July 2023

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Interim president/CEO for Carroll Tomorrow/chamber Brian Dill accepts role fulltime filling void left by Karen Handel’s abrupt departure

Dill will continue his job duties as vice president of external affairs of Healthliant and Tanner Health System

Also, Rhynne Owenby returns as Senior Vice President of Operations after leaving during Handel’s 18 months on the job

from press release

Brian Dill, who has served as interim president and CEO of Carroll Tomorrow and the Carroll County Chamber of Commerce, accepted the job in June in a full-time capacity. The chamber of also welcomed back Rhyne Owenby, who returned as Senior Vice President of Operations. Through the Carroll County Chamber of Commerce, Dill and Owenby responsibilites include leading local efforts to grow businesses and indus-

See DILL / OWENBY page 16

of her proposed budget

Bloc of five district commissioners blocked adoption of chairman’s FY2023-24 Budget with a 5-1 vote at Tuesday, June 6th regular commission meeting

Chairman Michelle Morgan taken to task at June 13th Special Called Meeting

Commissioner Clint Chance: “When we have information before us, we want it to be accurate” Commissioner Ernie Reynolds: “Chairman, I hand it to youyou’re good at flipping the conversation, very good at it”

Shown above is Duane Hack, long time president of the West Georgia Chapter of Georgia Right to Life (WGRTL). Hack was the guest speaker at the Guardians of Liberty meeting, Tuesday, June 27, 2023. These are open, public, informal gatherings.

StarNews

Budget adopted with stipulation that Morgan keeps board informed going forward story by Janice Daniel and Sue Horn

The Carroll County Board of Commissioners ended up voting to adopt

In 2019, America’s total black population at 13.4% had 38.4% of total number of abortions performed: for every 1000 live births, black women had 386 abortions while white women had 117 story and photo by Sue Horn

“The most unsafe place in America is inside the womb of a mother,” said Duane Hack, long time president of the West Georgia Right to Life (WGRTL), one of the 28 chapters of Georgia Right to Life (GRTL).

Hack was the invited guest speaker at the most recent Guardians of Liberty gatherings, held Tuesday, June 27, 2023. This informal group meets monthly at Uncorked on Main, downtown Villa Rica. All gatherings are open to the public, have speakers of local interest, and hold discussions with each presentation. He spoke on WGRTL’s mission and functions, shared abortion statistics and Biblical passages, and encouraged all to be in contact with their legislators concerning their views: “One phone call is equal to one hundred votes.”

Hack’s presentation began with recapping the history of the 1973’s Roe versus Wade and Doe versus Bolton Supreme Court cases that, togther, decriminalized abortion nationwide in the United States. Hack reminded attendeees that these two same-day court decisions, Roe and Doe, together determined that “a woman’s right to privacy extended to the fetus she was carrying” therefore having an abortionher privacy - was protected.

See ABORTION/PRO-LIFE page 11

the chairman’s proposed FY2023-2024

Budget with a 4-3 vote at a Special Called Meeting Tuesday, June 13, 2023, but not without making it clear first of their dissatisfaction of Chairman Michelle Morgan’s high percentage raises to some employees. In the end, Morgan voted against her own budget as the motion had

See VOTINGBLOC page 4

Tax/tag office moving to temporary new location while new administration building is constructed

The Tax Commissioners Office will be CLOSED ONMONDAY, JULY 24, 2023, for transition and will RE-OPEN TUESDAY, JULY 25, 2023, AT 8AM at the 997 Newnan Road, Carrollton location

County school board adopts $179M budget

from press release

The Carroll County Board of Education voted to approve a $179 million Fiscal Year 2034-2024 general fund budget at its June 22, 2023 meeting. The budget includes employee raises, additional teaching positions, bus purchases,

See $179M BUDGET page 14

Bremen Health and Wellness

Five District Commissioners let chairman know of their dissatisfaction at being left in the dark concerning high percentage raises to some employees by voting to delay adoption

Pro-life group president shares statistics and thoughts at recent Guardians of Liberty meeting: “We’ve become so technically involved that we’ve become Biblically stupid and spiritually weak”

Ralph Templeton, DC

RICK FOWLER BAND SOUTHERN REMEDY

Dignity. Compassion. Service.

Our funeral homes are all owned and operated by the same local family the Hightowers. Our top priority is to provide the best, most dignified, and quality service to our friends and families. Our staff is committed to providing support, compassion, information, and direction as needed to all members of our community, their families, and friends who are dealing with loss and grief.

Shown above at June 6, 2023 regular meeting, Carroll County Board of Commissioners are five of the six district commissioners voting to postpone the vote on Chairman Michelle Morgan’s (center) FY2023-24 Budget. Commissioner Montrell McLendon was absent. When Morgan requested a motion on the $73,234,841 budget, Commissioner Ernie Reynolds (second from left) made the motion to postpone citing three issues, all of which concerned the chairman’s lack of transparency with the board. Reynolds spoke at length on these issues: Morgan’s unequal treatment of county employees insofar as raises and not informing the board that their prior vote for an across-the board equal percentage raise vote for all county employees had not been followed; lack of accurate costs on moving county offices during construction of the new ad-min building; and that Morgan had decided earlier in the year, and did not let the board know, that she had notified the U.S. Consolidated Farm Services Agency located in the current a d-min building, would no longer have a space to rent.

A Special Called Meeting was scheduled for the following Tuesday, June 13, 2023, at which the board adopted the budget and the stipulation that, going forward, Morgan keep the board informed of any raises she gives that are higher than 10%. Photo by Sue Horn

an inclusion that stated she must notify the board if, in the future, she gives raises 10% or higher. This notification clause does not restrict Morgan’s freedom in giving raises as she wants, only that she must let the board know that she did. Also voting against the budget were District 1 Commissioner Montrell McLendon and District 4 Commissioner Steve Fuller.

At the prior Tuesday, June 6th regular meeting, (Commissioner Montrell McLendon absent) Chairman Morgan’s FY2023/24 Budget Resolution was read. When the chairman asked for a motion concerning adopting the budget, District 5 Commissioner Ernie Reynolds made a motion to postpone the vote for at least a week to work out three concerns he had, due to recent information he acquired. All three of his concerns involved lack of transparency on the part of Chairman Morgan, that

she should have let the board know this information and had not. He had found out the following information on his own.

First concern was a moving costs comparision between the two proposed locations for the new administration building: College Street and Old Newnan Road. Building on College Street site would require moving all offices out of the current building, into a temporary location, and moving back again to College Street into new building. The move to Old Newnan Road would be one move - after the new building was complete. Reynolds said new information from Balfour Beatty, although nothing was in writing, made it seem that the cost to move to Old Newnan Road would be significantly less. Reynolds said the board needed cost estimates in writing to decide whether the best decision had been made in regard to the new administrative building location.

Secondly, Reynolds said that a certain

A Message from your Tax Commissioner

The one-time Property Tax Relief Grant is a budget proposal by Governor Brian Kemp to refund $950 million in property taxes back to homestead owners in the Amended Fiscal Year 2023 budget. This proposal became law when Governor Kemp signed HB 18 on March 13, 2023. With this grant, the Department of Revenue will be able to reduce the assessed value of Georgia homesteads by $18,000.

The Property Tax Relief Grant applies to all millage rates except for bond millage rates and tax allocation district millage rates.

This grant was not reflected on the assessment notices that were mailed June 16, 2023 from the tax assessor’s office but you will receive the exemption on your homesteaded property. Tax bills will be mailed around the end of September.

The tax commissioner’s office will be moving to 997 Newnan Road, Carrollton, GA, on July 24, 2023, for the new administration building to be built at 423 College Street.

agricutural entity - he did not identify it - was in need of a place to be located due to the ending of the lease on the building where they are currently housed, and that Chairman Morgan made the decision months earlier to exclude this entity from the new administration building on her own, without consulting the board. Reynolds found out about this just before the lease was to expire.

This entity Reynolds referred to is the U.S Consolidated Farm Services Agency that has had a long time office in the current administrative building on College Street (White Street side). USDA Service Centers are designed to be a single location where customers/farmers can access services provided by Farm Service Agency, Natural Resources Conservation Service, and Rural Development agencies.

Carroll County is geographically and industrywise roughly half-agricultural and half-urban.

Commissioner Reynolds said this entity he is

referring to serves the ag needs of the county, and needs to be located close to the other ag offices, and he thinks Morgan’s decision to exclude an ag agency without consulting the board was wrong and needed to be addressed by the whole board.

“We want this entity to stay,” Reynolds said. “Tomorrow, June 7th, is the [lease] deadline.” Reynolds gave kudos to Commissioner Clint Chance for his involvement in successfully bringing about the lease getting extended long enough for a solution to be found.

Thirdly, Reynolds made it abundantly clear that he was fully in favor of the $1.00 per hour raise the board voted months ago to give to each and every Carroll County employee. He said this issue has nothing to do with the $4,000,000 allocated to employee raises because he thinks they are all perfectly deserving of the raise, the county needs to do every-

See LACK of TRANSPARENCY page 13

Discover your Journey

Villa Rice Mainstreet’s recent “Leadership Luncheon” featured Carroll County Fire Chief Chuck Barnwell: on the job 19 months this November

story and photo by Wayne J. Reynolds

On Wednesday, June 14, 2023 Carroll County Fire Rescue Chief Chuck Barnwell was guest speaker for the Villa Rica Mainstreet “Leadership Luncheon’ held at the Villa Rica Civic Center & Sports Complex. He began his remarks by expressing his appreciation for this opportunity to speak. He then reminisced that he had first moved to Villa Rica when he was in the fifth grade and that he had a “good time” in school. Barnwell said, “Some may remember that in high school I ordered a pizza from the pay phone and had it delivered to the classroom window. I was hungry - my teachers still remember!”

Barnwell “came home” as the county’s fire chief in November 2021 after being approached about the job from past Carroll County Fire Chief Gary Thomas. Barnwell said, “Carroll County had 30 vacancies at that time and two stations were not open. We didn’t have a deputy chief, AND on the first day on the job, my administrative specialist handed in his notice!”

He explained that it had already been planned. My directive as chief was to fix it, so we went to work. “I hired Dave Wade as deputy chief and Michele Mahaney as our administrative specialist. We started a recruiting school first to train those not certified. I am proud to say we are nearly fully staffed. We have opened those two fire stations, 17 and 18; ordered four new engines, two new ladders, and are now refurbishing an old engine which is half the price of a new engine.”

Area community leaders are asked to present at the Leadership Luncheons for the purpose of sharing their experiences as a leader and how they arrived at their position.

“I learned to speak before people through teaching classes, and found I was pretty good at it. I have enjoyed my job, and as they say, I have never worked a day in my life during my 30 year career…well, maybe a few days,” Chief Barnwell added with a grin. “I have learned that leadership can be taught, if you have some abilities. Like a calm presence. You don’t have to chew an employee out to teach them a lesson. And make sure they know you care, that is leadership.” He also mentioned he learned many valuable leadership lessons from Thomas.

Barnwell explained that you have leaders and you have bosses. “Leaders lead and bosses manage. I wanted to be a leader. Don’t be a boss, be a leader.”

The Carroll County Board of Education’s Career Academy offers classes and training in “Public Safety”. Seven Carroll County high school students graduated from this program and all passed their national certification - 100%. Two were hired by the Carroll County Fire Department and will begin work this summer.

The fire department also did a uniform overhaul and are in the process of getting their quick response teams up and running which are using fully equipped two-man pick-up trucks out on calls rather than sending the pumper trucks. In response to a question from Villa Rica Councilmember Leslie McPherson on why that is an important point, Chief Barnwell explained that using the two- man pickup trucks saves wear and tear on fire trucks, potentially getting increasing the vehicles longevity. And the smaller vehicles are quicker and safer and keep costs down, reminding everyone that the fire department runs all medical calls.

The Chief also commented, “I am very proud of our personnel, and we are constantly finding ways to improve our service to you, the citizens of Carroll County. From the very first day, Chief Wade and I talked about how to make sure we communicate that we want the best for our staff and that we care about them.

The Chief also commented, “I am very proud of our personnel, and we are constantly finding ways to improve our service to you, the citizens of Carroll County. From the very first day, Chief Wade and I talked about how to make sure we communicate that we want the best for our staff and that we care about them. We need to make sure we have everybody on the right path and on the same page. And I must set the standard.”

Barnwell also mentioned that it was important to trust your employees. For example, trust those who are your informal leaders thus setting the tone and example for others in the department. Those are the ones he wants to develop as leaders as well as letting them be innovative.

He explained that firemen work 24 hours on and 48 hours off, so a third of their life is in that firehouse. He stressed how important the

Pentagon Properties

Carroll County Fire Chief Chuck Barnwell at Villa Rica Mainstreet “Leadership Luncheom”

League of Women Voters hosts discussion on status on community services available to area homeless

“Connector Project”: a coordinated, centralized service that would provide a common application process to quickly match those in need with those who have the resources

submitted by the League of Women Voters of Carrollton/Carroll County

In June, the League of Women Voters of Carrollton/Carroll County hosted a panel discussion on the status of community services for the homeless. Panelists included Kim Jones , president of the Community Foundation of West Georgia, and two representatives of The Holy Spirit (THS) Emergency Shelter, one of the leading area providers of services for the homeless. Laddie Carter is CEO of THS and Denise Swanson is an active board member.

hotels” are part of the hidden homeless in our community.

Panelists informed the group that homelessness is a result of many factors, including the lack of affordable housing, poverty, unemployment, low wages, inflation, mental illness, drug addiction, domestic violence, illness/disability, incarceration, death of a family member, illness, and fraud. So far as the latter is concerned, in the last six months, senior citizens have been using community services after losing all their resources as victims of internet fraud. Senior citizens are a significant part of the new rising homeless population.

The homeless benefit from even small donations made by the public to THS: Gift cards ($5-$10 for use at local stores, gas stations, fast food, laundromat), bottled water and/or Gatorade, prepackaged snacks, tents (2-3 man) and sleeping bags.

The

When the THS Shelter first opened in 2014, it provided overnight shelter for individuals in need of it. It soon became apparent, however, that homeless persons in our area needed far more than this. They needed showers, haircuts, birth certificates, etc. As a result, THS soon developed daily and monthly programs for persons who were homeless. THS is an all-volunteer, Christian-based organization. 95% of its budget goes for such expenses as motel fees, rent, utilities, medical services, tents, and sleeping bags for the homeless.

Non-governmental community support provides much needed assistance to this organization that serves the “hidden homeless”, which includes about 450 households and about 1200 individuals. Those who fall into this category may be sleeping on others’ couches, or residing in nearby woods. Some have a car but can’t afford the gas to drive it. Many can’t afford to get their clothes washed and need a place to shower/bathe. Those staying in “extended stay

THS personnel also coordinate with the Soup Kitchen to provide meals to the homeless.

As part of an effort to assess the degree and causes of homelessness in our area, Kim Jones described a study coordinated by the Community Foundation looking at why there were so many individuals in extended stay hotels in Carrollton. A 68-question questionnaire was utilized which listed every reason why people ended up in an extended stay hotel (part of the hidden homeless) and explored the primary barriers to moving to permanent housing.

Jones did not go into the details of this

assessment for this presentation, but did note that many of those residing in extended stay hotels are working, but have little opportunity to save the money necessary to make the down payments and meet the salary requirements for a permanent rental contract. Transportation costs meant that many were walking long distances to and from their jobs in the dark. (A comprehensive and enlightening review of the results of this study can be found on the Community Foundation website under “Precarious to Permanent.” A review of these results may also be found in the March 12, 2023 issue of StarNews.)

The most immediate current concern for the Community Foundation and for the organizations providing services to the homeless has been the push to find a way to provide needed services more quickly and effectively.

At this point, someone in need may have difficulty finding what they need and navigating the network of community resources. They often have to fill out multiple applications to gain access to resources available through different community organizations. For many, the screening/eligibility/verification processes are complicated and difficult. Sometimes a referral for a resource may be required. Some resources require a method of contact unavailable to the person in need. There is usually a limitation on the availability of a given resource at a particular time or in a given area.

Coordinated by the Community Foundation, a collaborative of area non-profits, education or church-based groups and city or county mental health and Department of Family and Child Services (DFCS) are working toward a coordinated, centralized service that will soon be able to provide a common application process for

- lack of affordable housing

- poverty - unemployment

- low wages - inflation

- mental illness - drug addiction

- domestic violence

- illness/disability - incarceration

- death of a family member

- illness - fraud

all those providing services and be able to quickly match those in need with those who have the resources. Called the Connector Project, this vision for the future includes a central, “Hub Center,” which would house emergency supplies and a call center with a central phone number that all persons in need can call for assistance. Such a center would also be able to direct potential donors to a program they would most like to support.

Currently, the Community Foundation is pursuing a Request for Proposals (RFP) from qualified contractors to provide relevant connecting technology. Once this central hub is in place, it will centralize service requests for access to emergency supplies and other resources.

This collaborative has assessed what services are currently readily available in our community, which are partially available and which are needed but almost nonexistent. At the present time, all food banks provide food on Tuesdays and Thursdays but not on Mondays, Fridays, Saturdays, or Sundays. And there are

most immediate current concern for the Community Foundation and for the organizations providing services to the homeless has been the push to find a way to provide needed services more quickly and effectively.

Commission approves TADs with both City of Carrollton and City of Villa Rica

story by Janice Daniel Carroll County Board of Commissioners met Thursday, June 29, 2023 at 4:00 p.m. for a Special Called Meeting.

First order of business: board approved (7-0) the Memorandum of Understanding (MOA) with the City of Carrollton relating to Carrollton’s Tax Allocation District (TAD)

District 5 Commissioner Ernie Reynolds said that he is glad there is no bond aspect to this TAD and it “won’t soak up revenue from the districts of Carroll County” and that it was a pleasure to work with Carrollton Mayor Betty Cason and City Manager David Brooks.

District 4 Commissioner Steve Fuller asked if the Intergovernmental Agreement attached to the resolution was part of the motion, and City Attorney Avery Jackson replied yes, it is contingent upon being approved by both city and county officials. District 2 Commissioner Clint Chance stated that LOST and SPLOST revenues will continue to be received by the county. District 1 Commissioner Montrell McClendon, who made the initial motion to approve, said he is excited to see that areas in the city that need to be addressed will now get the updates they need, “Everybody benefits from it.” He also expressed that this TAD will give the city the opportunity to address some of what the growing population of young professionals are looking for.

Second order of business: Consideration of an MOA between Carroll County and the City of Villa Rica on their Eastside Tax Allocation District (TAD) was then brought up by Commissioner Chance who acknowledged the presence of the Mayor of Villa Rica Gil McDougal. Commissioner Chance went over a little bit of history of the Villa Rica TAD and their negotiations for the county’s participation in 2021/2022. The last proposal offered by the county was not accepted by the City of Villa Rica, and so Villa Rica went to the Carroll County Board of Education (BOE) in hopes of partnering with them in exchange for benefits given to both parties. The final agreement between Villa Rica and the BOE reduced the original bond amount from $35 million to $21 million (which is backed by the City of Villa Rica), and from a 20-year pay-off to 18 years, which could even drop to 14 or 11 years if the county is now willing to get involved.

The City of Villa Rica reduced the number of residential units proposed from 1,578 to 1,118 - this number including 320 apartment buildings and 140 townhouses. The development by Jeff Fuqua consists of a grocery component, sit-down restaurant, gas station, bank, fast-food restaurants, car wash, and other out parcels with the potential for development. LOST and SPLOST revenues estimates from the commercial/industrial components is $827,000 of “brand new sales tax revenue to the county,” according to Chance. As for the property tax, the full market value of the Fuqua project is forecast to be $275 million, the county’s portion at 7.58 mils would be $780,000, and it would be given up during the years of the TAD, whatever that ends up to be.

Chance also reported that Villa Rica has agreed to pay, starting in 2025, the Fire Insurance Premium Tax of $100,000 the first year, $200,000 the second year, $300,000 the third year, $400,000 the fourth year, and $500,000 the fifth year and every year thereafter. He said that the by-pass Villa Rica has talked about for 20 years or more, now Mirror Lake Blvd. and Punkintown Road will run into the interchange of the Dallas Highway, resulting in some growth outside of the Eastside TAD. In return for the service from the fire sta-

tion being built on Highway 78 which will serve a large part of Villa Rica which is in Carroll County, that Villa Rica will donate to the county, property for a second fire station which it will buy back from the county at fair market value should the second firestation turn out to not be needed. Villa Rica has also agreed to “beef-up” South Street entrance to Highway 78 fire station, as well as waive building permits and tap fees on that fire station.

A Joint Review Committee created by the agreement between Villa Rica and the Board of Education will consist of three members of the City of Villa Rica, three members of the Board of Education, and, if the MOA with the County is approved, two members of the Board of Commissioners. This “steering committee”

Allen’s Florist

will consider any and all problems that may arise, and will give recommendations to the city as to what their proposed solutions would be. Chance thinks this is the best way to help manage rapid growth patterns in the county, by the board having “a seat at the table” in this Steering Committee. District 3 Commissioner Tommy Lee said he thinks Chance, along with Mayor McDougal and Villa Rica City Manager Tom Barber, have brokered a great deal, and he is definitely on board with it.

District 5 Commissioner Ernie Reynolds stated that, “as everyone knows”, he was adamantly opposed to the first Villa Rica Eastside TAD partnership due to how it would have “soaked up revenue from all the Carroll County districts”, as well as the unchecked growth spilling into the county. But that he can “now support the fair deal”, especially with the number of residential units being reduced by 30% and the immediate revenue that would be coming into the county.

District 6 Commissioner Danny Bailey asked if the Joint Review Committee had a dis-

agreement on the solution to any particular problem that comes up, how would that work?

Chance replied that Villa Rica wants the county to “have as much legal teeth as it can” but the committee could not take authority from the Villa Rica elected officials.

District 4 Commissioner Steve Fuller said he has received calls from his district in opposition to this proposal and that he had no choice but to oppose it.

Commissioner Chance made the motion to approve. Vote was 6-1 (Fuller against).

In the third order of business, the board discussed the proposed annexation by the City of Carrollton of tax parcels C05 0310008 and a portion of 132-0162 on the Highway 166 bypass and Folds Road, to be rezoned from R20 (residential on one-acre lots) to Mixed Use Planned Development for 330 apartment units to be built by Culpepper Development, Inc.

Commissioner Fuller said that “the bypass is turning into a developmental four-lane highway,” and he thinks any development there would be better used for commercial or industrial businesses.

Commission approves updated comprehensive plan; discusses make-up of circuit court split committee

story by Janice Daniel

The Carroll County Board of Commissioners met for a regular meeting 6:00 p.m., Tuesday, June 6, 2023, with all present except District 1

Commissioner Montrell McClendon. District 4

Commissioner Steve Fuller asked that the Consent Agenda item regarding splitting of the Coweta Judicial Circuit resolution be moved from the Consent Agenda to the regular meeting, which all commissioners approved.

Thad Ferguson, Director of Recreation, and Beth Parson, Parks Manager, were both presented with certifications from the Lifelong Learning Academy, recognizing them as Certified City Officials. Jodie Goodman and Amanda Edwards of the CCMHA both earned their Performance Leadership Masters from the Colin Powell Leadership Academy.

The modified Consent Agenda was approved unanimously. Fuller led a discussion about the committee that was assembled by Chief Judge John Simpson to handle the splitting of the Coweta Judicial Circuit, questioning why there was no representative from the district attorney’s office or public defender’s office included in this committee? Commissioner Clint Chance, a member of this committee, said that he had conversations with the district attorney, and knows personally that the D.A. is in favor of the split: the question is how Carroll County and its citizens will benefit by the split?

Commissioner Ernie Reynolds advised that it seems time is of the essence and didn’t think the item should be tabled, but opined that anybody can be added to the committee who is

deemed to be needed. The board decided to approve the committee as chosen by Judge Simpson in a vote 6-0, with the understanding that the D.A. as well as the public defender will both have voices in the committee.

(The next order of business was the adoption of the new budget. See story front page.)

Commission then discussed a Resolution to Transmit the 20-Year Comprehensive Plan Update (263 pages) to Three Rivers Regional Commission and Georgia Department of Community Affairs for review and comment. Chairman Michelle Morgab asked if anyone from the public would like to comment. In the Public Hearing portion of this presentation, the only comments were by Dee Perry, executive director, Georgia Agricultural Land Trust. She expressed her appreciation for being allowed to serve on the steering committee, and asked everyone to please look at the specifics of the plan. (See related article by Perry page 25.)

The updated comp plan was approved unanimously and will now be forwarded to the Three Rivers Regional Commission for review and approval by the other ten counties in the region.

The Inmate Work Detail Agreement with the City of Carrollton was ended by the board, with a 90-day notification to be given to the City of Carrollton. Worker shortages throughout the county, as well as officers certified to take these details out to work sites, were the reasons given for the vote - 5-1 Morgan opposed - to end this contract.

After executive session, the Carroll County Board of Commissioners voted to adjourn.

Lake Carroll Lawn Equipment

Commissioner Reynolds, in regard to the current zoning, said he was told the soil in this area was rocky and septic systems could not be put in for houses. The plan is to bore under the highway in order to reach city sewer connections. He also said the plan is to have restaurants in the front of the property, along the highway, and high-end apartments in the back, and that the developer has been a local of the county for decades. He will be the single owner of the complex and that is an advantage. “I do tend to be in favor of this,”

Commissioner Reynolds concluded.

Commissioner Fuller said he has received calls from residents on Cedar Street, Thurmond Street, and Bankhead Highway who say they are against this due to increased traffic in an area that already has too much traffic, saying “we are against this annexation.”

Commissioner Chance asked if it would be possible to send this request back to Carrollton to table and reconsider giving the board more

information on how so many new residents would impact the area.

Commissioner Lee said he knows there’s going to be growth, and that he is “100% in agreement with it.”

Commissioner Fuller made a motion to deny the request, but no one seconded, so the motion died on the floor, and no further action could be taken.

Board then listened to a presentation from Newton Jennings of Marsh & McLennan Agency, about the annual renewal for nine lines of coverage on Property & Casualty Insurance and Risk Management. Jennings said there has been an increase of $216 million in property values on buildings and furnishings, as well as 57 additional vehicles and 31 added fire fighters, adding significant liability. He proposed that coverage for the county remain with Liberty, a motion was made and approved 6-1 with Commissioner Lee opposed. Board then went into executive session.

story and photo by Wayne J. Reynolds

Many of us have an opinion on why people are homeless, but are we correct? According to Kathy Parsons of Impact West Georgia who has been involved with homeless assistance since

2004 the answer is, “The reasons are as many as the stars in the sky. Every story is different. It is also difficult to pin down an exact number on how many are homeless. Most don’t brag they are homeless, but we know the number is significant.”

In a one-on-one interview, Parsons shared the history of and specific services that Impact West Georgia (non-profit) provides. “It started back in 2004 when the City of Carrollton asked if I was interested in starting a homeless shelter for men. At that time, there was a shelter for women and children, but not for men. The Director of Housing Authority said she had a house we could use rent for free, but there was no funds available for operations. After praying on it, I went to work researching homeless shelters and began using the best practices of what I found.”

The house was originally built in 1920 and took two years to renovate and then HOPE Center was born through this faith-based nonprofit - Impact West Georgia and conveniently across the street from the Impact office. “We expect God to provide and He has!”

“My daughter, a professor of sociology, did her graduate work in this field and developed a program that we still use today. The program takes them from where they are, through different paths, to where they want to be. The men come to us from different places, some may have a job and a car, while others may have nothing. Together, we develop goals and ones that they want to reach and how can we get there. They may come to us broken, but they

know we hear them, that we value them, and want to work to restore them. Not all make it, but the majority do!”

HOPE Center can house 10 men. They must be alcohol and drug free to live there and they are tested. If they are on medication they must be able to selfmedicate. There is no charge to the men. Each man has his own bed and personal storage, is provided three meals a day, receives hygiene supplies, laundry, minor medical and dental as needed, and life coaching.

The men must seek employment and do chores around HOPE. Depending on the man, they help them get their GED and help them develop skills if possible for a better job.

“The goal is for each man to be able to live independently. We value them and encourage them. As one man said, ‘You listen to me.’ We are not just a shelter, but a program shelter. These are exceptional men. We want them to live well.”

For veterans, Impact of West Georgia offers the DESERVE program.

Carroll County veterans are provided transportation for medical care appointments including wheelchair accessible transportation as well as for grocery store, haircuts, and pharmacy visits. “We are seeking funds and volunteers to provide this service to the 2,000 veterans in Heard and Haralson counties as well.”

They come to HOPE generally through word of mouth, but also through referrals from local advocates, healthcare professionals, and the police.

Kathy also discussed that they closed on property on North Park Street in Carrollton on a community shelter that can house 16 men, women, and children (accompanied by an adult).

“People will be able to stay the night if they are in control,

See IMPACT of WEST GEORGIA page 15

Shown left: Kathy Parsons of Impact of West Georgia and the HOPE Center that provides housing and other services to homeless local men.

Faith-based non-profit Impact of West Georgia and the HOPE Center has been assisting area homeless men in Carroll County since 2004: “We expect God to provide, and He has”

Impact has closed on property for a community shelter that can house 16 men, women, and children: the $200,000 capital campaign is halfway to its goal

USDA grant of $1.5M to help advance innovative food production at UGA

A $1.5 million USDA grant will allow the University of Georgia to help advance agricultural initiatives and innovative food production in Georgia as part of the USDA’s Food System Transformation framework.

The goal is to increase supply chain resiliency in urban and rural community food systems and strengthen the food supply chain to create fairer, more competitive, more resilient markets.

The UGA Archway Partnership will administer the grant using its nationally recognized and award-winning model of community engagement and facilitation to support agriculture in Georgia. Archway will connect UGA experts with farmers and agricultural producers to determine the underlying needs of Georgia’s agricultural community and to help them connect to resources that can help them access new markets and increase sustainability and longterm viability of farming operations.

The grant will support new and existing efforts of farmers, gardeners, citizens, government officials, schools and other stakeholders in urban areas and suburbs across the state of Georgia. Projects may target areas of food access; education; business and startup costs for new farmers; as well as development of policies related to zoning and other needs of agricultural production.

The funding for UGA is part of a $43 million program from the USDA to advance food system transformation, which includes $10.2 million in new cooperative agreements to expand compost and food waste reduction efforts and $14.2 million in new grants to support the development of urban agriculture and innovative production projects.

Georgia Department of Labor: new safeguards on Employer-Filed Partial Claims Program to reduce fraud

Georgia Labor Commissioner Bruce Thompson announced that effective June 29, 2023, the Employer-Filed Partial Claims (EFC) program was reinstated to reflect the amended Georgia Employment Security Rule. Due to increased fraud nationally, the department has incorporated more safeguards to protect taxpayers, claimants, and employers against Unemployment Insurance (UI) fraud.

“My administration continues to be dedicated to ending unemployment fraud and

abuse. The new and improved safeguards to the Employee-Filed Partial Claims program will ensure tax dollars are spent wisely, and UI Benefits are only extended to eligible individuals,” said Commissioner Bruce Thompson.

“We are cognizant that the actions made at this agency greatly affect our employers and their employees. Decisions are carefully weighed with a desire to minimize the impact to our business community while maximizing the effectiveness.”

Employers must now meet the following conditions to submit Employer-Filed Partial Claims on behalf of their employees:

- Employer accounts must have been registered within the past five years.

- Employers must be current on all quarterly tax and wage reports.

- Employers must be current on all quarterly contribution taxes, assessments, penalties, and interest.

- The week ending date on employer-filed claims cannot be older than 30 days.

The amended Georgia Employment Security Rule also clarifies that part-time employees are not eligible for Employer-Filed Partial Claims.

Individuals may file their claim at dol.georgia.gov or at their local career center to determine their unemployment benefits eligibility when employers are unable to file on their behalf.

For personalized assistance, employers can reach Georgia Department of Labor (GDOL) staff at https://dol.georgia.gov/employeremail. Additionally, by visiting Employ Georgia, employers can manage job openings and access the state’s talent pool. GDOL’s Career Centers are providing in-person employment services for customers across the state.

State Election Board clears Fulton County on the “Ballot Suitcase” investigation: report finds no evidence of conspiracy

The State Election Board dismissed Case SEB2020-059, a long-running investigation into alleged malfeasance during the 2020 election at the State Farm Arena in Atlanta. Over the course of the investigation, it was confirmed that numerous allegations made against the Fulton County Department of Registration and Elections, and specifically, two election workers, were false and unsubstantiated.

“We remain diligent and dedicated to looking into real claims of voter fraud,” said Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger. “We are glad the State Election Board finally put this issue to rest. False claims and knowingly false allegations made against these election workers have done tremendous harm. Election workers deserve our praise for being on the front lines.”

The investigation, which included Secretary of State Investigators, and Special Agents with both GBI and FBI revealed “there was no evidence of any type of fraud as alleged.”

Through the course of the investigation, “three law enforcement agencies reviewed the entire unedited video footage of the events in question surrounding [the two election workers] at State Farm Arena,” and additionally, reviewed social media posts allegedly made by a Fulton County election worker stating they engaged in election fraud, which was found to created by a third party who “admitted he created a fake account and confirmed the content that was posted on the account was fake.”

Ultimately, “all allegations made against [the two election workers] were unsubstantiated and found to have no merit.”

State Election Board Member Ed Lindsey requested a letter be sent to the two election workers, “because of what [these election workers] have gone through, I’d like to ask that [the state election board] writes a letter affirmatively telling them that the matter has been dismissed.”

On November 2, 2022, forty-nine years later, the Supreme Court overturned this ruling thus eliminating a constitutional right to abortion, with the statement that the 1973’s “core holding - that the Consitution protects a woman’s right to abort her unborn child - finds no support in the text of the 14th Amendment”.

The court’s ruling left the door open for individual states to determine how to apply this ruling to their own laws concerning abortion.

The 14th Amendment states in part: “No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges. . .of citizens on the United States.” The Guttmacher Institute stated that as of July 5, 2023, 13 states, including Georgia, are what that groups considers “most restrictive” on abortion “rights” while one lone state, Oregon, is what this group considers the “most protective” of abortion “rights”.

Hack shared that since 1973, more than 63 million abortions have been performed in the UnitedStates. In 2019, 38.4% of the abortions nationally were performed on black women, while at that same time, the U.S. black population was 13.4%. The abortion rate was:

23.8 per 1000 black women

11.7 per 1000 Hispanic women

6.6 per 1000 white women

Duane Hack has been Chapter President of West Georgia Right to Life for the past 19 years and is on the Board of Director’s for Georgia Right to Life. The mission statement of GRTL/WGRTL is “Georgia Right to Life endeavors to recognize the dignity of and restore legal protection from lethal threats to all innocent human lives, from earliest biological beginning to natural death, through service, education, public policy, and political action.”

They want to be “a voice for those that have no voice, the preborn and the aged.”

Hack has worked closely with the Pregnancy Resource Center in Carrollton and served as chair of their Advisory Board for several years in the past. Duane and his wife Karen are both active members of Liberty Baptist in Bowdon where they oversee Liberty’s World-Wide Mission’s Outreach. Duane teaches a Wednesday night Adult Bible class.

Hack said that “as a Christian, we know as the days get darker, the time [for Jesus’ return] get nearer. . . let’s not get weary.”

He said that the group “strives to reach the 16-21 year olds” and go about that through participating in as much outreach as they can. They also mail and email a quarterly newsletter. A recent newsletter published some statistics:

- during the one hour of a Sunday school or church service, 39 babies are aborted in America

- chemical abortions add an additional 50% more abortions per year

- 15% of all abortions in America occur after 12 weeks (the first trimester)

- all major organs of a baby in the womb are in place at 12 weeks

Biblical definition of “sanctify” is “to set aside for a special purpose”.

Hack said, “We’ve become so technically involved, that we’ve become Biblically stupid, spiritually weak”.

Looking out across the room, he shared that “25% of the U.S. female population has had an abortion. . . . we’re here to help.”

“Georgia Right to Life endeavors to recognize the dignity of and restore legal protection from lethal threats to all innocent human lives, from earliest biological beginning to natural death, through service, education, public policy, and political action.” Hack quoted Jeremiah 1:5:

“Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you” “. . . before you came forth our of the womb, I sanctified you”. The Biblical definition of “sanctify” is “to set aside for a special purpose”.

Hack also invited all to be a part of WGRTL’s annual “Stand for Life” event that will be held Saturday, October 21st, 10:00 a.m.- 11:00 a.m., the group’s 19th “Stand for Life” event. The location(s) not yet been decided, interested persons may contact Hack at 470-3702452 for more details.

Hack said that Biblical principles are their “road map” and that they reach out to educate the public through Biblical teachings. WGRTL also “engages with our electorate” stressing that “one phone call is equal to one hundred votes.”

Hack quoted Jeremiah 1:5: “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you” “. . . before you came forth out of the womb, I sanctified you”. The

The Guardians of Liberty group’s founders are Villa Rica City Council member Leslie McPherson and Carroll County Distric Commissioner Clint Chance.At the opening of this meeting, McPherson said she is a “member of the Republican Assembly” whose members “put principles above politics”.

For future Guardians of Liberty meeting dates and speakers, see Clint Chance’s Facebook page.

Duane Hack has lived in Carrollton on and off since 1979, also in Muscogee, Okalahoma,, Montgomery, Alabama. and Douglasville, Georgia. He has live in Carrollton for the past 18 years. He and Karen have been married for 38 years and have two children and four grandchildren. Currently, he is employed in the bakery business as Director of Business Development. Hack is also a (non-paid) contributor to the StarNews with articles pertaining to life issues found in his “Heartbeat of West Georgia” opinion columns.

SOURCE: GUTTMACHER INSTITUTE

NEWS RECAPfrom stories on StarNews Online website at www.starnewsgaonline.com

Southwire names a chief of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion officer

Southwire Company recently promoted Cara Herzog, vice president of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) to Chief DEI Officer. Herzog will report directly to President and CEO Rich Stinson as part of the company’s Executive Leadership Team (ELT).

Southwire’s everevolving DEI strategy is currently focused on six key areas of impact: People Leaders, Inclusive Workforce, Employee Resource Groups (ERGs), Reputation and Community, Equity and Governance and Value and Supply Chain. These areas allow Southwire to focus on the internal engagement of team members and forge meaningful external partnerships with a wide variety of organizations, including Catalyst, Women in Manufacturing, Wounded Warrior Project, the Atlanta University Center Consortium (AUCC), CHRIS 180 and more.

“Since I joined the company in 2016, we have grown and matured in our commitment to DEI,” said Stinson. “Cara’s promotion is the next right step in this journey, and I know that her team will continue to do an amazing job. I believe this sends a message to others in our industry that DEI is critical to our success, and it further positions us to be generationally sustainable for the next 100 years and beyond.”

Herzog was hired at Southwire in 2014 as a training specialist and has held many roles within the company’s People & Culture team. She earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of West Georgia, and has served with Women in Manufacturing, Society for Diversity, Project GIFT, Women’s Resource Center, Wounded Warrior Project, Advocates for Remarkable Citizens and All Terrain Georgia.

In addition, Herzog is also Vice Chair of the Manufacturers Alliance® Diversity & Inclusion Council and a Board Member for the Aimee Copeland Foundation, and previously was Chair of the Women in Manufacturing Education Foundation Board.

In 2020, Stinson signed the CEO Action for Diversity and Inclusion Pledge to show the company’s commitment to support a more inclusive workplace for team members, communities and society at large. Over the past seven years, the company has worked to hire more females, individuals from underrepresented communities (URCs) and veterans, and for the fourth consecutive year, Southwire was recognized by DiversityJobs.com as a Top Diversity Employer.

Southwire Company, LLC is one of North America’s largest wire and cable producers. Southwire announces organizational changes including the resignation of Brandon Moss, president of TCAS Southwire announced several organizational changes in June:

Brandon Moss, Southwire’s President of TCAS, announced that he will resign from Southwire for a role outside of the company.

In addition to his current leadership role, Norman Adkins, Southwire’s President of Wire and Cable and Chief Operating Officer, will assume responsibility for the company’s Tools, Components and Assembled Solutions (TCAS) business.

In this transition, Peter Lugo, Senior Vice President (SVP) of Product Management, will report to Norman and lead Southwire’s TCAS business.

Alan Bearden, SVP of Strategic Integration, will now report to Guyton Cochran, Executive Vice President and CFO.

“We talk a lot about the re-electrification of North America. The markets we serve through our TCAS business will play a major role in how we will meet the evolving needs of our customers today and in the future. We expect TCAS to grow to a multi-billion-dollar business in the next few years, and I look forward to what is in store for this team under Norman and Peter’s leadership,” said Rich Stinson, Southwire’s President and CEO. “We are incredibly grateful to Brandon for his many years of leadership, and I, along with all of our team members at Southwire, wish him continued success.”

Since joining the company in 2007, Moss’s leadership drove the formation of the company’s TCAS business, whichexperienced significant growth, both organically and via acquisition, over the last decade.

Southwire announces expansion in Florence, Alabama: 120 new jobs

Southwire has announced an expansion at its campus in Florence, Ala., that is expected to increase production capacity by 30% and create approximately 120 jobs.

“At Southwire, we’re making a multi-year investment of more than a billion dollars to integrate newer and better equipment, systems and technology into our operations to increase efficiency, enhance competitiveness and ensure the operational capability and capacity to support our strategic growth. The Florence expansion is a testament to those efforts,” said Rich Stinson, Southwire’s president and CEO.

The Southwire Florence Plant was acquired from Essex in 2006 to support the company’s production of commercial and residential building wire.

The 300,000 square foot campus has grown over time, and this expansion will include approximately 340,000 square feet of added space for new equipment.

Construction is expected to begin this quarter and should be completed in 2025.

“Southwire is committed to remain generationally sustainable for the next 100 years and beyond and be an employer of choice, and we look forward to the growth opportunities that this expansion will bring to our company,” said Norman Adkins, president of wire and cable and COO.

In addition to more operating space and new equipment, the project will also include renovating the existing building to enhance the team member experience, including locker rooms, training space and an outdoor picnic and activity area.

“This investment will allow us to better service our customers safely and efficiently, and the Florence team and I are very excited about the expansion and what it means for the future,” said Brian Davis, plant manager. “This expansion speaks volumes about the dedication, hard work and commitment of our team members, and we look forward to the opportunities that this expansion will bring.”

These investments and upgrades will effectively streamline Southwire’s commercial and residential building wire efforts, complement existing products and emphasize the facility’s culture and labor pool.

“Southwire’s investment project will create good-paying jobs in Florence while also enhancing the facility’s competitiveness and solidifying its future in the community,” said Greg Canfield, Secretary of the Alabama Department of Commerce. “We’re thrilled to see them grow and thrive in the Shoals area.”

and Wellness

Cara Herzog

LACK of TRANSPARENCY from page 4 thing it can to offer competitive wages to employees. Reynolds, again, after investigation, discovered “inequity in salary increases given to a select few” in Morgan’s office as opposed to the other 600 county employees and without consulting the rest of the board.

Motion to postpone the adoption of the FY2023-2024 Budget was made by Reynolds and seconded by Chance. Motion was approved by the board 5-1. Morgan opposed.

Reynolds then made the same one-week postponement motion for the amendment to the FY22/23 Budget; seconded by Chance. Motion was approved 5-1. Morgan opposed. The amendment, $8,940,457 ($8.9M) revenues in excess of FY22/23 Budget would be used to give retention bonuses to employees $500,000; $4,134,000 into capital fund projects for this year and next; and moving $4,323,000 from Capital Projects Funds through FY22/23 that are yet to get done into FY 23/24.

At the following June 13, 2023, 1:00 p.m. Special Called Meeting, Reynolds expressed two stipulations for the motion to adopt the FY2023-24 Budget: that the board will be notified of any salary increase greater than 10%, and the salary increase of $15,000 proposed by Morgan for the deputy fire chief would be reduced from $15,000 to $7,500. Morgan requested that County Attorney Avery Jackson speak as to the authority of the chair regarding salaries according to the county charter which in part reads: “Chairman shall have exclusive authority to appoint, remove, and fix the compensation of all employees. . .”

Reynolds stated that the “tone at the top” now being set by Morgan is showing some favoritism and inequities, and that “the board as a whole should have authority to ensure that favoritism doesn’t happen” to ensure “fairness to all county employees”. Chance asked if sub-

stantial raises could be communicated to the board. He said when the board as a whole, at budget retreats and meetings, set the specific line items of the budget they propose, with the understanding that the object is to add equitable raises to every employee, then to hear that someone has received 15% or 27% or 39%, he feels like the commissioners “might as well not see any salaries” if they’re going to be blindfolded when approving “what’s in front of me in the budget. . .when we have information before us, we want it to be accurate. . . I am elected and accountable to the people as well.”

Reynolds said that when the budget is approved by the board, they had “no idea that certain people would get substantially more than others.” His concern is “not the things we discussed, but ones we didn’t know about.”

Morgan stated, “I go by the charter. If you don’t like it, have a conversation with me.”

The charter gives the chair the power to give raises of any size; the board has the power to vote down budgets that contain these raises.

Chance said, “When we have work sessions I don’t think it’s out of line for this group to be advised of substantial salary increases. You should, by your own standard, have no problem to let us know that.”

The discussion turned testy with Morgan interrupting Chance to focus on Reynolds, goading him to name the jobs/ employees he was referring to, saying to him about a previous conversation [unintelligible on the poor audio], She said, “Tell me what are the [job positions that got the high raises] so we can go over this misperceived notion of these percentages.” Reynolds did not name anyone, but she did, by job. She disagreed with Reynolds that the board had not been informed of these raises, to which Reynolds said, “Well, maybe you should ask the other commissioners if they remember that [this job] was going to get a

Eliminating Chronic Pain and Fatigue

by Dr. Ralph Templeton, DC bremenhealthandwellness.com

allowed me a very unique vantage point from which I can opine on the health challenges men and women face on a daily footing.

$10,400 raise compared to other employees who got $2,000.” Morgan retorted that “sometimes [unintelligible] can’t remember what time the meetings are. Get back to the second person” wanting Reynolds to identify another job/ employee. Reynolds did not respond and then asked the other commissioners if any of them remembered being told of these raises, but Morgan cut him off before any of the other commissioners could respond. She then spoke at length how she “was probably the most transparent chairman [unintelligible due to poor audio of video]...” She then said, “What is the difference between a chairman and a constitutional officer?”

Reynolds responded, “I think, Chairman, . . . you’re . . I hand it to you, you’re good at flipping conversations, very good at it.”

After more back and forth, Morgan agreed to share information about any 10% or more salary increases by email notification to each board member.

Budget, with stipulation, was adopted 4-3. Morgan, District 4 Commissioner Steve Fuller, and District 1 Commissioner Montrell McClendon voted against.

Board then voted on proposed FY2023 Budget Amendment as presented by Finance Director Alecia Searcy in the regular monthly meeting. Revenues came in much higher than expenses for FY23 than were budgeted. The amendment was to assign where the extra money would be spent. Previously, Morgan had presented to the board a long list of items from department heads wish lists totaling $4M. Reynolds suggested the following: additional $500,000 to employee bonuses, additional $100,000 to go towards USDA building; and additional $500,000 to go toward paying down county debt. Vote passed 7-0 that the FY23 Budget Amendment would be approved with the Reynolds suggestions.

After an executive session, the Special Called Meeting was adjourned.

Roy’s Tires

For the past 37 years, I’ve served the West Georgia community as a holistic minded doctor of chiropractic. In that period of time I have enjoyed a vast, extensive experience both in the field of manual applications of the science and related physiologic modalities as well as serving in the business and political realms of the profession. My career included three terms as President of the

Georgia Chiropractic Association and five terms as their Chairman of the Board of directors, I served eight years on the State of Georgia workers compensation advisory council to the Governor. I have been qualified in the court as an expert in the field of business practices for my profession as I have owned and operated seven practices. This experience has

I can tell you for sure that practically any disease process is capable of producing body aches and pains robbing us of much needed rest and re-cooperation of our health. Chronic pain goes hand in hand with chronic fatigue. Furthermore arthritis (joint pain and inflammation) autoimmune disease and infections like Lyme disease, irritable bowel syndrome, and parasitic infections and H pylori likewise commonly found together and are a constant challenge for us all. Sooner or later our bodies defenses weaken and the

microbes (germs) take us over until disability and ultimately death wins the day. My practice is devoted to understanding how these processes can be dealt with on a clinical level and now utilizes modern technologies that quickly allow me to assess the human body for mechanical issues that are commonly associated to back and joint pain, as well as those conditions generating pain from chronic infestations of Lyme disease, staph and strep bacteria, amoebic parasitic activity and other so-called germ type proliferations within our bodies. We have the capability of scanning the human body and gaging the pathomorphology that’s

contributing to the patient’s discomfort.

Bremen Family Health and Wellness

I use the A/O digital body analyzer that can identify these microbial influences as well as food, sensitivities, allergy, and nutritional deficiencies. With this information, we can devise a health plan for anyone. For a SPECIAL LIMITED TIME OFFER, this scan is a $1200 value for only $189. Included with that fee is your nutritional recommendations. All chiropractic services are subject to any health benefit plan the patient has presented. Those without health insurance may call for a free consultation with the doctor before an estimate for the cost for care can be offered. We accept all major

health benefit plans, including Medicare, workers comp, and personal injury cases.Chiropractic adjustments unleash the inherent healing abilities of the body, improving bodily functions of all kinds and when coupled with proper nutritional and medical applications the human body to recuperate and has a better chance to reduce the threat of germs. Bremen Family Health and Wellness Center, 507 Alabama Avenue, Bremen (770-537-5555) Axiom Chiropractic, 941 S Carroll Rd, Suite C ,Villa Rica (770-459-8782)

*the word “germs” is referring to infectious bacteria, viruses, molds, microscopic parasitic activity commonly found in your digestive track and in your brain and these as they proliferate cause pain as well as fatigue

story by Janice Daniel

The Carroll County Board of Education held its regular meeting Thursday, June 22nd, 2023.

The Consent Agenda prepared in the work session (see story this page) was approved as presented. Assistant Finance Director Darlene Wolfe, presented Budget Amendment #3 for the FY2022/2023, in which there were only two voting items: $756,155 for State grant for HEPA Units, and $1,250,000 transferred to Capital Projects for the Operations Center. These items were approved by the Board.

After voting to approve the FY2023/2024 Budget (see story front page), Board Member Cater asked when they might be receiving some information about the millage rate assumed at 17.5 in the approved budget. The proposed FY24 budget is $179,400,000 as

opposed to the FY23 budget of $165,200,000. Cater wanted to know if they could get a bullet point analysis of what makes up the $14M increase in order to be able to answer questions that are being put to them.

Wolfe said that $9M is due to the employer cost increase mandated by the state for health insurance. She said she will prepare a bullet point list of the rest of the increase, and get it to the board members as soon as possible.

Superintendent Cowart said the budget is based on a millage rate of l7.5 mils, and he doesn’t think it will increase, but he has no way of knowing that for sure until the tax digest is published and calculations are completed.

After executive session, board approved the personnel items presented by Superintendent Cowart, and meeting was adjourned.

SHIELD Defense System is now active in seven county district schools; bus videos now play in real time; and there are now 15 school resource officers

story by Janice Daniel

The Carroll County Board of Education met on Monday, June 19, 2023 for a work session.

Four annual agreements with no changes were put on a consent agenda during the regular meeting to follow: FY24 Perkins V Local Plan Application; West Georgia Regional Library PLAY Card Memorandum of Agreement (MOA); GNETS MOA; and KidsPeace Stewardship of Funds Agreement.

Terry Jones gave his annual update on Safety and Security saying that with the new cloudbased camera system on the bus fleet, video footage can now be watched in real time without the delay of getting a SIM card from the bus and downloading to a computer.

Jones also said the SHIELD Defense System is now active in seven county district schools, and a Federal grant has been submitted for an eighth one. SHIELD allows partial or full lockdown of the school should an unauthorized individual be reported. If an intruder is already in the building, the partial lockdown can confine such person in a specific area until First Responders arrive. Shield Defense Systems are currently in the more rural schools due to the response time of authorities being longer.

He reported that there are now 15 School Resource Officers provided by the Carroll County Sheriff’s Office, the Villa Rica PD, the Mt. Zion PD, and the Whitesburg PD. Jones also said that a state-awarded grant will be submitted this summer to provide $50,000 to each school in the district, to be used for the purchase of safety and security resources. He invited everyone to attend a Safety Summit scheduled at City Station,

Carrollton, on Friday, July 21st.

In the operations portion of the meeting, Jones updated the board on construction at schools getting new classrooms and enlarged cafeterias. He also gave a report on projects planned for the next school year, one of which is working on plans for the new Operations Center to be submitted to the state for approval. Other projections in various stages of development are the Central High School, Villa Rica Central School, and Villa Rica High School classroom and cafeteria additions.

Jones presented the field trip requests for informational purposes only, since they are all extracurricular, and asked that the fundraising events be placed on the Consent Agenda. He also showed the board a list of vendors for the Carroll County Nutrition Program, which was also put on the Consent Agenda.

Lastly, Jones went over a proposed change to the JCDA-R Student Code of Conduct, advising that sexual harassment will now be a separate offense from the general harassment code; and to JB-R(1) School Attendance COVID cases will now be the same as any other illness, and won’t require any special handling going forward.

Glen Harding of Support Services, reviewed the Family Connections Contract, as well as the Willowbrooke MOU, with no changes noted.

Finance Director Darlene Wolfe gave the financial report as of month ended 5/31/23, showing Year-to-Date numbers for Revenue of $140,920,821, or 84% of budget, and expenditures of $127,932,970, or 75% of Budget.

After the executive session, the work session was adjourned.

J.Best Hair

$179M BUDGET from front page

technology upgrades, additional safety measures, and several facility improvements.

The budget adds 27 new teaching positions and five support positions to start the next school year.

These additional teaching positions mean that every elementary school in Carroll County now offers full time music and art programs for students.

The budget recommended by Superintendent Cowart includes a $2,000 teacher raise that was included in the state budget earlier this year, and extends it with local funds to other Carroll County educators who are paid on a teacher salary schedule.

Additionally, there are step raises for all eligible employees and a cost of living raise of at least 2% (two) for classified staff. The local supplement to the state base pay for certified

personnel increases from 9.5% to 12% percent, making the system more competitive with other districts in teacher recruitment and retention.

Additional items include enhancements to technology, facilities and equipment. A major technology infrastructure project will occur during the coming year. Federal funds cover 80% of the project cost, and the other 20% is included in the general fund budget.

The system will also begin construction on a new operations center that relocates the transportation department to a site with direct four-lane access via the traffic light at Bankhead Highway and Old Airport Road.

The board voted unanimously to approve the FY24 budget after holding two public meetings.

In July, the board will review the property digest and set a tentative millage rate for the next fiscal year.

Lauren Grubbs

County schools proposed budget is $14M over current budget with reason given as higher health insurance

IMPACT of WEST GEORGIA from page 9

but unlike at HOPE, we won’t test for drugs or alcohol. It is planned for 16 cots, hopefully they will be at bed height where they can have storage bins underneath. It will have basically everything a normal house would have - rest rooms, showers, kitchen, and laundry. They will be fed. During the day when the shelter is closed, we will use that time to help them with things like document acquisition, which they may have lost. We are nearing the end of the demo stage now and we hope to be open in November this year during Homeless Awareness Month.”

Parsons explained they are having a $200,000 capital campaign in which so far they have commitments of $100,000. They need volunteers for construction as well as the need for appliances and HVAC as well as a variety of household items. They are looking for a person to manage the Community Shelter as well. Several times during the interview, Parsons expressed her appreciation and gratitude to the

community for their support for HOPE and the new community shelter. Businesses large and small, churches, civic groups, and individuals have provided support financially and as volunteers.

With the community shelter now a reality, the need continues for volunteers and support. You can donate through the Impact West Georgia website impactwestga.org, by mail at PO Box 1677, Carrollton GA 30112, or in person at their office at 410 Newnan Road in Carrollton. Kathy also said, “You might provide us with fast food gift cards that we can pass out; they are really valuable.”

Their annual Ride for Hope 2023 will be held Saturday September 30th. This leisurely ride through scenic West Georgia will benefit HOPE Center, Impact’s new community emergency center, and the outreach to the unsheltered homeless. To ensure your own T-shirt and Ride pin please pre-register at impactwestga.org. Cost is $25 per rider and co-rider $15. The ride ends at John Tanner State Park

Time to schedule any necessary back to school immunizations: rising 7th graders and 11th graders

from press release

“We’re encouraging families to schedule an appointment as soon as they can if their children need immunizations or health screenings to fulfill school requirements for this coming fall,” said Amy McColley, Carroll County Health Department’s county nurse manager.

“We want to be able to serve everyone who needs us, and those who call near the end of the summer may find all our appointments are full.” The health department is located at 1004 Newnan Road in Carrollton.

Appointments are required. Fees for immunizations and screenings will vary. Payments for health services or birth certificates may be made by cash, MasterCard, or Visa. Medicaid covers vision and hearing screenings and immunizations, and most insurance plans are accepted. For more information or to make an appointment, call 800-847-4262. Georgia law requires children attending a nursery, childcare, pre-kindergarten, Head Start program, or public or private school (kindergarten - 12th grade) to be protected from certain vaccine-preventable diseases. There are three key documents a student must have on file when enrolling in a Georgia school for the first time:

- Georgia Immunization Certificate Form 3231: If your child will be attending a Georgia school for the first time, the health department or child’s physician’s office can let you know the specific immunizations your child needs. They will then provide you with a completed Form 3231 after administering the appropriate vaccines to your child. If your child has received vaccines in another state, you may need to bring proper documentation from that state.

-Georgia Certificate of Vision, Hearing, Dental, and Nutrition Screening (Form 3300): All children enrolled in a pre-kindergarten program or public school must have this certificate on file at their school. Your health department or child’s physician can conduct these screenings and complete this form.

- Certified Birth Certificate: You also will need to provide your child’s school with an official proof of your child’s birthdate. If your child was born in any county in Georgia, you can obtain a certified copy of their birth certificate at the Carroll County Health Department. You will need to show your Georgia driver’s license or state identification card, and either parent may pick up certificates.

Parents of rising seventh-graders and 11thgraders will need to make sure their child has received the following vaccines so they may submit the required updated Form 3231 to their child’s school:

with lunch and great prizes. “Last year over 100 bikers participated,” Kathy exclaimed. But this small non profit doesn’t stop there. For veterans, Impact of West Georgia offers the DESERVE program. Carroll County veterans are provided transportation for medical care appointments including wheelchair accessible transportation as well as for grocery store, haircuts, and pharmacy visits. “We are seeking funds and volunteers to provide this service to

the 2,000 veterans in Heard and Haralson counties as well.”

They also provide education through ACE (Adult and Community Education). This program helps children develop a love of reading, adults learning to read, and immigrants to improve their English skills among a variety of other programs.

Kathy said, “We are a small non profit, but we do big things!”

-Rising Seventh-Grader Immunizations: Children born on or after January 1, 2002, who are 1) attending seventh grade or 2) “first-time” students enrolling in Georgia schools in grades 8 through 12 must have received one dose of Tdap vaccine and one dose of meningococcal vaccine. A “first-time” student means any child entering any school in Georgia for the first time or entering after having been absent from a Georgia school for more than 12 months or one school year.)

-Rising Eleventh-Grader Immunizations: Effective July 1, 2021, children 16 years of age and older who are entering the 11th grade, including “first-time” students, must have received one booster dose of the meningococcal conjugate vaccine (MCV4), unless their initial dose was administered on or after their 16th birthday.

The HPV vaccine is also recommended for both girls and boys at ages 11-12 to protect against cancers and other diseases caused by human papillomavirus. The second dose of HPV should be received 6-12 months after the first dose.

Superior Structures

Carroll County Department of Public Health restaurant health inspections scores

To view complete inspection details: dph.georgia.gov/environmental-health

Following restaurant received a score of 100 during a JUNE inspection:

tries in the county. And as president and CEO of Carroll Tomorrow, Dill will be responsible for helping attract new opportunities to the region.

It was announced that Dill will continue his job duties as vice president of external affairs of Healthliant and Tanner Health System.

Dill had accepted an interim role after the abrupt departure of former chamber and Carroll Tomorrow president and CEO Karen Handel. Dill had previously worked with the chamber and Carroll Tomorrow.

Dill is also chair of the Georgia Public Telecommunications Commission and a member of the board of governors for the Georgia Chamber of Commerce. He spent 16 years in corporate and industrial business development and recruitment as an economic development senior executive in several Georgia communities, including Carroll County, as well as the chief operating officer for the Georgia Department of Community Affairs. He earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Georgia in political science and his master’s in business through UGA’s executive MBA program.

Owenby returns to the chamber after serving as the director of Signature Events and

Traditions at the University of West Georgia. She served in multiple roles with the chamber from January 2019 to October of last year before taking her role at the university.

As senior vice president, she’ll continue to promote engagement through building relationships with current chamber members, develop marketing and promotional campaigns, work with the county and local cities to enhance relationships and help the region rebuild after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Owenby also previously was president of Tickled Pink Gifts, an online gift boutique, and director of Marketing and Institutional Development for Oak Mountain Academy. She has an associate’s in applied science, fashion merchandising from the Art Institute of Atlanta and is earning her bachelor’s in organizational leadership from the University of West Georgia.

“As president of the chamber and Carroll Tomorrow - while also serving as vice president of our Healthliant program to enhance innovation and healthcare delivery - Brian is in a unique position to bring insight and experience to his duties,” said Loy Howard, chair and co-founder of Carroll Tomorrow. “With Rhyne, we’re going to see a brighter future in our community and our region.”

DKS Roofing

Highway 61 Villa Rica 93 previous 98

6/22/2023: Moe’s Southwest Grill 700 Highway 61 Villa Rica 92 previous 90

6/27/2023: Jones BBQ 1081 West Highway 78 Temple 86 previous 100

6/01/2023: La Chiquita 901 South Carroll Road Villa Rica 86 previous 87

6/27/2023: Billy Bob’s BBQ 811 South Park Street Carrollton 82 previous 90

Violations: Observed chemical warewashing machine not registering any chemical sanitizing solution. Observed reach in cooler holding ambient temperature of 58 degrees, buttermilk 48 degrees, mayonnaise 50 degrees. Observed grease and mold build up on ice machine.

6/21/2023: La Vaquerita 1124 North Park Street Carrollton 81 previous 88

Violations: Observed raw chicken stored on top of raw steak at small reach in cooler by front line. Observed raw chicken stored on top of ready to eat salsa at reach in cooler allowing potential cross contamination.

6/30/2023: The Watering Hole Sports Bar 123 Tri-County Plaza Villa Rica 74 previous 90

Violations: Observed reaw shelled eggs stored over ready to eat foods (lettuce and bread) in reach in cooler. Observed mold build up in ice machine. Observed gallon milk expired June 13th and buttermilk June 29th. Observed ice scoop unside with handle down touching ice.

public swimming pool health inspections scores

Following each received a score of 100 SATISFACTORY during a JUNE inspection: Quality Inn 700 S Park Street Carrollton 100 SATISFACTORY

Whitesburg Water Park 50 Booster Field Whitesburg 100 SATISFACTORY

Historic Banning Mills 205 Horseshoe Dam Rd Whitesburg 100 SATISFACTORY

Elizabeth Village Mobile Home Park 1065 Alabama Street Carrollton 100 SATISFACTORY

6/01/2023: Magnolia Lake Apartments 717 Burns Rd Carrollton 98 SATISFACTORY

6/13/2023: Oakwood Mobile Home Park 1745 Bankhead Hwy Carrollton 96 SATISFACTORY

6/13/2023: KidsPeace 101 KidsPeace Bowdon 96 SATISFACTORY

6/02/2023: Holiday Inn Express 100 Cooley Way Villa Rica 95 SATISFACTORY

6/13/2023: The Orchard student housing 206 Orange Pass Carrollton 85 Unsatisfactory

Violations: Emergency phone not operable. Shepherd’s hook pole missing. Observed gaps greater than 4 inches in fencing.

FIRECHIEF CHUCK BARNWELL

from page 5

lieutenants are because they are there with the staff, so they know exactly what is going on with each firefighter and to “keep their head in the game” because it is dangerous when their head isn’t. Unlike in many jobs, a firefighter can’t up and leave in the middle of a shift.

He mentioned that leaders must admit they make mistakes. “Own it. Your people know it.” Keep your reputation. Integrity!” Also that a leader may make hiring mistakes and after educating, retraining, and retraining again, sometimes you have to cut your losses and go on. But, you give everyone the opportunity to get better.

Give employees a clear direction, don’t get bogged down with day to day issues, check in with your people - are they okay? “You don’t need your hands in everything,” he said. “Michelle [the administrative specialist] sometimes tells me to get back in my lane and turn my blinker off.” Trust your people to do their job. Over the past 19 months I’ve been here, my people have done a phenomenal job. There are times when I have not been there and they just keep it going and I am proud of that.”

In conclusion, Chief Barnwell said, “I am lucky to be home!”

The chief began his career with Carroll County Fire Rescue in 1989 as a Junior Volunteer Fireman and became a full time firefighter in 1992, working for 11 years

few opportunities to receive needed resources after 5:00 pm.

There are resources to provide the homeless with such established service offerings as food, motel vouchers, rent, mortgage and utility assistance, mental health and even pet support and housing. These are available, but resources are limited in the areas of transportation, transitional housing, document readiness, case management, and drug addiction treatment.

Unavailable or difficult to obtain resources include those involving personal hygiene/ laundry, emergency shelter, access to state/federal support, affordable housing, tax support, and legal support.

through the ranks to station chief before joining Gwinnett County Fire and Emergency Services in 1999. He again rose through the ranks and finished his career with Gwinnett as a Battalion Chief at the Gwinnett Fire Academy. He holds an associate degree of Fire Science from West Georgia Technical College and a Bachelor’s degree in Fire Administration from Bowling Green State University as well as various certifications.

In a June 15th follow-up email with StarNews, Barnwell said that Carroll County Fire Rescue has an authorized strength of 134 sworn and regular status employees and although as of this writing the new budget has not been finalized, the current budget is approximately $10,500,000.00. Carroll County currently operates 15 fire stations in addition to headquarters.

For more information call 770-830-5880 or visit carrollcountyga.com

Edward Jones

This type of assessment will guide the development of resources in the future. For example, a new warming and cooling center, sponsored by Impact West Georgia (see related story page 9), will open in Carrollton in November. It will be open if temperatures fall to 32 degrees or less or 90 degrees and above.

A difficult issue that must be addressed is that of transportation. Currently, the Carrollton Connect transit system allows a person to receive one trip a week at no cost. The van runs 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. and priority is given to people with doctor’s appointments. So it can’t be relied on as a means of getting people to and from work. Options for transportation include companies providing (covering the costs) transportation for their workers (as Pilgrim’s Pride Chicken plant has already done).

When asked if changing laws might help provide needed resources, Jones explained that fewer would be homeless if zoning laws allowed persons to rent out rooms, garage apartments, or basement apartments to others. Villa Rica was mentioned as having recently enacted a law that would change zoning regula-

When asked if changing laws might help provide needed resources, Jones explained that fewer would be homeless if zoning laws allowed persons to rent out rooms, garage apartments, or basement apartments to others. See NEEDTOCHANGELAWS page 27

ASSISTING THE HOMELESS from page 6

Experience energy.

As our region’s leading nonprofit healthcare organization, it’s our mission to care for every member of our community. That includes wellness programs, improved access to medical care and exceptional clinical services.

We’re growing to fulfill that mission — but we can’t do it without clinical professionals like you.

#ExperienceTanner for yourself. careers.tanner.org

“We have a great team that sticks together and picks each other up. We bounce ideas off of each other — no one can do this alone.”

Reggie Nation CVOR Scrub Technologist Tanner Medical Center/Carrollton

COMMENTARY

2023 Legislative Conservative victories

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SUE HORN EVANS

EDITOR/ PUBLISHER

Greetings from the Gold Dome! Although the legislative session concluded March 31st, our work has not slowed. We are now awaiting assignments to our respective study committees, meeting with constituents, and have already begun preparation for the next session.

While we work towards 2024, we also celebrate our conservative victories in 2023. Several important measures such as education, healthcare, and public safety took steps in the right direction over the course of our legislative session.

(R) STATE REPRESENTATIVE District 71 770-295-8143 j.collins@house.ga.gov

P.O. Box 680 Carrollton, GA 30112

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Clarification: In our last month’s edition, the story on county solid waste should not have included the landfill on Grady Road, Polk County. Our county government has no responsibility for Polk County. Whoops! Anyone else catch that?? If you did, let me know, and I will gift you a subscription to StarNews!

County offices moving: Carroll County Tax and Tag office, College Street will be closed Monday, July 24, 2023, and re-open Tuesday, July 25, 2023, at 997 Newnan Road, Carrollton (WGTC building). This move is necesssary as the new admin building will be constructed on the College Street site. Carroll County Tax Assessors will remain at College Street for now. Carroll County Environmental Health and Community Development have already moved to WGTC site. Please let others know, especially if English is not their first language. Clash of ideals: Carroll County Commission has had some rousing meetings recently with the clash of ideals on how best to spend taxpayer monies. Two sides came down to: one side, give raises/bonuses equitably to county employees and work to pay down county debt with extra tax dollars; or two, chairman can give raises in amounts of her choice to employees of her choice (charter does give her that power) and extra money is to be spent on items from ‘Wish Lists’ by department heads of her choice. Two sides: fairness versus favoritism. Please watch the videos posted on Carroll County Georgia youtube: June 6th and June 13th. The June 6th video shows vote by five district commissioners who postponed adopting the budget to have time to review surprising pieces of information that District 5 Commissioner Ernie Reynolds had discovered. This information makes the BOC look bad, as if they either were deceiving the public or they were simply puppets in the dark, as they did not know that the chairman had kicked the local office of the U.S. Farm Service Agency to the curb; that the board has not been given accurate comparative moving costs for the admin building, and that the board’s vote to give equitable raises to county employees was ignored. The audio is quite poor in the most action-packed one, June 13th (coincidence?). Please listen closely and carefully. Reynolds presents his findings and objections clearly, calmly. His points do not vary. Chairman Michelle Morgan does not like the June 6th surprise vote, and says so. She denies the board wasn’t told of the raises and that Reynolds “misperceived”. She also attempts to push him to identify these positions, but he doesn’t take the bait. Instead, Morgan identifies two positions, on video, for the record. Why?

StarNews obtained copies of salary amounts for 51 of the county’s Grade 8 through Grade 14 employees. I see two whom Reynolds was most likely referencing, and he is correct: Job #1: a 38.8% / $23,760 increase within the year without a promotion, without an increase in duties, just a title change; and Job #2. a 16.2% / $10,400 increase within the year without a promotion, without an increase in duties. Also, importantly, my copies, put together by chairman’s office and from chairman’s office, had been marked “Approved by BOC during budget” which seemed to clearly indicate that the district commissioners did know and had approved these raises. I personally, and individually, questioned four of the six district commissioners, showing them my copies. Each strongly and adamantly told me they had not approved those raises and the claim “Approved by BOC” was not true.

Please subscribe to StarNews: Frank Blethen, publisher, Seattle Times: “Saving the local free press is critical and cannot wait. The time for action is now.. . . localism of ownership is critical and newspapers should never be controlled by absent investors who do not care about our communities. Such investors will continue to milk every cent out of local newspapers until they become ghost papers in news deserts.” Please see Subscription Box on page 24. I am thanking you in advance! And the headline at the top? Doesn’t refer to anyone in particular. . . just being a poindexter.

In the coming months, you will continue to receive monthly updates on major issues affecting Georgia citizens. As always, thank you for allowing us the opportunity to serve our community. May God bless you and may He continue to bless the great state of Georgia.

There was no shortage of action taken on behalf of the conservative cause during our 40 days under the Gold Dome. I am pleased to report we are moving in the right direction.

Tax Credits/Refunds: We have worked tirelessly to ensure hard working Georgians are able to keep their earned income. This year, we took advantage of our state’s healthy economic standing and were able to act upon this long-term goal thorough numerous bills which have been signed into law by Governor Kemp. All tax paying Georgians received Tax refund through House Bill 18, the 2023 Amended FY Budget. The bill allows for $1 billion in property tax relief grants which means $500 of relief for every tax paying homeowner.

House Bill 162 also puts money

back into the pockets of hardworking Georgians by providing a one-time income tax refund equal to the lesser of either the taxpayer’s 2021 income tax liability or $250 for a taxpayer filing as single; $375 for a taxpayer filing as head of household; or $500 for a married couple jointly filing a return.

Educated Georgia: Education is the bedrock of our Georgia workforce and economic health. Taking care of Georgia students and our educators is a priority. We continued our efforts towards quality education through several bills successfully passing the General Assembly. House Bill 19, the 2024 Fiscal Year budget allocates the following:

- $13 billion in state K-12 funding, fully funding the state’s commitments.

- $2,000 pay raise for teachers, bringing average teacher salaries to $61,000, the highest in the southeast.

- $1,000 salary supplement for all custodians.

Simple, and best, definition of socialism: “war against merit”

“I doubt all the Germans who voted in National Socialism quite foresaw what quickly was to come. Those who overthrew the Bourbons or the Romanoffs had no real idea they had sown the wind and were soon to reap the Jacobin and Bolshevik whirlwind. Do we even know we are all Socialists now? So it is with our “woke”- a euphemism for the socialist revolution we are in and do nor fully appreciate or even understand.” - Victor Davis Hansen on “Socialism with a Whimper” Socialism is a broad term that emphasizes the role of the state as governmental and collective ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods. Idealistically, the outcome would be equality defined as equity for all. Socialism is not a singledefined or merit-based economic ideology. Every country has its own

My column published here last month (‘SB 264: Americans last college tuition legislation’) was focused on a pending Democrat-led bill under the Gold Dome that would change state law on qualifying for instate tuition in Georgia’s public colleges and tech schools.

I wrote that it would allow foreign nationals who (legally) migrated to our state to skip the current 12-month wait before becoming eligible for the much lower instate tuition rate.

I wrote that the proposed change would not apply to Americans and noted that it is easy - and accurate - to refer to the legislation (SB 264) as another “Americans Last” bill.

I wrote that the University of West Georgia charges $2,732 (15+ hours) for instate tuition. The out of state rate is $9,641. That is per semester.

Senator Mike Dugan (R) replied in a short column of his own and, in that

form. Today, lack of freedom is at its pinnacle as Communism, then Russian-type Socialism, Social Democracy, Democracy, and lastly, the Constitutional Republic. We will have to leave out the theocracies, like Iran and Saudi Arabia, where freedom is defined by their god’s laws.

Communism has been achieved in only six nations so far: China, Cuba, Vietnam, North Korea, and Laos when defining lack of freedom.

Russia vows they are socialist but still

have a number of oligarchs owning (or at least reaping the benefits of) various industries, and around 100 of them are on the worldwide billionaire list of Forbes. Oddly though, China has 500 billionaires, and America has about 735. So how does equality thing really shape out?

It turns out that class structure is pretty similar no matter what your idealist goals are. China has nine tiers. The first four are Head Honchos (30), Bigwigs (200), Powerbrokers (5000), and Privileged (10 million), who all have ties to the ruling class.

The Privileged tier is county-level party heads, university professors, owners and managers of medium to large companies, well-known doctors and lawyers, famous writers and celebrities.

Tiers five, six, and seven are the middle class (900 million). Eight and

See TRAVIS PITTMAN page 23

process, made some astoundingly inaccurate claims in defense of his support for SB 264. Below are some examples and my fact checks:

Senator Dugan wrote that the “the bill never even got a committee hearing.”: The reality is that the Republican-chaired Senate Higher Education Committee held a hearing on the bill on March 16, 2023. I watched it. Readers can watch an archived video of that hearing on the General Assembly website.

Senator Dugan wrote: “…the language in SB 264 already exists in

Georgia law with the exception of the term “special immigrants.”: We ask that Sen. Dugan cite that language in Georgia law. Senate Bill 264 amends state law to read that “…refugees, special immigrants and humanitarian parolees shall be classified as in-state for tuition purposes immediately upon settlement in Georgia;” This would remove the existing 12-month residency requirement for that group of foreign nationals. It would not do the same for Americans. Please see lines 17 - 23. This language is not in existing state law.

Senator Dugan is correct that the measure would add the term “special immigrants” (known as “Special Visa Immigrants” (“SIVs”) to the code, but SIVs already have Lawful Permanent Residence status. OCGA 20-3-66 (3) (e) - (and Board of Regents policy 4.3.2.3) - already See D.A.KING page 23

Of all the bumptious and ineluctable quislings. . .

“Not just what happened, but what matters”

SUSAN M. HORN EDITOR/PUBLISHER

Pending legislation creates a benefit and significant monetary savings for foreign nationals that is not available to Americans

See STATE REP COLLINS page 23

Thanks to StarNews for great news’ coverage

11 are quotes well remembering. In my view, Bill’s administration as Carroll County Commission Chairman (2007-2012) was the last to consider tax revenue as belonging to the taxpayers, not to the political class to spend as they so please. Only District 5 Commissioner, Earnie Reynolds seems to understand that “numbers” are real money extracted from real people.

my assets have been in a Grantor Trust for well over 30 years. I don’t own the change in my pocket. Developing these Trusts is not easy, but it makes you “think through” options and hopefully reach a reasonable conclusion.

Next, thanks for the legal writings of Jason Swindle, some feel an appropriate surname for an attorney, his articles are always of value.

In my view, totally inappropriate. The current administration is not my choice.

First, thanks to those of YOU who are going to email RIGHT NOW ( suehorn.star news@gmail.com), to renew or give a gift subscription of the STARNEWS, our only locally owned, locally operated newspaper, to a child or grandchild or a friend. Who if not you? When if not now? With the cost of paper, printing, postage, etc. publication of a newspaper has to be a labor of love. Not much profit.

Next, thanks to columnist Travis Pittman and the Georgia Tech Betas (monthly AD in StarNews) for their remembrance of the late Bill Chappell. The quote from Ecclesiastes 1:9-

SYBIL ROSEN

THOMAS

River Rambles syllabil17@aol.com

Upright, it measures just under three feet tall and two feet across. Flat-backed and rounded at the top, it resembles nothing less than the stone tablet on which the Ten Commandments were written (I know this from seeing the eponymous movie in the 1950s). The rock is draped with short shaggy moss that browns in dry times and greens up in wet, like a chameleon fur coat that changes colors depending on the humidity. Where there is no moss, pale greenish-blue discs of lichen have taken hold of the mottled grey-brown sandstone; I can flick off tiny flakes of stone with my fingernail.

Most curiously, the front of the rock has three thick horizontal stone bars extending from one vertical edge to the other and slanting

Next, thanks to columnist D.A. King and State Senator Mike Dugan concerning their updates on SB264. In my view, there should be no extra charge for “out of state tuition” period, as, in my view both public and private college tuition is grossly overpriced. Concentrate on real job education skills and reduce the cost of all other useless classes by at least 50%. If President Biden wants to “forgive” student loans to buy votes, better to charge all “forgiveness” back to the institutions that conned the financially illiterate to borrow.

Next, thanks to Fred O’Neal for his informative column on “Special Needs Trusts”. All of

resembles

Don’t overlook the articles by columnists Jay Neal, Luke Milham, Bill Bouris, Duane Hack and others. Yep, I read them all and learned from all!

Now, my current bias. Go woke, Go broke. Woke initially promoted “diversity” which some associated with racism. No rational person supports racism. It seems to me that somehow the LBGT or now the LGBTQIA+ has highjacked the initial WOKE identity and influenced a lot of corporate management. It has been reported that some LBGT person recently posed topless at the White House and the White House recently flew the Pride flag in the center with our American flags on the side.

One day celebrates our independence; one day is set aside for those who died for this country; one day celebrates Christmas; one day is set aside for New Year’s; but our deviates have set aside a MONTH for their PRIDE celebration and convinced some gutless business leaders, in the interest of more sales, to promote their lifestyle.

Now, make no mistake, I DO NOT CARE WHAT PRACTICES SOME PEOPLE DO PRIVATELY, THEIR BUSINESS, NOT MINE, but don’t push your choices on me. Two males or two females can now legally marry and adopt and live happily, but one will need a member of the opposite sex to reproduce, otherwise they die out.

In defense of those companies that promote Pride merchandise, they properly want to sell all they can to all they can. It is my understanding that 1.8% of the populations studied indi-

See EDWILSON page 22

Ten Commandments tablet: The Rock, part 1

slightly upwards to the left. The left end of the top bar has been sculpted into a rough point, as if indicating to the left. Standing at the edge of the yard with its back to the river for over 30 years, our stone was not delivered on Mt. Sinai but instead made its presence known fairly unassumingly, lodged in the roots of an overturned loblolly pine not 25 yards from the cabin.

My late husband Glyn Thomas and his longtime sidekick Steve Voinche, now also gone, managed to wrest the rock from the roots of the pine and set it up in the spot where it has been ever since. There was speculation at first that the bars might have been formed by tree roots wrapping themselves around the stone. But as Glyn concluded, “Any kid who’s ever played ‘Rock, Scissors, Paper ’ will tell you this is impossible.”

Clearly, these bars were human-made, cut with some kind of tool probably of metal. Given its overall shape, the rock could almost be a gravestone, save for the mysterious presence of those chiseled bars, their persuasive sense of deliberateness and message.

Since its discovery, a stream of geologists,

geographers, and historians (plus anyone with an opinion, which is everyone else) have scratched their heads over this rock. Putting aside for the moment the riddle of how it got buried under the pine, most feel certain - as Glyn and Steve did then, and I do now - that the stone had some function regarding the river. Which only makes it odder that it should wind up underground at least 200 yards uphill of the Chattahoochee.

Glyn’s first thought was that the rock had to do with the ferry upstream of the cabin. There were many ferries along this stretch of the Chattahoochee as far back as before the Civil War; the last closed down in 1977. A hundred years ago, a ferry about half-a-mile from the cabin brought folks back and forth from Coweta County to Carroll. The small, flat-bottomed barge carried livestock, millworkers, travelers, wagons, buggies, tractors, and the occasional car.

“Cars had to pay 25 cents to cross,” Glyn remarked. “Someone on foot paid a nickel. If they had one. Otherwise, no problem.”

Historian and social scientist by education, and raconteur by nature, Glyn excelled at paint-

Has the time come to change that ever-adaptable QWERTY?

demonstrate their product. So, the letters for the word “TYPEWRITER” were all placed in one row! True, they are on the same row. But not for that reason.

ing portraits of times gone by. In the woods at the top of the drive, he showed me the faint remnant of the old wagon road that once wound down to the ferry; the roadbed was obliterated by the last clear cut. Yet, while we could still trace it, we’d walk the path through hickory, sweetgum and pine woods, following a burbling stream that emptied into the Chattahoochee.

At the riverbank we’d mark an opening in the woods and hike it east for another quartermile till we got to where the river channel turns sharply north. Today, Plant Yates sits on the opposite bank.

“This was the site of the old ferry,” Glyn would declare excitedly. “This bend. I’m certain of it.” In those days, ferries relied on the current to take passengers across. The ferryman would angle the direction of the ferry depending on the current. Here, where the river bent in an L-shape, the current narrowed and quickened, which supported Glyn’s theory.

For further evidence he pointed to two stands of majestic oaks making a shady arbor as they faced each other across the old dirt road. He

See RIVER RAMBLES page 22

Before there was a computer-keyboard, there was the typewriter with its keys. I’ve often wondered why the alphabet got scrambled as part of the keyboard’s layout. I’d like to share some of what I’ve learned. In particular, the most familiar of all keyboard lay-outs, known as “QWERTY”. The top row of letters start with “Q”, “W” ,”E”, “R”,”T”, and “Y”. It looks like a scrambling of our alphabet.

Here are two myths associated with QWERTY. First, that the alphabetical order of letters was scrambled in order to slow-down typists and therefore keep the typewritermachines from jamming: Not true. In fact, the opposite is more like the truth. Next (and I like this one) the salesmen of those early machines, not being trained typists, needed a good way to

It seems that the reason for the typewriter keys being positioned the way they are has a lot to do with how often, in the English language, particular letter-pairs occur. “E” is close to “R” because “-ER-” combinations are common. Once you start with such an idea in mind, you will also consider left-hand and right-hand combinations, and soon you will have a layout of keys that appear like a scrambled alphabet. But the truth is that such keyboard designs will more accurately reflect the way things are spelled. Actually, this was the demand that telegraphers of the late 19th century made, in order to improve their speed of typing messages. The demands of telegraph operators were of prime importance back then, since they were the only typists around!

By 1910, all leading typewriter manufacturers had agreed that the standard keyboard layout would be the “Q-W-E-R-T-Y”. Up to that time, each keyboard layout, even if it were one key’s difference from a previous design, was patent-able. And getting and defending patent

rights had been wasting time and money. So QWERTY became the standard. By the time computers came on the scene, in the late 1950s, the QWERTY-style of keyboard, which had become so embedded in our commerce and society, was now part of computer-design!

A modern typewriter has some 50 keys. That includes the alphabet, the numbers 0 thru 9, punctuation marks, space-bar, shift-key, etc. A computer keyboard has well over 100 keys, but it still contains, literally and clearly, the old typewriter layout. In other words, QWERTY keyboard-layout is embedded in the design of computer keyboards. The main reason for the difference is simply that those additional keys on the computer keyboard have to do with the needs of computer operations and are not stenographic by nature. But there is something else happening in the computer situation that does not happen with a typewriter. It’s easy to miss, but so important.

Let’s say you’re using a word-processor program. You type a character, say the letter “x”, and immediately an “x” will show up on the computer screen. It’s just like typing “x” on an old mechanical typewriter and an “x” is printed on the paper that is in the roller. But, here’s the

difference. By pressing down on the “x”-key you actually cause the “x”-hammer to strike the paper through an inked ribbon, which resulted in a perfect “x” being printed on the paper. But with a computer, the “x” that you press on the keyboard will electronically generate a code that the word-processor program will understand, and after several layers of coding and decoding will generate a series of pixels that form a pattern at a given location on the computer screen. That pattern of pixels impresses us as being the letter “x”. Complicated? Oh yes, very complicated. There’s no telling what size the book would be that thoroughly described and explained how a computer “runs” a word-processor program, and thereby makes a computer behave like a typewriter.

It is not unreasonable to imagine a progression in history, starting with monks copying ancient texts, to carved blocks that printed a whole page, to Gutenberg’s movable type (so that any page can be composed utilizing the same letters that had been previously used for a different page), ...to the typewriter that allowed anyone to print (vs. hand-write) whatever they

Flat-backed and rounded, it

a

J Collins

July 1, 2002 - July 1, 2023

Is the “Right to Life” a right? A Biblical view

DUANE HACK

West Georgia Right to Life PRESIDENT

“The

Heartbeat of Georgia”

Duanehack46@gmail.com 470-370-2452

Is human life sacred? From the very beginning the Bible reveals that it is because human beings are created in God’s image

Genesis 1:27 KJV: “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him, male and female created he them.”

The Bible portrays God’s personal involvement in humankind’s creation, and the emphasis throughout is on man’s divinely imparted uniqueness as made in God’s image. That divine image was distorted but not destroyed by man’s fall into sin. God communicated with Adam and Eve both before sin entered the world (Genesis 1:28) ad immediately after the Fall (Genesis 3:9), promising His intervention to bring redemption and restoration (Genesis 3:15).

The central truth that emerges from these Bible verses is that human life is sacred, thus distinct in nature and design from all other life; and the differences are of kind, not degree. We are not merely the most advanced life in the animal kingdom. The Bible tells us that all life deserves respect, but that human life demands reverence.

God, guns, and kids

CEDDRICK LOVINS

Millennials Christian Ministry (MCM)

The history of school prayer amendment began in 1962. In the cases Engel v. Vitale (1962) and Abington School District v. Schempp (1963), the United States Supreme Court ruled that government mandated school prayer is unconstitutional under the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. However, voluntary prayer is not unconstitutional.

Engel v. Vitale was brought to court because a New York policy required schools to begin each day with a word of prayer. The Abington Township School District v. Schempp case was brought due to the inclusion of school officials being involved with school prayer. Specifically, it was put in place to exclude school officials from organizing or leading prayers. This also included devotional Bible reading in public schools.

Abington v. Schempp required that school faculties should neither promote nor degrade religion. Now, let’s look at a Supreme Court case that came in 1985. It examined school prayer with the case of Wallace v. Jaffree. It brought forth a change to Alabama’s momentof-silence law. The addition included a requirement that the moment of silence must be for “meditation or voluntary prayer.”

As a kid growing up in school, we continued to pray. I think it was because I was in the South. We still had an extra year or two where we were able to “get away” with classroom praying. Then we switched over to voluntary silent prayer. As time went on, silent prayer

If

human life is sacred, when does it begin?

The Bible reveals God’s intense interest in each human life from before conception onward.

God told Jeremiah 1:5 KJV: “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou came forth out of the womb I sanctified thee”

-“knew”: a deep and relational understanding of who one is. A relationship that goes deeper than being an acquaintance, more aligned with understanding ones’ feelings, thoughts desires

-“sanctified”: to place and set one apart for future use, separated for a divine calling and mission in one’s life!

“In the book of Job, we see Job stating in Job 31:15 KJV: “Did not he that made me in the womb make him? And did not one fashion us in the womb?”

The psalmist speaks vividly in the Book of Psalms 139: 13-14 KJV: “For thou hast possessed my reins; thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvelous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well”

So what about Pro-life verses in the New Testament of the Bible? Let’s looks at:

Galatians 1:15 KJV “But when it please God, who separates me from my mothers womb. And called my by his grace”

What a great verse that bridges the Old Testament with the New Testament! Galatians 1:15 shows the continuity between the OT and the NT where an Almighty God forms and knows a child in the womb.

turned into a moment of silence. As I continued in school, grew up, and advanced from class to class, year to year, I remember moment of silence being watered down and even that went away. Technically, it should still be in place. I wonder how much it is being used today.

Even though some might disagree with me, I do understand, as a minister of the Gospel, that there is a need for the separation between the state and the church. I certainly would not want the government dictating to me how I must pray or worship. But that does not mean that we should not have Godly people in leadership, because we should have them there. And we should also pray for our leadership. And that prayer should be instituted whether our party or person was elected or not.

Even having the right people in place does not mean that there will not be gun violence in schools. It shocked me to find out that the first recorded instance of gun violence on school property, happened in the 1700s. The incident was known as the Pontiac’s Rebellion school massacre. It took place on July 26, 1764. What transpired was four Lenape American Indians entered the schoolhouse (which is near presentday Greencastle, Pennsylvania). They shot and killed the schoolmaster, Enoch Brown. Also killed in this attack were nine or ten children (reports vary); two children survived.

Just as shocking was finding out that the first known mass shooting in the United States was in April of 1891. It happened at St. Mary’s Parochial School in Newburgh, New York, when a 70 year old man fired a shotgun at a group of students in the playground causing minor injuries to several the students.

If you do a correlation of school gun violence starting from the sixties, and progressing until today, you will see that as we got further and further away from God, school gun violence went up.

I have also come across several articles about people leaving the church and how church

John 10: 9,10 KJV “I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and fined pasture. The thief cometh but for to steal and to kill, and to destroy, I am come that they night have life and that they might have it more abundantly”

Full Life, for all. Period!

So: is life a human right? Since the Bible teaches that life is sacred and that it begins at conception, human life is a right that should be revered and protected from conception onto natural death. God mandates protection for human life; clearly in black and white in the 10 Commandments: “Thou shalt not kill” (Exodus 20:13 KJV)

God is the giver and sustainer of life (Genesis 2:7; Colossians 1:15-20). The world we live in today so desperately needs to hear this truth. Human life, from conception to natural death and at all points in between, is under violent assault. Unborn babies, handicapped infants, the terminally ill, and the aged and infirm are merely the first to be victimized. The Bible tells us that all life deserves respect, but that human life demands reverence.

Many now seek to overturn the Bible’s sanctity of life ethic, which sees human beings as possessing a sacred, God-given right to life as an inherent part of human nature. They would replace the Bible’s view of humanity with a “quality” of life to be allowed continued existence.

Our country, since its inception, has based its beliefs about human life on a sanctity of life ethic. Let us be reminded that our Declaration

attendance is down.

My parents forced me to go to church when I was young, and I did not like it. But, I made lifelong friendships there and I sometimes received cookies and juice, so it wasn’t that bad after all. And well, I grew up to be a minister of the Gospel!

We have got to stop letting children make decisions for themselves. They don’t know what they need, they just think they do. Cookies and ice cream sounds great for breakfast, but it brings a whole host of problems with it.

Before we attmept to force God on someone

EDWILSON from page 20

cate that they are “bisexual” and 1.7% report being “lesbian females” or “gay males” and 0.3% consider themselves to be “transgender”, Why would a company potentially offend over 96% of their customers to attract a minority 4%? Simple. The LGBT population makes noise and the non-LGBT population essentially remains silent. I.E.: Do what you want, but don’t push it in my face. Your minority thing, not my majority thing. Noise scares insecure management.

First, they “roll over”, then they become unemployed. Look at the sales and stock prices

RIVER RAMBLES from page 20

elaborated. “People coming off the ferry, maybe they were on their way to the fish camp, or going up to the main wagon road. They were in buggies, or on mules, or on foot. These trees welcomed them.”

That did seem plausible and certainly pleasant. It was never hard to picture the beguiling scenes Glyn could draw out of the past.

Water flow may have taken the ferry across the river, but back then the current was assisted by onshore ropes and a metal cable worked by the ferryman. The cable had an enormous reel that wound it up for return crossings. We won-

of Independence declares that ‘human beings are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights’ and ‘that among these are Life….” which is listed first in the lineup of rights!

Christians must sound the clarion call against all attitudes and actions that assault the sacredness of human life. We must bear witness by deed as well as by word that all human life is sacred, from conception to natural death! It is a precious, irreplaceable gift from God. We must oppose the barbaric, lethal combination of technical expertise and spiritual ignorance that would deny human life’s sacredness and that would abort and experiment on our pre-born, harvest fetal tissue, allow death into the nursery for our mentally and physically handicapped infants and encourage euthanasia in our hospitals and retirement homes. Let us, as brothers and sisters in Christ, covenant together to pray for the discernment and the diligence to do this and more.

Over 63,000,000 innocent human beings have been slaughtered since 1973 through the gruesome act of abortion. May God forgive us, and we thank Him for the mercy he has extended to America!

West Georgia Right to Life is always available to present our “Life through Scripture” presentation to your local congregation during a Sunday am, evening or Wednesday night service. Feel free to email or call our cell number: 470-370-2452 Duanehack46@gmail.com

who doesn’t want Him, let’s concentrate on making sure that He is in our own homes, that we are truly individuals who name the name of Christ Jesus. Our young people need prayer without ceasing. Please keep them in prayer.

If you would like to dig deeper, here are the resources for this article:

School Prayer Admendment en.wikipedia. org/wiki/School_Prayer_Amendment

History of School Shootings in the USwww.k12academics.com/school-shootings/history-school-shootings-united-states; Gunfire on School Grounds - everytownresearch.org/maps/gunfire-on-school-grounds

of those companies promoting Pride month. Sales generally down 10% to 30% or more. Empty tables at restaurants. Stock prices generally down 20% or more.

Management should first consider their FIDUICARY duty. If they cannot figure that out, they should be replaced ASAP. As for me, there are airlines that I will not fly and there are department stores and eating establishments that I won’t patronize and products that I will not buy. I may limit myself, but I have acceptable options. Right or wrong I vote with my wallet.

Ultimately, money talks.

dered if our stone might have worked as a kind of stationary reel for the ropes. The ropes would be coiled between the bars for the initial trip and uncoiled for journey back. Or if not that, perhaps the rock sat along the ferry road itself, directing travelers to the fish camp.

While all of this was engaging and certainly felt possible, none of it satisfied the question of how the rock could have migrated to the roots of a pine beside a cabin half-a-mile away. Glyn would have to take us further back in time to find an answer to that.

See River Rambles in August for The Rock Part 2.

To ensure our students are on par with grade level course work, we also passed House Bill 538, The Georgia Literacy Act. Under this bill school systems will be required to teach highquality instructional materials approved by the State Board of Education in grades kindergarten through third grade.

Agriculture: Did you know that Agriculture is our state’s number one economic engine? To further protect our farm industry, we passed Senate Bill 220 which will create a conservation fund for agricultural land in Georgia. Under the bill farmers would have the option to sell all or some of their property’s development rights to a land trust or similar entity that holds conservation easements in perpetuity.

We also passed House Bill 545 in support of Georgia’s growing Citrus industry. To ensure citrus farmers have ample support, we passed legislation to create the Georgia Commission

nine are Underclass and Destitute (500 million). I would argue that the China classes are similar to America, with the percentages close except for poverty and the ability to move to a different class, both up and down.

India’s Socialist Democracy has a huge lower class that lives off of $6.85 a day. America’s poverty line at $52,000 a year for a family of four with TVs and smartphones has about 12% of the population. Worldwide 9% of people live off less than $2.15 per dayno wonder everyone wants to come to America.

So why should we be concerned if we are embracing “socialism with a whimper”?

for Citrus Fruits. Georgia’s Department of Agriculture will help the state’s citrus crop through education, research, and marketing which will help to ensure success of citrus production within our great state.

Safe Georgia: Our commitment to the safety of our citizens was made clear through several bills working to ensure Georgians are protected and our law enforcement community supported. We continue the fight against violent street gangs through Senate Bill 44 which establishes mandatory minimum sentencing for recruiting activities if the recruit is a minor or disabled.

To meet the growing demands on our public safety needs we also implemented The Public Safety Working Group. This group will explore ways to recruit and retain law enforcement officers and make recommendations ahead of the 2024 legislative session.

To further assist our recruitment in the

public safety sector, while showing our commitment to current LEOs, we also allocated $6,000 pay raises for front-line law enforcement officers and $4,000 raises for all state law enforcement officers through our budget work.

We also passed legislation to protect our schools through House Bill 147 and hospitals through House Bill 383. Both acts ensure that our schools and hospitals are prepared to protect our most vulnerable citizens.

Healthy Georgia: This was a great year where healthcare was concerned for our state. In the wake of some states mandating that parents adhere to the wishes of children wishing for gender reassignment, we successfully passed SB 140 to protect children from permanent gender transition surgeries and treatments before they are 18. Studies show gender dysphoria in children and youth is often temporary and often resolves by age 21 if no

irreversible treatment measures are taken.

To protect our freedoms, we also passed Senate Bill 1, which removes the sunset on the prohibition that prevents state and local governments from requiring proof of COVID-19 vaccination as a condition of providing services, accessing a facility, issuing licenses or permits, or otherwise receiving government services. Our Georgia service men will have better access to healthcare through House Bill 414 with creates the Veterans Mental Health Services Program. This program will provide behavioral health services to service members, veterans, or family members through non-profit community behavioral health programs.

Per Georgia law, Governor Kemp is given 40 days to either sign or veto legislation. This year’s deadline was set for May 8th. If no signature was given, the bill automatically became law on July 1st, the beginning of our state’s fiscal year.

Many cry out about a two-tiered justice system in America, but in my opinion, there are probably at least nine, something like the class system of China. Congressmen have a slush fund for sexual harassment lawsuits. Classified document security is abused by many high-level officials. FBI classifies some Catholic organizations as domestic terrorists. People are forced into imprisonment through the manipulation of the justice system and taking pleas when their money runs out.

Once the camel has his nose under the tent, he will never be satisfied. Today, we have made critical steps toward Socialism in the rule of law, education, tax code, voting, government corruption, and establishing a ruling class; all tenets or results of Marxism theory (usual prelude to Socialism).

Many cry out about a two-tiered justice system in America, but in my opinion, there are

D.A.KING from page 19

grants LPRs “the same consideration as citizens of the United States in determining whether they qualify for in-state classification.”

Senator Dugan in his reply: “What defines special immigrants is listed under 8 USC 1157.” Reality: 8 U.S. Code § 1157 deals with refugees as is clear in the law’s caption: “Annual admission of refugees and admission of emergency situation refugees.” Refugees are not SIVs. SIVs are defined and created in federal laws cited in the language of the bill (lines 18-22).

Dugan wrote that that the term “special immigrants” includes “…those who were forced to flee the Russian aggression in the Ukraine.” Actually, some Ukrainians are allowed to enter the U.S. under Humanitarian Parole status (a good explanation can be seen at the Voice of America website (‘US Immigration Paths Available for Afghans and Ukrainians’) and some have received Temporary Protected Status (TPS). TPS is not SIV status. Neither is Humanitarian Parole.

Senator Dugan: “I think that it is fair that those who fought beside us be able to become contributing persons while living in our nation.” Very noble. But the Democrat legisla-

probably at least nine, something like the class system of China. Congressmen have a slush fund for sexual harassment lawsuits. Classified document security is abused by many highlevel officials. FBI classifies some Catholic organizations as domestic terrorists. People are forced into imprisonment through the manipulation of the justice system and taking pleas when their money runs out. The Media Research Center recently uncovered a Department of Homeland Security program that is using taxpayer money to fund organizations seeking to silence conservative organizations. They are trying to link conservatives to white supremacy, Nazism, and extremist ideology.

Education is assaulted by forcing progressive social/sexual ideology into early education. American History is taught as a blight on society instead of the “last great hope for mankind.” Many elites buy an education for their children. Merit is not a major factor for many colleges for admission or a diploma.

42% of income taxes are paid by the top 1%

tion Sen Dugan has decided to put his name on creates a benefit and significant monetary savings for foreign nationals that is not available to Americans in their own country. And he is wildly inaccurate in his defense of that decision.

On SB 264 Dugan wrote “This is what SB 264 would have done if passed. Realistically we will never know because SB 264 did not advance in the House or the Senate.” It is difficult to understand this statement. SB 264 was dropped in the Senate hopper on February 27, 2023. It can still advance. Because the Georgia General Assembly operates on a biennial system, legislation that didn’t pass will be carried over to the second half of the biennial General Assembly starting January 8 2024. The reality is that the legislation is quite alive for the 2024 session.

An electronic version of the above, including Dugan’s response to the original column, is posted on ImmigrationPoliticsGA.com and has links to expanded information on the fact checking done here.

I stand by everything in last month’s column. As I wrote then, Senator Mike Dugan should seriously consider taking his name off this un-American, Democrat-led bill.

of wage earners. Of course, the wealthy can afford lawyers to interpret nearly 7000 pages in 26 volumes to lower their taxes.

Judicial Watch and other organizations have numerous lawsuits against many state and local governments for failing to follow the Constitution or even their own state voting laws. America has lost confidence in election integrity.

Judicial Watch and other organizations have numerous lawsuits against many state and local governments for failing to follow the Constitution or even their own state voting laws.

Corruption and the establishment of a ruling class go hand-in-hand. Peter Schweizer ’s books

“Profiles In Corruption,” “Secret Empires,” and “Throw Them All Out” address the abuse of power by the progressive elite. Progressives are not alone. There are about 1.8 million people in the Federal Government. Most agencies have been given power that far exceeds their original intent, and it is very difficult to downsize or eliminate once established. Officials work to increase their longevity and promote their ideologies instead of following the law. The Justice Department is out of control.

How do we stem the progress toward Socialism? It will not be easy or quick. A stalemate in the Progressive agenda would be a good start, but the “elite” players are stacked

wanted, to the computer programs that can do all the above, AND check your spelling and grammar, and then translate the text into virtually any language. Now let’s get back to the computer keyboard.

The use of computers internationally has taken the QWERTY keyboard with it. For languages that have Latin-based writing systems, like English, Spanish, French, etc., and all their dialects, the keyboard’s design was immediately adaptable. Languages using Greek or Cyrillic-based writing have also been an easy carry-over. In fact, because of encoding and programming schemes, any language whose writing system can be represented by 50 or so keys, can be carried by the QWERTY keyboard. Even languages whose writing system is not single letters but syllabic can be represented on the QWERTY style keyboard, so long as the entire language can be represented by about 50 keys. QWERTY has had a most interesting history, from origins in our midwest to being absolutely essential in today’s 24/7world.

Chinese writing, like Egyptian hieroglyphics, is described as “logo-graphic”. This is not the case with English, as well as almost all of the rest of the world’s languages, where alphabets represent the sounds made as each word is spoken. With Chinese, the writing is derived from drawings of the idea which is being

against the ordinary tax-paying citizen. Election integrity is probably the key to reversing the Progressive trend. Currently, our national elections are controlled by six states who have some county governments that fail to follow their state election laws. Two of these states recorded statistical improbabilities when 82% of the votes tabulated after 1:00 am on election night went to one candidate. The Judicial Watch website can fill you in on the hundreds of lawsuits filed about the failures in past elections. The 2024 election will be a real test to see if any of the efforts by conservatives have made progress to stem the push toward Socialism.

Hansen ends his article with a prophetic paragraph: “Once socialism takes hold, every mediocrity, every ossified bureaucracy, every constipated careerist, every hack writer, and nobody actor, comes out of the woodwork to find his ‘fair share’ of what he lacked in talent or accomplishment. In the end, perhaps the best definition of socialism is simply the war against merit.”

expressed! Chinese needs at least 2000 “logograms” to express some 99.5% of the language. That’s a keyboard with 2000 keys, which is a long way from fitting it all on a QWERTY keyboard. Being able to represent a language on a QWERTY keyboard is extremely important. After all, Chinese pictograms are used by well over 1/5 of the world’s people. Its literature and records are more than 5000 years old.

From about 1900, when typewriters became a basic tool of Business all around the world, representing Chinese with a keyboard has been a nightmare of a problem. There have been attempts, both in getting “pictogram-elements” to be represented by some 50 keys, as well as a method of representing the sounds of the language with 50 keys (as is done with English). There has been notable success with each approach. But no one has quite figured out overcoming the immense cultural and educational problems that each approach will cause. For instance, if the Chinese civilization were to change to an alphabet, then 5000 years of records, literature, etc., would have to be translated, while always keeping the originals (a copy available in each computer!) for constant follow-up checkings. Nor would the problem be solved if the rest of the world were to learn Chinese. Maybe it is time to change that everadaptable QWERTY?

BILL BOURIS from page 20

TRAVIS PITTMAN from page 19

Carroll County’s Comprehensive Plan update is due this October

DEE PERRY

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Georgia Agricultural Land Trust, Inc.

678-977-2574

agtrustga@gmail.com

What exactly is a “Comprehensive Plan”? It is a document by a municipality specific to the vision it has for growth over a twenty-year period.

Since 1989, the state of Georgia through the Georgia Department of Community Affairs requires that every county and municipality create a comprehensive plan and a future land use map.

Comprehensive plans are considered a fundamental responsibility of local governments. Ef fective planning can ensure where the community and the local government want development to be located and how to plan for it.

representatives from the development sector, the water department, the county school system, the county commission, the agricultural community, emergency planning and Community Development worked through the plan to create updates based on work completed and work to be done in the future. The steering committee began this process the first of this year.

The completed update was presented to the Carroll County Board of Commissioners on June 6, 2023. The update was unanimously approved by all six district commissioners and chairman and was forwarded to the Three Rivers Regional Commission.

Three Rivers forwards the update to the Georgia Department of Community Affairs. Both groups review the update simultaneously.

a “Comprehensive Plan” . . . is a document by a municipality specific to the vision it has for growth over a twenty-year period. Since 1989, the state of Georgia through the Georgia Department of Community Affairs requires that every county and municipality create a comprehensive plan and a future land use map.

Comprehensive plans also include work “to do” lists such as road works, building projects, ordinance work, major expenditures, etc. The plans run on a ten-year cycle with an update required at five years.

Carroll County’s update is due October of this year, 2023.

A steering committee made up of

The other counties represented by the Three Rivers Regional Commission - Coweta, Heard, Troup, Meriwether, Spalding, Butts, Pike, Lamar and Upson - have an opportunity to comment through July 14, 2023. Once all parties have approved the update, the comprehensive plan returns to Carroll County for formal adoption by the board of commissioners.

As part of the update process, three public meetings were held earlier in the year. The community participants overwhelmingly recognized a need to continue farmland preservation and find ways to preserve the rural atmos-

phere and ensure healthy growth in appropriate areas. The community plays a vital role in comprehensive planning and their input is invaluable to the steering committee and the Board of Commissioners.

Congratulations to Carroll County for completing a number of items on the work program list. Three bridges were completed and one additional is scheduled with the Georgia Department of Transportation.

The county updated sheriff department radios and purchased a new squad car. A county/ municipal joint solid waste management plan was implemented, as well as a countywide public transportation system in conjunction with Three Rivers Regional Commission.

improvements;

- support historic preservation efforts;

- create an Agricultural Advisory Council;

- designate Agricultural Conservation Districts;

- cooperate with other counties on green space projects as well as private green space opportunities;

- amend the zoning to protect ground water recharge areas and watershed areas;

. . overwhelmingly recognized a need to continue farmland preservation and find ways to preserve the rural atmosphere and ensure healthy growth in appropriate areas. . protecting the agricultural economic base, strengthening the zoning ordinances and providing services efficiently. .

. Carroll County can look forward to a bright future. . .

DRIVES, a title and tag renewal system has been adopted. The Carroll County Health Department expanded its scope. Several ordinances were updated and a panhandling ordinance was created. These items represent a lot of work by county employees.

Some of the items currently on the work program list include:

- promoting the installation of a minimum of ten wireless broadband towers in rural areas;

- expand the Snake Creek water treatment facility;

- obtain funding for public transportation

- apply for grants for a variety of county needs including parks, capital investment and job creation;

- and support renovations and a correct a number of issues at county parks such as security. These are just a few of the items on the county’s work list for the future.

Carroll County continues to utilize the comprehensive plan as an effective tool for measured growth so that it can maintain the unique qualities that the citizens enjoy including the rolling rural landscape. By placing development in appropriate areas, protecting the agricultural economic base, strengthening the zoning ordinances and providing services efficiently, Carroll County can look forward to a bright future and solidify its place in West Georgia as a destination for families, businesses and tourism rather than becoming a mimic of other counties in metro Atlanta.

The Comprehensive Plan Update can be viewed online on the county website. The Future Land Use Plan Map is also available.

Retired? Consider benefits of part-time work

could enjoy exercising your skills and meeting new people. But you can also receive some key financial benefits.

you have available for retirement.

After spending decades in the workforce, you might look forward to the day you retire. But if you decide, for one reason or another, that you’d like to redefine “retirement” to include part-time work or consulting, you

Specifically, bringing in some paychecks in your retirement can help you in these areas: You could contribute more to your IRA. During your working years, you may have contributed regularly to an IRA, but once you retired, you might have thought those days were over. But there’s no age limit – if you have any earned income, you can contribute to an IRA and boost the financial resources

marriage licenses

JUNE 1-30, 2023

You could potentially lower your withdrawal rate. Once you’re retired, you will likely need to rely on your investment portfolio to provide you with some – or maybe most – of your income. Consequently, you’ll need to establish an appropriate withdrawal rate – a percentage of your portfolio that you can take out each year without running the risk of potentially outliving your money. Income from part-time work or consulting may lower your dependency on investment income,

thereby reducing your annual withdrawal rate and extending the overall longevity of your investment portfolio.

You could add to your grandchildren’s 529 plans. When you invest in a 529 education savings plan, the earnings and withdrawals are federally tax-free, provided the money is used for qualified education expenses. As a grandparent, you can contribute to a 529 plan with your grandchildren as beneficiaries. And a 529 plan can be used for more than college – it can fund some programs at trade schools and K-12 expenses in some states. So, by putting some of your earned income to work in a 529 plan, you can help improve your grandchildren’s prospects.

You could reduce your debts. By the time you reach retirement, you may or may not have retired your mortgage, but you might have other debts on your books. If you can apply some of your earned income to these debts, you can improve your cash flow and possibly avoid dipping into your retirement accounts for short-term needs.

Of course, you’ll also have to consider some issues if you end up working in retirement, particularly if you bring in a sizable amount of money. For example, if you’re earning income and collecting Social Security before you reach your “full” retirement age – which is likely between 66 and 67 – your monthly benefits will be reduced. (However, these “lost” benefits will be restored once you do reach your full retirement age.) Also, the added income could push you into a higher tax bracket or even cause you to pay the Medicare premium surcharge or the 3.8% surtax on net investment income if your income reaches certain levels. So, before embarking on any employment that may yield a large additional income, consult with your tax advisor.

Overall, though, the financial benefits of part-time employment income during your retirement years may be worth it – so give some thought to “unretiring.”

Derick Newton is financial advisor, 937B Maple Street, Carrollton, GA 770-832-9515 Article was written by Edward Jones for use by local Edward Jones Financial Advisor.

Carroll County pistol permits

Number of Weapons Carry Permits applied for: JUNE 1-30, 2023: 116

Carroll County births

JUNE 1-30, 2023:

Tanner Medical Center, Carrollton:

Females: 64 Males: 60

Tanner Medical Center, Villa Rica:�

Females: 35 Males: 19

Carroll County cattle receipts

Carroll County Sales Barn

225 Sales Barn Road, Carrollton

June 12, 2023: 800

June 19, 2023: 807

June 26, 2023: 590

July 3, 2023: CLOSED

Carroll County jail population

Total population as of

JULY 5, 2023: 424

Males: 353 Females: 71

Carroll County prison population

Total population as of

MAY 2, 2023: 236

Capacity: 246 Males: 100%

The Golden City Lions Club of Villa Rica

installs new officers

The Golden City Lions Club installed new officers for the upcoming year at the monthly June 2023 meeting. Garner Andrews, MD18 Past Council Chair Georgia Lions Club, was invited to install new officers.

The Golden City Lions Club is a service organization serving the needs of the local community through its motto “We Serve.” They meet the fourth Monday of each month at the Olive Tree in Villa Rica at noon. All members of the community are invited to attend. Georgia Lions Clubs have worked tirelessly to serve in five primary areas- saving sight, fighting diabetes, protecting the environment, battling childhood cancer, and feeding and taking care of those in our communities who are tired and hungry.

Shown left to right are Garner Andrews; Stacey Orr, Secretary; Leslie McPherson, 2nd Vice President; Nancy Mims, President; Ann Olson, Board Member. Not shown: Michael Young, Treasurer; and Rebecca O’Connor, Board Member Photo and information submitted by Stacey Orr, Golden City Lions Club Secretary

Are the new anti-obesity medications a risk for employers’ health plans?

678-821-3508

A surge in demand for pricey, new and highly effective anti-obesity medications could put a financial strain on employers who sponsor their employees’ health plans.

Employers have long offered coverage for certain weight loss tools, such as bariatric surgery if employees qualify for the drastic procedure that requires surgery. Other medications that have been on the market for a while have limited effect, don’t work for everyone and can have some serious complications.

But a new class of medications that has hit

the market in the last few years has proven extremely effective in helping people lose weight. As a result, drugs like Novo Nordisk’s weight loss specific Wegovy and Saxenda, along with Ozempic, a diabetes medication are on high demand. There’s one big catch: These drugs are costly, putting employers in a quandary. They want to attract and retain high quality talent, but they don’t want to break the bank on their employee benefit offerings.

What are these medications?

This class of pharmaceuticals, known as glucagon like peptide agonists (GLP-1s), have been shown to be highly effective in helping people lose weight. Since the news spread of how effective they are, demand for these medications has skyrocketed.

Just three years ago, few people had heard of

Georgia Secretary of State Raffensperger asks legislators to increase penalties for tampering or attempting to tamper with voting machines

from press release

Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger is urging members of the Georgia General Assembly to update the election code to increase the penalties for tampering or attempting to tamper with voting machines in any Georgia election. Currently, criminals who attempt to interfere with the lawful operation of a voting machine who are found guilty of a felony under Georgia law are only subject to 1-10 years of jail time and a maximum penalty of $10,000.

“Voting is the foundation of our democracy, and those who attempt to interfere with that fundamental right should be subject to higher penalties. A felony with a short sentence or small fine is not sufficient justice for those who attempt to interfere with our democracy,” said Secretary Raffensperger.

“I believe our equipment is critical infrastructure and should be treated that way. It is time for the Legislature to update the penalties to a $1 million fine and a minimum of 10 years in jail associated with crimes against elections. Extremist groups that seek to invalidate the security of our elections should face serious legal consequences for their actions. Groups that attempt to gain illegal access or give illegal

access to voting machines should be subject to high fines and minimum jail time.”

“The integrity of our elections is fundamental to American democracy,” said Raffensperger. “Part of ensuring security is deterring criminal actors, and the other part is prosecuting those criminals to the fullest extent of the law.”

Georgia was the first state in the country to implement the trifecta of automatic voter registration, at least 17 days of early voting, and noexcuse absentee voting.

Georgia continues to set records for voter turnout and election participation, seeing the largest increase in average turnout of any other state in the 2018 midterm election and record turnout in 2020, and 2022. 2022 achieved the largest single day of in-person early voting turnout in Georgia midterm history utilizing Georgia’s secure, paper ballot voting system.

Most recently, Georgia ranked number one for Election Integrity by the Heritage Foundation, a top ranking for Voter Accessibility by the Center for Election Innovation & Research, and tied for number one in Election Administration by the Bipartisan Policy Center.

these medications, and they were not often prescribed, but that’s all changed. For example, the medication Semaglutide, known under the brand Ozempic, Wegovy and Rybelsus, was the fourth most prescribed drug in terms of total cost in 2021 at $10.7 billion, an increase of 90% from the year prior, according to a report in the American Journal of Health System Pharmacy. While many of these medications are injectable, some, like Rybelsus, come in pill form.

Shockingly high costs

Experts warn that if more workers seek out these medications, payer outlets will spike, resulting in higher group health plan premiums for employers. The list price of Wegovy is $1,350 per package, which breaks down to approximately $270 per week or $16,190 per year. That said, obesity has its own cost, and proponents of these medications point to the potential for reduced cost on the back end if people lose weight and keep it off.

Medical cost of obesity in the United States were $173 billion in 2019, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

An unsustainable trend

NEEDTOCHANGELAWS from page 17

tions along these lines. In part, this came about because 68% of the people working for the city of Villa Rica could not afford to live in the city. Also, in Villa Rica, a recent public housing authority project has provided additional senior adult housing, where rent is based on income. There was general agreement that the kind of housing projects that work best include “blended communities” of tenants with varying abilities to pay. The cost of a single room in a house is now around $700/month. Many people on disability make $800-$1400/month and can’t find housing they can afford.

In discussing other options for increasing the availability of affordable housing, it was noted that student housing in Carrollton is “way overbuilt.” This excess housing, if made available to a wider public, could provide housing for many of the homeless.

When asked about the part government funding might play in meeting the needs of the homeless, Kim Jones noted that our community is very generous and a lot of government money has so many strings attached that it can

It’s estimated that about 60% of large employers’ health plans cover one of these medications, although without restrictions, including minimum body mass index (BMI) requirements and prior authorization. Health plans may require enrollees who qualify for obesity care to first use other lower priced antiobesity drugs before they move to a GLP.

The American Gastroenterology Association recommends weight loss drugs for anyone who has a BMI over 30, or 27 if they have other medical complications, such as heart diseases or diabetes. According to the CDC, 42% of Americans have a BMI over 30.

As the uptake of these medications increases, employers and their health plans will need to make painful choices of to what extent these medications should be covered. Insurers are already considering ways to ensure that people who will most benefit from these drugs have access to them.

For more information on how to lower the risk on your employer sponsored prescription drug plan, call us today for a free consultation. Inoventive Benefits Consulting, Marcy Heath 678-821-3508.

only be used in limited ways. In discussion with a person in Atlanta regarding how the Community Foundation was able within 30 minutes to assist someone who needed $325 of repairs on a vehicle to get it functional again, the person in Atlanta stated: “How proud of your community you should be” that such resources could be so readily available to persons in need.

In closing for the evening, Laddie Carter expressed the hope that our community will eventually build places where citizens of all walks of life (and not just the homeless) can learn new skills, take classes of various types, and feel welcomed and supported by the community at large.

Donations of supplies, time or money are always appreciated. To donate to THS: THS Emergency Shelter Inc., PO Box 1604, Carrollton, GA 30112 or thsshelter.com.

To donate to Community Foundation of West Georgia at 897 Park Street, Carrollton, GA 30117. Indicate “Connector Project” or “Community Impact Fund” on your check memo. Or donate on line at cfw g.net