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PAGE 4A —THE MADISON COUNTY (GA) JOURNAL. THURSDAY. AUGUST 20. 2009
Frankly
Speaking
frankgillispie671@msn.com
By Frank Gillispie
Racing veteran
drives SCV car
The most widely read column in this series
was about NASCAR a couple of years ago.
In that column I described how NASCAR had
turned its back on it Southern roots, refusing to
allow any symbol of Southern pride to be dis
played on its cars, in the pits or especially in the
broadcast booth. This included prohibiting the
Sons of Confederate veterans from sponsoring
a car in any race under its supervision.
I am glad to inform you that a SCV car has
run on an American track in spite of NASCAR.
On Saturday, July 25th, the SCV car finished
third in the Hickory 250 in Hickory, N.C. The
event was a part of the USAR Pro Cup Series,
which is the descendent of the old Hooters
Racing series. The series is a rapidly growing
short-track series that includes an appearance at
Lanier National Raceway in Braselton.
The car was driven by Brandon Ward of
Winston-Salem, N.C., a veteran of USAR rac
ing. It is owned by MacHill Motorsports of
Mooresville, N.C. Ward is currently in third
place in the race to become the 2009 champion.
The race was filmed and will be broadcast on
FSN this Sunday at 11 a.m. Producers of the
show have assured SCV officials that the car
will be prominently featured.
In addition, a show car was on display at the
SCV’s international reunion on Hot Springs.
Our original driver and fellow compatriot,
James Hylton, sent his NASCAR truck series
truck, one of the vehicles that had been pre
pared for an NASCAR event but was rejected.
The truck sported the SCV logo on the hood,
the back quarter panels and the bed. It also
had the website address along the sides and
1-800-MY-DIXIE across the back.
James Hylton has generously offered this
truck to the SCV as a permanent show car.
ISCV officials expressed interest in sending the
truck to many shows and events. Furthermore, I
discussed an ad campaign with Mr. Hylton that
would use the truck to promote the work of the
SCV. He is on board with using the truck wher
ever possible to raise awareness of the SCV.
The SCV has been approached about spon
soring a car in other races and officials are cur
rently exploring that possibility.
In the previous column I expressed a wish that
someone would launch a new racing series to
compete with NASCAR and keep the Southern
traditions of stock car racing alive. The USAR
Pro Cup series is making great strides in that
direction, and I congratulate them. If you are
a long-term fan of stock car racing and are
as disappointed as I am with the decision of
NASCAR to abandon its Southern roots, then I
urge that you support the USARacing program.
Go to their races when you get a chance, tune
in to their TV broadcast, and support their
sponsors.
Stockcar racing has always been a key part of
Southern culture and efforts to purge the sport
of its Southern roots is inexcusable.
Frank Gillispie is founder of The Madison
County Journal. His e-mail address is frank-
gillispie671@msn.com. His website can be
accessed at http://frankgillispie.tripod.com/
The Madison
County Journal
(Merged with The Danielsville Monitor
and The Comer News, January 2006)
P.O. Box 658
Hwy. 29 South
Danielsville, Georgia 30633
Phone: 706-795-2567
Fax: 706-795-2765
Email: zach@mainstreetnews.com
ZACH MITCHAM, Editor
MARGIE RICHARDS, Reporter/Office Manager
BEN MUNRO, Reporter/Sports Editor
MIKE BUFFINGTON, Co-publisher
SCOTT BUFFINGTON, Co-publisher
FRANK GILLISPIE, Founder of The Journal.
Jere Ayers (deceased) former owner
of The Danielsville Monitor and The Comer News
Periodical postage paid at Danielsville, Georgia 30633
SUBSCRIPTION RATES:
Madison & surrounding counties $19.75/year
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THE MADISON COUNTY JOURNAL
P.O. Box 658, Danielsville, GA 30633
A publication of MainStreet Newspapers, Inc.
Tragedy highlights importance of spaying and neutering
It's terrible to think of the final
moments for the couple in Oglethorpe
County killed by a pack of dogs. And
the pain that their family is experi
encing now is of the worst order.
Meanwhile, people can’t help but
discuss this event. It is a truly shock
ing incident that garnered national
attention.
I think back to the creation of the
Madison Oglethorpe Animal Shelter,
where those 16 animals were taken to
be euthanized Tuesday. For years, the
worst-case scenario has been a part of
animal spay and neuter discussions.
Now, sadly, there is a local case that
demonstrates why those fears were
valid.
Of course, we talk about animal
control all the time. Should we have
an animal control department or not?
In fact, it’s one of the hottest blog
topics you can put on the Web in
Madison County. But animal control
discussions generally focus on the
officers, the calls and complaints.
What’s too often omitted is the
In the
Meantime
zach@
mainstreet
news.com
By Zach Mitcham
greatest form of animal control we
have — spaying and neutering. This
is hue population control. The aggres
sive pack that never exists can’t pose
a threat.
Shelter director Susan Fomash
preaches this repeatedly. And she has
good reason. She saw 600 animals
come through the door of the shelter
in June and July. Not all can find a
home for adoption. If owners took
the time to spay and neuter pets, the
shelter wouldn’t face that awful task
of euthanization so often. And there
wouldn’t be so many strays roaming
the county.
Fomash dealt with media all day
Tuesday, and she stood by the shelter
runs that morning as I knelt down by
the dogs with a camera. She talked
to them in a nice voice, offering
comforting words at the end of their
sad lives. They would be put to sleep
later that day.
It seemed hard to believe as I
clicked away that these animals did
what they did. They took no notice of
me. A couple of them slept. A puppy
laid its paw on its mother’s back. But
these animals were in poor health
and despite their docile demeanor
during the few moments I was at the
shelter, these animals demonstrated
an aggressive nature toward people
and animals while at the shelter. They
were clearly not adoptable animals,
Fomash said.
A few days ago, these animals took
on a pack mentality. They were brutal
in the worst way. There was nowhere
for those dogs to go, but asleep.
But the paradox is that they were
innocent, too. These animals were
the product of someone’s negligence.
Will there be some form of criminal
charge for that wrongdoing? We'll
see. But this ought to serve as a
wake-up call to those who think that
spaying and neutering is a needless
expense. No, it’s a real form of public
safety.
Of course, we have a great need
to look for the positives in tragedy.
I can’t pinpoint why, but sometimes
that bothers me, I guess I think about
a family losing loved ones in the
worst way. And the sadness that
accompanies such an occurrence is
profound. The hurt and horror are
far beyond all condolence we can
offer, or any positive we can make
out of it.
But I do hope there is a conse
quence to this sad thing. I hope more
people will do what's right, so we can
avoid what’s so terribly wrong with
this picture.
Zach Mitcham is editor of The
Madison County Journal.
Letters to the Editor
Thanks to BOC for keeping half my OTC refund
Dear Editor:
I would like to take time to
write this letter of appreciation to
our board of commissioners for
the years of debate and sleepless
nights concerning the “occupation
tax” in Madison County.
Not knowing all the hard-pressed
issues in county government, I was
however relieved it didn’t take too
much of your time to scrap such
a tax.
I’m sure the benefits of having
an OCT (occupation tax) license
would have been enormous,
although I have yet to reap any
of those enormous benefits on my
single rental property on which I
already pay taxes.
Since the OCT was scrapped.
I assumed I would receive a full
refund of the OCT license fee
automatically by mail, but thanks
to the BOC, I will only receive a
50 percent refund of the license
fee, so I can only assume I will still
reap 50 percent of these enormous
benefits. What exactly is 50 per
cent of enormous? (Just kidding.)
Don’t spend years of debate just to
answer that.
But unlike the IRS, which simply
mails our refunds and penalizes
those who choose to ignore their
tax obligation. I thank the BOC
for their time and effort in devising
such a procedure that only takes a
small portion of my time to bring
a written request, signed and dated
of course (would that need to be in
triplicate?) to be approved. Then
and only then will a 50-percent
refund be mailed to me, but those
who chose to ignore this ruling,
thanks to the BOC, will not be
penalized at all.
Now that this enormous task has
been resolved maybe you could
address some of the more trivial
problems such as the traffic jams
we have in Danielsville every
morning and every afternoon.
I'm thinking you could buy one
of those traffic lights (you know
the ones with the little arrows in
them) and I’m just guessing that
turning lanes at the traffic light
would be cheaper than a by-pass.
But what do I know, right? I’m just
a God-fearing, voting, taxpaying
citizen of Madison County and
proud of it.
I’m sure after years of thought
and effort, I too will come to under
stand the ways of big government
and politicians, even in Madison
County.
See you at the polls.
Sincerely,
Roger Coile
Comer
Editor’s Note: This letter was
submitted on Monday. On Tuesday,
the BOC voted 3-1 to allow all
businesses who paid the occupa
tion tax in 2009 to apply for a full
refund. Those businesses have until
Sept. 30 to file for a refund with the
county building inspections office.
Says BOC should make tax commissioner do her job
Dear Editor:
After reading the article
in the Aug. 6 paper entitled
“Commissioners open bud
get talks,” I have to comment
about our county tax com
missioner. The article stated
Louise Watson has not had
a delinquent tax sale since
2004.
This is 2009.
The excuse used was the
ongoing tax digest situation in
the assessors’ office.
Hello... I have paid my prop
erty taxes each year on time.
Property owners, do you think
we can use that excuse for not
paying our taxes for the next
five years?
As I understand it, there is
over $3 million outstanding
in delinquent property taxes.
County commissioners, why
have you not put pressure on
Louise Watson in prior years
to collect these taxes?
You, county commissioners,
raised our property taxes a
couple of years ago to cover
the budget. Do you not ask
her for delinquent tax infor
mation? You should be find
ing out this information every
quarter. If Louise Watson was
doing the tax commissioner’s
job correctly, our taxes would
not have been raised.
Why do you fellow voters
keep voting Louise Watson
back in office? I cannot
believe you want your taxes
raised again. I certainly do not
— they are high now.
Wake up folks.
Sincerely,
Gene Lurwig
Danielsville
Thanks to all who helped with back-to-school drive
Dear Editor:
The Madison Area Resource
Team (MART)/ Family
Connection would like to thank
all those who contributed or
assisted in any way to help make
this year’s Back to School Supply
Drive and Rally a big success,
including: Advantage Behavioral
Health System, John and Ann
Cass, Comer Lions Club, Sandra
Davis, Department of Juvenile
Justice, Dollar General Stores,
Lisa Fortson, Mr. and Mrs. Roger
Gober, Gordon’s Chapel United
Methodist Church, J&S Printing,
Jackson EMC, Jones Chapel
United Methodist Church, Mike
Youngblood/Frito Lay, Madison
County Department of Family
and Children's Services, Madison
County Extension Service/4-H,
Madison County Food Bank/
Action, Inc., Madison County
Health Department, Madison
County Mentor Program,
Marketplace of Danielsville,
Merchants and Farmers Bank,
Northeast Health District, Debra
Nunley, Pleasant Grove Baptist
Church-Neese, Pilot Club of
Madison County, Wesley Chapel
Community Church, Wesley
Chapel Men’s Group, David and
Peggy Whitehead, Zeb’s BBQ,
and all the MART members
and agency representatives who
worked so tirelessly to make the
event a success. We would espe
cially like to thank all the friends
and relatives of MART members
who helped with the preparations
and at the rally.
We would also like to thank Dr.
McGhee, Mr. McCannon, Ms.
Knight and the employees of the
Madison County School System
for all their support, participa
tion, and the use of the facility.
Because of everyone’s gener
osity, hard work, and coopera
tion, approximately 374 students
received needed school supplies,
and over 500 parents and stu
dents were able to participate at
the event.
Sincerely,
Ryan Melton
for the Madison Area Resource
Team
Fighting the armyworm battle
By Carl Varnadoe
In late summer, almost every
year, armyworms invade pastures,
hay fields, and turfgrass through
out the state. Particularly in pas
tures and hay fields, damage may
be severe before the worms are
noticed. The grass is not killed,
but hay yield and forage can be
reduced to almost nothing over
whole fields in exheme cases.
The damage to established turf is
mostly aesthetic, but newly sod
ded or sprigged areas can be more
severely damaged or even killed.
Fall armyworms feed on a vari
ety of forage crops, but seem to
prefer lush, green, well-fertilized
Bermuda grass. Other forage crops
such as tall fescue, pearl millet,
sorghum-sudan hybrids, bahia-
grass and various winter annuals
including ryegrass, wheat, rye and
oats are also attacked. They will
eat soybeans and sunflowers too.
In fact, they'll eat just about any
thing green.
As their name indicates, fall
armyworms are found in great
est numbers in the late summer
and early fall. Usually, reports of
fall armyworm damage begin to
come in during mid to late August.
Reports of armyworm damage are
already beginning to come in to
Extension offices throughout the
state. In fact, I have heard from
my counterparts in counties to the
south of us that armyworms were
active,
Armyworms are opportunists.
They will “march” across a field,
especially one under stress from
drought or heat, eating everything
in their path. When armyworms
go on their feeding frenzy the
damage is obvious and devastat
ing.
Fall armyworm damage often
seems to appear “overnight.”
Young armyworms don’t eat
much. Almost all the damage is
caused by the oldest caterpillars
which eat more than all the other
ages put together. Therefore, an
infestation may have been present
but not detected because of the
small size of the caterpillars.
Scouting pastures and hayfields
can help detect fall armyworm
infestations before they cause
economic damage. Therefore my
advice is for forage producers to
scout pastures and hayfields regu
larly from now until frost. Scouting
for fall armyworms is a relatively
— See “Varnadoe” on 5A