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Viewpoints
Our
Views
It is time...
It is time for the following things
to occur:
• It is time for the three incorpo
rated cities and the county govern
ment to quit talking and start work
ing on the services plan which must
be submitted to the state within
weeks.
Yes, they have been working, but
much of the work has been talk,
posturing, position statements and
bickering. Meetings have been held
without all parties invited. The
deadline approaches with little
resolved.
• It is time for Perry to take a vig
orous approach to expansion, espe
cially to the northeast, before the
city of Warner Robins surrounds
Peny just as it did Centerville.
Warner Robins has taken a very
aggressive stance concerning
annexation, and now has crossed
Ga. 96, headed south toward Mossy
Creek.
• It is time for the incorporated
cities and county government to
agree on service delivery to save tax
payers money due to dual service
deliveries.
Viewing ‘chick movies
Sunday afternoon, I went to see “Run
away Bride. This new movie stars Julia
Roberts and Richard Gere.
It was charming, but is not a sequel to
their earlier movie, “Pretty Woman.”
Runaway Bride" was funny. Scene
after scene produced laughter. It was so
funny even my husband laughed. He was
a hard sell to get to go to see this movie.
Why? "Runaway Bride" is a “chick flick.”
Yes, he said it was a “chick flick."
Romance and comedy rule. No one dies.
Guts are not lying around. No guns. No
sex. Nothing blows up. What remains are
humorous situations and hints of
romance to delight moviegoers. Everyone
wonders whether the heroine would make
it to the altar for her next attempt at mar
riage.
My daughter went with us to see “Run
away Bride." She laughed as hard as we
did. She said she was glad to go with us
because her husband would not go see it.
(Nothing gets blown up.)
My son chose not to see the “chick
flick." Instead,
he went to see
“The Blair
Witch Project."
He said that
movie was
really scary
(and he rarely
gets scared).
Mike said he
heard the
hype that thfe
movie drew on
Torey
Joßey
Home
Journal
stnrr
real life. However, near the end he began
to question the whole thing. My son said
if something was coming to kill him, and
it had already killed several others, he
was sure he would not be carrying a cam
era around to film it.
Now 1 know I am far from a “profes
sional movie critic." However, I know what
I like, and if my family agrees with me,
then 1 am pretty sure I can tell if a movie
is good or not. 1 do not care if the critics
like or dislike a movie. I have often seen a
movie the critics rave about and have
come away with the feeling that either I
missed something or maybe they did not
really see the movie. Why? Because it was
awful something I would not even rec
ommend renting for a dollar. I have seen
movies 1 adored only to have the critics
pan them.
I do have a few tricks when choosing a
movie. I listen to people (real people like
neighbors and friends) who have seen the
movie. 1 see how long it runs in the the-
See JOLLEY, Page 5A
Houston Homs Jqupml
P.O. Drawer M • 807 Carroll St. • Perry. Ga. 31069
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Ellen T. Green Advertising Director
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Joan Dorsett Lifestyles
Torey Jolley News and Classified
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Pauline Lewis Lifestyles
Rob Mead News and Circulation
Charlotte Perkins News and Composition
Paula Zimmerman Bookkeeping
ran
Heat wave triggers air-conditioning memories
The recent heat wave has
most folk my age remembering
how they lived before air condi
tioning became common in
both offices and at home.
I remember the first night I
slept with air conditioning, my
first ride in an air-conditioned
vehicle, and when I began to
sleep with air conditioning on a
regular basis.
That first night with air con
ditioning came when I was
about eight. My parents had
loaded us up for our annual
vacation, which usually was a
trip to middle and western Ten
nessee to visit my mom’s fami
ly. We'd have a night or two
with each sibling, and then
head back home.
Uncle Carnie was a lifer in
~Thc Pcamut GaimrV
raytoons@hom.net ©A4H444 " 99
Mayor faces lesson in county politics
I opened up my daily paper
the other morning, read for a
few minutes and started laugh
ing. There was a big story about
Warner Robins Mayor Donald
Walker’s latest suggestion for
improving government, and I
was trying to imagine him
explaining it a group of south
Houston County farmers.
This time Mayor Walker
wants to abolish county gov
ernment and divide service
delivery in Houston County up
between Perry, Centerville and
Warner Robins. (I promise you
that I read this in print in a real
newspaper - namely, The
Macon Telegraph. )
My guess is that Mayor Walk
er didn’t really mean that he
wants to abolish county opera
tions like the entire county
school system, the health
department, DFACS, the Sher
iffs office or all those folks who
run the county courthouse and
jail . He probably just wants to
abolish the Board of Commis
sioners so he can write the
H 8489 strategy all by himself.
And, of course, he could
speed up the process of urban
izing Warner Robins by eating
up half the county in one bite
instead of taking lots of little
bites through annexation. If
Mayor Walker had his druthers.
Warner Robins would probably
meet Perry at the Perry Park
way.
Our Policies
Unsigned editorials appearing in larger type on
this page under the label Our Views reflect the posi
tion of the Houston Home Journal. Signed columns
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paper) reflect the opinions of the writers and not nec
essarily those of this newspaper.
Stgned letters to the editor are welcomed. Please
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Perry
Our liability for an error will not exceed the cost
Page 4A
Wsd., Aug. 4. 1699
Jj
Johnson
Home
Journal
Editor
Uncle Sam's army. He was a
motor pool mechanic of signifi
cant skill, and spent time in
Europe, Korea and Southeast
Asia before his enlistments
were complete.
This particular trip included
a visit with Uncle Carnie, Aunt
Colie, and cousins Judy and
Charlie. My uncle had managed
Charlotte
Perkins
Home
Journal
Staff
Getting serious, though , the
good mayor apparently doesn’t
have a clue how difficult it
would be to carry off such a
plan. He would have a much
better chance if he tried seces
sion, or took a history lesson
from Fort Valley and set up his
own county.
In the first place, even if the
Georgia legislature agreed with
the plan and the three remain
ing “government entities" in
Houston County got their
heads together on such an
unlikely venture as dividing the
county up into three "service
areas", there would still be
huge questions to answer.
Would these county folks be
taxed without representation,
or would they be annexed
against their will? What Mayor
Walker may not realize is that
unincorporated folk people
who live in Hayneville, Grova
nia, Elko and Henderson (and
all acres in-between) are not all
waiting breathlessly to become
of space occupied by the error.
We cannot be responsible for the return of pictures or
submitted materials unless a stamped, return address
envelope is included.
Our Goal
The Houston Home 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 Nation
al Newspaper Association.
u. .. i. La IcAffti <
■ p
part of Perry, Centerville or*
Warner Robins.
Moreover, they would not
Just stand by and watch it all
happen. No matter how far
apart they live, county fdlks in
middle Georgia can pull togeth
er in record time if somebody
starts changing things without
consulting them.
Just check with Georgia EPD
or DOT if you doubt that.
Nobody can mobilize faster or
flex more political muscle in a
hurry than a group of farmers
and other county-dwellers.
They can learn about a plan on
Tuesday, have 2.000 signatures
on a petition on Thursday and
be in court and on television by
the following Monday.
These are citizens who expect
to participate in decisions
which have an impact on their
lives, and expect to be listened
to when they speak up. That’s
exactly what happens when
they attend a Houston County
Commission meeting, and
there’s no reason at all to think
that they’d be willing to give up
being at the very heart of coun
ty government in order be on th
e fringes of a city "service deliv
ery area."
If Mayor Walker were a coun
ty commissioner instead of a
mayor, he’d already know that.
a mfr- £ I
Houston Home Journal
to rent an off-base second floor
walkup apartment in
Clarkesville, Tenn. Nearby Fort
Campbell was his assignment
at the time.
Because the apartment had
minimal air flow, and because
he was able to swap some off
hours mechanicing for a win
dow unit, he had air condition
ing. Rather, the family had one
window unit in one room.
That's all. The rest of the apart
ment was sweltering.
Cots and pallets covered the
available floor space in what
once was the family living
room. The four moved into the
air-conditioned front room for
the summer seeking relief from
the heat. As guests of the fami
ly, we joined them seven of
us sleeping in the same room.
Yes, seven in one room is a
crowd, but air conditioning is a
drawing card. The tiny window
unit roared and clanked
through the night. Sometimes it
seemed as if the unit had
become an airplane racing
along a runway. The unit did
spit out cool air, and even with
the noise, sleeping conditions
were better than in the rest of
the very hot apartment.
Soon after we returned
home, my mom and I got our
first ride in an air-conditioned
auto. Church members were
proud of the brick three-bed
room home they provided for
their minister and placed a sign
See JOHNSON, Page 5A
Bob
Tribble
Home
Journal
President
Clinton holds ace
in hole on taxes
The U.S. House of Represen
tatives has passed a $792 bil
lion tax cut which will reduce
federal taxes by 10 percent
during the next 10 years.
The tax cut will also increase
the deduction for married cou
ples and cut the capital gains
rate, among other things. The
bill passed largely along party
lines, 223-208.
This bill would gradually
eliminate the federal estate tax
over a 10-year period and
would permit buyers of long
term nursing home insurance
to deduct the entire amount
paid for premiums.
Business tax records would
include corporate deductions
for research, tax credits for
companies which hire welfare
clients, expanded educational
tax breaks, and a partial tax
write off for Medicare recipients
for their prescription drugs.
Tax reduction legislation
with the same price tag. but
with different features, passed
the U.S. Senate by a vote of 57-
43 late last week. This measure
would reduce the tax rate on
the low end bracket from 15
percent to 15 percent.
This bill has no provisions
for a further cut in capital
gains, would raise the limits
which individuals could put
into retirement accounts,
would ease the marriage tax
penalty and would reduce the
estate tax.
At presstime, representa
tives of the House and Senate
were working to reach a com
promise on the matter perhaps
before the end of this week.
Republicans in both chambers
recognize the differences must
be worked out for a final bill to
go to both houses. With a sum
mer break just days away, the
negotiations continue.
In the House-passed bill is a
provision to cut the capital
gains tax rate for lower income
persons from the present 10
percent for higher income tax
payers. The proposed Senate
bill does not include further
reductions in capital gains.
Republicans do not plan to
send a compromised measure
to the White House until after
Labor Day in order to avoid
handing Bill Clinton an oppor
tunity to stage a veto ceremony
when the Congress is in recess.
See TRIBBLE. Page 5A
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P.O. Drawer M. Perry, Ga. 31069. ISSN; 1075-1874.
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