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PAGE 4A - THE COMMERCE (GA) NEWS, WEDNESDAY. TANUARY 21, 2009
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Editorial Views
A Flawed Ordinance
From The Beginning
Commerce's eagerness to ban video poker
games resulted in a wrist slap from the video
game industry. It also shot down one of the
two primary reasons for drafting the pool
hall/game room ordinance.
What the city council hoped to do was force
what it considers to be a gambling industry
out of town by making the cost of operating
the machines prohibitive.
In essence, the city had indicated it was will
ing to allow gambling if the price was right.
That's not an appropriate strategy for local
government. Either gambling is OK or it is
not, and the cost of licensing is as irrelevant
to that judgment as the price of a whore is to
the institution of prostitution.
In reality, the entire attempt at regulating
games became irrelevant when it turned out
that the state licenses video poker and there
is nothing local government can do about it.
What's left in the ordinance is a series of fees
and permits that will generate very little rev
enue for local government but lots of head
aches from businesses.
The other focus of the ordinance was to
keep local restaurants from having too many
pool tables — from evolving into pool halls.
That seems like a matter for the market. If
restaurant patrons don't care to dine amongst
billiard tables, they'll take their business else
where, the restaurants will lose the ability to
sell beer and wine (licenses are tied to food
sales) and the problem will take care of itself.
On the other hand, if patrons want a restau
rant where they can also shoot a game of
pool, what's the harm to the general public?
Hospital Important To
Health Care, Economy
BJC Medical Center is fighting for its sur
vival.
Even in the best of times, rural public hos
pitals like BJC are just one state or federal
funding decision away from insolvency. The
shaky economy only adds to the problem
through increased amounts of bad debt and
charity care.
This is a critical public health issue for the
area, but also a matter of economic impor
tance. While BJC is not a trauma center, it
both provides basic medical care and enables
physicians to work and live in the commu
nity. If BJC Medical Center closes, the number
of doctors in the area will decrease, forcing
patients to go out of town — and the closest
emergency room will suddenly be 25 minutes
away. While the hospital has its detractors
— all hospitals do — its presence in terms of
providing health care is a tremendous asset to
the local economy through higher than aver
age wages and its affect on economic develop
ment. It is impossible to estimate the effects
of the loss of BJC Medical Center.
The layoff of 45 people last week is disturb
ing both because it indicates the severity
of the issues facing the medical center and
because of the inherent cruelty of the layoffs.
But the bigger issue is keeping the medical
center open and viable, and the public should
demand that management and the medical
center authority do whatever it takes to keep
the facility in business.
Editorials, unless otherwise noted, are written
by Mark Beardsley. He can be reached at mark@
mainstreetnews. 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 BEARDSLEY..Editor/General Manager
JUSTIN POOLE 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 Jefferson, Georgia
30549.
Subscription Rates Per Year: Jackson, Banks
and Madison counties, $19.75; State of
Georgia, $38.85; out-of-state, $44.50. Most
rates discounted $2 for senior citizens.
POSTMASTER send address changes to THE
COMMERCE NEWS. P.O. Box 908, Jefferson. GA.
30549.
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How ‘bout that? Obama’s been President since Tuesday,
and the world still hasn’t come to an end.
The Thrill Of A Miracle
I was driving
home from work last
Thursday evening
when I heard that U.S.
Airways Flight 1549
had landed in the icy
waters of the Hudson
River at 3:31 that
afternoon, and I felt
as if cold fingers had
wrapped themselves
around my heart.
'That was two and a half hours ago,' I
thought. Why hadn't I heard?
By the time I did hear, the news
was astonishing. The pilot, Chesley
Sullenberger, a 29-year veteran com
mercial pilot with a degree from the
Air Force Academy, military experience
flying F-4 fighter jets, and certifica
tion as a glider instructor, had man
aged a perfect water landing — "one
of the rarest and most technically
challenging feats in commercial avia
tion," as the Wall Street Journal would
later observe. All 150 passengers had
exited the sinking plane in less than
two minutes, thanks to their own
calm behavior in a terrifying situa
tion and also to the expert work of
the five-member flight crew, who then
checked carefully to make sure that
no one had been left behind. Captain
Sullenberger was the last to leave the
plane.
Tug boats, tour boats, and ferries
rallied from all directions to offer
help. Police divers arrived by heli
copter and dropped from the sky
into the 36-degree water to help get
people onto a boat. Those waiting
coatless in 20-degree weather to be
saved from a raft or from the wing
of the sinking plane agreed among
themselves that they would go with a
policy of "women and children first."
Passengers on the ferries and tour
boats passed their own warm winter
coats to total strangers.
I can't write those
words, I find now,
without being moved
to tears. Why is that?
Initially I thought
my intense reaction
to this "Miracle on
the Hudson" was a
result of my lifelong
immersion in the
world of aviation and
my own experience
as a flight attendant, which included
one genuine and unforgettable scare.
Maybe too, I thought, it was my
pride in New York and New Yorkers
— quick responders and softies all.
Often maligned as hard-bitten rough
customers, New Yorkers would unani
mously give you the coats off their
backs, if need be, and they had just
proven it once again, God bless 'em.
But then I heard veteran journal
ist Daniel Shore, now in his 80s, say
that he had watched the story of
Flight 1549 "hour after hour" on TV
Thursday night, and still could not
talk about it without getting choked
up. It was the opposite of the story
of Hurricane Katrina, he said. Katrina
had been about "incompetence and
not caring," but Flight 1549 was about
compassion and "enormous compe
tence" — a story of "the better angels."
There is a lot still to learn about the
"Miracle on the Hudson," but perhaps
we've already gotten what we needed
most: a reminder, as we welcome a
new president and set out with him to
"take arms against a sea of troubles,"
that we can win out over all that chal
lenges us. We just have to know what
we're doing and do what we know is
right. And once in a while, with nerve
and grace, someone comes along who
makes that look easy.
Susan Harper is director of the
Commerce Public Library. She lives in
Commerce.
A Few
Facts, A
Lot Of
Gossip 2
BY SUSAN HARPER
Library Needs Your Help
Viewpoints
In
Rotation
At the end of each
of my monthly col
umns, I am tagged
as the chair for the
Commerce Public
Library's Capital
Campaign. Since
March of 2007,1 have
helped oversee the
fund-raising efforts of
raising over $500,000
for our part required
to obtain a state grant
for our library expansion.
The city of Commerce, board
of commissioners, Dr. Neelagaru,
Harmony Grove Foundation and
numerous local individuals and busi
nesses have surprised us all by heed
ing the call in helping us raise dona
tions and commitments. Thank you,
Thank you, Thank you!
Now, the task is out of our hands as
we have formally requested our State
Senator, Ralph Hudgens, and State
Representative, Tommy Benton, to
pursue our request. We have requested
that during the current legislative ses
sion, our library be chosen to receive
a state grant for library expansion.
We qualify for this funding in every
respect, having established a build
ing fund, created a building program,
BY WILLIS COOK
obtained title to the
land on which we will
expand, and raised
more than half a mil
lion dollars in local
funding.
I just want to remind
you of all the great
things that make our
library special. The
library serves patrons
from six counties. It
partners with the local
Boys & Girls Club to offer important
after-school programming, serves as
the genealogy center for our three-
county regional system, houses the
holdings of the Jackson County
Historical Society and provides assem
bly space for approximately 135 meet
ings of local civic and service groups,
drawing a total of more than 5,000
people per year. Our children's pro
gram attendance topped 4,700 in 2007
and numbers are being gathered for
our 2008 programs.
We are proud of the progress we
have made, but it is time to move
forward and begin the actual construc
tion. You can help us by e-mailing
Senator Hudgens and Representative
Please Turn to Page 5A
It's
Gospel
According
To Mark
BY MARK BEARDSLEY
We Need The
Optimism Of
Seed Catalogs
Spring is finally here.
Not actually, but figuratively,
with the arrival of all the seed
catalogs. The emergence of daf
fodils and the arrival of spring
seed catalogs are the two prima
ry harbingers of spring, regard
less of the weather.
Both have occurred.
I needed the catalogs this year,
even though I buy 90 percent
of my seeds and all my plants
from Shirley Feed & Seed.
Seed catalogs show us the pos
sibilities. The economy may be
rotten and the weather nasty,
but photos of luscious toma
toes, verdant flower beds and
blueberry bushes bursting with
fruit give us hope. That my
beans will never bear like those
in the catalogs does not matter.
It could happen, and this could
be the year.
The catalogs lead to diagrams
of the garden where every plant
will be placed, to lists of vari
eties to try, a combination of
those known from past success
and those supposed to be future
triumphs.
When I first came to
Commerce, it seemed like
everyone had a vegetable gar
den. People ate from them
during the season, and canned
and froze for the future. It says
something about the economy
since there are so few gardens
now, although that could
change in 2009.
My garden is strictly amateur
hour. If I had to depend on it
for sustenance, my waist would
lose about four inches. But,
in theory, I could save a lot of
money if I just worked at it.
And if the weather, and pests,
particularly deer, cooperate.
Spring is the antidote for win
ter. The days get longer, nature
reboots and warm weather
arrives. The bees come out, the
fish start biting and the ground
beckons to our instincts to
plant. In our enthusiasm, we
look at the seed catalogs and
envision the future.
The next five months as pro
jected by Burpee, Park Seed
Co., Territorial Seed Company
and myriad others are much
friendlier than you'll find pro
jected on the nightly news or
on the front page of the Atlanta
Journal-Constitution (if only you
could find one locally). The
seed companies see warm days
with ample sunshine and rain,
perfect growing conditions for
your tomatoes, okra and green
beans. They offer the possibility
of masses of blooms, bushels
of fresh fruit and vegetables,
pumpkins and tomatoes that
will be the talk of the neighbor
hood, and hours of leisure time
in the garden.
We know it won't work out
like that. Disease, aphids, deer,
drought, weeds and 95-degree
days will take their toll.
Japanese beetles will wreck the
roses, cucumber beetles will
decimate the squash.
Seed catalogs spare us that
negativity by showing us the
best possible world. We need
that right now.
Mark Beardsley is editor of The
Commerce News. He can be reached
at mark@mainstreetnews.com