Newspaper Page Text
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 19, 2008
THE BANKS COUNTY NEWS
PAGE 5A
A very hoppy week
Disagrees with Bridges’ column on Broun
A s I looked around this
past weekend, I couldn’t
help but notice that nature
is taking on a whole new look.
The Bradford Pear trees are in full
bloom, jonquils and tulips are scat
tered here and there, and the grass
is once again turning green. It is
obvious that spring is around the
corner. In fact, the first day of the
new season is this very week!
It just so happens that spring is
my favorite season. Although the
weather tends to be a little fickle
from the start, within only a few
weeks into the new season, it is
guaranteed to almost be perfect.
In fact, soon people will be com
menting that they wish the weather
would stay springlike year round.
Not only is spring my favorite
season, but Easter my favorite holi
day. I always look forward to see
ing the first signs of Easter. I love it
when the Peep bunnies and chicks
first appear on the store shelves.
Even in February, I purchase a
pack.
Another
favorite has
always been the
multi-colored
speckled malt
robin eggs.
Around Easter I
have to indulge
in at least a few
of each of these
items in order
to keep the tra
dition going.
Like
most people, as the new season
approaches, I feel the need to pur
chase a new Easter/spring outfit.
After having children, this event
has been even more fun, like this
year when my daughter and I went
from store to store looking through
racks of pretty dresses that she
didn’t need. We actually decided
that she would just wear one that
she already had. That was until I
saw a matching set of dresses that
“we” just couldn’t live without.
Although the first day of Spring
is usually in March, that isn’t
always the case with Easter. Most
of the time, Easter is celebrated in
April, so this year we are having an
“early” Easter. In fact, the last time
Easter was celebrated this early
was the year 1912. And it won’t be
celebrated this early again until the
year 2160.
Over the next few days, I plan
to pick a few jonquils, bite the
ears off a Peep bunny or two, eat a
few malted eggs, be the imaginary
Easter Bunny, dye some eggs and
get dressed to the hilt .
After all, it’s not often that I can
celebrate my two favorites — the
first day of Spring and Easter —
both the very same week. In fact,
it won’t even happen again during
my lifetime. So for me, I guess
you could say this is a very hoppy
week!
Sherri Stephens is a contributing
columnist for The Banks County
News. She may be contacted at
charmbug5@hotmail.com.
Talk radio host’s actions disgraceful
Dear Editor:
On Friday, March 7, Atlanta talk
show host Neal Boortz committed
an act so disgraceful and mean-
spirited that it deserves the strongest
condemnation.
Beginning at 10:30 a.m. and
lasting for over an hour, Boortz
repeatedly played an audio tape of
a nine-year-old from Lula, Georgia,
and mocked and ridiculed the boy’s
speech patterns. The child speaks
with a country accent and shows
clear signs of a significant learning
and/or developmental disability.
Boortz also ridiculed the accent
of the boy’s father, Gordon Welch,
demeaned the family business (a
tire shop,) and accused Mr. Welch
of child abuse based solely on the
boy’s speech patterns.
The unrepentant Boortz subse
quently conducted a poll on his web
site asking, “Is Neal being too hard
on that ten-year-old boy from North
Georgia with the thick accent?”
Mocking any child that young and
that challenged goes well beyond
being “too hard.” Why a grown man
would sink so low is beyond me. Are
ratings and dollars worth it?
WSB Radio and Cox
Communications, Boortz’s employ
ers, should at the very least require
an on-air apology.
I believe a suspension is also in
order (Don Imus was fired for say
ing something mild in comparison.)
The Welch family faces some seri
ous challenges; maybe a trust fund
should be set up to help with this
boy’s future.
Sincerely,
Dr. Preston Coleman
Gainesville State College
Dear Editor:
In my opinion, Chris Bridges’ edi
torial piece on Rep. Paul Broun
(March 12 edition) is way out of
line even though I realize it is only
an opinion.
First, let me say that I did not vote
for Dr. Broun. My reason was that
the press reported that he was cam
paigning for the position even before
Rep. Norwood had died. That, to
me, was not proper respect.
However, having said that, I agree
100 percent with his stance on ille
gal immigrants. Note that I did not
put this in quotes, as did Chris. He
seems to think that “illegal immi
grants” is a term that “seems to be
100 percent OK to rant and rave
against people who want to come to
this country simply to make a bet
ter life for themselves and for their
families.”
Chris also stated that, “When a
group of business and civic lead
ers from Banks County visited
Washington, D.C., recently to dis
cuss needs for the county, Broun
seemed more interested in talk
ing about illegal immigrants even
though that wasn’t on the mind of
anyone who made the trip.”
Was Chris on this trip to D.C.? If
not, how does he know what was
on the mind of the attendees? I
can only assume that he is a mind-
reader, if he was not there. If he was
present at the meeting, he should
disclose same, and name those who
complained. If he was not there,
then he should disclose any super
natural abilities he has, and perhaps,
at the same time, he can answer the
following:
How can he assume, as he does,
that Dr. Broun has used a “moder
ated version of the old Wallace cam
paign handbook.” What an imbecile,
to compare Wallace’s anti-Black
tactics to those of Dr. Broun’s anti
illegal immigrants efforts. Wallace’s
efforts were aimed at those who,
though unfairly discriminated
against, were legal citizens of the
State of Alabama and of the U.S.A.
Illegal immigrants do not share that
distinction, nor the privileges of
legal citizens or legal immigrants.
Let’s assume that Chris actually
believes that “yet, to hear Broun tell
it the sky is falling and the country
is coming to an end because there
are people wanting to better them
selves.”
Then, he must also believe that
those who drive without driver’s
licenses are without blame. After
all, they are just “wanting to better
themselves” by driving to work or
to the store without proper licens
es. Nothing wrong with that, right?
Wrong! They are lawbreakers, and
deserve to be punished. How about
an unarmed bank robber, just try
ing to “better himself.” His job is
illegal, his actions are illegal, and
I think most would agree that he
should be punished for violating the
law. Same goes for those who come
to our country illegally, or those who
might overstay a student visa, for
example, and refuse to leave or re
register. These people are violating
our laws, and should not be given
special status.
I have absolutely nothing against
legal immigrants. We are all descen-
dents of immigrants from other
countries, but most of us are descen-
dents of legal immigrants. Who
would not agree that all immigrants
should come to the “land of opportu
nity” within the legal requirements?
Apparently, Chris Bridges would
not agree.
He questions whether Dr. Broun
would “deny treatment to someone
who he loathes as much as these
illegals. I mean, after all, they want
to make a better life for themselves.
Is that a crime? To Broun, appar
ently it is.” These are Chris’ quotes,
not mine. My answer is —YES, IT
IS A CRIME!
And, to question the ethical stan
dards of a medical doctor, not a poli
tician, is beyond comprehension.
Also, I believe that Dr. Broun, rather
than “deny treatment to someone he
loathes as much as these illegals”
has compassion for those seeking
medical assistance, according to the
Hippocratic Oath. Probably too big
a word for Chris.
Sincerely,
Joel Richardson
Alto
Heating assistance funds available
‘Clean Out Your Files’ day set April 5
Keep Our Mountains Beautiful is
sponsoring a “Clean Out Your Files
Day” as part of the Great American
Cleanup.
Are your files overflowing with
old documents? Are you having a
hard time finding what you need
because you have to look through
so many old documents to get to the
one you want?
Here is your chance to clean out
those old files and have them perma
nently and safely destroyed. Keep
Our Mountains Beautiful is part
nering with Document Destruction
Service of Homer to provide free,
safe document destruction.
DocumentDestructionServices will
have a mobile shredder positioned
in the Banks County Courthouse
parking lot on April 5 from 9 a.m.
until noon. For more information,
call Keep Our Mountains Beautiful
at 706-677-2344.
The Georgia Department of Human
Resources LIHEAP program, which
helps pay heating costs for natural
gas has been extended.
Households that have not already
received any kind of energy assis
tance since Nov. 1, 2007, may start
calling now.
One-time payments will be made
by checks issued to the home energy
suppliers on behalf of eligible house
holds. Eligibility for the program is
based on the income of everyone
living in the home.
All eligible households must be
responsible for their home heating
bill.
When applying for assistance, per
sons will be required to bring for
everyone in the home, verification
of all household income received
within the past 30 days (check stubs,
public assistance checks, unemploy
ment checks, etc.), verification of
Social Security numbers for every
one in the home, and the most recent
home heating bill.
All interested applicants are asked
to contact Ninth District Opportunity,
Inc. at 706-677-3921. The agency is
asking for no walk-ins. Additional
information is available at www.
ndo.org.
Lula officials recognize yards of month
Meetings citizens can attend in county
The following local government
agencies hold regular meetings which
are open to the public:
•Maysville City Council, 7 p.m.,
first Monday of each month at the
Maysville Public Library.
•Banks County High School All
Sports Booster Club, 6:30 p.m.,
first Monday of each month, BCHS
library.
•City of Maysville Beautification
Committee, 7 p.m., fourth Thursday
of each month at the Maysville
Public Library.
•Banks County Planning
Commission, 7 p.m., first Tuesday of
each month at the courthouse.
•Gillsville City Council, 7 p.m.,
first Tuesday of each month at city
hall. A work session is held at 7 p.m.
on the third Thursday of the month.
•Banks County Board of Education,
7 p.m., third Monday of each month
at the BOE office. The work session
is held on the Thursday prior to the
regular meeting.
•Baldwin City Council, 7 p.m.,
second and fourth Monday of each
month at city hall. A work session
is held at 6:30 p.m. on the Thursday
preceding each regular meeting.
•Homer City Council, 6 p.m., sec
ond Tuesday of each month at city
hall.
•Banks County Board of
Commissioners 6:30 p.m. second
Tuesday of each month at the court
house. A work session is held at 3:30
p.m. on the fourth Tuesday of the
month at the courthouse.
•Alto City Council, 7 p.m., second
Tuesday of each month at city hall.
•Lula City Council, 7 p.m., third
Monday of each month at city hall.
A work session is held at 11 a.m. on
the Thursday preceding the regular
meeting.
•BJC Medical Center board of
directors, 1:30 p.m., third Monday of
each month in the conference room
of the hospital.
BY CHRIS BRIDGES
The Lula City Council recognized
five citizens during a work session
March 10 for their efforts in earning
yard of the month distinction.
James Rawlston, Billy Meeks,
Edward Stowers, Hilton Stratford
and Raymond Woody were
announced as winners for March.
City council members have com
mented in past meetings the yard of
the month program has turned into a
popular program which citizens look
forward to each month.
Also during the work session, the
council was reminded there remains
two vacancies on the downtown
development authority. No action
was taken on filling the positions.
Members also were informed of
the upcoming vote on the adoption
of the city zoning map.
Stop
Mon. - Sat. 11:00 a.m. - 3 p.m.
March Special
1/2 sandwich, soup, chips, drink, dessert
Just $6.00 + tax ^
193 Pottery Factory Drive • Exit 149 at Banks Crossing
706-335-0717
Request for Bids
Bid Number (208-412)
Sealed bids will be received at the Commissioner’s
Office, Banks County Courthouse, on Wednesday,
, at which time they will
be opened for the following:
.107 Mile of Bridge Rehabilitation on Various
Bridges
1. The project will be built to DOT Specifications
2001 Edition.
Bid packets may be obtained from:
Erin Decker
Banks County Commission
144 Yonah-Homer Road
Suite 1
Homer, GA 30547
706-677-6200
All bids must be submitted in a sealed envelope
and marked with the words,
412 Opening Date. Wednesday. April 2. 2008 at
10:00 a.m.” Any bid received after 10:00 a.m. will be
rejected.
The Banks County Commission reserves the right
to accept or to reject any and all bids and to waive
any formality or informality in the bid process.