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PAGE 4A - HOGANSVKLE HERALD THURSDAY, FEB. 20, 2014
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THE HOGANSVILLE HERALD
USPS 620-040
vneh anh @perate Wy rib ublicatimw, Jnc
ROBERT E. TRIBBLE, President
JOHN KUYKEND,U.L KIM MITCHELL
PUBLISHER/EDITOR BUSINESS MANAGER
A snowstorm in the Southrestaurant's employees and
is as rare as a glass ofthe restaurant's owner Mark
unsweetened tea at a church Meadows.
supper; however there haveOnce the snow started
been two of them thus far this accumulating Meadows
Meadows for not only preach- b
ing the second mile concept
but actually living by it," she
wrote.
ANDY KORER Phone (706)846-3188 year. closedtherestaurantandsent IT IS NO SECRET that
ASSOCIATE EDITOR Fax: (706) 846-2206 Folks around the staff home. But a few Chick-fil-A was founded by a n
news@swr-mercur/.com Birmingham Ala. were not hours later many of them Christian family and it is also .q
ANG.SLA BROWN P.O. BOX 426 all that worried though. The returned unable to get to their no secret that they run their
LAvotrr EDrr0R Manchester, GA 31816 storm was only suppose to homes. The store is located a business on Biblical values. :)
O i Le Ors, forth C yofHogo, e dust the city and surround- little over a mile from the What happened near :]
ing area, not even enough interstate and store manag- of people and loving people Birmingham is an example
powder for a Southern snow- er Audrey Pitt left her car on before you are worried about of how those biblical values j
man, the side of the interstate and money or profit. We were just are played out.
joined several other drivers tryingto followthe modelthat Chick-fil-A's generosity
' WHEN the first trudging through the snow. we all have worked under for didnot stopwiththe free food. ^j
,snowflakes began to fall no Some of the drivers had so long and the model that we They opened up their dining
one paid all that much atten- been stuck in their cars for have come to love. There is room to anyone who wanted
tion, but then the flakes kept nearly seven hours without nothing else we would have to sleep on a bench or in a :]
Everyone was up in the
air last week as the predic-
tions of a terrible winter
storm were headed our way.
The Governor declared a
state of emergency, busi-
nesses closed, schools closed
and Georgia came to almost
a stop."
One of the ladies in my
office was quoting the
Internet on Tuesday saying,
"according to the Internet
this is going to be a histori-
cal winter storm." Well, I can
tell you in my 57 years on
God's Earth I've seen much
worse.
If you turned on the tele-
vision or the radio all you
could hear was how the win-
ter storm was going to be one
of the toughest Georgia had
ever seen. I'm sure there was
some pretty bad weather in
certain parts of Georgia, but
you couldn't tell there had
been an ice storm, for the
most part, around here.
Sure, the trees had some
ice on them but the roads
never iced, were never closed
and the temperature never
got much below the freezing
point.
My grandmother always
said, "If you don't like the
weather just wait five min-
utes ,and it, ,wKl, change.
That's kind of accurate for
our weather.
Last week as we all
braced for "a historical win-
ter storm" that turned out to
be nothing more than frozen
rain that caused some
downed trees, some power
line problems and a few slick
spots on the highways, I
couldn't help but thing what
Patrick Young once said
about the weather.
"The trouble with weath-
er forecasting is that it's right
too often for us to ignore it
and wrong too often for us to
rely on it," Young said.
I have to say that I'm
extremely glad that I do not
have the job of predicting the
weather and I'm glad there
are educated people that can,
but only GOd knows what the
weather is really going to do.
So, for all the hoopla that
was put out on the Internet
last week, I didn't see "a his-
torical winter storm" by any
stretch of the imagination.
?
I B .I. .VE the reason we
get so worked up about win-
ter weather in the south is
because we don't see ice and
snow very often and are not
prepared for it. We don't'
drive in it enough to feel com-
fortable doing so and there is
the fact that we like to play
in it when we do receive it.
So, when we hear winter
storm, we may get a little
overly excited.
I'll just bet, when we do
get @inter weather that
brings us to a halt, the folks
up north are laughing at us a
little but I have a cure for
that.
If they think it is funny
that the south shuts down
when a winter storm hits us,
let's bring them down here
during our hot summers and
see how they endure it.
I'm not sure if they would
loss weight due to all the
sweating they would do, or
gain weight because of all the
water they would drink. One
thing you can bet on is that
they would not go back to the
north as white as the paper
this newspaper is printed on,
the would either go home red
as beets or have a nice crisp
tan, depending on how long
they stayed.
One thing is for sure, they
would find out that while they
spend their money preparing
for the winter weather buy-
ing chains for their vehicles,
falling. Before too long folks any food or water so the staff done but try to help these peo-
in places like Hoover and of Chick-fil-A decided to lend ple any way we could," she
Inverness realized it was a helping hand. They cooked said.
much more than a dusting, several hundred sandwiches Lauren Dango was one of
but at that point it was too late and stood on both sides of 280 those stranded motorists. She
for anyone to do anything, and gave the sandwiches to has known Meadows for
Icy interstates and high- anyone who wanted them.years and was stunned when
ways soon became clogged she saw him walking from car
with cars and trucks. THE STAFFERS braved to car with the Chick-fil-A
Thousands of motorists soon the falling snow and ice as sandwiches. "I looked up and
found themselves stranded they offered hot chicken I am like what is he doing, he
with nowhere to go including breasts tucked between but- had a catering order and it
many stuck on Highway 280. tered buns to everyone and got cancelled so he pulled
Chick-fil-A had a captive refused to take a single penny over and started giving away
crowd of hungry customers for the sandwiches. The meal food." If that was not enough
but instead they decided to was a gift and for the frozen Meadows even helped a driv-
give away their food. folks it wasmanna from hear- er push his car up an incline.
A large number of those en. Ms. Dangowas sotouched
stranded motorist were able Ms. Pitt said that the folks by Meadows' kindness that
to find shelter in the storm were surprised that the sand- she sent a letter to Chick-ill-
thanks to the kindness and wiches were free."This corn- A's corporate office in
generosity of a Chick-fil-A party is based on taking care Atlanta. "Kudos to Mark
i would like to share with
you an experience I had with
a law enforcement officer
last Saturday evening.
I have the utmost respect
for those men and women
willing to pin on a badge, strap
on a gun, and stand between
the lawless and the lawful.
They are frequently out-
gunned, often underpaid, and
salt.for their driveways, snow certainly under-appreciated.
shovels and so on, that med- But every so often I won-
ications for sunburn don't der about some of those
come cheap in the south, but entrusted to such positions.
they would gladly spend Last Saturday afternoon
whatever it took to ease the and evening Vicki and I spent
pain. time traveling through cen-
tral Georgia. we do not get
I'I DOES not matter this chance very often so we
where you live the weather took advantage of it and
is going to have its ups and enjoyed the time away.
downs. The climate you live It was getting late and we
in is going to dictate that. I'll were finally heading home,
have to say though, I would passing through a county not
rather live in the south and in our readership area. For
have to deal with the occa- those not particularly astute,
sional winter storm than live that means we were not in the
in a cold climate like the counties of Harris,
northern part of our country Meriwether, Talbot or Troup.
has to offer. We were driving along a
I wouldn't fair well in a two-lane state highway in the
cold climate. I don't like cold dark when I spotted a deputy
weather. I would do well in a sheriff patrol ear along the
tropical climate, but then you side of the road. As I passed,
have to worry.about hurri- the officer quickly pulled out
canes, and began to follow us.
The truth of the matter is,
the weather is the weather.
We can talk about it, it's a
great starter for a conversa-
tion, but we certainly can't
change it.
Weather is much like life.
Sometimes it is good, some-
times it is bad and there's not
much you can do about it
except carry an umbrella or
stay indoors all the time.
Now for those that doubt
you can accurately predict
things, I'm going to make a
prediction about what is
going to happen tonight.
About 9 p.m. take a look out
your window and see if my
prediction comes true. I
might just surprise you.
Tonight's forecast: DARK!
HOGANSVn HERALD is published weekly by Trib Publications,
Inc. at 3051 Roosevelt Highway, Manchester, Georgia 31816. The
Hogansville Herald is published proudly for the citizens of HogansviUe
and its goal is to produce quality, profitable, community oriented newspa-
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hard work, teamwork, loyalty, and a strong dedication toward printing the
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FOR S SCRn'TIONS call (706) 846-3188 or write to Circulation
Manager, Trib Publications, P. O. Box 426, Manchester, Georgia 31816.
booth. And the following -I
morning the staff members
fired up their ovens and pre-
pared chicken biscuits. The
only thingthat was closed was q
the cash register. "It was a q
blessing for us to be able to
help people," Audrey said.
"For I was hungry and you
gave me something to eat," j
Jesus said in the Gospel of
Matthew. "I was thirsty and .
you gave me something to
drink. I was a stranger and
you invited me in."
You can bet your boots
that Truett Cathy and his fam-
ily were very pleased to know
that their restaurant owner,
manger and staff abided by
Jesus' words in the Gospel of
Matthew.
Vicki's little Scion xB is
far from the fastest vehicle
on the road. Automotive
experts report the tiny 1.S
liter engine in the little refrig-
erator box on wheels devel-
ops a whopping 103 horse-
power. I think those experts
are giving it some. While they
get great fuel mileage, those
little things do not go any-
where in a hurry,
We were cruising at the
speed limit, as evidenced by
the speedometer and GPS
unit.
The deputy continued fol-
lowing.
The officer would slow
down and back off, and then
abruptly speed up, rapidly
coming up behind us.
I cannot say for sure if the
officer was attempting to pro-
voke me into erratic driving
so he could stop us and charge
me with some offense there-
by adding to the financial cof-
fers of that county. But that
intention seemed fairly obvi-
OUS.
UNFORTUNATELY for
the officer, I have consider-
able . patience so that
approach does not work with
me. I kept the speed steady.
A
would have been most unhap-
Py.
As we passed through a 3
second small town, the rear-
most officer apparently
turned as when I next
checked the mirrors, there
was again only the one patrol
car behind us. -t
The officer continued fol-
As we approached one small lowing us for about six miles
town, I slowed well before when passed out af, that r
reaching the speedlimit signs
indicating 45 and then 35. As
we passed through, I waited
until after passing the 55 mph
sign before speeding up.
We then passed a second
deputy sheriff patrol vehicle
parked alongside the road
and would you believe it
pulled out behind the first
patrol car?
Now we are leading a
parade of two deputy cars as
we drove through the night.
Mile after mile ticked by
as the first officer continued
slowing down and then speed-
ing up. On more than one
occasion had I needed to hit
the brakes to avoid a deer, the
patrol car's front end would
have encountered the back
end of our Scion. I would have
felt sorry for that officer as
that is Vicki's Scion and she
county and out.of hiajuris-
diction. He pulled onto a coun-
ty road and we left him 3
behind.
From the time the first
officer began trailing us until
we left that county I would r
estimate was a distance of
.}
about 1S miles -- and likely a
bit longer. I
Based on the actions of
that officer, there must be
absolutely no crime in that
rural county. ,r
Other that what I have
already postulated, I have no v
idea why that officer chose
to follow us so intently. I can-
not help but wonder if this
has happened to other
motorists.
Whatever the officer's
reason he, or she, must have
been sorely disappointed.
That's my opinion, q
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to P. O. Box 426, Manchester,
GA 31816.
Feb. Ii was the 21st leg-
islative day of the 2014 session
of the General Assembly,
which was interrupted by last
week's winter storm.
With less than half of the
session remaining, lawmakers
still have a full agenda of issues
to address before final adjourn-
ment March 20.
They include the $20.8 bil-
lion annual state budget for fis-
cal year 2015, legislation to
authorize the use of a certain
form of medicinal marijuana
to treat seizure disorders, the
Safe Carry Protection Act for
licensed gun owners, expan-
sion of the HOPE Grant to pay
full tuition for high-achieving
technical college students and
Gov. Nathan Deal's criminal
justice reform plan to assist
the transition of criminal
offenders into productive-law
abiding citizens upon their
release from incarceration.
In legislative action that
did take place last week, a
majority of the House of
Representatives voted to table
legislation that would have
made changes to state law deal-
ing with probation officers who
work for private companies.
Sponsors of HB 837 said the
measure is necessary to
address a court ruling last year
stating that judges cannot "stop
the clock" on a criminal sen-
tence if an individual on pro-
bation had stopped checking in
or paying fees to a private pro-
bation company, and that it was
unconstitutional for private
probation companies to use
electronic monitoring.
A bipartisan group of
House members successfully
amended the legislation to
leave stopping the clock on a
sentence to the discretion of
the judge and to prohibit pri-
vate companies from charging
more for supervising misde-
meanor offenders than state
probationers charge felons.
Those amendments led
supporters of HB 837 to at least
temporarily end debate and
pull the proposal from consid-
eration.
The House majority also
approved legislation that
would prevent some school bus
drivers, cafeteria workers and
other non-teaching employees
from seeking unemployment
compensation outside the
school year.
I voted against HB 714,
which would adversely affect
some 64,000 of our state's low-
est-paid workers and drive
Georgia families deeper into
poverty, and now goes to the
Senate for its consideration.
Health Care Concerns:
Last week, the Lower Oconee
Community Hospital in
Wheeler County became the
fourth Georgia hospital in the
last 14 months to close its doors
because of "dire financial
straits."
When a hospital closes in
a small community, the citizens
not only lose their main source
of medical care, they often lose
one of their major employers,
further devastating the local
economy.
But instead of taking action
to improve the situation, many
of our state's top governmen-
tal leaders appear to be doing
everything in their power to
deny access to affordable
health care to our citizens.
First of all, Gov. Deal con-
tinues to refuse to accept fed-
eral funding to expand
Georgia's Medicaid program
under the Affordable Care Act
- despite the fact that 650,000
presently uninsured Georgians
would be covered.
With the federal govern-
ment completely paying for the
expansion the first three years
and 90 percent of the costs
thereafter, Georgia would
receive an estimated $3.4 bil-
i i '
lion per year - which would
help our hospitals keep their k
doors open and boost the econ-
omy by providing tens of thou-
sands of new health care jobs.
Inexplicably, the highest-
ranking officers of the House ,i
of Representatives introduced
legislation last week that would
prohibit the governor (in the J
event he changes his mind) or i
any other official from expand-
ing Medicaid in Georgia.
Finally, Georgia Attorney
General Sam Olens has joined ,:
in filing a lawsuit that would
prevent thousands of
Georgians who have already
enrolled in health insurance
coverage under the Affordable
Care Act from receiving the
federa, l tax credits that make
their monthly premiums
affordable. If the attorney gen-
eral's lawsuit is successful,
these Georgians would
undoubtedly lose their cover-
age and the state's number of :
uninsured residents would rise
significantly. '
)
)
)
Rep. Carl Von Epps (D-
LaGrange), Georgia House
District 132. During the leg-
islative session, contact me at
512 CoverdeU Legislative Office
Building, Atlanta, GA 30334; by
phone at 404-656-7859; or by
email at
carl.epps@house.ga.gov mail-
to :carl.epps@house.ga.gov.
'1
