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♦ FRIDAY, JANUARY 21, 2005
i jHnustrm Home Y
(Life ijmmml
OPINION
Daniel F. Evans
President,
Editor and Publisher
Julie B. Evans Rex Gambill
Vice President Managing Editor
Foy S. Evans
Editor Emeritus
It's Almost Unbelievable
It has been conventional wisdom the past few years
that Houston County is growing at a rapid pace.
The county has been growing at a much more rapid
pace than we anticipated.
It is a blessing. And a curse.
A total of 1,655 building permits for new homes was
issued in Houston County - Warner Robins,
Centerville, Perry and unincorporated areas - during
2004.
It is an astounding pace of growth for Middle
Georgia and for Houston County.
The influx of 1,655 families into Houston County in
one year can have a big impact.
Many new families to shop in Houston County. Local
property taxes on the new homes. Substantial sales
tax revenue from spending by these families.
A lot of pluses.
There is some downside, but nothing that time will
not overcome.
Assuming that there is only one child for each new
home it means more than 1,600 new students will be
enrolled in Houston County schools. This is a shock
ing number of new students in one year.
Though no local property taxes will be collected
from owners of these new homes until next December,
the demand for school rooms and teachers for these
new students is immediate.
State funding for the students will lag a year behind,
too. This means that the state will not begin paying its
share for educating these children until the 2006-2007
school year. Nor will their presence in the school sys
tem be reflected in the allocation of funds for new
classrooms for almost two years.
Thousands of new residents in Houston County will
increase the stress on cities and the county to provide
infrastructure and other public services. The full
impact is difficult to predict.
We have managed so far to cope with growth and we
can do it again.
This is the most significant one-year growth our
county has ever dealt with. It is a challenge for the
present. Time will prove that the growth is healthy.
MENS ITEM: U<o. GOVERNMENT OFFERS NEW DIETARY aoiPeUMEft
Saddam's
Saddam Hussein’s hench
men are already casting
their votes in this month’s
Iraqi elections - with bombs,
kidnapping and murder as
their ballots.
This antidemocratic cam
paign has deep and dirty
pockets: billions skimmed
from Saddam’s extortion,
theft and smuggling
schemes. The illicit money
stash pays for terror and
civil war - blood money that
spills more blood.
Last September, I wrote a
column that argued: “The
Iraqi civil war started in
summer 2003, when a group
of hard-core Baath (and
Sunni-dominated) holdouts
decided their route to per
sonal survival - and possible
track back to power in
Baghdad - was relentlessly
savage violence.”
As the Jan. 30 election
approaches, the holdouts’
violence is intensifying - a
vicious crescendo of attacks
designed to break Iraqi will
and shatter American nerve.
henchmen doomed to fail in pre-election attacks
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Austin Bay
Military Affairs
Creators Syndicate
The Baath fascist reac
tionaries and Musab al-
Zarqawi’s Islamo-fascist
religious zealots seek to
deny the Iraqi people the
chance to build a nation
where the consent of the
governed creates legitimacy.
But these thugs are going
to fail. The Iraqi people are
going to deal the Middle
East’s (SET ITAL) ancien
regime (END ITAL) of
tyrant and terrorist a devas-
Who was Lucius Quintus Cincinattus Lamar?
Mother gave me a little
money for Christmas and I
used $45 of it to make a pur
chase from my local antique
store, Antiques From The
Shed. Actually, it was $45
plus tax (you know, Sonny
has to get his).
Frankly, what to do with
my “gift,” I do not know.
Still, I am rather proud of it.
Perhaps it will end up hang
ing it in one of my buildings
at the farm. It is not “of the
quality” to hang in my office
or at home, but I wanted it,
and I like to look at it even
though it is water stained on
the bottom.
How many of you know
who William Harris
Crawford was? What about
Josiah Meigs? And then
there is Lucius Quintus
Cincinattus Lamar (now
there is a name for you!).
And what about Rebecca
Latimer Felton? Tomochichi
and Tooanahowi? It’s not
getting much easier, is it?
What I have is a large
framed print entitled
“Portraits of Illustrious
Georgians” with the subtitle
“A series of paintings by
Lewis Crumley Gregg on
permanent exhibition in the
banking quarters of the
Trust Company of Georgia,
Atlanta.” Unfortunately, no
date.
There are 19 Georgians
St. Jude helped my son
Editor:
As a St. Jude parent, I
wanted to let you know of a
fund-raiser benefiting St.
Jude Children’s Research
Hospital, the St. Jude
Dream Home. My son,
Elliot, now 3 years old, was
diagnosed with pineoblas
toma, a brain tumor, at the
age of 2. I chose to take
Elliot to St. Jude because
our local pediatric neurosur
geon referred us to St. Jude
knowing it was the only
hope I had to save my child.
We spent nine months in
Memphis while Elliot
received chemotherapy and
radiation. Today, because of
tating political and psycho
logical defeat. Despite the
campaign of chaos and
intimidation, a recent poll in
Baghdad found 60 to 70 per
cent of the capital’s voters
intend to vote. Kurdish and
Iraqi Shia leaders predict a
good turnout in their
regions. Americans can
barely manage a 50 percent
voter turnout, and here,
nobody lobs mortar rounds
at the electorate.
The new Iraqi govern
ment will confront a host of
post-election security chal
lenges, chief among them
rebuilding the Iraqi military.
The Interim Iraqi
Government (IIG) says it
now has 11 divisions with
60,000 troops and intends to
have 100,000 soldiers by the
end of 2005. Raw numbers
are misleading - at the
moment, only a handful of
battalions are trained and
reliable. Building an effec
tive army takes years. Until
Iraq can assure its own
internal and external
' -J ffj* v 4
. >jk-
Larry Walker
Columnist
lwalker@whghc.com
depicted on the print and
include some better-knowns
such as Gen. James Edward
Oglethorpe, Rev. John
Wesley, Sidney Lanier, Joel
Chandler Harris, Alexander
Stephens and Eli Whitney.
Obviously, my print is very
old. Whether 50 years or 75
years or what I do not know.
But, I know it is old - lest it
include more recent and
perhaps even more
“Illustrious” Georgians.
Who would be included on
a current print of illustrious
Georgians and how many of
Mr. Gregg’s selectees would
still make the list?
Intriguing question for
Georgia history buffs, isn’t
it? Incidentally, Webster
defines “illustrious” as
“notably or brilliantly out
standing because of dignity
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
St. Jude he is cancer free.
We are returning to the hos
pital on Jan. 31 for a check
up and hope to return with
more good news.
St. Jude covers all costs
not covered by insurance for
medical treatment, regard
less of the families’ financial
status. Our family has never
received a bill from St. Jude
because of events like the St.
Jude Dream Home. They
allow parents to focus on
taking care of their children,
not finances.
Moon Family Properties
built The St. Jude Dream
Home, in Lizella. One lucky
winner will win a four-bed
room, two-and-one-half
bath home valued at
$310,000. In addition to the
home, 11 other prizes will be
awarded, valued at over
SI,OOO. One in 500 people
will win a prize.
All of the proceeds benefit
St. Jude Children’s
Research Hospital. Your
SIOO goes directly to sup
port the costly efforts of the
doctors and researchers at
St. Jude who are searching
for the cure for brain
tumors, leukemia, sickle cell
and many other childhood
diseases. They treat thou
sands of patients world wide
and have treated over 400
Send your Letters to the Editor to:
The Houston Home journal
P.O. Box 1910 • Perry, Ga 31069 or
Email: hhj@evansnewspapers.com
defense, coalition forces will
remain close at hand.
Because money is the
spine of the holdouts’ civil
war, the IIG has made recov
ering Saddam’s cash a high
priority. There are indica
tions that the IIG and the
coalition have seriously
damaged the former
regime’s financial network.
In December, the IIG arrest
ed Izzi-din Mohammad
Hassan al-Majid. Al-Majid is
a former Republican Guard
officer, a distant cousin of
Saddam and the nephew of
the notorious Ali Hassan al-
Majid (Chemical Ali). The
IIG reported that al-Majid,
through a thicket of front
companies based in Europe
and the Middle East, con
trolled from $2 billion to $7
billion stolen by elements of
the former regime to fund
the current terrorist opera
tions in Iraq. The IIG also
said that al-Majid was in
contact with three terror
groups: Ansar al-Sunna,
Mohammed’s Army and the
or achievements or actions.”
Does that make it any easi
er?
Well, we’ve had two Nobel
Peace Prize winners, one
being a former president of
the United States. Wouldn’t
Mr. Carter and Dr. King
have to be included? What
about Ted Turner? You say,
“no,” but the man has been
a pioneer and has had
impact. And there is Sen.
Richard Russell, a giant in
the United States Senate,
but is his stature increasing
or waning? Then, there is
our own Sam Nunn. Don’t
be surprised if he is a Nobel
Peace Prize winner in the
future. And what about one
of our many outstanding
entertainers or sports
heroes? Ray Charles, Bobby
Jones and Ty Cobb come to
mind.
As to Mr. Gregg’s folks,
perhaps Gen. Oglethorpe
and John Wesley would still
make the cut. And there is
Eli Whitney, but the cotton
gin doesn’t seem to be as
important as it used to be.
I’ll wager that only two or
three of his 19 would still be
included. Of course, all of
this is dependent on who
makes the selections.
I notice that the print says
that the exhibition is on
“permanent” display at
Trust Company of Georgia
patients from right here in
Georgia, just like Elliot.
' Tickets are SIOO and can
be reserved by calling 1-800-
736-2415, logging on to
www.stjudedreamhome.org
or stopping by your local
BB&T branch. In support
ing the St. Jude Dream
Home, you can keep the
dream of St. Jude’s founder
Danny Thomas alive, that
“No child should die in the
dawn of life.”
Melissa Lacefield
Perry
The other side of Conley
Editor:
This letter is regarding
the two articles that Mr.
(Don) Moncrief has written
about Coach (Chuck) Conley
and Mr. (Darryl) Albritton.
Evidently Mr. Moncrief
only knows one side of
Coach Conley. As parent of a
former Perry High School
student who got to see the
other side of Coach Conley,
we would like to applaud
what Mr. Albritton did.
Coach Conley made our
son’s senior year anything
but enjoyable. If you ever
get on his bad side or if you
do not go by his every wish,
Islamic Resistance Army.
It’s an open secret that
the IIG believes Saddam’s
surviving cronies have
financial resources stashed
throughout the Middle East.
Last summer, the Iraqi gov
ernment suggested Syria
was “harboring” former
members of Saddam’s
regime. While Syria’s gov
ernment vehemently denies
this accusation, its denials
defy common sense. Perhaps
the Syrian government itself
isn’t directly involved, but
Iraqi and Syrian Baathists
have long-term personal
connections. At a minimum,
Saddam’s money would pay
for safe houses protected by
Syrian criminal syndicates.
If al-Majid confirms the
alleged Syrian connections,
expect more arrests as
Damascus seeks to placate
Baghdad and Washington by
providing new intelligence
about the cross-border
movements of “former
regime” personnel.
The search for Saddam’s
THE HOUSTON HOME JOURNAL
in Atlanta. We know that’s
not so. Actually, nothing is
permanent, is it? Not even
the place of “Great
Georgians” on a list. Time
and new people will replace
even the greatest. This was
brought home to me when
viewing the many portraits
hanging in the State
Capitol. I’d wager that very
few Georgians can identify
many of those selected at
one time by someone as
being “illustrious.”
William Harris Crawford
was United States treasurer
and ambassador to the
Court of Napoleon. Josiah
Meigs was the first presi
dent of the University of
Georgia. Lucius Quintus
Cincinattus Lamar was a
justice on the United States
Supreme Court. Rebecca
Latimer Felton was, at the
time of the print, the only
woman to become a United
States senator. Tomochichi
was chief of the Yamacraw
Indians and friend of
Oglethorpe’s colonists, and
Tooanahowi was his
nephew.
Do you want to know who
all the 19 are and what they
were “illustrious” for? Well,
if so, you’ll just have to come
out to my farm and look for
yourself. I hope you are
interested. I’ll look forward
to seeing you.
he can make your year diffi
cult. There are a lot of par
ents out there that would
agree with us. Our son’s
whole senior year was horri
ble. We are talking about a
child that all he had to take
his senior year was senior
English to graduate. After
his and our episode with
your so-understanding-and-
Christian Coach Conley, we
had to make him go to
school because he knew that
the coaches and teachers
were on his back per Coach
Conley’s orders.
He was also kicked off a
sporting team his senior
year because of Coach
Conley. In the words of the
coach that kicked him off, I
have to do this to keep my
job. So you see there are
many parents and students
who applauded what Mr.
Albritton did. I just wish he
had been principal the year
my son was a senior and had
let Coach Conley go that
year. My son is doing great
at college now after a whole
year of having to get his self
esteem built back up.
Thank you, Mr. Albritton,
from the bottoms of our
hearts.
Mr. and Mrs. Keith
Padgett
billions merges with an
international squeeze on A 1
Qaeda’s financial assets.
Banks - particularly banks
in the Persian Gulf region -
have come under careful
scrutiny. Several question
able “Islamic charities” in
the U.S. and Europe were
shut down after investiga
tors linked them to terror
ists. The U.S. has also
cracked down on “non
structured modes of terror
financing.” Improved intelli
gence information and bet
ter international police
cooperation have made
“informal money transfer
operations” by individuals
and small businesses more
difficult.
If the arrest of al-Majid
leads to the recovery of
Saddam’s stolen billions, it
will be a major step toward
victory by the Iraqi govern
ment.
To find out more about
Austin Bay, visit the
Creators Syndicate Web page
at www.creators.com.