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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 State of Georgia $38.85/year Out-of-state $44.50/year Military personnel with APO address $42.50/year Senior rate $2 off all above rates College student discount rate $2 off all above rates POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: 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