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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
DRAWING ON THE NEWS by AF Branco
Unsung owners saving Scherer?
E very day we at the Reporter wade through the fog
of lies and deceit emanating from corporations,
big media and government to find out the truth
for you, our loyal readers. Sometimes we succeed.
Sometimes it takes longer. But eventually we get to the
meat on the bone.
As our readers know, we have followed Georgia Powers
sad and panicky retreat from coal and Plant Scherer in
this newspaper. When Georgia Power submitted a 3-year
plan to the Public Service Commission in February, it was
murky. But it seemed to say the company would abandon
all of its coal plants by 2028. It was a total surrender to the
watermelons. The watermelons are the leftists who are
environmental-green on the outside, but communist red
on the inside. They’re the dunderheads who think you
can power a nation on windmills and solar panels. When
Europeans are freezing to death this winter because they
shuttered all their coal plants and Putin is cutting them off,
thank a watermelon.
Anyway, the likely loss of our biggest taxpayer in Mon
roe County, Plant Scherer, was and is a huge story. And
we reported it. But some Plant Scherer employees said we
jumped the gun. “Were not going anywhere!” they pro
tested. I told them I hoped they were right.
Fast forward to last Thursday when Georgia Power
released a statement after the Public Service Commis
sion approved their 3-year plan. I read the part about coal
carefully. It read like this: “the Georgia PSC has approved
the retirement and decertification of all Georgia Power-
controlled coal units by 2028.”
Finally a light went off. Did you
get it? “All Georgia Power-controlled
coal units.” Guess what? Georgia
Power only controls one of the four
units at Plant Scherer. So yes, the
Florida power companies that owned
Unit 4 have already bowed to the wa
termelons and shut it down. Georgia
Power is majority owner of Unit 3.
While I have only seen 2 of the
4 units generating power lately,
I’m told reliably that Unit 3 is still
operational. But GP says it’ll be
closed by 2028.
But as you read on this week’s front page, the major
owners of the other two units have no plan to leave Plant
Scherer.
That’s good news for Monroe County taxpayers. As chief
tax assessor Bobby Gerhardt notes, if Plant Scherer’s value
went to zero, every Monroe County property owner would
face a 60 percent tax hike. That means the average home-
owner would have to pay $1,000 more per year.
And that’s why I am glad that I appear to have jumped
the gun on Plant Scherer’s future. It won’t be around for
ever. Our leaders need to work to bring in new industry to
build our tax base. But because MEAG and Oglethorpe ap
pear to have more testicular fortitude and common sense
than some publicly-traded power companies, it may not be
time to panic yet in Monroe County.
• ••
Forsyth police chief Eddie Harris tells the Reporter this
week (see page 1 A) that his department is losing officers
because city leadership doesn’t have their backs.
We will see how that plays on the top floor at the new
City Hall. I can’t imagine they’ll be happy.
Eddie Harris has given 38 years to the Forsyth Police De
partment, and his desire to fix the current problems before
retiring is admirable.
City manager Janice Hall tried to make some improve
ments this spring, saying that Harris was totally coopera
tive with her ideas. But now it appears he may not have
appreciated the input as much as she thought.
And so now, the mayor is not happy, the city manager is
not happy and the chief is not happy. We hope Chief Harris
will consider taking his well-deserved retirement to allow
a new leader to try his hand at it. It’s a tough job. Depart
ments around the country are short-handed. Were not
sure who’s to blame. But when who is to blame becomes a
leader’s focus, you know it’s a good time to try to start over.
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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Publisher/Editor
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Deadlines noon on Friday prior to issue. Comments featured on opinion pages are the creation of
the writers, the do not necessarily reflect the opinions of The Reporter management.
Publication No. USPS 997-840
Steve Reece
Reporter
stevereece@g ma i I .co m
Donna Wilson
Advertising Manager
ads@mymcr.net
3
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TEFLON! BttN FAMILY
mehcans-Care.com
©2022Creators, com
REECE’S PIECES by Steve Reece
Only thing we have to fear is...
I t doesn’t matter how brave you
think you are; we are all afraid
of something. Many have a fear
of snakes and spiders, and some
folks don’t care to board airplanes
or speak in public. I fear God and
mothers-in-law. But most of our
fears are unfounded. As Frank
lin Roosevelt said during his first
inaugural address in 1933, “The only
thing we have to fear is fear itself!’
My dad learned this lesson well
when he was a boy in the Georgia
mountains while FDR was still
president and World War II was rag
ing across the globe. His father had
died the previous year and he found
himself at the age of twelve as the man
of the house with five younger
siblings. Times were hard
but my old man was harder.
Fortunately, my grandmother
was even harder than him.
Instead of school, my dad
was forced to spend his days
working at whatever an
uneducated mountain
boy could do. But even
the most menial jobs
requiring little more than
muscle were scarce. Still, with his cha
risma and salesmanship, he was able
to convince nearby farmers and stor-
eowners in Ellijay he was the man for
the job. Sometimes they didn’t even
know they had a job for him until he
showed up with that Wayne Reece
smile and pointed out that a pile of
wood needed chopping, or some
boxes that needed to be stacked. They
would hire him on the spot, he’d do
the job, and walk away with twenty-
five cents and an invitation to return.
I’m proud to say I got my strong work
ethic from my father.
We all know about Georgia sum
mers. It’s so hot, even at the top of
a mountain it can be muggy and
uncomfortable. Hot and tired after
a long day of lugging rocks out of a
field, my dad was relaxing with the
family after a supper of a bellyful of
pinto beans sitting on the old rickety
wooden front porch of their old rick
ety wooden shack, cooling off in the
only way possible on a hot night in the
middle of July. The night had a moon
that was full and bright as ours was a
couple of weeks ago.
The family lived on a dusty
dirt road directly across from a
cow pasture where rarely a cow
had been seen. My dad once
told me he would sometimes
cross the barbed wire fence and
hunt for rabbits which
were also rare. He said
on this particular night
while he was talking
with my grandmother
and enjoying the breeze, he saw her
face suddenly freeze in fear as she was
looking toward the cow pasture. My
dad then turned and with the entire
family as witnesses, they saw what
appeared to be a simple brown coffin
floating slowly across the pasture in
the moonlight about three feet off the
ground.
Everyone immediately bolted into
the little shack they called a home
with my dad in the lead. Not because
he was the most scared, but because
he was going for his .410 shotgun. By
the time he returned to the porch, the
“ghost” had disappeared. Neverthe
less, the door was secured with a hook
latch and heavy furniture and my
frightened ancestors sweated it out the
rest of the hot night.
The next evening was a repeat
performance. The moon was just as
bright, and the air was just as still and
maybe even hotter. The
only sensible place to
sit was on the porch.
But this night my dad
was prepared with his
shotgun at his side
and ready to defend
his family against that
thing in the cow pasture
that they had seen the
previous night. That
thing that had been on
their minds the entire
day and what had made their conver
sation so lively over supper. Of course,
everyone had a different opinion of
what the apparition was, but the final
consensus was that it was not of this
world.
Sure enough, out of the bushes the
ghostly, coffin-shaped box once more
came slowly drifting out of the woods
to the edge of the grass and stopped
No one said a word, but all jaws
dropped. My dad bravely slipped off
the porch with his shotgun and crept
down the dirt road a few yards away
from the “coffin”, ignoring my grand
mother’s loud whispers to return.
He crossed the fence and hid him
self lying down in a tall patch of grass.
He tried to slow and quiet his excited
breathing but his heart was about to
explode. He took off the safety and
carefully took aim. When I men
tioned to him that a shotgun shell
wouldn’t hurt a ghost, he told me he
knew that but was hoping the sound
of the blast might at least scare it away.
Then, while his sights were set on
the broadside of the “coffin”, it turned
forty-five degrees away from him and
silhouetted against a full moon, my
old man saw the unmistakable outline
of a brown cow with black legs and
a black head. He laughed and fired
a shot into the sky. Tfre beast then
slowly ambled away to saner pastures.
Steve Reece is a writer for the Report
er and a known crime fighter. Email
him at stevereece@gmaU.com.
CAROLYN S CORNER by Carolyn Martel
You re a masterpiece, so whos the Artist?
H ave you ever thought
about this? Our
awesome Creator
wove into your
DNA the talents, abilities and
spiritual gifts that make you
distinct from any other hu
man being on earth.
Each person is so unique
that no two people
have the same finger
prints, or the same ex
act DNA. The apostle
Paul wrote, “For we
are God’s masterpiece, created in the
Messiah Jesus...” Eph. 2:10.
Think about the planning, design,
genius and power it took to create
our world and the universe! And the
best part? Jesus, the Master Artist,
designed and created us to be His
masterpiece.
AND IT gets more excit
ing, because God’s word
says, “No eye has seen, nor
ear heard, nor the mind
of man imagined, what
God has prepared for
those who love Him”
1 Cor. 2: 9. Yes, God
has many blessings in
store, but first there is
a decision you must
make to receive these blessings.
Use your imagination for a mo
ment to visualize this allegorical
story. Jesus, the Master Artist is
standing before a canvas with paint
brush in hand. The image of your
face is ever before Him. He longs
to include you in heaven’s family
portrait.
THE MASTER Artist knows that
being included in this family portrait
is priceless and beyond compare!
But before Jesus can add you to His
eternal masterpiece, one thing is
needful-are you a son or daughter of
the Most High God?
The decision to accept Jesus as
your personal Lord and Savior, is the
most important decision anyone can
make!
Carolyn Martel of Forsyth is the
retired long-time advertising manager
for the Reporter. Email her at car-
olynmartell @bellsouth. net.