Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 4A
fiReporter
January 21, 2009
Opinion
Declare among the nations,
and publish, and set up a standard;
publish, and conceal not;
Jeremiah 50:2
OUR VIEW
Congrats dm Cole,
No. 1 floor leader
C ongratulations are due to our own State Rep. Jim
Cole. After a number of years as an assistant
floor leader for Gov. Sonny Perdue, Cole last week
was named the No. 1 floor leader.
This means the main person responsible for pushing
Perdue’s agenda through the murky waters of the Georgia
legislature is Forsyth’s Jim Cole. Whatever the governor
wants to accomplish in this, his next-to-last legislative ses
sion, it will be up to Cole to make it happen. He’ll be intro
ducing Perdue’s proposals in the House of Representatives.
With the state’s huge budget deficit, his won’t be an easy job.
Perhaps just as importantly, Cole was also appointed by
House leaders to the powerfhl appropriations subcommittee.
This committee has a major say in where and how taxpayer
money is spent. The appointment gives even more re-assur
ance that the legislature will authorize the final $15.6 mil
lion bond package to complete renovations at Tift College for
the Department of Corrections. Cole was also appointed to
another potent panel, the House rules committee, which
decides which bills get to come to the floor for a vote.
In his short time in public office, Jim Cole has proven him
self to be a friend of the taxpayer and a fighter for the con
servative Middle Georgia values we share. As he accumu
lates more power, those principles will be tested. Those in
power are often tempted to entrust the state to tax and
spend more at the expense of taxpayers. We urge Rep. Cole
to use his growing influence to benefit the taxpayers of
Georgia well before the numberless and ever-growing state
programs.
KNOW YOUR NEIGHBOR
Name: Angie Stephens
Age: 45
Education: Mary Persons
Family: My hus
band Dave, children
Kyle, Seth, Josh
and Scott and
grandkids Andrew
and Anna Kate
Where you wor
ship: Paran Baptist
Church
Your Job:
Manager at Bank of
America
What was your
first job? Stirring
seed for my Daddy.
Your passion: My family
Favorite movie: “Gone
with the Wind” and “Wizard of
Oz”
What kind of car do you
drive and what was your
first car? Chrysler 300, Ford
T-Bird
Your hometown: Forsyth
Words you live by: “If the
end brings me out right what
is said against me will
amount to nothing; If the end
brings me out wrong, ten
angels swearing I was right
would make no difference.”
Something you can’t live
without: Faith, family and
friends
The thing you are most
proud of: My mother’s grace
and faith in the face of termi
nal cancer.
What keeps you awake at
night? Not much when my
family is well.
Name something
you will never do
again: Eat habanero
pepper salsa
What’s your
favorite website?
Facebook. It allows
me to keep up with
out of town family.
If your life had a
theme song, what
would it be?
“Amazing Grace”
If you could start your
life over, what would you
change? I would be a kinder
person.
What food could you eat
every day? Pizza
Something people don’t
know about you: I published
a book for my son Josh under
Southern Bell Publications.
What’s the worst idea
you’ve ever had? To try
smoking because my friend
did.
What’s the best thing
about living in Monroe
County? The church bells at
lunch.
If you could change one
thing about Monroe
County, what would it be?
Opportunities for our young
people in work and play.
STEPHENS
is published every week by The Monroe County Reporter Inc.
Will Davis, president
Robert M. Williams Jr., vice president
Cheryl S. Williams, secretary-treasurer
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On the Porch
Cats like me, but don’t need me
B efore I married, I
thought dirty dish
es lived in the sink,
underwear on the
bathroom floor and
cats, well, anywhere but with
me.
Now? Well, some
times the dishes still
take a few days to
journey to the dish
washer. Often, the
underwear spends a
long weekend by the
shower. But cats? Oh,
let me tell you
about Pebbles,
Noodle and
Catfish.
Actually,
learning to like cats had less to
do with having a wife than
with having kids, five found
that a dad spends most of his
non-working hours tending to
these little attention-starved
creatures we call children.
When they’re finally put to
bed, who wants to turn around
to find a dopey dog wagging
his tail and panting for the
leftover energy and attention
that you don’t have? We had
two dogs when our first child,
Abbie, was bom. They were
gone by the time she could
crawl. When the labs refused
to quit launching projectile
guilt trips at me from then-
abandoned perch in the yard, I
knew they had to find
a new home.
But cats, I have
learned, require no
such maintenance. Oh
sure, cats like you.
They enjoy being with
their people. But they
don’t NEED
you. The old
saying is
true: What’s
the difference
between a cat and a dog? A
dog thinks you’re God. A cat
thinks he’s God. Which makes
you, the owner, kind of an add
on. It’s nice really.
The problem is, my wife is
never content with just one. I
mean Catfish, our overweight,
underworked orange tub ‘o fur,
is great. But he’s getting long
in the tooth. So when a neigh
bor, Deborah Miller, found a
tiny black kitty abandoned in
our neighborhood, guess
where she wound up? And
suddenly Mrs. Davis was nurs
ing again, rising at 4 a.m. to
give the crying baby her bottle.
This continued until ‘Pepper”
was able to eat normal food.
And the kids learned to love
and care for our new critter.
That is, until daddy intro
duced her to the bottom of a
Michelin tire. Well, sorry, she
was black, it was hard to see
her! With a second mortgage
on our home, we could have
done surgery to save her. We
opted instead for a Nike shoe
box and a parting gift.
Our then 6-year-old daugh
ter was crushed, as she mum
bled through her tears, “can
we get another one?” Abbie got
her replacement kitty in the
Chick-fil-A parking lot. And
before she made it back to our
van with ‘Pebbles,” my 4-year-
old son reached into the same
box, picked up “Noodle,” and
returned to his seat expecting
to return home with his loot.
So I caved, though I feared we
were turning into one of those
strange families from the
“Jerry Springer Show” that
has three cats coming out of
the freezer, six sitting on the
couch and where everyone
eats tuna.
The other day, I was working
late when my wife called in a
panic. “Will, we can’t find
Pebbles.” I didn’t know what
my role would be here, given I
was three miles away. Not to
worry, she called me back an
hour later. “Will, will you check
under your car to see if
Pebbles crawled in your
engine?”
Man, I knew cats were wierd
but I just didn’t think this was
likely. Nevertheless, I walked
outside and spotted two stray
cats meowing at my car. Then
I heard meowing in my
engine. Then Pebbles plopped
out of a wheel case and looked
at me like, “where the heck
have you been?” Yes, not only
have I learned to like cats, but
they’ve learned to like me.
Pebbles wants to go to work
with me. And she doesn’t
think she’s God. She thinks
she’s Evil Knievel.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Cigarette tax? What are they smoking?
To the editor:
et’s not pin Georgia’s hopes
on a cigarette tax. It’s been
recently reported that
there are supporters who
have started the “pass the
buck” campaign to increase the ciga
rette excise tax by $1.1 do not under
stand the rationale in supporting a
tax increase on cigarettes to solve
Georgia’s $2 billion revenue shortfall.
The coalitions lobbying to increase
the cigarette excise tax includes the
American Cancer Society, the
American Cancer Action Network,
the American Lung Association, the
Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids, the
Medical Association of Georgia and
other health care groups. But the
goals of these organizations are not
to solve Georgia’s budget deficit prob
lem but to lobby against the cigarette
companies in hopes to abolish tobac
co usage once and for all. The prob
lem with these types of tax increases
is that once the revenue problem is
solved the taxes are rarely ever
reduced; instead they are redirected
for another purpose. If these organi
zations are successful in their goal of
eliminating tobacco usage then this
source of revenue will dry up yet cre
ating another revenue problem.
Do not misjudge, I’m not advocating
for tobacco usage nor for tobacco
companies; I advocate that our legis
lators roll up their sleeves and for
mulate a long term policy that will
resolve Georgia’s revenue problem.
Don Andreasen
Warner Robins
Looking for info about our late Mayor Hatcher
To the editor:
any of
your
readers
may
remem
ber when I served in
the position as County
Extension Agent (direc- DANIELS
tor) for Monroe County
(1977-88). I remember Hal when he
still operated his mill; and when he
sold it during the years I was County
Agent. I have been a member of the
local Forsyth Lions for 30 years now,
and have served as the secretarty for
several of those years. As the record
keeper, I take note that Hal Hatcher
was once one of our members, howev
er it was before I joined in 1978. I
also note that Hal served our Lions
Club as president during 1950-51.
That was the 15th year of our
Charter which is dated May 1936.
I would love to hear from anyone
who was in Forsyth Lions during the
years Hal was a member. Grateful
to be able to serve as a Lion.
Cecil Daniels
Forsyth
Cecil Daniels is secretary of the
Forsyth Lions Club.
Land
continued from the front page
to stand up," said Pearce.
Along with Pearce at last
Wednesday's meeting were other
nearby landowners Tommy Vaughn
and Pearce's father-in-law, James
Long. Also there was Jimmy Jones,
who successfully fought county
efforts to put an animal shelter at
the nearby rec department late last
year.
Pearce said he was upset that he
had to learn about the possible land
deal from an anonymous phone call.
He said the property is a residential
area behind the recreation depart
ment, and is not suitable for indus
try.
Further, Pearce asked authority
members why they need to buy more
land when they can't fill up the park
they've got off Hwy. 18 behind
Shoney's. Authority director Tiffany
Andrews said they only have 20
acres left at that park. Authority
member Tommy Weber said that
Cherokee Brick recently spent mil
lions of dollars to grade its large
tract that abuts Hwy. 41.
But nearby landowner Tommy
Vaughn said new industrial parks
have done nothing to reduce his tax
burden. Moreover, he said the land
in question would be difficult to
develop because it includes the head
waters to Rum Creek. Vaughn said
Hwy. 42 already sees enough traffic
from 18 wheelers trying to avoid the
weigh station on 1-75 and that it
would only get worse with an indus
trial park.
"If there was a group
that didn't want the dog
pound," said Vaughn,
"you'll have another group
to fight this."
Added neighbor James
Long: "It's not a good place
for an industrial park. The
front side is rough, and it
would ruin Rum Creek."
Pearce said a site on
Johnstonville Road, just off
1-75, would be a much bet
ter place for an industrial
park.
In response, authority member
George Berry told the property own
ers that authority members are
merely volunteers trying to secure
jobs for future generations.
"We're not trying to do anything
bad," said Berry. "You have every
right to fight...but don't look upon us
as your enemy."
Director Tiffany Andrews said the
authority is doing due diligence to
see if the property is workable before
it closes on it.
Jimmy Jones asked if there's a
time when the public can have input
on the plan. Jones said such moves
are always going to make someone
mad, but said if the authority would
include the public, then the opposi
tion wouldn't be as potent.
Such opposition may have its
chance because the land is currently
zoned as agricultural. It would have
to be re-zoned as industrial by
Monroe County commissioners
The authority has made an
offer on the 100-acre Pippin
tract, shown on map below,
for an industrial park.
before the
authority
would purchase
the property.
Authority member
Larry Evans, who's also a
county commissioner, said
Monroe County's economy is strug
gling and that it needs such projects
to make the county economically
competitive.
"Perhaps your mind can be
changed," said Evans. "I think you're
jumping the gun."
He asked if they'd rather Forsyth
dry up like a ghost town.
Opponents and Evans did agree on
one thing however. Both said that
Upson County and Thomaston had
done a terrific job of recruiting and
keeping industry and jobs. Vaughn
said that's because they built an air
port next to an industrial park, and
said Monroe County should do like
wise.