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Wednesday, October 5,1994, Houston Tknes-Joumal
Viewpoints
Houston Times-Journal
P. O. Drawer M • 807 Carroll Street • Perry, Ga. 31069
Phone: (912) 987-1823
Ths Houston Ttmes-Joumal (USPS 000471) is published ssml-wsskly tor SIB.OO par yaar
by Houston Publications, Inc., 807 Csrroll Strsat, Parry, Qa. 31069. Sscond Class Postage
paid at Parry, Ga., POSTMASTER: Sand address changes to th# Houston Tlmas-Joumal,
P. O. Drawer M, Parry, Ga. 31069. ISSN: 107 S-1874
Bob Tribble, President
Jim Kerce, Editor and General Manager
Eddie Byrd, Advertising Manager
News: Jimmy Simpson, Paulino Lewis. Sports: Veto Roley. Composition: Lori
fimpson. Classified Advertising: Melanie Bullington. Bookkeeping: Judy Morrow.
Your view
Rename our local newspaper
Dear Bob:
The Mayor and members of the Perry City Coucil would like to
encourage you to consider renaming our local newspaper The Houston
Home Journal. Since Danny Evans and the Perry Times are no longer a
factor, many citizens in our community would like the paper to once
again be known by the same name it carried on its masthead for better
than 100 years.
Thanking you in advance for your consideration of this request, I am,
Sincerely yours,
J.E. Worrall, Mayor
Church member disappointed
Dear Editor:
Monday, Sept. 26, 1994 an article along with two pictures was
carried to your office to have published in Sept. 28, 1994 edition, this
article was about our Homecoming and Revival at First Baptist
Hayneville, to be held October 2 through October 6.
As always, Wednesday morning I rushed down to the news stand to
pick up a paper. To my disappointment our article was not in the
paper. I called you to express my disappointment and to receive an
explanation as to why the article was not in the paper.
First, I want to say “Thank You” for listening to me, for my
concern and the importance this article was to our church. Your first
words were, “I am truly sorry”. We as Christians can and do accept
your apology. The sad thing about this is that with a newspaper,
especially a weekly one, that there is absolutely nothing that can be
done except an apology. At this time our conversation proceeded with
our possibilities as to what had happened with our article as to why it
was not in the paper. You explained many factors, more important
news, space in section, etc.
I want to say thank you to the merchants that sponsor the section for
church news, I am sure other local churches had news of their
happenings, which by the way was not in their either. It’s hard for me
to believe we were the only church with news, being we are living in
the Bible Belt of the United States. Merchants I hope you were not
billed for your advertisement because there were none.
You proceeded to explain some of the problems you have
encountered since your arrival back at our home town newspaper.
Some of the problems 1 feel you have are within your staff. Due to the
fact, when I later returned to pick up my article and pictures, the
gentleman that helped me, by the way was the man responsible for the
lay-out, stated he had never seen the article. It had been typed in a
format as I think would have been in the paper. The person responsible
to pass it on to the appropriate person just failed to do so. It was laid
aside as though it was not important, to them maybe not, but to our
church it was very important. You also stated your concern with local
merchants choosing to advertise with other sources. Yes, I agree with
you, we must unite together and support each other if we want to strive
for growth in our community. Mr. Kerce If feel you have a very hard
task ahead of you. I hope you succeed, because I am very proud to say
that I live in Perry, Ga. and it would be very sad if one Wednesday I
was not able to purchase a Houston Times-Joumal.
We at First Baptist Hayneville are expecting a might out-pouring of
God’s work through our Homecoming and Revival.
We were not defeated by your paper to provide advertisement for our
Homecoming and Revival. The Daily Sun and The Macon Telegraph
graciously excepted our article.
We are a “Growing church for a coming Lord”.
Sincerely,
Linda Griner and
Members of First Baptist Hayneville
Red Cross lauds local kids
Dear Editor:
I would like to express my thanks to the students from Perry,
Warner Robins and Northside High School as well as Westfield School
who participate in their blood drives held by the American Red Cross
during the school year. 1 am very fortunate to work with such caring
and dedicated goups of young people.
Support for these high school drives are admirable. These students
have given roughly 4000 pints of blood since their individual programs
began. High school blood drives collect approximately 20 percent of
the overall blood supply. My respect goes to the past and present
members of the Perry and Northside ROTC, the Westfield Tri-Hi-Y and
Key Clubs as well as the Student Council of Warner Robins High
School who always make their drives such a success.
A special mention is due to the Houston County High School senior
class who will have their first blood drive in February 1995. My hope
is that all of you will become first time blood donors.
Teachers deserving special recognition include: CMSGT. John
Barton from Perry High School, Sgt. Bob Turpin from Northside High
School, Jane Kilgore from Warner Robins High School and jean Floyd
from Westfield School. My deepest gratitude goes to the volunteers of
the Houston -Middle Georgia Chapter of the American Red Cross for
their dedication to the cause of saving lives.
Sincerely,
Jana Frizzell
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 Goal 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 Government for a
redree of grievances." Your right to road thl* nowapapor la protactad by tha Firat Amandmant of tha
United States Constitution.
PEANI/T G>AU£R V
\ /U A. FROM 6000 70 BerrSK.
Special tidbits about the sth annual state fair
With the Fair fast approaching I
thought I would share with you
some special tidbits about this
year’s sth Anniversary Georgia
National Fair, October 7 through
16.
As you walk around the
Fairgrounds this year you will
notice flags from throughout the
country and the world on display.
These flags represent delegations
from 22 countries that have visited
our facility, and individuals from 49
states and the District of Columbia
that have competed in Agricenter
and/or Fair events since our
opening in June of 1990. This
colorful array of flags will
definitely be a great addition to the
Maybe next year health
For this year at least, President
Bill Clinton’s health care reform
bill is dead. Senate Majority Leader
George Mitchell has announced that
he is giving up efforts to pass the
bill this year.
No doubt that partisan politics,
special interest groups and public
mistrust of socialized medicine all
played a part in the failure to pass
any measure this year. President
Clinton was not the first chief
executive to fail on his bid to
expand coverage to all Americans.
It happened to Presidents Carter,
Nixon and Truman-they were just
not as bold as Clinton.
Those of us who do not agree
with our President’s health care
Laws make cost of promoting views costly
When the farmers in Pennsyl
vania organized a rebellion against
the young United States, President
George Washington sent the army
to quell the disturbance.
In his message to the nation's
military, Washington urged the
army to put down the rebellion;
but, not to put it down too
severely. After all, in this new na
tion bom of dissent, rebellion was
somewhat of a virtue, serving to
keep the government in line.
In the last 200 or so years, many
tilings have changed. One of those
things to change is Uiat we have a
modem disdain for dissent. Or, at
the very least, those in charge seem
to have a disdain for dissent.
For instance, lawmakers are try
ing to discourage citizens from di
rectly influencing governments by
redefining what a lobbyist is.
Georgia has already passed a law re
defining what a lobbyist is, making
it very easy for a citizen to fall un
der the heading of lobbyist.
Most people consider a lobbyist
someone who is paid by some or
ganization or person to advance a
cause before a legislator. This per
son may or may not have the orga
nization's view of die issue; but, he
receives a paycheck to advance die
organization's view to the legisla
tors.
In Georgia, however, you are
considered a lobbyist if you spend
Froehlich j
Agricenter
Executive Director |
festive atmosphere of this year’s
Fair.
I am also proud to announce that
the 1994 Georgia National Fair
Fine Arts Program is a participant
in Georgia: State of the Arts, the
statewide cultural celebration in
Octdber sponsored by the Georgia
Council for the Arts and The
Atlanta Committee for the Olympic
Games Cultural Olympiad. This
year’s Georgia National Fair Fine
Jr?t Bob |
# f Tribble!
reform as written surely must
admire him for bringing the issue
to the table, so to speak. Health
care in this country is in trouble
and something must be done to
correct the direction we are
traveling, but the Clinton plan as
written was not the answer. More
government meddling and handling
of an issue as large as health care
H Veto L
Roley I
I , Staff Writer I
more than $250 opposing or sup
porting a bill, even on the county
and municipal level. That is
Georgia Senate Bill 657 and House
Bill 1298, which ironically left the
state Legislature shortly after
Independence Day.
It really isn't that hard to spend
$250 fighting or supporting a bill.
At our ad rates, which are very rea
sonable, that’s just a little over 55
inches, or less than a half-page. If
you place four three-by-five ads in
the newspaper today .opposing the
way the county or city is fixing to
collect the occupational tax, you
better file as a lobbyist. And, that's
just newspaper ads. It doesn’t take
long to add up costs for room rental
for meetings, phone bills, flyers,
etc. and etc.
I'm sure that there were members
of Concerned Cidzens of Perry who
spent more than $250 in their fight
to have one of the two new middle
schools built south of Highway 96.
Under this law, anybody that spent
that amount of money would have
to register as a lobbyist.
4A —Houston Times-Journal
Arts Program is one of 235 arts and
cultural institutions from
throughout the state selected to
participate in this program. This
year’s Fine Arts show located in the
new Roquemore Conference Center
is a must see for all fairgoers.
Word is spreading about the
Georgia National Fairgrounds &
Agricenter throughout Georgia, the
United States and the world.
Helping to spread the word is the
British Broadcasting Corporation
(BBC). The BBC will be filming
at the Georgia National Fair this
year as part of a documentary on
fairs and festivals. The BBC crew
arrived on Monday and will be in
Perry through the weekend.
care crisis will end
can only be disastrous to the
system.
Most of the problems we are
facing in health care are caused by
four groups: the doctors, the
hospitals, the lawyers and the
insurance companies. Some way,
the doctors and hospitals have got
to recognize that excessive charges
will soon place our system in
danger of collapse, lawyers have to
become less suit happy and
insurance companies have got to be
more real with premium increases
and profits.
Our small company has provided
health coverage for employees for
many years, but with costs
increasing as they are we may not
And, now the feds have gotten in
on the act. Hopefully, there is still
time to stop them from killing our
right to give input to our elected of
ficials.
If I understand it correctly, the
House passed a bill redefining what
a lobbyist was under the guise of
reforming what types of gifts
members of Congress can receive.
Now the rules concerning gifts
might need to be changed; but, I
understand Congress might be go
ing a little bit too far.
If my information is correct, the
new rules would define a lobbyist
as a someone, or some group, that
spends more than $5,000, including
such incidentals as hotel rooms, in
influencing a Congressman. This is
not about what they give to the
Congressman, this is the expenses
paid by the lobbyist or group.
Did you know that under that
rule the Perry Chamber of
Commerce could be considered a
lobbyist group? Every year they,
along with other area chambers,
take part in a "Washington fly-in,"
where they go to Washington and
meet with various Congressmen
and other governmental officials.
If the chamber’s expenses during
the "fly-in"—airline tickets, meals,
hotels, etc. —are over $5,000, they
would have to register as a lobbyist
and forced to give Washington a
membership list.
Also, look for the Agricenter
staff and , “Fair Bear” on “This
Morning," the CBS morning news
program, singing “Oh What a
Beautiful Morning”. A film crew
from WMAZ-Macon filmed this
segment a few weeks ago for
national broadcast
This should air on “This
Morning” during the Georgia
National Fair.
The staff and I are looking
forward to a great Fair and
encourage all of you to visit and
help us spread the word about this
year’s special sth Anniversary
Georgia National Fair, October 7
through 16. Remember, “Georgia,
This is Your Fair!”
be able to continue. High
insurance premiums might force us
out of the health provider business.
Insurance must become more
affordable and available or it’s just
not worth the annual hassle of
fighting big rate increases.
Maybe with all the publicity and
debate that has come about since
the Clinton health care reform was
kicked off over a year ago, some
things have been learned. Maybe
next year a plan of some sort will
come forth from the halls of
Congress that will benefit all
Americans, and maybe it will be
one that the taxpayers and
employers can afford.
Now, the Perry Chamber does
not underwrite the expenses of the
members that participate in the
"fly-in," which would seem to keep
it out of danger from the proposed
law. But, could a regulatory agency,
which will be established by the
proposed law, hold that the practice
of having the members pay their
own way was just a way of hiding
legitimate expenses?
While $5,000 may seem like a
whole lot of money, and in some
ways it is, when you talk about
taking a trip to Washington from,
say, Perry, it doesn’t take long to
spend. There are several hotel
rooms in Perry that can be rented
for less than $25 a night. Such ho
tel rooms in Washington are very
few and far between.
Besides hotel rooms, there's al
ways airfare, meals, phone calls to
make schedules, correspondence,
etc. and etc. It wouldn't take long
for a small delegation to spend
more than $5,000 in Washington,
and not spend a dime on the
Congressman. And, because they
hit that magical number, they
would be forced to register as lob
byists, and abide by all regulations,
including turning in mailing lists
of members.
By the way, there’s only a
$200,000 fine for those people and
organizations which break the pro
posed law.