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♦ TUESDAY, APRIL 6, 2004
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~ OPINION
Daniel F. Evans
President,
Editor and Publisher
Julie B. Evans
Vice President
Ray Home (Hie (H Best
Focus has been placed on Ray Horne recent
ly because Gov. Sonny Perdue appointed him
to Georgia’s Council for the Arts.
The appointment of Horne is a perfect fit.
He guided Northside High School students to
numerous regional and state championships
with plays and musicals of almost Broadway
quality.
In more than 40 years teaching at Northside
he earned recognition as being the best in his
field in the state of Georgia.
Hundreds of students came under his influ
ence and they graduated better for it. He was
a strict disciplinarian and he tempered it with
sincere and heartfelt concern for every stu
dent he touched.
We’re sure Horne will take his new appoint
ment as seriously as he did his work at
Northside. Gov. Perdue couldn’t have made a
better appointment to the Georgia Council for
the Arts.
Are They Shorter Or Longer?
Well, we’re now on daylight-saving time and
probably had trouble getting to work on time
yesterday.
Some people say the days are “longer” when
we change to daylight-saving time, but, of
course, it is an illusion.
Certainly, one thing is true. Daylight comes
later. And more children must stand by the
side of the road in the dark as they wait for
their school buses.
Advocates are delighted that dark comes at
a later hour each evening. Others don’t like
darkness hanging around later. We just won
der why we can’t stick to one kind of time
year round, instead of going through the
annoying changes each spring and fall.
Maybe someone has an answer.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
'Rambling claptrap'
Editor:
In a recent instruction to
letter writers, you advised
that submissions should not
exceed 250 words. By quick
estimate, Russ Norris’
recent rambling claptrap
comes in at over 900 words.
Is printing it retribution
for my criticism of your edi
Send your Letters to the Editor to:
The Houston Home journal
P.O. Box 1910 • Perry, Ga 31069 or
Email: hhj@evansnewspapers.com
'Under God' has
By Walter Huckoba
HHJ Guest Columnist
On March 23, a lengthy
piece of religious propagan
da was authored by a con
tributing editor and pub
lished in a local paper refer
enced the words “under
God.” I say propaganda
because apparently the arti
cle’s intent was to propagate
the Christian faith. I hear
arguments frequently that
the word God means any
god, but we know that, in
Georgia as well as all ether
states, it pertains to the
Judeo-Christian god only,
and even then, primarily the
Christian God.
“Under God” was put into
the pledge in 1954 by a para
noid Congress at the urging
of the late Sen. Joe
McCarthy. They were put
into the pledge purely as a
Rex Gambill
Managing Editor
Foy S. Evans
Editor Emeritus
torial on Spain or do you
imagine the quality of his
writing good enough to
merit approximately 20 col
umn inches on your other
wise dreary editorial page?
Jim Pearsall
Centerville
(Editor’s note: Norns' let
ter was 660 words in
length.)
religious statement to unify
Americans against the
dreaded Russian communist
doctrine. If the same thing
were tried today, it would
probably fail. To take it out
of the pledge now, Congress
would be going against the
vocal religious enthusiasts
whose votes they need to
stay at the public trough. It
is unfortunate that the
Congress lacks the strength
of character to rectify the
unreasoned action taken in
1954.
References to God are
everywhere. Most are OK.
It’s just the ones where a
person has to pledge his or
her allegiance, swear an
oath or where authoritative
tenets that support religious
dogmas are posted in gov
ernment places. These
tenets are posted purely for
Two nurses shouldn't be forgotten
PUBLICITY about
destruction of Warner
Robins’ first clinic on N.
Davis Drive overlooked two
very important people. They
are the nurses who joined
with Drs. Talbert and
McEver to open the clinic.
The nurses are Hazel
Colson, who still puts in
long hours working in her
profession with Hospice of
Houston County, and Gerry
Wall. The four of them
brought much-needed med
ical care to the small com
munity in the mid-Fifties,
providing family medicine
where many babies were
born and important surgery
was performed. Not long
after the clinic opened they
were joined by Dr. Dan
Callahan.
• • •
SOME KIND of public
transportation in this area
may be closer than you
think. Mayor Donald Walker
told members of WRING
(the Warner Robins
Industry Now Group) that
he and Mayor C. Jack Ellis
of Macon have been in seri
ous talks about the possibil
ity of bus service from
Macon to Robins Air Force
Stopping the cycle of domestic violence
Domestic violence cases
are one of the hardest to
prove for a myriad of rea
sons. One of the most tragic
reasons is that from the
time of the offense to the
time of trial, which can be
many months, the victim
has had a change of heart
and no longer wants her
abuser to be punished The
reasons are often financial,
or emotional (primarily for
the children) or even reli
gious, but whatever the rea
son, the victim often
changes her mind about
prosecution.
So the victim, being
caught between a rock and a
hard place, will tend to say
that the officer didn't write
down her statement right,
or that the officer is exag
gerating what she said, or
that it never happened at
all. She knows that she
looks a little foolish, but the
defendant has convinced her
that the only way he can get
off of the charge is for her to
change her story on the
stand.
But what of her prior
statement? The one that she
gave the cops the night of
the incident? Georgia law
allows that statement to
come into evidence as “res
gestae” which is derived
from Latin and stands for
“The facts that are admissi
ble in evidence as the sur
rounding circumstances of
the event to be proved.”
American Heritage
Dictionary (2000). What res
gestae generally means is
that if something happened
during the event, or closely
related in time to the event,
it can be admitted as it
tends to prove the event.
In White v. State,
A03A1958 91/9/04), 04
no place in pledge of allegiance
religious purposes as a sub
tle, subliminal warning.
They serve no other pur
pose. The art outside and
within the government
buildings is just that - art. If
the Supreme Court or
Congress wants to start
their proceedings by singing
a song, a belly dance or with
a plea to God, that’s fine;
just as long as it remains
feel-good medicine for them.
It is not the purpose of
those who oppose the post
ing of the commandants or
the “under God” words in
the pledge to deny
God to anybody, whether
they are atheists, Hindu,
Pagans, or just people that
are not comfortable pledging
allegiance to a god. It is the
ones who have a desire to
burden others with their
beliefs that need to be held
wit
Foy Evans
Columnist
foyevansl 9©cox.net
Base. “With his connec
tions,” Mayor Walker has
been quoted as saying,
“Mayor Ellis will get this
thing done.” At the heart of
it is some federal money
that is available. Federal
money always is enticing. A
nuyor concern for Mayor
Walker should be expenses
the city of Warner Robins
will have to pay year in and
year out after the federal
grant is spent.
• • •
AMUSING: An item in
The Atlanta Journal-
Constitution revealed that a
street peddler is selling
John Kerry flip-flops.
Bf '*'**s;
Kelly Burke
District Attorney
dist att v 4) louttonda orjj
FCDR 333, 2004 Ga. App.
Lexis 27, the defendant’s
convictions for batten' and
K —Jt zoom
*l hate to see the session end. It's easier to keep
an eye on the politicians when they're all in a crowd!"
in check.
It would be discomforting
for a tax-paying citizen that
is not Christian or does not
acknowledge the God of the
Bible, to have to go into a
court within which the Ten
Commandments are dis
played. Or to have their chil
dren attend a school where
the pledge, with the two
words in it, is recited on a
daily basis. Christians would
be would be intimidated if
asked to put their hand on
the Koran and swear an
oath to Allah just as those
that are not Christians are
intimidated when told to put
their hand on the bible and
swear an oath to God.
There is no denying that
people of the Christian faith
are the majority in America,
but to say they should have
• • •
COUNTY commission
chairman Ned Sanders says
he still has hopes that
Houston County will not be
grouped in with Bibb
County when the federal
government says which
counties are failing to meet
environmental standards.
He says Houston County
does not have a problem and
it would be unfair to group
Houston with Bibb, which
does have a problem.
Houston County has its own
MSA (Metropolitan
Statistical Area) but EPA
officials look at environmen
tal issues from a different
perspective.
• • •
DO THE new age require
ments for city of Warner
Robins elected officials pre
clude Councilman Matt
Stone from opposing Mayor
Donald Walker in the next
election because of his age?
• • •
AT LEAST three people
with political ambitions
have considered opposing
Walker next year. Two of
them have decided against
it. The third does not live in
the city limits.
obstruction were affirmed
The appellate court held
that the trial court did not
err in admitting victim’s
written statement and offi
cer’s testimony regarding
victim’s oral statements
under the res gestae excep
tion to the hearsay rule.
First, the statements were
relevant and made without
premeditation. Second, the
victim was visibly shaken
and had red marks on her
neck when she told the offi
cer that the defendant
pushed her down and
threatened her. And finally,
she gave her written state
ment about 30 minutes after
the right to tell the rest of
the people what to believe
and what to do is counter to
the promise set forth in the
First Amendment.
In the March 16 issue,
Sen. Ross Tolleson proudly
proclaimed the passing of
Senate Resolution 786
encouraging the display of
the Ten Commandments by
local governments and the
state of Georgia.
My question is why the
Ten Commandments? Only
three have any legal stand
ing in America. These are
don’t murder, don’t steal,
and don’t commit perjury.
His statement saying the
Ten Commandments are
woven into our laws and
lives is ridiculous; he should
know better than that. Only
three are of any importance
THE HOUSTON HOME JOURNAL
• • •
LAST YEAR Mayor
Walker’s friends feared that
he would not seek re-elec
tion because of his health.
He has put this deterrent
behind him and his early
announcement that he will
be a candidate apparently is
his way of getting the word
out that he is ready for a
vigorous campaign.
• • •
I CAN’T let the retire
ment of Larry Walker from
the Georgia legislature pass
without putting in my two
cents worth. During the
eight years that I served as
Mayor of Warner Robins,
Larry worked hand in hand
with Rep. Sonny Watson to
get important help from the
state. It is impossible to
overstate how much he
helped Warner Robins,
though we were not in his
district, during those years.
Most people think of him as
being a “Perry legislator,”
but he always has put him
self on the line for anything
that would benefit Warner
Robins and all of Houston
County.
police arrived at her apart
ment. For these reasons, her
statement was admitted to
prove the defendant’s guilt.
It is still tragic to see the
cycle of violence that occurs
within domestic violence
cases, however it is impor
tant for the public to know
that police and prosecutors
will do everything legally
within our power to stop
that cycle of violence. This
case is just another tool in
that fight.
Kelly Burke is Houston
County's district attorney.
He can be reached at (478)
218-4810 or by e-mail at dis
tatty@houstonda.org.
and were around long before
the professional clergy and
politicians started exploiting
the aura associated with the
commandments.
Professional politicians and
clergy will extol just about
anything they think will
sway the vote or power in
their favor. Some have com
mented that the lack of reli
gious activities in schools is
the root cause of the prob
lems in America. Sixty years
ago, religion played a very
little part in public educa
tion and most of today’s
problems were unheard of
then.
Just as government has no
place in religion, religion
has no place in government.
That’s the way it should be.
Walter Huckeba is a resi
dent of Perry.