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Viewpoints
Our
Views
Good and bad
The news on the employment front this
week is mixed. The good news is that the
Cagle Company will buy the former Stroh’s
brewery and bring it to new life as a poultry
processing plant.
The bad new is that up to 500 aircraft
door assemblers at Northrop Grumman will
be dismissed from their jobs during the
coming year.
The Cagle plant brings with it some con
troversy. There was, earlier, some effort in
the community to encourage the company to
look elsewhere. Opponents of the plant cited
the possibility of odors, a concern for avail
able labor, and a general dislike for the pro
cessing industry.
Elected officials say Cagle has demon
strated an ability to operate a plant without a
foul odor (no pun intended). They visited
another Georgia plant operated by Cagle and
found a clean, odor-free operation.
The jobs created at the new plant, which
won’t be ready for another year, will provide
employment for many people who other
wise might be looking for work. Finding
strong, reliable companies to provide
unskilled and minimal skilled jobs in the
community is difficult. Cagle seems set to
fill that bill.
Meanwhile, the rapid growth of Northrop
Grumman, especially in wake of the near
collapse of that plant two years ago, has
made officials smile. The force has grown to
about 900 persons at the commercial aircraft
door assembly plant.
With a downturn in the economy of many
nations, the orders for Boeing commercial
jets has slowed. Northrop Grumman
employees assemble the doors in a contract
between Boeing and Northrop. Boeing
recently announced a reduction in force, So
it stands to reason a similar one would take
place at Northrop Grumman.
No “reason” however can make the
Christmas of these employees exciting.
They face the prospect of returning to work
after the holidays to pick up pink slips. They
will get up to 60 days of work before their
jobs are eliminated, but that’s all.
Two years ago, Team Houston, the invisi
ble but visible network of elected and com
munity officials who want to see a strength
ened county, stepped in and worked out a
solution to the Northrop Grumman plan to
abandon the Ferry plant.
These same leaders have promised to do
w hat they can to help the Perry door makers
with their economic future. With any luck at
all. Team Houston will find at least a partial
solution to the problem.
We wish them well. Workers in the mid
dle range of skills in the community have
taken a tough beating recently. Trendline
died, taking with it about 400 jobs. PPG
abandoned the community, taking with it
about 170 jobs. Now Northrop Grumman
will release up to 500 workers because of an
economic downturn.
The news is mixed. One the one hand,
Cagle promises to come, to convert an
empty plant into a going concern with 500
workers at start up and maybe 2,000 later.
On the other hand, more than 1,000 persons
have received or will soon have, their walk
ing papers from jobs in the Perry area.
Hurry. Team Houston. The task is at hand.
Great weekend in Perry
Hundreds, perhaps thousands of people
benefitted from the work of many last week
end. The pancake breakfast, parade, open
houses and worship service were fantastic.
Not only was the weather great, the atten
dance was good, and the events were well
planned and presented.
Thanks to all the people who worked tn
any way to make Christmas at the
Crossroads even better this year. Your efforts
are appreciated by those who watched,
enjoyed and smiled.
Houston limes-Journal
PO. Drawer M • 807 Carroll St. • Perry, Ga. 31069
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Boh Tribble President
Jj Johnson Editor and General Manager
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Composition: Charlotte Perkins: Sports: Phil Clark and
Alline Kent; News and Classified Ads: Stacie Vu;
Circulation and Photography: Eric Zellars; Bookkeeping:
Paula Zimmerman
JWi
>0
Rambling thoughts about natural gas deregulation
Say, have you wondered why you
haven’t received a mailing about
changing your gas supplier? After all,
out-of-town newspapers are filled with
ads for persons wishing to change their
natural gas supplier.
There’s a reason. The deregulation
of natural gas doesn’t affect Houston
County residents. Warner Robins and
Perry are partners in a four-city natur
al gas system with the cities of
Hawkinsville and Cochran.
When the Georgia General
Assembly passed Senate Bill 215 two
years ago, they provided a way for
investor-owned gas utilities to split the
pipeline distribution of natural gas
from the marketing of the gas to pri
vate customers.
The operative word there is
investor-owned read Atlanta Gas
Light Co. The four-city operation is
Tue Pewur Galury
Do you Biueue
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The notorious NEA is at it again
The notorious National
Endowment for the Arts (NEA)
controversial for funding perverse
and blasphemous art has gone and
done it again. This time around
the organization has helped to
support a play that depicts Jesus
as a homosexual who has sex with
his apostles.
According to a story in the July
edition of the American Family
Association Journal, playwright
Terrence McNally’s latest work,
entitled Corpus Christi, focuses
on a Christ character named
Joshua. McNally has written sev
eral gay themed plays and has
been the recipient of three Tony
awards for his work.
Corpus Christi was produced by
the Manhattan Theatre Club
(MTC) which the New York Times
describes as one of the most pro
lific and influential theatrical enti
ties in New York City. The play
was set to open on Broadway this
fall. ,
According to a NEA press
release, MTC received an SBO,OOO
grant from the NEA to support a
two-year plan to develop new
plays and musicals. The NEA is a
government agency created and
funded by Congress despite great
pressure from conservatives.
Allen Wildmon of the American
Family Association (AFA) says
the NEA continues to sponsor
organizations who seem to despise
Our Policies
Unsigned editorials appearing in larger type on this page
under the label Our Views reflect the position of the Houston
Times-Jouma!. Signed columns and letters on this page (and
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ers and not necessarily those of this newspaper.
Signed letters to the editor are welcomed. Please limit let
ters to 300 words and include addresses and a telephone
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Our liability for an error will not exceed the cost of space
Page 4A
Wed., Dec. », IWH
jj wm
Johnson \jgH
Editor 1
not an investor owned system. Our
neighbors in Bibb County are cus
tomers of Atlanta Gas Light Co., and
therefore, must make a decision soon
about who will be their supplier.
Several suppliers have met the state
qualification standards and are adver
tising for new customers.
Meanwhile, natural gas customers
in Houston County won't participate.
Some of the argument for municipal
systems remaining as they are include
that divesting a municipal system of
either pipeline or distribution services
Bob E3|
Tribble W™
Times-
Journal President . m
morality in general and
Christianity in particular, and tney
use taxpayer money to do it The
description of Corpus Christi in
MTC’s brochure said. “From
modern day Corpus Christi,
Texas, to ancient Jerusalem, we
follow a young gay man named
Joshua on his spiritual journey
and get to know him and the
twelve disciples who choose to
follow him.”
The New York Times obtained a
draft of the play and in a story
reported that Corpus Christi por
trays Joshua as having a long run
ning affair with Judas, sex with
the other apostles and a sexual
encounter with an HIV positive
street hustler. The draft ended
with what appears to be a homo
sexual taunt directed toward
orthodox Christians: “If we have
offended, so be it. He belongs to
us as well as you.”
The play also borrows and then
twists dialogue from the New
Testament, “Art thou king of the
queers?” Joshua answers, “Thou
sayest.
The Catholic League for
occupied by the error.
We cannot be responsible for the return of pictures or sub
mitted materials unless a stamped, return address 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 this goal through hard
work, teamwork, loyalty and a strong dedication toward
printing the truth
Member of Georgia Press Association and National
Houston lines-Journal
might not be cost-effective
Municipalities likely will watch care
fully to determine if there could be
benefits to spinning off part of the pro
ject to a private, investor-owned com
pany.
In some cases, as in the household
garbage collection business in this
area, the best deal for governments has
been to lease the job out to private
industry. Houston County government
also has part of the water system
leased to private management.
The pendulum seems to swing back
and forth on the private vs. public
ownership and operation of various
utilities. Sometimes it seems to favor
one, other times the other. I remember
one community where I lived some
time back. The government there
bought paving equipment and went
into the street paving business because
Religions and Civil Rights called
Corpus Christi “sick beyond
words” and added “There’s obvi
ously a very deep problem in the
artistic community." The group
has begun a letter writing cam
paign against the play.
After the initial announcement
of the play’s content caused out
rage in the Christian community,
plans for Corpus Christi were
scrapped. A statement released by
MTC cited "security problems” as
the reason
But, pro-homosexual factions
within the artistic community
retaliated immediately Some
MTC patrons demanded refunds
while others withdrew donations
to the organization. One famous
playwright protested by pulling
his current work from MTC’s line
up Other leading playwrights
began circulating a petition asking
MTC to reconsider its decision,
calling the cancellation “a capitu
lation to right wing extremists and
religious zealots.”
So there you have it. Another
flaunting of homosexuality around
this nation, and this time with tax
payer’s money. Even the more
reason why it is * time for
Christians and Christian organiza
tions to continue to stand up and
be counted.
(Bob Tribble is president of
Houston Publications Inc.)
they could pave with less expense than
investor-owned companies, and thus
could stretch state grant money to
more miles of asphalt.
Customers, 100, likely will watch.
We will talk to our neighbors in Bibb
County to see if their natural gas bills
really did come down, and stay down.
If we find the bills are cheaper for
the same amount of fuel, you can bet
we'll be talking to our legislators
about making some changes.
If there really is a better way to dis
tribute and market natural gas. I’m all
for it providing the gains are not
just short term. One SSO gift certificate
won’t cover a full winter of higher
priced gas, much less several winters.
Let's don't sell our souls for a bowl
of soup. Let’s be sure any change can
really be beneficial to customers in the
winter of 2003 and beyond.
Health and
you
Scottish Rite
Children's Hospital
Get safer toys
What would the holiday season be
like without shiny toys for children?
From remote-controlled race cars and
action figures to board games and
baby dolls, toy store shelves are
stocked with every imaginable gadget
to entertain a child
Yet. even as toys have become
more sophisticated in their design,
many are still unsafe for children to
play with Toys which are inappropri
ate for a child’s age or those made with
small pieces, sharp edges or breakable
parts can lead to serious injuries.
Since 1990. more than 160 children
have died while playing with toys,
according to the Consumer Product
Safety Commission.
“Parents shouldn’t assume that
because a toy is in a store, it is 100
percent safe for children,” said Joseph
E. Simon, the medical director at
Scottish Rite Children’s Medical
Center in Atlanta.
“Some toys or parts of toys can
cause eye injuries, cuts, choking, and
even death, which is why it is impor
tant to be educated on how to spot safe
and unsafe toys.” Simon said.
Here are some tips for picking safe
toys and games this season:
\ Avoid the obvious dangerous
toys, such as BB guns, slingshots,
water guns or any toy which shoots
things.
\ Watch for size. Small toys and
small toy parts such as buttons, eyes,
wheels, staples or bells can easily
come off and cause a child to choke.
Parents can test the size of a toy or
part by inserting it in the cardboard
tube of a toilet paper roll. If the object
easily fits inside the tube, do not a
child under 3 to play with it.
V Look at the toy’s shape, toys for
young children should have smooth
surfaces. Avoid toys with sharp edges
and points, as well as tnose which
have glass or metal pieces which can
break and cut a child.
V Select age-appropriate toys. Toys
should match a child’s abilities For
example, avoid hobby kits, such as
chemistry sets, for children under 12
V Look at the label The symbol
“ASTM" indicates the product meets
national safety standards set by the
American Society lot Testing and
Materials. Labels should also indicate
if a toy is non-toxic or fire resistant
V Avoid toys with strings which
can get wrapped around a young
child’s wrists or neck.
Simon says careful toy selection is
just one part of toy safety. Even a safe
toy can lead to injuries if a child is not
supervised properly by an adult.
V Put toys away so children and
adults do not trip and fall over them.
V Routinely check toys for broken
or damaged parts which could cause
injuries.
V Keep older siblings’ toys away
from young children.
V Provide a safe place for play.
(Writer Kim Lathbury is a member
of the Scottish Rite staff.)
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