Newspaper Page Text
April 26, 2023
Page 5B
iReporter
^ Monroe County Special Olympics B0B3
Killian Wright celebrates his race as teacher Eliza Gavin teacher Kay Bertram with
looks on. student Jeremiah Gross.
Miayanna
Johnson
hugs Mary
Persons
principal
Tammy
Marion on
Thursday.
PJ. Pierre, left, runs with Zaniyah Vasquez, middle, and Robyn Tassy to the bouncy hous
es provided for the Special Olympians.
SLOAN
Continued from page 5A
than that big piece of equipment
that allows the guy to build the
house you’re in.” - Mike Rowe
“THE FACT that an 18-year-old
can’t take out a $10,000 business
loan but can take out a $100,000
student loan tells you everything
you need to know’’ - Elon Musk
“FOR SOMEBODY to do
well in school, somebody needs
to make him go to bed on time
and get proper sleep. Someone
must make him do his homework.
Somebody must feed him breakfast
and somebody must make him
mind the teacher. If these things
are not done, I don’t care how
much money you put in the school
system, education will not occur.” -
Walter Williams
(Is Williams, a black man, dis
playing his white privilege or telling
the truth? Asking for a friend.)
The most powerful governments
on earth can’t keep a vims from
spreading... .but claim they can
change the earth’s temperature if
you pay more taxes.
WHEN DEMOCRAT mayors
and governors demand you show
vaccination papers to fly on a plane
or eat in a restaurant but not to
vote, something is wrong.
“TRUST THE SCIENCE” is the
most anti-scientific statement ever.
Questioning science is how you do
science. - the Internet
DEFINE COCKWOMBLE and
use it in a sentence. Cockwomble
- A person, usually male, prone
to making outrageously stupid
statements and/or inappropriate
behavior while generally having
a very high opinion of his own
wisdom and importance. Dr. Fauci
is a cockwomble.
DEFINITION OF IRONY
- The National Park Service has
warning signs “Please Do Not Feed
the Animals.” Their reasoning:
animals will grow dependent on
handouts and won’t learn to take
care of themselves. Meanwhile, the
Department of Agriculture, which
administers food stamps, proud
ly claimed they distribute food
stamps and free meals to 46 million
people, a record number.
“20% OF THE POPULATION
is trying to indoctrinate the other
80% to believe that 2,500 years of
history, religion, cultural norms,
and philosophy is suddenly wrong
because that 20% once took a lib
eral arts course in college and their
neo-Marxist professor told them
so.” - the Internet
“WITH ALL the kindness I can
muster, to the next popstar asked to
sing the national anthem: save the
vocal gymnastics and the physical
gyrations for your concerts. Just
sing the song the way you were
taught in kindergarten - straight
up, no styling. Sing it with the
awareness that there are soldiers,
sailors, airmen, and Marines
watching from bases, ships, and
outposts all over the world. Don’t
make them cringe with your
self-centered, ego gratification. Sing
it as if you were standing before
a row of 98-year-old WWII vets,
wearing their Purple Hearts, Silver
Stars and flag pins and you want
them to be proud of you for honor
ing them and the country they love
and were willing to die for - not
because you want them to think
you’re a superstar. Sing The Star
Spangled Banner with the courtesy
and humility that tells the audience
that the song and performance
is about America, not you. And
please, not everything needs to be
spunked up. Were getting weary
of that. Francis Scott Key doesn’t
need any help.” - Marine colonel
stationed in Afghanistan (before
Biderfs surrender).
THE DONKEY told the tiger,
“The grass is blue.” The tiger re
plied, “No, the grass is green.” Their
debate became heated. They decid
ed to submit the issue to arbitra
tion, so they approached the lion.
Approaching the lion, the donkey
started screaming, “Your Highness,
isn’t it true that the grass is blue?”
The lion replied, “The grass is blue
if you believe it is true.” The donkey
continued, “The tiger disagrees
with me, contradicts me and
annoys me. Please punish him.”
The lion declared, “The tiger will
be punished with 3 days of silence.”
The donkey jumped for joy and
went on his way while repeating
“The grass is blue, the grass is blue.”
The tiger asked the lion, “Your
Majesty, why have you punished
me? After all, the grass is green?”
The lion replied, “You know that
grass is green. The punishment
has nothing to do with whether
th ergrass is blue or green. The
punishment is because it’s degrad
ing for a brave, intelligent creature
to waste time arguing with an ass.
And on top of that, you came and
bothered me with that question just
to validate something you already
knew was true.”
Sloan Oliver of Bolingbroke is
a retired Army officer who writes
a weekly column in the Reporter.
LEFT
Continued from Front
meal at the adjacent Hud
dle House.
The parents called
Forsyth police to say they
had inadvertently driven
off and left their son at
the Royal 7 on Cabiness
Road. According to the
police report, Cpl. Bruce
Hughley was dispatched
to the convenience store
and spoke with Dave
Wallschlaeger, the father
of the missing man, by
phone. Wallschlaeger told
Hughley that he and his
wife got out of the vehicle
and left their son, Todd
Wallschlaeger, in their
vehicle. He said when
they returned they drove
2.5 hours to Dalton and
when they stopped for
dinner they realized that
their son wasn’t in the car.
Hughley had dispatch
put out a BOLO for the
man and checked the
area with no success.
Mr. Wallschlaeger called
Hughley around 8:30
p.m. saying that they
were on their way back to
Forsyth.
Then around 11 p.m.
officers Colt Taylor and
Jeffrey Burris found Todd
Wallschlaeger alive and
well enjoying a meal at
the Huddle House next
door to the Royal 7, and
called his dad to let him
know.
ZONING
Continued from Front
about whether the ban on vinyl
siding referred to subdivision
homes or non-residential buildings
in subdivisions. Regardless, zoning
board members recommended
commissioners remove that rule.
Then the zoning board realized
the ordinance might shut down
one of Monroe County’s biggest
tourist attractions, The Meadows
Gun Club in Smarr. The ordinance
says outdoor shooting facilities
can only operate from 10 a.m.-6
p.m. and never on Sundays. The
Meadows draws shooters from
around the country, often starting
at 8 a.m„ and usually including
Sunday shooting for weekend
tournaments. The Meadows even
has special night-time shoots.
Zoning board member Red
Ezelle recommended either
grandfathering in The Meadows
so the rules don’t apply to them or
taking that out. Vaughn suggested
they recommend commissioners
remove the restrictions on outdoor
shooting ranges altogether.
The zoning board also ques
tioned new rules requiring homes
to have windows on every side and
shutters on every window.
Another new rule requires every
subdivision with at least 25 homes
and a Homeowners Association
(HOA) to include a playground of
at least 30,000 square feet. That’s
more than half an acre, and the
size of Mark Wahlberg’s (aka
singer Marky Mark’s) mansion in
Beverly Hills.
“That’s a lot of government over
reach,” said realtor Kerri Swearin
gen, the only attendee who wasn’t
from the county or the media.
“That’s not necessary’’
Zoning board members did
recommend one thing to make
the ordinance more and not less
restrictive. Rollins proposed that
commissioners require the owners
of all RV parks to keep a list of the
people who live there.
And while they were at it, joked
Rollins, “can they eliminate fire
works around my house?”
After the zoning board finished
its list of recommendations, zoning
board member Chad Tyler said he
would like to ask commissioners
to send the proposal back to them
for another review for passing into
law.
“How much can a board dictate
on people?” said Tyler, referring
the many new restrictions. “I
would like to see it again.”
Zoning board members agreed
they would like to see a final draft.
But commissioners have the final
say, and had hoped to vote on the
proposal at their next meeting on
May 2.
Commissioners hired attorney
Brandon Bowen of Cartersville
about $32,000 to write the ordi
nance. Asked what Bowen used as
a template, Vaughn said he wasn’t
sure. Vaughn said that Bowen
writes development rules for a lot
of jurisdictions.
Vaughn said while the new
ordinance would number 311
pages, it would replace a zoning or
dinance that’s about 70 pages and a
subdivision ordinance that’s about
40 pages, or 110 pages total.
Other zoning board members
wondered who would enforce all
those restrictions, noting that the
county doesn’t even enforce its
current 110 pages of ordinances.
Vaughn confirmed that commis
sioners also plan to add an annual
tax of $500 or $1,000 on anyone
who lives in an RV or camper.
Commissioner George Emami
said that’s a way to make sure ev
eryone, even those who don’t pay
property taxes, are contributing to
the tax base. Emami said Monroe
County has never enforced its ban
on people living in RVs and camp
ers, and it’s time to address that.
“If we can’t tax them, I’m out
(against the ordinance),” said
Emami. “It’s not fair and right. And
if they vote me out, well they can
kiss my butt.”
Emami said a $500 tax would
force people to think twice eco
nomically before putting someone
in an old beater camper.
The new zoning ordinance
would move Monroe County
from 4 to 11 zoning classifications.
Emami has spearheaded the new
ordinance to counter growth and
concerns that Monroe County
was becoming more like Henry
County. Emami said if passed, the
county would get the Regional
Commission in Macon to assign
every parcel in the county one of
the new 11 zoning classifications.
Emami said adding a layer of
complexity with 11 classifications
can have a benefit. For instance a
resident may not mind a commer
cial zoning next door that could
have a storage building, but would
not want a nuclear waste facility.
“I want Monroe County to be a
place where anybody that’s trying
to do business, we can find a place
for you to go,” said Emami.
Emami said as Monroe County
grows it will become more dense
and lead to more neighbor con
flicts over development. He said
he’s seen it in other more populat
ed counties where he’s lived. Ema
mi said the new ordinance will
help make sure they can resolve it.
Emami said if they find problems
with the ordinance, they will work
to correct them.
“Nobody gonna be 100 percent
happy with it,” said Emami. “You’re
not gonna get everything you
want.”