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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
This and that in MC
T he Monroe County sheriff’s office set up a few
license checks last Friday afternoon, April 28.
And of course people who have places to go and
people to see (and don’t we all?) don’t love license
checks.
Anyway, on Tuesday morning,
there was a huge crowd in Monroe
County Superior Court. Sometimes in
court you have to wait on someone to
come from elsewhere. So everybody
just waits. At first there’s usually an
awkward silence. And eventually, as
all good southerners do when there’s
down time, the parties start to
make small talk. Judge Tommy
Wilson was on the bench and he
started to quiz a deputy about
those road checks. Wilson started laughing, and said he
was on Hwy. 42 on Friday doing some logging business
when he got caught up in the license check and got asked
for his license. It’s nice to live in a place where everyone
gets treated the same, even the judge.
• ••
Speaking of the sheriff’s office, we reported last week that
Sheriff Freeman has re-hired William Jackson. Jackson was
a terrific deputy, but he had to leave the MCSO in 2017
after a run-in with an Ohio woman who spit in his face in
the jail. What we didn’t know when we reported last week’s
story was that in the interim, Jackson was named Deputy
of the Year with the Jones County sheriff’s office and had
a terrific record, just as he did before that run-in. All that
to say, we’re glad Deputy Jackson is back. His experience
reminds us all that even when we face challenges in life that
seem unfair, if we keep doing our jobs well and don’t give
in to despair, we can come out on top.
• ••
As we went to press on Tuesday, Monroe County com
missioners voted unanimously to put a referendum on the
ballot on Nov. 7 to allow liquor stores in unincorporated
Monroe County.
“I don’t see any reason not to see how our citizens feel
about it, for or against,” said one commissioner.
Already there are plans to put a fourth liquor store in the
city of Forsyth.
Look, prohibition taught us that an outright ban on alco
hol was not the answer. But I miss the Georgia that had a
few restrictions. Don’t get me wrong. I enjoy the occasional
drink. But I know scores of people whose families have
been harmed by alcohol. You do too. And if you don’t, you
can just read about them in our police reports.
Remember when you couldn’t buy booze on Sunday in
Georgia? Then you couldn’t buy it before noon. Or remem
ber when you couldn’t buy booze on Election Day? Shoot, I
remember as a UGA student when you had to drive across
state or county lines to buy beer. Given the widespread
pain that alcoholism causes in Monroe County and in the
U.S., isn’t there a modest solution between “ban it all” and
“sell it everywhere, all the time”?
• ••
Wow! We have been overwhelmed by the positive
response to our first Macon-Bibb Reporter edition. It’s
gratifying that our hard work to give Monroe County a
good newspaper over the past 16 years has earned us a
hearing from Bibb County residents. But we need to do a
better job of managing expectations. The phone rang at the
office last week.
“I can’t find the Macon-Bibb section in this week’s
Reporter!” the caller told our patient and long-suffering
business manager Tammy Rafferzeder.
Tammy proceeded to inform her that the Macon-Bibb
section will appear not every week, but the third week of
every month. For now. It appears we may already need to
ramp it up to every other week. The demand is there. Our
ace reporter Melissa Orrison is already working on our
May edition. By the way, she has her own staff email now,
macon@mymcr.net. Send her your story ideas. Oh, and
thank you for your patience and support as we go through
the growing pains of our latest venture.
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
OUR STAFF
Will Davis
Publisher/Editor
publisher@mymcr.net
Tammy Rafferzeder
Business Manager
business@mymcr.net
Steve Reece
Reporter
stevereece@gmail.com
Donna Wilson
Advertising Manager
ads@mymcr.net
Diane Glidewell
Community Editor
news@mymcr.net
H Amy Haisten
Creative Director
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REECE’S PIECES by Steve Reece
We’re crazy about that moo juice
W e begin our lives drink
ing milk. Breast milk is
the only food we need
for survival during the
first six months of our lives. After that,
we can start eating real food but still,
we should maintain a milk diet for an
other two years. This could be a huge
issue for a mother who has babies in
a rapid-fire fashion such as my own
“birthing person” who was more of a
friend than a mother.
Since the time I was a bottle-fed
infant, I’ve had a taste for cow’s milk.
I can drink it straight, mix it up with
some Hershey’s chocolate or strawber
ry flavoring, and chug down a glass
within seconds. It’s the perfect mix for
Kahlua. It’s also a necessary ingredient
for my nightly bowl of cornflakes.
But as it turns out, I’m not normal.
According to reputable scientists, a
few mutations allow me to produce
the enzyme that breaks down milk
sugar lactose.
More than 60% of adults are lactose
intolerant which means they
get sick if they ingest dairy
products that have high
lactose content. This includes
most ice cream, butter,
eggnog and cream. It is also
advisable that they avoid
instant soup, potatoes,
and pancake mix. If
they happen to give
in to the temptation
of a cold glass of tasty
buttermilk, they could get cramps,
feel bloated and sometimes even have
diarrhea. A very unpleasant situation.
The consumption of bad milk can
bring about a litany of unpleasant
issues. I learned this recently after tak
ing a huge swig from a carton that had
been sitting at the back of my fridge
for probably around a month.
Nancy Hanks Lincoln took a swal
low of milk that came from a cow that
had eaten some white snakeroot plant.
c
Within days she died of milk sickness.
They buried her at the age of 34 and
although her young son Abraham was
only nine, he helped construct her
coffin.
President Zachary Taylor died in
1850 after only 16 months in office
supposedly from eating cherries and
drinking ice-cold milk. He was at a
July 4th celebration held at the spot
where the Washington Monument
now stands when he took his lethal
gulp of the possibly tainted moo juice.
Although the earliest domestica
tion of catde took place more than
10,000 years ago, humans have
only been consuming milk
for around 6,000 years. It took
at least four thousand years
before some curious farmer was
standing in his catde pen one
day watching twin calves go at it
beneath a bulging udder.
I imagine he thought that
whatever the calves were
drinking must be tasty,
so he tossed out what
grog he had left in his clay cup and
squeezed out a taste of that un-ho-
mogenized, non-pasteurized, but
stricdy organic milk for himself. Even
though that first cup of milk was quite
warm, it must’ve been delicious to that
early agronomist because soon folks
everywhere were sitting on stools be
side docile bovines squeezing multiple
teats two hands at a time.
Milk is mentioned in the Bible over
50 times in the Old Testament alone.
We all know about the land flowing
with milk and honey, the most beauti
ful of all lands. The Israelites wandered
in the wilderness for 40 years to reach
that promised place. I can assure you
that all that stumbling around wasn’t
just for the milk.
While picking out a half gallon of
my favorite beverage (next to sweet
tea that is) in Ingles the other day, I
noticed the many different choices of
milk. There’s whole milk of course,
which is what I drink due to the
high fat content. The next shelf over
is well-stocked with skimmed milk
and semi-skimmed milk. There’s also
the expensive organic. Then there’s
flavored, condensed and evaporated.
Over in the baking aisle, you can find
the powdered version.
There are many uses for milk besides
drinking. You can place frozen fish in
a bowl of milk as it thaws, and it will
taste much fresher. Mix it with oat
meal and you can wash your hands.
You can polish silverware and soothe
sunburn and bug bites. If you want
to look pretty, make a paste, smear it
on your face, and slap on a couple of
cool cucumbers. You can soften skin,
clean leather and remove ink stains
from your shirt. All with milk. And of
course, there’s the soap.
Not long ago my girlfriend gave me
a bar of goafs milk soap as a birthday
gift. At first, I was hesitant to try to
make myself clean with anything that
came out of a stinky goat but after that
last sliver of Irish Spring went down
the drain, I was forced to give it a try. I
now am scented with an aroma that’s
much more manly than springtime
and my green aura has dissipated.
I’ve milked this column long
enough. Excuse me while I go crum
ble up some warm buttered cornbread
and drop it into a tall glass of sweet
milk.
Steve Reece is a writer for the Report
er and a known crime fighter. Email
him atstevereece@gmail.com.
CAROLYN S CORNER by Carolyn Martel
Struggles of timid, embarassed believers
G od has always had a rem
nant of true believers who
refuse to compromise or
deny their faith in Jesus
Christ as their Savior and Lord, and
they cherish the truths
found in God’s Word.
But even among God’s
true uncompromising
believers, there is a
virtue that we must never
forsake. What is it? It is
the virtue of courage. If
you are a Christian,
are you willing to
take a bold stand for
your faith in Christ
in today’s society?
Unfortunately, some Christians are
characterized as “timid or embar
rassed believers “when it comes to
sharing the gospel.
Who is the timid, embarrassed
believer? I believe this describes
any Christian who has bypassed the
opportunity to share the “Gospel
of Jesus Christ” with others. Some
hesitate to share the gospel because
they don’t want to be confronted, or
rebuked, by someone who embrac
es an irreverent, “woke” culture.
Or maybe they are too timid
to speak up, because they
fumbled in sharing the gospel
message. As a result, they now
feel to embarrassed to try
again.
I know for certain that I
do not want to stand before
Christ someday, and
hear Him say, “Why
didn’t you tell others
about Me, and my sav
ing grace?” Am I going
to say I was too timid or embar
rassed to do so? As Christians, we
can’t afford to hide our light under
a basket. There are too many people
that need us! If not you, who? If not
now, when? Our pastors can’t do it
all.
Just as there was a call upon the
first disciples of Jesus to proclaim
the gospel, there are people today
that God is calling to bear witness
of His eternal truth and His plan of
salvation. God loves using ordinary
people to do extraordinary things.
He has used fishermen, shepherds
and a host of people from ordinary
places in life
As you finish reading this article,
I encourage you to meditate upon
this scripture: “For God so loved
the world, that He gave His only
Son, that whoever believes in him
should not perish, but have eternal
life” (John 3:16 ESV). God can use
you and me to rescue the perishing!
This week, and in the days to come,
share the gospel of Jesus Christ with
confidence and unwavering faith!
Carolyn Martel, who retired as the
long-time advertising manager for the
Reporter in 2021, still writes a weekly
column for the newspaper. Email her
at carolynmartell @bellsouth. net