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♦ TUESDAY, MARCH 8, 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
More New Schools Are Needed
School Superintendent Danny Carpenter told this
newspaper, “I have broad shoulder and am willing
to take the heat to do what is right for the Houston
County school system,” when he accepted the job.
Carpenter has dealt with many problems since
taking over a school system that was fraught with
dissension and he has done so in his normal laid
back, low-key way of doing things.
He has done what, in his opinion, was necessary
to move Houston County’s schools ahead. And the
school board has been behind him because he has
things going in the right direction.
Carpenter has stepped forward to take the heat
for a new SPLOST to finance more schools in the
county.
He has asked the school board to call for a refer
endum on a SPLOST next fall. The present
SPLOST does not expire until March 2007, but the
time to ask for taxpayers’ approval of one to take its
place is now.
Projects that are considered absolutely essential
will amount to sllO million, which will be the
amount of money asked for in a new SPLOST that
would take effect in September 2007, after the pres
ent one has expired.
This call for more money to build schools is sure
to bring opposition from taxpayers who always say
they “are being taxed to death.” Of course, we are
not. Our taxes are in line or below those paid in
other metropolitan areas, which do not provide
school systems anywhere comparable to ours.
Voters may get behind this request, which will
help pay for a fifth high school in the county, but
there certainly will be dissenters.
We are a growing county. If the present pace of
growth continues, the number of new students each
year will equal the enrollment of some schools.
The prospect of dealing with this student growth
is awesome. There are some facilities in our county
that some people want, which can be done without.
Schools do not fall into that category.
Houston County must provide educational facili
ties for young people. There is no choice. It is the
law.
And we must build the schools for them to attend.
That is a price we are paying for our present pros
perity.
We don’t like more taxes. But we realize that we
have an outstanding public school system. We want
it to continue to excel.
We already have many temporary classrooms at
our schools. There will be many more before money
is available to build new schools. We hope voters
will give school officials the leeway they need by
approving a new SPLOST this year to replace the
present one so that there will not be a serious lag
time between the need for more facilities and the
time it takes to provide them.
It takes two years to build a new elementary
school. High schools take longer. We already are
behind the curve.
Send your Letters to the Editor to:
The Houston Home Journal
P.O. Box 1910 • Perry, Ga 31069 or
Email: hhj@evansnewspapers.com
It's not easy turning legislation into laws
As the days of the 2005
Legislative Session wind
down, we still have much to
do. This has been a busy few
months, and we have debat
ed many bills in the first 27
days in the General
Assembly - the passage of
tort reform, a statewide
smoking ban and the gover
nor’s education reform will
make a significant differ
ence in the lives of most, if
not all, Georgians. As we
move toward day 30 in the
40-day calendar, we have
our work cut out for us.
Day 30 is significant,
because it signals the last
day a piece of legislation can
move from one chamber to
the next. Technically, a bill
needs about seven days after
it has left the Senate (or
House of Representatives)
to make it through the
process across the Capitol.
In order for a piece of leg-
i
Ross Tolleson
State Senator
R-Perry
islation to reach the gover
nor’s desk, it must pass both
the Senate and the House.
This week we will hold
back-to-back committee
meetings so that bills can be
debated and “perfected” in
committee. In the Upper
Chamber, committees are
made up of a group of sena
tors - usually with common
Running red lights, turn signals ... and more
The Georgia legislature is
considering a bill that would
allow for “flex lanes” on
some of Georgia’s most con
gested highways. This would
permit use of the emergency
lanes and paved shoulders
by impatient motorists. If
you want to see an example
of “flex lanes,” go to
Vineville Avenue in Macon,
where you feel like you are
taking your life into your
own hands every time you
use that lane.
• • •
Despite opposition, it
seems that the legislature is
determined to go ahead and
adopt a law which will per
mit state and local govern
ments to enter into secret
deals with private individu
als or corporations on the
pretense it is needed to cre
ate jobs. Sometimes we are
better off without those
additional jobs when taxpay
ers wind up footing the bill
for sweetheart deals that
cost more than they pro
duce. Even after the $65
million fiasco near
Savannah where money was
Into the mouths of babes goes... yuck
I consider myself a
“hands-on” father - hands
on clothing my children,
hands on feeding them,
hands on changing them,
hands on teaching them,
and, occasionally, hands on
their fannies when they are
disobedient.
I’ll basically do whatever
needs to be done as a parent,
ignoring the “traditional”
father and mother parent
ing roles.
There is one parenting
chore that I abhor, though,
and do so very reluctantly.
You’re probably thinking
“changing diapers,” or if
you’re like me, you’re not
thinking at all.
Nope. Diapers don’t both
er me. I know grown men
who absolutely refuse to
change a diaper. One friend
of mine - a big, macho guy -
won’t do it; says changing
babies’ diapers is “disgust
ing.”
“No,” I correct him.
“Changing your diaper
would be disgusting.”
On the other hand, when I
say I don’t mind changing
diapers, I’m talking about
my kids’ diapers. For some
reason, other peoples’ kids’
diapers really stink.
Back to my parenting pho
bia: I do not like feeding
babies.
I can handle feeding
babies when they are very
young, when their food
comes from little jars and
it’s smooth and looks like
pudding and they are inca
pable of throwing it at you.
But as they get older, they
move on to larger jars, with
chunkier innards. And these
jars come with the oddest
combinations of ingredients,
like (and I’m only making
up two of these)
Vegetable Beef Pilaf,
Prunes and Oatmeal,
interest in the committees
they serve on. As chairman
of the Senate Natural
Resources and the
Environment Committee,
we handle many “controver
sial” bills. Thirteen mem
bers make up the Natural
Resources Committee and
most of us have a special
interest in protecting the
environment while main
taining a healthy growth
stance.
Growth means businesses,
roads, and development.
One thing that I am most
proud of in Georgia is we
have had a lot of growth in
past two or three decades,
yet we have been able to
maintain our beautiful nat
ural settings. The trees and
plants across Georgia keep
our state beautiful, while
businesses and factories
keep our citizens employed.
Our committee usually
meets once a week, although
Foy Evans
Columnist
foye vans 19@cox .net
spent in a futile effort to
lure Mercedes-Benz to
Georgia, there is legislative
momentum to pass this bill.
Lobbyists can take a bow.
• • •
The state will be spending
more money on education
next year based on actual
classroom attendance. It is
another incentive to local
school systems to crack
down on parents who don’t
send their children to school
or permit them to stay out a
lot.
*j£~ |
l '
Len Robbins
Columnist
airpub@planttel.net
Cornish Hen and Kale,
Pears and Chicken,
Beets and Salmon
Casserole, and Peaches,
Oatmeal and Bananas.
Why can’t these strange
combinations be yummy -
like Doritos and Fried
Chicken or Cool Ranch
Steak-umms Casserole? Just
a thought.
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this week we probably will
meet more often so that we
can hear as many bills as is
necessary.
It is our job to scrutinize
each bill, and make any nec
essary changes. The point is
to make the debate on the
floor of the Senate go
smoothly. Because many
bills are complicated, occa
sionally, legislation passes
with unintended conse
quences, and it is our duty
to discover those problems
before they actually become
law.
If you ever go online and
look for a particular piece of
legislation, you may find
that a bill has been “read
and referred.” This means
the Secretary of the Senate
or Clerk of the House has
read the bill aloud to the
members of the General
Assembly and the
Lieutenant Governor has
Another education item of
interest: Gov. Perdue plans
to create an online school
where students can take
classes not offered in their
schools on the Internet.
Sounds like a good, progres
sive idea.
• • •
If ever an intersection
needed left turn traffic sig
nals it is on the Margie
Drive side of the intersec
tion with Watson Boulevard.
Of course, any reader of this
column can come up with
many more intersections
with the same problem.
• • •
On the subject of our
streets, it is dangerous to
drive on many of them at
night because the lane
markings are barely visible.
In the rain driving is a har
rowing experience.
• • •
If there is anything more
frustrating than a computer
I haven’t heard of it.
• • •
You can tell that spring is
in the air when you see hun
dreds of boys and girls out
Anyway, the heebie-jeebies
really commence when kids
move on to “real food.”
Our youngest son is at this
stage now, and it’s excruci
ating for me to feed him.
The first problem is that
there are now all kinds of
rules. It was easy with jars -
just feed him what’s in the
jar. Not anymore. The other
night, I went through five
foods before I found a meal
that met my wife’s strict cri
teria. I still don’t see what’s
wrong with feeding a 1-year
old corn dogs or crab legs or
Spam out of the can or a
Manwich or bell peppers.
Then, there’s the mess.
I’m not the Tony Randall of
dinner etiquette, but this
kid produces twice as many
stains as I do. There’s food
in his hair, all over his
clothes, up his nose, hanging
out of his mouth, behind his
ear.
He also thinks it’s funny
assigned it to a particular
committee. This practice
started numerous years ago
when a great many people
couldn’t read - so the bills
were read to them. In fact
they were read several times
so that everyone in the
chamber would have the
chance to know what the
proposed legislation intend
ed. As the years have gone
by, even though most people
can read today, the tradition
continues. While only the
caption is read in these mod
ern times, it is still read
three times - once when the
bill is introduced, once when
the bill is reported out of
committee with a “do pass”
recommendation and for the
third time when the bill is
debated on the floor.
The Senate bills that have
passed our legislative body
now await a vote in the
House of Representatives.
THE HOUSTON HOME JOURNAL
playing soccer with adoring
parents and grandparents
cheering them on.
• • •
Wouldn’t it be nice and
convenient if street num
bers and names of occupants
of homes were prominently
displayed? I believe that
we’re supposed to display
those numbers for law
enforcement and firefight
ers who are responding to
an emergency, but many
people don’t.
• • •
I’m all for cameras at dan
gerous intersections to take
pictures of people who run
red lights. It happens too
often. I pass through the
intersections at Moody Road
and Russell Parkway, as well
as Russell Parkway and
Houston Lake Road, several
times most days. Impatient
motorists run red lights at
these intersections more
often than you might imag
ine they would. Police want
the cameras, but will there
be enough opposition to pre
vent the politicians from
installing some?
to throw the food at his
father. It is funny, but please
don’t tell him I said that.
He’ll just throw more.
Finally, there’s,/ the
cleanup. This takes longer
than feeding him.
The other night, though, I
found a shortcut. Instead of
cleaning all of the food off of
him, then having to bathe
him, I just take him to the
kitchen sink and spray him
down. The ole “two birds
with one stone.” He didn’t
seem to like it much, but if
he’ll eat Vegetable Beef
Pilaf, I figure he can endure
the torture - just as his old
man has.
Len Robbins is editor and
publisher of The Clinch
County News in Homerville,
whose award-winning week
ly column appears in over a
dozen newspapers. A proud
University of Georgia gradu
ate, Robbins and his wife
have three young children.
Those bills that get a
thumbs-up vote there will be
sent to the governor for his
signature. Sometimes, legis
lation will pass the Senate,
and the House will make
changes to it. If changes are
made to the bill, then it
must return to the Senate
for approval. The Senate
may “agree” with the
changes or “disagree.” If the
Senate agrees with the
House, the legislation goes
to the Governor for his sig
nature. If not, it is assigned
to a conference committee to
work out the disagreements.
And that’s how a bill
becomes law.
Sen. Ross Tolleson repre
sents the 20th Senate
District. He may be reached
at (404) 656-0081 or rtolle
so@legis. state.ga. us.
Tolleson represents Bleckley,
Dodge, Houston, Johnson,
Laurens, Pulaski, Telfair
and Wilcox counties.