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PAGE 4A - THE COMMERCE (GA) NEWS. WEDNESDAY. FEBRUARY 6. 2008
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Editorial Views
Legislators Show No
Respect For The Drought
You know the General Assembly is not taking the
drought seriously when legislators propose laws to
strip the Environmental Protection Division of its
authority to restrict water usage — so swimming
pools can be filled next summer.
No one can be absolutely sure in February what
the drought situation will be in July, but the rush to
keep public and private pools open — no matter the
drought situation — next summer is irresponsible.
Pools are for recreation. They are not crucial to the
health or welfare of the public. They produce enjoy
ment, to be sure, but a one-summer hiatus on filling
and operating pools when there is a critical shortage
of water is neither unreasonable nor harsh. Granted,
businesses that build, equip, supply or operate pools
will suffer, but so will a myriad of other businesses
unable to operate because of water restrictions.
Most importantly, however, is the perception allow
ing the use of pools will create that water conserva
tion is not crucial. If the kids can splash about the
pool all day, why shouldn't the adults wash their
vehicles and water their landscapes? If pools can be
filled and topped off daily, why should the owner of
a golf course not be allowed to irrigate his greens or
Home Depot be permitted to keep its bedding plants
watered?
Most of Georgia responded very well to the calls
for conservation last fall because public officials con
vinced them of the dire need. If state climatologist
David Stooksbury's prediction that the drought will
peak next summer proves accurate, the situation will
be much worse in July, August and September, and
Georgians — particularly those in the Atlanta area
where the reservoirs have not refilled — will be in a
grave crisis. (Unfortunately, even if the Commerce
reservoir stays full and there is plenty of water to
fill and wash cars here, this area will likely continue
to be subject to the same water restrictions as the
Atlanta area.)
Nobody wants to see the economic damage a
drought will cause and is causing, but when the water
supply is severely compromised, it makes sense to cut
back on unnecessary uses of a critical resource. With
all due respect to pool owners, swim teams, parents
and the pool industry (including hotels and motels),
water for swimming is not a top priority.
Let's hope Stooksbury's prediction proves wrong
and there is plenty of water come July, August and
September. If turns out to be right, swimming is just
one of the activities that will have to be put on hold
for the season.
Finally, Commerce Palls
The Plastic From Its Mulch
Kudos to City Hall staff for figuring out that plastic
does not make good mulch.
As reported elsewhere, the city council will act on
a "limb and yard waste ordinance" Monday night,
the major thrust of which is that when the ordinance
becomes effective, the city will no longer pick up
leaves or other yard waste in plastic bags.
For years, the city has offered free mulch made
from yard wastes, but the mulch is virtually useless
because it includes all the shredded plastic bags.
Ten years after applying the mulch, small pieces of
plastic continue to appear, prone to blow about the
yard and neighborhood. Finally, the city has realized
that few people want a mulch that creates a litter
problem.
Creating mulch from yard wastes was a good idea
and a means of recycling. Eliminating the plastic
bags from the process is a no-brainer, even if it took
City Hall years to figure it out.
Editorials, unless otherwise noted, are written by Mark
Beardsley. He can be reached by e-mail at mark@main-
streetnews.com.
The Commerce News
ESTABLISHED IN 1875
USPS 125-320
1672 South Broad Street
Commerce, Georgia 30529
MIKE BUFFINGTON Co-Publisher
SCOTT BUFFINGTON Co-Publisher
MARK BEARDSFEY Editor/General Manager
BRANDON REED Sports Editor
TERESA MARSHALL Office Manager
MERRILL BAGWELL Cartoonist
THE COMMERCE NEWS is the legal organ of the city
of Commerce and is published every Wednesday by
MainStreet Newspapers Inc. Periodical postage paid at
Commerce, Georgia 30529.
Subscription Rates Per Year: Jackson, Banks
and Madison counties, $19.75; State of Georgia,
$38.85; out-of-state, $44.50. Most rates dis
counted $2 for senior citizens.
POSTMASTER send address changes to THE COMMERCE
NEWS, P.O. Box 908, Jefferson, GA 30549.
Instead of having
lie-detector tests.
You Have Family Around Here
Jean Booth, who passed away
last weekend, worked in the
library's Heritage Room with
tireless enthusiasm for nearly
30 years — as a volunteer! Her
vivid personality, her abso
lute candor, her encyclopedic
knowledge of local history, and
the way her face held light — as
if it emanated from within,
which I think perhaps it did
— all made Jean compelling,
and I believe I remember each
of my many encounters with
her. Certainly I took something
away from each conversation;
Jean never knowingly wasted
her breath.
Our initial exchange took
place during my first week at
the library. I expressed my frus
tration at not being able to see
anyone at the phone company
because they always closed for
lunch — I think I said, "Who
ever heard of a phone com
pany closing for lunch?" — and
Jean cautioned me, "You want
to be careful what you say
here. You might be related
to the person you're talking
about. Or he might be related
to the one you're talking to."
I said I probably didn't have
any cousins at the phone com
pany, and Jean smiled with her
lips pursed and her eyes twin
kling. "Oh, great," I thought.
"One week in town and I've
A Few
Facts, A
Lot Of
Gossip 2
BY SUSAN HARPER
already gotten myself in trou
ble." I don't think I had, but it
was a warning I never forgot.
All of my encounters with
Jean were experiences of her
generosity. Without ever
seeming to be teaching, she
gradually acquainted me with
the things I needed to know:
how the Heritage Room was
organized, where to find Bill
Gillespie's map of historic
downtown Commerce, what to
do when someone came look
ing for information about our
author, Olive Ann Burns.
Often Jean was in the library
when we got the phone calls
and visits I dreaded: the ones
that began, "I'm from South
Dakota, and I've traced my
great-great-grandfather back to
Jackson County. I want to see
if you can tell me anything
about him." My own natural
inclination would be to say,
"You're kidding, right?" But I
loved being able to hand them
over to Jean and just listen.
"Who were his people?" she
would say. "Were they the
James J. Smiths or the William
C. Smiths?" Without even con
sulting a book, she could usu
ally figure out most if not all
of the pertinent information
that was needed. It was like
watching a genius compete on
"Jeopardy." We liked to say she
put the "Jean" in Genealogy.
If she wasn't in the library,
we'd call her, and she would
come driving in from Apple
Valley, breathless with eager
ness, because, as she said,
"Y'all, I almost always learn
more than they do." She was
here for the television crew
that came to track a missing
heir. She spent two days with a
producer and costume design
er for the world premiere of
"Cold Sassy Tree" (the opera),
showing them photos of the
real people on whom the char
acters were based.
But her real joy was in help
ing folks discover their own
history, and I like to think that
she can see the whole picture
now: all the intricate intercon
nections that make us kin.
Goodbye, Jean, and God bless.
Susan Harper is director of the
Commerce Public Library.
The Ultimate Christmas Present
"'Tis better to give than to
receive." We all know that. On
a scale of 1-10,1 would say that
receiving is a six, and giving
an eight. But there's a way to
improve your score even more:
give yourself a gift. As both
giver and recipient, your score
will be 14, which is not bad on
a 1-10 scale.
Following my own advice, I
bought myself an expensive
astronomical telescope for
Christmas. It is 11 inches in
diameter — almost as big as
the Mt. Palomar telescope.
As the specifications note, it
gathers 1,593 times as much
light as the unaided eye. It
is also computer-controlled.
Everything in the sky has a
name or a number, and if your
type it in, the telescope knows
where it is and points itself at
it. There is a downside to all
this power, of course, and that
is that the telescope, mount
and tripods together weigh 93
pounds. It takes me three trips
to haul everything out to the
open area to set it up. Also,
the scope needs electric power.
That means you either have to
BY WILLIS COOK
park a vehicle nearby or run
an electric line.
All this naturally (for one car-
penterily-inclined) leads to the
plan to build an observatory
with the scope inside, already
set up and always ready to use.
There are amateur astronomers
with magnificent equipment
who use a little utility shed
as an observatory. Typically
they mount the roof on roll
ers and can slide it off so that
the sky is visible. But the thing
looks like a dorky little shed
in the back yard. What I want
is something that looks like an
observatory — like Mt. Palomar,
on a smaller scale. It is difficult
to build a cylindrical building
with a hemispherical dome on
top out of wood, so I think we
are moving into the realm of
Fiberglass. (My only experience
with Fiberglass occurred when
I tried to repair the rusted-out
body of my first car. It was
disastrous — both the car and
the repair.)
I keep thinking of the
Concorde — the British/French
supersonic jetliner. It was
totally impractical: it didn't
carry enough passengers and
it cost way too much to build
and operate. I think they
scrapped the last one last year.
But the designers and engi
neers thought they could build
the thing, and they wanted to
build it, and so they did. Do
you see the analogy?
If guys got "Syndromes" the
way women do, they could call
this "Concorde Syndrome:" the
obsessive urge to build some
thing horribly expensive, mar
ginally useful but completely
different from anything you
have ever built before. Even
without the formal name, guys
Please Turn To Page 5A
It’s Gospel
According
To Mark
BY MARK BEARDSLEY
Goody! Well Be
Able To Take
Guns To Church!
If the Georgia Senate will just
go along with the House, more
Georgians will feel better about
going to church Sundays.
The House passed a bill authored
by Rep. Tim Bearden (R-Villa Rica)
that will let you carry your pistol to
church.
As a member of a Baptist church, I
understand where Bearden is coming
from. Things can get contentious,
sermons too long and there's always
the possibility a sinner will appear,
necessitating action heretofore not
permitted under Georgia law.
Dubbed the "Take Your Gun to
Church Bill" by an Athens Democrat,
the bill actually does more. It would
let you carry your permitted hand
gun — concealed, no less — into your
favorite restaurant. There's been
many a time I'd have loved to been
able to pull a pistol on a surly wait
ress but have had to settle for cut
ting her tip instead. And haven't you
more than once felt the need to fire
a shot into the floor to get a waiter's
attention? I know I think about it all
the time.
The same bill would allow you
to carry a firearm into parks. This
would have saved Buford hiker
Meredith Emerson, who was kid
napped while hiking Jan. 1, suggest
ed one backer of the bill, Rep. Bobby
Reese (R-Sugar Hill).
But really, the important part is
that the legislature recognizes that
our constitutional right to bear arms
(as opposed to having bare arms)
should be extended to our houses
of worship. It's one thing to have a
separation of church and state, but
enforcing the separation of Baptist
and Beretta has been an unnecessary
burden. That will end if the Senate
acts responsibly.
"Love Jesus, but carry a Colt" could
be the 11th commandment, or at
least a bumper sticker.
More Americans than ever claim
to be Christians, but overall church
attendance is down. I'm guessing
folks are just afraid to go to church.
Let them pack heat, however, and
you'll see a gradual increase in
Sunday attendance once the flock
understands it can defend itself with
something a little more concrete
than faith.
Our state legislators apparently rec
ognize that an insufficient number
of Georgians are carrying concealed
firearms. It didn't used to be that
way. In my first week as a student at
the University of Georgia in 1971,1
listened to a WNGC account of a dis
pute at an Athens bar.
"Smith and Jones" (names have
been changed to protect a faulty
memory) got into an argument.
Smith pulled his gun and shot
Jones. Jones pulled his gun and shot
Smith."
"What a progressive state," I
thought, having just arrived from
Florida, where folks were not so
enlightened and the odds of two
bar patrons both carrying guns were
worse than your chances of winning
the Nigerian lottery.
But now the Republicans control
the state and sanity is returning. If
this bill passes, I'm going to renew
my pistol toter's license and have my
best suit cleaned.
The next time somebody tries to sit
in my pew, I'll subtly show them my
.357 and ask them to move.
Mark Beardsley is editor of The
Commerce News. He can be reached at
mark@mainstreetnews. com.