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Viewpoints Our Views Time to agree Several weeks ago, members of the four S Governments of Houston County met and eft with a gentleman’s agreement to approve a plan for shared services in Houston County. Representatives of Cen terville. Houston County, Perry and Warn er Robins apparently agreed to the plan which is designed to avoid duplication of services. As part of the arrangement, the Hous ton County Commission agreed to take over funding for both the Houston County Library System and the Houston County I ievelopment Authority. The city of Warn er Robins agreed to fund a study to deter mine levels of double taxation which incorporated city residents pay to the county government. Houston County agreed to the plan, required by Georgia Law based on House Bill 489. Centerville plans to agree to the statement. But Warner Robins reneged. Alter all was said and done, the Warner Robins city fathers want to modify the agreement more and include the Houston Countv Sheriffs Department in the double taxation audn. The deadline to submit the plan is here. State funding is at risk. We think it’s time foi Warner Robins to fall in line with the other governments and approve the ser vice agreement. To do less than that is irresponsible to the rest of the county. Visit leads to discovery of in-law connections Talk about strange things happening! WOW! It was like an episode of "The Twi light Zone" at my house last Saturday 4* ~ ~ **«.»****#* *.«■*** **r«r* **♦ 1 lIV I I Clguut, AV uu-k.»» AAA. my house. But ... My mother-in-law (MNL), Joyce Jolley, came for a visit (and, no, that is not the sb inge part, though now that I think about it, it did nearly take an act of Congress to get her here....hmmmm...). She arrived Saturday. My son and his fiancee, my daughter and her husband, iny husband and ■ I were sitting around talk ing. laughing, and talking about general Torey Jolley Home Journal Staff things with her. this was the first opportunity for my MNL to meet my future daughter-in-law. Everyone was talking. My MNL said she was Cajun-born and raised in New Orleans, In My soon-to-be daughter-in-law (and I will refer to her as DNL from this point) 7 Mentioned her .grandmother (her mother's mother) was from New Orleans. » Now ... you know millions of people are from New Orleans. The chances of my MNL and my DNL’s grandmother actually know ing each other was a slim at best shot. But guess what! They not only knew each other, 11 icy lived next door to each other for years. The grandmother’s sister is actually my husband's god mother! Well, my DNL's parents came over with photos of the aunt and the grandmother and the grandmother's husband. Hours were spent (and enjoyed) listening to my MNL reminisce about her childhood days spent with her friends. (We even learned my ] ’ii .band birthday and my DNL’s mother's biit Inlay is the same day: Oct. 16.) When my MNL called the other family members to let them know about this strange turn of events, my brother-in-law in Houston, Texas told my MNL with a chuckle in his voice, “Maybe we shouldn’t ] ik too deep in our gene pool." Perhaps, this was fate or destiny. Maybe our families were supposed to connect. 1 only know it is so odd. I would never have thought in a million years that this was possible. However, my co-worker Charlotte Perkins reminded me of the old proverb wh‘ch says, “Stand in one place long enough and you are sure to meet someone Imm youi past." The proverb is apparently correct Houston Home Journal M.O. Drawer M • 807 Carroll St. • Perry. Ga. 31069 email homejrn®honi.net (912) 987-1823 (voice) • (912) 988 1181 (fax) Bob Tribble President Jj Johnson Editor and General Manager Ellen T. Green Advertising Director Phil Clark Sports Joan Dm sett Lifestyles Torcv Jolley News and Classified Ailine Kent Sports Pauline Lewis Lifestyles Rob Mead News and Circulation Charlotte Perkins Nnv.< and Composition Paula Zimmerman Bookkeeping M Is this Gods take on winterizing home lawns? I ’wish I could take credit for what you are about to read. It is funny, and yet so true. Give credit to Ramona F Crain, who submitted it to the Good Clean Fun website. This is an internet web page which specializes in clean jokes. ••• 'Winterize your lawn." the big sign outside the garden store commanded. I've fed it, watered it, mowed it, raked it and watched a lot of it die anyway. Now I’m supposed to winterize it? I hope it’s too late. Grass lawns have to be the stupidest thing we've come up with outside of thong swim suits. We constantly battle dan delions, Queen Anne's lace, thistle, violets, chicory and 7 'He Pewur GalurV HE'6 STILL HOPING n ! FOR A RECALL TO THE MAJOR mmmm ' ' z \ '~~f J WMSeiFOUT. >7-7 / '— J<r raytoons©hom.net ©mm ‘99 I Accountability: There is a role for all Governor Barnes has made it very clear that he expects his Education Reform Study Com mission to come up with sub stantive recommendations to provide greater accountability for our schools and teachers. As the governor said at the commission’s first meeting, his training as a trial lawyer leads him to the belief that someone needs to be held responsible if a school fails to deliver the quali ty of education it claims to deliver. For example, if a stu dent receives a college prep diploma and yet needs to take remedial courses when she gets into college, somebody has breached a contract and needs to be held accountable. The “contract" for education has three parties: the student, the parent, and the school. As the head of the state’s largest education organization, I can assure you that our mem bers do not shrink from accountability. If it is to work, however, everyone else involved in the education process must also be held accountable. I am not a lawyer, but I do know that simple fairness dictates that the accountability contract cov ers everyone involved in the process of education, which includes teachers, students, parents, administrators and colleges of education. Let’s take the example that the governor used, a student graduating from high school with a college prep endorse- 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 and letters on this page (and elsewhere in this news paper) reflect the opinions of the writers and not nec essarily those of this newspaper. Signed letters to the editor are welcomed. Please limit letters to 300 words and include addresses and a telephone number for verification purposes. Letters are not published without verification. Letters should be sent to P.O. Drawer M, Perry, Ga., 31069 or brought to the newspaper office at 807 Carroll St.. Perry. Our liability for an error will not exceed the cost Wed.. Sept. 15. 1999 Page 4A JJ Johnson Home Journal Editor clover that thrive naturally, so we can grow grass that must be nursed through an annual four-step chemical dependen cy. Imagine the conversation The Creator might have with St. Francis about this: "Frank you know all about gardens and nature. What in Barbara Christmas Director, Professional Association of 6a. Educators ment, and yet upon entering college, the student needs to take a remedial math course. Who is responsible for this apparent failing of the public school? On the surface, it would appear that one or more of the student’s math teachers failed to properly teach her. But which one(s) should be held accountable? Should it be the most recent math teacher? Or perhaps, it should be the kindergarten or first-grade teacher who failed to make sure the student learned the basic elements of mathematics. But what if the student has difficul ty understanding word prob lems? Maybe the reading teacher should also be held accountable. There are othfer possibilities as well. Maybe the student doesn’t like math and exerted just enough effort to squeak by, but the college let her in any way because she is an excellent writer and scored 800 on the SAT verbal section. The college was willing to accept the stu 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 Thf 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 wprk. teamwork, loyalty and a strong dedication toward printing the truth. Member of Georgia Press Association and Nation al Newspaper Association. the world is going on down there in the Midwest? What happened to the dandelions, violets, thistle and stuff I start ed eons ago? I had a perfect, no-maintenance garden plan. Those p. ants grow in any type of soil, withstand drought and multiply with abandon. The nectar from the long-lasting blossoms attracted butterflies, honey bees and flocks of song birds. I expected to see a vast garden of colors by now. But all I see are these green rectan gles." "It's the tribes that settled there, Lord. The Suburbanites. They started calling your flow ers 'weeds' and went to great extent to kill them and replace them with grass." r'— I iitlll>[ I . , HB dent knowing that she provably would need remedial work in math. Who is at fault in this scenario, the math teachers who couldn't motivate the stu dent? The student herself for ignoring math in favor of litera ture? Or the college for accept ing a student without the appropriate grades and SAT score in math? Or could the parents share some of the responsibility for not encourag ing their daughter to spend more time studying math? As I said, teachers are very willing to accept their share of responsibility for making sure students learn the curriculum that schools offer, but, to be effective, accountability pro posals must take into account several key factors: 1) Parents must be held responsible to make sure that students are at school ready to learn (well rested and fed: homework completed; coopera tive). 2) Students must be held responsible for following school rules and respecting the other members, administrators: teachers; students of the school community. 3) The curriculum Ihat teachers are required to teach must cover the material neces sary to deliver students to the next level of education fully prepared. See CHRISTMAS. Page 5A / Houston Home Journal “Congress shall make no law respecting an estab lishment 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 grievances." Your right to read this news paper Is protected by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. The Houston Home Journal (IISPS 000471) is published weekly for $21.40 per year (including sales tax) by Houston Publications Inc., 807 Car roll St.. Perry, Ga.. 31069. Periodicals Class Postage paid at Perry. Ga. POSTMASTER : Send address changes to the Houston Home Journal. P.O. Drawer M, Perry. Ga. 31069. ISSN; 1075-1874 "Grass? But it's so boring. It's not colorful. It doesn't attract butterflies, birds and bees, only grubs and sod worms. It's temperamental with temperatures. Do these Subur banites really want all that grass growing there?" "Apparently so, Lord. They go to great pains to grow it and keep it green. They begin each spring by fertilizing grass and poisoning any other plant that crops up in the lawn." "The spring rains and cool weather probably make grass grow really fast. That must make the Suburbanites happy." "Apparently not. Lord. As soon as it grows a little, they See JOHNSON, Page 5A Bob Tribble Home Journal President Taking a stroll into the past Do you remember when it took from sun up to sun set to take a 200 mile trip? Back in the middle 40s it would take us almost all day to travel the 170 miles from Lavonia to Man chester. We had to come right through downtown Atlanta up Peachtree Street and out Stew l. « WliUWi i V>U V.UMUV Ull two hours from the north city limits to the south city limits. The shorter trips of like 30 miles or so could take well over an hour. Most of the roads between Lavonia and Ander son. S.C. bac*k lift those days were dirt and the cruising speed on those roads in the vehicles of that era might have been 35 mph. I can remember my mother driving 50 mph on paved roads end we thought she was flying. Most homes 50-plus years ago had no central heat sys tems. Fireplaces were in some rooms, but not all. Ladies who would sit around those fire places would tan, sometimes scorch, the front of their legs. If you sat facing the fireplace too long your backside would get cold and boy did it feel good to backup to that thing and warm. Fireplaces did not heat even a large room, or other parts of the house, very well. On a cold winter night when you hurried from the fireplace and jumped into the cold bed, it felt as if you were diving into a bed of ice. Then, we all had an out house. Usually they were a considerable distance from the main house, therefore the trips there after dark and during the winter months were something we will never forget. Of course there were the “slop jars" that could provide some instant relief. The old Sears Roebuck catalog provided two purposes for the outhouse, reading and you know what. A good once a week bath always was a Saturday night treat at our house. The kitchen was usually the chosen spot because of the warmth from the wood burning stove. The older one got, the harder it was to fit into that 10-gallon wash tub. Of course everyone knows where the water came from. It See TRIBBLE, Page 5A 4 A "I |k ~