2018 Page 5A
i orter
ON THE OUTSIDE LOOKING IN by Don Daniel
County pays more
for county-line fiasco
gcfeaction to Macon-Bibb raising taxes and the
ad comparing Macon-Bibb taxes to Monroe
ountys, has been and continues to be the topic
conversation and even news reporting by the
Macon media, verifying the ad's content. Of course, but
finally, the news coming out of Monroe County has been
positive at least for a couple of days reporting.
On the positive side three full and half-page ads in last
week's Reporter advertised, according to my count, 34
homes being offered by our three local real estate estab-
lishments. Also, the real estators are advertising over 30
build-on-your-own-home sites.
Offer it, build it is the mantra of our local realtors.
THE ESTIMATED amount to rehat~ Hubbard was $5
million and Cara Barnes was the first emailer with the
correct answer to The Question. She receives a certificate
for a Dairy Queen Blizzard, dozen Dunkin Donuts, slice
of Shoney's strawberry pie, fried green tomato appetizer at
Whistle Stop, Jonah's cookie, Forsyth Main Street t-shirt,
sandwich, chips and drink at The Pickled Okra.
Here's The Question for this week: When is Hubbard
Elementary School's fall festival? First correct answer after
twelve noon on Thursday gets the goodie certificate.
SINCE it was the end of the month and we have a new
county finance director, us taxpayers paid a lot of bills.
Here are a few: We paid out almost $6,500 for training and
conference attending for bed time at Athens Holiday Inn,
$452.96; Holiday Inn Resort Jekyll Island, $506.75; Jekyll
Island Club Hotel, $135; Villas By The Sea, $198.45; Cal-
laway Gardens, $1,877.49 and this one, Gaylord Opryland,
$5.28. Don't know who went.
County Attorneys Dillon and
Vaughn got paid for a month
of legaling services $2,800 and
$8,012 for Dillon and Vaughn
trust Account, $8,000 for land
Old Popes Ferry Road. Mso
the county line law firm, King
and Spalding, got a whopping
$37,105.32 for county line
professional services. Wonder
if King and Spalding sent Brian
Kemp a thank you note? Should
have.
~~[.C Walthall Oil CompanY gota
check in the amount of $19,068
for inventory gasoline and we
paid The Boelter Company
$70.15 for a kitchen sink faucet. We paid Monroe County
Memorial Chapel $505 to remove and transport a body.
The smallest check was for a penny paid to Lands End
for a zoning uniform shirt and log. Another whopper
was $37,371.51 for water paid to Macon-Bibb and Butts
County and maybe the City of Forsyth.
Another big check was $19,373.40 for feeding inmates at
the jail and $1,222.26 for inmate medical bills. Wonder if
the attitude out amongst the criminal element in Monroe
County is get arrested, good food and get your teeth fixed
and watch a lot of TV. Life ain't bad.
All total, we taxpayers sent out checks totaling
$226,103.09 for a month's invoices.
I HAD the oppommity to hear both gubernatorial can-
didates expound upon their virtues as to why we should
vote for them. At a table for eight, the reaction to both
candidates was not what I expected.
First at the podium was Stacey Abrams and her de-
livery was eloquent, attention-getting and professional.
The interrupting applause by the over 500 in attendance
surprised me. She used no notes and her comments were
totally ad-libbed. She got a standing ovation at the end of
her remarks.
Next up was Brian Kemp. His remarks were totally
bland, totally about him and even lost his place a couple of
times reading from obviously a prepared speech where the
names were the only thing changed from a hundred other
speeches he has made in all of Georgia's 159 counties,
which he brags he has been to. The crowd reaction was
as bland as his speech with only a couple of interrupting
applauses and a brief applause at the end, sorta like what I
call a "thank you applause. Now go home".
After both speeches were made and the candidates were
glad-handing, I asked those seated at the table with me
which speech were they most impressed with? Hands
down all eight voted for Stacey Abrams.
Mingling around and listening afterward, my table's
assessment was right. Abrams was the most eloquent and
professional. But comments from listeners was revealing:
"Georgia will not elect a black female governor"; "Georgia
is not ready for a Stacey Abrams, she is too liberal"; "Brian
Kemp cannot be trusted. He is too much of a "good Old
Boy':' "Both candidates scare the hell out of me. Got a
good write-in candidate you can suggest?"
Personally, I can't vote for either candidate and particu-
larly Brian Kemp. He continues to ignore and violate the
law in reference to the county line. He is and has violated
the law! Why has he not been arrested and taken to our
jail where he can get a free meal and health care? As you
have read a couple of paragraphs above, he has again cost
Monroe County (us taxpayers) $37,105.32 in legal fees.
Wow! That felt pretty good writing that.
YEP PIGGLY Wiggly is back and brings back a lot of
memories. I was a bag boy at the "Hoggly Woggly" in
Swainsboro in the afternoons after school and on the
weekends, Saturdays only because we were dosed on
Sundays. I got promoted to the meat market and I am still
pretty good at cutting up a chicken. Back then the chick-
ens were whole and the customer always wanted it cut up.
CONTACT Donald Jackson Daniel at tullaybear@
bellsouth.net and listen and watch The Reporter on Majic
100 Sunday mornings at seven or anytime by clicking on
the radio tab at myrncr.net and watch us on Forsyth Cable
Vision.
LETTERS TO THE
e
e
To the Editor:
would it take al-
most a whole year to
update these Rest Ar-
eas? As far as I can tell
the one on 1-475 hasn't had anyone
working there for at least a month.
I travel past this area early morn-
ings, late nights, daytime and haven't
seen much activity at all. Meanwhile,
tourists, travelers, and truck drivers
have been inconvenienced. They
haven't even had signs stating that
the Rest Stops were dosed until you
get to the Rest Stop.
Janet Bass
Bolingbroke
TAKING A LIKENS TO YOU by Dale Likens
Tremember a pastor
,once said he was con-
l fused about the word
JL[all]. He said, "I read
about the Ten Command-
ments and I thought the
Ten Commandments were
written for all people so I
looked up the
word [all] and
lo and behold
the word[ all]
meant [all]?
I understood
his point.
Sometimes we
need a little
humor to get
a point across.
However,
sometimes I
needto rtm to
mydiction-
aryto see ifI
understand a
simple word like [anti].
I always thought the word
[anti] meant [against]. So I
pulled out my dictionary and
guess what? I was correct. The
word [anti] means [against]. So
what is my point? I'm confused
about a group of people who
call themselves [Anfifa]. I
know they claim they are
against Fascism because they
want us to believe President
Trump and all his followers
are Fascists. When I looked
up the word Fascist I finally
realized that after the defini-
tion of Fascist I was told to
"also see Nazism." Bingo! Now
I understand better! The group
that call themselves "Antffa"
are against President Trump
and his followers and guess
what? They want us to believe
that President Trump and his
followers are Nazis!
Let's face it, every person
who has any knowledge of
Hitler's Nazism understands
the world under the dictator
Adolf Hitler. Thousands of
American men and women
heroically gave their lives dur-
ing World War II to save future
generations of Americans
the horrendous, unspeakable
world of Nazism. Now, those
who follow President Trump
are labeled Nazis.
Yes, President Trump and
his followers
are also referred
to as racists.
According
to the group
known as Antffa
those who fol-
low President
Trump and wish
to make Amer-
ica great again
are now known
as racists! First,
we were called
'deplorable then
~e ~/'~e~ Racists"and
now 'racists"
I remember,
also, young
children calling other children
exactly what they themselves
were. Then they would
organize others to agree with
them to blame someone else.
Ira child lied he would call
another child a liar. Ifa child
stole something, he blamed an-
other child for stealing and got
other children to agree with
him. Those who protest under
the name of Antifa do the
same. They accuse President
Trump and those who follow
President Trump of be'rag Rac-
ist while, like children, theyin
turn incite the media to agree
with therr.
Let's take a closer look at
this group known as Antifa.
Ifyou watch this group of
people known as Antifa, in
their numerous protests, you
surely have noticed their ag-
gress'we ways of approaching
their agend First, let's realize
the fact that they either wear
masks to cover their faces, like
the KKK ofyears ago, so no
one will recognize them or
they gather in groups and sup-
port inter aggressive behavior.
A few weeks ago I watched a
young boy on a news video,
frightened and running wildly
ahead of a group of protesters
simply because he proudly
wore a red hat that said, "Make
America Great Again!" I truly
cringed because the young
boy reminded me of my very
own grandson running from
a group of thugs and there was
nothing I could do to help him.
I have watched this group
bum American flags, smash
windows, overtum police cars
and beat people up. The other
day one of the new reporters
told of the hundreds of White
Supremacists gathering to
protest when truly there were
only 20 protesters. Meanwhile
a group of hundreds of Antifa
protesters gathered from no-
where to protest such a gather-
ing of White Supremacists.
Police were immediately called
to separate the two groups.
While the police formed
protective lines to protect each
group, one Antifa member,
caught on video, screamed
at the police and paced the
ground beside them shouting
filthy words, demeaning those
who came to protect both
sides. Police hung their heads
and did nothing in response
to his despicable chants. At
the same rally of protesters I
saw a sign, held by an Antifa
protester, showing a picture
of our President wearing a
baby diaper. One sign proudly
claimed the words, "Hate is a
sin!" On the same day as this
protest I understand one of the
Antifa gang threatened to kill
our President.
When I think about all those
soldiers who down through
the years had sacrificed their
lives that you and I might
enjoy the freedoms we have
today I wonder, Were their
valiant lives spent vain? Are
we no longer proud to live in a
country where respect of law
and order has held us together
a lone nation under God?
Yes, President Trump may
often arouse even the most
compassionate people to anger
at times. He may say things
that may even cause his fol-
lowers to cringe. But President
Trumps our President. Though
our media may lead us to
believe he is the problem, he is
not our problem. He wears no
mask to hide his face in shame!
He doesn't turn police cars
over and smash windows. He
doesn't beat people up because
they disagree with him.
I'm still proud to say he's
my president. I'm still proud
to say I'm an American. And
yes, I am proud to salute our
American flag. However, I for
one, am ashamed that Gov-
ernor Cuomo of New York's
boldly proclaimed, for all the
world to hear, "We will never
make America great! We have
never been a great country!."
Oh,I know he has since tried
to explain that one, but it came
out ofhis mouth the wayhe
truly meant it. And who can
forget Chelsea Clinton proudly
pronouncing the trillion or so
dollars Planned Parenthood
has saved our government by
aborting babies!
Recently a news commenta-
tor from MSNBC was quoted
as saying, "I would like a
pollster to ask this question,
'How many people in the
Republican Party think would
be okay to dissolve their own
grandparents?' I'm virtually
certain flit came from Donald
Tromp 10 percent would say
it's ok for Trump to kill my par-
ents!" (Notice it's not President
Trump; it's Trump or Donald
Trump!) How despicable! How
evil! Even his associates looked
on in shocl4
Maybe it's time we get down
on our knees and truly pray
for America before it's too late!
God bless.
Dale Likens is an author who
lives in Monroe Coun
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Austin (not long in) City Limits
Monroe County's congressman Austin Scott (R-Ashburn) held
his last Town Hall with his constituents in Forsyth (at right)
on Aug. 20, 2014. Scott did attend a chamber of commerce
event this spring but did not take questions from constituents
and therefore cannot be considered a town hall meeting. If
you want an opportunity to let Scott know what you want
him to do in Congress, call his Washington office at (202)
225-6531 and let him know.
When Brian Kemp became secretary of state on Jan. 8, 2010, Terry h's
survey of the Monroe-Bibb County line was on his desk. The law says it's his job
to do something with it. He announced on Aug. 23, 2011 that he was rejecting the
Scarborough survey. Unfortunately, the law gives him no such option. So on March
10, 2014, the Supreme Court ordered him to set the line. That was four years ago.
The Reporter is devoting this space each week to counting the number of days Kemp
has been on the job, and yet not done his job. If you want Kemp to do the job which
he's sought three times before he gets a promotion to governor, call his office at
(404) 656-2817 and let them know.
J
