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Page 4 — Wednesday, October 14, 2009, The Millen News
Opinions, yours and ours
The Chatter Box
By Deborah Bennett
I am so thankful for my e-mail buddies. They help fill this column
some weeks. Below is a cute joke one sent that I thought you might
like.
“A burglar broke into a house one night. He shined his flashlight
around, looking for valuables when a voice in the dark said, “Jesus is
watching you.” He nearly jumped out of his skin, clicked his flash
light off and froze. When he heard nothing more, after a bit, he shook
his head and continued. Just as he pulled the stereo out so he could
disconnect the wires, clear as a bell he heard, “Jesus is watching you.”
Freaked out, he shined his light around frantically, looking for the
source of the voice. Finally, in the comer of the room, his flashlight
beam came to rest on a parrot. ”Did you say that?” he hissed at the
parrot. “Yep”, the parrot confessed, then squawked, “I'm just trying to
warn you that he is watching you.”
The burglar relaxed. “Warn me, huh? Who in the world are you?”
“Moses,” replied the bird. “Moses?’ the burglar laughed. “What kind
of people would name a bird Moses?” “The kind of people that would
name a Rottweiler....Jesus.”
The poll question on our website last week was, “How do you think
the United States should respond to information that Iran has a secret
nuclear facility?”
Responses, as of Monday, were: Peaceful negotiations - 12; Sanc
tions -10; Military Action - 23; and Ignore it - 3.
The poll question this week relates to the possible location of a prison
in Jenkins County. To participate in this week’s poll, go to http://
www.themillennews.com.
Happy birthday this week to: Cody Johnson, Viola Baldwin, Brit
tany Sweat, Jancey W. Brinson. Paul Felburg, Gail Boyd. Danny
Mitchum, Bobby James, Henry Thompson, Joe Burke Jr., Emily
Edenfield, Pam Gay, Cecil Walters III, Jennifer Wiggins, Steve Burke,
F.A. Black and Rick Cordell.
Celebrating wedding anniversaries are: Mr. and Mrs. Charlie James
Davis. Mr. and Mrs. Tyson Bennett, Mr. and Mrs. Steven Hodges and
Mr. and Mrs. Larry Adams.
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, 1st 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 III. 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, 18th MEDCOM, 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, 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
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The Millen News
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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
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"Yeah, I got that one out on the State Highway!"
Letters to the Editor
Dear Editor:
In our lifetime we are blessed
to meet extraordinary people
who are both inspiring in every
aspect of our lives - a very mar
velous human being who has a
real concerning, compassionate,
loving heart for the people of
Jenkins County - for all people
as a whole. I am privileged and
inspired to know her as my men
tor and friend. I sit here today a
much better person because of
her constant, positive, encourag
ing words and actions.
The Jenkins County Family
Enrichment Center (JCFEC) is
the model example in which ev
ery other county in the state of
Georgia seriously should ex
plore, study and replicate. It is
through her daily ongoing ef
forts, along with national, state
and local partners that the JCFEC
continue to be an asset to the
community.
She’s quiet, humble, respect
ful and forbearing, a very spiri
tual lady who has the tenacity of
a blade of grass. She is always
looking for ways to help and im
prove the lives of others. She is
always looking to uplift the
Jenkins County community, and
I say to all the citizens of the
Jenkins County community and
beautiful City of Millen, Geor
gia, “You are indeed blessed to
have in your midst a real living
legend in the Honorable Pam
Dwight.”
Sincerely,
Andrew Payne
Athens
Dear Editor:
Let me first thank Mandy
Underwood and the rest of her
staff from the Family Enrich
ment Center for hosting the town
hall meeting. Not only was it
great to see so many people com
ing together, but I thought the
different job vendors present
was very constructive. Contrary
to Mr. Salter’s letter to the edi
tor last week, there was no dis
honesty or deception to this
meeting. Several people I have
spoken to now have job leads as
a result of attending this meet
ing.
Let’s discuss the proposed
prison. The City of Millen will
be responsible for providing
utilities to the prison. The sell
ing of water, gas and sewage ser
vices will be a huge boost in rev
enue for our city. Our local sew
age treatment plant is currently
being upgraded; therefore, the
extra volume will be handled.
The EPD and other regulatory
agencies constantly monitor all
rivers, streams, and other tribu
taries for any pollutants. This is
nothing new.
Mr. Salter was also concerned
about who will feed these
people? The proposed prison
will have to hire cooks, mainte
nance people, custodians,
doctor(s), nurses, teachers and
many more. So, to answer the
question, CCA (Corrections
Corporation of America) will
have to hire cooks. Yes, we do
have people in our community
that are qualified to cook and I
am sure CCA will have their
own kitchen and facilities. There
will also be people that will
come to our town and visit the
inmates. These people will buy
gas, eat in our restaurants, and
stay in our motels. This will also
provide economic stimulus to
Millen.
Not only will this prison help
with employment numbers, but
will also increase our tax base.
Our tax digest has steadily de
clined over the last 5-10 years.
Anytime your tax digest de
creases, total tax revenue will de
cline proportionally. Having this
prison on our tax digest will help
take the pressure off property
owners. Property owners pay the
lion’s share of taxes. As a prop
erty owner, I am very excited that
we are being considered for this
facility. Again, if our digest does
not improve, property owners
will continue to bear the cost of
local government services.
In closing, many thanks to the
mayor/city council, county com
missioners, and the development
authority for their work in try
ing to secure this much needed
facility.
George Parker
Millen
Don Lively
BACK TO THE STREET
Being there makes me nostalgic.
There is my old stomping grounds where I spent so much of my
professional life.
My beat.
In another time I was a street cop Out West so a trip down this
particular memory lane requires mentally negotiating a few dark
alleys, brutal back streets and crack houses.
Sounds like loads of fun, right?
Not always, but still, sometimes I miss the urban wars.
Recently I revisited the city where I played “cops and robbers”
for over twenty years.
The human memory bank is a hodgepodge. A jumble. A medley
of tunes of all kinds.
Good. Bad. Tragic. Sometimes funny, but all forever etched into
the recall.
One day I drove down a street where Fish and I once confronted
a drunk woman armed with a rifle. She’d barricaded herself in her
townhouse so we spent some time negotiating from cover.
At some point Fish, a sergeant, lost patience and decided enough
was enough.
He hurled a shoulder into the door and when the dust cleared all
that was left around the edges was broken siding and sheetrock. The
whole frame was ripped from the wall.
I should mention that Fish has the size, build and occasionally the
temperament of an aggravated grizzly, only stronger.
Down the street is the Taco Bell where Mad Dog, my partner at
the time, drove through and bought burritos three times in one
shift. M.D. is an even tempered fellow who looks like Kevin
Costner with the eating habits a starving jackal. The car we were
driving smelled foul when we signed it out, but it was exceptionally
rank by the end of the shift.
The same night he intentionally parked my side of the car so close
to a hedgerow that I had to claw my way through it before I could
chase a burglar. Later I spiked his Mountain Dew with hot salsa.
I passed the spot where I found my first dead body laying in a
gutter. Despite dying in a hit and run accident the old man appeared
to be smiling.
I’ll see that smile forever.
In the north part of town there is the apartment complex where
Michelle and I, along with her police dog and several other cops,
lay on our bellies in the bushes waiting out yet another armed sus
pect who had fired several rounds at us. It was eerily silent when
somebody, I never knew who, did his best Elmer Fudd impression.
“ Be vewy, vewy quiet.”
Everybody who heard it cracked up laughing. The shooter, who’d
- See Don Lively, page 10
The Millen News
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