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Viewpoints Our Opinions Dogwood Is Coming, Plan To Participate The value of a community is determined by its citizens and their ability to exist together in harmony, their willingness to reach out to their neigh bor in times of need and their enthusiasm to celebrate together events of importance. The Dogwood Festival is upon us, Perryans. This is a wonderful oppor tunity to support your city, plan outings with your family and friends and enjoy the spirit of togetherness. Family Fun Day will be held before the parade this year due to the Easter holiday. Events are being planned for residents of all ages and the event promises to be a great kick-off for a week of festivities. Whether you prefer arts and crafts, participating in athletic events such as softball, tennis or a SK run/walk, parades, pageants, cookouts, watching children's activities or dancing at the Dogwood Ball, organizers have waked hard to schedule something for everyone. Also, be sure to purchase a yellow ribbon from Perry High Junior Civitans to decorate your front door or mailbox at home or your business. This year, the committee organizing the festival wants go one step fur ther and reach out to our neighbors in the north end of the county. Let's all make an effort to include our neighbors in Warner Robins and enjoy their fellowship also. Your Opinion Perry Hospital Deserves Applause! Dear Editor: The Perry Hospital is to be commended for the great job they do for everybody. They go far above and beyond the call of duty. I was a patient there for one week in December, two weeks in January and three weeks in February, and they were so good to me. I could have never made it without them and I want to thank them all. Lillian M. Rowland Deadlines For Submitting New Articles and Photographs 5 pm Monday For Wednesday Edition 5 pm Thursday for Friday Edition » i ■Am - , , ———- ———— —— *76e ~7c*Ke4rfcutn*tat ‘Ti/elcMt&i 'tyowt Reiter *7<y '7&e £cUt<vi. /tcUOie&i, Editor Houston Times-Journal P.O. Drawer M Perry, GA, 31069 Houston Times-Journal P.O. Drawer M • 807 Carroll Street • Perry, Ga. 31069 Phone: (912) 987-1823 Member Georgia Press Association-National Newspaper Association nuJLts ruv losA/cuv a/XaSLiXjSnvatJ/ oS^ oa- t&e-j***/ ojca/ie xa«/ OA/ <Vp««-civ, oA o|t^<-poa- tivo tiU/ p«op£e to aAA«nv££.’, t<v p«i<i.caA- tile- aexi'Lee/ a|/£pi*A*ki/vc«/u Your right to read this newspaper is protected by the First Amendment of the United States Constitution. Our Goal The Houston Times-Journal is published proudly for the citizens of Houston and adjoining counties by Houston Publications lnc.,Perry Ga. Our goal is to produce quality, profitable, community-oriented newspapers that you, our readers, are proud of. We will reach that goal through hard work, teamwork, loyalty, and a strong dedication towards printing the truth. Bob Tribble Daniel F. Evans Julie B. Evans President Vice-President Treasurer Our Staff Brigette Loudermilk Editor and General Manager Eddie Byrd Advertising Director News: Brenda Thompson, Pauline Lewis, Bill Overton Advertising:Teresa M. Gailan Classified Advertising: Melanie Bullington Bookkeeping: Judy Hubert Circulation: Donnie Forehand Our Policies •Signed Letters to the editor welcomed. Please limit to 300 words and include address and phone number. •Liability for an error will not exceed the cost of space occupied by the error. •We cannot be responsible for return of pictures or material unless stamped return addressed envelope is included. The Houston Times-Journal (USPS 000471) is published semi-weekly for SIB.OO per year by Houston Publications, Inc., 807 Carroll Street, Perry, Ga. 31069. Second Class Postage paid at Perry, Ga.,POSTMASTER: Send address changes to the Houston Times-Journal, P.O. Drawer M, Perry Ga. 31069 Unfunded Mandates On Landfill Laws Cost Millions Unfunded Federal mandates on our towns, cities, counties and states are becoming almost an in tolerable burden and expense on the taxpayer. Governments are being forced to spend millions of dollars to comply with mandates from the feds, many that seem unfounded. One of the most costly mandates coming down the pike from Washington in recent years are the new laws dealing with landfills for household garbage. Those man dates have caused grief to counties and wasted tax dollars all across this nation. Thirty years ago, there wasn't such a thing as a landfill; they were called garbage dumps then. If you lived In the country you simply stepped out the back door a com fortable distance from your home, burned the household garbage and buried what would not bum. Towns that were large enough to furnish a garbage pickup service did so, trucking the leftover household items to their own gar-bage dump not too far from the city. Then the trash would be burned and what was left buried with a bulldozer. Through the years the idea of f %. lii ip iSßßiir y iSC JIR ■ fljp •! \ ;J5 / ~^aPy^^WkgS|MW|WßgK r . Jet Perry Scrapbook Tht* 11 members ot the Parry Key Club paused on March 20, 1969 tor a quick photo baton heading out to the club’s state convention In Savannah. Standing, I. to r. t Terry Hardy Blake 232? ££” Po ‘ w// Duggan, Woody Hunt, Larry Clark, Ban Stephens, Stave Brown and wendy Pierce. Seated, 1.t0r., Gene Athon and Steve Pace. STREET TALK: The United States Postal Service announced this week that it is considering raising the price of first class postage stamps from .29 to .32 cents each. Just for fun-and only after assuring each participant that we are not trying to give away their age-- we asked six folks the following question: What do you remember as being the cheapest price you ever paid for a stamp and when was it? 1R I|l||||| jl|f| f|ij|l^ Ms,?* *.v < :yy. W veima Hodges “I remember the six cent stamp. That’s how much they were when I was a child." i . .iHi':lW «&' I fIBP-V »S: ■'.••■ J|> Willie King “Back in the 19505, I can remember stamps being six cents each.” county landfills was developed, and this was alright because appropriate sites were chosen away from the streams and creeks, and a good dis tance from residential neighbor hoods. Huge holes were dug, the trash dumped into them, then the garbage was packed and covered with dirt. Remember, I am still talk ing about household garbage, not toxic waste, which is an entirely different situation. Then, a few years back, the all knowing Federal government comes along with a mandate for landfills that calls for liners, and other expensive ways of handling household garbage, that has almost bankrupt many a small county. Most have been forced to pass a sales tax just for the ridiculous cost of maintaining a landfill, or have been forced to raise property taxes excessively. Landfills are just one of the un funded Federal mandates that have been passed on to state and local governments over the past 30 years. Lancaster, N.H. with a population of 3,486 received a mandate to comply with the new Safe Water Drinking Act requirements The cost I : llliiiiP Ty Sturgeon "I remember the penny postcards ... a long time ago.” II R JjSlm B Linda Farmer "The cheapest price I remember was six cents and that was when I was in grade school." Houston Times-Journal Page 4A - Saturday, March 12,1994 "Houston Times-Journal to the small town will be $2 million yearly, and they only collect $1.4 million in tax revenues each year. Seems to me the Feds made the new law so they should pay for it The most recent Clean Air Act amendments passed by the Feds will require Chicago to spend $73 million to upgrade an incinerator. Royal Oak, Mich, will be forced to spend $2.5 million to install wheelchair ramps at intersections to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act. The Feds ordered it, let the Feds pay for it. Unfortunately, the federal gov ernment shows no signs of relent ing on the number of unfunded mandates. In 1960 there were two. In 1993 there were 66 State and local governments are in a bid, with apparently only two ways to pay for the unfunded man dates. First, they can increase taxes, or secondly, they can cut services. If they increase taxes they must take the blame for something Congress is actually responsible for. If they cut services, many times areas are cut that shouldn’t be. Fort Lauderdale, Fla., spent $7.6 million s< '^Zistisr aft ,& j; - Tim Wright "I can remember paying five cents to mail a letter vhen I was a teenager.” ••• :fsf|§jy mom mKk J? l»P Carleen Ruark "I remember the three cent stamp. That was back in the 19405, I think.” J | TYibble I in 1993 complying with Federal mandates. By doing so they were forced to cut back on basic services expected from our governments such as police and fire protection and street repair. So, if you have a problem with a pothole in your street, or you feel like local police are failing to pro tect you, maybe it's because your government has been mandated to test its water for DBCP, a pesticide last used on pineapples in Hawaii some 15 years ago. Chicago Mayor Richard Daley calls unfunded mandates "hidden federal taxes, bleeding our limited resources and cutting into direct services." Mayor Daley is right! We should tell the feds, you or dered it, you pay for it! And our Congressmen need to listen. SVeto F. L Roley I Flag obscures more pressing matters of life I really thought I had left flag controversies behind me. Before I came to Perry, I worked for a small weekly in Prattville, Ala., just across the Alabama River from Montgomery. For those who don't keep up with Alabama history or news, Alabama Governor George C. Wallace put the Confederate battle flag on the state capitol in 1964. Needless to say, that caused great discomfort among some Alabama legislators and citi zens. One legislator was even ar rested climbing the capitol dome to take the flag down. With the change in administration in Montgomery the flag was taken down. I remember commenting to my editor at the Progress that Alabama was in better shape than Georgia since all we had to do was take down a flag, not redesign, manufacture and distribute new flags. But my feeling about the flag flap in Georgia is the same as it was in Alabama There are far more impor tant things to worry about than a piece of bunting flying on top of a flagpole. When I lode at the issue of the flag, I am often remembered of the saying about someone missing the forest for the trees, and a small tree at that I could understand the flag issue if there were no other pressing issues facing Georgia. Unfortu nately, that is not the case. Which is more important, the color of bunting that flies above At lanta-Fulton County Stadium, or teenage violence. I might note here that this is not just an Atlanta prob lem. I have seen an array of guns taken off Perry teenagers that would have made many gun collectors en vious. Scarcely a day goes by where someone does not make the news by getting shot I remember that some one was robbed at gunpoint by teenagers the first week 1 was in Perry. There have been several other instances of gun violence since then. As far as I know, the Georgia flag has not killed anyone to this date. Teenagdrs kill each other every week. Which is more important? Wednesday, the Atlanta Constitu tion ran an article on its local front page about hunger in America, not ing that 10 patent of the population has sought help from a food bank in the past year. While some of the people using the food banks nation ally might be attributed to the recent Midwest floods and Los Angeles earthquakes, the numbers still point to large numbers of Americans need ing help with the basic necessities of life. In Atlanta, alone there are over 680 feeding programs in the pietro area. In 1979 were 25. Even in Perry, we have food banks, such as Fishes and Loaves and local church pantries. The color of bunting on a flag pole has nothing to do with the fill- - Please see ROLEY, page 10A