Newspaper Page Text
Wednesday, September 21,1994, Houston Times-Journal
Page 4A
Viewpoints
Houston Times -Journal
P. O. Drawer M • 807 Carroll Street • Perry, Ga. 31069
Phone: (912) 987-1823
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. ISSN: 107 S-1874
Bob Tribble, President
Jim Kerce, Editor and General Manager
Eddie Byrd, Advertising Manager
News: Jimmy Simpson, Pauline Lewis. Sports: Veto Roley. Composition: Lori
iimpson. Classified Advertising: Melanie Buliington. Bookkeeping: Judy Morrow.
Public should have access to
lake, if taxes fund new dam
At this point there seems to be little question that somehow
Houston County officials will prove ownership of, and thus
responsibility for, the area that encompasses Houston Lake
dam.
When that is accomplished the county apparently intends to
rebuild the dam at a cost to federal and state taxpayers of up
wards of $3-million. The money, according to officials, will
not come out of local taxes. Rather, funding will come from
U.S. and Georgia disaster aid moneys.
We certainly would like to see the dam rebuilt in order to re
form one of middle Georgia’s most scenic lakes. We agree that
the present dry lake bed, surrounded by expensive homes,
poses a threat to the tax base through devaluation of some of
the most expensive residential property in Houston County.
However, there is a serious flaw in the thinking of politi
cians who are backing an effort to establish ownership and re
sponsibility for the washed out dam in order to use tax money
to rebuild the structure —the lake is not a public body of water.
Houston Lake is private property—all of it. The land around
the lake, the lake bed itself and the water in it are off limits to
residents who do not have a financial stake in the property.
For that reason we question spending any tax money on re
building the dam, unless the question of public access is ad
dressed.
Before any tax money from any source is spent on the re
building project there should be assurances that all taxpayers
will have access to the lake for recreational purposes. This
could easily be accomplished when the present dam is rebuilt if
the county built a small beach and dock adjacent to the dam,
which would allow the public access to the lake.
Although some property owners bordering the lake may be
opposed to the idea of public access, the trade-off certainly
seems reasonable, since our tax money may be used to insure
property values remain high in the area.
Reader's reactions...
•v J.C
Brunson
;;
McDowell
Should taxes fund dam?
The hike at Houston Lake Dam remains a sea of tree stumps and weeds
while county, state and neighborhood residents wrestle with the idea of
who should actually foot the bill to repair the dam. There is a possibility
that a county maintainance agreement exists from years ago. If that is the
case, then state monies could be appropriated to pay for repairs. If not,
then monies would have to come from another source. This week, we
asked residents, "Do you believe taxpayers' dollars should be used to
rebuild the dam?"
Here are their responses:
Marvin Lester: ‘‘No. The (home) owners should, but only if it is
concluded that the county doesn't have an agreement to maintain it.”
Ronnie McDowell: “I think people who own the houses out there
(at Houston Lake) should pay for repairs instead of the poor folks in the
county.”
Joy Johnson: "1 don't think the taxpayers' dollars can be stretched
any further thtui dtey already are. We're being taxed to death.”
Willie Brunson: “No. Because we work too hard for our money.
(Residents living at lire dun) should have money already set aside for that.”
James Taylor: “If 1 were a homeowner out there, I would probably
want it to happen, but 1 don't think it should be fully funded by
taxpayers."
John Stinson: "I feel like if the dam is accessable to any Houston
County residence, then we should (help pay). If not, then, no.”
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.
Our Gosi The Houston Times-Journal is published proudly for the citizens of
Houston and adjoining counties by Houston Publications Inc., 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.
Member Georgia Press Association-National Newspaper Association
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting
the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the
right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the ( .ovemmenl for a
redree of grievances. Your right to read this newspaper is protected by the First Amerdment ol the
United Slates Constitution.
l® jr '.y Hf-
Taylor
w&
*~*** %s \
Lester
Stinson
WT • MMki
W ~ J&jS -
Hk
wkd
Johnson
Let the WR band play Dixie!
Students at a Warner Robins
high School want to keep “Dixie”
as the school’s football fight song.
In fact, a group of sixteen students,
eight black and eight white, voted
to retain “Dixie” as die fight song
as long as the entire student body
was behind it. “It’s our fight song
until further notice,” said band
director Charles Westman.
The entire student body at the
high school also voted on the issue
with 53 percent saying they wanted
to keep only Dixie as the fight
song, while the c-ier 47 percent
voted to add a second fight song
along with Dixie.
The above sounds all well and
good, but it is not that way. The
NAACP has been die motivating
force to bring die issue to light in
an effort to stop the band from
PThe peanutgallep-Y
FANS TO bASEBALL - J
"THAT GOFS (%)
\ FOIL THE, YLAYEtS
AAo THE OuJHE&t —
G/mim'*'*-
Houston County teachers learn new ways to teach math
(The following information was
compiled by Pauline Lewis,
Society Editor, from the Houston
Home Journal’s files.)
25 Years Ago
* Houston Teachers Study Math
Teaching Methods. David Perdue,
Houston County School
Superintendent, announced that 265
elementary teachers, 11 junior high
teachers and 2 supervisors
participated this summer in a
cooperative college-school
mathematic project at the
University of Georgia for the
purpose of inproving teaching and
curriculum at elementary and junior
Did
it really have to come to this with Haiti?
On Saturday, two seemingly dis
similar events were happening hun
dreds of miles apart. Auburn was
playing LSU and former President
and Georgia Governor Jimmy
Carter was playing diplomat in
Haiti.
One was a game that really
meant nothing, other than a step
forward to the end of Curly
Hallman's stay at Baton Rouge.
The other was a game that involved
dozens to hundreds of lives, and,
therefore, had some real signifi
cance. In (hat, diey were dis-simi
lar.
But, undemeadi the surface, there
is a great similarity. Auburn, if you
remember, won die game against
LSU on the strengdi of Uiree inter
ceptions returned for touchdowns
and fumble recovered by the de
fense in die LSU endzone for a
touchdown.
Driving from Montezuma to
Warner Robins, I caught die end of
die game Saturday. The Aubum an
nouncer was going wild with praise
for die Aubum team, crediting diem
with winning the game. After all,
the Tiger offense had managed a
measly 16 yards and two first
downs in the second half, and the
defense had scored 27 points.
Bob I
f TVibble I
playing Dixie. And before it is all
over, they will probably succeed.
Remember, a few years back the
Georgia Bulldog Red Coat Band
used to play Dixie, but no more.
The band in Warner Robins
plays Dixie before the game,
following each score and at the end
of its halftime show. The song is
considered offensive to some
blacks.
The NAACP mounted a letter
writing campaign to die Houston
Remember
when?
News items from past issues
high school levels.
* City of Perry Audit showed a
surplus balance on Jan. 1, 1969 of
$990,885.78.
Surplus Balance as of June 30,
1969 was $1,077,180.66.
10 Years Ago
* Perry gears up for its annual
Farm City Day festival and parade.
1
Veto
Roley
Staff Writer
What the announcer neglected to
mention was diat the same defense
that scored 27 points had been
ripped all day long by LSU for 26
points. Maybe die Aubum defense
could take credit for die win; but,
diey never should have been in the
position of having to score 27
points to scratch by with a win.
The coup scored Saturday and
Sunday by Clinton and his negotia
tors was a great victory. By sitting
down and negotiating with force,
die United States was able to land
its troops without opposition.
But, like die Aubum-LSU game,
die brinkmanship shown by Carter,
Perry Senator Sam Nunn and Colin
Powell should have never been
needed.
Last week started out with
Clinton's back to (he wall. For
months he had blustered ;uid blowed
about using force to get the
Haitians out. The Haitian military
triumvirate repeatedly called his
bluff, so much so dial the only way
4A —Houston Times-Journal
County Board of Education, and the
board passed the decision on to the
school, as they should have done
However, this did not please the
NAACP as they felt die students
“don’t have enough information ot
life’s experience to make such a
difficult decision.”
Folks, die sooner we all realize
that history cannot be changed, die
better off we all will be. Soudiem
people are proud of their heritage
and die song Dixie goes way back.
We who are native Southerners
should all be proud to have our
heritage and we all should be proud
to be from die south.
Running die words of die song
dirough my mind, it escapes me as
to how diey could be offensive. It
refers to the “land ol cotton which
we sdll are, and to “live and die in
begun six years ago.
♦llervia Ingram to run for City
Council; one concern for him will
be recreation.
♦Westfield’s new High School
building is completed and students
moved in August 10. The 13,500
square foot building cost
$431,721. Current student
enrollment is 759; the new building
will allow Westfield to have a
student body of up to 975 people,
I leadmaster M;dcolm Mosley said.
♦Public Notice: The Houston
County NAACP is sponsoring a
Voter Registration Drive at Ted
Wright Park on Moody Road in
Clinton could have any credibility
widi his threats was to actually
carry out die invasion.
Many times over die last week,
Democrats have used Haiti in the
same sentence as Panama, Grenada
and die Persian Gulf. However, a
close inspection of Uiose situations
shows major differences.
First, in each situation, there
was a real national interest,
although some might argue the
significance of the issue. In
Grenada, communist rulers were
building a runway capable of sup
pordng long-range Soviet bombers,
in Panama there was the base we
have there and the Panama Canal
and in Kuwait there was oil, a
commodity that our nadon can not
do widiout.
But, more importantly, all three
of diese above situations were done
with minimal threats. Neither
Presidents Ronald Reagan or
George Bush engaged in the empty
bellowing Clinton engaged in over
Haiti. Reagan and Bush saw the si
tuation, decided what needed to be
done and did it.
This was true even in Kuwait
where it took the United Slates sev
eral months to gel into action. It
look those months not because
Dixie”, which we certainly hope we
do. Someone needs to slap me up
side the head I guess on this one
before I can understand the protest
Add the objection to Dixie, t 0
the objection of our State Rag, and
you will soon see objections to the
carving on Stone Mountain, and
Confederate memorials at many of
our courthouses. Maybe if we took
the word Dixie, Confederate, Rebel,
or other similar words, out of our
vocabularies, some folks would be
pleased.
The sooner we lay down this
black-white thing, recognize and
honor die history of both races, and
move forward into die future united,
die better off we all will be. And if
we do diis, we all can walk hand in
hand as the band plays Dixie and
God Bless America!
Warner Robins on Saturday, Sept.
29, 1984, Time: 9:00 a.m. - 6:00
p.m. -Houston County Board of
Elections’ notice.
5 Years Ago
* Hundreds of people from
Savannah, St. Simons Island and
other areas of the coast of Georgia,
funnelled into Perry Thursday.
They were trying to escape
Hurricane Hugo, the eye of which
was thought to be tracking directly
for Savannah.
♦ The October 6 homecoming
of Westfield High School will mark
a milestone of memories and
achievements for the school.
Bush was not willing to act, but
because the minimum Firepower to
act was not on the ground. As soon
as American commanders felt they
had the troops to act, they did.
I remember a few months ago,
an American warship sailed into
Port-au-Prince, prepared to re-install
the Aristide government. But, that
warship was met at the dock by
armed thugs. Instead of acting
boldly when he had the chance then,
and putting an end to the mess,
Clinton showed he was just bluster
ing and left.
One other note about the Haiti
situation. Did the scenes from Port
au-Prince showing American troops
landing remind you of another
"peace-keeping” mission? Were
those scenes from Port-au-Prince,
or were they overdubbed file prints
from Mogadishu? It was a whole
lot easier to leave Somalia than it
will be to leave Haiti. The last time
we were in Haiti, we stayed from
1915 to 1934.
Also, I thought that Clinton
wanted Raoul Cedras and his fellow
generals to leave. But, not only
will they not leave; but, they will
remain in power through Oct. 15.
Perhaps the lessons of the Somali
warlords are so quickly forgotten.