Letters to the Editor

Camouflage future cell towers in PTC

I have lived in Fayette County/Peachtree City for over 20 years. Recently I have seen in the paper talks about cell towers and how we need additional cell towers in PTC.

In driving west on Ga. Highway 54 past Peachtree Parkway you can see the cell towers in the distance and how much they stand out on the horizon. In driving south on Ga. Highway 400 past the toll plaza you see the cell towers are made to look like pine trees and they are not such an eyesore. Read More»

Lower taxes not solution to all ills

David Epps’s column called “an oppressed minority” is an example of how ideology can get in the way of rational thinking. In this case, it’s the ideology of less government. While it is certainly true that small businesses are having a hard time, his assessment of why and what to do about it is not well founded. Read More»

Folkertsma ‘obfuscates,’ fails to make case against progressives

The title was “Progressives Destroy Constitution” and the author, a Dr. Marvin Folkertsma from some place called “The Center for Vision and Values” where Cal now apparently turns when he’s looking for an answer but not a reason.

Most noticeable in Dr. Folkertsma’s endless chain of quotations was the absence of any quotation from even one of the 55 men who attended the Constitutional Convention. Also noticeably missing was any evidence to support the title which in his defense, may or may not have been the author’s. Read More»

Chamber: Regional transportation SPLOST is good for Fayette

Last week, the Georgia General Assembly, in an overwhelmingly bipartisan effort, passed legislation that allows voters to decide in regions throughout Georgia if they want to approve a 1 percent sales and use tax for regional transportation investments.

As a broad overview, the legislation creates 12 regional districts across the state. “Regional roundtables” comprised of local elected officials (county commissions chairs and a mayor from each county) will develop a project list to be voted on by citizens in the 2012 general primary. Read More»

Georgia fails to fairly fund Fayette schools

Recently there has been discussion about state funding for our schools and whether the state of Georgia has met its obligation to our excellent Fayette County Schools.

Given the Quality Basic Education formula (QBE), contained in the Georgia law, and other data, I submit that Georgia has failed to fairly fund our schools under its own law and has instead used taxes paid by Fayette County taxpayers to fund other schools. Read More»

E-collar exactly wrong answer for dog leash

Yesterday when I opened the paper, I read the front-page article about leash laws in Peachtree City and the issue of unleashed dogs on the paths and streets. What caught my attention first and foremost was what I consider a downright dangerously wrong statement regarding electronic training collars.

A man was quoted as saying: “I guarantee you, you crank these up and you can get a dog to stop whatever he’s doing, the bad behavior, 100 percent of the time.” That is a very startling, and very wrong statement. Read More»

Some simple changes would improve traffic without new roads

The West Fayette Bypass will consume over $24 million. At our recent “Fayette Forward” forum, I offered more cost effective alternatives to facilitating traffic flow through our county:

1. Reprogram traffic lights. The most effective method of improving traffic flow and mitigating expensive road projects is to facilitate the flow of through-traffic. Read More»

An ongoing delicate dance: Death in life

Open caskets at funerals are a dance with death. The waxen look of a dead loved one or friend presents a strange sensation. We may wonder, What happened? The animation of life is gone from them. We are sure of that. There can be no conversation, only our tears and memories.

Our adjustment to that phase of the death experience is helped by family and friends who gather around us. We talk, comfort, reminisce, cry, and laugh while we dance with death. But is that all there is? Is that the only time we sit alongside death? It is not. Read More»

Our country is honored to have servants like Lt. Robert Collins

How many of us spent this past weekend building memories with our children? I had the pleasure of practicing baseball with my 12-year-old son on Saturday morning. I was in heaven while my 9-year-old daughter sat with me at Starbuck’s during our weekly bonding session.

She is adamant about preparing my coffee just right. She then proceeds to read me the differences in taste and boldness that describe each type of coffee in the Starbuck’s promotional book. How could life be any better? Read More»

Teachers: Holocaust butterflies a symbol

This is our one-time response to the Rising Starr Middle School parent who wrote in on March 31. Hopefully, it will clarify any misconceptions about the Holocaust butterfly assignment.

Georgia Performance Standards mandate the teaching of the Holocaust. 1.6 million children were killed by the Nazi regime during the Holocaust. The sheer number of children who died is a difficult concept for anyone to comprehend. Read More»