Newspaper Page Text
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THURSDAY, APRIL 8, 2004
If Houetmi 3Honu» If
(LUje .ilmmtal
OPINION ~
Daniel F. Evans
President,
Editor and Publisher
Julie B. Evans Rex Gambill
Vice President Managing Editor
Foy S. Evans
Editor Emeritus
Betting Started hi Pre-K
Most parents want the best for their chil
dren. Among things they want is to get their
4-year-olds into Pre-K at school.
Many parents went through a lot this week
to get their children enrolled in Houston
County. Some spent many hours waiting in
line to register their children.
Pre-K is a full-day program. It is a full-year
- 180 days - program. You can understand
why parents are anxious to get their children
enrolled.
The program is funded by the Georgia
Lottery. In the giddy days when the lottery
was bringing in more money than was needed
to fund HOPE scholarships the legislature
looked for more ways to spend the money.
Pre-K was one of the ways.
In the intervening years the number of chil
dren for whom Pre-K is being sought has
multiplied. So has the number of students
seeking HOPE scholarships. The lottery has
not been keeping up with the financial
demands of all the ways the legislature decid
ed to spend the money.
So the number of Pre-K slots is limited.
Statewide and in Houston County. Some 4-
year-olds will get in. Some won’t.
Pre-K gives youngsters a head start, prepar
ing them for the rigors of challenges ahead in
the schools.
For some children it means being ready to
start in the first grade. Some parents give
time and attention to their children and they
could get by without this pre-kindergarten
training. Unfortunately, many parents do not
prepare their children for school and they are
behind the day they start to school. These
children would be lost without Pre-K. They
might never catch up.
We won’t get into the discussion of whether
children should be permitted to be children
and not placed in a formal educational setting
so early. There probably are arguments on
both sides.
The significant thing is that parents believe
it is worth the effort to stand in line for many
hours to get their children enrolled. We com
mend them for their perseverance.
HOW TO SUBMIT LETTERS
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should not exceed 250 words and must include the writer's
name, address and telephone number. All letters printed in
The Home Journal will appear with the wnter's name and
hometown - we do not publish anonymous letters. The news
paper reserves the right to edit or reject letters for reasons of
grammar, punctuation, taste and brevity. Letter wnters are
asked to submit no more than one letter per person per week.
We cannot guarantee that a letter will be printed on a specific
date.
The Home Journal prefers that letters be typed.
Letters to the editor are published in the order they
are received as space permits. A Journal employ
ee will call to venfy the author of each letter. Uj
There are three ways to submit a letter Jt]
to the editor: E-mail it to
hhj@evansnewspapers.com, mail it to v j J
The Houston Home Journal at P.O. Box I J
1910, Perry, GA 31069, or drop it off at one
of our two convenient locations - 1210 J /
Washington St. in Perry, or 2060 Watson / /
Btvd. in Warner Robins - between 8a m. fy
and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. u
Relglon must to
restored to public We
Editor:
I have a lot of affection for
the Houston Home Journal
but that affection was sorely
tested on
April 6. That’s the day
that a quarter of a page was
wasted on the rantingß and
ravings of Walter Huckeba.
His column sounded like an
angry diatribe more full of
emotion than fact. He is
clearly anti-Jesus. I said this
because as his first para
graph states, in Georgia God
pertains to Jesus Christ.
I think the question we
need to ask, after years of
societal decay because of
non-Christian beliefs, is
what’s wrong with Jesus? I
would like Huckeba to
answer this question: Which
group has produced more
benefit to society
Christians or the KKK?
Then I would ask him which
group has more right to
speak and hand out leaflets
at City Hall? I think I know
what he would say. In one
respect, his thoughts are
about the same as Saddam
Hussein’s and Osama Bin
Laden's. They were against
Christ having a place in gov
ernment also.
Huckeba says “Sixty years
ago, religion played a very
Throw the book at them
THE UNIVERSITY of
Connecticut basketball team
won the national champi
onship Monday. It was a
night for celebration.
Instead of celebrating,
they went on a rampage.
Students (?) of UConn
turned over and burned
cars, broke store windows
and carried out a first class
example of hoodlumism.
Students? Maybe so. But
hardly the kind of students
you would admire.
This sort of thing is going
on too often in our country.
An athletic team wins a
national championship and
supporters go on a tear and
do great damage and loot
businesses.
First-class fun in the
name of celebrating.
Police usually arrest some
of the hoodlums. They
arrested 34 the night of the
UConn celebration. They’ll
probably get a slap on the
wrist and pay a small fine.
Then go free.
They deserve to be thrown
in jail and kept there for a
long time. People couldn’t
get away with that sort of
thing not many years ago.
They shouldn’t today. Arrest
them. Throw away the key
long enough for them to
The Recli
Many women are calling it
The Recline of Civilization.
Its introduction into the
American homes will almost
certainly guarantee that the
lawn will not get mowed on
a timely basis and the trash
in the kitchen will continue
to overflow
Men all across this great
country are slobbering
uncontrollably as they
dream of stretching out in
the "Oasis," the ultimate
recliner released by La-Z -
Boy.
This high-tech piece of
furniture makes it possible
for an experienced couch
potato to spend the entire
day in the recliner without
ever having to get up, except
for an occasional sprint to
the bathroom. Those jaunts
to the restroom are the only
physical activity many hard
core sports fans get during
the weekend.
To start with, the Oasis
has a built in thermo-elec
tric cooling unit in which
cold beverages of your
choice can be stored That’s
right - When you get thirsty,
long arduous journeys to the
family refrigerator are no
longer necessary.
Just flip up the padded
arm of your La-Z-Boy, dig
out a refreshing drink, and
quench your thirst without
ever getting up off your rear
end. The built in cooler will
store up to six 12-ounce cans
and it comes complete with
a built-in cup holder.
But wait, that’s not all.
The other arm of the chair
also has an important fea
ture - a telephone. Why?
Important pizza deliveries
can be placed and armchair
quarterbacking can be dis
cussed with other La-Z-Boy
“athletes” without ever
removing your rear end
from the comfy cushions of
UTTERS TO THE BUTOR
little part in public educa
tion.” I’m only 48 so I don’t
know if he’s right or not. I
do know, from what I’ve
read and seen on old TV
shows, it must have played
some part. I also remember
daily devotionals as late as
1969 and in the ’9os heard a
group at Westside
Elementary singing “Down
By The Riverside.” It seems
to me that the removal of
religion from schools and
from life in general, not by
choice as much as by legal
flat, society has gotten
worse.
Harry Stewart
Warner Robins
Foy Evans
Columnist
foye vans 19@cox. net
realize they can’t get away
with it.
Until some jurisdiction
really gets tough it will con
tinue over and over.
At the present the city
that has the losing team in
these championships is the
lucky one. Nobody tries to
destroy it in the name of
school spirit.
• • •
I KEEP thinking about
the 98-year-old man who
still goes to work every day
as a bus dispatcher in New
York. When asked the secret
of his longevity, he said, “I
don’t smoke. I don’t drink.
And I don’t fool with those
credit cards.”
• • •
ne of Civil
y- Hi •» * "fj■
Steve Tcsseniar
Columnist
wmert >n*torm<Paol.cotn
this recliner.
And it is not just an ordi
nary phone. No way! It
includes a Caller ID so that
unwanted phone calls do not
interrupt your game. Just
think - you'll never have to
carry on a meaningless con
versation again with your
mother-in-law during your
/-\ i^TOO^l
( MUCH TV ( tmt |
' KTJ causes , all /
TCWATTENTBN \ AROIIT? / .
SSSI. S9ij
Norris v. Pearsall,
Round 2
Editor:
In reference to Jim
Pearsall’s letter to you on
Tuesday, claiming that my
earlier letter to you was
“rambling claptrap,” there
he goes again using my orig
inal words as his own.
However, I’m sure everyone
noticed that he couldn’t
refute nor dispute a single
statement I made in it. Isn't
it amazing that all he could
rebut was the length of it?
Matter of fact, even
Democrats wrote that they
were amazed at the startling
revelations I revealed. So he
WHILE I have unbridled
sympathy for families who
lost loved ones in the 9/11
terrorist attack, I have
begun to lose patience with
the greed being demonstrat
ed by many of them. They
seem to never miss an
opportunity to claim they
have not been adequately
compensated (they have
received an average of more
than $1.5 million each) for
their losses. Nothing, in my
opinion, can replace those
who died in the twin towers
tragedy, but what we are
seeing after two years does
n’t look good.
• • •
TWO COMMENTS con
cerning bus service. First,
there may be a lot of smoke
concerning city bus service
in Warner Robins, but it
won’t happen. City officials
did try to work something
out with a federally financed
social organization, but they
weren’t interested. A few
days ago I reported that
Mayor Donald Walker
believes that Macon’s mayor
will find the federal money
for a bus service between
Macon and Warner Robins.
He may. But Warner Robins
city officials, faced with
many important and expen
favorite sports event.
And La-Z-Boy realizes
how tense men can get while
waiting for the opening
kickoff. Muscles can get
tight and we need a way to
loosen up before the big
game. The revolutionary
“Oasis” comes complete
with a 10-motor massage
and heat system that will
soothe the savage soul and
prevent muscle cramps.
After all - it’s not easy
being a couch potato. Sure,
they're easy targets. They
sit t here all weekend long, a
faraway look in their eyes,
onion dip on their chins.
An occasional belch and
periodic screaming at the
television are the only signs
that family members can
rely on to check for signs of
life. Maybe heart monitors
should be added as an
attachment to the recliner.
strikes out at the messenger
again. In regards to the
length of my letter, I’m sure
that editors make
allowances for writers who
have something factual to
say to their readers, in com
parison to those who sound
like they’re in an echo
chamber Yes, I try to hold
my verbalizing to the mini
mum, and I could easily
deny myself the pleusure of
writing at all, but it would
be too much of a shame to
deny people like Pearsall the
pleasure of reading my
words. So, I suppose that I’ll
just have to keep submitting
to your “dreary editorial
page," as he described it.
THE HOUSTON HOME JOURNAL
sive programs that must be
addressed, will not obligate
the city to the ongoing loss
es a bus line would entail.
• • •
HERE ARE some urgent
things that must be dealt
with in the next few years,
according to Warner Robins
Councilman Terry Horton:
Even the present road work
going on all around us still
will not alleviate traffic
problems that future growth
will bring. He sees the need
for a SPLOST when the
present one expires, for
more road and Btreet proj
ects. He also believes that
the city is facing a crisis in
recreation and new and bet
ter facilities should not be
ignored much longer.
• • •
ISN’T IT strange that
when people commit
heinous crimes they plead
insanity when it is obvious
they are not? This is a plea
that does not make sense,
anyway. Even if a person is
mentally unbalanced when
committing murder or some
other serious crime they
should be incarcerated, not
given brief hospitalization
and then turned loose on the
community for an opportu
nity to do it again.
ization
More and more wives are
having difficulty determin
ing if their husbands have a
pulse on the weekends.
My prediction is this -
more and more funeral
homes will start digging
holes in the shape of reclin
ers. It will be easier to spend
the money on expensive
recliners knowing that it
will double as a casket.
Some of you are probably
saying, “That is so cruel!” I
would respond by telling you
to calm down because your
husband will not mind going
six feet under with his
beloved recliner.
Just make sure that the
caller ID still works. If his
mother-in-law calls, he still
should have the right not to
answer the phone.
Steve Tesseniar is princi
pal of Russell Elementary
School. His column appears
every Thursday.
Russ Norris
Warner Robins
Mayor likes
Powell’s columns
Editor:
I appreciate your running
the articles written by Billy
Powell. At a recent church
meeting it was mentioned
by several in the room how
much they eryoy what he
writes, especially when it
has to do with religion.
Noah’s Ark was outstand
ing.
Mayor James Wo trail
Perry