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♦ WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 26, 2005
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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
Just Dues For Carpenter
We are happy to see that the Houston County
Board of Education has given Superintendent
Danny Carpenter a raise that he certainly
deserves.
Carpenter accepted the job at substantially less
than his predecessor was receiving. It didn’t seem
quite fair at the time.
Being dedicated to the Houston County School
System and recognizing the need for healing at a
time when there was discord and distrust within
the system, he accepted the job at the lesser
salary.
It never has been about money, in Carpenter’s
case.
It has been something like miraculous the way
the easy going - yet tough - Carpenter has put oil
on turbulent waters and turned the school system
into a smooth working machine.
He gets high grades from everyone - school
board, parents, teachers, the public. And especial
ly from us.
Carpenter has signed on for another two years
and that is good news at a time when school
enrollment is growing so fast that it is putting a
strain on everyone. There are plenty of challenges
ahead for Carpenter, but, fortunately, his rela
tionship with the school board is excellent and
they are working together harmoniously.
All in all, it is our opinion that our school sys
tem is in very good hands - superintendent and
school board - that are capable of dealing with
growth of unprecedented proportions.
Getting Ready For Growth
Perry is beginning to tighten up regulations
concerning new businesses, signs, building speci
fications, etc. in an effort to get ahead of new
growth that is sure to come.
The planning commission has made some seri
ous recommendations to the mayor and city coun
cil, which will give the city a grip on things as new
businesses come and older ones seek to improve
their facilities.
It is a wise move. It is better to get ahead of the
curve with regulations that will apply to everyone
than to play catch up after the horse is out of the
barn.
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"Boy, I'm glad to see lawmakers finally
dealing with something serious for a change!"
Bush's second term will be busy next four years
It was a cold day in
January when President
George W. Bush took the
oath of office and was sworn
in by Chief Justice William
Rehnquist at high noon on
the west front of the U.S.
Capitol. Despite the very
cold day, President Bush
delivered a bold inaugural
address about hope, liberty,
freedom and democracy that
no doubt warmed the hearts
of so many Americans and
the hearts of people from
around the world.
President Bush made it
clear he has a very aggres
sive vision for his second
term. And I look forward to
working with the president
j I
At # jifw.
Saxby Chambliss
U.S. Senator
R-Georgia
and my colleagues in the
Congress to both strengthen
many of our domestic pro-
Getting ready to watch a man die
It all began with a simple
request.
Gordon Van Mol, the
owner of the radio station
where I work, asked if I
would consider being an offi
cial media representative to
Tuesday’s planned execu
tion of Timothy Carr. Those
of you following the news
might recognize Carr as the
convicted killer of a 17-year
old Warner Robins teenager,
Keith Young, back in 1982.
Now, 12 years after a
Monroe County jury first
passed sentence in the case,
the state was ready to carry
out the order which would
make Carr the 14th death
row inmate to die by lethal
injection in Georgia. After
mulling it over for half a day,
I agreed to go. Not surpris
ingly, almost immediately I
began getting questioned by
friends and family as to why
I made that choice. Co-work
ers said they would have
refused. Loved ones won
dered what impact the event
would have on me personal
ly. And still the questioned
was repeated again and
again ... why do you want to
drive two hours and spend
five hours to witness an exe
cution? Simple, earnest
questions, with an equally
simple reply.
I have no idea.
It’s not that I particularly
want to watch a person die.
I’m proud to say (as I write
this the day before the
Shelter is temporary; but 25 years
Tomorrow, if I am lucky,
some men will show up at
my door and start ripping
the roof off my house.
I can hardly wait.
For weeks now, I've been
on a waiting list to have my
roof replaced. It started
leaking a while back. Last
year, maybe. Or the year
before. I forget exactly
when.
One night there was a big
storm that blew some shin
gles off the roof. And the
next day there was a bulge
in the ceiling of the upstairs
bedroom. After that, every
time it rained, the bulge got
a little bigger until finally, it
started to drip.
This was not a good thing.
I don't know much about
roofs, but I knew it was a
goner. I was going to take
care of it right away, I swear,
but then it stopped raining.
And I forgot.
It wasn't my fault, really. I
grams and continue our
steadfast efforts to win the
war on terrorism.
There is certainly much to
do. For example, Congress
and the president must con
tinue to reform and improve
our intelligence community
so that we can win the war
on terror. Reforms must also
be made to both how our
intelligence community col
lects human intelligence and
shares the information
across our intelligence com
munity.
Additionally, we must
ensure that the new
National Intelligence
Director has one point of
contact with the
Joe Bishop
Columnist
joe@wnng.mgacoxmail.com
event) I’ve never seen the
life of individual taken, for
whatever reason. That will
all change in a day. Those
who often confront death in
their line of work, combat
soldiers and police officers,
say its a humbling, awe
somely profound experience.
I trust their word and their
judgment. I feel I’ll walk
away from the witness
chamber a different person.
Whether that’s a good thing
or a bad thing remains very
much up in the air.
So why go? I could say
that my job as a reporter
demands it, that the people
how might have an interest
in the serving of justice in
this case have a right to hear
what happens. And that, of
course, is partially correct.
We live in a relatively free
society, which depends on a
relatively free flow of infor
Sharon Randall
Columnist
Scripps Howard News Service
blame California. In the
South, where I grew up, you
can't forget a leaky roof for
long, because it never stops
raining. Sure, the rain
might let up for an hour or
so, but it will come right
back with a vengeance.
On the Monterey
Peninsula, where my chil
dren grew up, we prefer to
get our rain all at once in
January or February, usual
ly the week of the AT&T
Golf Tournament. That way,
we can spend the rest of the
year thinking about far
more interesting things
than getting a roof replaced.
Until it starts raining again.
Then you'd be amazed at
how interesting a roof can
suddenly become.
I should've had it replaced
back in the summer, the dry
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Department of Defense,
instead of the current eight.
Our military is the largest
collector and user of intelli
gence and it is simply com
mon sense to ensure the
new National Intelligence
Director has one point of
contact with the military.
Doing so will help ensure
our commander in chief can
have access to the most
timely and accurate intelli
gence, but also that the
same information can get
into the hands of our troops
on the ground.
The current federal tax
code is ridiculously burden
some and complicated.
That’s why the Congress
mation to a relatively well
informed public. But to rely
on that logic as a sole excuse
to go to an execution is lean
ing on a broken crutch.
There, will be other
reporters to cover the event,
after all. I personally do not
have to go.
To be honest, curiosity
plays a part - it is, after all,
an opportunity most people
will never get and a part
deep down wants to know
what it’s like. Perhaps it’s
an intellectual exercise, a
chance to learn about a pro
cedure cloaked in personal
ignorance. But even more
importantly, at the core, I
think Tuesday’s events rep
resent a challenge to my
convictions. I was raised on
the hard values of the Old
Testament’s “an eye for an
eye.” I have always believed
that a person must be
responsible for his own
actions, physically, intellec
tually, spiritually. That con
viction has been an easy
standard for me to defend, a
rock in the storm of conflict
ing ideals. To me, for as long
as I can recall, the death
penalty was right and just.
However, lately, I’ve
begun to have doubts. Oh,
there not centered on purely
legal of even mundanely
ethical points, although
some of those do have merit.
It’s more fundamental. How
does one reconcile a fair and
stern God of Justice with a
season, when normal people
take care of home repairs. I
should do a lot of things that
I don't. But apparently I am
not the only abnormal
homeowner in town. When 1
called last month to make
arrangements, I was told I'd
have to wait my turn. In the
meantime, to spare me from
drowning, they came out
and nailed a big blue tarp on
the roof. It looked like a car
nival peep-show tent, but it
worked like a charm. Two
weeks of downpour and not
one drip. I love that tarp. If
it came in gray, I'd keep it.
But the roofer called today
and promised to start
tomorrow.
It will make me very
happy - not the hammering,
not the dust and certainly
not the bill - but the fin
ished product, a new roof,
one that doesn't leak on my
head. I will like that a lot.
The last time we replaced
the roof was 25 years ago.
To save money, my late hus
band did most of the work
himself and used the kids
and me as slave labor to
clean up the mess.
Twenty-five years is a long
time in the life of a roof or of
a woman. I remember think
ing as we tossed old shingles
into a dumpster that when
we finished that roof we'd
never have to worry about it
again.
and President Bush intend
to continue our efforts to
reform the current federal
tax code to one that is sim
ple, fair and consistent.
Doing so will make it fairer
for millions of Americans
and allow them to keep
more of their hard earned
money.
Furthermore, efforts will
be made to strengthen
Social Security for today’s
seniors and tomorrow’s
retirees, and also fix the cur
rent system for our children
and grandchildren.
As the new chairman of
the Senate Agriculture
Committee, I am pleased to
report the U.S. Senate has
THE HOUSTON HOME JOURNAL
loving and embracing
Creator? I’ve asked several
church pastors in recent
years and gotten widely
diverse answers backed with
equally convincing streams
of logic and torrents of emo
tion. Does the God of the
Ten Commandments exist
in the Utterance of the
Beatitudes? It’s a question
that drives debate in this
country, and it’s a conflict
that can only be resolved
with a lot of soul searching.
So I’m going to Jackson
State prison to watch a man
die. He committed a brutal
crime, and Society has
deemed it just that he pay
with his own life.
Meanwhile, I’m hoping to
confront myself in the wit
ness room as the state’s
order is resolved. I don’t
know if I’ll walk away a bet
ter person, but at least I’ll
leave knowing I met a per
sonal, spiritual challenge
head-on in a very real and
deeply moving way. The true
courage of one’s convictions,
it seems, periodically
demands the challenge to
stand up and be tested for
what you believe.
Joe Bishop is the news
director for WNNG 1350
AM, Houston County’s only
locally-owned radio station.
looks good
I was young. My children
were small. My husband was
healthy. Little did I know
then what I've come to
understand: Every form of
shelter is temporary, at best.
Refuge is found within your
soul, not above your head.
Replacing a roof requires
an act of faith - along with a
home equity loan. You have
to trust in something you
can't see; you have to believe
that the new roof will be
better than the old.
It's a mite easier to believe
that, of course, when it's
raining buckets and there's
a bulge in your ceiling drip
ping water on your head.
When the rain stops, you
may start to doubt the wis
dom of your decision. Roofs
are expensive. What's the
hurry?
But one day you wake up
and realize there is no turn
ing back. Sooner or later,
you know it's going to rain
again and you'll have a bulge
in your ceiling dripping
water on your head.
Tomorrow, Lord willing,
I'll get myself a new roof.
But I'm going to miss that
blue tarp.
Sharon Randall is the
author of "Birdbaths and
Paper Cranes." Contact her
at P.O. Box 931, Pacific
Grove, CA 93950 or at ran
dallbay@earthlink.net.
already confirmed President
Bush’s nominee, Mike
Johanns, to be the next U.S.
Secretary of Agriculture. As
the leader of this committee,
I can assure you Congress
will begin addressing many
issues important to farmers,
ranchers and rural America.
There is no doubt about it
- President Bush has a bold
vision for leading the coun
try over the next four years.
There is certainly much for
us to do on behalf of the
American people, and I look
forward to working with
President Bush to continue
getting things done for the
good of our nation.