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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 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 "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 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