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Page 4A 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.