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FRIDAY, JULY 11, 2003
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OPINION
Daniel F. Evans
President,
Editor and Publisher
Julie B. Evans Rex Gambill
Vice President Managing Editor
Foy S. Evans
Editor Emeritus
They're Playing Musical Portables
Dave McMahan, facilities director for the
Houston County Board of Education, calls it a
game of “musical portables.”
What he is talking about is the necessity to move
portable classrooms around among the county
schools to accommodate an ever-changing land
scape, where new schools are overcrowded before
they even open.
Maintenance crews have been busier than ever
before this summer doing important maintenance
work on old schools and getting new schools ready
to accept students jn the fall.
Moving portable classrooms from schools where
they are no longer needed to schools where they are
needed is not a simple task. A lot of work is
involved. It is time-consuming and expensive.
Already two new elementary schools - Lake Joy
Elementary and Perdue Primary - are registering
more students than they can handle. And it will get
worse, because these schools are in the area where
Houston County is having its most rapid growth in
homes and population.
Until students show up in the fall there will be no
way to know just how serious the problem is. With
growth going forward steadily there is no doubt
that the demand for more classrooms will face
members of the school board soon.
It seems that the school board and staff are doing
all they can at the present time to get ready for the
opening of school.
However, how great a challenge they are going to
face will not be known until a few weeks after
school begins. At that time the board will have to
consider whether they will need a tax increase
based on a new tax digest. The test facing board
members is to provide facilities and teachers that
parents demand and still not spend enough money
to get taxpayers upset. It is a balancing act not
many people would want.
A rare glimpse into the parole process
The man was brought into the
courtroom and settled into place
at a table.
He was not facing a judge but
rather member of a group of
people selected to undertake
what most people would feel a
daunting task as a member of
the state Board of Pardons and
Parole.
• • •
During this unusual sight at
the Houston County courthouse
recently, a number of parolees
were brought before the newest
member of the board, Mike
Light, for a hearing regarding
the future status of their parole.
Light heard their individual
cases with testimony from
parole officers, who not only act
as supervisors, counselors and
many other roles with their
charges, but also as a sort of
lawyer in presenting their infor
mation about the parolee dur
ing this type of procedure.
Jessie and Mork find a happy, if improbable ending
This is a story about a cat
named Mork, and a girl named
Jessie, who loved him.
First I'll tell you about Jessie.
Should you have the good for
tune to meet her one day say, at
the Clinique counter in Macy's
in Monterey, Calif., where she
works, or on campus at Cal
State Monterey Bay where she
goes to school, or at my house
where she hangs out with my
son don't be fooled by her little
girl voice.
She may sound like a kitten,
but she is sharp as a tack, bright
as a porch light when you come
home late.
She also looks, come to think
of it, a little like a cat the finest
cat you ever saw on two long
legs with auburn hair and
porcelain skin and tiger-bright
eyes that light up when she is
happy, which seems to be pretty
much all of the time.
Especially when she's around
an animal. Cat. Dog. Fish. You
** f' r .
Emily Johnstone
Associate Editor
ejohnstone@evansnewspapers.com
• • •
Before the hearings - which
rarely take place in this county
- began, the shiny new benches
in Courtroom C began to fill
with attorneys and other folks
involved in justice, all curious to
see this event.
■. ■ n
Hi
Sharon Randalll
Columnist
Scripps Howard News Service
name it. If there was a TV show
to pick the world's greatest pet
lover, Jessie would be the star.
Four years ago, when she
stopped by a veterinarian's
office to pick up the kitten she
was adopting, she ended up
coming home with two a pretty
little female that had caught
OK, the Queen, and Happy Birthday
For the past two weeks, I have
written about truthfulness -
telling the truth, if you will. I
inquired as to whether the
truth mattered, anymore. And,
of course it does. I also won
dered in the second of these
articles how often we are
untruthful to the person who
we supposedly know the best -
ourself. I concluded that, with
many of us, we are often
untruthful. And so, today, with
the continuing theme of “the
truth,” in mind, I want to share
with you some things I have
heard represented as “the
truth,” and invite you to share
with me your opinions as to the
veracity of these “truths.”
Whether or not we can prove or
disprove these “truths” is prob
lematic, but, at least, we can
have an opinion.
What is the most commonly
used word in the world - the
word used in the most lan
guages and the most cultures?
Well, I have been told that it is
“OK,” or is it “okay?” The dic
tionary shows both. And, the
dictionary says that OK is prob
"I wish you'd just tell ghost stories instead of
scaring them with all that talk about the state budget!"
Sheriff Cullen Talton, District
Attorney Kelly Burke and
Public Defender Terry Everett
(whom I dearly love to watch in
courtroom action ... she’s smart
and savvy, and I would rather
watch her than Court TV) filed
into the room along with a num
ber of others who stopped in to
watch.
Someone in the crowd called
to the sheriff asking if he was in
attendance to check out the pro
ceedings because they heard he
might one day be with the board
of Pardons and Parole.
His eyes twinkling, he just
turned his head and laughed.
• • •
Back to the parolee men
tioned at the beginning.
This man, in his 60s, has
already been in prison in the
past, once for murder.
A female agent told how dur
ing a recent undercover drug
investigation this man sold her
her eye right way, and a funny
looking, not-quite-right, runt of
the litter that nobody else
seemed to want.
Jessie's mother, who was not
surprised, I would bet, to end up
with two cats instead of one,
named them Mork and Mindy
in honor of Robin Williams'
hyperactive alien, "Mork from
Ork," and his earthly sidekick.
Mindy ran away after a couple
of weeks, never even looked
back. Mork settled in, happy to
stay forever.
Then he started having
seizures. The vet said they were
caused by fluid that had pooled
around his brain at birth mak
ing his head a bit too large for
his body. Medication could con
trol the seizures, but Mork
would never be quite "normal."
Whatever normal means.
He wasn't the smartest cat
Jessie had ever had. He had no
sense of smell, not even for
tuna, and his vision was bad
jM
-
Larry Walker
Columnist
lwalkcr@whgbc.com
ably an abbreviation of “oil kor
rect,” slang respelling of “all
correct.” Whether or not this is
the truth, I do not know (and
apparently the dictionary folks
don’t know either, because they
used the word “probably”), but
I believe it is okay to tell people
that OK is the most commonly
used word in the world.
Ask people this question:
what woman’s likeness is
depicted or portrayed more
cocaine.
During the transaction, the
man told her it was his birthday
and even showed her his dri
ver’s license as proof, the inves
tigator said.
After hearing testimony from
various law enforcement offi
cials, the man spoke to Mike
Light, a young man with a
shock of blond hair and a benev
olent but firm countenance.
He told of the tough times he
had been through.
• • •
It became Light’s job to make
a recommendation to the rest of
the board whether or not this
man’s parole should be revoked.
• • •
Light, who began serving as a
board member one year ago to
the day he appeared at the
Perry hearings, said though the
group does allow some in prison
to be released on parole before
their sentence is up, they are
enough to make him bump into
his shadow. And sometimes, for
no apparent reason, he'd just sit
for an hour staring at the wall.
No matter. Jessie loved him.
Sure, she loved every pet she
ever had, of course, even the
ones that scratched and bit and
chewed up her new shoes. She
especially loved Pokey, the dog
who had been her best friend
and constant companion ever
since she was in fourth grade.
But Mork, well, he was her
favorite. Go figure. Love is
funny, isn't it? Some creatures
girls like Jessie and cats like
Mork just have a way of making
you happy.
Two months ago, when Mork
disappeared, Jessie was beside
herself. She searched high and
low, day and night, did her best
to find him, but no, he was
gone, and that was that.
She tried to be positive, to
hope for a miracle, but she
knew that nothing neither pets
than any woman in the world?
You will get interesting
answers: Madonna, Mona Lisa,
Princes Di, etc. On my test,
these answers are all incorrect.
My answer is: the Queen in a
deck of cards. This was not a
trick question, but the answer
was a little tricky. Still, I believe
that this is a truthful answer.
Lots of decks. Several depic
tions in each deck. She’s been
around a long time. Think
about it. Don’t you believe that
this is the truth?
Next question: what song is
sung by more people than any
other? I saw on television,
recently, that Tammy Wynette’s
“Stand By Your Man” was the
number one all-time country
music song. It is not the correct,
or truthful, answer on my test.
What about “Amazing Grace”
or “The Star Spangled Banner”
or “God Bless America?” My
answer is “Happy Birthday to
You.” What do you think? I
believe it is the truth. It is cer
tainly sung lots of times by lots
of people every day. I wonder
who wrote it and if his/her fam
very clear about keeping preda
tors and other dangerous crimi
nals behind bars.
Parole is a way to transition a
person back into society with
supervision, he explained. The
transitioning process of parole
provides a better chance at a
successful return to society.
Light said being a board mem
ber is a sobering task, even with
his 24 years of work in the field.
“Every day I am making deci
sions about someone’s free
dom,” he told me during a break
in the hearings. “The gravity of
the job is enormous.”
I can only imagine.
• • •
One thing the general public
may not be aware of, said
Heather Hedrick, a spokesper
son with the Board of Pardons
and Paroles, is a Web site where
they can learn about the Board,
its function and parolees.
The Web site is
nor people - are ours to keep for
ever, except in the memories
and the love that we share.
Jessie missed Mork a lot
especially a week or so later,
when her dog died. It wasn’t
unexpected, but that didn’t
make it easier. Pokey was old,
but who’s to say? Maybe he
missed Mork, too?
Life persists, even in loss; it
doesn't stop to let us to grieve,
especially the loss of an animal.
So Jessie kept busy going to
work and school, and hanging
out with my boy, who likes hav
ing her around, and his cat who
doesn't like anybody.
As weeks became months,
Jessie began to lose hope of see
ing Mork again. Sometimes
when you lose something you
love, it scares you spitless to
think about loving again. The
only sure cure for that is time.
Sunday, on a lunch break at
work, Jessie heard the SPCA
was hosting an "Off Site
THE HOUSTON HOME JOURNAL
ily gets royalties from its use. In
any event, I believe it is OK to
tell people that “Happy
Birthday To You” is the most
frequently sung song, don’t
you?
I am pretty confident about
the answers to my first three
questions: OK or okay, the
Queen in the deck of cards, and
“Happy Birthday To You.” But,
then on so many other things, I
don’t know the truth. Is coffee
good for you or bad for you?
What about eggs and milk? A
little wine or no wine or lots of
wine? They had weapons of
mass destruction or they didn’t
have any. Dig a hole, and
depending on the phase of the
moon, you will/will not have
enough dirt to refill the hole.
The bottom line to all of this is
that often it is difficult to know
what the truth is. But, when we
do know, we should speak the
truth, and when we don,t know,
perhaps we should try some
thing unusual, and just keep
our mouths shut.
www.pap.state.ga.us.
• • •
To Fran Peake: Your message
is much appreciated and treas
ured. Thank you!
• • •
It was announced during a
recent meeting of the Georgia
Agricultural and Exposition
Authority that apparently a
faulty meter caused some mis
takes in the gas billing for the
Georgia National Fairgrounds
and Agricenter.
When the mistake was discov
ered, officials realized the
GNFA still owed over SBO,OOO
on their gas bill.
The City of Perry (said to be
embarrassed by the affair) is
reportedly being generous to
the facility and allowing its
operators to pay the bill in
increments.
Now, how would you like to
find out you still owed that
much on last winter’s gas bill?
Adoption Clinic" in the mall,
and decided to take a look just
a quick "Aren't they adorable!"
kind of look, not a "Here's my 75
bucks to adopt one" inspection.
Next thing she knew, she was
laughing and crying and holding
"Seamus" a funny looking cat
with a head that was a bit too
big for its body whose real name
was Mork.
Sometimes, just when you
think hope is lost, it shows up
out of nowhere at the mall.
The only thing different about
Mork is a microchip implanted
in his back with a simple injec
tion that can be scanned by the
SPCA and veterinary offices
nationwide to identify him in
the unlikely event that he ever
again wanders off. It cost $25.
Jessie swears it's worth every
dime.
Sharon Randall can be e
mailed at srandall(a)monterey
herald.com.
