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Viewpoints
Our Views
Congratulations
Congratulations, Houston Countians, you
are now the owners of a beautiful, functional
addition to the Perry Hospital.
The new wing, which will provide delight
ful accommodations for mothers to be and
their newborns, as well as sophisticated
operating rooms for outpatient surgery, will
open within a few days. The ribbon cutting is
Thursday, and that’s an excellent time to visit
the hospital and check out your new hospital
facilities.
Houston Countians have every right to be
proud of the addition to Perry Hospital. Each
new service which the hospital offers means
more people will elect to stay in Houston
County for their medical treatment. That
means more opportunities for physicians to
practice, and ultimately, more doctors com
ing to the community.
As the facility is upgraded and new equip
ment is purchased, the community becomes
more attractive to young doctors looking for
a place to set up their practice.
We’re all winners with the opening of this
major addition to the Perry Hospital. Let's
celebrate the event and say thanks to the
Houston County Hospital Authority mem
bers for taking a chance and investing the
money necessary to make this facility possi
ble.
Our heroes get recognition
Real American heroes get their day in the
sun next week when the country observes
Veterans Day.
Begun as a celebration of the Armistice
which ended The Great War in Europe some
78 years ago, the celebration has become a
day to honor all Americans who have served
in our military over the years.
It’s only appropriate to have a day of
honor for our real American heroes. After
all, they put themselves on the line for us.
They gathered up weapons and went on for
eign soil to stop aggressors who would have
taken over our country and changed our way
of life.
America is a great nation because of the
gifts its people have given. Many have given
the ultimate gift, others have given of them
selves for many years in serving our military.
We thank them Monday. We offer them
praise for being our real American heroes.
A great company in town
A few weeks ago, we published a story
indicating that Tolleson Lumber Co. was
among the top privately owned companies in
the state of Georgia. Now we have a story
based on Forbes Magazine which indicates
another Houston County company, Medusa
Cement Co., is among the best in the nation.
In a special edition dated Nov. 4, Forbes
listed Medusa fifth among all small compa
nies in the country, based on return of invest
ment and on earnings during recent years.
Medusa, which has plants in three other
locations, has been a Houston County citizen
for many years, and inherited a dedicated
staff of workers from the Penn-Dixie tradi
tion established generations ago.
The Clinchfield plant was in the news for
an extended period of time a few years ago
when Medusa was studying the use of waste
liquid fuels. This study caused a furor among
some people who felt threatened by the plan.
The plant meanwhile continued to turn out
cement at a pace which has enabled Medusa
to become the lowest-cost producer of
cement in the industry.
We salute the employees of Medusa
Cement Co. of Clinchfield for their efforts.
Not only are they good workers, they are pro
ductive workers who have enabled their
company to become one of the best in the
country at what they do.
That’s another feather in the caps of
Houston Countians. The best Air Force Base,
a great wood products plant, and now the
best cement company.
Houston Times -Journal
P.O. Drawer M • 807 Carroll St. • Perry, Ga. 31069
(912) 987-1823 -(912) 988-1181 (fax)
e mail jjedit@hom.net
Bob Tribble President
Jj Johnson Editor and General Manager
John Smalley Advertising Sales
News Emily Johnstone. Pauline Lewis, kick Johnstone, Spoils Phil Clark; Classified
What does Dan Rather have that we don’t have?
Perhaps CBS Television has some
equipment we don’t have in Houston
County yet. Perhaps there’s something
here I just don’t understand.
As I write this, it’s about seven min
utes past 8 p.m Tuesday night. I’m in
my office where my portable television
is tuned to CBS news. Dan Rather is
telling me that President Clinton
almost has the election wrapped up.
that he has won several states in the
Central Time Zone.
Unless something has changed
since I went to school, if it’s 8:07 here,
it’s 7:07 p.m. in the Central zone, and
the polls have been closed for seven
minutes.
How in the name of good sense can
Rather sit there and honestly tell me
anyone has won a state in the central
time zone when we haven’t even had
the first precinct reported complete in
Houston County yet?
It gets belter Rather just
announced at 8:09 p.m. that Georgia
has voted for Max Cleland even
though the polls have been closed just
one hour and even though we still have
no firm results from the first precinct
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American values are essential to the holiday season
November signals the onset of the
holiday season. Our loved ones drop
not-so-subtle holiday-gift ideas. Our
grocery lists swell so that we may
make our waist lines do the same on
Thanksgiving.
At no other time of the year do
Americans collectively work so hard to
have fun than during the holiday sea
son, which begins in November.
November is also a time to pause
and reflect on values which make our
nation great: commitment to family,
preservation of the American way for
future generations, and reference for
America’s greatness and for those who
sacrificed to help achieve it.
The nearly 3 million members of
The American Legion place these val
ues under one heading: Americanism,
a love of God and country and a will
ingness to preserve the finest traditions
of America for posterity.
Americanism means remembering
the sacrifices of our nation's veterans
and their families on Veterans Day.
From solemn ceremonies honoring our
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Bookkeeping: Paula L. Zimmerman
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lefleet the position of the Houston Times-Journal Signed columns and tellers on this page
(and elsewhere in this newspaper) relied the opinions of the writers anil not necessarily
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Page 4A
Wed., Nov. 6, 1996
J)
Johnson
Editor
in Houston County election headquar
ters a half-block away.
Just what are their sources at CBS
Television? How do they know better
than Houston Countians how they
voted? Did they stand behind all of us
in line to vote today?
Beyond that, isn't there some
responsibility by the national electron
ic media to not influence the results of
the election by declaring winners in
nationwide races while the polls on the
west coast are still open?\
We’ve been trashing this question
around since 1960 when national news
broadcasts first became sophisticated
enough to allow talking heads to pre
dict winners early in the evening.
There were cries then, there are
cries tonight that news personalities,
despite their disclaimers that people in
Joseph
Frank
The American
Legion
nation’s war dead to the brassy pomp
of downtown parades, Americans
every November salute those whose
sacrifices ensured America's freedom.
Americanism also entails exercising
one of the most cherished privileges of
a free people, the right to vote.
Americanism means giving back to
the youth of our nation. Attending
schools in your community are chil
dren who would benefit from your
time, example, encouragement and
commitment.
American Education Week is Nov.
I 7-23. It’s the perfect time to volunteer
in a local school and make a real dif
ference in the lives of our nation’s
future parents, voters, workers and
Houston Times -Journal
the west should still go vote to influ
ence the returns, are affecting the
results.
The "expert” on the screen right
now is talking about a possible Clinton
landslide, that he could end up with an
8-10 percent margin, which would give
him up to 400 Electoral College votes
and a landslide.
! wonder what effect that has on
folks living in Arizona. Washington.
Alaska and Hawaii, much less the peo
ple in California where so many
Electoral College votes are at stake.
Something is wrong. 1 don't know
how to fix it. On the one hand, we risk
stilling the freedom of speech if we
hold back information. On the other
hand, we run the risk of talking heads
determining the outcome of the elec
tion in western states simply by giving
their projections.
Perhaps numbers and figures before
10 p.m. on election night are OK. but
not projections of who winners might
be. There’s got to be a better way.
•••
Meanwhile, like most Americans, I
am happy to see the political season
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decision-makers.
Dwell for a moment on the theme
of this year's commemoration: “The
Future Begins in Today's Schools."
That message rings true throughout
the United States.
If you believe -charity begins at
home, then November is the month to
practice what you preach. National
Family Week parallels American
Education Week.
In accordance with our motto, “Still
Serving America,” the men and
women of The American Legion back
up their commitment to America’s
youth with community service.
The American Legion and its affili
ated organizations, including the
American Legion Auxiliary and the
Sons of the American Legion, con
tributed more than S3O million to
Children & Youth programs last year.
Those programs include Scouting,
Boys State and Boys Nation.
American Legion Baseball, and Child
Welfare Foundation grants to organi
zations which protect and serve
Our Goal
The Houston Tunes-Journul is published proudly for (he eilizens of Houston and adjoin
ing eounties by Houston Publications Inc . Perry, Ga. Our goal is to produce quality, prof
itable. community-oriented new spapers thal you. our readers, are proud of We will reach this
goal through hard work, teamwork, loyalty and a strong dedication toward printing the truth
Member of Georgia Press Association and 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 of the right of
the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of griev
ances." Your right to mad this newspaper is protected by the First Amendment to the United
States Constitution.
The Houston Tintes-Joumal (IISI’S 000471) is published weekly for $21.00 per year
by Houston Publications Inc., 807 Carroll Street, Perry, Ga., 31069. Periodicals Class
Postage paid at Perry, Ga. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to the Houston
Times-Journal, P.O. Drawer M, Perry, Ga. 31069. ISSN: 1075-1874.
come to a close. This hasn’t been a
silly political season, it’s been a
vicious one with attacks and counter
attacks from all parties and almost all
candidates.
The charges made in television
advertising this year are among the
most disgusting Americans have ever
seen. Instead of telling the American
people how they could serve, how they
could lead, how they could make life
better, many candidates have concen
trated on discrediting their opponents.
This likely is a part of the lack of
interest in the race which polls indicat
ed existed nationwide. What with the
constant changing and gerrymandering
of our election districts, the attacks of
the candidates on each other adds to
the feeling many have that it isn't
worth it to participate.
That's sad. This is a nation based
on participation, on taking part. I'd
surely like to see this country begin to
back away from politics as we saw it
during 1996, and return to the days
when candidates actually addressed
the issues and the needs of the
American people.
youngsters.
The American Legion also reacti
vated the Family Support Network to
provide a gamut of hometown assis
tance to families of those serving in
Bosnia.
November is a special month , for it
is a time to rekindle our love of God
and country in conjunction with the
hustle and bustle of holiday prepara
tions.
As a nation, we must honor those
who fought for their country, we must
volunteer in our schools, we must vote
for candidates who support traditional
values, and we must demonstrate love
for our family members.
When we do these things, we give
gifts to our great nation which are
more valuable than those nestled
under the holiday tree. And we help to
preserve a nation for which to be
thankful on future Thanksgivings.
(Joseph J. Frank is national com
mander of The American Legion, the
nation's largest veterans organiza
tion. )
