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♦ WEDNESDAY, JUNE 22, 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
Waiting Is Good Idea
County commissioners are taking the right
approach by refusing to occupy the new Juvenile
Justice Complex until it stops leaking.
Fortunately, before offices were moved into the
new complex a severe storm passed through the
area, revealing the fact the building leaks badly.
For the present, the county and the company
that constructed the facility are going to arbitra
tion to determine who is at fault.
Meanwhile, it would be a mistake to move in
while anticipating that the problem will be cor
rected.
A good example of what can happen if you go
ahead and move before a leaking problem is
solved is Warner Robins’ present city hall, which
was constructed about 30 years ago.
The building leaked. The contractor was going
to fix the leaks. City officials went ahead and
moved in before the problem was solved.
More than a decade later the roof of the build
ing still leaked. Visitors to the building were sur
prised to see buckets scattered around the build
ing catching water when it rained.
The problem never was solved until a major
overhaul of the roof was undertaken.
Apparently the problem with the Juvenile
Justice Complex is more serious than mere roof
leaks. Water is seeping through the walls and
soaking the floors.
Houston County’s Director of Operations
Tommy Stalnaker wisely said the building should
not be occupied until the problem is solved.
Whether the cause is construction or design still
must be determined. Meanwhile, a facility that
was supposed to open a month ago is a long way
from opening and it is badly needed.
Taxpayers Being Abused
Some airlines are unloading their retirement
plans to avoid bankruptcy. That is their preroga
tive. However, they are unloading their responsi
bilities on taxpayers and that is not right.
A precedent is being set that could result in
many other large corporations getting out from
under liabilities the same way.
Private retirement plans should be the respon
sibility of the corporations that have them.
Taxpayers should not be held liable to fulfill their
obligations because of bad management.
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Will new state park trigger more recreational development?
Discussion at the recent
ground-breaking of the pub
lic fishing lake at the new
state park just south of
Perry has many of us won
dering what development
may be taking place in that
area.
Mayor Jim Worrall who
attended that ceremony says
he was questioned about the
possibility of the City of
Perry providing sewer serv
ice to property south of the
new park.
There is apparently talk of
apartments and/or recre
ational plans being tossed
about.
• • •
Mayor Jim says the city
would have to look long and
hard at running sewer down
that way because of the cost
involved.
However, to keep down
the number of septic tanks
in the county, he acknowl-
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Columnist
ejohnstone@evansnewspapers.com
edges the city and county
need to get into the “sewer
business.”
• • •
A note to all of you we
have heard from who miss
the music on 99.9 FM, the
Perry station that recently
changed its format to talk
radio - Rick and I were told
Doing my duty on Father's Day
It wasn’t exactly fair, I
thought ruefully.
Here it was - Father’s
Day. I should be enjoying a
nice leisurely morning,
maybe sleeping in a little,
perhaps even getting break
fast in bed, before getting up
and heading off to hear a
church service dedicated to
the meaning of Fatherhood.
Instead, it was six in the
morning, and I was packing
the van to take my wife
Teresa to Atlanta to watch
her 16-year-old sister partic
ipate in her first beauty pag
eant.
Visions of my nice, slow
paced holiday were rapidly
abandoned by the reality of
a two hour drive on the
interstate, then keeping up
with the frantic pace of an
all-day, high stakes competi
tion that I was related to
only by marriage.
Words that I heard long
ago in an almost forgotten
sermon came roaring back
as I threw bags into the
trunk, “A real father has to
know how to give as well as
receive.”
I sighed deeply and
resigned myself to try and
enjoy the day.
By seven we had rousefl 4-
year-old Thomas and 7-year
old Joseph from bed, and
helped them as they groggi
ly put on their clothes and
ate a quick breakfast.
They were going to spend
the day at a friend’s house,
then stay for a sleep-over.
As we got them moving out
the door, Thomas asked to
bring along a large toy race
set that we had bought for
9/11 theory a house of cards
I took the attacks of
September 11 on the World
Trade Center personally.
Thousands of our fellow cit
izens were murdered that
day by Islamic terrorists and
these cowards endangered
some of my dearest friends
when my beloved
Manhattan was attacked. I
was also commended by the
Lower Manhattan
Development Corporation
for my proposed memorial
design during the World
Trade Center Site Memorial
Competition. So when some
one denies the facts about
that horrible day I don’t get
mad, I get furious.
Within days of Osama Bin
Laden launching his Islamic
holy war against the United
States, many brain-dead
conspiracy theorists
throughout the world start
ed to blame everyone else
for the attacks but the Al-
Qaeda madmen who flew
two, fuel-laden passenger
jets into the Towers. Some
self-loathing Americans and
anti-Semitic Europeans and
Arabs actually had the
audacity to blame everyone
from the United States gov
ernment and Israel, to the
Trilateral Commission and
even the Freemasons. Until
now, most major media out
lets have ignored these
flights of fantasy. That
changed, however, when
we should check out 91.3
FM.
Beautiful music that
touches your soul seems to
be much more difficult to
find on the radio dial than
talking heads!
• • •
I have a question for John
and Evelyn Lamberth. Rick
says you guys have a kitty at
your business that needs a
friend. Do you?
Of course, he suggests
Oscar would fit the bill nice
ly.
• • •
By coincidence, I recently
mentioned two gentlemen in
this column who, it turns
out, are old friends!
Charles Shelton and
Curtis “Pete” Greer remem
ber working with each other
at Robins Air Force Base
years ago!
• • •
Hopefully, work taking
Joe Bishop
Columnist
joe@wnng.mgacoxmail.com
him the night before.
I had spent time putting it
together after he went to
bed the night before (time I
desperately needed to rest
up for my long pageant
filled day) so that he would
n’t miss a chance to play
with it.
Now I broke it down into
pieces and loaded it into the
van, just so that I could put
it back together minutes
later when we got to his
friend’s house.
Why bother and risk
throwing our whole trip
behind schedule?
Because, “A real father
has to know how to give as
well as receive.”
By dint of good driving
and good luck, Teresa and I
made it to Atlanta in time.
Now I was surrounded by
hordes of young ladies
speeding from one competi
tion to another - evening
wear to casual wear to tal
ent.
My wife located her family
and fell into catching up on
William John Hagan
Columnist
William_Hagan@excite.com
United Press International
(UPI) inexplicably reported
the insane blathering of one
Morgan Reynolds.
Morgan Reynolds claims
that he was a former chief
economist for the
Department of Labor during
President George W. Bush’s
first term. Reynolds
declared that the Al-Qaeda
piloted planes alone could
not have brought down the
towers and “only profession
al demolition appears to
account for the full range of
facts associated with the col
lapses of WTC 1 (North
Tower), WTC 2 (South
Tower)”. Reynolds went on
to accuse the U.S. govern
ment of destroying the WTC
by stating, “If demolition
destroyed three steel sky
scrapers at the World Trade
place at the railroad tracks
near the Big Indian Creek
bridge on Gen. Courtney
Hodges Boulevard will make
for smoother riding.
The city of Perry informed
the Georgia Department of
Transportation that,
because of the roughness of
the roadway at the crossing,
a number of vehicles were
having alignment problems
after going over the tracks.
• • •
Who remembers when
there were railroad-crossing
arms at that location that
were forever getting stuck
in the down position?
If you noticed that quick
enough, you could switch
lanes to avoid them. But if
not, it was cautiously pick
your way around the arms
or wait a lengthy time for
them to rise.
I always wondered if
recent news.
Me, I was just plain bored.
It’s not that I don’t like my
in-laws, it’s just that I have
very little in common with
them.
So, apart from a studied
smile and an occasional line
or two I left Teresa all the
conversational room she
needed.
However, I was able to
encourage her youngest sis
ter, who was about to enter
high school and had just dis
covered she could translate
a long-held interest in
ancient Egypt into a career.
“Keep your nose clean and
your grades up, and you can
go to any college and do
what you love,” I said to her.
Why bother to bolster the
hopes of a young lady to
whom I have no ties of
blood?
Because, “As a father
sometimes you have to give
as well as receive.”
Evening finally arrived,
the preliminary contest
rounds were over, and it was
time for the final presenta
tion of awards. We donned
our best suits and dresses,
and made our way to the
ballroom where the event
would be held.
As luck would have it,
that’s when our 1-year-old
daughter Beth choose to
exercise her lungs in a fit of
squealing and crying. When
she refused to be consoled
by Teresa, I made the hard
decision and told my wife to
enjoy the pageant, and I’d
take Beth back to our hotel
room.
So, baby in hand, I left the
Center on 9/11, then the
case for an ‘inside job’ and a
government attack on
America would be com
pelling.”
Morgan Reynolds failed to
explain why the government
would want to destroy its
own financial center, but the
message was clear: the
bombing of the World Trade
Center was a government
set-up, designed to justify a
full-scale assault on the
Arab world. Just the sort of
headline A 1 Jazeera and the
rest of the American-hating
world would run with to fuel
and justify anti-American
violence.
After the UPI story was
published, I set out to inter
view Reynolds myself and,
as expected, his story fell
apart like a house of cards.
First, I asked if he had any
background in architecture
or construction. His answer
was “no,” he was simply a
former professor of econom
ics. I explained to him that
I’ve watched workmen pre
pare to bring down a build
ing for demolition. It takes a
lot of explosives and noisy
work. When I asked, “How
could government agents
Send your Letters to the Editor to:
The Houston Home journal
p.O. box 1910 • Perry, Ga 31069 or
Email: hhj@evansnewspapers.com
crossing arms are stuck and
you carefully go around
them anyhow, are you
breaking the law?
If so, many of us are guilty
of that because of those rail
road arms!
• • •
While I love the sounds of
trains, I am terrified to get
very close to one.
Well, except the Nancy
Hanks. But that is another
story.
• • •
This is the first week on
the job for Jan Cary as the
Rainbow House’s new direc
tor.
He is taking over from
Carol Hanna, who is staying
on for a few weeks to assist
with the transition.
• • •
Rainbow House receives
support from many different
sources, and one of those is
THE HOUSTON HOME JOURNAL
one event that did hold some
interest for me, so that
Teresa (and the rest of the
crowd for that matter) could
watch the show uninter
rupted.
As I later watched Beth
happily play with her toys,
and thought about Teresa
proudly seeing her sister’s
performance during one of
the most important
moments of her life, I
reflected, “Sometimes a
father has to know how to
give as well as receive.”
Soon it was all over. While
she didn’t make the final
cuts, Jamie said she had a
great time and learned
much. She’ll be back next
year.
Then it was time for good
byes and by ten we were on
the way back to Warner
Robins - just in order for
me to spend a couple of
hours at work writing the
next day’s newscast.
Yet somehow it was all
worth it.
In the late nightglow of
passing car lights and bill
boards I saw Beth sleeping
peacefully, and felt Teresa
with her arm curled around
mine, head on my shoulder.
I knew my boys were hav
ing a fun sleepover. And
inwardly I relaxed and
smiled a little.
Because every once in a
while, “A father has to know
how to receive as well as
give.”
have done this without
being noticed by people
working in the buildings?”,
his educated response was,
“I don’t know exactly how it
was done. But it was done -
just look at the disintegra
tion and free-fall collapse.”
Well, I have and that’s
what happens when two
passenger jets hit a sky
scraper. I then addressed his
former relationship with the
government. His answer: “I
never worked directly for
the White House but did
indirectly via USDOL.” At
that point I had to wonder if
this guy had ever even
worked for the government,
which was the only detail
that gave his original story
any credibility. I, therefore,
asked him if he could prove
his employment. He abrupt
ly ended our interview by
refusing to offer his proof.
Clearly Morgan Reynolds
is a duplicitous con, but the
real fools were UPI and
other major media outlets
for printing his claims in the
first place.
William John Hagan is a
freelance writer who lives in
Elko. Contact him at
William_Hagan@excite.com
the Perry Exchange Club.
We in the club have
enjoyed Byron Etheridge’s
tenure as president and look
forward to member Gail
Greene taking on this posi
tion in the coming days.
• • •
The Happy Hour folks in
Warner Robins did a great
job this past weekend with
their big yard sale!
There were lots of bar
gains to be found and many
smiling faces leaving with
arms laden with treasures!
• • •
A note to Leann and
Chastity: Rick still has not
undertaken the building
project you suggested!
• • •
Is there a new store com
ing to Perry? Has anyone
heard that Home Depot has
an option on some property
around here?