Newspaper Page Text
Page 4 — Wednesday, April 29, 2009, The Millen News
Opinions, yours and ours
The Chatter Box
By Deborah Bennett
Rumor control - The Millen News is not closing. Nor are
we consolidating with The True Citizen.
I think the rumors began when I had to close the office
last Thursday morning to take my husband to the hospital. I
put a note on the door that read, “Closed due to illness.”
Since then, I have had numerous inquiries from concerned
citizens who apparently heard through the “grapevine” that
the newspaper was closing or was consolidating with the
Waynesboro paper.
The current economic climate is not pleasant for any of
our local businesses, but let me assure you that The Millen
News will continue to serve the citizens of Millen and Jenkins
County as it has done since 1903.
Congratulations to the local VFW post on its nomination
as an All American Post. I understand that it is an honor to
just be nominated. The local post is quite active, and I wish
them well in their endeavors.
The poll question on our website last week was, “Which
expense have you reduced the most to cope with the current
economic conditions?”
Responses, as of Monday morning, were: Groceries - 4;
Clothing - 9; Medicine - 2; Fuel/electricity - 5; Entertain
ment -21; Other - 1.
To participate in this week’s poll, go to http://
www.themillennews.com.
Happy birthday this week to: Evelyn Shackelford, Krissi
Lane, Keith Lee, Reanna Glisson, Kelsey Fleming, Cindy
Bragg, Kay Green, Michael Pickett, Roger Brinson, Brenda
Dudley, Deborah Bennett, Caleb Wilson and Colton
Wilkerson.
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 Force, RAF Molesworth,
United Kingdom; Lance Cpl. Patrick Barnette, U.S. Ma
rines, Twenty Nine Palms, CA; Sgt. Adam Demshar, 44th
Signal Battalion, Baghdad, Iraq; Cpl. Lee Ogden, U.S. Ma
rines, 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 Force Base, Valdosta, GA;
Stuart Burrus, U.S. Air Force, Barksdale AFB, 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 Aus
tralian 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 Corps
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 Hospital, Seoul, Korea; Jeffrey
Sweat, U.S. Navy, USS Kauffman, MM3 59/E-Division, A-
Gang, Norfolk, Va.; Cpl. Larry Lamont Clark, U.S. Ma
rine Corp, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force, 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, Ft.
Stewart, Hinesville, Ga., Mission Kuwait; Arnold R. Mosley,
2nd Lt., U.S. Air Force, Randolph AFB, Texas; and Debra
A. Mosley, Tech. Sgt., U.S. Air Force, Randolph AFB, 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 Frank M. Edenfield
Editor 1946-1985 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
Letters to the Editor
Dear Editor,
I am so pleased that my
great-niece, Lindsey Hall,
asked me to attend the Jun
ior-Senior Grand March at
Jenkins County High School
(JCHS) Saturday night, April
18. If I had not gone, I would
have missed one of the nic
est events Millen has ever
had.
There were approximately
150 young people who par
ticipated. Without exception,
they were all beautiful (even
the young men). The girls
looked so pretty in their
gowns, flowers and fixed
"hair-dos”, and the boys were
so handsomely coordinated
with their ties, vests and bou
tonnieres. They were driven
to the front walk by limou
sine. I know I don’t belong at
JCHS any more, but I was so
proud of them all. Their be
havior (and that of the audi
ence) was exceptional.
As usual, Ray Miller, as
master-of-ceremonies, did
such an excellent job of in
troducing the young people.
I don’t know who coordi
nated the event, but she (or
he) should be thanked. The
people who decorated did a
beautiful job. An event like
this doesn’t just happen!
Much work goes on behind
the scenes.
I was talking with a young
lady today, and we both men
tioned that it’s a shame that
Augusta media were not here
to witness this event. Had it
been a bad incident, they
would have come to broad
cast the bad news.
We have many good things
going for us in Millen, and
Saturday night’s event was an
example of the goodness in
our young people. Maybe we
adults should follow the ex
ample of our fine youth and
get past our self-centeredness
and work to help people see
what’s attractive in our city
and county! God bless the
youth in Jenkins County!
Sincerely,
Bobbye Cobb
Millen
Dear Editor,
I will soon be 68 years of
age. I am not in the best of
health, but God has allowed
me to care for both my daugh
ter (she has mental and physi
cal problems) and her son (he
is totally incapacitated with
multiple problems requiring
around-the-clock care.)
I am in dire need of dental
care, which I’m not able to
obtain. Neither Medicare nor
Medicaid will assist you in
this field. Well, Medicaid will
service children until they are
21 years old. Afterwards, they
will only pay to have your
teeth extracted, but not re
placed. Well, with no teeth,
you develop medical prob
lems such as gastritis, reflux,
peptic ulcer and indigestion,
to name a few. Once you have
been diagnosed with these
symptoms you are given some
of the most expensive medi
cation to counteract your ill
ness.
To me, this is defeating the
real purpose. If we were able
to get dental care, some of
these problems could be
eliminated. You wouldn’t
have as many people in the
doctor’s office with these
problems.
We need to have proper
Kid’s Gmf)
West Millen Rapt hi Church nil) lie hosting nn over
night kids' ciint]i at Magnolia Springs Stale P»rk
June 7, H, and 9lh fur rising 3rd graders In nulgnin"
fttli graders, t he cost of the camp is and is due
in full by May 17, 2009, Spots for camp will be
reserved for children when payment is received. We
encourage all age-appropr iate children to register
for a Ume filled with fun activities and experiences
ifuit will lead them tn build a closer relationship
with Christ. Mease contact 478-982-11679
regarding registration.
IKe hope, to see Moa there!
dental care like the rest of the
population. Dental care is
very important and a neces
sity in everyone’s life. I see
young people, boys and girls,
men and women, 21 years and
up without teeth or missing
teeth. Reason being they can’t
get dental care. When this
happens, your teeth decay and
you are in pain. What’s next?
Extraction with no means of
getting dentures and the eld
erly, like me, suffer the most:
unbalanced diet, no means of
chewing to digest your food
properly. If you are already
sick, this adds fuel to the fire.
Our young people are de
feated before they begin.
They can’t get a decent job.
Who wants to hire someone
without teeth?
I know if we were able to
get some of the stimulus mon
ies, it would or should be able
to provide dental care through
the Medicaid and Medicare
programs. I’m appalled by the
way the stimulus monies for
Georgia are being passed over
by Gov. Sonny Perdue and
anyone else who is in agree
ment that we, the people of
Georgia, should not be a part
of this stimulus plan.
My brothers and sisters,
who are registered voters, if
you feel the same way about
this, please e-mail or write
letters to all your representa
tives and the president con
cerning this issue. I thank you
in advance.
Jessie Simpkins
Statesboro
HAWK & ASSOCIATES, P.C.
Victor C. Hawk Melissa Detchemendy
Need Help? Call:
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Office located in The Millen News Building
856 E. Cotton Ave., Millen, GA
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