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Page 4 — Wednesday, November 25, 2009, The Millen News
Opinions, yours and ours
The Chatter Box
By Deborah Bennett
The Millen News office will be closed Thursday and Friday this
week for the Thanksgiving holidays.
Thanksgiving is a time to spend with family and friends, counting
our blessings and eating good food. Of course, it is always nice to
count your blessings eveiy day.
I wish all a safe and happy holiday!
I found the following ‘Thanksgiving Weather Forecast" ’ and thought
you might enjoy it.
In the pre-Thanksgiving rash, we have received an early weather
report from our in-house weather reporters. This is one you should be
sure to email your Mom. Turkeys will thaw in the morning, then warm
in the oven to an afternoon high near 190F. The kitchen will turn hot
and humid, and if you bother the cook, be ready for a severe squall or
cold shoulder.
During the late afternoon and evening, the cold front of a knife will
slice through the turkey, causing an accumulation of one to two inches
on plates. Mashed potatoes will drift across one side while cranberry
sauce creates slippery spots on the other. Please pass the gravy.
A weight watch and indigestion warning have been issued for the
entire area, with increased stuffiness around the beltway. During the
evening, the turkey will diminish and taper off to leftovers, dropping
to a low of 34F in the refrigerator.
Looking ahead to Friday and Saturday, high pressure to eat sand
wiches will be established. Flurries of leftovers can be expected both
days with a 50 percent chance of scattered soup late in the day. We
expect a warming Lend where soup develops. By early next week,
eating pressure will be low as the only wish left will be the bone.
Happy birthday this week to: Donnie Saxon, Rhonda Godbee, Ri
chard Lockhart Jr., John Kenneth Bragg, Sally Kirkland, Victor Sweat,
Faye Black and Roy Cheney Sr.
Celebrating an anniversary this week are Mr. and Mrs. Phil Cowart.
Military Active Duty List: PV2 Brianna Joiner, U.S. Army Na
tional Guard, Ft. Benning, GA; 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 EricB. Kelsey, U.S. Navy,
NSA Naples, Italy; Senior Airman Charles F. Woods, Moody Air
Force Base, Valdosta, GA; Stuart Burrus, U.S. Air Force, Osan AFB,
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 HI, 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 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 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
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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
Subscription Rates (Includes tax):
In Jenkins County $23.00
Elsewhere in Georgia $33.00
Outside of Georgia $39.00
Letters to the Editor
Dear Editor:
I am honored that Correction
Corporation of American’s (CCA)
spokeswoman Louis Grant thinks
our tiny organization, the Private
Corrections Institute (PCI), might
exert a powerful influence in the
Millen community (Letters, Nov.
4, 2009). In fact, CCA with $1.5
billion in annual revenues uses its
power to drown out a great deal of
factual public discourse regarding
then operations.
PCI’s single purpose is to edu
cate the public on the issues aris
ing from for-profit corrections.
CCA’s only purpose is to profit off
the imprisonment of human be
ings. We think they’re doing that
in a way that endangers their em
ployees, the public and inmates
and detainees.
CCA would have the public be
lieve that it’s the answer to all
Jenkins County’s economic woes.
A substantial body of long term,
peer-reviewed, university and
think tank research has demon
strated the opposite is the case. The
presence of then prisons typically
represents drains on community
resources and promotes economic
stagnation.
CCA claims to offer “well-pay
ing, stable” jobs. If aperson is will
ing to work under dangerous con
ditions for fast-food wages with
expensive benefits, and is comfort
able with 50+ percent annual turn
over rates, an unstable job might
be waiting for them.
Ms. Grant resorts to calling PCI
names because she knows that the
facts are on not on CCA’s side. If
CCA wants Millen residents to
believe it is so wonderful, the cor
poration should publicly release
turnover rates for all then facili
ties, details of all the lawsuits
against them and the number of
escapes from and details of the
violent incidents at their prisons
and detention centers.
With accurate information the
public can actually make an in
formed decision versus one driven
by false promises, economic des
peration and job uncertainties.
Ms. Grant is well aware that
anytime any CCA representative
wants to publicly debate this is
sue in Millen or elsewhere, PCI
will be eager to oblige.
For more information go to our
webpage: www.privateci.org
Sincerely
Ken Kopczynski
Tallahassee, Fla.
Dear Editor:
Over the past several weeks I
have had the privilege of watch
ing the Jenkins County High
School One Act play perform “The
Devil and Daniel Webster”.
Everyone should be extremely
proud of these high school stu
dents and the excellent way they
represented themselves, their
school, their families and their
community. They were once again
Region 3A champions and State
competitors but more than that
they were a representation of all
the positive, caring, committed
qualities we all want to see in our
young people. The time and effort
they put forth to learn lines and
rehearse is admirable.
I give a standing ovation to each
of them and then director and look
forward to future one act plays
which I know will be as well-pro
duced, well-acted, and well-re
ceived as ever. Encore, encore!
Connie Fields
Millen, Ga.
Barrow votes to extend stimulus benefits
Congressman John Barrow re
cently voted to extend unemploy
ment benefits, the homebuyer’s
tax credit and tax relief for mili
tary families and businesses. The
Emergency Unemployment
Compensation Extension Act will
provide immediate assistance, ex
tending relief to millions of work
ers, families and businesses na
tionwide. It will provide stability
to American families hit hairiest
by the recession.
“Folks who have lost, or are on
the verge of losing their unem
ployment benefits need help right
away,” said Barrow. The families
who receive these benefits will be
putting money right back into our
local economy - buying grocer
ies, filling their cars with gas and
making then mortgage payments.
This is good for families and good
for the economy.”
The extension is fully paid for
and will provide immediate, ef
fective stimulus to the local
economy. The Congressional
Budget Office has cited unem
ployment benefits as one of the
most cost-effective forms of eco
nomic stimulus. Every dollar
spent on unemployment benefits
generates $1.63 in new demand,
according to chief economist
Mark Zandi.
The legislation will provide
families in all states with 14 weeks
of additional benefits and six more
weeks to the 27 states, including
Georgia, with the highest unem
ployment rates - where it is most
difficult for workers to find em
ployment. Workers in these high
unemployment states who have
exhausted or will soon exhaust
then benefits will be eligible for a
total of 20 additional weeks of
emergency unemployment com
pensation.
The bill includes an extension
of the $8,000 first-time
homebuyers tax credit through
April 30, 2010, and provides a
$6,500 credit to new purchasers
who have lived in their current
residence for five years or more.
It also helps military families
struggling to make mortgage pay
ments by making those payments
tax exempt.
To breathe life back into Ameri-
can businesses suffering from
huge losses, this bill allows U.S.
companies to carry back losses
incurred in either 2008 or 2009
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against income earned in any of help now. This extension will pro-
the five prior years. vide relief to millions of unem-
“We are working to turn this ployed Americans as they struggle
economy around, but folks need to find work,” said Rep. Barrow.
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