Viewpoints
Our Opinions
It is good to see the
bald eagle make a comeback
The bald eagle is back!
In 1782, the Continental Congress met and named the eagle as the na
tional lard. At that time, an estimated 250,000 bald eagles flew the skies
As the nation grew, the population of the eagle declined. By 1964, the
bald eagle was near extinction, with only 500 breeding pairs of eagles lo
cated in the nation. And, because of development, pesticides and other dan
gers, the population was declining fast.
However, in recent years, the bald eagle has come under strict federal
protection. As a result, the eagle population in the United States has
shown significant improvement The 1993 census counted over 12,000 ea
gles and just under 3,800 breeding pairs. The eagle is no longer considered
an endangered species, having been upgraded to threatened.
However, the bald eagle is still not entirely out of danger, and various
groups are still working to bring the eagle back up to historic standanis.
But, even with a long distance to go before the eagle is completely back, it
is good to see ,on this Fourth of July week, the eagle making such a
strong comeback. .
By the way, there are 17 eagles that make their home in Georgia, and
950 eagles in the Southeast.
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To: Editor
Houston Times-Journal
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Perry, Ga. 31069
Houston Times-Journa l
P.O. Drawer M • 807 Carroll Street • Perry, Ga. 31069
Phone: (912) 987-1823
Member Georgia Press Association-National Newspaper Association
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Your right to road this is protected by the First Amendment of the United States Constitution.
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Court ruling has given criminals encouragement
HOW Would you like to be a law
enforcement officer?
The Georgia Supreme Court has
ruled that a law enforcement officer
involved in a chase can be sued if
the person he is chasing has an
accident
Imagine that A patrolman sees a
criminal rushing from a store, the
robber jumps into an automobile
and races off. What should the
policeman do? Give chase? Not
give chase? What do we expect
him to do?
Warner Robins’ police chief Dan
Hart said it this way: “That court
ruling says that all a criminal has
to do is get to his car and he is
safe”
And so it seems.
I talked with a Houston County
deputy about this. He said, “I don’t
own much and I don’t intend to
jeopardize that by getting into a
chase that could result in me being
sued.”
In other words, a smart law
enforcement officer will say, “No
way” to a chase.
I know that I wouldn’t get
involved in a chase in view of that
court ruling. And I would question
of the intelligence of an officer who
would jeopardize all he has to get
involved in a chase.
So a court ruling has taken a big
bite out of law enforcement and
given criminals encouragement to
commit their crimes and race for the
nearest automobile.
• * *
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Mother Nature has thrown a wrench in my day
What a day!!!
I'm beginning to think holidays
aren't worth it, because you suffer
the next day at work.
And, of course, the weather didn't
help.
I can't even think right now,
because we’re all trying to put
together a newspaper in one day and
get home as fast as possible.
(Brenda said "Write that. People
will appreciate hearing the truth.'')
I came in early because I knew I
might not make it to work if I
waited too late to get on the road
this morning.
By 9:30 a.m. everyone was here,
safe and sound, thank goodness.
Still, all day we listened to reports
over the radio about closed roads,
broken dams, rising creeks, rivers
and lakes.
We have one employee here who
lives in Fort Valley. A graveyard
Voice Your Opinion ...
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Houston Times-Journal
Page 4A
DRUGS AND WELFARE:
Bashing people on welfare
sometimes seems unfair. After all,
there are some people on welfare
who can’t help it and should be
given all the help they need.
Now comes a study by the Center
on Addition and Substance Abuse at
Columbia University with this
information: Overall more than
one million of the 4.2 million
women on welfare have drug or
alcohol problems. Mothers
receiving welfare are three times
more likely to abuse drugs or be
addicted to alcohol or drugs than
mothers not receiving welfare.
Is there some sort of message
here?
* * *
ARE YOU one of the people
complaining about postal service?
Even the Postmaster General isn’t
happy. He reorganized the postal
service when he took office two
years ago. He hoped to achieve 95
percent on-time one-day mail
delivery. Latest quarterly mail
service statistics show the figure
has dropped to 82 percent. And the
postal deficit is expected to reach
52.1 billion this year despite
steadily escalating postal rates... The
federal government deregulated the
airline industry and telephone
industry, to name a couple, so why
not deregulate mail delivery?
* * *
SOCIAL Security was the topic
of two interesting and conflicting
stories during the past week. First,
there flooded and caskets were
floating around behind Bluebird.
Where I live, on Leisure Lake
Road, the lake is in our parking lot
now. Fortunately, we live above
the dam that busted so at least we
don't have to evacuate our home.
A friend of mine who lives on
Hatcher Road doesn’t have running
water.
My husband took off in a small
fishing boat with his brother today
(down Brantley Road in Centerville)
to videotape the damage caused in
that area.
All day long, Brenda, Judy and I
listened to reports of roads closed
between Perry and Warner Robins.
Even though I can stay at home, at
this point I don’t know if I can get
there!!
Still, the news doesn't stop
because of Mother Nature--and
today she was the big news.
- Wednesday, July 6.1994" H0u5t0n Times-Journal
there was a strong argument that
something must be done to prevent
the system from collapsing around
the year 2005. Suggestions
included raising the age when
people become eligible, imposing
the tax on Social Security benefits
to apply to almost all except the
poorest recipients, drastically
reducing cost of living increases. A
very convincing argument and it
was easy to buy... Then a long
comes an article about people on
Supplemental Social Security.
These are not people who have paid
into the system and earned Social
Security benefits. They are people
who supposedly are unable to work
and, because Social Security was an
easy place to find money, congress
decided to pay them from this
fund... The arucle I read mentioned
that a very large number of the
recipients of SSI are drug addicts,
alcoholics, illegal aliens, etc.
It turns out that Social Security is
being used as another welfare
program being paid for by working
people who have the silly notion
that what is being withheld from
their pay each payday is going into
a trust fund for them in their old
age... The Clinton Administration,
it turns out, is even opposed to
checking up to see if people who
are receiving SSI benefits because
of inability to work are still
disabled. Some Congressmen
believe a review of those receiving
benefits as disabled could save
billions... But nobody is going to
1 hope you are all safe and made it
through this disaster in one piece. I
think I'll just walk across the street
and stay at the New Perry tonight.
Look on the bright side--at least
you’ll get to see something on
television besides OJ.
* * *
Speaking of the New Perry Hotel,
be sure to read the history of this
popular landmark.
Bobbe Nelson, once again, has
done an outstanding job in writing
of the hotel's evolution and
memories of Nannette Green.
A 50th anniversary celebration
will be held July 16 and will feature
a display of memorabilia from the
hotel and well as a tour of the
summer gardens and a performance
by The Ambassadors of he Wings
of Harmony, a Sweet Adelines
Chapter.
When 1 first started working in
fj3 Foy |
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do anything about using Social
Security money as a welfare
program for those drug addicts,
alcoholics, illegal aliens, etc.
* * *
NEEDED? I believe something
like 2io new laws went into effect
in the state of Georgia July 1. It’s
hard tc imagine we need so many
new laws. How many thousand
laws do we already have on the
books in Georgia? Wouldn’t it be
sensible to have a few laws we all
understand and approve of instead of
piling hundreds of new laws on top
of the thousands we already have
every year? Almost every law,
whether we like it or not, in some
way takes away from all of us some
of our freedom. Yet in a civilized
society we need laws (rules) by
which to live together...but there is
such a thing as overkill... The same
holds true on all levels of
government.
* * *
ANDREW TOBIAS says that
inflation makes it possible for you
to live in a more expensive
neighborhood without
moving... How true?
~ar rjßrigette|
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pt m Editor
Perry, my grandparents asked me if
I'd eaten at the New Perry Hotel
yet.
Since I do attend club meetings
during the week, I’ve eaten there
many times. And, it's amazing how
many people I see there that I know
who don't live in Perry.
The hotel is certainly a well
known landmark and I wish the
Green’s another 50 years of
continued success.
* * *
Well, I guess I'll go now-my
brain is too waterlogged to think
anymore.
