Newspaper Page Text
Page 6A
April 18, 2018
Alice Elaine Andrews
April 20,1938 - April 10, 2018
Alice Elaine Law Andrews of Forsyth passed away
Tuesday, April 10,2018. Services and burial will be
private.
Mrs. Andrews, the daughter of the late Stafford Law
and Opal Goolsby Law, was born April 20,1938, in
Hamilton County, Fla. Her husband, Kenneth Edward
Andrews, and her daughter, Deborah Youghn, preced
ed her in death. She was a retired registered nurse.
Survivors include her children, Pat Culberson (Chris)
of Forsyth and Mary Lynn Mendoza (Gilbert) of
Arizona; sisters, Geanie Ducker and Faye Culpepper
of Texas; brother, Harold Law (Gerry) of Jennings,
Florida; seven grandchildren; and eight great grand
children.
Please visit www.monroecountymemorialchapel.com
to express tributes.
Monroe County Memorial Chapel has charge of ar
rangements.
Sally Lou Sparks Shelton
May 6,1946 - April 13, 2018
Sally Lou Sparks Shelton of Forsyth went home to
be with her Lord and Savior on Friday, April 13,2018.
Funeral services were held Monday, April 16,2018, at
Northside Congregational Holiness Church with burial
in Monroe Memorial Gardens. Rev. Mike Marker and
Rev. Phillip Johnson officiated.
Sally, the daughter of the late Cleo Charles Sparks
and Hazel Helen Tate Sparks, was born May 6,1946, in
LaGrange, GA. Her husband, Mark Darwin Shelton Sr.,
preceded her in death along with her brothers Don
ald Ray Sparks, Ed Sparks, Sammy Sparks and Gary
Sparks. She was a retired bookkeeper and a member of
Northside Congregational Holiness Church.
She is survived by her sons, Les Shelton of Forsyth
and Mark Shelton Jr. of Mitchell, her daughter Kim
Shelton Penna (Jeff) of Thomson and daughter-in-love
Erin Shelton of Forsyth; grandchildren, Kayla Brooke
Pippin, Rebecca Lynn Penna and Carter Bryce Shel
ton; great grandchild; Layla Jay Franks, sister; Helen
Granade of Forsyth; sisters-in-law Frances Sparks
of Forsyth, Josie Sparks of Bolingbroke, and Jeanie
Bridges of Sandersville; brothers-in-law Bill Marker of
Dexter, KS and Ken Shelton (Cindi) of Lake Wylie, S.C.
along with a host of nieces and nephews.
In lieu of flowers the family suggests donations to
Northside Congregational Holiness Church, Post Of
fice Box 8, Forsyth, Georgia 31029.
Please visit www.monroecountymemorialchapel.com
to express tributes.
Monroe County Memorial Chapel had charge of ar
rangements.
Genevieve Davis
June 27,1933 - April 8, 2018
Monticello - Homegoing services for Mrs. Gen
evieve Lynette Holmes Davis were Saturday, April 14 at
Springfield Baptist Church, Monticello. Burial was at
Southview Cemetery in Monticello.
Survivors include her daughter, Audrey Stewart; five
grandchildren; eight great-grandchildren and a host
of relatives and friends. Freeman Funeral Home in
Forsyth was in charge of arrangements.
Debate set for April 30
Monroe County voters will have a chance to hear from
candidates for school board and the state legislature at a
debate set for 6 p.m. Monday, April 30 at Alderman Hall.
The Reporter is sponsoring the debate for all contested
elections in the May 22 election. Featured will be the
District 5 school board race between incumbent chairman
Nolen Howard and challenger Matt Morris, as well as the
candidates for District 3, incumbent Phil Walker and chal
lengers Tanya Williams and Greg Head.
Another debate will feature candidates for District 141
in the Georgia House of Representatives, the seat being
vacated by Allen Peake. Running to replace him are for
mer Bibb County commissioner Gary Bechtel, healthcare
executive Shane Mobley Monroe County businessman
Todd Tolbert and Macon real estate agent Dale Washburn.
Candidates for the city councils special election to replace
the late Dexter King will also be invited.
Call your local Monroe County representative
Scott Harrell
478-256-3586
or toll free: 800-551-1102
^^^^250 Vinevill£Ave ;i Macon L G^^1208^^^^
BARNESVILLE MARBLE & GRANITE COMPANY
Serving Middle Georgia for Over 100 Years
Designers & Manufactures of
Marble, Granite & Bronze
Memorials since 1908 George &
Janice Moore Authorized Georgia
Marble Dealer
TOLL FREE
1-800-377-9341
1-770-358-1470
Railroad & Main St. • Barnesville, GA
tRqporter
TAKING A LIKENS TO YOU by Dale Likens
Protest drugs, they are killing our kids
A recent news report that
spread across our na
tion tells us that police in
Youngstown, Ohio had
responded to 14 calls about “zombie
like” raccoons. The
raccoons reportedly
stood on their hind
legs, angrily grit their
teeth and toppled over
backward collaps
ing into a comatose
condition. They claim
the raccoons had dis
temper, a viral disease
that causes coughing,
tremors and seizures
and leads them to lose
their fear of humans.
All 14 raccoons were
euthanized.
Since my wife and I
both grew up in a very rural part of
Ohio, approximately 20 miles from
Youngstown, I was quite interested
in hearing this news. Our town was
so small we had no street lights and
only a few stop signs where neces
sary. I imagine there may have been
more raccoons in our small town
than people. I saw quite a few rac
coons in my lifetime, but never did
they act like the raccoons found
recently in Youngstown, Ohio. As
I remember, they were more like
stray dogs that quickly scurried away
from humans rushing to the nearest
tree or thicket for protection.
For some strange reason this
unusual attack of “zombie-like”
raccoons caused my mind to drift
back to a recent phone call my wife
received from her sister who still
lives in this same rural area. Her
sister explained that this area is now
one of the largest users of the illegal
drug known as heroin. Sadly, heroin
took the life of one of the young
teenage girls from this same small
community. Since I knew
very little about heroin, I
needed more information
and discovered that heroin
is part of a drug known
as opioids that are also
used medically for pain
relief, to suppress diarrhea
and coughing. Heroin is
a highly addictive drug
derived from morphine
which is obtained from
opium poppy plants—oth
erwise known as an opi
oid’ that affects the brains
pleasure systems and
interferes with the brains
ability to perceive pain.
Interestingly, the raccoons men
tioned in the news report were suf
fering from distemper, which causes
coughing, tremors and seizures;
somewhat similar to symptoms of
heroin and they are referred to as
“zombie-like raccoons.” But dare not
refer to humans as “zombie-like hu
mans” when they also stand on their
hind legs, angrily grit their teeth and
topple over backward collapsing into
a sudden death.
Drug overdoses are the leading
cause of death for Americans under
age 50. Overdoses of drugs killed
more people in the year 2015 than
guns or car accidents. A national
survey in 2015 showed that 19.9 mil
lion Americans, or 8 percent of the
population of Americans age 12 or
older, used drugs in the month prior
to the survey.
In 2016 more than 42,000 deaths
were caused by opioids such as
heroin, prescription painkillers and
extremely potent fentanyl, according
to the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention Subsidiary. By com
parison, guns took 38,000 lives.
Recently, while in another town,
my wife and I heard of a young man
who was burned to his death when
his house caught on fire because he
was making meth in his house. A
few, short years ago a young, beauti
ful, teenage girl my wife and I knew
died of an overdose of heroin. Hun
dreds of similar stories permeate our
news each year. The question still
remains, “Why?”
I apologize for letting my mind
wander from the news of a simple
“zombie-like animal” to our own
beautiful children. However, I also
wonder about those young people
who left their schools to protest guns
in schools. Have they ever thought of
protesting the real killer in Ameri
ca—drugs! Perhaps an appropriate
sign during their next protest might
read, “Stop taking drugs! They kill
our children!”
Raccoons do not think as humans.
Raccoons do not gamble with their
lives as many humans do. Raccoons
do not dare one another to experi
ment with deadly drugs. Still, it may
take the lives of such animals to
remind each of us, as these “zombie
like raccoons” reminded me, how
important our childrens lives truly
are. God bless.
Dale Likens is an author who lives
in Monroe County.
UNFAIR AND UNBALANCED by Marilyn Langford
Is Mueller closing in on Trump?
n case you haven’t noticed,
there’s a war going on. No, not
the farcical airstrikes on Syria,
but the war against the truth, i.e.
James Comey. Trump, the Republican
National Committee, and the Fox
network have colluded to undermine
this man of integrity and profession
alism. Comey is honorable, ethical
and a moral man who has served his
country for over 31 years. That’s what
you do when you’re guilty as sin. You
shoot the messenger! You call the
messenger an “untruthful slimeball,”
and “slippery)’ among other things.
You call the highest law enforce
ment agency in our country a “den of
thieves” and “low lifes.”
TRUMP HAS taken extraordi
nary measures to undermine James
Comey. He and the Republican
National Committee have created
a website called LyingComey.com.
This is unprecedented by a political
party who represents all Republican
elected officials and their candidates.
It appears to be a desperate gamble on
their part and it proves that Trump
and the Republican Party are one and
the same.
TRUMP, HIS staff, and the talking
heads at Fox have not presented one
piece of evidence that Trump is in
nocent. Instead, these Trumpsters are
maligning a man who has had a stel
lar reputation in all facets of his life.
Trump, on the other hand, has a repu
tation of being a liar, a serial adultery,
possesses no class, a self-admitted
sexual assaulter of women, loves
chaos, and lacks ethics in his personal
and business life. Comey’s account of
what happened in the meeting with
Trump and Trump’s crass denials
boils down to this. If you were on a
jury, who would you believe?
LAST YEAR I wrote that James
Comey should be fired for re-opening
Hillary Clinton’s email case on the eve
of the election. It is normal to want
retaliation for a person whom you
felt had thrown the election in favor
of someone despicable. Besides, what
else was I to think? Comey was a
lifetime Republican! However, I have
since listened to Comey’s
explanation and find it
credible and truthful.
Besides the fact, Comey
would have been drawn
and quartered by these
same people had he with
held this information. A
month later I wrote that
Comey was a victim of a
‘Power Predator,’ namely
Donald Trump. Still, I
find myself daydreaming
about what our country
would be like today had
there never been Rus
sian interference in our
election and Comey had not erred in
releasing the information. Just think!
We could sleep soundly at night.
NO COLLUSION? Two weeks ago
Trump released that Mueller had
stated to his lawyers that Trump was
not a ‘target’ of the Russia investiga
tion, but a ‘subject.’ There’s not a hair’s
difference in those terms but some
saw it as a vindication of Trump and
called for celebration. Perhaps that’s
what you would think if you get all
your news from the Trump (Fox)
network. The fact is Mueller never
said Trump was cleared of Russian
collusion in our election.
IN FACT, this past week it appears
that Mueller may have everything
he needs to prove collusion between
Trump’s campaign and probably
Trump himself. The FBI raided the
office of Michael Cohen, Trump’s
personal attorney and “fixer.” Cohen
is the one who paid off all Trump’s
women and he knows where all the
bodies are buried, so-to-speak. Also,
it has been reported, yet another
allegation in the Steele dossier was
proven to be true. In the Steele dossier
he said Michael Cohen visited Prague
and met with Putin allies to figure out
how to provide undeni
able cash payments to
the Russian hackers.
Cohen and Trump have
vehemently denied
Cohen had ever been to
Prague, using Cohen’s
passport as proof. Turns
out, you can go into
Prague through Ger
many without a passport.
It has been reported that
Mueller has found proof
this trip DID happen.
If he has, it’s all over but
Trump’s shouting.
BREAKING NEWS: I interrupt
this column to tell you that Trump
filed a Motion with the New York
court Sunday night to keep the Justice
Department from viewing and pos
sessing the documents retrieved from
the raid on Trump’s attorney, Michael
Cohen, and that he (Trump) be al
lowed to take possession of them. He
is citing attorney/client privilege. One
can only assume these documents
reveal a level of financial fraud and
sleaze we cannot imagine.
REMEMBER, “No one is above the
law!” Cue up that Jaws theme again!
“dun, dun dunnnnnnnn dun dun dun
dun dun.”
Marilyn Langford of High Falls
writes about current events from the
liberal perspective. Email her at mari-
lynlangford85@gmail. com.
ROOM
Continued from Front
light, new bed and bedding and
pillows. They also framed the story
about Catie from the Reporter’s Wel
come Home magazine for her wall.
Vicki Henson of Rooms from the
Heart said they always get a lot of
donated items and have fundraisers
as well. She said the total investment
in Catie’s room totals about $3,000.
The Phillips family said they were
very grateful and said volunteers
made Catie’s day, and then some.
“All she says is ‘wow.. I love my new
room!’ over and over again,” said her
father, Gregg. “To us it was an act of
selflessness. It meant others who took
time out of their lives to do some
thing special for a child that many
have never met. It’s a room designed
just for her, a place she can play and
relax and enjoy being home.”
Rooms from the Heart volunteers
worked side by side with volunteers
from Monroe County’s public safety
community to do the renovations.
Phillips works for the sheriff’s office.
For those interested in learning
more about Rooms from the Heart,
call them at (478) 747-5299.