Newspaper Page Text
December 17, 2008
'^Reporter
PAGE 5A
On the outside looking in
Comments and
observations
W e’ve all heard the stories
about people who live in
rural areas having their
washing machine on the
front porch, the family
auto sitting on concrete blocks in the
yard and a clothes line with long johns
and other unmentionables drying and
flopping in the breeze. And, of course an
outhouse with a well-worn path to the
moon-doored commodity used to be the
norm for rural areas.
Now, the City of
Albany has passed
an ordinance that
will be make it
unlawful—against
the law—to have
indoor furniture on
the outside of a
home. Can’t even
have a couch
or a Lazy-Boy-
recliner on the
front porch.
Possibly not
even a rocking
chair.
Residents can’t
sit on their front porches in comfort and
wave to passer-bys. Sad. At least they
didn’t include washing machines.
Maybe they just didn’t think of it.
Sorta reminds me of “guvmint” med
dling when the City of Forsyth was
going to go out and measure the grass
in your front yard. If it wasn’t a certain
height—crew cut—there was the possi
bility of homeowners being fined.
Wonder if that law is still on the books,
not being enforced or just ignored?
Don’t be surprised if some city or
county government comes up with a
law against turned inside out old tires
being used as a flowerbed, particularly
if they are painted white.
NOW here is the epitome of govern
ment intervening and coming up with a
really idiotic and stupid idea. According
the Associated Press, the
Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) wants a law to charge farmers a
fee for air polluting animals.
To be more specific, according to the
report, it would require farms or ranch
es with more than 25 dairy cows, 50
beef cattle or 200 hogs to be charged an
annual fee of about $175 for each dairy
cow, $87.50 per head of beef and $20 for
each hog for their belching and flatulat-
ing .
One of only two Monroe County diary-
men in the business, Jim Peters—Fred
Waldrep being the other—said he’d be
paying the “guvmint” annually $30,000
plus for his flatulent and belching dairy
cows and another $1,700 plus for his
beef cows’ gas passing. Guess Jim is
happy he doesn’t have any hogs!
From what I have read, the EPA came
up with the idea after our most
“esteemed” U.S. Supreme Court ruled
that greenhouse gases emitted by
belching and flatulence amounts to air
pollution.
Better watch out, belching after a
good swallow of beer and having flatu
lence after eating a can of pork-‘n-beans
could bring out the EPA cops. Next
thing you know, the EPA will be putting
a burping tax on beer and a flatulence
tax on pork-‘n’-beans.
Now that some restaurants have a
smoking area, maybe they will have
burping and flatulence designated area.
DISSAPOINTING was the comment
made after the Chamber of Commerce’s
Legislative get together last week. The
disappointment was that only one local
city and one county elected official
showed up to hear our two local sena
tors and representatives give an update
and overview of the upcoming session of
the General Assembly that convenes
Jan. 12, 2009.
Forsyth Mayor Tye Howard was the
only city representative along with
county commissioner Jim Peters in
attendance. The Development Authority
was represented by one member. No
other commissioners including the
chairman and chairman elect, city
council members, board of education
members nor other elected officials
showed up.
I am sure they all have what they
have determined to be legitimate excus
es for not showing up but at a time
when we need to present a unified front
our senators and representatives are to
be commended for their attempt to
present a unified front. It is a shame
we didn’t!
Donald Jackson Daniel is the founder
and former publisher of The Reporter.
He can be contacted at tullaybear@bell-
south.net.
Around the Bend
What would Trixie Belden do?
N bws travels fast
around this small
town. All day Mon
day I was bombarded
with calls
inquiring about my con
dition after being shot.
People wanted to know
how I single-handedly
took down an entire bur
glary ring.
Although that all
sounds cool, that's
not exactly how it
went down. I did
have a brush
with a criminal,
but he was hardly a threat.
Here's the truth.
Friday night I was working
late. It was around 7 p.m.
when I left the office, headed
to the Mary Persons basket
ball game to take some shots. .
umm. . . I mean pictures.
Jackson Street was quiet and
still. It was already dark and
most folks around here had
gone home for the weekend.
Then I heard some banging
coming from across the street.
It wasn't the rhythmic sound
of a hammer. It was erratic
and frantic. As crazy as this
may sound. . . . and I know it
sounds crazy. . . . the first
thought that flashed in my
head was somebody is trapped
in there.
I watch way too much TV.
I envisioned a kidnapped
girl, tied and gagged. She had
managed to crawl to the door,
only to find it bolted and
locked from the outside. So,
she laid down on the floor and
began to bang her bound feet
against the wooden door, hop
ing to either break through it
or attract some attention.
That's where I come in to save
the day.
It never occurred to me that
I may be in any danger
myself. I thought I could help.
How lucky for her that I was
there to help.
I walked halfway
across the street and
yelled in the general
direction of the bang
ing. "Hey!" I shouted.
"Are you OK?"
But, there was no
trapped, kidnapped
girl. Instead,
t j a little wisp
■-.--A 1 of a man
* U peered out
from behind a piece of ply
wood in the alcove.
"Are you OK?" I repeated.
"Yes," he said. "I'm just doing
some work for Lisa."
He said he was from
Mississippi. He seemed a little
odd. Something was not quite
right, but I knew they had
been doing some work on the
building, so his explanation
seemed plausible enough. I
started to leave. I was already
late for the basketball game.
But, then he spoke up again.
“Do you have a couple of dol
lars to spare? I need to get
something to eat and they
haven't paid me yet,” he said.
"My room is paid for, but I just
want to go get a cheeseburger
or something."
'Well, that doesn't sound
right, I thought. Who travels
all the way from Mississippi
with absolutely no money ?
But, I sifted through my
purse and came up with about
a buck-fifty in change and
handed it to the old guy,
explaining “This is all I have. I
never have any cash on me.”
I felt a little guilty knowing
he couldn’t get much to eat
with that measly take.
He thanked me, saying he
could get a cheeseburger off
the value menu and that
would do him until morning.
I turned and walked away,
still a little leery. I quickly got
in my van and drove off, dial
ing the police station as I
turned the corner at Johnston
Street.
"I may be wrong, but there's
a guy at Sherwood Antiques
and I think he's breaking in. I
think y'all should check it
out,” I told the dispatcher.
I immediately worried if I
done the right thing. I hoped I
was wrong about the old guy.
Maybe he was just a handy
man. Maybe the owners had
also felt sorry for him and
hired him to do a few odd jobs
so he could afford to eat or
stay somewhere warm.
I worried that he would be
mad at me for causing such a
scene, but my gut told me he
was not supposed to be there.
I always told my kids that
God gives you that gut feeling
for a reason. . . and you should
never ignore it. So, I called the
police and prayed I wasn't
wrong.
And I was not wrong. He
was breaking in. Turns out,
the guy had recently been
released from a mental insti
tution and was under the
delusion that he was still a
prosperous antique dealer. He
was supposed to be coming by
on Monday to pick something
up, but not Friday night. And
not with a sledge hammer.
I thought it was so cool that
I actually foiled a burglary. I
called Larry to share my
news.
“You did what?” he
screamed. “Gina, you are
never supposed to confront a
burglar. What if he would
have had a gun? What if he
had been on drugs and out of
his mind?”
Larry also watches a lot of
TV. But, the truth is . . . he is
right. It’s never a good idea to
do that. What was I thinking?
Honestly, I was not thinking
about anything sinister.
“I thought someone was
trapped in there,” I tried to
explain. It sounded pretty
lame when I said it out loud.
“I thought it was kind of neat
that I stopped him from rob
bing the place.” I said.
“It wouldn’t be neat if you
ended up dead,” Larry retort
ed. “It happens Gina. It hap
pens all the time. You need to
let the police take care of
things like that.”
Several other people had the
same reaction.
“You could have been hurt!”
My editor, Will Davis, being
a nosy reporter himself,
understood my glee. . . even if
everyone else seemed to think
I was stupid.
Thankfully I was not hurt
and everything worked out
OK. God was watching over
me. He always does. Even
when I do foolish things and
put myself in harm’s way.
But, next time I will proba
bly just call the police first. I
realize it’s dumb to approach
criminals.
But, later that night I could
n’t help but wonder if the old
guy ever got anything to eat. I
bet the jail food wasn’t as good
as that value meal cheese
burger he was looking forward
to.
Email Gina Herring at
news@mymcr.net.
Tift
continued from the front page
POLITICAL CHAT: From left, Joel Vinson, State Rep. Tony Sellier and
Mayor Tye Howard talk during the legislative preview at Alderman
Hall at the Welcome Center in Forsyth last Wednesday.
Alderman Hail at the new Welcome
Center for the meeting Dec. 10.
Lawmakers spent much of their time
discussing the economic slowdown. They
said the recession will overshadow most
other state activities when they meet next
month. Two weeks ago, Gov. Sonny
Perdue ordered state agencies to cut
spending by 6 percent. Earlier Perdue had
commanded a 4 percent cut.
Revenues are down 1.3 percent overall
for the fiscal year that began July 1.
Cole, one of Perdue's floor leaders in the
House of Representatives, said after dis
cussing the depressing economic outlook
in a fourth floor office in Atlanta last
week, he had only one suggestion.
"I think we should meet in the base
ment," joked Cole.
And Rep. Sellier, who was in ICU and
the hospital for two months with a throat
wound and respiratory distress, said his
health struggles are a metaphor for the
state.
"My biggest accomplishment last year
was survival, and I think that will be our
biggest accomplishment this year..on a
different level," said Sellier. "We're gonna
do some very unpopular things - but in
the long run it will make us stronger and
more viable."
But even with the downturn, Cole said
the governor still plans to ask for the
final $15 million to complete Tift College
renovations.
"The governor has let it be known that
he wants to see the momentum continue,"
said Cole. The state has already bonded a
total of $33 million over the past two
years to turn the campus into a home for
the state Department of Corrections. The
DOC is expected to begin housing cadets
in Tift dorms in 2009.
Cole said the Tift project has broad leg
islative support and is already pretty far
down the track. But he said there are a
few lawmakers who don't like the project
"because it's not in their district." He
joked that it might help if Forsyth resi
dents took two lawmakers who oppose the
project on a long trip to California from
January until April, the span of the leg
islative session.
Tiffany Andrews, president of the
Forsyth-Monroe County Chamber of
Commerce, asked what else the communi
ty could do to show support for Tift.
Staton suggested a "measured" cam
paign of letters from community leaders
to state leaders wouldn't hurt efforts to
get the final funds for Tift. "We're not in a
crisis but we have to be on guard," said
Staton.
Meanwhile, lawmakers said they're
already trying to figure out how to trim
state spend-
ing. Sen.
Chance said
he's glad
Georgia's
Constitution
requires a bal
anced budget,
even if it
forces lawmak
ers have to
make tough
choices.
"So our chil
dren and
grandchildren
aren't paying
for all our sins
down the
road," said
Chance.
Staton noted
that the state's
conservative
approach has earned Georgia one of the
best bond ratings, a kind of credit score
for states, in the U.S. That, said Staton, is
one reason he supports Perdue's plan to
spend 10-15 percent more than usual on
roads, bridges and other infrastructure.
Cole said he also supports the idea,
adding that its more modest than some
might think. "We're not looking at some
massive New Deal plan," saying that
Perdue is only proposing a small increase
in the state's normal yearly bond debt.
Cole also expressed his frustration with
the fact that while the state is trying to
trim spending in the downturn, the feder
al government is looking for new ways to
spend.
"I go sit down in Atlanta and we talk
about cutting, cutting cutting, .how do we
make ends meet?," said Cole. "Then I
come home and look on TV and the feder
al government is spend, spend, spend. I'm
tired of this."
Cole said every time they talk to federal
officials about a problem, the response is
that they'll address it in the budget and
throw more money at it.
"I've got a little political tiredness," said
Cole.
Other issues lawmakers said they may
address in 2009 include plans for a state
wide trauma network. Sen. Staton said he
will continue to focus on creating and
funding an adequate trauma system.
Staton has said Georgia's trauma death
rate is 10 percent higher than the nation
al average.
Sen. Chance said he will introduce legis
lation to crack down on theft of copper
wiring, which he said is pandemic in the
metro area. Chance also said lawmakers
will look at more ways to reform educa
tion, which takes up 60 percent of the
state budget. He said giving parents
school choice will be on the front burner.
Monroe County commissioner Jim
Peters asked whether lawmakers will
fund the Local Assistance Road Program,
which gives counties money for roads.
Cole said it’s unclear because the DOT is
a mess. The DOT says it has over
promised projects in the past and has cut
scores of projects.
Reporter columnist Don Daniel asked if
the headquarters of the Georgia State
Patrol would still be moved to Forsyth.
Cole said it's likely, but said there's a "1
in 10" chance it will not.
Forsyth's Lee Willingham asked about a
proposed commuter rail project to Lovejoy.
Cole said he has problems with using the
current rail line because it would not
allow a passenger train to move very fast,
and he worries it won't get enough riders.
Forsyth Mayor Tye Howard asked what
the state can do about gas prices. Cole
said the state can't do much about gas
prices, since all it controls is the state gas
tax. But he said he does wonder why
Monroe County gas prices are higher than
surrounding areas like Butts County that
are also designated in the zone that must
have low-sulphur gas. "I'm starting to
wonder," said Cole. "I need to look into
that."
Cole said it makes no sense that Monroe
County is in the EPA's non-attainment
area for air pollution, when Macon is not.
But he said he doesn't expect Monroe to
be able to escape that designation, sug
gesting such decisions are as much politi
cal as scientific.