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& EDITORIALS
Declare among the nations, and publish, and set up a standard;
publish, and conceal not. - Jeremiah 50:2
2019, 2018, 2017, 2016 winner: Editorial Page excellen
2019, 2018 winner: Best Headline Writing
2019 winner: Best Community Service
2019 winner: Best Layout and Design
2019 winner: Best Serious Column - Don Daniel
ON THE PORCH by Will Davis
Bittick retiring, and
Rep. Dickey is rising
ell we’ve known it’s been coming since
the 2020 election, but former sheriff John
Cary Bittick has
finally retired as the
Middle Georgia U.S. Marshal. That
after President Biden appointed his
replacement, as new presidents usu
ally do. It seemed to take the Biden
administration longer than normal
to do so. Make of that what you will.
Bittick was of course the long-time
Monroe County sheriff before he
became a marshall in 2018. He
followed his father’s footsteps
not only as sheriff but also as the
U.S. Marshal for Middle Geor
gia. He has served Monroe County and his country well.
Contrary to some reports, Bittick is not retiring to his
beloved Texas. John Cary is a Texas-phile (Texas lover)
if there ever was one. He and his wife Pam were going to
build a part-time home out there, but now they’re waiting
for construction costs to come back down to do that. Say
what you will about John Cary — he’s not a big spender!
But as long as he has grandchildren in Middle Georgia,
and he does, Bittick assures us we will see lots of him
here too, around town, at The Pickled Okra among other
places. He’ll surely be playing the cowboy with his cattle
ranch in northern Monroe County. Maybe he can use his
newfound free time to figure out what’s ailing his Auburn
Tigers. They need all the help they can get.
I had hoped to interview John Cary for a retirement
story in this week’s edition. Alas, he says he’s in Kansas
City. (Do cell phones not work in Kansas City?). Never
theless, I’m sure he’ll check in when he’s back in town. He’s
good about that. Enjoy your retirement, John Cary. It’s
well-deserved.
• ••
My friend Arthur Farr told me last week he’s had one
measurable rainfall at his Flint Road farm since March.
How dry has Monroe County been the past 3 months?
Tumbleweeds and armadillos have been seen rolling over
state highways. Sometimes I have felt like Middle Georgia
has become John Cary’s beloved Texas - dry, dusty and
downright inhospitable to life.
Saturday is usually a day for yard chores for me. But this
Saturday, the heat and dryness just seemed to suck the life
out of me. I just wanted to sit on the porch and, to coin a
new verb, sloth.
Alas the drought seems to be breaking this week. We
had nice rains on Monday and Tuesday, and everyone
seems to be in a better mood. Forecasters say we’ll be in
the low to mid 80s all week with a good chance of rain
every day. It seems the fever has broken.
• ••
Robert Dickey’s growing power in the legislature,
he’s now chairman of the appropriations committee, is
evident every summer at his increasingly popular Peaches
& Politics event, held last Thursday at his Musella peach
shed. Politicos from around the state make the march to
Crawford County to show their support, and why not?
Though he lives in Crawford County, Dickey and his wife
don’t miss many events in Monroe County. He’s one of the
most accessible legislators I’ve ever known.
Perhaps that’s why I saw more Monroe Countains than
I’ve ever seen at Dickey’s at Thursday’s fund raiser. Sheriff
Brad Freeman. Chairman Greg Tapley. Commissioner Ed
die Rowland. Mayor Eric Wilson. City councilman Mike
Dodd. School board members Greg Head, Eva Bilder-
back, Stuart Pippin and Priscilla Doster. Even assistant
magistrate judge Hugh Sosebee was there. Yes people like
Robert Dickey and want to support him. But I have to be
honest. The free strawberry and peach ice cream may not
have hurt attendance either. Man it’s good.
is published every week by The Monroe County Reporter Inc.
Will Davis, President • Robert M. Williams Jr., Vice President
Cheryl S. Williams, Secretary-T reasurer
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Publication No. USPS 997-840
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Publisher/Editor
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REECE’S PIECES by Sieve Reece
Work can be a risky business
k "^hen I started swing-
% / ing a hammer back
1/ 1/ in my Alabama days
T T in the mid-70s, my
fellow carpenters and I never gave
much thought to on-the-job safety
rules. We tried to have enough sense
not to fall off the roof or rim our
fingers through the table saw on our
own. Even though the Occupational
Safety and Health Act (OSHA) was
passed in 1970, no one ever came by
to inspect our homemade scaffold
ing made from nailed-together 2x4s
or to make sure we were protected
by hardhats and safety harnesses. I
never even heard of OSHA until the
90s.
Even though we always |
tried not to get hurt, it was
inevitable that something
bad would occasionally
happen. I’ve seen a man lose
an arm and watched an
other cut off the tip of
his nose. I’ve pulled
long ugly nails from
the hands of fellow
carpenters and thrown
the offending nail as far as I could
into the woods. I once had a buddy
nail himself to a plywood floor with
a 16-penny nail gun and when I
asked him if he wanted me to cut the
plywood around his foot and take
him to the hospital with the decking
attached, he replied that he preferred
me to remove his foot from the floor
with a crowbar instead. So, I placed
a crowbar under his boot, pushed
down as hard as possible, and set
him free. But not from his agony. He
squalled like a baby all the way to the
emergency room. I remember his
wife gave me a cake the next day for
helping her husband when I stopped
by to check on him.
During my carpenter career, I
smashed my left thumb with a
22-ounce hammer coming down
with full force more times than I
can count. Once I sliced four of my
fingers open to the bone with metal
flashing stopping myself from fall
ing off a 3-story roof. And then one
time, a A-inch cable snapped and hit
my right eye turning it into an ugly
mess that only steroids could fix. I
could go on, but this column is al
ready graphic
enough.
Although
construc
tion work is
on the fist of
most dan
gerous jobs,
the most
dangerous
occupation
is logging
which is 33
times more
dangerous
than the job
I currently
have
which
is only
perilous when I’m trying to
interview the rare citizen who
doesn’t care much for the
Monroe County Reporter.
Both loggers and
landscapers fell trees
which is obviously
extremely risky work.
According to OSHAs
database between 2010 and 2020
there were 314 deaths when a
worker was struck by a falling tree
or limb, more than likely on the
head. A hard hat doesn’t do a whole
lot of good when you’re bonked
on the noggin by a limb weighing
half a ton. Falling from trees was
also a contributing factor in logging
injuries and deaths. The death and
injury rate surges for the logging
industry after large storms and hur
ricanes, so the statistics vary greatly
from year to year.
Around a million American work
ers have died on the job since the
1920s. Statistics from the U.S. Bu
reau of Labor estimated workplace
fatalities to be at 30,039 during the
early 20s and 75,000 railroad work
ers perished in the twenty-five years
before World War I.
OSHA was passed by Congress
after the National Safety Council re
ported that 14,000 Americans were
being killed and 2.5 million perma
nently injured in workplace acci
dents every year. When the law was
passed, more people were dying in
workplace accidents than there were
soldiers dying in Viet Nam. Unlike
the war, no one was protesting the
death of the working man.
Insurance companies have also
done a lot to change the landscape of
the workplace. Their rules are strict
for companies who want to stay
protected, including drug testing
workers and no-smoking clauses.
While rules and regulations to
protect the common worker are
all supposed to be good, there are
times when they can get in the way.
A few years back I had a gig setting
up a trade show in Orlando and the
floor was packed with carpenters,
painters, and laborers getting ready
for the big event. I was new on the
unionized crew. A few displays over
from mine, a painter was climbing
a ladder with an armload of materi
als, and I saw the ladder suddenly
tilt to the side and the painter hit
the concrete floor with a thud from
about twelve feet up. Of course, I
immediately rushed to see if I could
help him but everyone else ran away
from the accident. Fortunately, he
was okay but not one person other
than I cared to see if the dude was
hurt or not. The reason: anyone
who witnessed an accident had to
be interviewed and drug tested. It
was much easier for them just to let
him lie there and suffer than to go
through all that hassle.
Steve Reece is a writer for the
Reporter and a known crime fighter.
Email him at stevereece@gmail.com.
CHASE
Continued from Front
the parking lot. But his four-
wheeler struck the curb and
threw him off. He began
to flee on foot, but Inv.
Timothy Campfield caught
Hood-Henry after a short
foot pursuit, arresting him.
“We ain’t in Atlanta
buddy” Colvard told the
suspect.
Then, Barnes began to
walk near the scene, and
she wouldn’t stay back at a
safe distance, for which she
was handcuffed. She was
released shortly after and
was given a verbal warning
for obstruction.
In the Monroe County
Jail, Hood-Henry said he
had bought the 4 wheeler in
Musella and had driven it
to Forsyth. He had planned
to drop it off at a friend’s
house in Forsyth to pick up
later. He was charged with
fleeing and attempting to
elude, driving while license
suspended, and obstruction.
The suspects girlfriend (above) was briefly handcuffed
for interference. (Photo/Park Davis)