April 18
FORSYTH CITY ELECTION
Jl porter
Page
3A
www.MyMCR nef/vent
It~ time to compensate
Edge for' he
lob he's done at MCRD.
I'le's the most underpaid
not NRA propaganda,
more than anyone because
OUR guns that they
r 7
come after. Laws den t
By Diane Glidewell
news@mymcr.neT
Qualifying for the Forsyth city
council seat left vacant last month
by the death of Council member
Dexter King will continue through
12 noon today (April 18). As of
press time only Ronald Bearden
had qualified.
Bearden said he is running be-
cause he wants to represent all the
citizens of Forsyth. He is a familiar
face at city council, often attending
meetings and taking the opportu-
nity to address council in public
comment. He has lived in Forsyth
for 25 years and has stayed in-
formed about how the city govern-
ment manages its resources.
'Tm a very conservative person,
But I have some very liberal views
on helping people who need help,"
said Bearden.
The person dected will serve the
remainder of King's four-year term,
through Dec. 31, 2019. All six city
council members serve at large,
representing all citizens of the city.
The open seat is designated Post 1,
but that does not signify a geo-
graphic area.
Early voting begins Monday,
April 30 and continues through
Friday, May 18. Election Day is
Tuesday, May 22.
Voting for city elections must be
separated from voting for county
and state elections; city residents
must cast two ballots to vote for the
council member and vote in the
county school board and the state
elections. However, early voting
for both is at the Monroe County;
Board of Election & Registration at
the County Annex, 38 W. Main St
Forsyth.
BEARDEN
laws. votes: 6
The 2nd Amendment~
li
I
Oeorgia el
ram.
government. History is
with governments
By Diane Glidewell
& Lauri English
the g ernment in c
AK47! votes: 4
Just so we're clear, that
published list of sex of-
fenders wasn't Jackson
Daniels' next round of
new hire teachers, was it?
votes: 4
Mueller admlts ,-no Rus-
sian collusion? Well, no, he
hasn't. Facts matter, try to
stick to them. votes: 3
To vent is to complain
let ignore the rules
and get excited over how
Twitter and Facebook are
creating a war within
us. So much hatred is
being launched againsf
each other it is horrify-
ing to read. Many of us
are praying for an EMP
votes: 3
Somebody has to be
the lowest paid. It has
NOTHING to do with
HOW HARD YOU WORK!
votes: 3
Facebook isn't the appro-
priate place to state your
opinions about your job.
votes: 3
WHY de y'all Good Ole*
" Liberals keep harping on
voles: 3
Mary Persons junior
Rilyn McKallip has been
chosen to attend the 2018
Governor's Honors Pro-
gram in the area of mathe-
matics. Govemor's Honors
Program is a four-week res-
idential summer program
for gifted and talented high
school juniors and seniors.
Selection is highly com-
petitive. 2018 will mark the
55th consecutive summer
of GHP, making it the
longest continually running
program in the nation.
Over 3,200 students were
nominated throughout
the state this year, with
over 1,600 competing as
semifinalists in late Feb-
ruar Only 671 of these
students were chosen as
finalists who will be able
to attend the program,
which be at Berry
Collegenear Rome, Ga. All
expenses are paid for the
participants, who have the
opportunity to study with
outstanding professors in
their field.
The other Mary Persons
students who were se-
lected as semifinalists this
year were Stephanie Nix
and Sunny Devane, both
in Music (Voice: Treble),
Breanna Jones in Science,
Abby Hodges in Theater
Performance, and Destiny
Thompson in Visual Arts.
- Rilyn was nominated by
her math teacher, Mrs. Bar-
ber, and said she is excited
to be participating in the
area of mathematics. She is
leaning toward a career in
statistics, possibly in public
health or bio-statistics.
After being nominated,
Rilyn McKallip (Photo by
Lauri English)
she completed an applica-
tion in which she expressed
why she would like to
attend GHP and what
interests and challenges
she has found in math. She
advanced to a semi-finalist
after her application, tran-
script and test scores were
evaluated. She was then
met with a panel of two in-
terviewers, a professor and
an electrical engineer.
"It was not as nerve
wracking as I thought it
would be" said Rilyn of the
interview. "I was surprised
to be selected because the
other Mary Persons stu-
dents are really talented:'
Rilyn is the daughter of
Rob and Jill McKallip. She
has two younger sisters and
a younger brother. She and
one of her sisters both run
the 3200m for the Mary
Persons track team.
Rilyn plays flute in the
Mary Persons marching
band and has achieved
recognition for her musical
accomplishments, includ-
ing making All State Band
for the last three years.
shootings were Good
Ole Boy Southern Baptist
Christians, votes: 3
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She is in the flute choir at
Mercer University and is
the lead in Mary Persons'
flute choir. Music Hill be
her minor at Governor's
Honors Program, as she
hopes it Hill be in college.
"Music is harder to learn
than math ' said Rilyn.
"But there are a lot of con-
nections. Understanding
one helps understand the
other."
Rilyn is active in Monroe
County 4-H, competing
in instrumental perfor-
mance in district project
achievement and working
with younger 4-H rs and
in community service.
She was a teen leader at
Cloverleaf camp for a week
last summer, her longest
time away from her family
before GHE
But in a little over a year
she will be heading to col-
lege, something for which
GHP should help prepare
her. Vanderbilt University
tops her hopeful list right
now.
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UPDATE FROM THE GOLD DOME
ofLe '
By Rep, Robert Dickey
r0bert.dickey@h0use.ga.g0v
Last week I mentioned I wanted to provide you
some information concerning legislative bills which
passed and are now on the Governor's desk waiting
for his signature. He has forty days to sign or veto all
legislation passed this session. All of this legislation
can be found on the Georgia General Assembly's
website- http://wwwJegis.cj~.gov/Legisl~ion/en-
US/Search.aspx. You can search under a bill number,
a particular legislator or by keyword.
SB 330"Greon Agricultural Education Act"- I
appreciate the support for ag
education the Crawford County
School System gives to our
students.
This legislation requires agri-
cultural education programs in
Georgia to be based on a nation-
ally recognized three-component
FFA model of agricultural educa-
tion for grades six through 12.
The Department of Education will
develop the curriculum and standards for this pro-
gram with input from agricultural education teachers.
This legislation also authorizes the DOE to establish an
agricultural education pilot program for elementary
agricultural education to determine whether such a
program is suitable for statewide implementation.
One of the largest concerns in our rural areas in
Georgia is the abilityto obtain health care. Many rural
hospitals have closed and young physicians serving
in rural areas are concerned about how to make ends
meet with medical school debt and no access to
hospitals for their patients. HB 769 has several com-
ponents and one provides for a grant program for
insurance liability premium assistance for physicians
serving in medically underserved rural areas of the
state.This legislation also increases the value of the
tax credit to 100% for contributions to rural hospital
organizations such as the Monroe County Hospital.
In 2016 the Georgia General Assembly passed legisla-
tion which awards Georgia income tax credits to
individual and corporate taxpayers who contribute to
qualified rural hospital organizations CRHOs'~ located
in Georgia. https://www.georgia hea rt.org/
HB 65THC Oil Patient Registry- Rep. Allen Peake
has worked tirelessly for the last few years with the
THC oil patient registry to help our citizens with
on-going, debilitating medical needs to have access
to IowTHC oil.This year we passed legislation which
added post-traumatic street disorder and intractable
pain to the list when other forms of medical treat-
ment have been ineffective. I truly believe the low
THC oil will help reduce opioid addiction in many
patients suffering from constant pain. Georgia is
grateful that Rep. Peake has been a true advocate
for our children suffering with autism and seizure
disorders to provide them with improvement with
their day to day well-being.
HB 673"Hand-Free Georgia Act'-This bill prohib-
its an individual from physically holding or supporting
a wireless telecommunications device or a stand-
alone electronic device or reaching for devices in such
a way that the driver is no longer seated in a driving
position while operating a motor vehicle. Many hours
of testimony from families who have lost loved ones
dues to distraction from texting and driving and dis-
traction from our mobile devices. Each testimony was
very heart wrenching.This prohibition does not apply
to: voice to text communications; the use of device
for the purpose of navigation with a GPS system'and
dash camera video recording devices that record the
front and rear of the vehicle.
Over the last several years Senator John Kennedy
has worked diligently on legislation called "Marcy's
Law'; or SB 146.This bill provides for the consti-
tutional rights to theVICT1M of the crime NOTthe
offender.The victims of the crime will have reason-
able, accurate, and timely notice of court proceedings
involving the alleged act; reasonable and timely
notice upon the release or escape of the accused;
and the opportunity to be heard at any scheduled
proceedings.This legislation along with its compan-
ion piece SB 127 will be on the ballot in November as
a constitutional amendment.
HB 332"Georgia Outdoor Stewardship Act"
creates the Georgia Outdoor StewardshipTrust Fund
and dedicates up to half of the sales tax collected
on outdoor recreation equipment establishments
to the fund.The bill sets the initial rate at 25% of all
moneys received. Funds in the trust shall be made
available as grants and loans to cities, counties,
departments, agencies, or non-governmental entities
of the state for acquisition of land for the purposes
of maintenance or restoration projects of the DNR.
This legislation will be on the ballot in November as a
constitutional amendment.
SB 339"Freedom of Speech"This bill would
require the Board of Regents of the University
System of Georgia to develop a free speech policy
to be implemented at all state institutions within the
system.The passage of this legislation enumerates
seven principles the board will address when adopt-
ing regulations and policies regarding free speech,
including to protect freedom of speech and press
for all persons; foster learning through the sharing of
different ideological positions; protect students and
their guests who peacefully protest, so long as they
do not interfere with classroom instruction, violate
university policy, or interfere with previously sched-
uled events.This bill also mandates that the board
establish a range of disciplinary sanctions for anyone
under the jurisdiction of any state institution who has
violated the board's policies on free speech.
The pieces of legislation listed are only a brief of all of
the ones passed during this past session. I am glad to
give you more information about any legislation. On
the upcoming primary ballot the citizens of Crawford
County will be voting on two Splost measures. I hope
you will take the time to learn about all of these im-
portant votes and most importantly get out and vote!
Thank you for allowing me to serve as your State
Representative. It is an honor and privilege I do take
seriously.
Robert Dickey
Rep. Robert Dickey 404-651-7737
245 State Capitol Atlanta, GA 30334
robert.dickey@house.ga.gov
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