26. The actual election day is Dec. 2. All regis
tered voters are eligible to cast ballots even if they
didn't vote on Nov. 4.
• The question has been raised by a handful of read
ers (one that would give her name - see letter): Why
not more Obama coverage?
Here's the answer: This newspaper goes to press on
Monday nights. The election was Tuesday. Therefore
we reported the local election results live on our web
site. But we couldn’t produce print coverage of the
results until a full eight days after the election. By
that time, we wagered most people had heard about
Sen. Obama's election. While Obama didn't carry
Monroe County, we did want to capture some of the
excitement of his supporters. We published our own
Denzil Hansford's moving tribute to the occasion.
But chiefly, we take it as our mission to give readers
what they can't get anywhere else: Coverage of
Monroe County. There are one gazillion news outlets
that covered the presidential election. There's only one
that cared about Monroe County's races. That's our
job, and we think, humbly, we did it pretty well.
is published every week by The Monroe County Reporter Inc.
Will Davis, president
Robert M. Williams Jr., vice president
Cheryl S. Williams, secretary-treasurer
OUR STAFF
Will Davis
Publisher/E ditor
publisher@mymcr.net
Gina Herring
Reporter
news@mymcr. net
Adam Ham
Webmaster
webmaster@mymcr.net
Wendell Ramage
Contributing
Writer
wendellram4@
bellsouth.net
Trellis Grant
Business Manager
business@mymcr.net
Carolyn Martel
Advertising
Manager
ads@mymcr. net
Denzil Hansford
Graphics Artist
gr aphics@mymcr. net
Laura Thackston
Editorial Assistant
for syth@mymcr. net
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Publication No. USPS 997-840)
TlnCkefm NeaC 'EsQinre presents: POMT. BUMK!
With the election results, the
Democrats are in control of the
Senate, the House of
Representatives, the courts, and
they have □ President-Elect rn the
White House— who tdoes that mean?
That means that a vote for Saxby
Chambtiss is a vote for CHANGEI
/
On the Porch
Rain: The unwelcome grace
M bnroe County
is at its best
when one of
our own needs
help.
That thought comes to mind
as I read the websites dedicat
ed to two young people in our
community going
through life-changing
hardships.
You have probably
already read about little
5-year-old Kyhe Seitz,
who was diagnosed
recently with bone can
cer. Thank God it
appears to be
limited to her
leg. Still, now
this precious lit
tle girl has begun
chemotherapy and her family
and church are trying to rally
around her as she endures a
trial most of us can’t imagine.
I am just getting to know this
family. The mother, Gini, is a
faithful Reporter reader (it’s in
her blood, she works at the
Telegraph) and we’ve commu
nicated many times, like
when she organized the God
Rush prayer rally at Mary
Persons. She and her husband
are active members at
Maynard Baptist Church.
Then, we learned last week
about Mary Persons senior
Hill Daniel, who suffered a
spinal injury in a wreck on
the way home from church
last Wednesday. Hill had just
been accepted to LaGrange
College and refereed my little
girl’s soccer games at the rec
department. As a coach, it was
sometimes discouraging after
the games. You think how
inept you are try
ing to get six-year-
olds to dribble and
pass - heck, just to
stay awake. And so
it was a needed
encouragement
when Hill, a soccer
star, would
run over
after
games and
shake my
hand and say, “Nice job,
coach.”
Moreover, his sister was our
valuable intern this past sum
mer, and his dad, Jackson, is
our school system’s everyman.
Whether it’s explaining the
state’s FTE funding formula
or renting out the BOE audi
torium, Jackson is the go-to
guy. Having been editor of the
Reporter for many years, the
good-humored Jackson also
seems to have a natural bond
with us newspaper folk.
And so, respecting these two
as I do, it is painful, and yet
encouraging, to read about
their walks in the valley. Each
of them writes moving and
very honest entries on web
sites for Hill and Kyhe at
www.carepages.com.
On Monday, Jackson wrote,
‘We continue to put our faith
and hope in the Great
Physician and in his hands.
But we admit that we find
this hard to do completely. As
parents, we want to be in con
trol and we want to just be
able to make things better. I'm
just not accustomed to feeling
and being so helpless. So help
take up the slack for me and
Theresa and help us let God
handle things for us.”
And on Sunday night, Gini
wrote, “I thought I was going
to fall apart there for a little
bit tonight. When this all first
started I felt so helpless
because there was NOTHING
I could do to help Kylie.
Tonight, she just cried because
her mouth and throat hurt so
bad and again there was
nothing I could do. Everything
we tried would not work. She
has been so puny for the past
two days...”
But in their pain, both
expressed appreciation for the
outpouring of love and sup
port.
Gini wrote, ‘We are hum
bled by how many people are
praying for us and our
princess. We have received let
ters in the mail from people
we don't even know and
emails and phone calls from
people who have said they are
friends with so and so and
they just had to call. I can't
believe how many people have
been touched by Kyhe and by
God's grace!”
And wrote Jackson,
“Theresa and I have just
scrolled through all the com
ments posted and we've had a
good cry together. Thank you
from the bottom of our hearts
for all the outpouring....you
may never know how much
the tremendous number of
prayers, calls, emails and texts
of concerns, the cards and the
outpouring of concern and
care has meant to all of us.”
As a parent, I can only
shudder at the thought of
enduring what they’re going
through. But I’m thankfrd
they are willing to share their
vulnerabilities, their faith and
fears, with us.
Most of us spend our lives
trying to avoid suffering. And
when it comes, we fight to be
free of it. Yet life teaches that
each of us making this earthly
journey will get our fair share.
And somehow, the God who
suffers with us brings life out
of the suffering. I still don’t
want it. But I see God doing
something beautiful with both
of these families, and with our
community.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Watched dogs don’t get shot
To the editor:
n response to Carla Beckom's
full page ad in the Nov. 12
Reporter regarding the death
of her dogs, I fully understand
her being upset. But the fact is
she is responsible for putting her
dogs in harm’s way by not following
the Monroe County leash law that
requires dogs to be penned or on a
leash. Why do some dog owners feel
no responsibility to keep their dogs
from interfering with their neigh
bors’ peaceful enjoyment of their
property? On opening day of deer
season, five hunters counted 14 dogs
running deer on my property, most
with collars. This situation with pets
running wild has gone from a nui
sance to a major irritant and can be
easily solved by both hunters and
dog owners following the law:
hunters do not shoot collared dogs
and pet owners keep your dogs
penned. If these dogs were truly
"family members" as Ms. Beckom
states, then she would know there
whereabouts all the time and would
keep them safe, the same as she
would do for her children.
Ed Hutcheson
South Monroe County
Where’s the Obama coverage?
OBAMA
To the editor:
I t is a good thing that
we look at national
news. I haven't seen the
headline stating that
Barack Obama is the
newly president
elected of the
USA. All that I saw in my
paper is 'Will he hurt Plant
Scherer?" I can't help but
wonder is the lack of this
reporting motivated by some
thing that is now covered
deeply in the America (racist)
fiber. Newspapers are sup
posed to be fair and unbiased.
I am kind of ashamed to
admit to people outside of this
county that we are still
behind the times and filled
with “something sickening”
that won't let us report the
real news. I am disappointed
with you Mr. Editor. You are
supposed to be an informer
and you failed to do your jobs.
I have (2) weeks worth news
paper that I now consider
only worthy of being a “fish
wrap.” I wonder what the
headlines would have read if
McCain had won. Ha! We will
never know.
Jackie Williams
Monroe County
Thanks for support during recent loss
To the editor:
O n behalf of my
wife Joan, and
my extended fam
ily in Arizona, I
want to express
our sincere thanks to all for
the kind thoughts and
prayers we received on the
passing of my foster father,
Bob Evans, on Friday, Oct. 31.
Pop’s passing after an extended
illness was expected but still came
QUINN
a shock to us all. His influ
ence on me was tremendous
and his friendship undying.
We all will miss him, but
take comfort in knowing he
is now in a much better
place.
A special thanks to Adecia
and Rodney Walker for their
help with our emergency
arrangements. Their con
cern and help was very much
as
appreciated.
To the coaches and the football
players for their kind words and
prayers last Friday after the game -
my special thanks. They helped me
get through a very tough week. I
will never forget it. This is a very
special group of young men. I was
deeply moved by the reception I
received upon our return. Thanks
fellas, you’re the best.
Jeff “Doc” Quinn
Forsyth