Opinions & Ideas
THE HOGANSVILLE HERALD
USPS 620-040
@wne00 00perate00 Tnb 00ublicafi00ns,
ROBERT E. TRIBBLE, President
JOHN KUYKENDALL KIM MITCHELL
PUBLISHER/EDITOR BUSINESS MANAGER
ANDY KOBER Phone (706) 846-3188
ASSOCIATE EDITOR Fax: (706) 846-2206
news@star-mercurycorn
BRYAN GETER P.O. BOX 426
ADVERTISING REPRESENTATIVE Manchester, GA 31816
Official Legal Organ fl)r the Cio' +f Hogansville
What Are Your
Qualifications?
With an election just
around the comer, we are all
looking at the candidates try-
ing to determine who is the
best person for the job.
In the Tri-County area,
there are several races with
opposition. Sometimes trying
to determine who is the best
candidate can become a dif-
ficult task, especially if the
water gets clouded by a lot of
"mud."
I've never been sure why
anyone in their right mind
would want to seek public
office because the candidate
will quickly learn that work-
ing with the public is difficult
and pretty thankless in many
ways.
The other thing about run-
ning for political office is that
your life becomes an open
book. Once you sign on that
dotted line to qualify, you are
then under the scrutiny of
every citizen, the media and
your opponent.
THEMEDIAalways plays
a part in every election, even
though it is the desire of com-
munity newspapers to remain
unbiased and neutral in local
elections. Community news-
its ugly head, the newspaper
must report it, and then the
newspaper and the reporter
who wrote the story are
accused of "attacking a can-
didate."
Over the years I've made
a number of people mad and
many of them do not like me
to this day, because they feel as
if the newspaper attacked
them because of a news story
or advertisement that 'was
placed in the newspaper when
they were a candidate, serving
in office and sometimes after
they left office•
So, you can see why I dread
every political season.
ALSO, during every polit-
ical season, citizens will
always approach me and ask
• about the candidates. I always
have the same answer, "Vote
PAGE 4A - HOGANSVII.I,E HERALD - THURSDAY, JUNE 7, 2012
i
What Goes Around Comes Around
One day a man saw an
older lady who was stranded
on the side of the road and in
the dim light of the day he
could see that she needed
help. So he pulled up in front
of her Mercedes and got out
of his old Pontiac.
The lady looked worried
as the man approached her
witha smile on his face. No
one had stopped to help her
for almost an hour and she
was wondering if he was
going to hurt her. He didn't
look safe, he looked poor and
hungry, she thought.
The man knew that the
lady was scared standing out
on the highway in the cold
weather. He knew how she
felt because the chill put more
fear in you. ,,i'm here to help
you ma'am. Wait in the car
where it's warm. My name is
Bryan Anderson," he said.
ALL THE LADY HAD
was a flat tire but for an older
person that was bad enough.
Bryan crawled under the car
to find a place to put the jack.
Soon he was ableto changethe
tire, but he had to get dirty to
dolt.
The lady rolled down the
car window as he was tight-
ening the lug nuts and began
to talk to him. She told him
that she was from St. Louis
and was just passing through.
She could not thank him
enough for stopping to help
her.
Bryan just smiled as he
closed her car trunk. The lady
asked him how much she
owed him because any
amount would have been
alright with her. She had
thought about the things that
could have happened to her
if he had not stopped. Bryan
never thought about being
paid because this was not a job
to him, he was just helping
someone in need. God knows
that there were plenty of folks
who had helped him in the
past and it never occurred to
him to charge the lady any-
thing, he thought.
He told the lady that if she
really wanted to pay him for
what he had done the next
time she saw someone who
needed help to assist them,
"And think of me," he said.
AFTER she had started
her car and drove off he got
in his old car feeling good
about what he had done and
headed home.
A few miles down the road
the lady stopped at a small
caf6 to get her something to
eat before she began the last
part of her trip home. It was
a dingy looking restaurant
with two old gas pumps out-
side. The waitress came over
and brought a towel for her
to wipe her wet hair with.
She had a sweet smile and
appeared to be nearly eight
months pregnant. The lady
wondered how someone who
had so little could be so nice.
Then she remembered
Bryan.
After she finished her
meal she paid with a $100 bill.
While the waitress went to
get change the older lady had
left the restaurant. The wait-
ress wondered where the lady
was then she noticed some-
thing written on the napkin.
With tears in her eyes she
read what the lady had writ-
ten: "You don't owe me a thing.
I have been there too.
Somebody once helped me
out the way I'm helping you.
If you really want to pay me
back here is what you do: don't
let this chain of love end with
you." Under the napkin were
four more $100 bills.
AFTER the waitress fin-
ished her work and got home
that night and got in bed she
was thinking about what the
lady had written. She won-
dered how the lady knew how
much she and her husband
needed the money with the
baby due next month. ":
She knew how worriec[
her husband was so as he la
sleeping next to her she gave
him a kiss and whispered,
"Everything is going to be all
right, I love you Bryan
Anderson."
THERE IS an old saying
that "What goes around
comes around." As you read
this true story pass it along
to someone else and remind
them that God works ifi
strange ways and sometimes
puts people in our lives for a
reason.
2
Behold 'the Government Gone Wild'
Before we delve into this
week's topic, I want to bring
something to your attention.
As I write this column, the
price of sweet light crude off
has fallen to $83.26 per bar-
rel, down $3.27 during the day.
Yet the price at the pump had
not dropped to match the fall
in oil prices.
Now somebody out there
is going to scream and holler
If you complain about
taxes in Georgia, or any city
in Georgia, consider moving
to New York City.
In addition to all the taxes
you expect to find, New York
City also levies a personal
income tax and has some of
the highest property tax rates
in the nation.
For those you who smoke,
New York City has the high-
ulation. According to the 2010
Census, the United States
concessionaires at movie the-
aters, stadiums or arenas to
sell soft drinks, sports drinks;
sweet tea or coffee in con..
tainers exceeding 16 fluid
ounces.
Bloomberg says his pro-
posal is an attempt to combat
obesity in the city of Nev¢
York. I say it is too much gow.
emment intrusion in our.
lives.
papers do not endorse local
es and try.to monitor
ne :an. ! photo-
graphs closely during election
time.
While employees of the
newspaper vote and have
opinions about each candi-
date, they are cautioned not
express their opinions in the
newspaper. Editors and
reporters are prohibited from
speaking for or against any
candidate.
The newspaper takes elec-
tions very seriously and set
rules governing letters to the
editor, columns, news content
and more before and during an
election.
IT SEEMS to never fail
even though the newspaper
tries to remain neutral and
unbiased, candidates and cit-
izens supporting the candi-
dates, always seem to find
some news item that the news-
paper should run that "the
public needs to know." Usually
that is not good news either.
Advertisements placed by
candidates and supporters of
candidates are just that, paid
advertisements. People seem
to think that if they read some-
thing in an advertisement, it
must be true because the
newspaper said .... However,
advertising is not news con-
tent and is also considered as
part of freedom of speech, so
never confuse news content
with advertising.
Simply put, even though
we try hard at the newspaper
to remain unbiased and report
the news as it should be, some-
thing is always going to raise
for the person with the best saying that we must wait for
• • • the chea er o" to get he
qualifications and thoperson+ :+,,: o+' . ,:[h
you believe: will do:t!e[$t,:l,prme e
,, o.own
job. I refuse to say more than
that. Citizens will also ask In the words of Harry
about news stories that have
appeared in the newspaper
and usually they ask for "the
dirt that wasn't in the news-
paper." I always reply to that
question with, "the story said
it all" or "what was in the story
is all we know."
We understand, at the
newspaper, that every story
written about an election or a
candidate does have some
type of impact whether it is
negative or positive. It is
important to understand how-
ever, that the newspaper is
simply a source for news and
only prints the news; it does
not make the news.
Sometimes, a candidate,
one of the candidate's sup-
porters or the candidate's
opposition, brings the news to
the attention of the newspa-
per. If the information is
determined to be news the
newspaper is going to print it
and make sure the story fac-
tual.
Mud slinging during a
political season is not uncom-
mon, sorting through it can be
difficult. I don't understand
why candidates think finding
the fault of their opposition
will get them more votes than
running on their own qualifi-
cations.
So try and look past the
mud and vote for the candi-
date who is the most qualified
and you believe will do the best
job.
THE HOGANSvlLLE 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 Hogansville
and its goal is to produce quality, profitable, community oriented newspa-
pers that you, our readers, are proud of. We will reach that goal through
hard work, teamwork, loyalty, and a strong dedication toward printing the
truth.
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FOR SUBSCRIFrIONS call (706) 846-3188 or write to Circulation Manager,
Trib Publications, E O. Box 426, Manchester, Georgia 31816.
Morgan, portraying Col.
Sherman T. Potter or/MASH,
"Horse Hockey!"
When the price of oil
jumps $3 in a day, retail store
employees beat a hot path to
the signboard all day adjust-
ing the price upward.
Let the price fall $3 a day,
and it seems to take forever
for the price at the pump to
drop.
BEFORE you suggest the
government should be look-
ing into this, understand that
government is too busy
addressing other, more seri-
ous issues - such as the fol-
lowing -- and subject of this
column.
est cigarette tax rate in the
country.
PurhaMh'g Sbmething n
New York City? Be prepared
for a shock• In addition to a
state sales tax, the city lev-
els a sales tax plus a
"Metropolitan Commuter
Transportation District" sur-
charge. Totaled, the sales tax
figure in New York City is
almost nine percent•
We could go on and on, but
know that New York City has
some of the highest tax rates
to be found.
In fact, tax rates on busi-
ness are so high some are
leaving New York City
because they cannot afford
to operate there• Businesses
are moving out of the city, and
state, and relocating to states
and cities more friendly to
the business community.
This also impacts the pop-
recorded an average growth
of 9.7 percent+..The growth in.
:New York C[t as a paltry
2.1 percent.
Based on this informa-
tion, a reasonable person
would think the leadership of
New York City would be
working hard to reduce the
tax burden, attract business,
and make the city a place that
would attract more people.
One would think...
BUT New York Mayor
Michael Bloomberg has
much more important deci-
sions to consider and make.
This was evidenced last
week when Bloomberg pro-
posed a ban on most sales of
large, non-alcoholic drinks
that contain sugar.
Specifically, the ban
would not allow restaurants,
mobile food carts, dells, or
Bloomberg now joins
Michelle Obama n.attempt-
ing to regulate what we g
eat and drink.
These politicians need to
keep their greedy, self-serv-
ing protestations away from
our food choices. They have
no business telling us how
much Coca- Cola, or sweet tea;,
we can or cannot drink. If you
want to eat a Big Mac - that
is your business - not
Michelle Obama's or Michae]
Bloomberg's business.
This is yet another exam.,
pie of government gone crazy.
and politicians failing to.
address real issues.
Election season is upon us.
With all the real problems
facing this country, it's time
to put people who want to:
tackle real problems in office
That's my opinion. )
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to P. O. Box 426, Manchester,
GA31816.
40 Years
Herald
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ps Property Evaluation
od+,,o U.-,+, o, Ranks Second Best In State
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In the
Hogansville Herald
Compiled by Rob Richardson
• SPRING BREAK GONE BAD - The top story
in the June 8, 1972 Hogansville Heraldwas about
a bad time in Florida. "Two local boys experienced
some of the bad points of Panama City last week-
end as they became the victims of a theft ring
during their stay. Douglas Spradlin and Doyle
White were spending a couple of days in the fun
city last weekend when culprits entered their room
at Edgewater Apartments and took everything of
value that belonged to the boys along with
Spradlin's 1970 model car."
• SECOND BEST IN THE STATE - Also on the
front was a story about Troup County's property
evaluations. "William P. Trotter, Troup County attor-
ney, told the county commission Tuesday that
Troup County ranks second in the state in com-
pliance with the Georgia Law receiving evalua-
tion of property at 40% of net value. Troup's eval-
uation of 37.3% of the market value and Echols
County with 38.74% top all other counties in com-
pliance with the 40% evaluation.
• AN EMERGING TREND - The dramatic surge
toward small fuel-efficient cars was about to
explode in the early 1970s, and an ad by Larry
Johnson Volkswagen had an interesting figure.
The ad noted that registrations in Troup County
showed that 10% of all cars sold were
Volkswagens.
• OTHER HEADLINES -"Miss Higgins to Become
Bride of Michael Kaelin;" "Miss Uttlefield Is Bride
of James O. Rippy;" "Scouts Hold Rally Night;"
"Deadline Nearing for Democratic Pnmary."
