Newspaper Page Text
June 15, 2011
^Reporter
PAGE 5A
On the Outside Looking In
Oops: Credit to
former chairman
By DONALD JACKSON DANIEL
L ast week’s column was written in
frustration that the Monroe County
Commission (past and present) has
land is going to put a burden on us
taxpayers because of their failure to
display the leadership they were elected to
perform. Well, I failed to note that there is an
exception in that the former
chairman of the commission
attempted to Barney Fife
(“nip it in the bud”) as to
what he saw was going to be
a long, drawn-out and cost
ly legal battle to change the
Monroe-Bibb County line.
His attempt at recon
ciling the looming bat
tle with the Bibb
County commission was
rebuked by three other
commissioners and supported by anoth
er commissioner. Of course the two lost
the common sense battle and we are
where we are. He is due an apology for
my inferring he did not personify lead
ership on the border battle at the time.
Credit is due where credit is due..
From what I have heard, some type of
negotiations--some behind closed doors-
--are under way that would be amiable
for both counties, particularly us tax
payers. I’m sure Georgia’s Secretary of
State would be satisfied if everybody got
around the table and left the table
happy.
WIND, water and mosquitoes are my
impressions of being up here in South
Dakota. I can understand why a lot of
people up here are overweight (obese): if
they weren’t they would have to carry a
couple of bricks in their pockets to keep
from being blown away. The wind is con
stantly blowing across the prairie.
The snow melting run-off and a lot of
rain have caused some serious flooding
up here on the Missouri River. Pierre
and Fort Pierre have watched the river
rise to some serious danger levels. As
with many communities facing or hav
ing faced natural disasters, the people
are the ones making the difference, fill
ing thousand of sandbags, building up
levees, helping neighbors and exemplify
ing a community spirit that as one
South Dakotan said, “that’s just the way
we are all the time”.
Already with water just about every
where, townships are talking about the
upcoming “mosquito season” with spray
ing for the biters already under way.
Predictions are this is going to be the
toughest mosquito year in the state’s
history. When I told a township mayor
that the mosquito is the state bird of
Alaska, he said they should have the
same designation in South Dakota.
EATING out three times a day is
chore when deployed. Looking for a
restaurant that complies with the feder
al per diem and serves good food
becomes a priority. What surprises me is
the number of people who are obviously
not at their kitchen table having a home
cooked meal. Restaurants are always
packed with families eating out.
I attempt not to patronize chain
restaurants, attempting to find a hole in
the wall locally patronized eatery. Just
about every small town I visit has a hole
in the wall where the local flavors can
sometimes be surprising and the regu
lars are often characters. Steak, wall
eye and hash brown potatoes are a sta
ple on just about every menu. Good grub
at affordable prices. And, of course, beer.
Many small prairie towns have several
bars or, as they like to call them,
saloons.
Discovered one of the favorite drinks
up here is “red beer” or a “South Dakota
Martini”. The recipe for such is half
tomato juice and half beer. Tried it,
don’t care for it.
AND the winner is Jane Newton for
correctly identifying the year 1866 as
when Bolingbroke was founded. She
gets a certificate for a cup of coffee from
Kool Beans, a cookie from Jonah’s and a
breakfast at Prime Palate.
Here’s the question: which is the prop
er spelling? Dakota or Dacotah?
AN EXAGGERATION? According to
the Development Authority of Monroe
County website, Monroe County “is also
near Savannah, Georgia”. According to
Mapquest, Savannah is 189 miles and
almost a three-hour drive from Forsyth.
I guess “near” is how you define near.
ENJOYING reading The Reporter
and listening to The Radio Edition of
The Reporter on Majic 100 and online.
Steve Eller, mayor of Culloden, was a
very informative guest on the show last
week.
Donald Jackson Daniel is the founder
and former publisher of The Reporter.
Contact him at tullaybear@bellsouth.net.
Alcohol
continued from the front
Thursday, committee members agreed to
take the issue for full council vote at
council's next scheduled meeting on June
21.
If four of the six council members vote
to support a public referendum, Forsyth
citizens will have the opportunity to vote
for or against the measure in November.
Councilwoman Jo Anna Banks, who is
the chairwoman of the public affairs com
mittee, said council is only laying the
idea out for voters to consider. Banks
said council will not endorse Sunday
sales. Councilman Mike Dodd, a member
of the public affairs committee, said
Monday he expects council will vote, pos
sibly unanimously, in favor of holding a
November referendum.
Todd Tolbert and Phil Viviani, members
of the Forsyth-Monroe County Chamber
of Commerce's governmental affairs com
mittee, came to the meeting to pledge
support for allowing the referendum to
take place. Tolbert said he does not antic
ipate a tremendous increase in sales rev
enue as a result of passing the measure,
but he said the governmental affairs
committee would like to see the city
restaurants at least have the option to
sell alcohol.
"If there's promoting, the chamber will
do that," Tolbert assured council mem
bers.
However, Tolbert cautioned the
Chamber of Commerce has not yet pub
licly taken any official stance for or
against Sunday sales. Tolbert said the
governmental affairs committee will
meet with the chamber board on
Wednesday to begin formulating an offi
cial stance.
Chamber president Tiffany Andrews
said the chamber board voted a year ago
when the issue initially came up for dis
cussion to "educate" the community
about the possible economic impact that
Sunday sales could have for local busi
nesses.
Tolbert said he anticipates the chamber
board will take a similar stance this year.
Tolbert said he does not think there
should be any kind of restriction on the
type of alcohol a restaurant could serve
on Sunday either, meaning that if
passed, beer, wine and liquor would be
allowed to be served in restaurants.
Viviani said he is concerned Applebee's
and other similar sit-down restaurants
are not interested in locating in Forsyth
because of the ban on Sunday sales.
Viviani said he does not want the restric
tion to cause the city's economic impact
to decrease from what it should be.
Georgia state law gives cities the oppor
tunity to offer alcohol sales on Sunday to
businesses that meet the requirements of
at least 50 percent of their gross annual
sales being derived from food or from the
rental of rooms for overnight lodging.
However, state law also mandates that
cities allow voters to choose via a referen
dum whether to allow Sunday alcohol
sales that meet Georgia standards.
Monroe County already allows the sale
of alcohol on Sunday at businesses that
meet the state's requirements.
Tolbert said the first time the county
voted on Sunday alcohol sales in restau
rants in 1998, it failed narrowly both in
the county and at the city precinct.
However, the second time the measure
was on the ballot in 2000, it passed both
in the county and at the city precinct.
Tolbert said he thinks the issue "has a
chance" of passing within the city this
time around.
Councilman Mike Dodd, who is also a
member of the Public Affairs Committee,
said he is in favor of putting the issue on
the ballot because it is something that
could be beneficial to city restaurants.
Dodd said he does not expect any restau
rant to immediately move into Forsyth as
soon as the measure is passed, but he
said he believes it could open up some
possibilities in the long run.
However, Dodd stressed that the
approval of Sunday sales in restaurants
would not lead to Sunday package sales
in Forsyth.
Dodd, who said he was personally in
favor of Sunday sales in restaurants, said
he is staunchly opposed to Sunday pack
age sales.
This is the second consecutive year that
council members have discussed the
issue of Sunday sales in restaurants.
Council intended to bring the issue
before a public vote last November, but
County election superintendent Karen
Pitman informed the city that it had not
given her office enough notice to get the
referendum on a county ballot. Council
members decided at the time to wait
until 2011, a city election year, rather
than hold a potentially costly special
election.
The issue first gained traction last sum
mer when Jonah's on Johnston owner
Bonnie Barker publicly asked council
during a July town hall meeting to con
sider allowing Sunday sales at city eater
ies.
But Tolbert said he does not foresee
alcohol sales having much of an impact
on the city's current restaurants.
However, he said it would give the city a
better opportunity to "recruit" new
restaurants.
Forsyth police chief Keith Corley said if
the referendum passes, he does not think
Sunday sales would be a big additional
issue for law enforcement to have to han
dle. Corley said he thinks it is fair to
bring the issue before the voters.
And Tolbert said that fairness is one of
the biggest reasons he supports the refer
endum.
Tolbert said, "The law was written
around one portion of the protestant reli
gion," Tolbert said not all sects of the
protestant religion are against the sale or
consumption of alcohol.
"I don't think government should legis
late on one religion," he added. "I think
that's a fair and honest way of looking at
it."
Reporter
continued from the front
end.
The Reporter picked up six awards for
excellence in its editorial content, earn
ing it a third-place award for overall
General Excellence among weekly
papers with similar circulation.
The Reporter won two first-place
awards -- including the prestigious
W.G. Sutlive Trophy for community
service. The Reporter won first place
for community service for its efforts to
rally local support to keep the head
quarters of the 148th National Guard
unit in Forsyth. The National Guard
announced in November that it was
moving the headquarters of the 148th
from Forsyth to Macon. The Reporter
published the contact information for
the Guard's leadership and encouraged
locals to ask the Guard to keep its
148th headquarters in Forsyth. Within
weeks the Guard reversed course and
decided only to move the medical unit
to Macon.
Comments from the judges, journal
ists from the Tennessee Press
Association, were: "An excellent exam
ple of how a newspaper can serve its
community. Great investigative report
ing. The end result is proof of what
impact a newspaper carries within its
surroundings. Congratulations to you
and your town."
The Reporter's other first-place
award came for spot news photography.
The winning photo was of a fleeing sus
pect who had been pepper-sprayed by
Forsyth police behind Monroe County
Hospital and was being hosed off.
"Great 'in the moment' shot - from
the 'pants on the ground’ to the painful
grimace -- this shot places the readers
there," said the judges. "It's exactly
what a spot news photo should be!"
The newspaper won three second-
place awards. One was for overall local
news coverage.
"Very nice job of covering all aspects
of the community," said the judges.
"Breadth of coverage is impressive."
A photograph by Gina Herring of
Mary Persons football players carrying
the casket of drowned MP player
Dominique Davis won second place for
news photograph. And a column by
news editor Richard Dumas, "Winter
Olympics to Macon in 2018? Why not?"
won second place for best sports col
umn.
The Reporter also won third place in
editorial writing.
Davis credited the awards to two
things — the top-notch staff at the
Reporter, and the support of the com
munity.
“At a time when many newspapers
and other businesses are laying off peo
ple, we’ve been able to continue grow
ing,” said Davis. “That’s a tribute to our
team, and to our local readers and
advertisers in Forsyth and Monroe newspaper four years ago.”
County, who have supported us so faith- The 125th annual Georgia Press con-
fully through the years. That’s been vention was held at the Jekyll Island
especially true since we bought the Club Hotel.
New subscribers...
will receive a FREE copy of Cooking Is One Way of
Loving Cookbook. A collection of menus and recipes
from the kitchen of Movene Nelson Futch.
Only the Month of June
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^Reporter
50 N. Jackson Street • Forsyth, GA 31029
478-994-2358