Newspaper Page Text
Page 4 — Wednesday, February 25, 2009, The Millen News
Opinions, yours and ours
The Chatter Box
By Deborah Bennett
The announcement this week by the City of Millen that bids
are being accepted for the Cotton Avenue TE-grant project is
good news. The project has been in the making for five years
with one delay after another - none of which were the fault of
the city.
There will, of course, be some inconvenience when con
struction actually begins, but when the project is finished our
downtown area will be much improved in appearance and ac
cessibility. Congratulations to all who have worked so hard
on the project for so long.
The poll question on our website last week was, “Do you
think another red light is needed on Winthrope Avenue in the
downtown area of the city?”
Responses, as of Monday morning, were as follows: Yes -
13; No - 17; and Undecided - 0.
To participate in this week’s poll, go to http://
www.themillennews.com.
Happy birthday this week to: Jessica Davis, Justin Davis,
Baker Jenkins, Kathy Turner, Joe Bob Law, Bailey Brown,
Stacie Johnson, Brandon McKenzie, Marcus Richardson,
Charlie Burch, Mildred Wiggins, Leslie Rowland, Judy Kent,
James Poole, Bowden James, Teresa Hernandez, Donna
Boynton and Erica Williams.
Celebrating wedding anniversaries this week are: Mr. and
Mrs. Dan Turner, Mr. and Mrs. Roy Cheney and Mr. and Mrs.
James Poole.
Military Active Duty List: Lance Cpl. Adam Lanier, U.S.
Marines, 8 th & I Marine Barracks, Washington, D.C.; E-4 Sr.
Airman Roy Davis, U.S. Air Lorce, RAL Molesworth, United
Kingdom; Lance Cpl. Patrick Barnette, U.S. Marines,
Twenty Nine Palms, CA; Sgt. Adam Demshar, 44th Signal
Battalion, Baghdad, Iraq; Cpl. Lee Ogden, U.S. Marines,
Camp Pendleton, CA; E5 Petty Officer 2 nd Class Eric B.
Kelsey, U.S. Navy, NSA Naples, Italy; Airman First Class
Charles F. Woods, Moody Air Lorce Base, Valdosta, GA;
Stuart Burrus, U.S. Air Lorce, Barksdale ALB, Bossier, LA;
SPC 4 Travis D. Motes, 1st Calvary Division, T. Hood, Texas;
Capt. Donald Slade Burke, 735th Air Mobility Squadron
Detachment 1 Commander, Richmond Royal Australian ALB,
Richmond, Australia; Staff Sgt. Gilbert C. Sheppard III, 48th
Brigade, 118th Lield Artillery, Iraq; Petty Officer 3rd Class
Jamie A. Yager, U.S. Navy, Marine Coips Base Hawaii; Petty
Chief Officer Andy D. Crosby, U.S. Navy, Elroy Destroyer,
Norfolk, Va.; Stephanie Crosby, R.N., U.S. Navy, Lafayette
Destroyer; Jimmy Cooper, U.S. Army National Guard, 878th
Engineering Battalion-Augusta, Persian Gulf ; 1st Lt. J.R.
Taylor, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division,
Iraq; SPC. Daniel Stuart, 18th MEDCOM, 121 General Hos
pital, Seoul, Korea; Jeffrey Sweat, U.S. Navy, USS Kauffman,
MM3 59/E-Division, A-Gang, Norfolk, Va.; Cpl. Larry
Lamont Clark, U.S. Marine Corp, 2nd Marine Expedition
ary Lorce, Camp Lejeune, N.C. Bagdad, Iraq; Khan Young,
U.S. Navy, U.S.S. Kitty Hawk, Persian Gulf; Robert Milton
Jr., E-3, U.S. Army, Lt. Stewart, Hinesville, Ga., Mission
Kuwait; Arnold R. Mosley, 2nd Lt., U.S. Air Lorce, Randolph
ALB, Texas; and Debra A. Mosley, Tech. Sgt., U.S. Air Lorce,
Randolph ALB, Texas; and SPC Charles “C.J.” Amerson,
U.S. Army, Camp Adder, Iraq.
Letters policy
Letters to the editor of The Millen News are welcomed and
encouraged. These are pages of opinions, yours and ours.
The unsigned editorials generally appearing on the left side of
the editorial page represent the opinion of the newspaper and not
that of any one person on our staff. Personal columns represent
the opinions of the writers whose names appear on them and are
not to be considered the opinion of this newspaper, its manage
ment or owners. Letters to the editor voice the opinions of the
newspaper’s readers.
The Millen News reserves the right to edit any and all portions
of a letter. Unsigned letters will not be published. Letters must
include the signature, address and phone number of the writer to
allow our staff to authenticate its origin. Letters should be lim
ited to 400 words.
The deadline for letters is Friday at noon. You can email letters
to themillennews@yahoo.com.
Chartered 1903
The Millen News is published weekly by Chalker
Publishing Company, 601 E. 6th St., Waynesboro, Ga.
The Millen News
856 East Cotton Ave. • Millen, Ga. 30442
Phone: (478) 982-5460 • FAX: (478) 982-1785
Periodical postage paid at Millen, Georgia.
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to:
The Millen News
P.O. Box 909
Millen, GA 30442
USPS No. 349-660
Walter Harrison
Editor 1946-1985
Frank M. Edenfield
Editor
1985-1998
Roy F. Chalker Jr Publisher
Bonnie K. Taylor General Manager
Deborah Bennett Editor
Lavonna Drawdy Advertising Composition
Subscription Rates (Includes tax):
In Jenkins County $23.00
Elsewhere in Georgia $26.00
Outside of Georgia $29.50
*Tve waited all winter for spring
...and I think the pollen has waited all winter for me!"
Letter to the Editor
Dear Editor,
First, I want to say that I ap
preciate Mr. Roundtree’s letter
about his proud heritage and
perhaps that would have been a
good article for you to write as
a human-interest story. He or
any of his kin did not do the
donation of the building; they
did nothing but profit from the
business. The donation of the
building was a kind act of char
ity by the present owners
(whose name you misspelled).
That is not what this letter is
about but I felt that I needed to
set the record straight.
This letter is about the sad
state of affairs concerning
printed newspapers. The tele
vised news media tells us every
day about how many that are
either shutting down completely
or going totally digital on the
Internet. I would like for the lo
cal citizens to think about the
great service that this little
"mullet wrapper” does for this
community.
Our local events are heralded
in your publication. We cut
scrapbook pictures out of these
pages. We know who is having
a birthday, what the local
churches are doing, who’s sell
ing something, who’s hiring
workers, what our city and
county governments do at their
meetings, the agricultural news,
your “Chatter Box”, the list goes
on and on. So, I am wondering
what we can do to insure that
we will continue to have a local
newspaper.
Folks out here in the down
town and suburban area of
Perkins have probably smelled
smoke lately because I have
been taxing my brain (as I’m
sure you have). Some of the
ideas that I have come up with
are for us to send paid subscrip
tions of The Millen News to our
out-of-town relatives, soldiers
overseas—anyone that you can
think of that might enjoy read
ing a small town newspaper.
Subscription sales are the life
blood of the printed media be
cause they know that those pa
pers are already sold. I believe
that if every citizen of Millen
and Jenkins County would sub
scribe to the paper, the publisher
would have a guaranteed read
ership and know how many pa
pers to print.
I urge all of the citizens of
Jenkins County to support The
Millen News and keep it in print.
When a city loses their news
paper, the next thing to go is the
post office. Things are bad
enough already - let’s not lose
our identity because we are too
cheap to subscribe to our local
newspaper.
Sincerely,
Wayne Salter
Suburbs of Perkins
J.B. Powell
SENATE APPROVES FUNDING SYSTEM FOR TRAUMA CARE
The state Senate voted overwhelmingly March 10 to approve
a proposal that would provide a dedicated revenue source for
the Georgia Trauma Trust Fund to expand and enhance trauma
care in our state.
SR 277 calls for a constitutional amendment authorizing a $10
annual fee on motor vehicle registrations, with the proceeds go
ing directly to the trauma trust fund. The legislation, which passed
the Senate 48-8, still needs a two-thirds vote of approval by the
House of Representatives and then must be approved by a ma
jority of voters in the next general election in order to change
the constitution.
Jon Burns
LEGISLATIVE UPDATE
This legislative week ended with Cross-Over Day on Thurs
day, legislative day number 30, which is one of the longest days
of the session. It is the responsibility of the legislature to enact
new laws and legislative day 30 plays a key role in the law mak
ing process. This day is significant in that it is the last day that
legislation must pass either the House or the Senate. The Geor
gia General Assembly meets for up to 40 session days, so only
ten legislative days remain.
For the second year in a row, we are trying to tackle the issue
of the ad valorem tax paid on vehicles. HB 480 passed out of the
House on Cross-Over Day by a vote of 133 to 39. This Bill would
replace the sales tax and annual ad valorem tax on our motor
vehicles with a one-time title fee. Another benefit of this bill is
that the excess funds could be dedicated to help partially fund
trauma care in the state of Georgia; but, will still be subjected to
the appropriation’s process. If passed by the Senate, this would
take affect on or after January 1, 2010. The total of the one time
state and local title fees on the vehicle would be the lesser amount
of $2,000 or 7% of the value of the vehicle. This bill is essential
as it means that instead of paying the yearly ad valorem tax, a
one time state and local title fee would be paid when the vehicle
is titled.
Several tax bills were on the minds of the General Assembly
this week. Two proposals, HB 481 and HB 482 passed out of the
- See Burns, page 8
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While voting to provide sufficient funding for trauma care is a
step forward for health care in Georgia, the Senate unfortunately
took a giant step backward on March 12. SB 169, passed 34-22
on a strict party-line vote, would criminalize potentially life-sav
ing medical research in Georgia. The bill, if approved by the
House in its present form and signed into law by the governor,
would prohibit embryonic stem cell research in our state, even
though many in the medical and scientific communities believe
such research could lead to treatments for major diseases, in
cluding Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s and spinal injuries.
Both the Senate and the House approved final versions of the
supplemental budget for fiscal year 2009, which ends June 30.
The $18.9 billion proposal reflects approximately $2 billion in
spending cuts due to a severe downturn in revenues over the past
year. Additional cuts would have been necessary if not for the
federal stimulus funding making its way to Georgia.
The new budget restores the $428 million in homeowner tax
relief grants that had been cut by Gov. Perdue, saving the aver
age Georgian $200 to $300 in property taxes. Also, $145 million
in federal stimulus money was included to offset the governor’s
cuts to local school funding. The governor signed HB 118 into
law March 13. Meanwhile, work continues in the legislature on
the annual budget for fiscal year 2010.
Thursday was the 30 th day of the 2009 legislative session, also
known as “cross-over” day because it was the deadline for legis
- See Powell, page 8
The Millen News
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