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Viewpoints
Best choice
As this issue goes to press, members of
the Perry City Council are voting to increase
various utility rates in the city of Perry.
These user fees are being raised to help
the city balance the budget for 1997-98.
They will help offset greater operating
expenses for the city.
While no one likes the thought of
increased utility rates, they are perhaps the
best alternative in a field of two choices,
raised rates or raised property taxes.
User fees are a good choice, for those
who consume the products the city offers
will pay proportionately to what they use.
That’s the best way to handle an increase for
1997-98.
Searching for roots
Editor:
Please help. I am searching for the parents and
siblings of my great-great grandfather, Joseph
Forman, bom 1818/1822.
I have recently found a document which states
that Joseph was bom in (Houston) Georgia. Do you
recognize the town or county?
A few facts that I do know are as follows:
• The first trace of Joseph Forman was from a
land grant in Ousley County, Ky., in 1847, but was
not on the 1850 Ousley Cos. census.
• He married Malinda Hollingsworth (Gumm)?
in 1851. Their children were: Sophia, Leuticia Jane,
William L., Joseph G., James H., Stephen M. and
Hester.
• He lived in Arkansas on the 1860, 1870 and
1880 census, where he served in the Union Army
• Joseph Forman died in Clay Cos., Ky., about
1901/02.
Would you please check if any Formans were
living in your area before 1850? I would certainly
appreciate any help you can give me.
Carol Sandlin
(EDITOR’S NOTE: Sandlin attached a copy
of Joseph Forman’s honorable discharge from
military service and the military’s description of
him: “Said Joseph Forman was born in Houston
in the State of Georgians 42 years of age, 6 feet 0
inches high, Fair completion, gray eyes, black
hair and by occupation when enrolled a
Farrier”.signed by his officers Aug. 8, 1865. If
anyone has information requested, please for
ward it to Forman, P.O. Drawer M, Perry, Ga.
31069.
Fight for Hays rights
Editor:
In 1990 the Georgia Agricenter opened with a
facility to make all middle Georgians proud. The
Georgia National Fair has become one of the best in
the nation. For two weeks people from all over the
Southeast are treated to wonderful entertainment
and family fun. In short the Agricenter has been a
huge success.
But who pays the price for success? In this case
it’s an 84-year-old woman .Jewell Hay, who has
lived in her home on Hay Road,just south of the
Agricenter for the past 54 years.
Department of Transportation officials have
deemed it necessary that a southern interchange is
necessary to alleviate traffic for this two-week
event. D.O.T. has publicly stated that they are not
going ahead with this project until the year
2000.8ut at the same time they want Mrs. Hay to
move in July 1997.
While I agree that another entrance into the fair
would be convenient, I don’t see the logic of putting
an upstanding senior citizen out of her home of 54
years for a project that is at best years away.
After reading Bill Boyd’s column featuring Mrs.
Hay, in the Macon Telegraph, I contacted her
myself and I was treated to a conversation with a
woman who has 54 years of memories tied up in her
home. She says that D.O.T. has offered to pay her
replacement value for her home. How do you put a
price on 54 years of memories?
Mrs. Hay also is in fear that she is not strong
enough physically and emotionally to make this
move, she says that all of this emotional stress is
taking a toll on her, and that is evident when you
can hear the emotion in her voice when she speaks
of her home.
Miss Jewell’s birthday is July 19. Let’s all give
her a gift that she will cherish, by contacting our
elected officials and D.O.T. and letting them know
that although we appreciate them trying, to alleviate
traffic congestion during fair time, we would be
grateful if they would put this project on the back
burner for awhile and let this fine woman enjoy her
few remaining years with peace of mind. After all
these are her Golden Years and I don’t think anyone
would knowingly rob her of these.
Sharron Prickett
Kathleen
Houston runes-Journal
P.O. Drawer M • 807 Carroll St. • Perry, Ga. 31069
(912) 987-1823 • (912) 988-1181 (fax)
e mail jjedit@hom.net
Bob TVibble President
Jj Johnson Editor and General Manager
John Smalley Advertising Sales
News: Emily Johnstone, Pauline Lewis, Rick Johnstone: Sports: Phil Clark: Classified
Taking a walk through the garden of memories
During the next few months, we’re
going to do a little reminiscing with
you. I will give you a series of events
from a particular year, and you try to
guess the year before you get to the
end of the column. Here goes with our
first endeavor.
Rebel leader Fidel Castro and his
supporters conquered Cuba. Alaska
and Hawaii become the 49th and 50th
states to gain statehood. Ingemar
Johansson of Sweden knocked out
Floyd Patterson to become the first
non-American to hold the world
heavyweight boxing championship in
25 years.
Ford discontinued production of the
Edsel, conceding that the project was a
failure. At Thanksgiving, reports of
contaminated cranberries kept the tra
ditional item off most tables.
In baseball, Los Angeles beat the
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Cleland: Good news for Americans
It is truly a miracle. I keep thinking
that next we’re going to see three wise
men, two camels and a star in the East.
I’m talking about Congress’ passage
of the Balanced Budget Agreement,
one of the greatest displays of biparti
sanship and cooperation in recent his
tory.
As of this writing, the Budget
Resolution has been passed, which out
lines the overall framework of the bud
get and the recent agreement. Many of
the details that were agreed to must
now be finalized in reconciliation and
appropriations legislation.
Congressional leaders and the
President have pledged to seek legisla
tion that reflects the agreements
details. Senate committees are working
hard to come up with legislation
including the savings and initiatives
called for in the Agreement.
Now, it is a two-step process. First,
we will vote on a bill which contains
the mandatory spending cuts and other
savings outlined in the resolution.
Second, we will vote on a bill which
will implement the tax cuts called for
in the resolution.
There are a lot of things about the
Balanced Budget Agreement that are
good for Americans.
The Budget Agreement, which will
balance the budget in 2002, signifies
the first balanced budget since 1969. It
includes much-needed mandates for
savings in the budget as well as many
incentives for America’s working fam
ilies. Some examples;
V Spending cuts. The Budget
Agreement requires $139.1 billion in
discretionary spending reductions, and
$169.7 billion in entitlement cuts over
the next five years.
V Medicare and Medicaid. Under
the budget resolution, the Medicare
trust fund will be secure for another
decade. Seniors will have more choic-
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Bookkeeping: Paula L. Zimmerman.
Our Policies
Unsigned editorials appearing in larger type on this page under the label of Our Views
reflect the position of the Houston Times-Journal. Signed columns and letters on this page
(and elsewhere in this newspaper) reflect the opinions of the writers and not necessarily
those of this newspaper.
Signed letters to the editor are welcomed. Please limit letters to 300 words and include
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out verification. Letters should be sent to P.O. Drawer M., Perry, Ga 31069, or brought to
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Wed., June 25,1997
Page 4A
White Sox 4 games to 2 in the world
series. The Baltimore Colts won the
NFL Championship by beating the
New York Giants 31-16. The Boston
Celtics swept the Minneapolis Lakers
4 games to 0 to win the NBA title.
On Feb. 3 of this particular year, a
small plane carrying Buddy Holly,
Ritchie Valens and J.P. Richardson, the
“Big Bopper,” crashed shortly after
takeoff in Mason City, lowa, killing all
three entertainers and the plane’s pilot.
The crash caused millions of fans to go
into mourning, and inspired the line
Max
Cleland
U.S. Senate, D-Ga
es of private health plans. New cover
age of preventative benefits will be
implemented, including annual mam
mography screening, diabetes self
management and immunizations.
Low-income seniors will be protect
ed from potential home-health related
premium increases. Medicaid will be
made more flexible for state imple
mentation.
V Education. Under the resolution,
more young children will get a good
start through the expansion of Head
Start. More schools will be able to link
into the Internet and incorporate tech
nology into their curricula.
The agreement launches a child lit
eracy initiative consistent with the
President’s America Reads initiative to
help three million children to read by
the end of the third grade.
In addition, the agreement includes
the largest investment in education and
training in 30 years and the largest sin
gle increase in higher education since
the 1945 GI Bill. More families will
receive assistance to send their chil
dren to college through $35 billion
of targeted tax cuts to make college
more affordable and the largest Pell
Grant increase in two decades.
V Tax cuts. In addition to the higher
education tax cuts, the resolution will
make the job families have in raising
their kids a little bit easier, through a
Child Tax Credit.
Individual Retirement Accounts will
be expanded to help families prepare
for retirement. A Welfare-to-Work lax
Phil Clark
Reminiscing
Houston Jims-Journal
■
“the day the music died” in Don
McLean’s “American Pie”, in 1971.
Richardson was 23, Holly was 22 and
Valens just 17.
This was the debut year for many
future stars. Annette, Hank Ballard and
the Midnighters, Freddy Cannon, Anita
Bryant, The Fleetwoods, Johnny
Horton, Jan and Dean, and the Isley
Brothers were among those making
initial appearances this year.
The number one single record of the
year was “Battle of New Orleans” by
Johnny Horton. Our editor actually
knew that one. Others in the top 10
were “Come Softly to Me” by the
Fleetwoods; Guy Mitchell’s
“Heartaches by the Number"; Wilbert
Harrison’s "Kansas City"; “Lonely
Boy” by Paul Anka; “Mack the Knife”
by Bobby Darin and the Platters’
“Smoke Gets in Your Eyes.”
credit will help long-term welfare
recipients get jobs. Reductions will
also be made in capital gains and estate
taxes.
V The best news. All of these sav
ings and cuts are great news for
America, but the best news for
America is the fact that we did it. The
President and the Republican-led
Congress were able to come together
and come up with an agreement to bal
ance the budget by 2002.
I think that is what Americans right
fully expect from us, and I look for
ward to seeing the plan implemented.
It’s what’s good for America.
(Max Cleland is a Democratic U.S,
Senator from Georgia.)
This paper welcomes
letters to the editor
The Houston Times-Journal wel
comes letters to the editor.
All letters must be signed and
include a telephone number for verifi
cation purposes.
Priority is given to letters by local
writers, and to letters concerning local
issues. Matters dealing with national
issues and letters which are obvious
mass mailings receive less priority.
Occasionally a letter is compelling
enough and long enough, to be con
verted into a guest column. Even
more rarely, a letter is made into a
first-person story such as the letter on
page 1A of this issue.
Letters can be sent to the Times-
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email at our address: jjedit@hom.net
or by fax to (912) 988-1181. Letters
can be mailed to P.O. Drawer M,
Perry. 31069. or brought to the paper
office at 807 Carroll St.
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Top albums included Frank Sinatra’s
“Come Dance With Me” and the
soundtrack from “Flower Drum Song.”
The best picture award went to “Ben
Hur” and Charlton Heston was best
actor for his role in the same movie.
Simone Signoret won best actress
for “Room at the Top.” Many of us
watched television shows like “Father
Knows Best”, “Gunsmoke”, “Have
Gun, Will Travel”, “Make Room for
Daddy”, “Perry Mason” and “The
Price is Right.” And without cable, just
rabbit ears or a monster of an outside
antenna.
Finally, the reverse side of the
Lincoln penny was redesigned with the
Lincoln Memorial replacing the words
‘one cent’.
It was a wonderful year 1959.
(Phil Clark writes sports for the
Times-Journal and is a trivia buff.)
From
Where I Sit
Bob Tribble
President
Amendment
to address flag
The U.S. House has overwhelm
ingly approved a proposed constitu
tional amendment giving Congress
the power to outlaw defacement of the
American flag. The House vote was
310-114, 27 votes more than needed
for the two-thirds majority required to
adopt constitutional changes.
Observers say the amendment will
face a sterner test in the Senate, and if
it passes there it must be ratified by 38
state legislatures before it can be
incorporated into the Constitution.
The amendment grants Congress
the exclusive power to prohibit the
“physical desecration of the flag, but
does not define exactly what that
means. It certainly means burning,
shredding or trampling,” one House
member said.
The recent vote was the third
attempt in the past seven years to get
the amendment passed nationally,
with the first two attempts failing. The
effort was begun to reverse a 1989
U.S. Supreme Court ruling that
defined flay defacement as political
expression protected by the First
Amendment.
No other group of people believe
more strongly in the First Amendment
than us newspaper folks. We do not
want to be a part of anything that will
take away the fundamental right of
free speech or expression. However,
to allow people to continue to bum the
flag of this great United States of
America without rhyme or reason is
wrong.
Too many brave men and women
died on the battlefields, for this coun
try, and yes its flag and what that flag
stands for, to allow renegades from
any walk of life to publicly bum it in
order to make some idiotic point. A
penalty of some form must be
attached to such unAmerican behav
ior.
Rep. David Skaggs, a Vietnam War
veteran said, “Respect for the flag
cannot be mandated. To be genuine, it
must flow from the natural love of our
freedom-loving people for the beauti
ful standard of our nation and the
exquisite symbol of our freedoms.”
I understand fully that you cannot
mandate respect for the flag, but we
are not talking about respect here, we
are talking about protests that result in
the destruction (burning) of our flag.
Rep. Henry Hyde, a World War
Two navy veteran said, “We are not a
bunch of unwashed, unlettered, jingo
ist yahoos. We know the difference
between freedom of speech and van
dalism. To bum an object in order to
demonstrate one’s contempt for it is
not speech, it is the antithesis of
speech. It is an act of contempt for the
very idea of reasoned argument. Flag
burning is no more speech than a
child’s temper tantrum.” Amen, Rep.
Hyde.
(See BURNING, Page SA)