Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 13A
December 5, 2012
^Reporter
Hometown Holidays parade winners are...
The winning floats in last week’s Hometown Holiday parade
were honored on Monday with trophies, checks, and brag
ging rights. Winners in the commercial category were Head
Heating and Airfor "Cat in the Hat," 1st place; Backlot Play
ers for Sponge Bob Squarepants, 2nd; and Primary Pedi
atrics for "Finding Nemo," 3rd. In the non-commercial cate
gory, the winners were Monroe County Midddle School for a
float filled with Smurfs, 1st place; Burruss Correctional Train
ing Center-Georgia Department of Corrections for Super
Mario Brothers, 2nd; and the McDonald-Shuman-King fami
ly, 3rd place. T.G. Scott Elementary took first place in the
youth category with a Flintstones themed float. Hubbard El
ementary and K.B. Sutton Elementary teamed up to build a
Charlie Brown Christmas float and were rewarded with 2nd
place. The theme for this year's parade was "Holidays in
Toon Town" and included more than 60 entries.
ESTATE SALE
Smarr • 96 Gose Rd. Dec. 7,8 & 9
9 a.m. until 3 p.m. all days
19th century farm house w/ walk-up attic full to the brim
with antiques, primitives, vintage items & whimsical relics
of days gone by.
Furniture incl. heart pine cupboard,Victorian marble turtle
top table, Victorian Armoire, primitive farm tables, misc.
chairs, tables & chests. Washington "Rebecca" wood cook
stove, iron beds, loads of kitchen items, sterling items,
depression glass. Watt & McCoy pottery, Southern pottery
incl. Crawford Co., S. R. Rogers, Salter, more. Framed oils,
lithos & prints, wicker porch furniture, tons of fabric
suitable for quilting, shutters, doors, folk art pieces, yard art
& items for "re-purposing" for the creative.
Session
continued from the front
Dickey (R-Musella), "it's
won't be pretty."
That was the theme of the
night for the 20 some odd
local residents who turned
out for a preview of the 2013
Legislative session. The
annual forum at Aldermen
Hall was sponsored by the
Forsyth-Monroe County
Chamber of Commerce.
Staton noted that lawmak
ers have cut the state budg
et from $22 billion to $17
billion the past five years.
He said state revenues
remain flat and that
President Obama's re-elec
tion means that's not chang
ing.
"We're going to be faced
with a little more trim
ming," said Staton. "I had
hoped we had turned the
corner but I'm afraid with
the decisions made in the
national election our econo
my won't be taking off in a
positive direction."
"We've asked state agen
cies to cut their budgets
again," added Staton.
While acknowledging the
pain of state cuts, lawmak
ers also agreed that balanc
ing the budget is a superior
way to do business when
compared to the federal gov
ernment's continual spend
ing spree, which runs an
annual $1 trillion deficit.
"We're very fortunate that
we balance our budget every
year," said Dickey, "it makes
you very disciplined."
However, state Rep. Allen
Peake (R-Macon) said the
Patient Affordable Care Act,
known as Obamacare, and
its required expansions of
Medicaid, will make it hard
er to balance the budget.
"The impact of Obamacare
on the state treasury will be
monumental," said Peake.
In fact, Dickey said so much
of what state lawmakers do
now depends on what the
federal government does.
"We've become very reac
tionary on a state level for a
lot of things," said Dickey.
Lawmakers covered an
array of topics in the 90-
minute forum and here are
some highlights:
Education:
The biggest part of the
state budget, 50 percent, is
earmarked for public
schools, and state Rep.
Susan Holmes (R-
Monticello) said she expects
some lawmakers again to
push for vouchers, allowing
Georgia students to choose
their school.
"I will oppose that," said
Holmes.
Dickey and Peake have
been more open to allowing
vouchers, or school choice.
Dickey said reform is need
ed because, for instance, the
state's university system
has to spend $50 million on
remedial classes to get stu
dents coming from Georgia
high schools where they
ought to be.
"We're paying for them
twice," said Dickey. "We
have to look for better
ways."
Dr. Phil Viviani, chairman
of the Monroe County
Republican Party, said one
of those better ways would
be for lawmakers to do
something about the heavy
number of administrators at
all levels of education.
Viviani said the ratio of col
lege administrators to facul
ty members is 1 to 1 in
Georgia. "That's absolutely
ridiculous," said Viviani,
who just finished his doctor
ate at Mercer in his 80s.
"That's out of balance and
it's what's causing problems
in public schools too."
Dickey said he agreed. But
lawmakers said the Board of
Regents control the univer
sity system budget and they
can't do much about it.
Staton said the top-heavy
administration is actually
worse in K-12 schools than
in the university system.
Gambling:
Former Forsyth mayor
Jimmy Pace urged lawmak
ers to allow horse racing in
Georgia. Holmes said she
supports it. Dickey said he'd
love to see horse racing but
dubious it will fly because
horse racing businesses
require casinos to be prof
itable. Peake said he thinks
it will have to be put to a
state referendum. But
Staton said Gov. Nathan
Deal has said he doesn't
want to expand gambling in
Georgia and he doesn't see
lawmakers wasting their
time on it, risking e-mails
from every Baptist in the
state if the governor doesn't
support it. "And I am a
Baptist," joked Staton.
That brought up the issue
of video poker machines,
and Jay Hamilton of the
Georgia Manufactured
Home Association said when
South Carolina banned the
machines they flooded into
Georgia. Lawmakers agreed
they are a widespread prob
lem and very addictive.
Forsyth business owner
Connie Ham asked if they
would allow dog racing,
prompting Pace to quip:
"The only horses I bet on
run like dogs anyway."
New Stadium:
It appears the legislature
will be voting to issue bonds
for a new stadium for the
Atlanta Falcons. Most law
makers hinted that they'd
support it if it is funded by
an extension of the hotel tax
only in Fulton County.
However Holmes said she
needs more information and
would vote "no" currently.
Lobbying:
Reporter columnist Don
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Daniel pointedly asked
Staton about his receiving
lobbyists' gifts. Staton chal
lenged Daniel's claim that
Staton was a major recipi
ent of lobbyists' gifts, and
said he supported a cap on
gifts to lawmakers. He said
he's asked to go to events all
the time as part of his job,
including a trip to a conven
tion in New Orleans on
Thursday with the chancel
lor of the university system
to visit a firm that's giving
the system $1 million to
improve graduation rates. "I
took time away from my
family to do this and I'm not
going to pay out of my pock
et," said Staton, who earlier
noted the part-time law
makers only get $17,000 per
year.
After the meeting Daniel
pressed Staton to identify
Beth Merkleson, the phan
tom GOP activist that
Staton is suspected of creat
ing in an email campaign to
build support for himself
among grassroots
Republicans two years ago.
With that Staton walked out
the door and drove away.
Gfiristmas
T”ree '(Form
Mon ■ Sat: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. • Sun: 1 p.m. to 5 p.m
$30 $25
Leyland Cypress Virginia Pine
Fraser Fir, Ball & Burlap Leyland Cypress Also Available
f3e sure to visit our gift sfiog for ciders, jams,
jellies, unique gifts and our homemade uvreatfisl
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109 Westgate Plaza, Barnesville, GA 30204
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