Newspaper Page Text
October 6, 2021
Page 7A
■ Reporter
How low interest rates affect
Y ou’ve heard it
on the radio and
on TV - gim
micky salespeople
proclaiming that there has
never been a better time to
buy! And today s histori
cally low interest rates have
certainly made it cheaper
to borrow money to buy a
house or invest in a busi
ness.
But what about fixed
income investors?
Low rates mean lower
payouts from CDs and
other bank products, as well
as Treasury, corporate, and
municipal bonds. This can
present a challenge for those
who rely on such invest
ments for income.
How did we get here?
Interest rates are one tool
the Federal Reserve uses
to steer the economy. The
Fed dials interest rates up
and down by adjusting the
federal funds rate, which
is the rate lending institu
tions charge when making
short-term loans to each
other. This rate directly or
indirectly affects how these
institutions set interest rates
for consumer products,
such as savings accounts,
mortgages, and business
loans.
In an economic down
turn, the Fed lowers rates to
entice people to borrow and
spend money. It raises rates
later in the market cycle to
slow down spending and
keep the economy from
overheating.
In the 1980s, interest rates
reached as high as 22% due
to runaway inflation. This
was great if you wanted to
buy a CD, invest in bonds,
or maintain a high bal
ance in a savings account.
It wasn’t so great if you
wanted to take out a busi
ness or home loan. More
recently, the Fed set interest
rates near zero to help
economy recover from the
Great Recession. It cut rates
to near zero again in 2020 in
response to the COVID-19
recession.
When will rates rise?
The Fed typically waits for
signs of a healthier econ
omy to start raising rates.
These signs include lower
unemployment numbers
and rising inflation.
In June 2021, the Fed’s
Federal Open Market
Committee (FOMC)
unanimously chose to leave
rates close to zero in light of
the stronger but still fragile
recovery. The FOMC has
signaled that it intends to
leave rates unchanged until
the labor market achieves
full employment and infla
tion moderately exceeds 2%
for some time.
The FOMC has expressed
optimism in its recent
statements, forecasting that
the economy will reach the
Fed’s employment and infla
tion targets in 2023. Should
your portfolio
this happen, we believe that
rates hikes will be coming at
some point.
How high can rates go?
While rising rates may be
on the horizon, they may
not go nearly as high as
consumers saw in the past.
Many Fed watchers cau
tion that it could still be an
environment of “lower for
longer.”
Barring significant,
prolonged inflation and
resulting rate hikes, the days
of CDs earning 5%-plus
interest may be out of reach
for quite some time into the
future.
Why are interest rates
important?
If the cost of going to the
grocery store, eating out,
buying gas, or paying your
utility bill rises at a faster
pace than the rates your
cash-based products are
paying, you’re essentially
losing money if your assets
are grossly over allocated
in savings accounts, money
markets, or CDs. These
types of instruments are
important to have as part of
your asset allocation mix,
but it’s also important to be
mindful of how much you
allocate. Be strategic in how
much you have so you can
better deploy any excess in
other conservative areas.
This article submitted by
Christina Morris at Stifel.
JAIL ASSAULT
Continued from 1A
22, of Macon. Booze is
awaiting trial for stabbing
and killing Bibb County
jailer Christopher Smith, 30,
in April.
Flowers told Sgt. Akedra
Robertson, “I want to be
moved out of this holding
cell because I don’t feel safe
and can’t sleep in here with
him. He in here doing all
this crazy a— sh—.”
Robertson told Flowers
he would see what he could
do. Booze then stated, “Aye,
sergeant get me out of here
before I beat this man a— to
death”.
Jail nurse Prescott told
Robertson the inmates
weren’t in the observation
cell for medical reasons
and were clear to leave. The
sergeant returned to the cell
and Flowers was standing at
the door while Booze was
sitting on the bench and
said, “Sergeant, I am going
to beat this man a— to death
if you don’t get me out of
here.” He then stood up into
a fighting stance with his
fist clenched, walked up to
Flowers, and began striking
him several times. Flowers
began hitting him back in
self-defense.
Deputy Cody Maples
opened the cell door and re
moved Flowers and ordered
Booze to get back, but he
continued attacking Flow
ers. After the inmates were
finally separated, Robertson
tried to close the door, but
Booze pushed his arm back
and ran into the booking
area. He then grabbed a
metal chair and threw it at
Robertson, Prescott, and
Flowers.
Deputy Gueorgui Dimi
trov and Robertson grabbed
Booze to escort him back
into the cell while he was
continuously resisting and
fighting. Booze then head
butted Robertson, striking
him on the right side of his
face. He also bit Dimitrov
on his right arm and kicked
him. Deputy Julie Lucas
pulled her taser and Booze
grabbed the front of it try
ing to take it away from her
but Robertson and Dimi
trov struck Booze in the
side, causing him to release
it. Lucas fired but Booze
continued resisting.
The deputies were finally
able to handcuff him, and
he was taken to the nurse’s
station where he was
checked by Prescott and
EMS. Sgt. Chris Sherrell re
moved the taser prongs and
placed them into evidence.
Robertson sought warrants
for 3 counts of obstruc
tion, simple battery, and
aggravated assault against a
peace officer. Robertson and
Dimitrov received minor
injuries.
“He decided to show
his behind with us,” said
Monroe County sheriff
Brad Freeman. Freeman
said Booze had not given
them any trouble up until
now. Freeman said they’ve
had Booze in custody for a
couple of months after he
was transferred from Jones
County. Freeman said he
probably causes trouble
hoping to get moved.
‘We just want him to
understand that we rim the
jail,” said Freeman, not
ing that Booze is now on
restriction. “It didn’t work
out for him.”
Booze had been in the
Bibb County Jail since
November 2020 for prop
erty damage, giving false
information, and trespass
ing when a fight broke out
between him and deputies
who were moving him
between cells. Bibb County
Sheriff David Davis said
Booze took a knife from
deputy Knight and stabbed
him in the neck, taking
his life, and injured deputy
Jerome Williams. Booze was
taken to Jones County and
then brought to Monroe
County after the incident
for his own safety.
PRISON
Continued from 1A
That’s bulls—. She (the child)
has got to suffer the rest of
her life.”
Stone’s public defender
Brad Moody asked Wil
son to give Stone the same
sentence her then-boyfriend
Tony Ponder got for die girl’s
injuries, four years to serve in
prison.
But Wilson said he was
taken aback after learning the
extent of the baby’s injuries.
“If I knew then what I
knew now, Ponder would not
have gotten what he got,” said
Wilson. “I will rectify that
other mistake I made. They
all come back (to court).”
It was 11:10 pm. the night
of Aug. 22,2017 that Monroe
County EMS was called to
Stone’s home on Strickland
Loop about her baby girl
throwing up blood. EMTs
determined her temperature
had dropped to 93 degrees
and she had bruises and was
having spasms. They re
ported she was declining rap
idly and had to use a bag to
breathe for her. They rushed
the baby girl to the Navicent
Children’s Hospital in Macon
where she was also diag
nosed with a broken arm,
bruising and hemorrhaging
in her eyes. She was put on a
ventilator. The baby was later
transferred to the Children’s
Hospital of Atlanta.
‘“Ibis is child abuse,” said
assistant district attorney
Carolee Jordan in her closing
statement.
Jordan said that the baby
was spitting up blood and
could barely breathe and yet
Stone wasn’t screaming “help
my baby” and asking who
did it.
“She isn’t asking because
she knows,” said Jordan. “She
knows she’s underweight.
She knows she has a broken
arm. She can’t tell the Forsyth
Police Department or the
GBI because she was in on it.
And so she does exactly what
guilty people do. She lies.”
Jordan said Stone didn’t
shed any tears until she was
the one in jeopardy.
“She wasn’t crying at the
hospital,” said Jordan. “She
wasn’t crying when they
transferred her to Children’s
Hospital of Atlanta. She’s not
crying because she’s wor
ried about her daughter, but
because she’s worried about
herself’
Jordan urged jurors to
show the little girl that what
happened to her was wrong.
“She deserved a much
better mother than what she
got,” said Jordan.
Public defender Moody,
though, argued that Stone
never admitted to doing any
thing wrong despite hours
of questioning and took
her daughter to the doctor
frequently for an acid reflux
issue.
“Does that sound like
someone abusing a child?”
asked Moody. “She didn’t
do anything but care for this
child. This could have legiti
mately been an accident.”
Moody noted the 3-month-
old baby only weighed
9 pounds and suggested
the baby’s then-3-year-old
brother may have acciden
tally hurt the child.
“When the older child
wants to help,” he said, “they
can be rough.”
Moody said prosecutors
admitted eight times they
don’t know what happened
to the baby and thus jurors
should find Stone not guilty.
“I don’t see how you can
pull the plug when you don’t
know the when, what, where
and why” said Moody.
But jurors took about 2
hours to find Stone guilty
on aggravated battery and
cruelty to children, and not
guilty on a second round of
the same counts.
Before sentencing, Wilson
heard from Michelle Jump,
the foster mother raising
Stone’s children.
Jump said she’s taken
the girl to lots of doctors’
appointments since taking
her in, and that the girl has
had multiple eye surgeries
on both eyes to try to repair
damage done during the
abuse. Jump said the girl still
has one eye that is crossed
and has to see a neurologist
once a year.
“The defendant failed
in the most fundamental
responsibility a human has,”
lead prosecutor Dorothy
Hull told jurors.
District attorney Jonathan
Adams said Stone turned
down an offer to serve 10
years in prison in exchange
for a guilty plea.
Wilson did reject a state
request that Stone not be al
lowed to be around children
when she gets out of prison.
“I hope by the time you
get out you have learned
something,” said Wilson. But
he also rejected Moody’s re
quest that Stone’s sentence be
under the first offender law,
which would scrub it from
her record once released.
“I don’t think we know who
did what yet,” said Wilson.
“The day I hear what really
happened, I’ll consider it.”
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