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Page 4 — Wednesday, October 7, 2009, The Millen News Opinions, yours and ours The Chatter Box By Deborah Bennett The new voice you hear answering the telephone at the news office is that of Melissa Grier. We welcomed her to our staff Oct. 1 through the Experience Works program. Melissa is a recent graduate of Swainsboro Technical College with a diploma in Business Office Technology, and she holds a Microsoft Office Specialist certificate. She will be working the front desk which means that I will be able to get out and about again covering the news. Welcome, Melissa! Those attending the Oct. 1 town meeting received some encourag ing news from local leaders with the announcements that Doctor’s Hospice of Georgia, Inc. has signed a Letter of Intent to locate a hos pice hospital here and that the Corrections Corporation of America was bidding on the location of a 1,000 bed facility in Jenkins County. With so many of our citizens out of work, this was hopeful news. I look forward to hearing more about both projects. A public meeting has been scheduled for 7 p.m. Monday, Oct. 12, at the new school gymnasium to discuss the “prospect” of the location of the prison in Jenkins County. This is a veiy important meeting, and everyone is encouraged to attend. The annual Fair-on-the-Square was another success stoiy. Atten dance was good, and all reports indicate that it was a day of fim-filled activities. Kudos to all involved. Happy birthday this week to: Howard Siebert, Shirley Herrmann, Kim Garvin, Johnny Thomas, Harold Moore, Jay Bowers, Shirline Dudley, Jody Bowers, Gail Bassett, Nancy Blanchard, Caroline McTeer, Kristby W. Wallace, Johnny Becton Jr. and Daniel Smith. Celebrating wedding anniversaries are: Mr. and Mrs. Charlie Jones, Mr. and Mrs. Bobby James, Mr. and Mrs. Roy Cook, Mr. and Mrs. Dana Edenfield and Mr. and Mrs. Midge Chance. Military Active Duty List: PV2 Brianna Joiner, U.S. Army Na tional Guard, Ft. Leonardwood, MO; PV2 Jeremy Johnson, U.S. Army, 59 th Quartermaster Company, Ft. Carson, Colorado; Ronnie Perryman, Charlie Troop, 108 th Calvary Division, 4 th Platoon, Af ghanistan; 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. Marines, Baharia, Iraq; 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; Senior Airman Charles F. Woods, Moody Air Force Base, Valdosta, GA; Stuart Burrus, U.S. Air Force, OsanAFB, Korea; SPC 4 Travis D. Motes, 1 st Calvary Division, T. Hood, Texas; Capt. Donald Slade Burke, 735th Air Mobility Squadron Detach ment 1 Commander, Richmond Royal Australian AFB, Richmond, Australia; Staff Sgt. Gilbert C. Sheppard LH, 48th Brigade, 118th Field 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 Divi sion, Iraq; SPC. Daniel Stuart, 18thMEDCOM, 121 General Hospi tal, 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 Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C. Bagdad, Iraq; Khan Young, U.S. Navy, U.S.S. Kitty Hawk, Per sian 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 “CJ.” 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 $33.00 Outside of Georgia $39.00 “Don't think of it as an increase in allowance, Dad. Think of it as doing your part to stimulate the economy!" Letters to the Editor Dear Editor: I am someone who has never written a letter to the editor but have the following thoughts to be weighing heavy on my heart and decided that it was time. Last year, during spring break, my family and I went to San Fran cisco, Cal. for a vacation. We got one of those wonderful deals in which you could stay in a very nice hotel, cheap air fare, etc. San Francisco and the surrounding area was absolutely beautiful but not one time did my family go out our hotel, eat a meal, or sight seeing that we did not also see homeless people. They were ev erywhere, sleeping in the comers of building entrances, digging out of trash cans and begging for money. I found my thoughts traveling back to a place called Millen, Ga. where I work at least 190 days out of the year. Like a ton of bricks it hit me that Jenkins County may be one of the poorest counties in these United States and in the state of Georgia, and yet, I don’t see the homeless like I saw them in San Francisco and other areas that I visit. I am always amazed that even though we as a community are in financial crisis, those that are able never fail to take care of those who are in need. Jim Hite As a counselor at the elemen tary school I deal with kids ev ery day and their families who don’t even have the "necessities” of life. However, I never worry for very long because all I have to do is put the word out there for a need and someone always steps up to the plate. One time in my adult life there was an ex treme need at my house. I had a terminally ill little boy, along with three other wonderful chil dren who needed care. Had it not been for the kindness and gen erosity of the folks in Millen, as well as Sylvania, my family would have lost everything. Folks in Millen have always taken care of their own. So, we can take pride in being a part of this community and can hold our head up high. Even in the worst of times, this community rallies together and pulls together. I am so proud to be a part! KimAlsup Millen Dear Editor, The town hall meeting on Oc tober first drew a large crowd. We all came to what was touted as ‘workforce development’ but actually turned out to be a straw poll for the building of a prison in Jenkins County. That was dishonest and deceptive. Those of us who oppose the building of a prison (private, state or fed eral) in Jenkins County were left out of the vote and therefore your vote is flawed from the start. The representative from Cor rections Corporation of America (CCA) stated that their prison would be an economic boost for this county. Wow, that sounds good. Before we jump into this nice warm bath let’s ask a few questions about what’s in the tub. First, who will be responsible for providing water and sewage for the facility? If it is our respon sibility then how much will it cost? Where will we get the money? Second, who will feed all those people? Will they have their own kitchen? Will they buy their supplies locally? Third, where will the inmates come from? Will they be from metropolitan areas? If so, which metro areas? What will be the racial make up, and what impact will that racial make up have on our local race relations? Fourth, what concessions are being made by our local govern ment to entice CCA? If there arc concessions, then how will those concessions affect the taxpayers? Fifth, what are the require ments for employment with CCA? What percentage of local citizens will qualify for employ ment as opposed to those who will come from other areas and take their spending money some where else? Sixth, what will be the impact on our local law enforcement departments? If a prisoner es capes, will we have to hunt them down? Seventh, will we have to pro vide public defenders for in mates who commit crimes while incarcerated in this prison? Eighth, what impact will the prison population have on local contractors? Will prisoners be put to work on jobs that are be ing done by local citizens? Jobs like carpentry, plumbing, electri cal and painting for public works and non-profit organizations? Ninth, what will the environ mental impact of all the trash and sewage generated by the prison? Will the river be polluted? Tenth and last, how will the prison affect our taxes? Will rental prices rise and property values escalate causing all of us to pay higher taxes? Wayne Salter Suburbs of Perkins WORKING TOGETHER SOLVES PROBLEMS While the economy of our country has been a source of personal hardship for millions of citizens, a report from the Corporation for National and Community Service, the agency which oversees AmeriCorps, Senior Corps, and other service programs, says that millions are increasing their generosity, if not in money, then in time. The Giving USA Foundation recently reported a decline in chari table giving for the first time since 1987. But more and more Ameri cans are donating their time to others based on Census Bureau fig ures. That number was estimated to be 61.8 million in 2008, up 2 percent from the previous year. And while over one-fourth of Ameri cans continued to donate their time, young adults (16-24) increased in number by 5.7 percent. The largest area of increase was the 31 percent increase of people who worked with neighbors to solve local problems from food banks to suicide prevention. The highest rate of volunteering, again according to the report, is found in the states of Utah (43.5 percent) and Nebraska (38.9 per cent). With the media seemingly filled to the brim with reports of con troversy and stubborn refusal to cooperate to solve some real basic problems in our country, this information is a breath of fresh air. It shows that millions are looking for ways to solve what problems they can. They may be able to do little about the big picture, but they look around locally and then act. We know we’re going through a rough patch right here in Jenkins County. Of course, there have always been problems of one kind or another here as in all communities. However, with all that’s hap pened here over the past few years, it now seems absolutely over whelming. Yet there are hundreds of our own citizens who continue to vol unteer their time to helping their fellow-citizens and to improving what they can of the quality of life here in our home county. And from what I read and see, there arc dozens more joining them. The point of all this? A public "thank you” to those who, over the years, have given and continue to give their time on behalf of others, and to those who have recently joined this volunteering community. Finally, realize that the needs are legion. Come join! The Millen News Deadlines THURSDAY AT NOON: Wedding Announcements Engagement Announcements Anniversary Announcements Birth Announcements School News Columns Memoriams and Thank You’s General News Items FRIDAY AT NOON: Chatter Box Items, Letters to the Editor, Datebook and Church News Items OBITUARIES Accepted until press time MONDAY-11 AM: Classified & Legal Ads MONDAY-NOON: Retail Display Ads