Newspaper Page Text
April 18
FORSYTH CITY ELECTION
iReporter
Page 3A
VENT
www.MyMCR.net/vent
It’s time to compensate
our Monroe County
Recreational Director Keith
Edge tor the phenomenal
job hes done at MCRD.
Hes the most underpaid
LEADER we have in our
county!!!! Time to COM
PENSATE!!!! votes: 31
Its not NRA propaganda,
it’s factual history. The
NRA hates these shootings
more than anyone because
it's OUR guns that they
come after. Laws don t
stop criminals because
criminals don t obey the
laws, votes: 6
The 2nd Amendments
purpose is to give the citi
zenry the right to protect
themselves from our own
government. History is
littered with governments
killing their own citizens.
An armed citizenry keeps
the government in check,
votes: 5
A SMOKE SCREEN IS
EASY TO THROW UP
when Adults equate Self
Defense, Bearing Arms,
Pistols, ShotGUNS and
Rifles with Glocks and
AK47! votes: 4
Just so we re clear, that
published list of sex of
fenders wasn’t Jackson
Daniels’ next round of
new hire teachers, was it?
votes: 4
Mueller admits — no Rus
sian collusion? Well, no, he
hasn’t. Facts matter, try to
stick to them, votes: 3
To vent is to complain
but lets ignore the rules
and get excited over how
great East Johnston looks
since Streetscape! votes: 3
Twitter and Facebook are
creating a war within
us. So much hatred is
being launched against
each other it is horrify
ing to read. Many of us
are praying for an EMP
votes: 3
Somebody has to be
the lowest paid. It has
NOTHING to do with
HOW HARD YOU WORK!
votes: 3
Facebook isn t the appro
priate place to state your
opinions about your job.
votes: 3
WHY do y’all Good Ole
Liberals keep harping on
the Right to Kill babies
with Assault Doctors?
Something or should I say
Someone AIN T Right!!
votes: 3
I don t think any of those
that committed these mass
shootings were Good
Ole Boy Southern Baptist
Christians, votes: 3
Starbucks will arrest you
if you do not purchase
anything. Just happened
in Philadelphia and we
watched it live on Face-
book. votes: 2
Bearden qualifies for city council post
By Diane Glidewell
news@mymcr.net
Qualifying for the Forsyth city
council seat left vacant last month
by the death of Council member
Dexter King will continue through
12 noon today (April 18). As of
press time only Ronald Bearden
had qualified.
Bearden said he is running be
cause he wants to represent all the
citizens of Forsyth. He is a familiar
face at city council, often attending
meetings and taking the opportu
nity to address council in public
comment. He has lived in Forsyth
for 25 years and has stayed in
formed about how the city govern
ment manages its resources.
“I’m a very conservative person,
But I have some very liberal views
on helping people who need help,”
said Bearden.
The person elected will serve the
remainder of Kings four-year term,
through Dec. 31,2019. All six city
council members serve at large,
representing all citizens of the city.
The open seat is designated Post 1,
but that does not signify a geo
graphic area.
Early voting begins Monday,
April 30 and continues through
Friday, May 18. Election Day is
Tuesday, May 22.
Voting for city elections must be
separated from voting for county
and state elections; city residents
must cast two ballots to vote for the
council member and vote in the
county school board and the state
elections. However, early voting
for both is at the Monroe County;
Board of Election & Registration at
the County Annex, 38 W. Main St.,
Forsyth.
BEARDEN
Rilyn McKallip picked for Georgias elite Honors Program
By Diane Glidewell
& Lauri English
Mary Persons junior
Rilyn McKallip has been
chosen to attend the 2018
Governors Honors Pro
gram in the area of mathe
matics. Governors Honors
Program is a four-week res
idential summer program
for gifted and talented high
school juniors and seniors.
Selection is highly com
petitive. 2018 will mark the
55th consecutive summer
of GHP, making it the
longest continually running
program in the nation.
Over 3,200 students were
nominated throughout
the state this year, with
over 1,600 competing as
semifinalists in late Feb
ruary. Only 671 of these
students were chosen as
finalists who will be able
to attend the program,
which will be at Berry
College near Rome, Ga. All
expenses are paid for the
participants, who have the
opportunity to study with
outstanding professors in
their field.
The other Mary Persons
students who were se
lected as semifinalists this
year were Stephanie Nix
and Sunny Devane, both
in Music (Voice: Treble),
Breanna Jones in Science,
Abby Hodges in Theater
Performance, and Destiny
Thompson in Visual Arts.
Rilyn was nominated by
her math teacher, Mrs. Bar
ber, and said she is excited
to be participating in the
area of mathematics. She is
leaning toward a career in
statistics, possibly in public
health or bio-statistics.
After being nominated,
Rilyn McKallip (Photo by
Lauri English)
she completed an applica
tion in which she expressed
why she would like to
attend GHP and what
interests and challenges
she has found in math. She
advanced to a semi-finalist
after her application, tran
script and test scores were
evaluated. She was then
met with a panel of two in
terviewers, a professor and
an electrical engineer.
“It was not as nerve
wracking as I thought it
would be,” said Rilyn of the
interview. “I was surprised
to be selected because the
other Mary Persons stu
dents are really talented.”
Rilyn is the daughter of
Rob and Jill McKallip. She
has two younger sisters and
a younger brother. She and
one of her sisters both run
the 3200m for the Mary
Persons track team.
Rilyn plays flute in the
Mary Persons marching
band and has achieved
recognition for her musical
accomplishments, includ
ing making All State Band
for the last three years.
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HOPKINS
IE ASSOCIATES
\j-r'J~A J^A-A-r'A J->AA JA-A-rJ J-AAA h TT-TN \
TODD
TOLBERT
Meet &
State Representative
Y-rJN-J 'A -A-r'A -r'A'A'Al'A'A-r'A 'J-r'.
Thursday, April 19,2018
5:30-7:30 PM drop in
The Watson Pavilion
1403 Pate Road - Juliette
Please come meet Todd, learn about his position on key
issues, and enjoy a barbecue sandwich and fixings.
Hosted by: Cheryl & Johnny Watson and Michele & David Prim
Please RSVP to 478-254-1608 or ToddTolbert33@gmail.com
,Y -'A''A'AFl'A-A~r'A nY -A A 'A fI'A -A -A'A \Y ~A'A A sf'A'A^r'A nY A".
Learn more about Todd’s campaign on his website at
www.votetolbert.com or his
Facebook page at Todd Tolbert for State Representative
She is in the flute choir at
Mercer University and is
the lead in Mary Persons’
flute choir. Music will be
her minor at Governor’s
Honors Program, as she
hopes it will be in college.
“Music is harder to learn
than math,” said Rilyn.
“But there are a lot of con
nections. Understanding
one helps understand the
other.”
Rilyn is active in Monroe
County 4-H, competing
in instrumental perfor
mance in district project
achievement and working
with younger 4-H’ers and
in community service.
She was a teen leader at
Cloverleaf camp for a week
last summer, her longest
time away from her family
before GHP.
But in a little over a year
she will be heading to col
lege, something for which
GHP should help prepare
her. Vanderbilt University
tops her hopeful list right
now.
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UPDATE FROM THE GOLD DOME
End of Legislative Session Update
By Rep. Robert Dickey
robert.dickey@house.ga.gov
Last week I mentioned I wanted to provide you
some information concerning legislative bills which
passed and are now on the Governor's desk waiting
for his signature. He has forty days to sign or veto all
legislation passed this session. All of this legislation
can be found on the Georgia General Assembly's
website - http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/en-
US/Search.aspx. You can search under a bill number,
a particular legislator or by keyword.
SB 330"Green Agricultural Education Act"-1
appreciate the support for ag
education the Crawford County
School System gives to our
students.
This legislation requires agri
cultural education programs in
Georgia to be based on a nation
ally recognized three-component
FFA model of agricultural educa
tion for grades sixthrough 12.
The Department of Education will
develop the curriculum and standards for this pro
gram with input from agricultural education teachers.
This legislation also authorizes the DOE to establish an
agricultural education pilot program for elementary
agricultural education to determine whether such a
program is suitable for statewide implementation.
One of the largest concerns in our rural areas in
Georgia is the ability to obtain health care. Many rural
hospitals have closed and young physicians serving
in rural areas are concerned about howto make ends
meet with medical school debt and no access to
hospitals for their patients. HB 769 has several com
ponents and one provides for a grant program for
insurance liability premium assistance for physicians
serving in medically underserved rural areas of the
state. This legislation also increases the value of the
tax credit to 100% for contributions to rural hospital
organizations such as the Monroe County Hospital.
In 2016 the Georgia General Assembly passed legisla
tion which awards Georgia income tax credits to
individual and corporate taxpayers who contribute to
qualified rural hospital organizations ("RHOs") located
in Georgia. https://www.georgiaheart.org/
HB 65THC Oil Patient Registry - Rep. Allen Peake
has worked tirelessly for the last few years with the
THC oil patient registry to help our citizens with
on-going, debilitating medical needs to have access
to low THC oil. This year we passed legislation which
added post-traumatic street disorder and intractable
pain to the list when other forms of medical treat
ment have been ineffective. I truly believe the low
THC oil will help reduce opioid addiction in many
patients suffering from constant pain. Georgia is
grateful that Rep. Peake has been a true advocate
for our children suffering with autism and seizure
disorders to provide them with improvement with
their day to day well-being.
HB673"Hand-Free Georgia Act"-This bill prohib
its an individual from physically holding or supporting
a wireless telecommunications device or a stand
alone electronic device or reaching for devices in such
a way that the driver is no longer seated in a driving
position while operating a motor vehicle. Many hours
of testimony from families who have lost loved ones
dues to distraction from texting and driving and dis
traction from our mobile devices. Each testimony was
very heart wrenching.This prohibition does not apply
to: voice to text communications; the use of device
for the purpose of navigation with a GPS system'and
dash camera video recording devices that record the
front and rear of the vehicle.
Over the last several years Senator John Kennedy
has worked diligently on legislation called "Marcy's
Law'; or SB 146.This bill provides for the consti
tutional rights to the VICTIM of the crime NOT the
offender. The victims of the crime will have reason
able, accurate, and timely notice of court proceedings
involving the alleged act; reasonable and timely
notice upon the release or escape of the accused;
and the opportunity to be heard at any scheduled
proceedings.This legislation along with its compan
ion piece SB 127 will be on the ballot in November as
a constitutional amendment.
HB 332"Georgia Outdoor Stewardship Act"
creates the Georgia Outdoor StewardshipTrust Fund
and dedicates up to half of the sales tax collected
on outdoor recreation equipment establishments
to the fund. The bill sets the initial rate at 25% of all
moneys received. Funds in the trust shall be made
available as grants and loans to cities, counties,
departments, agencies, or non-governmental entities
of the state for acquisition of land for the purposes
of maintenance or restoration projects ofthe DNR.
This legislation will be on the ballot in November as a
constitutional amendment.
SB 339"Freedom of Speech" This bill would
require the Board of Regents ofthe University
System of Georgia to develop a free speech policy
to be implemented at all state institutions within the
system.The passage of this legislation enumerates
seven principles the board will address when adopt
ing regulations and policies regarding free speech,
including to protect freedom of speech and press
for all persons; foster learning through the sharing of
different ideological positions; protect students and
their guests who peacefully protest, so long as they
do not interfere with classroom instruction, violate
university policy, or interfere with previously sched
uled events.This bill also mandates that the board
establish a range of disciplinary sanctions for anyone
under the jurisdiction of any state institution who has
violated the board's policies on free speech.
The pieces of legislation listed are only a brief of all of
the ones passed during this past session. I am glad to
give you more information about any legislation. On
the upcoming primary ballot the citizens of Crawford
County will be voting on two Splost measures. I hope
you will take the time to learn about all of these im
portant votes and most importantly get out and vote!
Thankyou for allowing me to serve as your State
Representative. It is an honor and privilege I do take
seriously.
Robert Dickey
Rep. Robert Dickey • 404-651 -7737
245 State Capitol • Atlanta, GA 30334
robert.dickey@house.ga.gov
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