Newspaper Page Text
WEDNESDAY, JULY 23, 2008
THE BANKS COUNTY NEWS
PACE 5A
Letters to the Editor
Life’s little mysteries
Comments on Rylee incident
Dear Editor:
I have read the comments in the
paper regarding the Lori Rylee inci
dent. What people don't see is that
all who are making a big deal out
of the situation in the papers are the
ones who did not have their kids
involved.
The issue isn’t only that there
might have been urine in the foun
tain, but that Lori Rylee allegedly
made a great error in judgment that
day by forcing children against their
will to drink from a fountain, then
told them it had been urinated in it,
then finally told them it had been
cleaned. Then, she sent them back to
their classes and told them, “Do not
talk about this to anyone!”
I ask you, if your child had been
involved, would you like it if some
one with authority took them and
forced them to do something, led
them to believe they had just drank
from a nasty fountain, and then said,
“Don’t tell anyone!” The comments
suggested the kids fabricated the
story, yet no one has denied that it
actually happened.
The teachers were telling the
children afterwards, “It was just
Mountain Dew.” It happened and
there was the implication of urine
for it to be important enough to
pull 100 children out of class for
more than 30 minutes (even those
testing) to do this. Again, the issue
isn’t that Lori Rylee hasn’t got the
credentials or that she hasn’t done a
good job for 13 years. It is the deci
sion she made that exposed them
to mental abuse and other issues.
What happened that day cannot be
changed, but it needs to be handled
to make sure it won’t happen again
to another child.
Totally Disgusted,
Helen Banks
Responds to columns, letter
Dear Editor:
The opinions page of the last
week’s The Banks County News was
quite stimulating. Jana A. Mitcham
reminded us how women struggled
hard to get the vote, a shocking
demand in the 1920s but now accept
ed as normal.
Chris Bridges reminded us of our
rights to privacy and civil liberties,
under attack since George Bush
took office and persuaded Congess
that Iraqis bombed the World Trade
Center when it was really Saudis and
Egyptians.
The real surprise was the letter that
blamed Democrats for our oil crisis.
The writer said we could fix that
problem by still more drilling so we
could put more greenhouse gases in
our air so we could experience more
storms and drought.
I thought of that old saying, when
you're stuck in a hole the first thing
to do is stop digging. In this case the
conclusion is to stop drilling.
In order to save our beautiful coast,
the beaches, the shrimp nurseries and
all that goes with it, we must avoid
oil spills.
Besides, wind turbines and solar
panels produce electricity and leave
no pollution behind.
Sincerely,
Adele Kushner
Alto
BanksnewsTODAY comments... continued from page 4A
Is this for personal gratification of
Cowboy Hart and his ten-gallon hat
to show how much he rode rough
shod over the good people of Banks
County and that he will continue
to do so until Milton Dalton takes
over?
Again, I would like to say that
I am thankful that we will have a
new chairman of commissioners for
Banks County who has shown in the
past that he is willing to work with
the people and for the people and his
personal gratification will not come
from a pumped up ego but rather
from knowing at the end of the day
he has done what is right for the
citizens of Banks County.”
• ••
“We have a donut shop in Banks
County? Since 1996, Mr. Chapman
has been the sheriff and now, since
the opponent was not elected, every
one has a problem with Mr. Chapman
being the sheriff. How funny is that?
I’m curious to know did the oppo
nent think he was Buford Pusser?
I also think it’s funny when the
citizens of Banks County don’t think
they have to assume responsibility
for their stupid actions but put it off
on the sheriff. “Nephew Johnny” has
a drug problem and “cooking” him
self up a little something while his
kids are in the house. But the minute
Sheriff Chapman comes and arrests
him, all the family gets ticked and
are ready for a new sheriff. Sheriff
Chapman has always had “an open
door policy,” so all of you with these
wonderful ideas for changes need
to run right on over there and tell
him. If everyone liked the sheriff,
my guess would be he wasn’t doing
his job.”
Banks County DFACS report given
BY SHARON HOGAN
Banks County Department of
Family and Children Services
Director Kenny Jarvis presented
the monthly report to the board
members at the monthly meeting
on Wednesday.
The report for June 2008 shows
1,830 active cases. There are 593
food stamp cases, 34 TANF cases,
698 family Medicaid cases, 514
adult MAO cases and 16 childcare
cases.
During the month of June
Banks County DFACS received
55 applications for food stamps,
nine TANF applications, 63 family
Medicaid applications, 11 applica
tions for childcare and 27 ABD
applications.
Banks County DFACS received
23 child protective services refer
rals during the month of June with
all 23 cases being accepted. Ten
of these cases were accepted for
investigation and 13 were accepted
as diversions. The county has 17
on-going child protective services
cases. Banks County has 12 chil
dren in legal custody as of June
compared to 17 one year ago.
The county has five foster homes
and one adoptive home. Three
homes are currently under study.
There are two children available
for adoption in Banks County for
June 2008. Banks County DFACS
requested a total of $4,058 in coun
ty funds for the month of June.
Jarvis reported that 97.02 percent
of the budget has been spent as of
June 2008.
To The Citizens of Banks County
I sincerely thank you for your support and the vote given me
to continue to serve as Sheriff. I am truly honored for this
privilege. I look forward to continuing to serve you with the
same commitment to this office and to you that I have given in
the past. My door is always open to you. Thank you again for
this great honor and privilige.
CHARLES CHAPMAN
SHERIFF
Paid for by Charles Chapman
A s a lifelong animal lover
and owner, I continue to
be amazed at the person
alities and abilities of the creatures
that share our home and our lives.
The word “pet” just doesn’t do
them justice, at least not around our
house - they’re much more than
that.
Over the weekend we were get
ting some wiring done in our house
and during the process, a hole was
opened up in our half-bath. My
husband Charles had opened the
hole a few days before the work
was to be done, and we were all
trying to be careful to keep the door
closed to that room, knowing that
any new crevice would represent an
irresistible adventure to any self-
respecting kitty.
Everything went fine, the work
was finished and all that was left
was to close up the hole, when
Charles walked away and forgot to
close the door.
I found the door standing open
and began looking for cats, soon
discovering that both our fulltime
indoor cats, “George” and his
sidekick “Felix” (better known as
Possum) were MIA.
We began looking under furniture,
in closets, under beds, etc. Since
George is deaf, there was no point
in calling him, but we eventually
found him, sound asleep under a
bed. But Possum was nowhere to
be found.
Possum has his own issues -
found as a tiny, nearly bald, feral
margie
richards
kitten, he
had a num
ber of health
problems to
overcome
and his sur
vival was
very iffy
until he was
about five
months old.
Between his
baldness (his
nose is still
bald) and his strange corkscrew tail,
he looked like some cross between
a cat and a possum, hence the
nickname. Because he was wild the
first few months of his life, he still
spooks easily (visitors who come
to our home almost never get a
glimpse of him) and so the idea of
him being in a hole in the wall was
an uncomfortable thought.
We still thought that he could be
just hiding out in one of his many
secretive niches, so we decided to
wait until he appeared or we heard
him call out. In the meantime we
closed the bathroom door to prevent
any more missing felines.
I was sitting in the living room
a little later when I heard a loud
“meow” from our bedroom. It was
not Possum, but George who was
calling (since he is deaf, his calls
are extremely loud and plaintive).
I found him in my dressing room,
frantically climbing around on the
table, knocking stuff everywhere.
Then he climbed into the bath
tub, which is on the other side of
the hole and began clawing and
calling even louder. Between his
calls, from somewhere in the wall
near the tub, I heard little Possum’s
much quieter answering “mew.”
I was amazed that George, though
he can’t hear a thing, had appar
ently woke up from his nap and
somehow knew his companion was
in distress. And not only that, he
knew where to go try to help him.
Well, to make a long story short,
after I tempted Possum with his
favorite food - chicken grilled
Fancy Feast - and called to him for
a while, Charles finally opened up
another part of a wall and managed
to coax him out.
The two pals were reunited,
though both were a little frazzled
for the rest of the day. I am still
amazed that George knew, some
how, that his companion was in
trouble. It just goes to show that
we don’t know even a portion of
the mysteries of this world, or of
the creatures that live here with us.
Anyone who’s had a pet that they
love can attest to that. It just proves
to me even more that we should
respect all life. I knew that before a
little deaf cat came into my life, he
just reinforced it.
Margie Richards is a reporter The
Madison County Journal, a sister
publication of The Banks County
News. E-mail comments about this
column to margie@mainstreetnews.
com.
Maysville DDA prepares city website
BY JUSTIN POOLE
The Maysville Downtown
Development Authority is taking the
reins in making plans for the city.
After only a few meetings, the DDA
has already started to take stock and
look at things that can be done to
improve the city.
First on the agenda is a new city
website that the DDA is going to
pay for and have local web designer,
Pat Outcalt, design that will serve as
the new official website address for
the city.
According to DDA chairman,
Melody Stancil, Outcalt has said
that making links to existing web
sites and linking to businesses in the
city should not be a problem.
The site will be hosted by
Windstream Communications and
will provide 30 mailboxes for the
city to use.
The estimated time before the new
site will be up is six weeks.
OTHER BUSINESS
Also during the meeting Monday
night, the DDA took the following
action:
•accepted the resignation of Ward
3 member, Catherine Daniels, who
resigned due to scheduling conflicts.
The city council will appoint a new
member to fulfill the remainder of
Daniels’ term.
•finalized a schedule for when
each member will attend a training
session.
•heard an update on the status of
a Yahoo group created by member
Chuck Floyd for DDA members to
easily share information about meet
ings and training.
•discussed specifically inviting the
mayor and members of the public
to discuss areas of the city and how
best to improve them for the benefit
of the community.
•discussed taking charge of some
community activity events and pos
sibilities for future events.
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